Beyond The World

What brings you to the CBD?
I’m a law student, but I do a lot of freelance work in business development, research, and marketing on the side, so I was here for a meeting with my boss—I’ll be going to Kuala Lumpur for the next two months to work for his company there.

Your freelance work is so different from what you’re studying. What makes you want to explore these different areas of work?
I think these are very versatile and transferrable skills to have, which you don’t learn in law school at all.

You know, honestly, law students end up really stupid (laughs). They only know what the law is, they don’t know anything else, so I find that exploring other areas apart from the law is very useful for me.

What are your plans after graduation then? Will you stick with law or go into other industries full-time?
Well, I entered law school because I’ve always wanted to be an international human rights lawyer, so that’s my long-term goal. It’s really hard to get there though, and you don’t get paid well in that line, so I’m trying to take small steps towards this goal, and get to a point where I don’t need a well-paying job and can just help people. So yeah, that’s my dream.

And I’ve known since I was really young that I want to be a lawyer—since I was about nine years old I think, so it’s been a long time (laughs).

Outside of school and work, how do you like to spend your time?
I like to do yoga, and read, but unfortunately, I don’t have time to read books as of now as my course already requires me to do so much reading! I do aim on reading more fiction though, but it’s a work in progress. However, I usually spend some time in the morning reading articles on Bloomberg, and in the evening, The Economist.

I also like to travel—I just came back from the Philippines actually. I was there for nine days visiting my best friend who lives there. I went to five different places in the Philippines, including Cebu, Manila, and Bohol. And it was nice because my best friend and her dad drove me around everywhere, which is great because the traffic there is so bad, and it would have been really expensive to Grab everywhere.

What kind of a traveler are you — spontaneous or a detailed planner? And what do you enjoy most about visiting a new place?
I’m a mix between both! It depends on who I’m travelling with as well. However, I would say that I am more of a spontaneous traveller as it’s just more fun that way! However, being spontaneous requires a little bit more money than planning things out.

What I enjoy the most about visiting a new place is talking to the locals, finding out about how the political systems and mindsets of the people differ between the country and Singapore’s, learning about the little mannerisms that make the people unique, and also visiting all the beautiful nature-y spots. No tourist towns, please!

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
I think people think I’m a lot more docile and pliable than I am just because I come across as “soft” and friendly, which are stereotypes of what women should be. But actually, I’m assertive and argumentative if you do something that isn’t right to me, or especially the people I’m close to.