James Ma Lun Chum, Hong Kong

Text: (James) Chun Lam Ma
Bachelor of Forensic Biology in Biomedical Science

James: Hi, I’m James. I study at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, and yeah, back in UTS, I’m studying forensic science and applied chemistry. The main reason I chose to go exchange is that I really want to experience something very different from my home country, Singapore, and Sydney. I like to experience something that is more diverse in terms of education-based.

Hong Kong is a very fast-paced country. It basically is moving at like double the speed of Australia, so it’s kind of tricky, but slowly you will kind of adapt to it.

The best thing about going to exchange is that I get to experience something very different – a diverse, a more diverse kind of lifestyle as compared to Sydney or maybe any other places. It’s something that you can’t get just by studying or maybe reading through the guidebooks, or even by travelling. To experience something different you need to stay there for at least half a year, that’s what I felt.

Being an international [student], you’re already experience your home country and experience in Sydney, while when you go on exchange you get a global perspective – you get more culture embedded in you, and what I think is that this experience is one of a kind. You can’t get it elsewhere. So I really recommend other students – international students – to go on exchange. Just go for it; don’t think so much, just experience what you can experience there, and you’ll be glad that you have that experience at the end of the day.