Mon 17 Sep 2007
You may have seen her on campus. You may have thought she is just another exchange student. In fact, she is enrolled in the full-time Bachelor of Laws degree course in NUS Faculty of Law.
Anja Bihler, who is now into her second year of undergraduate studies, comes from Stuttgart in Germany (which she says is only interesting for cars and soccer). The first question that pops up in your mind: why NUS law school?
“It all began with a Singaporean friend of mine who is married to a German. She would often tell me about Singapore and I became interested in what the city had to offer.”
It was not without some difficulty that Anja managed to convince her parents and grandmother that Singapore really exists and is not just a part of China as many Europeans believe. “I had to pull out a map and literally point to the exact location of Singapore.” Indeed, the first time she set foot on Singapore was when she came for the entrance interview at the Faculty.
Anja completed her International Baccalaureate in Germany before pursuing her tertiary education at NUS. Was there any culture shock? “I’ve never seen so many hardworking students in my life. In German schools, people have better things to do than to study…students who work hard are the bare minority.”
It was certainly not just a twist of fate that brought Anja to our midst. Commenting on the competitive edge of NUS law school, Anja says matter- of -factly, “NUS law school enjoys good reputation and if you’d want to work in Asia, it is the natural choice to make.” Will she stay on in this little red dot? “As long as I like it here, I will stay.”
An Qi is a second year law student and the Juris Editor.