Chin Sue-Kay
Over the first weekend of February 2022, the 27th Singapore Medical Society of the UK (SMSUK) committee held our third and final weekend trip: Europe Rediscover. Unlike our previous weekend trips to London and Glasgow, where we met up as a large group, our members travelled around the UK and Europe in small groups. Participants shared their travel stories on Instagram while competing in a Bingo Challenge. Some groups stayed in the UK while some travelled further to cities like Berlin and Amsterdam. The SMSUK social media was brimming with snapshots of various historical buildings, artisanal crafts and delicious local cuisines. Although the groups were apart during their day trips, all participants came together for an online bonding session of games and fun later that night. It was heart-warming to see how despite the physical distance separating our members, they were still able to come together and socialise online.
Ask any university student in the UK about some of their most memorable moments in university, and many would mention their time in a student society. Student societies are at the core of the UK university experience. It is a place where you get to make friends from other courses and get to know people who share similar interests and passions. After a long day in medical school, sometimes having a student society activity to look forward to can make a whole world of difference. This month, we asked our members to share about a student society they participated in, the reasons they decided to join and what they have gained from the experience.
Timothy Wee
For most Singaporean students at university, attending their local Singapore Society's (SingSoc) events or even applying to be a committee member is nothing out of the ordinary. For me, however, it was a nervous foray into forgotten territory.
Attending a small international high school in Shanghai with a cohort size of just over 50 students meant that I had lost touch with many aspects of my Singaporean heritage. Nationality and ethnicity faded away as unimportant labels. Because Singaporeans have such a strong sense of cultural identity with which to bond over, lacking those common experiences made me feel like an outsider – even among my friends from back home. With each year, returning to Singapore for the summer felt more and more like visiting a foreign country.
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when a current classmate reached out and asked me to consider applying for King's College London's SingSoc committee. Her support and encouragement convinced me to see this as an opportunity to reconnect with my culture. To cut a long story short, I did!
It sounds melodramatic to consider joining SingSoc a life-changing experience – especially for someone who is, technically, Singaporean. But on this journey of fine food and even finer friends, I rediscovered a bit more of what makes me Singaporean. Yes, above all, my love for all those comfort foods has remained completely intact.
To those students for whom their local SingSoc is a familiar haven, I challenge you to venture outside your comfort zones. Engage with societies that offer unique or novel experiences. I can't promise that all your adventures will be equally fun or amazingly enjoyable, but I do know that with each new frontier lies an opportunity for invaluable self-discovery. What better time and place than now, to explore brave new worlds?
Wong E-Shuen
The Aberdeen Medical Humanities Society (AMHS) aims to showcase different forms of the humanities that convey the beauty and demands of medicine, such as art, literature and music.
I first joined AMHS because of my love for English literature. I believe it to be a study of language as a power, the importance of empathy and the beliefs we hold as humans. AMHS was a way for me to keep in touch with that passion in medical school, and maybe even find a community of like-minded people.
Being president of the society now, my aim is to create a welcoming space. A platform for those with these contrasting yet complementary interests to talk about what matters to them in a way that is comfortable for them.
The beauty of the society comes from its diversity. Our events so far have been the "Fresher's Fayre", a society picnic, a visit to see the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's art exhibits and the Aberdeen Musical Medics Christmas Concert. We use social media to promote the medical humanities; in particular, we aim to highlight works from the other side of the coin – the patients – in an effort to advocate and understand patient experiences.
Why did we choose to go overseas to study? It might be for the practical purpose of entering the course of your choice, but it also presents the unique opportunity of meeting new people we otherwise wouldn't have.
I think most of us soon find that it is a challenge on both sides, both for us as foreigners, and for them as locals, to find common ground. Joining a society for something you're interested in is a way to find that commonality. When others believe in what you believe in and value the same things you value, it's not so hard to find good friends.