It's our BBA blog! : On The Record

Is NS Work Experience?

Helen — Wed, 03 May 2006 14:50:00 GMT

From: Bjorn

Found this article's crisitique on NUS Business School's MBA selection criteria? Is this true? I am a proponent of the view that working experience in NS is relevant for S'porean applicants. Perhaps this is feedback to the MBA pple in Bizad? =)

From: Helen

There was a post on the ST Interactive Online Forum on April 26, "Why doesn't NUS Business School consider National Service as working experience? I refer to the letter 'Why NUS, NTU require GMAT?" (ST, April 21).....

Hmm... Well, always good to look at things from all sides. Lo and behold, I was surprised to learn that the email communications with Gary are still kept, in the archives. Don't think it's nice to put the correspondences online (will make this look like James Gomez Part 2 case). Never-ending story. My personal philosophy - there's always two sides to a coin. No one's completely right, no one's completely wrong.

But there's something which we need to put straight on record (ironically in a blog which is 'off the records'):

(1) Admissions to the APEX-EMBA is highly competitive.

(2) NUS Business School has been ranked among the best in the world for its EMBA programs. The Asia Pacific EMBA programs clinched the 30th place in the latest Financial Times (FT) 2005 EMBA ranking.

(3) It is a highly popular program. This year, we received a record number of applicants and intake for the APEX-EMBA program.

(4) The mean age of APEX-EMBA participant is 41 years, with 16.7 years of work experience. The program is really for mature managers (can't use the word 'old', as I am nearing the age already as each day goes ;-)

It's always something more than meets the eye.

BIZ Nite To The Movies is back! Part 3 - with Mi3!

Helen — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 08:15:00 GMT

Seeing that the exam is nearing the end, we have secured tickets to Mission Impossible 3. The world premiere is set on 5.5.2006 (when some of you are still having exams).

Date: May 10 (Wednesday)

Time: 7pm

Venue: GV Marina

Ticket price going at $4!

Get ready..... Watch this space for more updates!

Holiday Plans (Part 2)

Helen — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:17:00 GMT

Xing returned from an earlier holiday in Bangkok, where she started a blog. Check it out http://www.cherrypeachgarcia.blogspot.com/ Really nice!

Holiday Plans

Helen — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 14:34:00 GMT

Really not sure if anyone's reading this week? It's a few days before exams! Grrghhh...

Remember the time when *I* was mugging for exams, I would daydream *a bit* about what to do *after* exams. Not sure if the students have made their holiday plans yet... Internship? Overseas trips? I'm sure they have figured out what's best for them, and how to utilize their long-long-long holiday break effectively (other than play catch up on sleep).

Our two lovely final-year New Zealander ladies have already begun their holidays last week. Not wasting any time ya. Kimberley is backpacking in north of Vietnam (wow!) and Aana flew to Canada. Hope they are having a wonderful time.

I know some of the students taking modules with complete CAs, are not hibernating for any exams (lucky ones ;-) and I know that a number will be heading out for internships (locally or overseas) eg. in JPMorgan. Good luck, do remember to check back at the blog constantly. Will *try* to have at least one post a day (you know, it's difficult to come up with fresh new ideas every day!). Hence, would like to encourage if you have anything, just anything interesting under the sun during the long term holiday, please, please just share with me and drop me a note. I'll be delighted to hear from you. Stay in touch!

School fund-raising efforts

Helen — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 00:52:00 GMT

It's Easter week, and it is also reading week for the BBAstudents (all the best to their exams!)

The School received an early Easter egg present this year.

(a) Tahir, Chairman of Mayapada Group and an Indonesian philanthropist, has donated $1 million to our School to establish the Tahir Financial Scholarship. Income generated from this endowed gift will enable our School to create about nine scholarships every year for BBA students.

(b) The Ian Ferguson Foundation has provided our School an endowed gift of $280,000 to establish the Ferguson Scholarship. The endowment income will be used to award an annual scholarship to an MBA student to fund the tuition for a two-year MBA program.

(c) An anonymous NUS Business School alumnus has given our School an endowed gift of $250,000. The endowment income will be used to create an annual prize to be awarded to an MBA student to fund a semester-long Student Exchange Program (with a private equity module) at a partnered university.

The above donations would be matched by the Ministry of Education with an additional $1.53 million in matching endowment funds, bringing the total donations to $3.06 million.

Easter present (a) will be particularly helpful to BBA students. Every bit counts. Truly grateful to Mr. Tahir. I was moved and touched by his acts of generosity.

3 Cheers! Hip-Hip-Hurray!

Salsa fever!

Chelsey — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 13:09:00 GMT

By: Lee Keng Leong (BBA 2004)

A post from our alumni who is constantly in touch with us:

Since graduation, I have been involved with doing community service, learning golf, and learning salsa. I guess the learning of salsa should attract the most attention, because many of my bizad friends simply cannot imagine me dancing well! :P

Haha… I picked up salsa not just to prove a point. But I think latin music in general packs a very rich culture. It is also about having great fun!

As expected, I had a pretty steep learning curve to go by when picking up salsa. I started at Xen Bar, and spent almost 6 months before I can last a song with a partner comfortably on the dance floor. It has almost been a year and a half now, and I do get some compliments from the ladies in Union Square. In a nutshell, I think Keng Leong has just got better in dancing! *grin*

Moving forward, I will want to get better with Bachata and Merengue. These are variations of salsa on a 4 beat rhythm, versus salsa’s 8 beat rhythm. Also, there are plenty of trips to look forward to with my new found friends. There’s a kelong trip to Malaysia coming up, and the Malaysia Salsa Festival at the beach in August.

If you people reading my blog are still not convinced of salsa’s fun factor, I guess you can go check with Professor Lau too. He might squeeze in a performance for you at the lecture theatre. *grin*

Keng Leong (2nd from left) with his friends at the March salsa event at Esplanade

BBA – Then and Now

Chelsey — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:46:00 GMT

From: A/P Lau Geok Theng
Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Studies

I was a BBA graduate from NUS – two times.

I got my BBA from the then University of Singapore. Those times, we just do seven subjects in year one, eight in year two and eight in year three. No choices, you just take the subjects offered. We attend classes the whole year, then take final examinations which usually fall around Chinese New Year period (it was a real pain). Final examinations are usually 80% to 90% of course grade. If you fail more than two subjects, you repeat the whole year. If you fail one or two subjects, you take the supplementary examinations which are held in May (back to the books). Out on holidays? You may have to cut short and come back to study if you get your examination results and you have failed in one subject. So what do you think of the current BBA structure? Better? I would rather be a student now. The plus during my time is we had a small cohort of 170 students and we take the same courses, so we know everyone well, especially those in my tutorial groups: all the Kohs, Lees and Lims (since they are not terribly creative at that time and broke us up into groups by alphabetical order).

Doesn't this place look very familiar?

Now on to my second BBA degree. Those days, you are offered BBA (Honours) only at the end of Year 3. You can reject and go out to work. Or you can accept and stay behind and do one more year. It is considered a second degree. So whatever your decision, you will still receive your BBA and attend the convocation ceremony first. I decided to stay and do the Honours year. It was the year University of Singapore was merged with Nanyang University to form NUS. There were only 18 of us, almost half from the previous University of Singapore and half from the previous Nanyang University. We took five compulsory subjects and had three options (a luxury at that time). We had our own classroom and attend classes in the same room throughout. I took a risk and did my academic exercise or thesis under a Nanyang professor. I really don’t know him well but just did it. I attended the second convocation ceremony and received my degree scroll, which had no crest because they could not get it designed and approved in time for the ceremony. It is really not cool to receive a degree scroll with all words and some signatures but with no university crest.

Nope, neither of these are my girlfriends

Now for the juicy part. I found my girlfriend in Year One and she accompanied me in the library through my BBA years. We got married during my Honours year before I graduated. I know some of you BBAs are also in the hurry and have done the same thing. Join the club!

Class photo

From Chelsey: It's contest time again! Guess who the yellow arrow is pointing to and the first person to leave the correct answer here in the "Comments" section wins a $20 voucher! Hint: He's our Marketing prof and his surname starts with "L" too! (Thus same class!)

Waffle Shop

Helen — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 14:04:00 GMT

Earlier was ice cream, now waffle.

It's now 10pm. Getting hungry? Time for supper snack.

Heard that David has started out a small waffle joint @ PGP. Understand that it is just newly opened, 2-week-old, I think?

BBA hostelites, check it out.

(David BBA2 has dabbled his hands in many things, including a web design firm in b-school incubator. Started this small joint with the support of the Canteen Uncle "The Boss". I have been wondering and asked David: what has waffle got to do with web design?)

Live a stone's throw away from PGP, hmmm.... wonder what time it closes..... will drive my son+hubby down to support him someday. My son can probably help to give candid customer feedback. He has a sweet-tooth, likes waffle and ice cream, and he is a fussy eater.

Star Dust? Is that the stuff comets are made of?

aik — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 04:01:00 GMT

Probably, but Bizad is having its own version tomorrow (Friday) night at 7pm in LT13. The judges promised to be nowhere near caustic; in fact, they might just be all ears, and let their pens do the talking.

Come and have a good time and take pictures or videos, and to decide whether some of your fellow students should be sent to the Singaporean Idols. If you shout "Encores!" loud enough, you may just persuade Helen to reharsh the skit she did for her son's PTA (Parents-Teachers Association) meeting.

At least you would find out if the judges agree with your choice for the winner.

Remember, We ACT! (Just for Friday night, ACT could have a different meaning.)

Off To A Start

Helen — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 05:58:00 GMT

Just can't wait to start..... Stealing time from lunch, and doing this while munching with char siew pao on one hand, and tau hua on the other. From being someone who have not accessed a blog before, to now being a blogger, the process itself is quite an experience.

This is the BBA Blog, dedicated to all BBA students. And I would like to take this space to express my heartfelt thanks to Bjorn and Justin. This is their brainchild. They have very gamely and enthusiastically helped in this implementation. Justin (a non-BBA) who has truly gone out of his way; and Bjorn, who has taken time, to provide his valuable advice and feedback. That's the BBA spirit!

The point to make here is, if you have an idea you would like to share, we'll like to listen. In fact, another idea of offering the B-School wristband to each and every of our BBA students comes from one of you out there too.

Have you collected yours? So, keep your ideas coming!