On one hand, the support given by Annelissa has helped to improve my skills in literature search and NUS Libraries' resource exploration. I am grateful for her advice, and many of the advice could be used in my research pursuits in the future.

Additionally, the funding provided by the fellowship is a rare opportunity for undergraduate students—who would not have had funding otherwise—to fund research projects that they are interested and invested in. As the first experimentalist awardee of the fellowship, lab materials can be expensive, with an antibody costing up to SGD1000 for purchase. Having the financial means to cover the costs of the project provides me with a lot more intellectual freedom to pursue interesting findings and not be afraid of failure.

Lastly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Tan Chee Wah, and team for their invaluable guidance in running the day-to-day experiments and for their intellectual mentorship. Having good and supportive supervisors truly makes the whole process an exciting one. I highly encourage undergraduates from all disciplines to choose a supportive mentor, and apply for future iterations of this scholarship. You may never know if the small investments you make in research today may change the world in the future!

The realities on Christian Singaporeans, the racial dynamics within them, and how they interact with especially Malay-Muslims are deeply unique and important to Singapore’s sociocultural landscape, but rarely acknowledged. Ultimately, my purpose in doing so was to shed light on the experiences of especially marginalised and minoritised brown communities in Singapore. As anyone with a goal in mind, these goals are sometimes not met, or they fluctuate and change as the project process evolves. My goal was never to find a fully uncover the racism that Malay-Muslims experience, or the lives of all Christian Singaporeans, but this research process definitely exposed me to the intricate complexities of a solo project that sometimes left me demoralised.

Apart from the stipend that helped me reimburse my interviewees and finance my travels between joss paper shops across various estates, the fellowship had also exposed me to the plethora of resources in NUS Libraries that made my research process much smoother. While I had visited the library building quite often in the past, it was only during the fellowship that I learned about the microfilms here. This definitely saved me the hassle of visiting the National Library just to capture images of old newspaper articles.

On top of that, the fellowship also introduced me to the most helpful and knowledgeable librarians we have on campus. I am extremely grateful to my librarian mentor Chai Khim (and Li-Jen and Jie Ying as well) for teaching me how to use the microfilms in the library, and introducing me to a variety of resources that I could consult for my research. One such resource was the oral history recordings and transcripts uploaded to the National Archives database. As someone new to conducting oral history interviews, I faced many uncertainties in how I should record and transcribe my interviews. Fortunately, Chai Khim pointed me to the transcriptions on the National Archives database as a reference. I believe this also contributed to the quality of my research output.

Finally, on that note, I appreciate NUS Libraries' interest in storing my interview recordings and transcripts. This has expanded my research output beyond the thesis paper I had written, since I can now make some of my primary sources accessible to future researchers. I am deeply honoured to be able to contribute to the library's resources and possibly inspire new research pathways. Indeed, I think this fellowship has helped me realise that one does not need to be a graduate researcher to be able to conduct useful and meaningful research. I thus encourage any undergraduate who is interested in research (even if it is a slight interest) to take the leap of faith, apply for this fellowship and witness how much you can achieve.

This experience not only deepened my interest in these fields, but also equipped me with the skills to work independently. It pushed me to take initiative and affirmed my desire to continue pursuing research that bridges multiple domains of knowledge.

Throughout this journey, NUS Libraries has played a crucial role in supporting my work. From access to well-curated databases and specialised resources, to the guidance provided by my mentor Suei Nee, NUS Libraries has been an invaluable support in my research. I am very grateful for the resources and support that have shaped my development as a student researcher.

Under this fellowship, I explored the banking history of Singapore which is very important and helpful for acquiring a more comprehensive understanding of the island-state's unique financial industry. I have seen a clearer trend of the government's stance in regulating and developing the sector, which plays the centric role in building the global financial hub. In the modern age, the world becomes deeply interconnected with trade and technology and Singapore banks are at very favourable positions to grow regionally and globally which would further reinforce the nation's competitive edge even amidst today's greater uncertainty.

Along the research journey, I obtained immense help from my supervisor Prof Seng and NUS Libraries mentor Ms Su Yian in terms of navigating through the vast collections of resources, and in how to conduct a formal and in-depth research project. I attended the libraries' Researcher Unbound series which provided invaluable training in advanced research techniques and database utilisation.

The fellowship has solidified my interest in the banking industry, and I intend to leverage this work to pursue further research and career opportunities in the local and regional financial sectors. I am keen to further develop this research, specifically examining how technological advancements and regional economic integration are shaping the future of banking in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

As a fellow, the stipend allowed me to provide my interviewees with ample compensation for the valuable insights that they have given me. Applying for and managing my funds from the fellowship was also an essential part of this real-world research experience. I regularly accessed the discussion room in the Central Library for a quiet and conducive space to review my literature. My deepest gratitude goes out to my library mentor Stephanie, my thesis supervisor Dr Shelley, and the fellowship coordinators for their timely and patient guidance.

As a member of society, conducting this research highlighted to me the symbiotic relationship between human health and the environment where our essential resources originate from, suggesting the need for a collective responsibility to live sustainably. The insights from my interviewees demonstrated an alignment between this collective responsibility and the concerns of Singaporean parents for their children's futures, suggesting that they could be the key target audience for the promotion of sustained action against GEHTs moving forward.