Heshe’s a ‘he’.

First up: why are there so many flies in NIE? Those things were constantly in my face, on my arms, bothering my legs while we were interviewing Chenri today.

Today, we met Hui Chenri, a 29-year-old Chinese National who works as a research assistant in NIE. I’d say we learnt quite a number of things from him.

One of them being majoring in English is actually very sought after in China. I would never think that Chinese would actually want to major in English. I would think that they would choose Chinese Literature, or some other Chinese-related topic that they would most definitely excel in. On top of majoring in English, and thereafter teaching the language in a university back in China, Chenri even did his Masters in applied linguistics at NIE.

I’d also say that it was a surprising find to learn that Chenri also adopted Christianity after coming to Singapore, a trend that we’re beginning to see slowly after talking to more interviewees. It’s interesting to discover that our Chinese friends actually open up pretty easily to religion after coming here.

Other interesting points:

• Chinese sometimes do bring their differences with each other from China, here to Singapore. Many do have a prejudice against their own countrymen, such as those from a specific province or area.
• He hangs out with both his comrades and Singaporeans, engaging in sports activities like squash, going to the Henderson Wave for a hike, or to MacRitchie Reservoir.
• He attends BOTH Mandarin and English services at his church, City Harvest Church, and his cell group is made up of 90% Chinese Nationals.
• He is open to the idea of settling down here (or anywhere else, for that matter), but has often been warned by friends that local Singaporeans are not suitable as partners.

I’m excited about the idea of crashing their squash sessions and cell group meetings – lots of more contacts and more importantly, good photo opportunities!