GEM JOINS MODERN SOUTHEAST ASIA CLASS, NOT REALIZING THE BRUTALITY OF 9AM CLASS

Gem Tan (‘19) has enrolled in YSS2228: Modern Southeast Asia, without realizing how hard rolling out of bed at 8 in the morning is.

“I haven’t had a 9am class in one-and-a-half years,” said the slightly glazed Anthropology major, “I figured rising with the Sun would be poetic, but it’s really just warm.”

Gem was born and raised in Singapore, but has travelled to many countries including the rest of Southeast Asia. Her academic interests are focused around the realm of medical anthropology, particularly reproductive anthropology - favorite themes include pregnancy, parenthood, infertility. Outside of academia, she loves musical theatre and food. Although she grew up in a country lauded for its gastronomic prowess, she counters that the neighboring nation of Malaysia has better and cheaper food. In a recent trip to Penang, she realized that the kwuay teow teng there was so much better than the one here. She has spent many a sleepless night wondering why when food-wise, geographically and culturally, the two nations share many similarities.

When asked if she had managed to have breakfast, the supposed food-loving senior shook her head. She had made the choice many of her peers often do in the time-old battle between sleeping in and making it for breakfast. “Morning nutrition is overrated anyway.”