What do you get when you huddle up journalists from 13 Asian countries for a three-month stint in Singapore? A melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds, all sharing a common goal to enhance their professional skills and gain a deeper understanding of key trends in the area of journalism and communications.

In its sixth year, the 2014 Temasek Foundation – Nanyang Technological University Asia Journalism Fellowship (AJF) gathered 16 mid-career media professionals including Ko Ko Gyi from Myanmar, Dewi Yuhana from Indonesia, and Narayan Wagle from Nepal, for three months in Singapore where they were joined by other journalists across Asia such as India, Thailand, and Pakistan.

An initiative by Temasek Foundation and Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), AJF is an annual programme that brings together a select group of journalists from across Asia to pursue their intellectual interests, learn, and exchange ideas about the region's varying media landscapes. AJF also provides the opportunity for the Fellows to tap the minds of newsmakers in Singapore's public and business sectors. Beyond the programme, the Fellows forged long-lasting friendships through cross-cultural sharing of experiences and appreciation of diverse cultures.

Through a series of workshops, seminars, and dialogues, the 2014 Fellows had the opportunity to expand their professional knowledge. Apart from visiting newsrooms such as The Straits Times, CNBC, and Reuters, the Fellows also attended workshops on social media and data journalism.

One of the key highlights of the 2014 programme is the annual Temasek Foundation Asia Journalism Forum. Held in Singapore from 15 to 16 May 2014, distinguished academics and leading practitioners discussed issues and challenges relating to the sustainability of independent journalism in society. This was followed by an intensive workshop on data journalism from 17 to 18 May 2014.

“Year after year, the AJF Fellows have shared how the programme has helped them professionally and personally,” said Mr Benedict Cheong, Chief Executive of Temasek Foundation. “Many of them have continued to keep in close contact after the Fellowship and even visiting each other in their home countries. It has been enriching to see how the Fellows engage each other in lively discussions on the social, economic, and political issues of the day in their communities. This spirit of active engagement, friendship, and connectedness embodies Temasek Foundation’s vision of building a shared future in Asia.”

For Myanmar journalist Ko Ko Gyi, 28, the three-month stint in Singapore was the longest time he had spent away from home and only the second time he had been outside his home country. This "exposure" to a new environment has been very important and inspiring for Ko Ko.

Back home, he is a senior reporter with English-language Mizzima Business Weekly Magazine in Yangon, which he joined in late 2012. Like many media outlets in Myanmar, Mizzima had only restarted its operations in April 2013 after the government liberalised the political landscape and allowed all exiled media to return. 

"Being in Singapore has inspired me to explore new things, for example, learning about the public policies here and how the government has created its business hub," he said. "I have gained an understanding of Singapore's media landscape and tried to assess everything I've seen here."

"I realised I needed to catch up with learning new things. That's why the exposure is so important. It reinforces my profession and skills," Ko Ko said.

Indonesian editor for business, education, and youth at Malang Post in East Java, Dewi Yuhana, pointed out that the Asia Journalism Fellowship not only enabled her to experience Singapore, it also allowed her to make new connections with journalists from the 13 countries who were part of this year's programme, including Viet Nam and the Philippines.

The Fellows shared each other's religious and cultural practices, and appreciated how different the media landscape was among the various Asian nations.

Dewi noted that the Indonesian media, for example, could write about virtually anything, but this might not necessarily be the case in countries such as Singapore.

Ko Ko also compared the rapid development of the new media environment in the Philippines, and expressed hopes that his own country, where mainstream print media currently dominates the market, would follow suit in the next one to three years. To get to that stage, however, Myanmar would first have to overcome challenges related to technology and infrastructure, he acknowledged.

For veteran journalist Narayan Wagle, transformation was something he was very familiar with.

Currently a writer and columnist with Setopati.com, the 43-year-old was formerly editor-in-chief of Nagarik Daily and Kantipur Daily in Nepal, and has been a journalist for over 20 years. He is also the author of two best-selling novels.

Three months in Singapore had given Narayan much-needed time to reflect and engage with other like-minded journalists in, what he described as, a "semi-academic and semi-professional" environment.

Compared to other Asian nations which had experienced and are still experiencing political and social crises, Singapore, in this sense, "isn't truly Asia", Narayan said, noting that his home country, for instance, has been going through transformation for the last six decades. While much of Asia is struggling and still in transition, he noted that Singapore remains a stable society and one that is "truly cosmopolitan".

Being part of the Fellowship has provided him the platform to share his country's experience of transformation and better relate with other journalists whose home nations were going through similar transitions.

"Asia is so diverse so you can't put it in a package. Every country has its own unique problems," Narayan said. "We also face the same problems as journalists. We have to compete with social and digital media, and we have to figure out ways to gain more readers."

Dewi concurred, noting that she will continue to keep in touch with the Fellows after the end of the programme to get advice and pursue her dreams. For example, Dewi looks to Philippines Fellow Arlene B. Burgos, who is head of social media and mobile at ABS-CBN Digital, for advice on social and online media, and she sought guidance from Narayan on publishing her own book.

"It's not just a journalism programme. It's connected us as a family of sisters and brothers," Dewi said. "This programme has opened my mind and made me look beyond Malang Post and my home, and learn that if things can be achieved in other countries, then we can do likewise at home."

Ko Ko echoed: "Journalists should look outward and see what's happening outside their own country. In my country, so much is about looking internally and we live in a closed society. We should catch up with other societies and do so by looking outward."

“Journalists are expected to help their society make sense of change, but they themselves often lack the time to learn and reflect. AJF gives them that opportunity,” said Mr Cherian George, Director, TF-NTU Asia Journalism Fellowship. “AJF is also about creating a pan-Asian network of journalists who can transcend narrow nationalistic perspectives and appreciate our inter-connectedness.”

What else will they take away from their Singapore experience? For 34-year-old Dewi, who experienced inline skating for the first time here, local dishes laksa, nasi lemak, and cheese prata have created many savory memories from her stay here.

Narayan, on the other hand, loves curry chicken and is a huge fan of the Botanical Gardens as well as the public lectures available in Singapore for anyone to participate, such as those organised by the NTU. He also lauded the number of children who visited public libraries here.

Ko Ko noted that Singaporeans were helpful, despite what he had read online about the country's apparent "compassion deficit", and related how one local guy whom he had stopped to ask for directions showed him the best route.

As societies become increasingly complex and their citizens empowered with abundant sources of information, journalism must strive to remain sustainable and fulfil its role of serving public interest.

The Fellowship aims to help Asian journalists sharpen their professional skills and be better armed in the world of new media. To date, the Fellowship comprises 93 journalists from 16 nations across Asia.