Kaplan Singapore is well known for its commitment to quality education and lifelong learning. Two students show how the institute has, in the process, also nurtured their competitive skills and business savvy.

By Ashley Choo

With more than 1,000 private education providers in Singapore, how does one separate the wheat from the chaff? If you have properly conducted your research, you will find that it is easy to identify the top private institutions through their accreditations, accolades, and positive testimonials. Such is the case of Kaplan Singapore.

Kaplan Singapore may have only established its roots in Singapore in 2003, but it is part of one of the world’s largest education companies, Kaplan Inc., which is a US$2 billion business owned by The Washington Post Company. This is one education provider that is grounded on good business practices and strong financial foundations.

With this in mind, Kaplan students Kate Wu and Alan Chew have one big burden off their backs as they endeavour to balance working life and school. However, reputation isn’t built solely on the corporate value of an institute; other aspects such as its educators and facilities play equally important roles.

Give Kyle Tan a couple of years, and his applications could help you relieve yourself of mundane tasks.

By Ashley Choo

Theoretically, moving faster than the speed of light will enable you to travel through time. While the progress of commuting systems hasn’t brought us any closer to that notion, infocomm technology has given Internet users a taste of what light speed might be like through the click of a mouse.

In fact, National Infocomm Scholar Kyle Tan reckons it might not be long before exchange speeds on the Internet get there through “cloud computing” – a model in which users access information at hyper-computing speeds through a network of connections, software and services.

Aspiring to be at the forefront of the infocomm industry, this Hwa Chong Institution graduate was eager to take up the National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS) offered by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

“At that time, I was looking for a scholarship that promotes a good mix of Information Technology and Business,” says Kyle. “I wanted to learn, and this scholarship is also about learning. Being sponsored by any of IDA’s partnering corporate IT giants would mean studying from the successes of these companies.”

In 2007, law undergraduate Nelson Goh found himself in the right place at the right time to participate in a pioneer academic collaboration between two well-accredited institutions of learning. He shares his experience.

By Ashley Choo

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth US president once said, “I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”

These words certainly ring true for Nelson Goh, a self-professed late bloomer who had always yearned to study overseas but missed out on scholarship opportunities years ago after his ‘A’ levels. This law undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS) made sure not to miss the boat the next time it arrived.

His chance came in March 07, after NUS and New York University (NYU) had successfully brokered a deal. This collaboration allows NUS students to obtain both an undergraduate Bachelor’s Degree in Law from a local university and a Master’s Degree in Law from a US university in just four years – the time they normally take to complete their undergraduate studies in law. It is built upon previous partnerships between the two schools, which include a student exchange programme enabling students from both schools to spend up to a year in the other institution.

The prestige of being a scholar isn’t a big deal for Oxford graduate Lin Lixin. Bringing local enterprise overseas is.

By Ashley Choo

Candidate description
Lin Lixin
FIREfly Scholar (IE Singapore)
Designation: Account Manager, Infrastructure Services, IE Singapore
Studied: Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Oxford

Call it a work hazard, but Lin Lixin’s replies to most questions are chock-full of background information to the topic in question. Getting into the nitty-gritty of things has been part of her daily routine since starting work with International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) six months ago.

“Our long-term goal is to help Singapore companies clinch overseas projects,” the Account Manager for Infrastructure Services explained. “In the short-term, it’s about getting to know these companies in detail, because if I’m going to have a meeting with them, I want to be able to know what they are talking about.”

Ng Sin Yi developed a growing fondness for her studies after learning some of life’s lessons and attending classes at the Management Development Institute of Singapore

By Ashley Choo

A decision had to be made between studying for an important examination and planning a large birthday party. Ng Sin Yi has had to face predicaments like this before. And as always, she chose the latter option.

Previously, Linda was forced to like her job, but now with the new skills she has gained at MDIS, Linda can do what she likes.

By Ashley Choo

The tides have turned
Twenty-four-year-old Linda Lim may have scored an exceptional grade point average of 3.6 when she graduated with a Diploma in Chemical Engineering five years ago, but that did not secure her a job of her choice...