Free Thinking

I just returned from Ireland, where I was studying medicine.
I recently completed my five-year course in Cork County, which is a more rural country part of Ireland. I’m about to begin my housemanship in September.

What’s the biggest difference between life in Ireland and in Singapore?
People in Ireland are among the nicest I’ve ever met. Cars would stop for pedestrians crossing the street, whereas here you know the drivers would all be honking their horns at you. I do think that part of it had to do with where I was, as the slower pace of life in the countryside makes people kinder and more patient.

Who’s someone you’d like to meet?
Johnny Depp. As someone who’s about to enter the medical profession, I can’t look like him on a daily basis, with all his tattoos and piercings, but I’d like to meet him. I don’t think I’d get starstruck if I meet him, but I appreciate his style and his aura in general.

What’s the best advice you’ve received?
It has to be from my late grandfather, whom I’ve looked up to since young. He believed that one could be successful without needing to be famous. Despite being a successful businessman himself, he didn’t want any of his children to go into business. Rather, he wanted his children to be doctors or teachers, as they were ‘noble’ professions, and his belief in humility and contributing to society is something that’s stuck with me.

If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?
To have worked harder in school! (laughs) I was very short-tempered and impatient when I was younger, so I would wish that I had been a more level-headed person.