Tag Archives: Singapore

Visiting nature – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Club goes biking in Pulau Ubin

December 20, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

by Eric Oandasan, Filipino, CSR Club Co-Chair, Nanyang MBA participant, Intake 2011

A few months into the program, being stuck inside the air-conditioned, sometimes freezing confines of the classroom, can sure take its toll on our ‘sanity’. Offering a refreshing escape from the city, the CSR Club held its first event at Pulau Ubin, an island off Singapore’s main island, one of the few reserved spots in Singapore untouched by urban development. Already a popular tourist destination, the small island brought 15 of us, mostly city-dwellers, to a brief experience back to nature. Coming from various cultural backgrounds, from Europe to Asia, and having experienced nature treks in our own countries, we were looking forward to this common yet different experience from our rather predictable city life.

pulau-ubin-13 — One of the many mangroves dotting Pulau Ubin

Continue reading Visiting nature – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Club goes biking in Pulau Ubin →

Blog, Clubs

Women in Business Club launched – a first in Nanyang Business School

December 13, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

by Clarie Kwa, Singaporean, Co-chair of WIB club and Current Nanyang MBA Participant, Intake 2011

Last September, The NANYANG MBA Women in Business (WIB) club was launched at the Nanyang Business School’s One-North campus in Buona Vista, located near the town area. Twenty (20) women – MBA students and friends, attended the inauguration of this first women-centric club with the theme centered on ‘Carpe Diem’, a popular Latin phrase translated as ‘to seize the day’.

Being the founding members, we were extremely privileged to have the support of not just the school, but also our networks. Dr Siri Chutikamoltham, Senior Teaching Fellow and Director for Banking and Finance of Nanyang Business School, gave us the honor of giving the welcome speech. Our keynote speakers were corporate executives: Ms Cheong Pik May, Group Director of Integrated Healthcare Information Systems, and Mr. Soon Loo, CEO and President for Elevation Group and Director for Indiabulls Property Management Trustee Pte Ltd (IPIT).

As the event progressed, the speakers made it clear that a support system would be vital. As Dr Siri put it very aptly, the WIB club is a forum for sharing and support. Girlfriends can always be relied on. Pik May recommended having a good team throughout one’s career. She continued to propose the importance of family and marriage. In fact, marriage can be a source of stability for one working in a competitive working environment. Pik May made a clear distinction between balancing both roles equally and juggling these roles and responsibilities. Many mistook a work-life balance as an equilibrium in which both aspects are in equal proportions. However, it is really a juggling act where neither aspect should be allowed to fall through.

It was a very fruitful evening for everyone. We learned about the challenges and joys of being a woman- balancing studies and personal/family life. As Minyu, one of our Singaporean classmates, reflects, “I think the common challenge is time management. It is sometimes tiring to juggle between studies and work, and also leaving some time for our family and friends. Personally, I think it is important to get some ‘alone’ time so that we take time off to reflect and refocus and prioritize items which are important and close to our hearts. Of course, there is also the warmth and help from family, friends and company that makes these challenges less taunting and more manageable.” Apart from discoveries and reflections that Minyu took away that night, she also made meaningful network among her classmates and the speakers, “The WIB inauguration was a great start for the first women club in The NANYANG MBA! During this event, I got to meet more female students who are keen to make a difference to their own lives and others. The speakers also shared very interesting self experiences and how they have made it thus far. It definitely motivated me to be an inspiration to another one day. In short, it was a very fulfilling night!”

The event concluded with a toast in the splendor of “Yum Seng” (a Chinese tradition of toasting). New friendships were formed. Contacts were exchanged. Most importantly, everyone went home, with something close to their heart to muse.

Blog, Living in Singapore

"Moon Festival" – Celebrating Chinese traditions

December 6, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

by Kabeer Chaudhary, Indian, Nanyang MBA Participant, Intake 2011

Diversity is key to create a great and memorable experience and we are fortunate that The NANYANG MBA fosters this and strive to have such for its students – we have 18 nationalities in our cohort! This diversity in nationalities gives us the opportunity to learn about other people’s culture without having to go that far. And we did – right here in Singapore!

The 2011 Student Executive Committee (Ex-Co) kick-started this year’s events for current students with the celebration of the ‘Mooncake Festival’ in September, also known as the ‘Mid-Autumn’ or ‘Moon Festival’ at the Chinese Gardens. The Chinese Gardens, also known as Jurong Gardens, is one of Singapore’s nature parks and is built over 8 hectares in 1975 under the guidance of a well-known architect from Taiwan. Twenty (20) of us, current MBA students, with our families and friends, walked through the gardens and were greeted by northern Chinese imperial style of architecture and landscaping. The place awed us with its colorful lanterns tied to ancient legends dotting the lake and the grounds and Chinese customs of the festival.

Mooncake or Moon Festival is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by the Chinese community all around the world. It falls on the 15th of the 8th month of the lunar calendar and it is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese and even Vietnamese, just like Christmas and Thanksgiving for Westerners. There are many legends and folklore surrounding the festival from the Moon Goddess of Immortality to the overthrowing of Mongol Rule and to the Vietnamese legend of a wife who accidentally desecrated a sacred banyan tree and was transported to the heavens by the tree for doing so (the Vietnamese light lanterns to show her way down to earth)*. But it is also a favorable time to have a get together and enjoy one another’s company, eating mooncakes under a full moon (for us, we did at the Chinese Garden!). Of course, apart from the delicious mooncakes some of us brought, we were also delighted by mooncakes shared by gracious celebrants who were there to enjoy and celebrate the festivities.

Our Chinese classmates were excited and eager to share with us their culture specially that surround these festivities. Each of us was ‘welcomed’ with a traditional mooncake and our Chinese friends helped to differentiate between flavors such like walnut, lotus, pumpkin and red beans. , Dominic, our Swiss classmate, had a mooncake with a nut filling, and commented, “It was my first time at a Mooncake Festival. I’ve heard a lot about the famous mooncakes and I was excited to finally try them. After trying about every possible mooncake flavor, I can say that my favorite is the one with the nut filling.”

Mooncake Festival - Nanyang MBA — Some of our classmates from China (from left to right) – Zeng Cheng, Tan Yanning, Lu Zhongjie, and Wang Jie who were gracious to share with us their knowledge about the festival.

Continue reading "Moon Festival" – Celebrating Chinese traditions →

Blog, NANYANG-WASEDA

My thoughts on spending time with Japanese MBA students during their Waseda Summer Intensive Program

September 30, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

By Sharon NG, Singaporean, NANYANG-WASEDA Double MBA Program Participant

My NANYANG-WASEDA classmates and I had the opportunity to join our Waseda peers from Tokyo during their Summer Intensive Program. The program is created with the goal to expose Waseda students to how Japanese companies are operating in a global environment. It is conducted entirely in English to expose students in an English and foreign environment, which sets the tone of the Program to come.

The intensive program spanned over five full days during the first week of August, and it even included the Singapore National Day holiday on the 9th of August, the day when Singapore became an independent republic*. Now that’s what I call intensive. There were a total of 25 students, including us from the NANYANG-WASEDA program,, and it was helmed by “Zemi-Cho” (Group Leader) Taniguchi Tatsuro-san and led by Professor Reiji Ohtaki, Director of the Nanyang-Waseda Double MBA Program. They were assisted by three very hardworking Waseda staff members: Tamada Masaki-san, Saitoh Kaz-san and Yajima Tomoko-san.

As I was doing the Nanyang-Waseda courses, I did not get to attend the first day of this Summer program because I had a full day of classes that day. On the 2nd day which I managed to attend , it was the Singapore National Day, and the group first discussed about organizational issues for Japanese companies. The session touched on how overseas branches have to deal with a consistent message on objectives and goals to align their activities with the Headquarters. A key take-away was that the Waseda students should aspire to become Global Business Leaders (GBL). This included teaching overseas branches how to fish, instead of spoon-feeding them or worse, force-feeding them. Another key issue was remuneration and promotion of local staff to senior positions. This could help manage local staff better and also motivate them to perform better with the prospect of promotion.

Next was a session by Mr. Takayanagi who leads SBI Venture Capital, the venture capital/private equity firm of the SBI Group, a listed financial services group in Japan. Mr. Takayanagi has very impressive credentials, having degrees from Oxford’s Said and Harvard’s Kennedy School. He talked about how his company operates in Singapore as a parallel to the HQ in Japan, and enjoys a high degree of independence of decision-making. He also touched on how Singapore is ideal as a business location. As a transportation hub, many people stop by Singapore en route to other destinations, and hence, it is easy to meet people. The small size of the island also makes it easy for people to get introduced to one another, as each person probably only enjoys “two degrees of separation”.

On the third day of the week-long program, we were visited by the Managing Director of Yamato Transport Singapore, Mr. Toda Naoki (Yamato Transport is Japan’s No. 1 transportation service that offers same-day service, house-to-house delivery or Ta-Q-Bin). Mr. Toda spoke in Japanese, but had an interpreter who has a distinctive Singapore-English or we what we call as ‘Singlish’ accent! Kuroneko, the delivery service of Yamato, is a well-known household name in Japan that requires no introduction. However, Mr. Toda lamented about how tough it is for the company in Singapore in the first year of operations. SingPost is a formidable competitor with well-established locations and customers, and the concept of house-to-house delivery (Ta-Q-Bin) may not be well-understood by the local market. Training and high turn-over also proves to be a problem, as it is difficult to provide good quality service without competent Service Delivery staff.

As Mr. Toda took his leave, the program continued on the theme of talent management. Prof Ohtaki (left photo) quoted a survey done by JobStreet.com (which he is a consultant for, one of Singapore’s major online job search portals ) on the issues of speed of promotions, job-hopping, work-life balance, career aspirations and expectations, and also the keen interest of Singaporeans to be their own boss one day. This is in contrast with the Japanese concept of employment, which places an emphasis on loyalty, slow promotion, a more equitable rate of compensation, and also the desire to work for a big company. Noting these differences, Prof Ohtaki urged the Waseda students to think about such issues when managing local staff, so that both the company’s expectations and staff expectations can be aligned and met. Continue reading My thoughts on spending time with Japanese MBA students during their Waseda Summer Intensive Program →

Blog, NANYANG-WASEDA

A day out with visiting Waseda peers during Singapore’s National Day

September 24, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

By Sharon NG, Singaporean, Nanyang-Waseda Double MBA Current Participant

My Nanyang-Waseda peers and I had a most intensive week when our counterparts from Waseda Business School Japan (mostly Japanese nationals) visited Singapore for their Summer Intensive Program. The short program speaks for itself – it was, indeed, intensive but also fun. It was fascinating for me, too, as I was able to somehow play ‘guide’ to the group, including my Nanyang-Waseda classmates, which is an international bunch of individuals coming from Japan, Korea, India, Philippines and Thailand. But how do you spend the national day with a large group of visitors?

9th of August is the day that Singapore became an independent republic, Singapore’s National Day. That day, being a holiday, I dragged my lazy feet to school. Traffic was very smooth, less cars on the street, so that really made me feel slightly better. We had a ‘longer than usual’ half-day of lectures, and after which the group tucked into local food stall for lunch, with a serving of Singapore’s famous chicken rice – a dish of Chinese origin comprised of special chicken-flavored rice topped with roast chicken*, slushed down with cooling lime juice (chicken rice is considered to be one of Singapore’ best dishes and Singapore is known for it, worldwide). With that, the group took off for a half-day sightseeing trip of Singapore.

Continue reading A day out with visiting Waseda peers during Singapore’s National Day →

Blog, The NANYANG MBA

Taking time off in Bintan beach, Indonesia – Nanyang MBA annual class trip

September 20, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

by Andrew Humphreys, American, Student Ex-Co VP Social (2010-2011)

During the term break, some 60 of us, Nanyang MBA participants, and our friends made a weekend trip to Bintan Lagoon Resort in Indonesia, one of the resorts located on Indonesia’s largest, and most enchanting Riau islands in the South China sea – less than an hour ferry ride from bustling Singapore, for our annual class trip – to unwind, enjoy the company of classmates and friends. The trip also serves as a farewell celebration for fellow classmates as several attend exchange programs across the globe during their 4th term. During these 3 days, we engaged in various sports activities like volleyball, soccer, banana boating, jet skiing, all terrain vehicle (ATV) riding, swimming, and tree climbing which everyone enjoyed very much.

“The class trip was enjoyable. It was a great opportunity for me to interact with my classmates,” Christine Hum remarks. Christine is one of our exchange students from Cornell Johnson School.

Christine (first from left) with her Nanyang MBA peers, taking a break from driving the ATV.

What a good way, then, to end three days of having fun? Of course – to party and have a blast, which is exactly what we did. We had a private beach party with games, prizes and we danced the night away at the local nightclub.

Cheers! – (MBA classmates from left to right) David, Amalia, Irfan, and Gabriel with his wife Maria (2nd from right).

It was a great 3 days full of memories that surely will last a lifetime. I hope this type of event will become a legacy that incoming cohorts will also do, and passed on from one class to the next class. A well-deserved break, indeed.

Blog, Clubs

Cheers! Santé! – Wine Appreciation Club

August 17, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

By Laurent Cambon, Current MBA Student, and Mathieu François, Graduating Class of 2011.

In a very diverse MBA class, it is inevitable we get exposed to the richness of culture and gustatory delights of the countries represented. So, two of us from France started the Wine Appreciation Club to share a common, yet very important part of our culture – Wines. I have always been passionate about food and wines. To me, they are integral components of that which we consider French culture. Nearly all the 22 regions of France produce their own wines, each of which were developed to match the region’s cuisine. “If I have to choose wine according to conventional wisdom, I would opt for a very famous wine like Romanée-Conti from Bourgogne. But I prefer to answer based on my personal feelings. I have family roots in the South of France. So, each time I appreciate a Châteauneuf-du-pape, many memories and sensations from this region come to my mind, especially when I was a child. To be more specific, Château Mont-redon is certainly one of the best from this Côtes-du-rhône category,” adds by my co-initiator, Mathieu. This diversity of wines contributes invariably to the richness of French culture.

In Singapore, wines are just aplenty and you can get them easily- in groceries, or wine depots, to shopping malls, to even convenience stores available 24 hours. And the variety is just really great- coming from all the wine producing countries, including the best wine producer – France, of course.

The Wine Appreciation Club was set up with the aim of extending our passion for wines to other MBA students. Some of the initiatives of the Club include helping students identify the type of wines they already appreciate, introducing them to new wines, and inviting them to wine tasting processes that would enable them to appreciate wines better.

Sessions were not complete without food – we paired whites, reds and ‘bubbly’ or champagnes with food. Surely, members of the club, both the new and seasoned ones, took pleasure in every session in the appreciation of wine.

Even though Wine Tasting is not a course in the MBA curriculum, we believe that it would serve as a complementary component in the life of an MBA student, who will soon be actively engaged in business dinners or in social gatherings. We hope to see this club continue in the new academic year.

Our first event – Wine Appreciation-White Wines, attracted 14 wine lovers, curious souls and converts.

The Club’s second event – Wine Appreciation-Red Wines; Me (Laurent, first from left, in green) and Mathieu (2ndfrom right, last row) together with our peers

And as a last hurrah to end T3 (and for some of us in the NANYANG-WASEDA Program who graduated recently in July), we had a special guest in our Champagnes session, which made the session more delightful – our ‘unofficial’ mascot.

Blog, Living in Singapore

A Hot, Steamy Affair

July 6, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

Author: Jennifer Cheong, MBA Office

Along Liang Seah Street & Beach Road (opposite Bugis Junction), one can find rows and rows of steamboat or hotpot restaurants. Hot pot or steamboat is a style of cooking common in various place in Asia, where various types of meat, vegetables,seafood and other Ingredients are boiled in a single pot or sometimes with dividers such as the picture below- the soup stock comes in a variety of flavors as well. The restaurants will be bustling with people of all ages and are especially popular with youth group outings because they are extremely affordable and eat-all-you-can style.

Steamboat is a traditional fare that the Singaporean Chinese especially enjoy during Chinese New Year season. However, one can always enjoy steamboat all year round with the attractive selection of soup bases and food selections from these restaurants. The added good feeling about steamboat is you are cooking it yourselves-! Here are some basic information for those of you who is a first-timer in a Singapore steamboat affair:

Steamboat is usually a group affair. It is not unusual to find big groups chatting happily over the hot pot while waiting for their meat & vegetables in the soup to be cooked. The pot is shared among your group and everyone cooks their food in the same pot.
Do not be shocked when the waiter piles plates of raw meat and vegetables on your table right beside your boiling hot pot. You are supposed to cook these in the hot pot yourself. Definitely not a nice experience for those who are especially particular about hygiene or cleanliness.
Typically, you are allowed to choose two types of soup bases. Depending on the restaurant, you may choose from the normal chicken, pork or duck broth or the spicy Tom Yum, Szechuan or Ma-la soup.
Then pick your meat and vegetable items which can range from pork, chicken, beef, lamb, seafood (prawns, crabs, shellfish) to tofu, mushrooms and fresh local vegetables.
Once the food arrives and your soup is boiling, start adding the raw items into your soup to be cooked. Typically, it is done in rounds where you add all the items, scoop them out once cooked and add in the next round of items to cook.

So head down to Liang Seah Street for an experience of the Singaporean steamboat for your next group outing. It might just be an oddly hot, steamy experience for you! A good starting point will be Xian De Lai, located at 18 Liang Seah Street (Tel: +65 6336 7505 for reservations). And yes, the more people you see queeing up, the better is the restaurant- so better call them to reserve a place. And enjoy this wonderfully nice experience.

Blog, Sports

Not sparing the strikes at The NANYANG MBA

June 1, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

Author: Andrew Humphreys, VP for Social and Sports, Student ExCo 2011

What started as a friendly warm up among thirty MBA students turned into a healthy competition of strikes and spares between teams of three!

Bowling between the MBA students! It was exciting to watch, many of us just couldn’t sit down.

Though we didn’t know when our competitive spirits kicked in, we were all in the same frequency through out the competition.

The teams displayed their skills, and gusto. Sure, some were better than others but from where I was standing, we all had an equal share of fun! Esmond and Tai took down bragging rights as the top male and female bowlers of the day. This gave their teams crucial advantages in the competition and they played a really good game.

I think, even if you weren’t playing, it would still be pretty interesting to watch. For example, Rob, “Mr Consistency” actually scored 132 in all the three games he played. I am not entirely sure of how he managed but the coincidence in itself earned him the name.

Nino claimed the title of “Mr High-Score” because he scored 161 in his second game and was undefeated for the rest of the day.

To the thirty of us who went, it’s been great fun and I do look forward to doing this sometime soon again. This time, maybe I’ll claim one of those titles and keep it for myself!

Blog, International Exposure

Networking beyond Singapore – MBA Class 2011 visits IFW in Batam

May 27, 2011 Joan Wee Leave a comment

Author: Charlotte Kong, MBA Office

Having one of our alumni, Mr Greg Chiu, working as a senior executive in Infinite Frameworks Studio provided us the excellent opportunity of extending our network to Indonesia through an overseas company visit earlier this year.

When we first arrived at IFW, we were really impressed by the wonderful environment of the company. Surrounded by lush greenery and located right next to a stylish swimming pool complete with palm trees decorating the vicinity – it felt like a relaxation haven!

After we got accustomed, the company visit commenced. It began with the introduction of IFW’s development and its major projects.

We learned about the operation, marketing and HR matters of IRW. We were even shown some creative animation clippings.

Mr Chiu elaborated on the different factors and how they affect the company’s business decisions as well as shape the course of their development. It was a great case study with first hand information coming straight from the company management.

Following our fruitful exchange, we were told that IFW would approach our students for help regarding their future projects! It was a truly advantageous experience and I believe our Nanyang MBA students certainly learned a lot, just like I did.

The trip certainly ended on a high note with all of us networking and dining al fresco at a modern Indonesian restaurant and reminiscing about the great experience we had. It was really a really good way to just relax, and have fun with your peers, when the journey’s done!

The NANYANG MBA Blog