Mr Tay is staying in Tec de Monterrey which he considers too far from the epicentre of the flu outbreak to be dangerous. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOEL TAY
UNDERGRADUATE Joel Tay, 23, found himself faced with a tough choice when the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak got students in his Mexican university scrambling for home.
Against his parents' wishes, he decided to stay - at the same time that some of the 10 Singapore undergraduates with him began catching the first flights home.
The third-year accountancy undergraduate from the Singapore Management University was on an exchange programme in Tec de Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon in northern Mexico. Also on the exchange were four other SMU students and six from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Mr Tay said about his decision: 'I've saved up and planned for this exchange trip for more than six months.'
He also penned in a travel blog: 'To me, the virus is nowhere near as bad as what's on the news. Mexico is huge and the virus is in a completely different area.'
Mr Tay said he first realised something was amiss two Sundays ago, when at the university swimming pool with friends.
'Some people told us that it was not exactly safe to swim because of the virus,' he added. They were told people had died.
He became anxious when he saw news reports that the virus was rapidly spreading. That night, he got the bad news that classes were suspended for two weeks.
The worsening outbreak shook the community, Mr Tay said. There were no signs of the usual raucous gatherings.
'Usually it'll be full of life. Mexicans eat dinner at 10pm, and there're always parties, even on a Sunday night,' he said.
Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
