3/19/20

           You’re at the ever-popular Deck grabbing a quick lunch between classes. At first glance, this looks like a normal food court, similar to what you would find at any other university in the world. Students are eating and joking around. Some have laptops or books open for studying. Upon closer look, however, you notice something odd. At the table to your left are seated 6 Europeans. Eating to your right are 6 Singaporeans. You can see a group of Americans off in the corner and behind them, another group of Japanese students. Looking around campus, you begin to notice this separation everywhere: in classes, at the library, the swimming pool, on the tennis and basketball courts, and even on the town green.

           As it turns out, this is a daily reality at NUS, a reality which seemingly repeats itself during every semester and academic year. Says Berny Altamirano, an exchange student from Mexico, “I believe that the elevated amount of exchange students at NUS has allowed a 'bubble' to form [among this group of] students, who don't integrate and have friendships with the locals in Singapore.” Altamirano is one of over 40% of exchange students who report having 0 close local friends in Singapore, despite having lived here for many months. “It was something that I did not expect before coming here,” Altamirano says, “I thought that there was going to be more interaction with the locals, since that was part of my objective in coming to Singapore.”

           Other exchange students sense that there is a disconnect between communities as well. In a survey of 62 exchangers, more than 80% felt that there is a rift between exchange students and local students at NUS. About the same number of students say that they find making local friends to be a challenge.

           Stanley Foong Wai Han, a local student from the School of Design & Environment, is unsurprised by these results. “In a closely-knit community like Singapore, it’s common that local students are already acquainted in some way, making it harder for exchange students to break into pre-established cliques.” Foong, along with nearly 60% of local respondents, reports having 0 close exchange student friends. Out of the 46 local students who responded to the survey, close to 90% feel that making exchanger friends is challenging.

           Interestingly, however, respondents on both sides reported a strong desire to make friends across communities. Around 73% of local students and 89% of exchangers report a desire to make exchange/local friendships at NUS.

           With this being the case, it is hard to understand why there is such a prominent disconnect between local and exchange students. The point brought up by Foong provides a possible explanation, one which seems to correlate with the thoughts of exchange respondents. ~74% of Exchange students say that local friendships are challenging to make because locals have their own friend groups. On the flipside, ~59% of local students say that exchange friendships are hard to make because exchangers have their own friend groups.

           Alson Soh is a local student at NUS who has several close exchanger friends. Soh points out that there are many events available to those who want to make exchange friends, but that many of his fellow locals tend not to seize such opportunities. “It is a little bit hard to believe that such high percentages of students express a desire to make friends, but fail to even act on existing chances to do so.” Soh believes that just as exchange students might find it hard to break into existing cliques, local students too can tend to be intimidated at the prospect of breaking into a foreign clique.

Alson Soh, center, seen from the back, socializes with exchange and local students at a cultural event celebrating American Thanksgiving (November 2019). Alson often attends similar events and encourages other local students to do the same.

PHOTO CREDIT: ERIC BOCCACCIO

           Soh says he met his close exchange student friends through class, societies, and clubs. An American exchange student with local friends, Daniel Aughenbaugh, says he met most of his local friends by playing on the volleyball team.

Aughenbaugh and Soh agree that local students and exchangers having different priorities is another major reason for the disconnect. As Soh points out, “[Exchangers] tend to look for friends to travel, club and so on, while locals have to juggle internships, schoolwork and other co-curricular activities.”

           When asked for potential solutions in closing the rift, many of the survey respondents on both sides called for more combined orientation events, such as the freshmen orientations which are currently held separately from the exchange student orientations.

           Soh, however, believes that exchangers and locals need to reach a mutual understanding. “It takes two hands to clap. Locals need to understand that you cannot make exchanger friends if you remain passive, and exchangers need to also consider their priorities when they are here — regardless of their plans in Singapore, they can try to meet locals.”

Infographic: Most Notable Results for Exchangers and Locals

Exchangers: Number of close local friends

 

Locals: Number of close exchange friends

Exchangers: Who do you go on outings with?

 

                                                                                              Locals: Who do you go on outings with?

Exchangers: Is making local friends challenging?

                                                                                Locals: Is making exchange friends challenging?

Full result summary:

Respondents: 46 local respondents

                      62 exchange respondents

 

Summary of notable Results for exchangers:

~40% of exchange students report having 0 close local friends

~21% of exchange students report having only 1 local friend

~87% of exchange students report having 3 or more fellow exchange friends

~53% of exchange students report that they have outings with exclusively other exchange students (no locals)

 

Housing:

~45% of exchange students live in an on-campus apartment (ex. UTR)

~68% of those exchangers who live in an on-campus apartment feel that living there hurts their ability to make local friends

 

Exchanger events:

~54% of exchangers do not agree that exchange student events helped to integrate them into local Singaporean and NUS culture

 

Rift:

~82% of exchangers feel that making local friends is challenging

~74% of Exchange students say that local friendships are challenging to make because locals have their own friend groups

~89% of exchange students report a desire to make local friends at NUS

~81% of exchange students feel that there is a rift between exchange students and local students at NUS

 

Summary of notable results for locals:

~57% of local students report having 0 close exchanger friends

~89% of local students report having 3 or more local friends

~57% of local students report that they have outings with exclusively other local students (no exchangers)

 

Housing:

59% of local students report living at home with their family

~78% of local students who live at home feel that it hurts their ability to make exchange friends

 

Rift:

~87% of local students feel that making exchanger friends is challenging

~59% of local students say that exchange friendships are hard to make because exchangers have their own friend groups

~65% of local students disagree that there is ample opportunity to make new exchanger friends

~73% of local students report a desire to make exchange friends at NUS

~52% of local students feel that there is a rift between exchange students and local students at NUS

 

Other results:

In open-ended form, many students on both sides regret that all orientation and other events are kept separate. Many suggest having more events together.

 

Methodology:

           This was an online survey that I sent out to exchange students and local students. Exchange student respondents include those from last semester (Fall 2019) as well as from this semester (Spring 2020). I publicized the survey on Facebook and various instant messaging groups that I am a part of. Upon starting the survey, respondents were asked to indicate whether they were an exchange or a local student. Depending on this, local and exchange students were prompted with only the questions that were relevant to them. Most of the time, this was as simple as switching the words “exchanger” and “local.” Some questions had follow-ups. For example, if a respondent indicated that they do have exchange friends, they were then asked where they met these friends. Respondents who indicated otherwise were not shown these follow-up questions so as not to taint the results.