Gap Year Programme: Scholars' Say

Name	Cindy Khoo Seow Chyng
Scholarship scheme and year	1999 Overseas Merit Scholarship (Open)
Country and university of study	1) BSc in Electrical & Electronics Engineering with an International minor in Engineering in Japanese Studies 2) BA in Political Science (Magna  Cum Ladue), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, US
Period of Gap Year	October 2003 to April 2005
Gap Year Company	SembCorp Logistics Ltd
Gap Year Location	Shanghai, China

"I wanted to partake in the decision making process that the private businesses engage in, to see what considerations they might have, and if this difference in perspective makes government initiatives or incentives any less attractive or palatable to them than intended by the Government.  To a certain extent, I have met my expectation, because I helped SCL study certain free trade agreements, China's WTO accession commitments and so on, to study the feasibility and cost/benefits of certain business decisions they had to make.  It was helpful to know exactly what the company was most concerned with, in developing their businesses."  

Name	Lim Teck Kiat
Scholarship scheme and year	1999 Local Merit Scholarship (Open)
Country and university of study	B Soc Sc (Hons) Class I in Economics, National University of Singapore, 2003
Period of Gap Year attachment	June 2004 to June 2005
Gap Year Company	Motorola (China) Electronics Limited
Gap Year Location	Shanghai, China

In retrospect, embarking on Gap Year with Shanghai Motorola was one of the best decisions I ever undertook.  In the span of one year, I have established valuable contacts or Guanxi with colleagues and friends across industries, improved both written and spoken Mandarin tremendously and gained a deep understanding of Chinese business culture.  More importantly, I am now armed with good knowledge of MNC's operations and concerns and would be able to juxtapose this with the public sector which I would eventually be deployed to.

Name	Benjamin Cher Tau Wei
Scholarship scheme and year	1997 Overseas Merit Scholarship (Open)
Country and university of study	1) B.Eng (Hons) Cl I in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK 2) MSc in Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, USA
Period of Gap Year	May 2003 to April 2004
Gap Year Company	Asia Pacific Breweries Limited
Gap Year Location	Singapore (5 months), Shanghai (7 months)

The Gap Year is "an important platform to build bridges between the public service and the private sector. Having civil servants in companies is a sign of the government's commitment to understand the needs of the private sector... The APB stint not only gave me an overview of the Group's business, but sufficient depth of knowledge into their operations at the Singapore and Shanghai breweries as well. My projects were inter-departmental in nature, and while acting as an agent for change in the company, I learnt a lot about the company's concerns from speaking to different stakeholders in the company's business... I will bring to the public service a more opportunity-oriented and pro-enterprise mindset that will always seek to ask, if it is in the interest of Singapore, "How can it be done?" rather than be constrained by the common refrain 'It cannot be done.'"

Name	Simon Ng Hong Chye
Scholarship scheme and year	1997 Overseas Merit Scholarship (Open)
Country and university of study	1) B.Eng (Hons) Cl I in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK 2) MSc in Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, USA
Period of Gap Year	July 2003 to June 2004
Gap Year Company	Shenzhen ST-Anda Logistics Co. Ltd
Gap Year Location	China

"My objectives have largely been met... One of the key takeaways is learning how to operate in a Chinese business environment. Besides cultivating my patience for bureaucracy, I was also introduced to the art of circumventing bureaucracy; the cornerstone being relationships building. Along the way, I picked up the art of saying things that the other party would like to hear, learnt to distil the essence from all the praises that I hear, and work with contrasting personalities."

Name	Lian Ker Chia, Egwin
Scholarship scheme and year	1997 Overseas Merit Scholarship (Teaching)
Country and university of study	M Sci (Hons) Class II Upper in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry, Imperial College, London, UK
Period of Gap Year attachment	June 2003 to June 2004
Gap Year Company	sanofi-aventis Singapore
Gap Year Location	Singapore

"Effort was made to incorporate me into some of the discussions and meeting when colleagues from the European offices visited, even though I was not directly involved in those projects. I was also given the opportunity to interact with some of the visitors. My knowledge of French helped in some of these situations since we get quite a few French colleagues visiting. The company also signed me up for a 10 day course where we were taught to use statistical and analytical tools to measure the efficiency of a business process." 

Name	Tan Ken Jin
Scholarship scheme and year	1997 Overseas Merit Scholarship (Teaching)
Country and university of study	BSc in Physics, Yale University, USA
Period of Gap Year	July 2003 to June 2004
Gap Year Company	Standard Chartered Bank
Gap Year Location	Singapore

"What's amazing about the Gap Year, as compared to a normal summer internship is the added exposure you get. In the course of the year you'll understand not only how the private sector works, but how your colleagues play and live, their gripes, their motivation, and mentality. In the Gap Year programme, the scholars are a form of exchange of goodwill, much like a tacit MOU. It shows the willingness and eagerness of the company to lay the foundations for greater co-operation with the government... the Gap year is a good training ground for scholars to learn how to foster good relations with companies. Knowing what words to use, what cards to play."