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SINGAPORE – It’s turning out to be a winter of discontent for thousands of Singaporean students who returned to campuses in Europe and the United States between August and October.
It was then that the pandemic seemed to be stabilizing. But there has been a rapid resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe and the United States since then.
This occurs as the cold season approaches, and experts warn of an increase in cases during the winter.
Students’ expectations of a fulfilling college life have been undermined by rising tensions between them and their housemates, who are indifferent to the risks of illness, opt to party, and ignore recommendations such as wearing masks. .
Governments in Europe and the US are also struggling to implement safeguards, even as they face political pushback from a population weary of restrictive measures.
The Straits Times spoke to students in Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States last week. They said they are worried, that they have taken precautions, but cannot predict how bad the situation will be. With their parents in Singapore, they have to make their own decisions.
“In fact, I am very afraid to use all the comforts of my hostel,” said Claire Zhou, 23, a student at the University of Oxford in Britain.
“I just stay in my room and refrain from cooking.”
Mr. Xu Jiaxin, 22, in his second year at the Menton campus of French University Sciences Po Paris, said: “Even if you stick to small and responsible social circles, you cannot control what other people are going to do. do”.
For example, a student in Europe said that her housemate has been playing rugby despite being identified as a close contact for a confirmed case of Covid-19.
Europe went from six million cases to seven million in just 10 days last month, according to the United Nations. In the United States, cases surpassed 9 million on Friday (October 30).
It’s lockdown time again in France and Germany, as the United States prepares for an unpredictable presidential election on Tuesday that could see people who are dissatisfied with the results take to the streets, in violation of coronavirus rules.
Kwan Jin Yao, 29, a final-year doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles, said there is also Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, America’s largest family holiday.
“It will be a high-profile event, with people flying all over the United States. It will get worse before it gets better.”
The Foreign Ministry had advised all foreign students earlier in the year to return to Singapore, in view of the pandemic.
Some of the people with government scholarships have been banned from flying back to school and have stayed in Singapore for remote learning.
Students who prefer the full experience are among those who flew back between August and October when school terms began.
Shaun Ang, 21, a freshman at the London School of Economics (LSE), did so in September to “maximize my experience” in that city.
He added, “I’m paying college fees and I didn’t want to just do online classes.
“At that time, the situation was improving, so I didn’t expect the cases to increase either.”
Master student at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands Liaw Su Xin, 25, is back on campus as her landscape architecture course requires her to be on-site for some activities, while others are taught online.
She said: “The pandemic is definitely affecting my educational experience. Online discussions always have some communication problems and a lack of connection and spontaneous interaction.”
Students have had to adapt to cumbersome communications and more in Europe under the virus cloud.
They said their European counterparts have been less adherent to the rules and that some continued to reserve clubs for parties, where there is risk as social distancing is often not observed.
Ang said that it is still mostly Asian students who wear masks constantly.
Kelly Yeo, a 20-year-old student at Philipps Universitat Marburg in Germany, estimates that only one in five people wears a mask when going out.
Many European countries stipulate the use of masks only in indoor areas such as supermarkets.
In any case, the rules are difficult to enforce, the students said.
“It’s very difficult to regulate because of the size of Britain and there are no social distancing ambassadors around,” said Ethan Cheng, 22, of University College London.
The students are making adjustments and preparing for a long and harsh winter.
Elizabeth Tong, 22, a student at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, said returning to Singapore is not a viable option, citing the costs of quarantine as a factor.
However, he is optimistic about staying, pointing to Germany’s renewed efforts to fight the virus.
“We have a difficult and gloomy winter, but I feel that if we adhere to the recently imposed restrictions, we will be able to” see virus cases decrease, “he said.
Additional reporting by Ng Wei Kai, Jean Iau, and Wong Shiying
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