Singapore - Alone and homesick here?

WHEN a young student from China was found dead in her dormitory room at Nanyang Technological University, it threw the spotlight again on the challenges that foreign students face here.

Alone in an unfamiliar country, these youngsters have to struggle to maintain their grades and adapt to different cultural norms.

Last Saturday, Ms Lan Xing Ye, 19, was found dead with a plastic bag wrapped around her head. She had no visible injuries.

The New Paper understands that no suicide notes were found near her body.

She was reported to have suffered from depression.

Shin Min Daily News said the promising student came here some time last year to attend NTU's 18-month bridging programme for international students.

The programme prepares foreign students for studies in the university.

On Saturday, her roommate found her in her room at Hall 13 along Nanyang Avenue.

The police were alerted at 12.05am and Ms Lan was pronounced dead 20 minutes later. Police have classified the case as an unnatural death and are investigating.

When The New Paper visited NTU last night, the first day of Chinese New Year, it was like a ghost town.

Many of the local students were home for the long weekend. Only a handful of students, mainly foreigners, were staying on in the hostels.

Ms Erin Wong, 24, a student from Shanghai, said: "Whether or not foreign students feel lonely in Singapore has a lot to do with whether they are willing to adapt to the Singaporean way of life.

"Many PRC (People's Republic of China) students I know hang out only with their PRC friends. They are happy because they have people who understand them, but they are living in a very narrow world. If you go overseas, you should get to know the locals as well."

Ms Wong, a communication studies undergraduate, admitted that she does feel homesick at times.

The Internet has helped her communicate with her loved ones back home whenever she feels lonely.

"Now with social media, I can get in touch with old friends from Shanghai and my parents at any time I want, so it feels like there's someone always there within reach," she said.

Ms Lan isn't the first foreign student to die in tragic circumstances in NTU.

In March 2009, a 21-year-old student from Indonesia died on campus after falling four floors.

Before that, he had stabbed an associate professor during a discussion in the latter's office.

A few days after the incident, a China national, who was a project manager, was found hanging in the balcony of his on-campus apartment.

The Sunday Times polled 100 foreign students shortly after news of the two deaths broke.

Some 58 per cent of those polled said it was common to experience adjustment problems, like stress over studies, finances and the language barrier.

Adapting to life

All the NTU students from China whom TNP spoke to said that they are adapting to life here.

One of them, Ms Cherry Li, 22 said: "I think most Chinese students don't feel lonely because we all have friends from China studying with us.

"The Chinese students have a strong support network among us, so we always have someone to talk to.

"It's not like being stuck alone in a foreign country. We are here with people we can actually talk to if we have problems."

And even though Ms Li didn't return to Wuhan, her hometown, to celebrate Chinese New Year, she still had a wonderful time in Singapore, celebrating the occasion with her close friends.

She said: "In Singapore, I celebrated Chinese New Year on Sunday night with three friends from China. We went out to have Indian food."

Another student from China, Mr Shi Lei, 23, spent Chinese New Year Eve with 12 friends. They cooked noodles and soup on their electric stove in their hall.

He said: "It was quite fun because we are all close friends. They are my family away from home.

"I don't feel lonely because when we came to NTU, we arrived with our friends. We all came from the same university or high school before coming to Singapore.

"My friends and I are all from Dalian city. There are about 70 of us in NTU right now."

But for third-year student, Mr Han Long, 22, adjusting can sometimes be made even harder.

He said that while most local students are nice and friendly, there are some who make generalisations about foreign students.

But Mr Han added: "It doesn't make me feel stressed or lonely. We have our friends from China whom we can talk to to complain. I think this is what we can expect in life.

"No, I don't feel homesick. I can just make a phone call or send an e-mail. We are always connected to our family. And our friends are like family, too."

A check on the NTU website revealed that students can seek advice and guidance in areas such as course structure and time management from their programme directors.

They can also seek free professional and confidential counselling from the university's Student Counselling Centre.

Shaffiq Alkhatib and Nur Asyiqin Mohamed Salleh

The New Paper

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