As I’m nearly halfway through my semester of studying abroad in Singapore, I’ve grown used to certain aspects of life here, ya know, as you’d expect. The frequent use of public transportation, the amount of sheer greenery on this island, the societal mindset, and even the tropical weather have all become normalized in my mind.

But one part of Singapore that still stands out to me is a government-curated organization under the name, The Singapore Kindness Movement.

I first noticed the organization’s posters a few weeks back, as I was waiting at a bus stop. The sign immediately stood out to the AOKer in me and I thought, “Oh hey, that’s cool.” And I decided to investigate.

No, I'm not fluent in Chinese (yet), but what caught my attention is the logo - see below.

To the Internet!

Turns out the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) was established in 1996 after then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong called on the Singaporean people to work toward creating a more “gracious society.” Apparently this proposition was so important, its announcement came during a speech that sounds like the equivalent of the US’s State of the Union Address. Rising to the Prime Minister’s call, the SKM was born.

According to the SKM website, “Considerate social behaviour supported by a strong economy and good government will make Singapore the best home for its people. In line with Mr. Goh’s call to build a gracious society, the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) aims to encourage Singaporeans to make a positive commitment to gracious living through simple acts of kindness in their daily activities.”

“To inspire graciousness through spontaneous acts of kindness, making life more pleasant for everyone,” stands as its mission statement.

Sounds easy enough! And with its current public transportation campaign, the reminders for Singaporeans and others to be “gracious” are hard to miss. If you walk into a metro station or take a bus anywhere, you’ll see SKM signs reminding you to give up your seat to someone in more need; say an elderly person or a pregnant woman.

What I think is cool about the SKM is that it’s a widespread, national organization that promotes the well-being of all, for free. There isn’t any fine-print, there are no fees, no legal mumbo-jumbo: just simple, social reminders to help one another out. Volunteer your seat! Clean up after yourself at the cafeteria! Be a little more mindful!

The whole Kindness Movement cause sounds very AOK, including its objectives:

1. To encourage all Singaporeans to be kind and considerate.

2. To create public awareness of acts of kindness.

3. To influence and raise the standards of behaviour and responsibility.

Is it just me, or could this org. count as a widespread Observation??

While this isn't a part of the SKM campaign, I still noticed it in my dining hall on campus. Mindfulness is alive and well in Singapore!

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A funny thing happened to me this morning at my exchange student orientation.

I saw exactly how I wanted to the world to be.

My exchange school, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, arranged to have all of this semester’s exchange students gather in one lecture hall and lay out a couple ground rules and expectations. For three hours, nearly 500 young adults from all around the world sat and listened to school officials explain international travel guidelines and why one shouldn’t overload the outlets in the dorms. Most of the presented information was entirely common sense and more than one student found their iPhone more entertaining (but, I did like the shout-out to American students, that no, dialing 9-1-1 here won’t do anything in an emergency). Of course the university needed to go over all of this. You know, to be able to say that they did tell us that fires are dangerous in the dorms. We weren’t very entertained.

So here we were: trying to pay attention, planning our weekends in our heads, whispering with friends or nursing hangovers. A very typical college lecture hall scene. But then the officials started telling us who we were, and where we came from.

The speaker began asking where the Scottish were, where the Swedes were, where the Chinese were. Hands were raised as the words “Germany,” “Norway,” “United States,” “Canada” and “Finland” were spoken. As our neighbors’ nationalities were displayed, entire bodies turned in their chairs. People took a genuine interest in this kinda thing. Smiles were shared and conversations began. Pie charts filled the projection screen and our eyes were instantly glued to the new information in front of us. They showed how most of the young adults in the room were Swedish (about 50 or more), and how the American and German populations weren’t far behind (tying at about 36 from each country). Everyone was fascinated with where everyone was from, and there was a new energy in the room.

The iPhones were put down, the weekend’s plans were put on hold, and people stopped slouching in their seats. They were actually leaning forward to see the screen, or to meet their neighbors. Everyone was completely fascinated with one another. I was smiling and stunned.

It did not matter what someone’s sex, race or religion was. Politics were ignored. Assumptions were put aside. This was a room full of young people, tomorrow’s generation, taking an organic and simple interest in one another. Everyone was a friend just because you were there and you were a person.

I’ve learned about globalization for the past three years at San Diego State and believe me, Twitter and Facebook have very little on this kind of experience. I try to keep up with the news as much as I can, and maybe it’s the way the American media handles stories and issues, but I think there’s a lot of wrong out there. A pessimist I am not, but when you read about adults and children getting massacred in Norway mere weeks ago, you know everything in the world isn’t all smiles and sunshine and bunnies in fields of bright, happy flowers. Some things are seriously messed up. I met Norwegians today and wondered if they were okay.

There are wars. There is poverty. There is famine. There is corruption and stealing and scandals and lies and affairs and egos and power where it shouldn’t be. There is the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, still in absolute ruin, six years later. There are memories of planes hitting skyscrapers in New York. There are memories of subway bombings in Madrid and London. There are people all around the world who are struggling and dying every day, for reasons entirely unfair.

I know some people may read this and say, “Well, isn’t this the wide-eyed youngster who just doesn’t understand how the world works. Life is mean and then you die, kid,” (or, “Suck it up, you damned hippie.”) But I’m not okay with that. I’m not going to passively roll over and accept things as they are. Going limp and doing nothing when you hear awful stories is, in a way, an awful act in itself. I’ve always hated it when people say there’s nothing they can do to change something. About them I’d say, they just don’t understand how the world works.

When Osama bin Laden was killed, I was particularly interested in the articles about my generation. The articles about young adults like me who were 11 years old in 2001 – who are growing up in a world unlike any other that’s been seen before. We’ve grown up with war, hate, violence, disconnect and miscommunication. I lock my door at night, when my roommate from India does not. The articles were saying that as a result, my generation is more politically active and more attentive to world affairs than ever before. We actually give a shit. I’m sorry, but we’re not all a bunch of self-centered, materialistic idiots. We’re so much more than that, and some people who commented on these articles seemed to disagree.

And yet here is a room of 500 young adults from all over the world, on an island in the middle of Southeast Asia. For a brief few moments, the outside world didn’t exist. We were the world. And our affiliations, positive and negative, didn’t matter. No one cared if someone was conservative or liberal, rich or poor, gay or straight or anything else that tears people apart and creates lifelong barriers. Prejudices were out the window. We were just happy to be there, smile, and shake someone’s hand. People were good to one another, and it was beyond good to see.

The last official to speak used a few words from an old John F. Kennedy speech you might be familiar with. Twisting it for the occasion, he said, “Ask not what the university can do for you, but ask what you can do for the university.”

Ask not what the world can do for you, but ask what you can do for the world.

This isn’t about America or politics, and it’s not about me studying abroad. It’s not even about a younger generation who’ll inherit the world one day. And no, this isn’t about JFK, but thanks for trying.

This is about people. It’s about doing good by your fellow man, woman and child. It’s about trying hard to be a better person, day by day or minute by minute, whatever you can muster. It’s about the small stuff and the big stuff, about being mindful about doing a little more than the bare minimum. Prejudices out the window, taking an interest in others, smiling and shaking hands. There are other people involved, you know. The world could use a little more good.

Today, I saw a side of people I’d like to see again. Actually, I’d like to live in a world with that side of people.

And *thisiswhyIAOK.

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AOK Faithful, I’m writing to you as I come to a realization.

As I began this adventure three days ago, I hadn’t thought about how far I’d be from my native San Francisco Bay Area. I hadn’t thought about how long I’d be away from my family, old friends, and home. I didn’t even consider that I’d still be living in a tropical city ONE DEGREE north of the EQUATOR, which the undying humidity quickly pointed out to me. Time had sped up during the last few weeks, and suddenly I’m here. That said, in 72 hours time, I’ve learned a lot. Please note the following social observations:

• So far, I have not seen one homeless person in Singapore, which is odd, because nearly every major city I’ve been to has at least some sort of number of them.

• There are no sirens here, and the sheer abundance of security and CCTV cameras creates a very “Big Brother” feeling. I’m guessing that if there is ever an emergency, someone has already seen the situation before you can even call it in. Little creepy.

• For a country known for its cleanliness, trashcans are actually incredibly scarce, and if you have something to throw away, be prepared to hold onto it for a few blocks while you scan the sidewalks for a bin.

• If you’re a race that doesn’t fit in here (aka, not Asian or Indian), take Caucasian for example, know that you WILL be stared at. A lot. On the metro. In a dining hall. On the beach. If I ever look around in a public area, there is always a set of eyes on me. Also a little creepy.

• But above all, the most important that I have to share with you, is that the people here, native or not, are incredibly, incredibly helpful.

I’ve quickly noticed that the answer to whatever question I have is seconds away, as long as I ask. Singaporeans won’t talk to me unless I provoke them, which can be intimidating at first but hasn’t turned into an issue yet. If I’m lost, need an ATM, or am trying to find the mall to buy sheets for my bed, the understanding and eagerness to guide me is kind of astounding. Take my new friend Yousef, from Pakistan.

On my second day here, I was trying to make my way to a shopping center to buy bedsheets, laundry detergent, and a cell phone. I’d been there the day before with a friend, but was so exhausted from my 25 hours of traveling I didn’t remember the route at all. I’d looked up directions on my computer (thank God for Google) and headed out, determined that I’d return victorious. I got off at what I thought was my stop, and this Middle Eastern, bearded man immediately saw through my faked confidence.

He asked me about my bus pass and if I knew how to use it correctly, and then asked if I was an exchange student studying at NTU. I reluctantly told him I was, suspecting some sort of scam as I tried to avoid more conversation. He was persistent though, and seemed genuinely interested in who I was and where I was going. He was excited to hear I was from California and told me about his trip to San Francisco and Sacramento. I learned he was studying for his master’s degree in some sort of engineering major, and I told him I was there for my journalism degree. He wanted to know where I was going and what I needed, and then, without me even asking, proceeded to look at my shopping list and took the time to tell me where I could get the best deals and how to get there. I was actually going to the wrong mall, so he gave me the correct bus number and explained how I should get to the right one. Very, very cool dude. He left with a sturdy handshake and said he hoped to see me around campus; that he’d like to get coffee sometime and talk more about California.

I took his advice and lo and behold, I made my way to the right mall, got all my stuff done, and didn’t feel too scammed. Since then, I’ve followed the same route, and I hope I see Yousef sometime so we can talk more about where we’re from. I don’t know much about Pakistan, and it’d be great to learn from a local’s perspective.

One of the best things about this random act of kindness was that there have been at least 4 other similar scenarios. It’s been great to experience help whenever I’ve needed it, and I’m glad I get to travel in a country where that’s so easy to come by. And for that, I’ve realized one of the greatest adventures of my life has only just started.

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Hey AOKers! Exciting news on the expansion front – AOK is going global! No. Literally.

Matt here and I’ve been at AOK for the past three months doing all sorts of cool and fun stuff. From Android-testing to AOK sticker-pushing, it’s been sweet, and it’s about to get sweeter. Here’s some background info: Currently, I’m a journalism senior at San Diego State University, and for my upcoming Fall Semester I’m studying abroad for the first time. ‘Where?’ you ask? No, not in Australia’s outback or the streets of western Europe, as so many US students seem to do. I decided to vastly increase my risk of culture shock and study in Singapore*, a thriving, tiny island in the middle of Southeast Asia.

Me on Marina Bay in Singapore on National Day. World famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel is in the background (the infinity pool on the roof is on my to-do list).

(*Quick fact: Singapore is a weird hybrid of a country/city/state/island all in one incredibly humid package. It’s located 1 degree north of the Equator, and, as I’ve had to explain a few times already, is not right next door to China, Japan, or the Koreas; it’s much further south. Think closer to Malaysia, Thailand, and Bali.)

And to put this into a little better perspective: I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m a tall, lanky white-boy from northern California who was bred on English and un poco of muy mal Spanish. I have little knowledge of Singapore or Southeast Asian culture in general, so I’m expecting a pretty strong “fish-out-of-water” feeling. But while I’m orienting myself around Singapore and its surrounding countries for the next five months, I think AOK can fit pretty well into this picture.

Surprisingly, even to all of us at AOK central, AOKs are already being submitted from all over the world. People in Sweden, Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Saudi Arabia and even Thailand, have either downloaded the app or visited AOK.tv, thusly jumping on board the generosity train. Personally, I think this is fascinating and it’s gonna be great to do and see AOKs from a very real, and very international perspective. And, luckily for you the faithful, a big part of our philosophy here focuses on sharing.

During my time abroad, I’ll be sharing stories and lessons learned about what kindness and generosity is from all sorts of worldly perspectives. With the help of my fellow international students from all over the planet, and by traveling to our neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Bali, I hope I can learn about giving a little back to society in ways I would’ve never imagined. And I hope you’ll join me for the ride.

Check back here throughout the upcoming weeks for blog updates, photos and even videos, and in the meantime, keep AOKing! So long for now – next time I’ll be talking to you from the other side (or maybe your side) of the world.

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