The novelty of studying abroad and living in another country disappeared after about two months for me. It felt as if I had my fair share of the “study abroad experience.” This complacency was likely a byproduct of finally adjusting to the environment. However, knowing that there was much more to experience outside of travelling and attending classes, I was inclined to discover other deeper intricacies of day-to-day life here. This may be derived from joining student interest groups, attending house, college, and other NUS events, or checking out various festivals, conferences, and workshops around Singapore. Although Oahu is about 2.2 times the size of Singapore, Singapore still feels much larger, even after three months of living here. After all, Singapore does rank as the country with the third highest population density in the world. You can only spend so many consecutive hours reviewing lectures before your brain fatigues. Luckily, there is a massive array of events found via Eventbrite, Peatix, Facebook, SGInnovate, NUS Business School, NUS Investment Society, Centre for Asset Management Research & Investments (CAMRI), NUS Enterprise, SGX Academy, etc. that NUS students and the general public can attend. A surprising number of events are completely free of charge. Unsurprisingly, many events are quickly oversubscribed. In an effort to do more with my time, I’ve attended a few of these events, which I outlined below. I noticed that pigeonhole.at is often used for the Q&A session at many events. I will be occupied in the upcoming two weeks with an ACC1006 report, presentation, and peer critique; two FIN3117 quizzes; and a FIN3101A case critique and test. These assessments will collectively account for roughly 30% to 50% of my grade for each module. Tembusu College Forum | Singapore’s Fourth Prime Minister: Aspirations and Expectations Moderated by Professor Tommy Koh, the Rector of Tembusu College and Former Ambassador to the UN, the forum featured Mr. Zulkifli Baharudin, Executive Chairman of ITL Corporation; Ms. Kuik Shiao-Yin, Nominated Member of Parliament and Co-founder of The Thought Collective; Mr. Eugene Tan, Associate Professor of Law at Singapore Management University; and Mr. Tan Yang Long, Tembusu College Student Representative. Mr. Eugene Tan presented that the selection process for the next PM is exclusive and limited to a few, so the public cannot really indicate a preference; how the Members of Parliament are chosen defines the future PM well in advance. When there is a higher level of approval by society, a leader naturally seems more distanced from the public. Mr. Baharudin presented the thoughts of the Malay communities, particularly noting Malay acceptance of meritocracy but rejection of tokenism. There is a need to make Singapore’s economic and business environment less dominated by big business and more permeable for small, local businesses by encouraging local partnerships. Ms. Kuik discussed the psychological and emotional considerations of governing Singapore as the PM in regards to society’s expectations, reception, and judgements in a critical stage of Singapore’s development. She emphasized the influence of the PM’s attitude, character, values on public perception and political influence and decision-making. Perhaps the most memorable part of the forum was Mr. Tan Yang Long’s speech in the form of a letter from Tembusu College to the 4th Prime Minster of Singapore. He questioned if the youth will be seen as leaders or as citizens to be governed, pointing out that although students are encouraged to think critically and voice their opinions, they are also told to respect boundaries and to prefer certain narratives over others. He recognized the impact of social inequality, social mobility, and social identity in uniting Singapore. With such rapid development, basic services are denied to those without technological know-how; will Singapore continue to be a national project all Singaporeans want to be part of? With the assistance of Ms. Kuik, Mr. Tan will deliver a hardcopy letter to each of the 16 fourth-generation leaders. This is the letter. NUS Business School | Behavioural Finance: Mitigating Financial Mistakes
Professor David Reeb presented on irrational decision-making and various behavioral biases, encouraging investors to focus more on cash flows and less on price appreciation. NUS Enterprise and Symphony Creative Solutions | Kopi Chat: Ocean of Opportunities Located just past INSEAD Business School’s Singapore campus, BLOCK71 is NUS Enterprise’s creative space for more than 250 start-ups and 30 incubators, accelerators, and venture capitalists. Mr. Kosuke Wada from Ocean Network Express (ONE) presented challenges in their container liner business and the impact of disruptive technologies on ship connectivity and digitization, hull cleaning, the customer contracting process, and the bill of lading documentation process. Mr. Daniel Sparing from Google Cloud discussed the use of machine learning for scaling, autonomous vessel navigation, cloud detection in satellite images, and pattern recognition. NUS Centre for the Arts | First Time by nuSTUDIOS Film Productions Some of the events presented by NUS Centre for the Arts are ExxonMobil Campus Concerts, which is a series of free-admission performances. Located in Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium in UTown, this production showcased six student-directed short films followed by a panel discussion with the directors. Yale-NUS Society for Academic Research | Development in Asia Research Conference 2018 President of Yale-NUS College Professor Tan Tai Yong opened the conference and welcomed the keynote speakers. Former Secretary-General of ASEAN, Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, presented on ASEAN and Asia’s geopolitical future, touching on the South China Sea disputes, US and China, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar and Rohingya, and the spread of radicalization and extremism. Dr. Thomas Schroepfer presented on sustainable design and architecture as an urban ecosystem. The conference concluded with a panel discussion and student presentations on their senior theses. Comments are closed.
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ABOUT ME
Keng-Chia Chao BBA Candidate in Finance, Accounting, & Management Information Systems Shidler College of Business, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Archives
May 2018
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