Yue Chen is a MAIR/MSPR student at the Maxwell and Newhouse Schools who participated in the Singapore Summer Internships program.

During the past three months in Singapore, I worked in the Stewardship Asia Centre and lived like a local person. It is not only a fruitful experience for my work and studies, but also an interesting trip to embrace Southeast Asian culture.

Based on my study in public diplomacy courses, which consists of public relations and international relations, I applied for a summer internship in Singapore. The Stewardship Asia Centre is committed to fostering effective stewardship and corporate governance across Asia and the world. It collaborates with partners to promote the sharing and mutual learning of concepts as well as practices that would help organizations create wealth and contribute to the well-being of the community over the long term. I interned in the team which focuses on engagement, facilitating stewardship to potential partners and organizing conversations and events.

Every year there is a prominent event organized by Stewardship Asia Centre called “Stewardship Asia Roundtable”, which brings together the region’s influential thinkers and leaders for a dynamic exchange of ideas on advocating sound stewardship and governance in their organizations and businesses. Luckily, when I started my internship this year, I was able to join organizing this important event and learn from successful leaders.

Yue Chen (3rd from left) at the Stewarship Asia Roundtable

Organizing a global event can be very challenging, especially for an event that brings together over 200 participants from 20 countries. I was so touched by everyone’s passion and the good atmosphere of the team. The Stewardship Asia Centre not only promotes stewardship to others but also practices stewardship itself.

Aside from work, I was so attracted by the diverse culture in Singapore. It’s a country that consists of people from different regions and religions, but no matter where you are from and what beliefs you have, everyone is supposed to be respected. The Singapore Government even sets public holidays for different religions such as Hari Raya Puasa for Muslims and Vesak Day for Buddha’s Birthday. In Singapore, there are so many languages but English is their official language, so it’s very interesting to see Singaporeans of Chinese descent, Malay descent and Indian descent all communicating with each other in English.

Yue Chen during Hari Raya Puasa

Singapore is known as the Garden City, and its beautiful scenery attracts millions of tourists coming from all over the world every year. Its amazing night scene in Marina Bay with unbelievable skyscrapers and unique buildings show the world a modern and well-developed city-state. Singapore is also a perfect place to explore since it’s so close to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. So if you have a chance to live or work in Singapore, definitely try your best to embrace the diverse culture.

Marina Bay, Singapore

Singapore Summer Internships Program

Newhouse and Maxwell School’s Joint M.A. in International Relation & M.S. in Public Relations