Last summer, I had the pleasure of visiting CHIJ school in Singapore with four other students. We had a lot of fun in Singapore and are all now close friends with our buddies.

When we first received the news that we were going to be going on this trip, we were all very excited. We hoped that we would be able to learn more about Singapore's education system and explore the culture and history of Singapore.

At first, most of us felt uneasy and nervous, but once we landed, we were greeted by our buddies and their families with warmth and kindness and immediately felt at home. The next week, we went on excursions, followed our buddies to school, had lessons and attended their activities with them. It was a really eventful week and I learnt a lot, from knowledge inside the classroom to how to be a good host, independence, how to be a polite guest and so much more.

We all thought Singapore would be quite similar to Hong Kong, especially in the form of education, but it turns out it is actually very different.

Firstly, in Singapore, there are many trees and plants all around, making the air very fresh and clean. However, in Hong Kong the air pollution is really bad and there is little greenery.

Secondly, most Singaporean schools do not have air-conditioners, even though it is as hot as Hong Kong's summer all year round. However the students rarely complain about the sweltering heat, which I think is very respectable.

Thirdly, in terms of lessons like technology and living and PE, their lessons are very different from ours. We learn to play different sports and are coached by our PE teachers during PE lessons. However, in the PE lesson we attended, they learnt how to set up a tent. In their TNL lessons, they did practical things like cooking like in our school, but they also had a textbook, in which they learnt about the different ingredients used in cooking.

This exchange programme was very beneficial and meaningful, and we had lots of fun. None of this opportunity would have been possible without the support of our Headmistress, Mrs Lau, Mrs Tay (Headmistress of CHIJ School), Ms RL Wong (teacher-in-charge) and Ms Cheng (our accompanying teacher). We are extremely thankful to all the people involved that made this exchange fun and educational.

Written by Cannon Stephanie Kate (2U)