This was an online dialogue session I got to had with MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) officials from Singapore. They were serving in the Singapore embassy at Germany, Berlin. It was a very interesting dialogue because this was not one session where they were just throwing knowledge at us but it was more of a conversation. I got to understand the difference in living conditions between Singapore and Germany such as the weather. At that period of time, it was their winter and they had to be in thick sweaters and shoes when leaving their homes unlike Singapore. I got to also learn the difficulties they faced in their jobs. For instance, their need to remain overseas for the long period of time can allow them to miss their family and friends back in Singapore. They also shared about how they missed the local delights that could not be replicated in Germany. It really got me and a lot of other people to think about our interests in life. When we say we want to pursue something, how far in life are we willing to go at times to achieve that fruit of our labour. Time is always a key factor that will put us to the test.

Of course, apart from their personal experiences which we got to know through the Q&A session, they shared about the various connections Singapore and Germany have. For instance, a very important sector would be the environmental sector. Singapore has cooperation with Germany's Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. There has been several climate change co-ops as well such as the Petersburg Climate Dialogue and many hydrogen and carbon trading cooperations. In the water section, PUB (Public Utilities Board) has also worked with key German companies on our deep tunnel sewage systems.

Looking more closely at us would be education, Singapore also has many opportunities connecting us with Germany. For example, the MOELC (Ministry of Education Learning Centre) has tied up with the Goethe Institut to teach German language in Singapore to encourage student exchange programs. There are also vocational training partnerships as Germany is one of the countries that see physical hands-on training and practice to be as important as academics. It is something Singapore is also trying to learn from as seen in our ITE courses.

There are also many more factors that allows Singapore and Germany to connect in terms of economics, defence partnerships, science and technology and even the cultural aspects. It was a very fulfilling session when I got to know more about the close-knitted ties we actually have with Germany!

This was the second dialogue session we had for the third day when we had the chance to talk to 3 Germans currently working and staying in Singapore. This dialogue session was more relaxed as it was mostly just a Q&A session. We got to learn their views towards Singapore and how they are adapting to it. One point they shared about a cultural shock which we were surprised to realise was that they felt we were more direct people than them. It is nothing foreign that German people are very easy people to communicate to at work because they are very direct and will not beat around the bush. If they dislike an idea or opinion, they will say it. When they want to seal a business deal, that will be the topic they will get into immediately instead of a 30 minute chit-chat session about each other's hobbies. However, they found that Singaporeans were very direct people in terms of the topics we openly talked about. Topics like salary and how much we pay for houses were things they found surprising that we were keen to discuss it openly.

Through the dialogue, another key thing I got to appreciate in Singapore will be our size. Firstly, Singapore is a small country. It makes a lot of things very convenient and accessible. For instance, when we want to travel from the East to the West, an hour at most is all we may take when we use our very developed public transport. Unlike Germany, I also got to realise we have a good availability of food everywhere. One of the Germans shared that when living in a town in Germany about the size of Tampines (in Singapore), there was nearly no restaurants nearby and the food would be very expensive they had to cook most of the times. In Singapore, when we are feeling tired after a day of work, it really never gets us wondering how convenient it is to just grab and go a packet of chicken rice. Apart from accessibility of food would be the earlier mentioned transport system. Since Singapore is small, it allows the government to centralise a system like the card we have in our cars to pay for carparks and ERP. It is something countries like Germany cannot do because the country is simply too big to implement it everywhere. To us, these just seem like very common technology and items made available to us but in the eyes of the foreigners, it is something really amazing and impossible in their countries. It is something I got to start appreciating for.