I’m originally from Singapore and spent many of my school years (from 14-18) with my startup, a machine learning based device for personalised automatic fall and crash detection and bio-signal based theft-proof access control, as my main focus. This led to insightful experiences, such as exhibiting at CES, the largest technology conference in the world. The startup world is at its core, centred around the question of “how can I help?”, making it easy to connect with people who have highly varied life experiences or roles. 

At 18, I was conscripted into the Singapore Army, where I served as a sergeant in the Combat Engineers, commanding a section. Pace of life in the military was bimodal, marked by alternate rushing and idleness. In this idleness, I came across the work of John Locke, and was particularly intrigued by the idea that all knowledge we possessed was at least driven by, if not wholly dependent on subjective experiences. For example, ‘green’, ‘red’, and ‘blue’ aren’t innate qualities of objects, but rather labels that we categorise the world by due to our ability to easily distinguish between them.  This ignited a curiosity to understand the human mind and brain, since this was the lens by which we processed the information fed to us, and effectively created our own reality.

I decided, then, to apply to Oxford, since I wished to explore these ideas through the tutorial system. I self-studied on weekends, taking double of Oxford’s entry requirements. Coming here has been fundamentally transformative, whether it’s interrogating an idea during tutorials, serendipitous conversations across subjects over meals, or supporting startups through running the OX1 Incubator. HMC, with its natural intimacy and friendliness, amplifies the best qualities of Oxford.

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