Alumni
Diaries
Letters from Alumni Around the World
Our Bukit Timah Years
by Chen Jiamin Millicent & Kaushal Dugar
We got wet-eyed the other day.
It wasn't “ P.S. I Love You ” or some Korean weepie that did us in – it was Open House. The sight of potential freshmen ambling through the hallways, clutching glossy handouts, eyes still bright from sufficient sleep, staring with goldfish expressions at the City Campus' colossal architecture.
It would make even the most hardened of alumni reminisce, knitting in a rocking chair by the fireplace.
You see, back in those days when the City Campus was a model under a glass case and “SMU alumni” were a yet-undiscovered species, we were a small tribe of unevolved but highly intelligent orang-utans whose indigenous habitat was a green fortress on a small hill in Bukit Timah.
Even the most forgetful of orang-utans reading this article can see it now. That majestic, historic campus, with its grand architecture, nestled among the Botanic Gardens' lush green fields and turtle-infested freshwater lakes. The allure of Bukit Timah lay in its old-world charm: that obliviousness to the world's bustle which presented a perfect, serene setting for our world class education.
Its smallness was an advantage: We were once a small community, where practically everyone knew everyone else. The smaller campus meant a higher chance of bumping into friends on our way out of classes, or while having coffee outside the library or Food Haven. The community was tight-knit, our bonds forged by a common ambition – the desire to be different. The air was always alive, expectant with change and the screams of people whose toes were stepped on in the elevator.
On retrospect, the move was a pretty good idea.
So even though the City Campus may not have as much emotional appeal as Bukit Timah did; even though we spent our remaining days on campus using a combination of Battleships (“I'm at E47!”) and GPRS technology to track down friends, there are still many reasons to enjoy, no, relish the new location.
We call out to our fellow alumni to walk or bus down to the new campus during lunchtime today. Don your alumni passes loud and proud – knowing locations change, but friendships do not – and partake of the city fumes as potential freshmen scuttle past.
Ah, the smell of fresh blood.
KD (signature Afro) and Mel (in pink with her blue berret)
KD and Mel have been 'kakis' since their freshmen year project, when they discovered two evil minds are indeed better than one. They evolved into the six-headed Godzilla known as SMU Ventures' founding team and wrecked so much havoc that the University threw them to the mercies of society in 2006, under the pretense of "graduation".
KD is currently serving time in KPMG, while United Parcel Service has Mel on 'parole'. Occasionally they can be spotted around the City Campus, scheming away with the rest of the SMUAA Exco.
Emerald Dragon Gorge of Beijing
by Marie Wong
It is difficult to get away from Beijing city, but when you get the chance to, you'd be surprised at the tranquility that the outskirts can offer.
An hour's ride Northeast from the city center of Beijing will bring you to the Emerald Dragon Gorge. It's a famous tourist attraction (or so the government claims). Unfortunately, the government tries to cream as much money from the tourists as possible and has made the gorge into a tourist attraction with many games, from bungees, canoes to bumper car rides. It became a regular amusement park, which sort of spoilt the natural gorge's beauty. Nevertheless, some part of the nautral beauty was left unravished.
The hike up to the top of the gorge is relatively easy to climb with a paved road leading from the bottom to the top. At the gorge, you can also see the remnants of the Great Wall, with many parts unrestored. It was a treacherous off-beaten track with some of the steps leading to the fortress already crumbling. Many times I had to desperately clutch at the stones around to keep from falling to a certain death. At some places, the steps were missing and I had to jump across or be left stranded.
It was very different from the famed Great Wall that one sees at the Beijing Badaling wall. I imagined generals running along the Wall, and prisoners building the wall, stone by stone, each climbing up the steep path to the mountain top. I think that they must either have really suffered or were really healthy. It took me too much effort just to climb up a flight of steps.
Needless to say, when I reached the top of the fortress and saw the expanse of sky and the entire gorge beneath, it was worth it. The view was really breathtaking.
Marie is a pioneer student of SMU. Having graduated in 2004 in Business Management and worked for The Ascott Group for almost 3 years, she has decided to take her chances in China. Leaving her job, she decided to pursue an MBA in Peking University and to teach English in China. At every available opportunity, she travels around one of the world's largest countries.
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