NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
NUS BUSINESS SCHOOL
STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
Evaluation & Feedback Form
Name: Giang Choon Yang Tony
SEP Semester: 2004/2005 Semester 2
Host University/Country: Zhejiang University / China
Questions:
1. How does the host university differ from NUS?
-
The medium of teaching in Zhejiang University is mostly in Chinese. The
language used by the lecturer is in Chinese, the textbook and notes are all
in Chinese. From my experience, having a good Chinese language
background is essential if you want to study in Zhejiang.
-
The education system consists mainly of lectures with lecturers imparting
their knowledge to the students. There is little chance for students to
speak on their views on subjects they are interested in. The lecturers,
most of the time, will not ask the students for their opinions.
-
Compared to our School, the amount of project work involved in Zhejiang
University is much lesser.
-
For most of the lectures, there are no notes available for printing. Students
are expected to copy down whatever being told by the lecturers. A good
command of Chinese is really needed here!
-
For Zhejiang University, one semester is split into 2 terms. For example,
the semester from February to July is split into the spring term (February
to May) and the summer term (May to July). As a result, the time-span in
which a module is taught is short.
-
There is a lack of good information dissemination in Zhejiang University.
Any extra information the lecturers might want to tell the class has to be
passed on during lecturers. This include stuff like lecture venue changes,
examination time changes etc. Last-minute changes are therefore not
possible.
-
For most of the students under the bachelor programs in Zhejiang
University, they are expected to continue their education by doing the
Masters. Hence, a lot of focus in the University deals with preparing the
students for the Masters examination.
-
Continual Assessment is usually not used as an assessment method. The
marks students obtain are usually determined by their final examination.
2. What strong points does our School have compared to your host university?
-
Our School’s teaching system of lectures and tutorials allows interaction
between the lecturers and the students, facilitating the flow of knowledge
and allowing students to take part actively in the education process. In
Zhejiang University, teaching is done through lectures and the level of
interaction between the students and the lecturers are not high.
-
In our School, a lot of modules have project works which allow students to
interact and communicate. This allows social bonding and friendship to be
made inside the school. In Zhejiang University, there is little project work
and students learn independently with little interaction between
themselves.
-
Our School’s medium of teaching, English, allows foreign students to
adapt easily to the education system.
-
Our School’s use of the IVLE and the email system allows important,
critical and last-minute information to be passed down effectively to the
students. In Zhejiang University, the system used is not as effective.
-
Computer access in our School is much better than that in Zhejiang
University. In Zhejiang University, computer labs are rare and seldom
allow you to log on to the internet. Computer usage in these labs is also
not free, despite them being the school’s computer labs.
-
The heavy usage of continual assessment in our School take away some
of the stress of the final examination. In Zhejiang University, the final
examination mostly determines your grade. Any uncharacteristic error in
the final examination will affect your module grade greatly, thus there is a
lot of pressure on the students during the final examination.
3. What strong points does your host university have compared to our School?
-
A shorter term (3 months) allows learning to be more concentrated and
students are able to focus more closely on a particular module. This
alleviates the stress of having to cope with multiple modules during a long
semester.
-
In some of the classes I have been, the students in the class have been in
the same class for their whole university life. As most of them live together
in the same hostel at the same floor, they know each other very well. This
allows strong friendship bonds to be made. There is a strong sense of
comradeship in the School. In our School, due to our lecture system,
students often do not attend the same lectures/tutorials together.
Friendship bonds, in my opinion, are not as strong.
4. What expenses did you incur at the host university for one semester?
Estimated Breakdown of Expenses:
Items
Airfare (Return Ticket)
Travel & Health Insurance
Accommodation
Food
Books & Stationery
Clothing
Miscellaneous (Eg: Local transportation, phone calls, postage,
student visa, medical report)
Others (Eg. Extended stay, airfare for tour of neighbouring
states/countries, etc) Please specify here:
Total
Estimated
Expenditure (S$)
1000
400
500
500
100
500
500
Touring the various
cities in China :
2500
6000
5. Please type a THREE to FIVE page report of your personal experience in the host
university.
a) Your overall experience overseas (initial cultural shocks that you encountered, lifestyle,
about the university, academic aspects)
b) What you learned from the exchange program
c) Your advice and suggestions for future exchange students designated to go to that
university
Report of My Personal Experience in Zhejiang University, China
Giang Choon Yang Tony
U034536U
Your overall experience overseas (initial cultural shocks that you encountered, lifestyle, about the
university, academic aspects)
This SEP trip to China was my first time to China and therefore before the date of
departure, I was preparing myself for the cultural and environmental shocks I knew I will get.
Having my friend, Fumin, going on the same trip with me certainly take away some of my anxiety,
but we both knew we will have a hard time adapting to a new place where everything is so different
from Singapore.
The minute we arrived in Hangzhou (the city Zhejiang University is located in) we
experienced our first “shock” – the weather. We knew the weather will be cold, but we certainly did
not expect it to be that COLD – 5 degree Celsius. I remember we were wearing relatively little
clothes on the plane and had to pull on our winter clothing inside the plane just to make it to the
airport terminal (yes, the airplane let us off in the middle of the runway). For the next 2 months of
our stay in SEP, we had to endure the cold weather that persists. On the bright side, the six of us
(six exchange students from NUS) saw snow for the first time during one night in Hangzhou and it
was an unforgettable experience.
Beside the weather, another “shock” for me is the language. Before I went over to China, I
knew all mode of communicating will be in Chinese. However, when I was actually over there and
tried to use Chinese for my everyday life, it was a strange experience. The Chinese have a
Chinese name for all things I previously knew in English. For example, the Chinese equivalent of
Carrefour (the hyper mart) is “JIA LE FU”, which I had a hard time understanding it. Even for some
of the stuff I previously knew in Chinese, they have a different Chinese name for them. In the
school, all teaching was done in Chinese including lectures, notes, textbooks, assessments and
even the technical terms. During my education stay there, I had to revise my Chinese so to be able
to write and understand what the lecture means. It was difficult at the start, but as I adapt to the
language, things get much easier. Chinese is not a difficult language. If you use it often, it will grow
onto you, just like any language in the world. The Chinese language in China is full of their unique
lingo that one must be inside China (for quite a period of time) to experience and learn.
Another “shock” was the state of traffic in the city. Upon our arrival in Hangzhou, we saw
that the cars there went about at top speed with little regards to pedestrians and cyclists (yes, we
saw a lot of bicycles and motorcycles in China). Crossing the road in China was always an
adventure.
One “shock” that we enjoyed was the relative cheap food and stuff in China. In fact, the six
of us on SEP found the food so cheap that we went on multiple restaurant tours in our first week. It
proved to be a financial trap as we find ourselves monetary drained at the end of the first week.
There is a lot of good food in China and I advise those going to SEP or China in general to
experience some of the unique food in China. I noticed (during my six month stay) that people from
Singapore who just arrived at China would usually marvel at the cheap price of food and
commodities and buy recklessly but as time goes by; they wised up and start evaluating things
based on the market prices.
These few cultural and environmental shocks I experienced during my first few week in
Hangzhou were eased by the friendly stuff and admin in Zhejiang University. The teacher in charge
of us, Mr. Lu, was helpful in assisting us in our accommodation, modules selection and basic incampus traveling. The lecturers were understanding to our lack of Chinese expertise and tirelessly
explained to us (me and Fumin) Chinese terms we did not understand. The students in lectures
were friendly and aid us immensely in our study. In our everyday life, we were aided by the friendly
people and tourist-friendly system in place in Hangzhou. Hangzhou is a major tourist city in China
and a lot of efforts were spent in making foreign visitors comfortable. Luckily for us, the transport
system, post system, banking system and other facilities were extremely tourist-friendly and easy
to use.
After the initial “shocks”, I began to realize other differences between NUS and Zhejiang
University. The first thing I noticed is the shorter term in Zhejiang. The usual 6 month semester is
split into 2 smaller terms – the spring term and the summer term. The number of modules in each
small term is smaller than the number one will take in a regular 6 month semester. It allows
students to concentrate more on the modules at hand and reduce the stress of coping with too
much modules over a long semester. Another difference is the relative lack of class participation
during lectures. Students are usually not expected to give their own opinions and comments on
topics of study. The students in Zhejiang University are extremely hardworking and clever. Being
one of the top universities in China, only the best will get into Zhejiang. Those privileged to obtain
an entry will work hard in their study. The students in Zhejiang are expected to carry on their
education into the Masters and much of the bachelor program is about preparing the students for
the Masters examination. Although China is proud of its Chinese language, it understands the
importance of English as the main business language in the world. Many of the students in
Zhejiang took English lessons to improve their English language to prepare them for the working
life. The Chinese students’ thirst for knowledge impressed me greatly in my stay in China.
For a Singaporean who wants to learn something in China, using all your time to learn in a
university (even a top-rate Chinese university like Zhejiang University) is useless in my opinion. To
be able to experience the breadth and diversity of China, you must travel around inside China.
That’s why the six of us often traveled together to various parts of China to see for ourselves what
different parts of China were like. Places we went include the major cities such as Beijing,
Shanghai, Xi’an and Nanjing, and places which are less developed such as Shaoxing, San meng
xia and Qu fu. The difference in living standards, cultures, religions, people, transport systems,
food and water were very noticeable from place to place. For example, in a major city like
Shanghai, the pace of life is much faster than the pace of life in Hangzhou. The people in Shanghai
talk and conduct themselves in a different manner from that of the people in Hangzhou. China is
not a homogenous society and every place; every city has its own characteristics. It is impossible
to understand China completely because China is vast with unique culture in every part. For
example, doing business in the coastal cities (which are more developed and have the necessary
infrastructure) can be very different from doing business in the inner western parts of China. The
best way to learn about China, in my opinion, is to live in the city you want to invest in. Only then
you can fully grasp the culture and behavior of the people and place.
What you learned from the exchange program
I certainly do not regret going on this adventurous trip to China, for which I learn a lot of
useful knowledge which I will find useful later in my life and career. One of the most important
things I have learned is the unique China culture. It is very much different from the Singapore’s way
of life and it is not just the language. The people, school and society in China has their distinctive
style that one must be immersed in fully in order to comprehend. Although I have stayed a total of 5
months in China, it is still too short a time to say I “understand” China. What I may have achieved is
a greater “awareness” of the Chinese language, culture and behavior. I believe this “awareness”
will aid me in my future career pursuits should I ever be interested in going to China for work. In
this new “China” century, the worth of this “China awareness” can only increase in value.
I experienced for myself how innovative the Chinese are at doing business. The Chinese
are always exploring avenues of making money and their entrepreneurship is amazing. For
example, on a rainy day you will suddenly (I really mean suddenly, they move at great speed) see
a lot of people selling umbrellas in unique spots such as cinema exits and tourist attractions. These
may be small business but much of China’s today biggest enterprise started small, such as Wa Ha
Ha Corporation which began its roots selling drinks for children. Beside their entrepreneurship spirit,
the Chinese are also eager to learn. In the university, as I have previously mentioned, the quest for
knowledge exhibited by the students are commendable. In the society, the culture of reading and
learning is widely spread. Although some of the people may not attend school, but they too have
an understanding of the world and of the business world through reading and experiencing it firsthand
One thing I have learned from the exchange program is how to be independent. When I
was in Singapore, I depend a lot on the family, friends, society and government. In China, although
there is plenty of help from the students and the teachers over there, I have to learn to be
independent. Overcoming cultural shocks, adapting to the new place, exploring new places are
events that I hope will help to shape my character and equip me with valuable life skills to cope
with future problems. In Singapore, I believe I am too well protected by my family, society and
government (even in National Service, the government look after us so well that we do not learn to
be fully independent at that stage in life). Only when I was in a foreign land, when faced with new
problems and adversities, can I really learn to be independent.
Your advice and suggestions for future exchange students designated to go to that university
My advice for future exchange students will be to approach SEP with an open mind. You
should be willing to learn and experience new things. You will have to throw away your previous
“understandings” or “misunderstandings” (bias) about China. Seeing and experiencing it first-hand
is the best way to learn about a country. You will see things that you like and things that you will
hate but take in all of them as characteristics of the place. Every place has their own uniqueness
and their own weakness and strength. Only by approaching a new place with an open mind can
you evaluate fairly and experience the place fully.
One of my greatest joys in the SEP is the friendship bonds I have made, both with the
Singaporeans with me on SEP and with the Chinese students in Zhejiang University. For future
exchange students, it is a good time for you to expand your contacts and circle of friends.
For future exchange students to Zhejiang University, I must say it is a good choice of
university in the sense that it is located in one of the most tourist-friendly place I have ever been –
Hangzhou. Students will be able to adapt quickly to the place. Moreover, Zhejiang University is a
top China university (3rd in China) which can offer a valuable education experience. However, to
prevent difficulties in learning, it may be worthwhile to improve your Chinese. You do not need to
have a high standard of Chinese, just be comfortable with writing and reading them.
The stuff, students and teachers in Zhejiang University are very friendly and helpful and I
believe academically wise, students on SEP should not find it a problem with modules selection,
educational advice and accommodation. By the way, the accommodation in the Oversea Students
Hostel is free for NUS students when we went over. The room condition inside the hostel is good,
comparable to our PGP hostel I was told.
I said it once and have to emphasize it again, to learn more about China you have to travel
around. I hope the future SEP students to Zhejiang will take advantage of the good location in
China to travel around to see more of China. Hangzhou is conveniently placed close to Shanghai,
a major city which is the heart of business, transport and communication in southern China. The
train system in China is also well-developed, enabling people to travel from Hangzhou to most
parts of China. Be adventurous and explore.