GAN SEUM-LIM (BScHons '89/MSc '93) e-mails us his thoughts on life
as a graduate student in MIT. Find out also what he has discovered about
his favourite topic - food.
The life of graduate students at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is quite different from that
experienced by their counterparts at the National University of Singapore.
One major difference is that MIT graduate students have to take courses
to acquire the required amount of credits. Together with a research thesis,
they form the requirement for a higher degree. There are two types of courses
students can take: those with final examinations and those with final projects
and presentation. In my opinion, the courses with projects are more interesting.
Not only do they make students think hard about what to do (for instance,
coming up with new ideas), they encourage students to figure out how to
go about doing them by actually building a prototype.
I am now pursuing a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences at MIT and working
as a research assistant at the MIT Media Laboratory. It is astounding to
find ideas floating all over the lab and almost everyone knows what is going
on with one another's work.
Very often, collaboration among groups is the driving force behind big achievements
like the Brain Opera. In this particular project, the physics group came
up with new ideas of sensing, measurement and building the electronics for
the opera, while the 'hyperinstrument' group composed the scores and performed
the music of the opera. A strong two-way communication kept them working
together to solve each other's problems.
Students and supervisors of every research group would meet once a week
to keep one another up to date or to discuss about upcoming events or meetings.
Many a time, when there are visitors, everyone is invited to an informal
lunch or meeting to interact. One could speak on any subject under the sun.
As graduate students, we are expected to work independently on our projects
or subjects. However, we are also allowed to hire UROPs (Undergraduate Research
Opportunity Programmes) who are undergraduate students of MIT to help us
in our research work or in areas where we should not be spending a lot of
time. These could be programming or building of hardware. We become their
supervisors for at least a semester. Usually, they stay longer, from a few
semesters to a year. Some may even end up working with the research group
and continue to pursue a higher degree.
Electronic mail (e-mail) is the main form of communication in MIT. From
official contracts to casual chitchat - these are all done electronically.
The use of the e-mail is also an effort to reduce paperwork and paper usage.
So, if you are not connected via the e-mail, you are at a total loss. Unless
it is extremely urgent, telephones are very rarely used. I check my e-mail
almost hourly to make sure I get the messages and respond to them. Even
at home, I use a modem to dial in automatically every two hours just to
check my mail!
Recently, we moved out of campus and are now staying in a ranch-style house
six miles south of MIT, about 25 minutes away if we drive. Between the two
places is Arnold Arboretum, which is a huge public garden managed by the
Harvard University. This place is especially wonderful during the fall and
my wife brings our son there very often. He loves to play with the leaves,
the dogs, the ducks at the pond or just running around collecting pebbles.
One would not miss the mighty Charles River, right in front of MIT. It is
a wonderful sight during the summer when all the sailboats are 'out and
about'. Next to the river is the Hatch Memorial Shell, which is a half-dome
structure where concerts are frequently held during this time. I heard that
to get a seat in front, you have to secure a spot as early as at 8 o'clock
in the morning! (These concerts are free, so people secure places as early
as they can. To be doubly sure, I figure, the Singaporean's style would
be to camp there the night before!) This is especially true on and before
the Fourth of July every year, when the place is lit with spectacular music-synchronised
firework display from the river.
My favourite topic is FOOD! Yummy! But, it is sad to discover that the Chinese
food here is really not meant for us. They have been Americanised with lots
of oil and sugar. Very unhealthy! In other words, they do not taste good
at all! We really miss the chicken rice, curry chicken, satay . . . all
the good old food from home.
Fortunately, we are able to get most of the ingredients for authentic Singapore-style
dishes at Chinatown in Boston. After a couple of initial disasters, my wife
has finally learnt to cook the curry chicken we always love! She also cooks
wonderful chicken rice. Now that it is summer, we may try grilling satay
in our backyard!
Remember the Chinese sausages, an all-time favourite during the Chinese
New Year? Well, these are not available here! The closest we could get are
the Taiwanese sausages. On the same note, many species of vegetables are
not available here too. For instance, we could not get the round cabbage
we have back home - only the white cabbage is available; no red or green
chilli but the huge peppers; no Segamat durians but Thai durians. What a
big sacrifice we have to face! But, at the very least, we have lots of salmon
and lobsters which are cheap over here to content with.
Another interesting observation: pre-cooked food is expensive in America.
In Singapore, we could get a decent meal from a hawker centre for S$2.00.
Here, American-style curry chicken costs US$3.50 from the student food trucks.
There are two restaurants here which claim to have authentic Malaysian and
Singaporean food. They are the closest to the real thing we have in Singapore,
but are not cheap.
The cost of labour is extremely high here. Anything that involves getting
people to do something for you always adds on another two to four times
the cost of materials. Very often, even the materials are expensive (things
made in China are not cheap either). So, it is time for me to re-learn all
the long-forgotten skills like fixing my house and cars.
After having a taste of living in Boston, I would say living in Singapore
is still very affordable. Of course, this is other than buying houses and
cars.
Gan Seum-Lim can be reached at gan@media.mit.edu.
Friends, do visit his web page at
http://www.media.mit.edu/~gan.