Right here I am, sitting in a guesthouse room in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital.

It’s a love-hate relationship with my FYP, but to be honest, it’s love most of the time. I might complain, I might slack, I might ignore Prof’s deadlines, I might not be disciplined to do it conscientiously, but when I do it, it never fail to bring me knowledge, insights and experience.

This trip is giving me many firsts. First time overseas alone, boarding the plane alone, befriending strangers, chatting with people older than me over meals, interviewing people, bored till I really teared, and more.

What made me feel proud and made me wanting to write here today, was what the teacher and principal told me in the school today when I was there to do field work. Having gotten the teacher’s contact number through my friend who was his ex-student, I’ve only contacted him yesterday, which is in fact, really last minute and all, yet he was very helpful to this stranger he has never met. I must have 修了八辈子的福 to have met nice people along this FYP, hearing words of encouragement and stirring curiousity from others about what I am researching on (which basically means I’ve fulfilled the objective of writing a thesis and beyond that, making me motivated to go all out for it).

So today, while interviewing/chatting, 姜老师 told 李校长 and me that “昨天啊，（她）我不熟，我也是第一次见她，但我怎么会帮她，因为她是个小孩子，看一个小孩子会对华文教育有兴趣，现在很难得的。。。”

I might be a 小孩子 next to these 长辈s, but this interest in chinese culture and education is what brought us together today. Right at that moment, I took that as a compliment, I thought of what I learnt in school immediately, I thought of Prof Yow too. It suddenly proved that I did learnt things out of these 3.5 years in University thus far (I’ve always not know if I learnt anything from school).

3rd time in Cambodia within the last 19months, friends have joked that I am like a Cambodian already. Some people might think that Cambodia has nothing worth to see, even I think so too at times (especially having been here twice before this), but today, thus far on this trip in name of serious business, I chucked the “Tourist” perspective away, realising there is still so much to explore about.

Today, I’ve seen and felt the passion for Chinese education here with my own eyes, feeling really glad for the prospects of Chinese education here, yet also feeling a little 可惜 for Singapore’s compromises with Chinese education..

Will not digress onto SG’s take on Chinese education, I shall stop my first post dedicated to FYP here. I guess I just more or less wrote the Acknowledgements for my thesis. Hahaha.