Amit Dutta
India

Meet Amit Dutta

Mr Amit Dutta is from Kolkata, India. He is a director with a global professional services firm and is married to Minku, a teacher. The couple have a son who is in college in the United States. Amit is a seasoned traveller, having experienced life in cities as diverse as Tanzania in Africa, the Middle Eastern hub of Dubai, and New York City in the United States. He has also been to Singapore before, his most recent visit being in 2004. The Republic has long held a fascination for them, and the couple wanted to experience the food, life and culture here.

View Amit’s winning entry here.

What was Amit’s Singapore Experience like?

“We like the way the people live their lives, the ease with which you can go about, and how the use of technology has helped to make life easier here. We also like the way the government takes part in supporting the people. All these factors taken together make me aspire to live and work in Singapore.”

Watch highlights of Amit's visit

Amit's visit

Amit’s last visit to the Lion City was as recent as 2004, and yet he and his wife were struck at how much the city had changed since then, such as the rapid development of the Marina Bay area.

In his winning entry, he wrote: “I want to go back to Singapore to delve deeper into the true "Singapore Story" unique in its history, culture and society.” Indeed, the couple chose to explore Singapore’s cultural aspects during their visit.

As part of a visit to the LASALLE College of the Arts, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Venka Purushothaman, shared with the couple the exciting prospects for arts students in Singapore, in fields as diverse as dance and photography to groundbreaking research in art therapy.

Singapore’s commitment to preserving its heritage became evident to the couple during a visit to the Heritage Conservation Centre. There, Director Loh Heng Noi, walked the couple through the Centre’s collection of paintings, textiles, photography, sculptures and historical documents. The visitors learned that the purpose-built Centre is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It handles the storage and conservation of all artifacts under the care of the National Heritage Board (NHB) of Singapore.

Food is a common bond that ties the many cultures that make up Singapore, Amit observed, as they sampled local delights such as goreng pisang (the Malay name for banana fritters) at Maxwell Food Market, and feasted on fiery asam pedas (a hot and sour Malay fish curry dish) in true Singapore style, dining by the colourful Arab Street.

For more of Amit and Minku’s experience in Singapore, see the photographs and video of their visit.

Photo Gallery