I enjoyed my trip to Korea. It was meaningful and culturally rich.
In total, I've spend time with at least 40 friends, including brothers and sisters from the Seoul Church of Christ.
Korea society is ultra competitive. People work really hard. Almost everybody i met is a graduate. For the guys, national service is compulsory. At the age of 27, it is not uncommon for a guy who is an undergrad in local or overseas uni. Working adults often take up part time course to further upgrade their already solid portfolio.
Korean have a love/hate approach to master English. TOEIC and TOEFL are a common topic over dinner. There's a great pressure to master the language, yet many Korean have what they termed as "English phobia". Unlike S'porean, we talk about dinner while we are having our lunch. TOEIC and TOEFL is a English exam use to gauge ones proficiency. One shortfalls of these standard is that spoken skill is not emphasize. As a result, a Korean may have the ability to read and write in grammatically perfect English but have difficulty holding a conversation.
So why the pressure to learn a foreign language? After all, Korean language is rich and comprehensive. Many overseas uni and big firms (Samsung) require and expect potential student/employee a good grade reflected in their resume.
Self-sustain Korea
Whatever you need, Korea has it. Food (Kim Chi), sauce, electronics (Samsung, iRiver) car (Kia, Hyundai), Korean trains, language (off course), Music (BoA), Movie, dramas...
It is strange for a Sua Gu (ignorant) Singaporean like me. Growing up, almost everything is imported. Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce, Toyota car, Sony Walkman (back then), Hollywood movie Forest Gump, Malaysia veges, Toshiba TV, Sumsung fridge, Ikea furniture, Nokia handphone, Giordano or Levi's jeans, Mac Pac backpack, IBM lapop, Micheal Jackson, Jacky Chueng, History of Malaya and Malaysia raw water (hmmm....nevermind.)
Right now, we do have World Famous made-in-Singapore brands.
Food-
Hainan Chicken rice (not from Hainan)
Singapore coffee exclusively found in Singapore coffee shop
Milo Dinosuar
Singer/ Song writers /actors-
Jacintha Abisheganaden, Corraine May, He Yao Shan, Sun Yan Zi, Ado, Lin Jun Jie, Tanya Chua, Mavis Hee, Kit Chan. Dick Lee, Li Wei Song, Fann Wong ( appears in Jacky Chan movie)
Companies-
Hyflux, NeWater, Creative, BreadTalk, Keith and ... (sells ladies shoes), Zouk Disco, Axe brand medicated oil, HDB, Singapore Airline, Changi Airport,Tiger beer, Banyan Tree, 77th Street,
Movie and directors-
小孩不笨 by Jack Neo (very famous in China, probably the only known Singaporean movie)
Be With Me-Eric Khoo (receive standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival)
15- Roystan Tan
Language-
Singlish, even have singlish dictionary. Don't pray pray ah....
Competitive Korea
This is what I think. Whatever S'pore needs, we source for the best and import them. In Korea, whatever they need, they manufacture them and sell it to the world.
As a nation, Singapore is very open to the world. Whatever product is superior, we buy. Whatever system is best, we adopt.
On the contrary, Korea, as a nation, is somewhat resistant to influences from the world (except for English language and American pop music)
Korea's never die attitude to make more money, upgrade house, take more courses is both their strength and weakness. This hardworking trait was the key factor for South Korea amazing economy growth. On the down side, Korea's suicide rate is ranked top 5 in the world. My 3 weeks of stay gave me a glimpse of the tension and competition amongst Korean
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