Publication: The Business Times Date: 31 July, 2006 Headline: 'Learn, take the lead and be brave'

'Learn, take the lead and be brave' Valedictorians speak to KRfTl S l M H about their university life, ambitions and expectations of the 'real world'

L AST week. we took a look at for- mer valedictorians from the three universities in Singapore and how their lives have changed since they stepped out into the "real world".

This week, in the second part of our graduation special, we

talk to four valedictorians from the Singapore Management University (SMUI, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) graduating batches of 2006.

We talked to these over-achievers about their lives at university, the lessons they've learnt (inside and outside the classroom). the experiences that mads them grow, their am- bitions and their expectations of the real - world -a word so overused now that it hard- - ly evokes the significance it holds:

DARREN LIM Singapore Management University Bachelor of Accountancy with Law as second major (Summa cum Laude) WHEN Mr Lim joined SMU, he was on a mis- sion: he hadn't done as well as he had expec- ted in his A levels and he was out to prove a point.

"I had a feeling I had something to prove to myself," he said, and four,years aRsr mak- ing that promise one would think he had suc- ceeded.

The 24-year-old graduated from SMU this year with a perfect score 4.0 grade point average and a position as Analyst at HSBC Global Investment Banking.

When asked why he chose to study ac- countancy - probably considered the dullest subject - he responded by saying: "1 felt that an accountancy degree would help me in my future career as it is a very flexible degree. AU businesses require someone with financial know-how."

Having been part of the third batch of stu- dents at SMU, one would assume that Mr Lim would have been slightly sceptical about the choice he made, but he said without prompt-

Source: The Business Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Publication: The Business Times Date: 31 July, 2006 Headline: 'Learn, take the lead and be brave'

choice he made. but he said without prompt ing: "1 was attracted to SMU by its much- toutad interactive seminar-stvle wstem. Hav- Ing completed my education &A. I feel that SMU has met, and exceeded, my lnftlnl expec- tatioas."

Qutck to dispel myths about valedbhrians being bookish, he talked about his co-currlcu- lar interests. A keen reader, his interests range from aikido to public relations.

His list of university-level extra-curricular activities could give m n the most soeiany ac- tive studente a sww infieriorlty complex, He was part of the university's &do team, Pice- president of public relations for the Toast- masters' chtb. a member of the Students' As- sociation Council, and fnterim vice-president and flrst elected president of SlclU's Account- Ins Sodety.

One would think that with such an impres- sive record it would be hard not to feel a little smug, but Mr Lim showed an immense amount of humility by talking about the sup- port given to him by his parents. When asked about the most Important experiences from his years at college. he sald: "It was a big sur- prise to b o w that I was chosen valedictorian; there were so many othar deserving students. I have met so many people in my batch who are better than me in so many different as- pects and I know I have much to learn from them. This Is even more so wfth my new col- leagues who have so much industry experi- enca."

"I have also learnt bow fortunate 1 am through the community service acdvftles I have W e n part in and am now a bQmr in contributing back to soclety through educa- tion." be said when talking about learning to give back to those less fortunate.

Now that he is out of university, Mr LLm hopes to learn and assimilate as much as he possibly can.

"i am very new to the worklng world. as such my immediate plans ate to work as bard as I can in my new job. to learn as much as I can from my colleagues. and to contribute as much as I can to the company."

When asked for a message to young aspIr- Ing readers, he signed off by sqylng: "Learn for the salre of learning. There's absolutely no point In scoring a perfect grade if you cannot apply what you've learnt to the workplace or to your personal life."

H U N G DANWEl National University of Singapore Degree in Ufe Sciences (Concentration in Biology) First Class Honours MR HUANG'S list.of acoomplishments and honow-4 seem to go on forever: he was en- rolled in the University Scholars Rogramme and graduated with a cumulative average point of 4.6 out of 5 which landed him a p W ment on the Vice-Chancellor's tist. He was al- so awarded the Joanna Wong Gold Medal and Holttum M e .

Currently a graduate student a t NUS' De- partment of Biological Sdenees, Mr H u n g is pursuing an MSc in biology by research. It Is Impossible not to notice that coral systemat- ics and biogeography and giant clam emlogy -his research topics - are close to his heart.

When dlscwing the most eye-opening ex-

periences orhis university sitylife he responded by sayiag: "What I learnt was that our own eommon sense notions may not be reflective of how the real world works. My research in the honours year focused on giant clam ecolo- gy. Who would have thought that these huge. ~mWi&dy animds have the a b w to w&? I certainly was deepty surprised. and that formed the msin course of my research."

Even his main reason of joining NUS was that he felt that it was very strong in marine and biodiversity research. Being on the Uni- versity Scholars Programme, meanwhile, provided him with a broad-based, multidiad- pllnary educatlon. "This world does not hcr ion ap discrete

disciplines allow it to; rather it is necassary to have a holisPIc view of ow environment by drawing innovative connections between subJecfP and ideas," he sald by way ofaxpla- nation.

Marine biology defkdtely seems to be bis dlhg Mr Huang also enjoys scuba diving: but this 24-year-old also has a strong sense of what others in the world are going through and the opporhtnittes that have.come his way.

"I always feel that it is a privilege to be able to receive tertiary education. Many in this world have W t e d 'educational opportu- nities. let alone university educatlon," he says. '1 hold on to the ideal that if everyone who is given the chance to study works hard to push the boundaries of knowledge, innova- tion and technology, this world may become more habitable; and education, even tertiary educatlon. can becoma a reality for aR."

It i s one thing to talk about InequaUty and d e r l n g and qulte another to actually work at maklng a dlfterence. hir Huang does juit that, and with charactdstlc wllltngness and h W t y .

He took part in and led overseas commu- nity projects and humanitarian relief efforts to Vietnam. Sri Lanka and Wstan. He also partidpated in the inaugural National Youth Forum 2004, and is in the orgaming com- mittee of the second lnstalment of the forum this year. He is also a volunteer for the Hair for Hope cause in aid of the Children's Cancer Foundation: and recently had his head shaved to help raise donations.

He is also a volunteer in the biodiverslby and marine consewation scene, being part of the Toddycats! (the volunteer arm of the Raf- fIes Museum of Biodiversity Research) and Blue Water Volunteers (a marine conserva- tion society), serving as a nature guide for public walks on coral reefs at Southern Is- lands of Shgapore and partldpating in coral reef surveys and studies in Singapore.

TalWnff about one experience at rr Youth Expedftion Programme to Vletnam, he said that one of the most important lessons he learn was that the same environment that surrounds us Is seen very differently mong people, and many factors could have led to thts, Including differences In the people's so- cio-economic status, own experiences and prejudices.

"It was interesting to obserre that, al- though it was the same situation on the ground that we were witnessing. the needa that b e local officials perceived were very dlf- ferent from the way we see it; and within the

team, we had differences in how the situation warrants our help as well," he said.

He hopes to wntlnue working in the ma- rine r e ~ & fleld and contribute to the vari- ous organlsations'be is committed to. His signhg-off message is a motto &om a forum he is a part of: 'Take the I d ; be the change. RIght here. Right now."

WONG KAI JUN 8 WONG KAI UN Nanyang Technological University achel lor of Accountancy with minw in Chinese Studies (Second Upper Class Honours) THE third "valedictorian" is different for more than one reason. Not only does NTU have two graduate representatives from the Nanyang Business School (NBS) Bachelor of Aaountancy class; but they're also twin-sis- ters. Since NTW does not have a valedictorian system, the twins were chosen to represent their batch at the graduation ceremony.

The 21-year-old sisters graduated from NBS with an honours degree and have al- ready landed a job each &th Pricewaterhou- secoopers IPwC).

Career-oriented they certainly are: the girls plan to attain their professional degree. a Certified PractIc£ng Aceouutanf at the end of three years with PwC and have already reg- istered for exadnation and wrtiflcation with another professional handal degree - Cer- Med Ffnandal Analyst.

They say that they chose NTU beeause of the quality of the Instructors who t h e m l v w have been successful In their prevfous han- daVauditrelatad jobs and their field of re- search. "being one of the top business schools in kpia, the accreditation of NBC was an influencing factor as well". After havlng graduated, aey have evm more to add about the school's bend&.

"NBS provide$ many opportunities, be in it terms of inter-varsiQ exchange, overseas exchange. a l ~ e t w o r k i n g activities and even international competition. As long as we are w i h g to speak up and mme out with a good plan/idea, the school is willing to pro- vide the necessary support to help us achieve what we set out to do. This gives us much room for flexibility and growth in terms of personal development."

Accounting has always been a passion for them: they loved anal- tblngs slnce they were young, choosing aculuntancy was easy, they Mid.

"An accounting degree opens up the op- portunfty to take on a variety ofjobs £n the 5- nanca sector, because the startlng point of all business performance lies in the h a n d a l statements (FS). Once we learn how to read and analyse the FS, we b a d d y can swltch between a variety ofjobs, ranging from being an auditor, finandal analyst or even a consul- tant, perhaps even a private investor. There is more flexibility in terms of the career op- tions in the future."

Their ddve eomes kom their father. they sad. who haa bwn a source of inspiration and motivation for them.

They spoke about the story they've heard

often. and one that keeps them determined. "Since we were youug. ow father hm al-

ways told us a story of a kampung boy who llved In a d h g e in Malaysia. The boy was db cowaged from receiving educatlon because his parents felt that it wasn't important, Thls boy, who wan very poor, decided one day that lmowledge and education were knportmt for a bettar liPe in the hture.

"So this boy I& home and came all the way down to Singapore. He was alone with no money, stranded In a totlatly forelgn wmtry he had never seen, and did not even have a roof over his head, He slept overnlgbt at a bus stop and ate only bread for his meals just to earn money and 5 d ftutber educatlon,"

"But this boy never gave up, and through sweat and determination, slowly found his way to education and a good life. This kam- pung boy, our father, who is now the exeou- We director of P h t Bngineerlng Company, has always made it a potnt to tell us how s u e cess was never easy, how a good life was built and not to be taken for panted, and how life is about perseverance and adversity manage- ment.

'These values saw us through many M i - cult tlmes. and guided us whenever we were about to lose focus. It gave us a purpose to what we were doing and prompted w to m- h u e worklng hard."

It is obvious that the twins enjoy account- ing and audit work, but they atso love travel- hg. playing badmsnton. the piano and solv- ing business w e s . They like engaging in good conversation and are big pool and mahjong fans.

Their most eye-opening experience they said was the Business Case Competition they took part in at University of Washington, Se- attle. They represented NTU and competed with stndents from 16 other unfversitIes from all over the world.

"We Interacted with 64 outstandhg gtu- dents from d over the world, and were truly intrigued by the cultural depth that these stu- dents brought with them. The way they ap- preciated their own home culture. the way they talk about their polltical and education system, the way they crltlque the pofldes of their own nations, it was truly Inspiring."

The girls talked about courage and Fhal- .lenging themselves and explahed how they were average students when they joined m.

"We never thought we win be able to jug- gle our CCA and studiea one day. take courage to go for an hternatlonal competition, speak up confidently as an ambassador, or be granted an intemtdp and long-tern job op- portunity with JPMorgan/PwC. We learnt to be brave, to challenge ourselves and to emerge as a more cadident Individual each trme." they explained.

Going forward. Kai Jun and Kai LLn de6- nitdy want to eomptete their WA and CPA at PwC before pursuing a masters' degree. After whlcb, thy hope to pursue a full-fledged ca- reer in business c o n s ~ g / ~ i S m u s i n e s s rescue or advisory.

"Believe in yourse1f. and never stop learn- ing. Be brave to aceept challenges, seek out opportunities and try to go for a well-rounded Ufe," was the twins' advice ta anyone hoping to succeed at university.

Source: The Business Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.