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Covid-19: S’porean students abroad heading home after government advisory but a few plan to stay put

SINGAPORE — Some Singaporeans studying abroad are heading home — a few reluctantly, others with relief — following a government advisory on Tuesday (March 17). Then there are those who insist that they will remain in their host countries.

Some students are worried about the cost and inconvenience of returning to Singapore from overseas universities but others are relieved to be heading home.

Some students are worried about the cost and inconvenience of returning to Singapore from overseas universities but others are relieved to be heading home.

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SINGAPORE — Some Singaporeans studying abroad are heading home — a few reluctantly, others with relief — following a government advisory on Tuesday (March 17). Then there are those who insist that they will remain in their host countries.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) put out an advisory encouraging Singaporean students based overseas to return given the widening Covid-19 pandemic.

The advisory came several days after MOE announced that it is suspending all overseas internships and exchange programmes by institutes of higher learning until the end of July.

TODAY spoke to several students who were either studying in overseas universities full-time, or are there for exchange programmes and internships.

While most said that they had booked their flights and were on their way home, a few were insistent on staying in their host countries.

Mr Aqil Hamzah, 23, second-year student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) who is pursuing communication studies, said that he was upset by the deadline imposed by NTU for students to return to Singapore by this Friday.

Mr Aqil, who is on exchange in the United States at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, stayed on to complete a presentation with fellow students due on Thursday. He emailed NTU to explain his circumstance, and aims to head back as soon as possible.

Fellow NTU student, Mr Martyn Danial, who is doing his exchange at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, said that his friends were “gloomy” after learning of the suspension while holidaying in Iceland.

The 24-year-old third-year sports science and management student said that he is in “disbelief” at how fast the situation has escalated. As of Wednesday, he was still trying to secure a flight back home.

But Mr Samuel Teo, a third-year law student from the National University of Singapore (NUS), said that he was relieved to be flying home from the UK where he is doing his exchange programme at Kings’ College London. He said that the Covid-19 situation in Singapore is “more controlled” than in Europe.

Mr Yong Kah How, a 23-year-old NTU student on exchange at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the city of Troy of New York state, said he was initially sad that the programme was cancelled as he had just started making friends.

However, with school cancelled and everyone going home, the aerospace engineering student said that the city has become a “dead town” and that he is in “no mood” to stay.

NOT CONVINCED TO GO HOME

TODAY has seen two letters making the rounds among university students here asking the authorities to let them proceed with their exchange programmes.

In one letter, Mr Edward Ong, 26, purporting to represent a group of Singapore Management University (SMU) students who were planning to take part in an exchange programme in Japan, asked Education Minister Ong Ye Kung to review MOE’s decision, calling it "unduly draconian".

Speaking to TODAY on March 16, Mr Edward Ong called the suspension “irrational and rash”.

The post-graduate SMU law student, who is on exchange at Keio University in Japan, said he learnt of the suspension just hours after landing in Japan on Monday morning.

He said that flying back would cause financial hardship, with no guarantee it is covered by insurance, and he has decided to remain in Japan until May, and will be considering converting his student visa into a short-term visit pass instead.

In a statement to TODAY, SMU said that in fact, Mr Edward Ong was notified via email the day before his flight to Japan that the university would be suspending all student exchanges in Japan and urged him to cancel his travel plans. It also informed him that it would follow up with arrangements to assist him with contingency plans. 

SMU added that his cancellation would have been covered by the university’s insurance coverage.

Another letter relates to NUS students involved in an NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme. Mr Krzysztof Lis, purporting to write on behalf of all students on the programme in the US, argued that there is evidence that it is safer to remain in the US instead of returning to Singapore.

In his letter dated March 11 and directed to the NUS senior management, the student, who did not respond to email queries from TODAY, said that Covid-19 was “mild” for young people and that returning to Singapore could expose students to “significantly more people”, increasing their chances of carrying and spreading the virus.

In an email reply to Mr Edward Ong of SMU, seen by TODAY, Mr Ong Ye Kung said that the US, Europe and several Asean countries are all “going down the path” of the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is considered to be the source of the outbreak.

“It is no longer safe for students to travel and go on overseas exchange. It is disappointing but we have to learn to take this in our stride, and universities have to do the responsible thing,” Mr Ong Ye Kung wrote.

In a separate statement on MOE’s website, the minister said that alternative learning arrangements are being made for those whose studies have been disrupted.

Two full-time students at Australian universities told TODAY that they do not plan to return despite the advisory issued by MFA and MOE.

Ms Pooja Amuthan, 21, a final-year student at the University of Melbourne, said that she is choosing to remain in Australia because she has her own apartment there in which to isolate herself if necessary, and all her lessons will be available online.

Likewise, Ms Riddhi Anbalagan, 22, a third-year medical science student at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said that she would “love to be back in Singapore” given how the authorities had been handling the situation back home.

But she has no plans to return because she is concerned that she would not be able to complete her degree if she did so.

In their statements, NUS, NTU and SMU said that they are making arrangements for their students based overseas to return as soon as possible and will devise alternative arrangements to ensure that there is no delay in the students’ graduation.

SMU said that it will offer more courses relevant to affected students in subsequent academic terms, and internship placements in Singapore, while NTU said that it will assist students in their claims for travel expenses incurred in this recall.

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect Singapore Management University's clarifications with regard to the suspension of Mr Edward Ong's exchange programme.

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SMU NUS NTU overseas students Covid-19 coronavirus

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