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TheBLUEANDGOLD
Issue 11 • November 2010 • MICA 254/07/2010
GlassroomCafeDiscounts!
Find out how students’
perspectives change
as the years go by!
fresh?
still
Travel: From Laos to USA
HPAIR 2010
Professor de Meyer Interview
PLUS: Sports Fiesta, Grad
Night, Eve, Vegetarianism,
and more!
Blue & Gold 11 Sat 23-10-2010 1300h.indd 1 23/10/2010 3:09PM

TheBLUEAndGOLD
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
should be reproduced without the prior
permission of the authors concerned and The
Blue and Gold.
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Editor’s note
If you picked up our previous issue at our news-
stands a month or two ago, you might have been
awed by the great photographs of the sports
CCAs that we featured. You might also have been
impressed by the statistics that we have of BOSS bid-
ding of this semester and the previous years – I was
certainly surprised when a professor teaching Intro-
ductory Economics contacted me one day to verify
my sources, especially since they were not retrieved
from the official statistics. In a dramatic turn of
events, I provided our methodology to an academic
instead of the other way round!
We provide you, hopefully, with even more reason to pick up this issue.
Apart from a fantastic cover shoot with a talented photographer and mod-
els, this issue does not focus on particular CCAs, or even groups of people;
this issue is all about you. We attempt to figure out what freshmen like;
what second and third year students think about Finishing Touch; what
makes seniors have such positive impressions on their first presentation
and project; and what Freshmen Bash, unfortunately, has to do with Ana-
lytical Skills and Creative Thinking classes.
Looking to travel? Our travel section returns with reflections of trips rang-
ing from backpacking (page 38) to Work and Travel (page 39). While res-
taurants have proven rather elusive at granting us interviews, we decided
that circumventing the situation involved a little food subsidy for our re-
porters – read all about going to Wendy’s, on a budget (page 42).
We are also honoured to feature an exclusive interview with our new
President of SMU, Professor Arnoud de Meyer. In his article he reveals
more about his experience and what he hopes to achieve with SMU.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Owen Tan
Managing Director
The Blue and Gold
owen.tan.2008@economics.smu.edu.sg
Communications secretary, smusa
Lee Cher Hern
Managing Director
ACTING EDITOR-In-CHIEF
Owen Tan
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Aashna Nasta
ADVISORS
Michael Ng
Ephraim Loy
managing EditorS
Shobana Nadaraja
Senthil Sukumar
marketing director
Deborah Lim
SENIOR EditorS
Talisa Kaur Dhaliwal
Nadim Ali Kapadia
Tobias Yeo
Sheena Lee
Ankita Prasad
Graphic Design & layout
Melvin Tiong
Owen Tan
COVER STORY PHOTOGRAPHY
Lee Chei Ren
A publication of the Singapore Management
University Students’ Association
This issue of The Blue and Gold is proudly sponsored by Prudential Singapore.

ngapore.
nom
InsideThisIssue ViewpointViewpoint
Cover StoryCover Story
TravelTravel
Campus News!
Thumb
Sup!
Perspectives
The Magic of Laos
Sanva Saephan gives us a perspective of this special part of Indochina.6
Face/Off
Should schools have the right to endorse their students for elections? Four stu-
dents give their views.
7
Still fresh?
We take a look at what SMU students are happy and not-so-happy about.8
Sowing the Seeds of Innovation
Aashna Nasta and Emile Law find out
more about our new SMU President Ar-
noud de Meyer.
20
The Green, not the Library
Claudia Wong reports on the
Sports Fiesta.
22
Welcome, the 11th
SMUSA Exco
26
Graduation Night 201028
Eve 2010
Lydia Toh reports on a night of ap-
preciating the arts.
30
A musical and a play
Reflections on the Law Musical
and Home, Nearly.
32
HPAIR 2010
Reports from participants and organisers.32
For a variety of reasons
From backpacking in India to working in the USA.38
Wendy’s, books, movies
Our new recommendations section.42
and. 46
Overheard @ SMU
Excerpts from everybody’s favourite Facebook page.
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Visitors often spend at least one
or two days here before continu-
ing on their journey to Vang Vi-
eng (if they travelling north).
Vang Vieng is a five-hour bus
ride from Vientiane, a town that
visitors must not miss. The sce-
nic beauty of the town has cap-
tivated many tourists; a place
where you can experience the
purity of nature, and let the fresh
air will purge the pollution from
your lungs. There are also many
breathtaking caves to explore,
and wherever you go, the moun-
tains greet you smiling. I would
say that this town is as impres-
sive as the famous Guilin city in
China.
To accompany the mountains of
Vang Vieng, the Song River is a
buzz of activity. Tubing, where
you sit on a tyre and let your-
self flow with the current, is one
relaxing activity that the river
provides. The slow flowing riv-
er also has turbulent currents
at some junctions, and is a won-
derful place for kayaking. How-
ever, the most popular activity
is slinging, where you can jump
from a high platform to grip a
bar and drop into the river.
The night sky of Vang Vieng is
filled with stars, and those of
my friends who went there for
an overseas community service
programme (OCSP) are still in
awe of this sight. Each night, we
would lie down “talk” with the
stars, ready to close our eyes and
make our wishes on a shooting
star. The starry night was a per-
fect respite after each tiring day,
and the sixteen souls in the Wan
Mai OCSP team – Amanda, Al-
fred, Yi Chen, Linh, Vy, Heng Yin,
Charmaine, Xue Kun, Jie Han,
Derek, Tian Sheng, Swee Leng,
Zhen Zhen, Mervyn, Yen Soon,
and myself – quickly fell in love
with the town.
After our OCSP, the team trav-
elled north to Luang Prabang
for some well-deserved rest and
relaxation. This small, beautiful
town is a UNESCO World Heri-
tage site; French architecture
and Buddhist temples domi-
nate the town, creating a tran-
quil atmosphere. Life here is
slow and simple, and taking a
stroll through town is enough
to experience the loveliness and
charm of Lao culture. Wherever
you go, Laotians greet you with
simple Hellos, but you can sense
the liveliness and sincerity. Af-
ter your walk, shops along the
streets offer aromatic Lao cof-
fee and delightful refreshments.
At night, the market in Luang
Prabang showcases elegant Lao
handicraft from a variety of eth-
nic groups, such as the Hmong
and Mienh, ideal gifts for friends
and family.
Outside Luang Prabang, there
are also magnificent waterfalls
at Tat Guangxi where you can
relax and get in touch with na-
ture. Home stays are another
way to learn more about the cul-
ture and lifestyle of the people.
For art lovers and appreciators
of simple lifestyles, Luang Pra-
bang is the perfect place to visit.
To the partygoers and sightseers,
Vang Vieng is the perfect get-
away. Laos also has many other
amazing places to offer, such as
the Plain of Jars in Xieng Khuang
or the historical sites and ma-
jestic waterfalls of Champasak.
The best time to visit is from No-
vember to February, when the
weather is cool and lovely.
I hope this article has helped
you to learn more about Laos,
enough perhaps to make Laos
your next holiday destination.
When I tell people that I am
from Laos, they often give
me perplexed looks. Some even
embarrass themselves by asking
“Is Laos in Myanmar?”, “Is Laos
part of Cambodia?”, or even “Is
Laos a country?”
I remember an incident at Chan-
gi Airport a few years back; a
memory that will not leave my
mind for years to come. An Air
Asia officer refused to let me
check-in, insisting that I needed
a visa to visit Thailand. Even af-
ter explaining that, under the
new ASEAN agreement, Lao
passport holders can travel to
some ASEAN nations (including
Thailand) without a visa, she re-
mained adamant that I needed
one. I was furious.
To make matters worse, she even
asked, “Where is Laos?” I was
ready to explode, but I managed
to compose myself, and request-
ed to see the manager. The prob-
lem was quickly solved, and the
officer apologized. I dismissed
the matter, but it is a reminder of
how little is known about Laos.
Laos is a land-locked, indepen-
dent nation sharing borders
with China, Myanmar, Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Thailand. De-
spite recent development, Laos
is a laid-back country with a
peaceful atmosphere. Many are
content with the simple lifestyle
that has been passed down from
generation to generation. Only
after SEA Games 2009, which
Laos hosted, did the country gain
some international recognition.
Even though Laos is still un-
known to many of us, the coun-
try has many things to offer.
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is
aneconomicallyemergingtown.
Yet, many historical monuments
built during the French coloni-
zation are still well preserved.
The magic of Laos
Sanva Saephan gives us a perspective of this special part of Indochina.
ViewpointViewpoint
the blue and gold6

FACE
OFF The School of Eco-
nomics had thrown its
weight behind one par-
ticular candidate, a deci-
sion presumably made by
the small student committee
heading the school.
To maintain an even playing field, SMUSA understand-
ably intervened, and reminded the school to remain neutral. For fair-
ness, a body in a position of strength and power should not be using
its influence to take sides.
Of course, we must assume that the student committee in question
is discerning enough to make that judgment.By disallowing bodies
in-the-know using their influence to help their constituents make in-
formed choices, many votes will be cast blindly, especially as voters
are often apathetic and will not make the effort to determine the ca-
pabilities of each candidate themselves. This may eventually lead to
a sub-optimal SMUSA board, and in turn, a decrease in student wel-
fare.
By extension, only if an informed student body elects student com-
mittees will we then be able to count on them making the right
choice in endorsing a particular candidate for SMUSA elections.
Loh Wei Quan
In SMU, societies and student bodies are entirely
student-centered – by the student, for the student.
Unlike the political agendas that real world orga-
nizations may have, school elections should have
only one aim: to search for students who are most
passionate in serving the student community.
As such, all initiatives should be led by students, and the primary
concern should be the quality of candidates and their mandate. In
the journey leading up to voting day, candidates have campaigned
aggressively – using posters, Facebook pages, bookmarks, and bal-
loons – just to convince voters that they are worthy of the checkbox
next to their names.
However, if schools step into the electoral process by endorsing cer-
tain candidates, it would give those candidates an unfair
edge. While it could mean extra firepower for some-
one who is competent, would that be at the ex-
pense of another passionate, but not as estab-
lished, candidate?
Whichever school the candidates hail
from, we must always remember that
we come from one place, one fam-
ily, one SMU. These students are all
striving to serve their fellow stu-
dents, and thus should at least be
accorded the privilege of a level
playing field.
John Huang
SMUSA serves as the
voice of SMU’s stu-
dent population, so why
should schools have to re-
main neutral by not endors-
ing candidates for elections?
It is only natural that each school would seek repre-
sentation in the SMUSA Exco to voice their opinions and
fight for their interests. Successfully elected members rely on the
votes of the student population to arrive at their privileged positions,
and if schools were to remain neutral by not endorsing candidates,
large swathes of support would be missing in the elections. Each
school represents a different part of the student body, and thus they
should be allowed to endorse the candidate they feel would best rep-
resent their interests. It is unfair to prohibit schools from supporting
candidates purely due to their relatively greater power of influence.
The support from schools represent the collective view of a signifi-
cant set of students, and should not be ignored.
Even though school committees and portfolio holders have great-
er power and influence compared to the average student, students
should still be allowed hear their opinions, and will eventually draw
their own conclusions based on whatever is personally important.
Jeanie Hue
I believe that the email supporting the SMUSA
election campaign of Economics student Gary Tan
was simply a call from the Oikos family to support
one of its flock.
It is beyond my comprehension why SMUSA was so affected by this
endorsement. Though I must agree that the email probably boost-
ed the votes for Gary, as some Economics students may have felt in-
clined to vote in line with the School’s endorsement, thus throwing
their collective weight behind Gary. I believe that SMUSA ought not
be too put off by this move, as I believe that the Oikos Committee
purely wanted to put up a display of support for Gary. They must
have had prior knowledge of Gary’s capabilities to serve the student
body well, and would not have taken a blind leap of faith in support-
ing Gary Tan. After all, they are putting the reputation of SOE on the
line.
Furthermore, we are highly educated students,
and our ideals and morals will not be easily
swayed by endorsements, even one from a
school committee. After all, the SMUSA
elections are important, and students
will not take voting lightly. If The
New York Times can endorse Barack
Obama in the US presidential elec-
tions, I don’t see why SOE cannot
declare its support for Gary Tan. In
fact, I think it shows solidarity and
unity within the Oikos family.
Tan Yi Heng Jason
Aye
Aye
Nay
Nay
Recently, Oikos, the society representing the School of Economics, was reminded by SMUSA
that endorsing one of its students for the SMUSA elections is not allowed. In our new section,
we ask the students if schools should have the right to endorse candidates for elections.
the blue and gold 7

fresh?still
the blue and gold8

In this issue, we take a look at
what SMU students are happy and
not-so-happy about - and how your
perspective of SMU changes as you
progress through school life.
By Owen Tan
With additional reporting by Serene Tay, Stephanie Yow,
Shobana Nadaraja, Ankita Prasad, Aashna Nasta, Tobias Yeo,
and Senthil Sukumar
Photography by Lee Chei Ren
Models: Lim Zihui, Tan Siow Yun, Kingley Lim
the blue and gold 9

“[School] started out as being really rosy,
but now it’s lost a bit of its shine... though
I’m not really complaining.”
“SMU’s lifestyle is more hectic than other
universities; high stress levels and expec-
tations in school.”
“The pursuit for grades is becoming more
and more intense.”`
- Final year SMU students who responded
to our survey
Losing its
Lustre?
the blue and gold10

5. First lesson of university
4. Analytical Skills/Creative Thinking (AS/CT)
3. Matriculation
2. Leadership & Team Building (LTB)
1. Freshman Bash
Don’t be mistaken by the title: indeed, there are
a lot of great things about school that all of
us love. We will go to those later, but rather than
going the conventional route of giving you the
good news before the bad, we decided to show you
the peeves of the SMU student as he progresses
through his school life.
The myth, of course, is that all SMU students are
satisfied, content, enriched with every course
that they take; being on the Dean’s List; balancing
school life, a part-time job, and a relationship ex-
tremely well; loving their project group mates; es-
sentially enjoying every second of their SMU lives.
For this issue, we sent out an Internet survey that
had over 200 respondents to figure out what exact-
ly peeves the SMU student. We realise, interesting-
ly, that some things consistently appear on the list
of poor impressions (we explore a couple of these
further in the next few pages).
We present to you, from our survey results, The
Blue and Gold’s very own “Top of the Bottom” list.
Not
So
Fresh 5. LTB 
4. AS/CT
3. Internship
2. FTB
1. Freshman Bash
5. Convocation
4. First presentation
3. Matriculation 
2. Freshman Bash 
1. AS/CT 
5. Vivace 
4. Matriculation 
3. Overseas community involvement project
2. Freshman Bash
1. AS/CT
IncreasingSeniority
Arranged in ascending level of negative impression, where 1 = most negative.
Events in bold denote new entries compared to previous years.
Did you know?
Most participative:
Seniors
Graduating students seem to be more vocal in class, our survey suggests:
41% of them participate at least two to three times every lesson.
the blue and gold 11

the blue and gold12

Save for the pet peeves that all of us have, it seems
that there are some things that SMU students of
all levels of seniority like.
Orientation camps, for instance, seem to be the most
memorable among all levels; receiving the accep-
tance letter after what is arguably the toughest ad-
mission process for a university here is ranked top
of the fresh list for both second and third-year stu-
dents.
Interestingly, fourth year students have a very differ-
ent fresh list from the rest. Most of them, having had
the opportunity to go overseas, now place that as the
most memorable impression; the first projects, pre-
sentations and lessons at SMU now seem to be the
most positive impressions that they will take away
from SMU upon graduation.
IncreasingSeniority
1. Orientation camps
2. Acceptance into SMU
3. Vivace
4. First project in SMU
5. Convocation
2. First presentation
3. OCIP
4. Vivace
5. Orientation camps
2. Orientation camps 
3. LTB
4. Vivace
5. Internship
1. Overseas programmes
2. First project in SMU
3. Finishing Touch
4. First lesson in SMU
5. First presentation 
Arranged in descending level of positive impression, where 1 = most positive.
Events in bold denote new entries as compared to previous years.
The
Fresh
List
Did you know?
Most respondents to this survey:
Freshmen
Thinking of sending out a survey for your classmates to complete?
Perhaps targeting freshmen would be the best option.
Close to 50% of the respondents in the survey were freshmen.

0
12.5
25.0
37.5
50.0
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Somewhat dissatisfied So
Satisfaction!(and who’s getting it)
We take a look at how happy SMU students are with their school life, and
debunk some myths.
MYTH OR
FACT #1:
The majority of SMU stu-
dents are dissatisfied with
school.
A contentious point, but it seems that the
proportion of dissatisfied students in the
survey stands at 21.5%, while satisfied
students are at 78.5%. - MYTH
MYTH OR
FACT #1:
The majority of SMU stu-
dents are dissatisfied with
school.
A contentious point, but it seems that the
proportion of dissatisfied students in the
survey stands at 21.5%, while satisfied
students are at 78.5%. - MYTH
MYTH OR
FACT #2:
The people who are most
dissatisfied with school are
typically the senior students.
Unfortunately, the myth seems to be accu-
rate. 14% of seniors indicate that they are
“very dissatisfied” with school. - FACT
MYTH OR
FACT #2:
The people who are most
dissatisfied with school are
typically the senior students.
Unfortunately, the myth seems to be accu-
rate. 14% of seniors indicate that they are
“very dissatisfied” with school. - FACT
the blue and gold14

sfied Somewhat satisfied Satisfied Very satisfied
MYTH OR
FACT #3: Most
senior students are not
satisfied with school.
59% of fourth-year students are either sat-
isfied or very satisfied (73% if you add in
“somewhat satisfied”), which suggests that
dissatisfaction with school is greatly exag-
gerated. - MYTH
MYTH OR
FACT #3: Most
senior students are not
satisfied with school.
59% of fourth-year students are either sat-
isfied or very satisfied (73% if you add in
“somewhat satisfied”), which suggests that
dissatisfaction with school is greatly exag-
gerated. - MYTH
Conclusion:
Freshness guaranteed...
(for most anyway)
If we are to believe the naysayers, we sin-
cerely believe that the bars would have
been much higher on the facing page.
What we see from this survey, however,
proves them wrong: a majority of stu-
dents are satisfied with life in SMU, and
within this a significant number is more
than just “somewhat satisfied”. It seems
that we can say that the majority of our
student population are, as of this mo-
ment, still fresh.
The school administration, of course,
should still note that there are little warn-
ing signs that should be resolved. A sig-
nificant (14%) proportion of final year
students are “very dissatisfied”.
As with all surveys, ours has limits: the
people who are dissatisfied with school
life may be under-represented, since
they may not even bother to check their
emails. Response rates for the senior stu-
dents, most of them busy with their final
year projects and internships were much
lower than for the freshmen.
For now, however, it seems that SMU stu-
dents are mostly satisfied. - Owen Tan

Most are happy
to get in here
■ Tobias Yeo
SMU has just celebrated its
10th Anniversary, by no
stretch an achievement in a
world of Harvards, Oxfords,
Princetons, NUSs, and NTUs.
Still, in those 10 years, we have
grown from a fringe institution
into an extremely popular main-
stream one, and each year stu-
dents face stiff competition for a
place here. An acceptance letter
has become a mark of achieve-
ment, a symbol of pride. SMU’s
progress can be easily summed
up in the words of Social Sci-
ence student Lydia Low – “It isn’t
NUS.”
For many, SMU also represents a
university with unconventional
admission criteria. Top students
sometimes fail to gain admis-
sion, while other students, like
Daniel Soon from Lee Kong Chi-
an School of Business, are grate-
ful that “SMU recognized me
– a talent!” I understand his sen-
timents deeply; only SMU would
allow me, a polytechnic student
with an IT diploma, to change
tack and pursue a Social Science
degree.
The transition into University
is a significant event. Often, it
is the last barrier between a rel-
atively comfortable school life
and the cold, hard reality of the
working world. It is that first
(curse you, competitive Singa-
pore society) necessary step we
must take in climbing the corpo-
rate ladder.
However, the unique SMU sys-
tem also creates its own prob-
lems. When asked how they are
adapting to school, students like
Cheryl Loh from the School of
Accountancy simply say, “It’s
tough.” Fortunately (and en-
couragingly), many freshman
feel they are helped somewhat
by their orientation experience.
Besides the opportunity to meet
new friends, perhaps the most
important benefit is the chance
to “learn quite a bit from se-
niors,” in the words of School
of Information Systems student
Jonathan Lim.
In fact, in a survey by The Blue
and Gold, orientation camps and
acceptance into SMU have been
listed by freshman as their 2 best
experiences. If anything, fresh-
men are at least enjoying the ex-
perience of starting school.
SMU today is known today by both potential and current students for having the
snazziest advertisements for undergraduate admissions
What you think!Here we post some of the comments you made in our survey.
Freshmen
Liked orientation camps because... “Awesome fright night”
- Jonathan Lim, Information Systems
Liked Vivace because... “of goody bags!”
- Rebecca Ling, Accountancy
Didn’t like their first lesson because... “I got lost distinguishing
between SR, CR and GSR”
- Mervyn Lee, Information Systems
Didn’t like LTB because... “I know it prepares us for the corporate
world and all, but leadership theories are boring”
- Daniel Soon, Business
It was very interesting to see how foreign students or exchange
students participate in class discussions. Most of them were more
outspoken than Singaporean students, even those from South East
Asian countries.
- Anonymous
Sophomores
Liked OCIP because... “Made us realise that we should be grateful
of what we have now... Probably the greatest experience of my SMU
life”
- Edwin Eduardo Kalisaran
Didn’t like LTB because... “Team mates weren’t very cooperative”
- Gary Liang Jun Hao
Juniors
Liked orientation camps because... “Loved it! Pure fun, no conse-
quences!”
- Yessita Azeharie, Information Systems
Liked Vivace because... “I found my calling in the unlikeliest of
CCAs”
- anonymous
Liked internship because... “It means time away from school”
- Kyna Tan
Disliked AS/CT because... “CT seemed to have served no purpose
in my tertiary education”
- Sophia
Seniors
Liked going for exchange because... “It was the best semester of
my university life!”
- Xinyi, Business
Liked their first lesson because... “It was interesting because it
was my LTB project. Had a great group there.”
- Jurena Chan
Didn’t like Freshman Bash because... “didn’t do much even
though I attended.”
- Chen Yongzhe Benjamin
the blue and gold16

When I think of camps, I
think of flickering, cozy
campfires, hot melted marsh-
mallows, and jolly songs being
belted out loudly in a night out
at the woods. Singapore, how-
ever, has no woods whatsoever
but only a concrete jungle, so we
have to make do with pitched
tents at East Coast Park.
But there is noth-
ing wrong with
East Coast Park.
It is near food
places selling re-
ally good barbe-
cued stingray,
with public re-
strooms located
at a stone’s throw away, and we
still get mobile phone reception.
We are Singaporeans, after all.
We thrive on comfort and conve-
nience. We love reclaimed land
and imported sand, because it
makes our island city so much
bigger and speaks of our govern-
ment’s ingenuity.
Iamafreshmanthisyear,andthe
first step that I ever took towards
university life was in orienta-
tion camps. Do you remember
your first day? A bleary morning,
A Toast to Orientation Camps
with everyone shuffling into
the reporting venue with large
duffle bags and different co-
loured shirts according to clan,
and guys checking girls out and
vice-versa (never underestimate
this, for it is an important step
in evaluating the future market
size of potential boyfriends and
girlfriends). There was a certain
level of ex-
citement in
the air, and
we all had
the taste of
anticipation
on our lips-
Who were
going to be
our team-
mates? Would the camp be fun,
or a total bore? Would we fit in?
The more meek ones naturally
took a longer time to open up,
but the more boisterous ones
simply thrust their big smiles
in people’s faces and welcomed
new friendships. Whatever the
approach you might have tak-
en, I believe that the main take-
away for most of us was connect-
ing with new individuals, and
seeing our lives intersect on so
many different levels. These in-
“Whatever the approach
you might have taken,
I believe that the main
takeaway for most of us
was connecting with new
individuals, and seeing
our lives intersect on so
many different levels.”
teractions, on hindsight, gave
us friends that would pore over
textbooks till midnight with us,
laugh, and cry with us.
How can we forget the bizarre,
crazy games? I remember trudg-
ing to the showers at night feel-
ing completely exhausted, with
several bruises and cuts on my
legs, flour and peanut butter
caked on my face, and drenched
clothes from water games. I hon-
estly questioned the credibil-
ity of the games. Some of them
were only present to get fresh-
men dirty, and had no learning
value at all. But as I watched my
team mates erupting into peals
of laughter, with every one of
us sweaty, tired and hugely un-
glamorous, I knew that we were
having a blast. Now that was
what mattered most.
So here is a toast to freshmen
orientation camps, urban camp-
sites, and ever-lasting friend-
ships. Let us, from freshmen to
seniors, not forget the signifi-
cance of our baby steps towards
becoming a bona fide Singapore
Management University stu-
dent- polished, confident, intel-
ligent, and eloquent. If I may put
it this way, orientation camps
are merely the gateways of warm
hospitality to get you settled
into university life. The future
behind our campus’ tall, auto-
mated glass doors is ultimately
for you to create.
Stephanie Yow gives her take on the orientation camps that freshmen went through.
The Freshman Teambuilding Camp is mandatory - but certainly does not seem mun-
dane - for SMU students

■ AS/CT
AS/CT modules were consis-
tently ranked as the ‘Worst
5 First Impressions’ that student
have in SMU.
Many students feel that the two
modules add little value to their
overall curriciculum. CT in par-
ticular has a bad reputation for
being a waste of time and focus-
ing more on class participation
then instilling creativity. This
could be a consequence of the
module’s central tenet that cre-
ativity is relative, and the reason
why any and all verbal quips are
given merit regardless of wheth-
er or not they are constructive
contributions. As one student
puts it, “CT quickly becomes a
battle for class participation,
with TAs just ticking names of
people who spoke up.”
AS is a completely different ball
game, and class participation
alone does not guarantee a good
grade. We all remember redraw-
ing arrows and redefining state-
ments that can be held to be true
or false after discussing home-
■ Freshman Bash
Students vented that the Fresh-
man Bash organized by Biz-
com at Zouk didn’t meet their
expectation. It was just another
clubbing night for many and
found the pageant long and
time-consuming. Some also
hinted that the selection crite-
ria of the pageant winners could
have been more transparent.
Even some final year students
who expressed their nostalgia
about most other school events
commented that “The Freshman
Bash didn’t leave an impression
on me.”
Nostalgia?
Final year students have a
much different Fresh List as
compared to the rest of the co-
horts. For them, the first lesson
in SMU, their first project, and
first presentation appears to be
the most memorable.
Does nostalgia come into the
picture? Mohan Jeyapalan, an IS
student in his graduating year of
SMU shares his experiences over
his four years in SMU.
Mohan feels that the first few
milestones in SMU were essen-
tial in shaping one to survive
the upcoming challenge. “Even
though I came from a polytech-
nic the standards of projects in
SMU were just different. It felt
more formal. However we grew
together as a team. This was just
the start point of my journey in
SMU, an indicator as to what I
was to expect in future projects.”
With regards to academics,
“with freshmen entering every
year, I feel that the current batch
becomes more competitive than
the previous one.” He remarks,
“as cliché is may seem, GPA is
not the only important thing.
Instead we should be aware of
other non-academic issues; the
lack of integration between the
foreign students and local stu-
dents.” He also shared his disap-
pointment of pre-planned class
participation among two peers
which they executed timely dur-
ing class.
In his emphasis of personal rela-
tionships, Mohan believes that
“at the end of the day it is the
people that I have met in SMU
who will leave a life-long im-
pression on me, not very much
of the digits (GPA). My group of
friends, which we have named
as Malay, Indian and Chinese
(M.I.C.) has been there beside me
through these four years. School
would not be as fun without
them. I also found the love of my
life in SMU.”
He concluded with a quote im-
parted from his favorite pro-
fessor, Mr Kirpal Singh, “Fight
for the things you really want”
in which Mohan explains that
“fruitful outcomes can only be
achieved if you believe in your-
self.”
Looking at it from an entirely
different perspective, a few stu-
dents think that it was too ex-
pensive and not worth the mon-
ey; a sophomore was tongue in
cheek about it, “There are a lot
of needy people out there, who
would have done much more
with the money!”
Being held on a Thursday night
was also the concern of some
SMU students - Clinston Tan
said that he did not attend espe-
cially since he had class the next
morning. Like a date, both qual-
ity and timing are essential in
holding a successful event.
work questions with other stu-
dents, only to redraw and rede-
fine the exact same questions
after even more discussions with
more students.
Unlike CT, in AS students are
given a strict set of clearly-de-
fined rubrics for coursework.
But like creativity, at times even
logic seems perplexingly subjec-
tive. In addition, with its weekly
assignments, presentations and
exams, the AS module is decid-
edly more intense, and com-
plaints abound that it takes up
too much time and effort for just
a half CU.
Perhaps the reason why SMU
students share a love-hate re-
lationship with AS and CT is
because we come from a strin-
gently grade-oriented education
system, and the well-rounded-
ness that these modules aim to
inculcate in us jars with our ac-
ademic sensitivities. However,
love them or hate them, these
two modules are here to stay and
leave their impression on suc-
cessive generations of SMU stu-
dents.
Shobana Nadaraja believes that missing the “good old
days” is strong for final year students
The Dark Side
AS/CT classes and Freshman Bash end up regularly on the
not-so-fresh list. Senthil Sukumar and Aashna Nasta report.
This was just the start point
of my journey in SMU, an in-
dicator as to what I was to
expect in future projects.
- Mohan Jeyapalan, year 4
the blue and gold18

■ Serene Tay
SMU inflicts changes on us we
may or may not appreciate,
but as both facilitators and spec-
tators of this transformational
process, our professors are proud
champions of this nurturing en-
vironment.
For the typical year one, the nu-
merous pre- semester camps and
orientation sessions do nothing
to alleviate the feeling of alien-
ation in his/her new school en-
vironment, which admittedly
looks nothing like a school.
Glass paneled buildings, escala-
tors and seniors brisk walking
to their next lecture in full- on
business suits can really throw
off a freshman on his/her first
day from the familiar school
environment of painted school
blocks, chatty classrooms, can-
did pranks, scheduled lessons
with disciplining teachers and
in all a protected environment.
As much as we grapple helpless-
ly in a bid to survive, professors
feel this change in environment
is not simply desirable, but nec-
essary, with “an exponentially
more difficult curriculum at the
tertiary level, the teaching style
has to take on a more individual-
ized approach.”
This is what freshmen struggle
with, the sudden burst of inde-
pendence and clashing timeta-
bles with their peers, and being
intimidated to no end by the se-
niors’ intellect and abundant
experiences. Dr Margaret Chan
very aptly names this period a
“liminal” period, a period of “be-
twixt and between”, in which we
struggle to make sense of why
we subject ourselves to this dis-
comfort and figure out what we
hope to gain from being in “A
Different U”.
In Dr Chan’s words, “within the
year, most freshmen get used to
this and come to relish their in-
dependence.” As long as we ful-
fill the course requirements for
our degrees, we may choose to
take whatever else modules we
wish. Should we want to go on
exchange, business study mis-
sions, overseas community proj-
ects, conferences, extended in-
ternships,SMUgrantsusleaveof
absences. Countless case compe-
titions, business quizzes, social
enterprise opportunities abound
in this institution fully commit-
ted to expanding the potential of
those who walk through it.
The power dis-
tance that ex-
isted between
students and
teachers in
s e c o n d a r y
schools is
c o m p l e t e l y
eliminated in
university. We often bump into
professors while eating lunch
or working out at the gym, and
Ms Carla Lim feels this contrib-
utes to a closer relationship and
facilitates the education process
as professors are more in touch
with the lives of students.
All agree that confidence is the
most exponential growth. Ms
Rosie Ching feels that “their con-
fidence level grows exponential-
ly with years at SMU, together
with more lines and grey hairs.”
“They actually start something
concrete like small enterprises
instead of merely planning their
futures, and are much less afraid
and more determined to “get
out there”. Still, no less humble,
but nicer, grittier and definitely
smarter.”
Ms Carla Lim adds that a differ-
entiating factor between year
ones and beyond is the level
of class participation. But of
course. Class participation is
the ultimate infamous grading
requirement, and might have
single handedly scared off some
potential applicants. Countless
debates have arisen on this top-
ic, professors experiment with
dogged determination in hopes
of discovering the perfect grad-
ing system, students furiously
research the ongoing debate in
real time to spur discussions..
but class participation is no
doubt fulfilling it’s core purpose-
to nurture more outspoken indi-
viduals who challenge what is
presented to them. And for the
level of class participation to be
visibly differentiated, it shows
that freshmen ultimately do
break out of their shell to benefit
from the increased confidence
and enriched learning process a
greater involvement in class par-
ticipation provides.
Ending on a heartwarming note
Dr Chan adds, “I have attend-
ed the weddings of many of my
former students, and it always
moves me to see them so poised
and assured. I look forward to be-
ing an ‘SMU grandmother’.” De-
spite all the freedom SMU stu-
dents receive, we exist with the
assurance that we have dedicat-
ed professors behind us, support-
ing our development and ready
to offer advice.
Growing in Confidence
Class participation is fulfilling
its core purpose - to nurture
more outspoken individuals
who challenge what is
presented to them.
Most professors think that the difference between freshmen and seniors is the
latter’s belief - in themselves
!
...

Scanning the array of books neatly arranged on the shelves in the
office of SMU’s newly elected President’s office, one can definite-
ly presume that President de Meyer is a keen academician. Well, we
weren’t too far off the mark, but much more lay beneath that book-
ish façade.
Just 15 days into his official days of work in SMU, our president
shared with us ideas and foresight that surpasses the compass of
knowledge that can be found in literature. A self professed ‘Academic
Entrepreneur’, his words resonate with wisdom amassed from his de-
cades of experience in the academic arena.
Previously the Director of Judge Business School at the University
of Cambridge, and with 23 years of experience in INSEAD under his
belt as well, he unfolds SMU’s next chapter of change to come.
SMU’s STRENGTHS:
“The People. When I came here,
everyone was so enthusiastic.”
Which encompasses the staff,
students and faculty; and he at-
tributes this to the culture of
caring in SMU.
Students in SMU make an effort
to improve the university and
that, he says, is “very difficult
to grasp, to maintain, and even
to say what drives it” President
De Meyer definitely loves it, as
he finds the enthusiasm spilling
over to him as well.
ON WHY HE
CHOSE SMU:
Having been in Singapore from
1998 to 2003 for work, our Pres-
ident’s familiarity with the lo-
cal surroundings was certainly
among the motivating factors.
He knew that Singapore will be a
place where he could live in, and
that was something he regarded
tobeimportanttosomeonefrom
overseas. But beyond that, it was
the nature of the wide opportu-
nities of this unique position
that drew him to here to SMU, “I
will learn about Law, Economics,
Social Sciences and Information
System- I have a very broad port-
folio of topics, which I thought
was very interesting”.
President De Meyer:
Sowing the Seeds of Innovation
With SMU continuing to strive for success, Professor
Arnoud de Meyer’s appointment as the fifth President of
SMU has sparked curiosity and enthusiasm amongst all.
Emile Law and Aashna Nasta share with you his opinion
of SMU and how he plans to navigate its path further.
Campus News!
the blue and gold20

A TYPICAL DAY
OF WORK?
“I don’t have a typical day. All my
days are different! Every day is
exciting, everyday is a huge dis-
covery for me”
However, he cites his responsi-
bility over SMU’s financial equi-
librium, its quality of teaching
and research, as well as its im-
age and brand. “The Responsibil-
ity starts with me.” He likens his
role to that of a CEO and points
out the importance of him work
ing with his team of people who
help drive SMU.
He also stresses the need for him
to provide SMU with a clear
strategy and vision that is “dy-
namic and lives”. “You have to
give people a view of where they
will go in this university” Well
notwithstanding, the role of be-
ing a spokesperson for the orga-
nization, in this case SMU.
THE CHALLENGES:
“SMU has been doing so well …
the challenge is, ‘Where do we
go from here?’ ”.
Moving forward, he identifies
SMU’s challenges manifest in
three aspects: The growth of
graduate programmes, building
the SMU brand internationally,
as well as research. As he says,
“Any good university that wants
to survive in the long term has to
have good research.”
Yes, he says, those are the main
challenges. But underlying all
that, we will still need “to pro-
tect what we have” to make
SMU a more robust place in the
future.
BRINGING SMU TO
THE WORLD ARENA
“In the short run, we can be very
good at explaining to the people
what we have achieved, which
will enhance our brand.” But he
elaborates, the short term pub-
licity “can only go so far to the
point where we have to deliv-
er results and the delivery will
need to come out of research.”
Again, our President espouses
the need to create research that
“has an impact on organizations,
and makes a difference in the
lives of people [&] improves the
quality of teaching”
With SMU’s young faculty, the
President says, “Given the right
environment and incentives,
they [the faculty] will produce
great ideas”
He explains that thus far, ideas
have largely migrated to Asia
from countries like Europe.
“I think we are at the ‘tipping
point’, we are well positioned
to take advantage of it” Hence,
in the long term, SMU’s success
will certainly come from its re-
search.
“Oh, and when I think of it, your
[students’] successes as well.” He
adds.
KEEPING ABREAST
OF COMPETITION
With regard to how other in-
stitutions are following SMU’s
unique pedagogy, President de
Meyer states that, “It’s great that
others copy us”. It shows that
we definitely have something
worth emulating. However, our
President believes that “it is not
that simple to copy us. It’s easy
to say, we have lecture theatres
that look similar, but it’s going
to be very difficult to copy the
culture of the place. I’m rather
optimistic that they won’t catch
up too quickly. But they will.”
And that is where President de
Meyer reiterates the importance
of for SMU “To continue to in-
vest in innovation in the way we
teach, the way we educate” SMU
needs to keep on improving.
He draws analogy to Apple “It’s
like Apple with its iPhones, so
easy to copy.”
“But it’s not the product of the
iPod or the iPhone. It is every-
thing that comes with it- The
culture, the brand, the service,
and the people who care to make
applications that come with it.
And Apple is constantly inno-
vating!”
With SMU continuing to strive
for success, Professor Arnoud de
Meyer’s appointment as the fifth
President of SMU certainly will
be the herald for many changes
to come.
Congratulations President Ar-
noud de Meyer! We certainly
look forward to your leadership
in days to come!
The iPhone is not just an iPhone. It is everything that
comes with it - The culture, the brand, the service,
and the people who care to make the applications.”
“You have to give
people a view of
wheretheywillgo
in this university”
“Any good university
that wants to survive
in the long term has to
have good research.”

Held at Singapore Manage-
ment University’s Cam-
pus Green, this year’s carni-
val-themed event had 240
participants take part in three
competitive sports- Soccer,
Dodgeball and Captain’s Ball.
Fringe games such as Face Soc-
cer, Goggle Ball, The Balls ‘R’ on
the floor and Sledge Mania also
attracted curious onlookers to
have a go at the innovative ver-
sions of their sport.
Liu Xinghui, a third year School
of Information Systems (SIS) stu-
dent, who headed this year’s or-
ganizing committee, sees Sports
Fiesta as an event to engage
and interest students in playing
sports to escape the mundane
routine of studying.
Said Liu: “The aim of Sports Fies-
ta is to promote student life. The
sports at Sports Fiesta are rela-
tively easy to play, so everyone
can enjoy them. One difference
this year was that fringe games
were organized by our own stu-
dents for the very first time. We
typically get external vendors,
but this time round we let our
own sportsmen run the games,
to promote their sport.”
“We’ve noticed an increasing
number of students who coop
themselves up in the library to
study all the time and we wanted
to provide an avenue in which
they can lead a more active life-
style by playing sports.”
Chrystal De Anda, a 19-year-old
exchange student from Mexico,
not only scored a hat-trick but
also the winning goal for Team
Kofi Annan in the third place
play-off. She has been playing
soccer since she was four but
this was her first playing at a soc-
cer tournament in a futsal-like
pitch.
De Anda formed a team with
other exchange students from
Denmark and Spain, who were
visibly a head taller than their
Singaporean opponents, Team
Ramesh. In a high-scoring game,
both teams were tied 7-7 before
De Anda netted the winner with
a few minutes remaining on the
clock.
In the soccer finals, Team Un-
derdogs, whom seemed to be the
favourites even before the start
of the competition, beat Team
Patrick Star 6-4 to be crowned
champions.
Chang Guo Guang, a first-year
business student at his first
Sports Fiesta, scored countless
goals for his side but lauded his
team for their effort. He said, “I
credit the win today to my team,
both the guys and the girls. We
came here just to have fun and
I’m proud of my team’s achieve-
ment.”
Chang, who plays as a winger for
SMU’s soccer team and also for
Gombak United, has just joined
the SMU team but has found his
place among the sporting com-
munity. “I feel that the SMU
sporting body is a very tight knit
one. Sportsmen and sportswom-
Claudia Wong throws light upon the sixth Sports Fiesta kicked off to
a fanfare on the third Friday of the new school semester.
The Green,
not the Library
en alike commit a lot to their
CCA and it is this strong bond
that make the team.”
The 7 Dwarves ironically fielded
a team of towering giants to beat
Team Floorball 19-10 in the most
popular sport, Captain’s ball, in
which a record of 24 teams took
part in.
Elsewhere in Dodgeball, Team
Douchebag edged out Team Ba-
nah Randoas in a narrow 2-1 vic-
tory.
Even as Sports Fiesta ended on a
high note for the winning teams,
for the SMU sportsmen and
women, they will return to their
training routine to prepare for
the upcoming SUniG (Singapore
University Games). This tertia-
ry level competition pitches the
four universities against each
other in 16 sports, such as soc-
cer, tennis, aquathlon, basketball
and handball.
Sports Fiesta 2010
Campus News!
the blue and gold22

CIT0338ClearC500A4FAP.fh1110/1/104:36PMPage1
Composite
CMYCMMYCYCMYK

The Prudential-SMU Business Case Competition 2010 is the first in-
ternational business case competition to be held by Singapore Man-
agement University (SMU), and organized by Cognitare -- the SMU
business case club
Prudential Singapore has made the competition possible through a
generous sponsorship. This is part of Prudential’s strong ongoing re-
lationship with Singapore Management University. Prudential seeks
to support a world-class business case competition for undergradu-
ates from around the world.
A business case competition is
about using a case study of a real
world business problems, to help a
team of students to focus on finding
answers to the problems. This is a
gruelling but enriching experience
under intense time pressure for all
participants,.
Said Mr Philip Seah, CEO of Pruden-
tial Assurance Company Singapore: “This competition will provide
you a platform with which to sync your academic and career goals
by gaining an awareness of real-life critical issues faced by global
business leaders, and applying your academic knowledge to craft
innovative solutions for these issues. You will be able to exchange
ideas and experiences with fellow participants and faculty members,
thus establishing cross-cultural global ties.
“Additionally, through networking with Prudential Singapore staff,
you will be able to gain first-hand knowledge about the financial ser-
vices industry and the general economic climate of Singapore.”
The objective of a business case competition is to champion the drive
for innovative solutions to strategic and managerial challenges faced
by global business leaders, encourage the establishment of global
networks through cross-cultural exchange, and facilitate the sharing
of ideas and experiences among participants and faculty members.
A diverse mix of top-ranked local
and international business schools
have been invited to participate.
Each team consists of four under-
graduate students, hand-picked to
represent each university’s elite.
This year’s teams come all the way
from HEC Montreal (Canada) to
the University of Auckland (New
Zealand). Other participating uni-
versities include Concordia University, Chulalongkorn University,
Nanyang Technological University, Queen’s University, Rikkyo Uni-
versity,theUniversityofFlorida,SingaporeInstituteofManagement,
and Singapore Management University - the host of the competition.
Each team will have 24 hours to complete their analysis and present
their recommendations to the judges in the form of a a presentation
and 2-page executive summary.
Prudential-SMU
Business Case Competition 2010
Standing out from the crowd
One objective of the compeitition is
to champion the drive for innovative
solutions to the strategic and mana-
gerial dilemmas faced by
global business leaders.
Singap
the blue and gold24

During this period, students are required to work on their own. Any
communication or interaction with advisors, faculty members or ex-
ternal parties is strictly not allowed.
Before the competition begins, participants will be taken on a tour
of the Prudential office at Scotts Road, with presentations by Pruden-
tial’s management team, followed by a networking session. A short
tour of SMU will help international participants understand SMU’s
campus life as well, thus giving participants an overview of a real
business context and a snapshot of academic life in Singapore.
The competition will be held the following day. Participants are ex-
pected to complete and present their findings within the stipulated
24-hour deadline.
Happenings
Case competitions are about more than just cracking a case - it’s also
about establishing new friendships. A special dinner at Wave House
Sentosa for all participants will be organised for participants to let
their hair down and experience Singapore.
SMU Cognitare
Cognitare strives to spread the business case culture within SMU
as well as earn international recognition for the university through
competing in international business case competitions. It hopes that
through this process, it can offer a challenging and rewarding learn-
ing experience for all its members. Cognitare also engages in consult-
ing and case writing efforts together with some of the leading indus-
try partners in Singapore.
Prudential Singapore is one of the top life insurance companies in Singa-
pore and is a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based Prudential plc. As one
of the market leaders in investment-linked plans, Prudential Singapore has
over S$7.7 billion funds managed under PruLink funds as at 30 June 2010.
With the dedicated team of approximately 3,500 financial consultants and
over 600 employees, Prudential Singapore has been serving the needs of
more than 600,000 policyholders with over 1.3 million policies for almost
80 years in Singapore.
A diverse mix of top-ranked local and
international business schools have
been invited to participate. Each
team consists of four undergraduate
students, hand-picked to
represent each university’s elite.
Prudential TowerSingapore Management University

Welcome,11th SMUSA Exco
Daniel Minardi
What’s your
motivation for joining?
This is a question that I have
heard so many times for the last
few weeks. My answer is always
the same: it’s PASSION.
The passion to contribute back
to SMU and being actively in-
volve in the betterment of stu-
dent life.
The major challenges?
The election and campaigning
period. I am not the type of per-
son who like to see my face all
over the school. It was really
tough but the journey definitely
paid off.
Things you
intend to solve?
The quality of study place in
SMU. SMU students need more
space to study.
Gary Tan
I want to thank every one of you
out there who has voted for me.
Without which, I will never be
able to pen down these thoughts
in a position of a SMUSA Exco.
My motivation from running for
SMUSA comes from my desire
to serve the student population,
and to me SMUSA is the most di-
rect avenue for me to realise this
passion.
The road to entering SMUSA
exco was not a smooth-sailing
one. I have to constantly con-
vince, not only my friends,
but people whom I have met
throughout my campaigning
process. You might have remem-
bered seeing me pitching in
your classes, or giving out book-
marks/balloons as part of my
publicity campaign. One of my
greatest challenges is, therefore,
stepping out of my comfort zone
to approach people and con-
vince them of why they should
vote for me.
Realising the importance of
maintaining a healthy studies-
student life balance, I want to
spread this belief and promote
active participation in school ac-
tivities; be it in Waikiki or Adra-
ce or even in the recently con-
cluded SMU Challenge! Once
again, thanks everyone!
Bryan Lim
What’s your
Running for elections was an
opportunity I couldn’t resist
in the end. Of course, the deci-
sion wasn’t just about me div-
ing into an open window. I def-
initely made the decision with
full confidence in my leadership
abilities and experience as well.
I thus thought it’d be a great
waste to not at least put myself
up for the student population’s
consideration.
I realized that I needed a con-
crete and somewhat improvi-
sational action plan to succeed.
It’s a long competitive journey
where you have to always on the
ball – ready to unleash the next
trick up your sleeve. The elec-
tions voyage - along with its as-
sociated stress and uncertainty
– only truly ended when the re-
sults finally came out; it was un-
doubtedly a challenge managing
the campaign on top of my aca-
demic work.
Things you
intend to solve?
The validation of students for
entry into the gym via ezlink
cards, however, would be a real-
istic and feasible change. Matric-
ulation cards should no doubt be
the primary means of validation.
Amanda Chua
What’s your
All along, I have the passion
to improve student life and to
do my part as a member of the
school community. My expe-
riences in the Meridian Junior
College 5th Students' Council
have been really meaningful and
memorable.
Promoting myself to the school
and to be confident enough to
campaign for what I believe in
in front of the lecture halls and
classrooms. With the strong sup-
port and encouragements from
friends however, I managed to
overcome that and campaign
confidently.
I would like to take this chance
to thank school mates who be-
lieve in me and voted for me and
friends who are always there for
me, especially mention ZiRui
, Rena (campaign manager),
Quek, Yikee, Wenqi and Vic.
Things you
intend to solve?
The first thing I would like to
improve is the students' dia-
logue session. A more effective
student dialogue can help in
planning of student policies.
Campus News!
the blue and gold26

We interview the newly elected student rep-
resentatives to find out their motivations and
their future plans.
Jazmine Oh
What’s your
To serve and contribute to the
school that has made me who I
am today. Apart from academic
pursuit, I believe having a fun-
filled life in SMU is very impor-
tant. Ambitiously, I aspire to
make SMU a home that students
love to stay and return!
The greatest challenge I faced
during the election process is
to put myself upfront for judg-
ment and surviving the culture
shock. All my life, I have never
put up so many pictures of my-
self around places I go every day!
Nonetheless I am thankful for
those who stood by me, in par-
ticular my pillars of strength Mr
Lee Jun Kiat and Mr Avnish Ash-
vin Desai.
Things you
intend to solve?
One of the first few things I in-
tend to work on epitomizes the
opening up more interesting
possibilities for students to mar-
ket their events and raise aware-
ness of ongoing activities. I en-
vision that these avenues could
provide opportunities for orga-
nizers to reach out to SMU on a
more personal basis instead of
relying on emails. Watch out for
our upcoming plans!
Majella Tay
What’s your
During summer, I attended four
runs of FTB and FIDES camp as
a facilitator, and was also part
of the Bondue camp. Apart from
meeting many new friends, I
felt that I wanted to be more in-
volved in school. I wanted to cre-
ate and be part of this vibrant
school life that we often speak
of. For me, the most obvious way
to do it was via the SMUSA Exco
and being part of the SAC.
In year one, I hardly made any
friends at all so I was afraid
that I would not be able to rally
enough support as compared to
my other peers running. I had
to work really hard on getting
votes from people who did not
know me prior to the elections.
Things you
intend to solve?
Two things I really want to im-
prove is toilet paper in every
toilet cubicle at all times and
to integrate international/ex-
change students more.I would
also like to create an event that
involves the whole of SMU, an
event that students want to go
for. I would really love to regain
our student discount at Ice Cold
Beer. This may prove to be the
most difficult one but I’m will-
ing to try.
Zizie Zuzante
What’s your
I did not have any fancy reason
to justify my motivation. I sim-
ply wanted to serve the school. I
wanted to take an active role in
helping to create the SMU expe-
rience.
I believe I was my only obstacle.
I wasn’t exceptionally active in
school life during my first year
and chose to concentrate on my
studies instead alongside my
CCA and CIP commitments. Of
course, time was another chal-
lenge as it was a month-long ral-
ly and there was a lot that need-
ed to be done.
Things you
intend to solve?
I want to improve the students’
perception that the Exco does
not make enough effort to hear
the student population and also
motivate them to take a more
active role in shaping their own
SMU experiences. I’ve already
got a couple of ideas to build
upon the current initiatives that
have already been put in place
by the current and previous
committees and can’t wait to
pitch them to my fellow friends!
Ryan Tan
What’s your
I felt that whatever I could do
in school would be of minimal
significance, until I became part
of the Freshmen Teambuilding
Camp (FTB) 2010: it dawned on
me that I could do the same for
the rest of the students of SMU
as long as I wanted to.
Upon hearing of my decision to
join the SMUSA Exco, my friend
advised against it, saying it is
‘too time demanding’ and that
‘it would adversely affect your
GPA’. In response to that, I would
explain to my friends that I
would be willing to do it regard-
less of the strain that would be
put on me.
Things you
intend to solve?
I would look into streamlining
some of the events which are
not as well received by the stu-
dents as well as pushing of new
events that students would like
to see and be a part of. At the
same time, I would like to build
a stronger SMU identity, for stu-
dents and alumni alike.

Themed “Friends”, SMU Grad-
uates’ Night 2010 was held
on the 17 July at Island Ball-
room, Shangri-La Hotel.
The tagline ‘Life wouldn’t be fun
without friends’ is definitely be-
fitting for this special occasion.
It captures the essence of sup-
portive friends who have been
through the craziest moments
together and made our mun-
dane school life much more en-
joyable.
As the Class of 2010 embarks on
a new journey, this is the eve-
ning for them to celebrate this
“I’ll describe this as my ‘three-in-
one’ evening: Meet-up, celebrate and
party with my friends!”
– Vincent Bei, School of Business
“It was definitely exciting to catch
up with my friends I’ve made
throughout my years at SMU. I had
enjoyed taking pictures with them
interesting backdrops at the event!”
– Elvin Ong, School of Social Sciences,
Class of 2010
“I like dressing up to theme! The
question I asked all evening was
‘Where’s the gold?!’”
– Sentill Ananthan, School of Business
“We had a great time and wish all
of you the very best.
– Professor Howard Hunter,
3rd President of SMU
“I’m sure it was a memorable time
for all the graduands, one which
they will remember and tell their
kids about :) I myself had a smash-
ing time! Thank you!”
– Professor Low Aik Meng,
Dean of Students
“It was a memorable evening and I
wish all of you every success in the
next stage of your life journey.”
– Professor Phang Sock Yong,
Interim Dean of School of Economics
transition with, of course, their
friends!
The dress code was “A Touch of
Gold”. Why gold?
Well, simply because the Orga-
nizing Committee couldn’t re-
sist the temptation of gold! We
wanted something effortless to
dress to the occasion! With the
metallic color, anyone can ef-
fortlessly shimmer and shine for
the evening! Besides, Gold repre-
sents one of SMU’s school colors.
The Class of 2010 were definite-
ly high on school spirit as they
decked themselves with the col-
or of Gold!
Graduation Night 2010
Campus News!
the blue and gold28

ing to keep it short and sweet, he addressed and greeted the different
groups of friends from the ACF clubs, exchange students, alumni and
members of the Office of Student Life (OSL), wishing them an enjoy-
able evening ahead.
This year, to honor individuals who had contributed substantially to
SMU’s Arts scene, four Eve ambassadors were nominated to be the
‘faces’ of the event. These were students and alumni, who not only
excelled in their respective artistic fields, but also represented their
club in leadership roles. The Eve ambassadors - Amanda Voon (presi-
dent of SMUBE 2009, member of SMU Chamber choir), Goh Xin Ying
(president of Indancity 2009, member of Ardiente Latin ballroom
performance team), Melvin Tiong (Music Director of Samba Masa-
la 2009, member of Eurhythmix and Artdicted) and alumnus Joshua
Jonathan Lim, Vice president of Symphonia 2008, involved in Arts
Festival from 2008-10, a member of Stageit during his time and still
actively involved in the local musical theatre scene.
The evening continued with performances by ‘Sharp-dressed Men’ a
group of four Blues enthusiast from Crossroads, the new Blues sub-
club under SoundFoundry. The four-man band consisted of Sid Singh
and Saurav Ray vocals and the guitar, backed up by lead guitarist Na-
ren Gunawardene and Sahj Chawla as the rhythm guitar. They ser-
enaded the crowd for a good, enjoyable half hour as guests contin-
ued mingling. This was followed by a dance performance by Nach Le,
the Bollywood sub-club under Indian Cultural Society. Guests were
treated to the debut of Nach Le’s first self-choreographed dance, as
they shimmied energetically to a musical line-up of popular Bolly-
wood songs: Khwaab Dekhe, Mind Blowing Mahiya and Move Your
Body!
Next up were the stage games. Sporting guests participated in vari-
ous rounds of trivia and walked away with exciting prizes! Some
were even game enough to stick their hands into a slushy tank of
the unknown to retrieve items as specified by the hosts. This was fol-
lowed up by a ‘Best dressed’ segment as contestants gamely struted
their stuff in pairs, thrilling the crowd with their poses and charm-
ing antics.
Finally, what would appreciation be without some form of acknowl-
edgement and recognition! Outstanding CCAs for the past year were
presented with ACF awards. These were Most popular Arts Camp
workshop (Samba Masala), Best new initiative (Ballare – g’lamour),
Most no. of workshops held (Japanese Cultural Club) and the Special
Service Award (SMU Broadcast Entertainment). OSL Associate Direc-
tor, Jimmy Ye, was invited onstage to present the awards to represen-
tatives of the various winning clubs.
The night eventually closed with the much anticipated lucky draw
segment. Guests were delighted by the many prizes up for grabs –
among them, Ben & Jerry’s vouchers, Sony earphones/headphones
and Doc Marten’s. These, however, were dwarfed by the grand prize
of a Sony digital camera which one lucky guest walked away with!
Appreciating the Arts! To sum it up, that’s what ‘Eve’ is all about.
Inaugurated in 2009, ‘Eve’ was conceived with the intent of giv-
ing the CCAs under the Art & Cultural Fraternity (ACF) a chance to
kick-back, relax and mingle, apart from their usual hectic schedule of
events, workshops and performances.
The very first ‘Eve’ last year was a cozy affair held at 7ateNine restau-
rant, at the Esplanade Mall. This year’s ‘Eve’ organizing committee
decided to up the ante and make the event a bigger, glitzier affair.
A cocktail event, Eve 2010 was held at Klapsons, a posh boutique ho-
tel located at Tanjong Pagar, just a stone’s throwaway from the Cen-
tral Business District. Entering the main lobby, guests were greeted
by a futuristic silver globe of a front desk reception, magically sus-
pended above a shallow pool. This set the scene for an impressive
event venue on the 28th and 29th floors, with an expansive balco-
ny wrapped around the building, boasting a panoramic night view
of the surroundings. Guests got the chance throughout the night to
go out for a breath of fresh air, and take in the skyline. Admittedly,
one side of the building faced a very industrial view of a container-
filled PSA shipyard, while the other was unfortunately blocked by
the gargantuan K-REIT Asia building. Nevertheless, the thrill of be-
ing 29 floors up dressed to the nines with groups of friends made it
memorable.
But back to the highlights of the evening – As the doors opened at
730pm, food and wine were promptly served by waiters carrying
platters of hor’dourves between guests clustered around the cocktail
tables. On the menu for the night were mini potato croquets, fried
fritters stuffed with cheese, mini sandwiches, delicate squares of tira-
misu and marinated chicken sticks. Our guests particularly enjoyed
the generous free flow of liquors – Bacardi as well as Red and White
wine! For added entertainment, a roaming magician enthralled
guests with his deck of cards and sleeve full of tricks.
Our friendly hosts, Felicia and Kevin of SMUBE kicked off the night
by inviting ACF President, Ken Chang, to say a few words. Promis-
Eve 2010Eve 2010
A night of appreciating the Arts! By Lydia TohA night of appreciating the Arts! By Lydia Toh
Campus News!
the blue and gold30

■ Lydia Toh
This year marked SMU School
of Law’s first attempt at stag-
ing their first full-fledged musi-
cal. Helmed by powerful female
lead vocalists, Zara Fung (Mari-
na, aka the little mermaid) and
Genevieve Wong (Lady Lucida),
audiences were treated to an eve-
ning of pure entertainment in
true Singaporean fashion.
Throughout this modern adap-
tion of the “The Little Mermaid”,
cleverly woven into its musi-
cal lyrics and script were refer-
ences to judicial terms, life’s lit-
tle quirks and stereotypes (such
as Chinese eating everything!)
and of course a favorite topic
amongst local playwrights – a
host of none-too-subtle jibes
about our Singaporean system
of rule.
This was evidently portrayed in
one of the opening songs “Third
World to First” which drew
much giggles of amusement
from the audience.
We managed to catch Samuel
Ng, Assistant Director (one of
amongst many other roles for
this musical), for an exclusive
“Home, Nearly”:
A play
■ Tobias Yeo
“We are Singaporeans.” – Singa-
pore Students
“And we are how you got here in the
first place.” – International Stu-
dents
On the evening of 21 Septem-
ber, in celebration of SMU
10th Anniversary and Interna-
tional Day of Peace, this year’s
Peace Day Organizing Com-
mittee presented their inaugu-
ral production – Home, Nearly.
About 100 people gathered to
watch the production the SMU
Arts and Cultural Centre, but
the small room and did nothing
to dampen the response to an
amazing evening.
An inspired script, a passionate
cast, and thought-provoking me-
dia fused to form a truly magi-
cal production. There were both
laughs and tears as we followed
the adventures of Desmond and
Janet from Singapore, Robert
from India, and Alisa from Cam-
bodia as they learned to appreci-
ate each other over the course of
a group project in SMU. The final
scene, where the cast held hands
and sang a version Home, was
particularly touching. Script-
writer Jonathan Lim has a lot of
talent, a fact clearly on show in
this production.
Considering the objective, it
was ironic that much of the hu-
mour was based on “arcane lo-
cal knowledge”, as said in a line
from the play. Still, the message
was clear, and if just one student
learned that valuable lesson of
interview about “The Little Mer-
maid: A Law School Musical”.
Samuel was instrumental to this
musical in his various roles as
co-scriptwriter, composer, lyri-
cist, music arranger and over-
all music director, as well as, a
member of the cast in this pro-
duction. He is also no pushover
at grades: he was Top First Year
Law Student, amongst a host of
other academic awards.
Name us your:
Biggest regret
for the play?
I don’t think I could say it any
better than Sinatra when he
sang, “Regrets –I’ve had a few.
But then again, too few to men-
tion.” In fact, the song sums up
quite aptly how the entire pro-
duction team feels about the
whole experience. The path
leading to the actual perfor-
mances was long and tumultu-
ous, fraught with internal dis-
agreements (sometimes due to
our personal anxieties, insecu-
rities and petty ego issues) and
doubts constantly thrown at us
by naysayers, which rocked our
confidence every now and then.
I guess the team feels very proud
to be able to say at the end of the
day that “[we] did it [our] way”,
and I’m honoured to have had
the opportunity to be part of it.
Proudest moments
I really appreciated my musical
compositions and arrangements
being transformed into reality
on stage and sung with much
fervour. For someone with hard-
ly any formal musical training,
every act of encouragement or
affirmation means a lot of to me.
Funniest moment /
Most embarrassing thing
that happened
I do not think I am at liberty to
disclose the most embarrass-
ing thing that happened (it con-
cerns someone else’s wardrobe
mishap during final warm-ups)!
But the next most embarrass-
ing thing on the list must be the
little-known fact that one of our
cast members split his pants on
stage very badly during the first
show as a result of his very en-
thusiastic dancing!
Most memorable
moments
When I saw members of the
ensemble slowly gathering to
sing–with the help of the lyrics
booklet–a song they did not get
to perform on stage (it was only
sung by the two leads). It con-
vinced me that my music and
lyrics would live on in the hearts
of my friends for a long time. I
dropped a tear –so did another,
and the rest, as they say, is his-
tory.
Thank yous
I would like to use this opportu-
nity to thank each and every one
who took part or watched our la-
bour of love. And to the produc-
tion team and cast/ensemble: I
love you.
peace and inclusion, I say, Bra-
vo. Home, Nearly has earned my
admiration, and the only shame
here is that more people didn’t
get the privilege to see this pro-
duction and smile like I did.
The Little Mermaid: SMU’s Law Musical
Campus News!
the blue and gold32

In previous years, New Bal-
ance’s annual APAC (Asia-Pa-
cific) project has been grounded
in Asian culture.However this
year, the project takes a break
from the artist/store collabora-
tions and goes back to the com-
pany’s sports heritage of classic
running footwear designs with
the Tricolor collection.
New Balance took inspiration
from their past, applying three
of their heritage footwear colors
- burgundy red, navy blue and
classic gray - onto a pack of lim-
ited edition running shoes.
The highlight of the Tri-
Color collection will be the
CM1500SB, which is inspired by
the recent re-released of the orig-
inal M1300JP cult favorite that is
highly revered by New Balance
fans and collectors worldwide.
The CM1500SB is individually
numbered and limited to 600
pairs worldwide and is a show-
case of New Balance’s heritage
and history. It is made from pre-
mium nubuck and mesh, and
will only be available at select
top-tier New Balance accounts.
The CM1500SB comes with heri-
tage print inserts, shoe bag and
in a special drawer box.
On a wider scale, the hybrid
M150 model - a modern inter-
pretation of the 1500 classic de-
sign - has been made over in bur-
gundy red, navy blue and classic
gray colorways. The uppers of
the three shoes are made up of a
mixture of suede, leather, nylon
mesh and synthetic materials,
and will be available at key New
Balance stockists worldwide.
The launch of the collection will
be supported by an exhibition
of photos based on the TriColor
theme titled ‘Your Balance. Your
Color’. The photo exhibition is
the finale of “Balance is Every-
where” campaign in 2010.
Now for the first time, New Bal-
ance brings together 3 renowned
photographic artists in Asia –
Mr. Kim Hyeon Seong (Editor-
in-chief of OhBoy! magazine)
from Korea, admired for his fash-
ionable and unique everyday
visuals,Mr. Masatoshi Nagase
(award winning actor) from Ja-
pan for his storytelling images
and Mr. Quo Ying Sheng (Art Di-
rector and artist) from Taiwan
for his contemporary and artis-
tic crossovers.
About New Balance Lifestyle
New Balance, based in Boston,
MA, continues its tradition of
premium footwear. Designed
for both men and women, New
Balance footwear features the
finest construction and quality.
Ranging from all-time classic
favorites to reinvented mod-
ern silhouettes, each Lifestyle
shoe features innovative ma-
terials and technologies that
keep the New Balance brand
as relevant and sought after
today as it was 100 years ago.
Celebrating heritage, crafts-
manship, innovation and imag-
ination, New Balance Lifestyle
fuses classic designs from the
past with bold ideas from the
future.
For more information
please visit
www.newbalance.com.sg/lifestyle
The photographic works of the
artists will also be compiled into
analbumthatwillbesoldatNew
Balance stores, with proceeds
from the sales going towards the
visually impaired communities
within the respective city.
The ‘Your Balance. Your color’
photo exhibition will run from:
Sept 27 - Oct 3, 2010, at the
Omotesando Stadium, Tokyo.
“The ‘Your Balance. Your Color’
photo exhibition will kick-off
at the Omotesando Stadium, To-
kyo, from Sept 27 – Oct 3, 2010.
The New Balance Tricolor col-
lection and charity photo al-
bum will be hitting stores on
10/10/10.
The CM1500SB will be avail-
able at LeftFoot and Limited Edt
Vault while the M150 will be
available at Leftfoot, Limited Edt
stores and New Balance Concept
Stores.
Unique New Balance collection launched

■ Wang Sha & Hu Nian Bo
HPAIR 2010 holds a diverse
group of distinguished
speakers from both academic
business worlds. What attract-
ed them to HPAIR? Speaker Prof.
Gopinathan from National In-
stitute of Education of Nanyang
Technological University shared
his answer.
As a Singaporean and expert in
teaching, he is eager to share
with young people how Singa-
pore was transformed into a de-
veloped country within a few
decades by some wise decisions
in the field of education. On the
other hand, he came to HPAIR to
appreciate what young people
are doing for themselves.
Speaker Mr. Richard Pond from
Cadbury, world’s biggest confec-
tionery company, offered a dif-
ferent answer. He came to “learn
from and share with young peo-
ple”. Indeed, he very impressed
by the quality of the penetrat-
ing questions raised by the dele-
gates. Mr. Pond also commended
the design and organization of
the conference, especially in the
sense that the speakers are well
complementary to each other, as
they lifted up different customer
challenges in various industries.
Sungwon Han, a delegate from
Sungkyunkwan University of
South Korea, who was also the
President of last year’s HPAIR
Committee, said this year’s con-
ference is very well organized
and that he was moved by the
thoughtful preparation. Com-
menting on the difference be-
tween HPAIR 2010 and 2009, he
said while last year delegated
had the opportunities to appre-
ciate Korean culture through
different events during the con-
ference, the choice of location
this year, which is Singapore,
provides delegates a platform to
learn about multilateral Asian
cultures. Sungwon believed that
the theme of this year, “Sustain-
ing Momentum: 10 Years into
Asian Century”, plus Singapore,
2010, conveys a meaningful
message to all participants.
Despite of its high participation
expense and strict selection cri-
teria, HPAIR is viewed as a not-
to-be-missed opportunity by
students representing 150 uni-
versities. The seminar sessions
and panel sessions covered a va-
riety of topics relevant to busi-
ness, economics, education, en-
trepreneurship, politics, science
and technology, etc, not to men-
tion this year HPAIR first merged
the traditional HPAIR Business
and Academic conference.
With so many denoted speakers
from different industries sharing
their opinions, students are able
to get more insight into a field
they were not familiar with. You
can be amazed by how much
you can gain from a single sem-
inar. A final year student from
Hong Kong University was en-
lightened by Prof John Khong,
who have successfully started
several businesses, during his
seminar on biotechnology. She
was even considering changing
her major to biotechnology.
Another irresistible benefit of
HPAIR is its role as a platform
for friends making. Since stu-
dents have all gone through the
strict selection process—part
of it is to submit 2 essays ---they
are “screened” to some extent.
Thus HPAIR is able to bring to-
gether lots of passionate young
students with brilliant ideas, or
valuable questions, on the world
development in the new Asia
century. Apparently, It is easier
for them o find their comrades
here.
Leisure time after intensive sem-
inars and discussions was also
an important part of the dele-
gates’ HPAIR journey. Even be-
fore the first day’s tour ended, Li
Yijing, a year 3 student from Ren-
ming University of China, invit-
ed her newly made internation-
al friends to her birthday party,
which happened to be on the
second day of the conference.
She was surprised by how they
reacted, “I didn’t expect them
to be so enthusiastic about my
birthday party. “
The only drawback of this is that
the attendance turned out to be
low as the end drew near , when
young participants took off their
suits to network and have fun.
Some delegates showcased dif-
ferent cultures through perfor-
mances on International night
,and all delegates enjoyed a club
carnival at the Butter Factory.
Who said making a bunch of
new friends is less important
Behind the splendid stage is a
team of committed students
from SMU and Harvard Uni-
versity. Benjamin Chong (Yr 3,
School of Business), Director the
Organizing Committee, noted
that the Committee has been
preparing for HPAIR since Sep-
tember last year. All Committee
members worked extraordinari-
ly hard to put together ideas and
resources. The two teams from
SMU and Harvard worked close-
ly with each other to materialize
HPAIR 2010.
Nevertheless, as no success
should be taken for granted, the
organizing process of HPAIR has
presented many challenges to
both SMU and Harvard. Ms Lucy
Zhang (Yr Harvard), Executive
Director of HPAIR 2010, said one
of the biggest challenges during
the organizing process is the dif-
ferences between Singaporean
culture and the American cul-
ture.
For instance, she said, in US if
students want to contact a speak-
er, they usually call or email the
speaker directly; while in Singa-
pore, the Committee had to go
through many levels. Further-
more, the distance between the
two teams added to the difficulty
of communication. Conflicts oc-
cur even during the conference.
It is understandable that student
leaders and associates from Har-
vard came all the way to Singa-
pore not to merely take care of
the logistics when so many in-
fluential speakers are around ,
but SMU organizing commit-
tee found them sometimes too
aggressive in networking with
the speakers. The two Organiz-
ing committees negotiated and
managed to achieve agreements
on liaisons and operations, and
this is critical to the success
of this year’s jointly organized
HPAIR.
Ms Zhang stressed that she
found worthy of the interaction
and the friendship between her
and her SMU peers.
HPAIR 2010: A Review
Perspectives
the blue and gold34

■ Ian Lim
Ihad the privilege of attend-
ing HPAIR 2010’s panel on
Business Strategy and Manage-
ment: Winning in Asia and Be-
yond from August 20-24, 2010.
As a business student, I have al-
ways been curious about what
kept CEOs awake at night, and
what better way to do so than to
hear from the men (and women)
themselves! Together with 70
other delegates from the Asia-
Pacific and Europe, I partici-
pated in four days of discussion
with eleven of the head honchos
themselves. They hailed from
diverse backgrounds and indus-
tries - ranging from Garuda Indo-
nesia, McDonald’s Japan to UBS
Singapore. As your correspon-
dent, I would like to share the
highlights of some of the most
pertinent themes discussed in
the panel – leadership, global
strategy and creative capitalism.
In the first conference, the cor-
porate leaders shared with us
lessons on leading global orga-
nizations. Contrary to popu-
lar belief, the hardest decisions
made by CEOs were not busi-
ness decisions (because that
could be done through a well
thought-through framework),
but people decisions – who to
hire (and fire), how to increase
performance, and how to moti-
vate team members. However,
employees can be leaders too, ac-
cording to Mr Gerald Chan, CEO
UBS Singapore. He is often on
the lookout for “serial entrepre-
neurs” – people who constantly
strive to improve the organiza-
tion and identify market oppor-
tunities, regardless of rank – and
will groom them to become top
potentials in his organization.
However, they also stressed that
self management is also equal-
ly important for the successful
21st century corporate leader.
Eikoh Harada, CEO McDonald’s
Japan (a man who possesses a
wise, zen-like demeanor), ends
meetings every day by 6pm, and
gets most of his ideas walking in
the park (not cooped up in the
office. Mr Hsieh Tsun-Yan, for-
merly from McKinsey’s Global
Leadership Institute, said that
the best consultants were often
the ones who were not always
“busy, busy, busy” but those
who were able to live in varying
times – fast-paced in tight dead-
lines, and to slow substantially
down to reflect on their actions
(much more so than the average
person).
The CEOs also explained their
companies’ global strategies to
the delegates in the next engag-
ing discussion. Sunny Verghese,
CEOofOlamInternational,relat-
ed that since commodities were
a cost competitive business, the
company’s strategy was to iden-
tify geographical regions where
it was cheaper to grow a partic-
ular commodity, invest in them,
and work extensively to also by-
pass the various middlemen to
reach his customer directly. Pra-
da’s Regional Retail Director, Ms.
Cristina Ventura-Steinmann,
stressed the importance of tech-
nological innovation, even in
a seemingly “low-tech” luxury
goods business! For example,
her company’s latest focus was
in employing information tech-
nology to allow women to see,
virtually, how they would look
in different outfit/handbag com-
binations online, to reduce the
hassle of trying on clothes.
Lastly, the captains of industry
also shared their experiences in
creative capitalism, a.k.a. doing
business in emerging markets.
In a world of 6.7 billion people,
often only 2 billion people in the
developed markets are served by
most companies. The remaining
two-thirds of the global popula-
tion need to be served as well,
but they do not even have ba-
sic necessities like clean water,
food, and sanitation. Apart from
the usual, token corporate social
responsibility initiatives, com-
panies who are able to rethink
their business models and lever-
age on these untapped markets
may reap tremendous econom-
ic benefits as well! For instance,
Nokia (which has been losing
market share to Apple and oth-
er brands in developed markets)
still enjoys a leading market po-
sition in emerging markets like
India and Indonesia. Nokia pro-
vides simple applications on its
handsets for villagers who need
to check prices of commodities
on their mobile phone, through
Ovi Life Tools. Closer to home,
Singapore’s Jack Sim, CEO of the
World Toilet Organization, has a
business idea to provide sanita-
tion in the developing world by
selling USD 30 latrines to fami-
lies, and making them “sales-
men” for his products by pro-
viding them with a one dollar
commission for the next latrine
they sell to the next family. One
day, he hopes to franchise this
business model to emerging
markets all around the globe.
These were only some of the
many innovative business ideas
and innovations shared that tru-
ly opened our minds.
Overall, the Strategy Panel was
a great panel to be involved in,
especially for business students
who want to complement their
existing classroom knowledge
with real-world experience from
people at the top of their field.
For those interested to develop
their understanding of business
in Asia further, I would encour-
age you to check out hpair.org
for details of next year’s confer-
ence, and sign up (early!) for this
panel!
Ian Lim is a Year Three double-degree
student at the School of Accountancy
and the Lee Kong Chian School of Busi-
ness), and is currently on exchange at
The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania. All errors and/or omis-
sions are entirely his own. Please contact
him at ziyang.lim.2008@smu.edu.sg if
you have any questions or comments!
Conversations with CEOs
HPAIR 2010’s Business Strategy in Asia Panel
The Strategy Panel was a
great panel to be involved
in, especially for business
students who want to
complement their exist-
ing classroom knowledge
with real-world experi-
ence from people at the
top of their field.
Perspectives

In SMU, student-led events are
a dime a dozen. Look around
you, and I am sure any student
singled out would have been in-
volved in some planning in one
way or another. Involvement in
such activities is insidiously be-
coming an integral part of the
SMU student life; an emblem,
an unspoken must-have before
SMU students graduate.
Yet, amidst being caught up in
this hectic, whirlwind swept
lifestyle of 4 years, have we
paused for a moment to ponder
upon these past experiences and
glean the essential life lessons
taught to us via such unassum-
ing avenues?
As Chairperson and Vice-Chair-
person of Host Country Orga-
nizing Committee at the recent-
ly concluded HPAIR 2010 Asia
Conference, the closing of that
significant page in our lives def-
initely left us much to relish,
savour and think about. Term-
ing the end of the conference as
a significant milestone in our
lives might seem nothing less
than an augmented, exaggera-
tion, yet that was what it truly
meant to us and the rest of the
committee who toiled tirelessly
for it for a year.
A conference aimed at bring-
ing together like-minded under-
graduates across the globe to dis-
cuss various issues pertinent to
society today, the HPAIR 2010
Asia Conference was held at the
Suntec Singapore International
Convention & Exhibition Cen-
tre from 20 August to 24 August
2010. It was an event jointly or-
ganized by two different student
groups from two different uni-
versities i.e. the students from
the Singapore Management
University that was led by the
SMU Ambassadorial Corps and
students from the Harvard Proj-
ect for Asian and International
Relations (HPAIR) organisation
of Harvard University. It was an
event bringing together groups
belonging to two different coun-
tries, cultures and living in two
directly opposite time zones.
It would be an understatement
to say that that working togeth-
er was no mean feat; to refute
claims that we never felt like giv-
ing up would also be a sheer lie.
Nonetheless, as with all events,
the end will and did come about
eventually.
At the final moment, just as del-
egates streamed out of the ball-
room and gala dinner came to
a close, reality suddenly hit us:
no more 1am late night calls
followed by urgent 8am meet-
ings to deal with the latest emer-
gency, no more coming back
on Sundays just to test out the
feasibility of systems and pro-
grams put in place and no more
seeing each other 5 out of the 7
days. It also spelt no more trials
thrown at you to test one’s ma-
turity and train one to behave
in a calm-headed manner, no
more instances for one to prac-
tice removing emotions from
the equation before reacting and
most importantly, no more time
to be shared with the team who
fought together for one vision: to
make the conference a success.
As much as the organizing of
this event has given us much
wrinkles, grey hair and hair loss,
until then it was when we ful-
ly appreciated that this experi-
ence has also give us so much in
terms of character building, per-
spective moulding and learning
so much more about yourself.
Not only did it teach us how to
appreciate the positivity of the
situation amidst the negativity,
a lesson so very important be-
cause no event-planning would
ever go smoothly, but time and
time again, we were also taught
how to draw our strength to
trudge that next step from the
team; the awesome team who
fought with us right from start
to the end regardless of the ob-
stacles thrown in their way. We
have also been humbled by the
dedication of the volunteers
who had joined us at a later stage
but were equally dedicated to
making the conference a suc-
cess. Last but not least, amidst
remaining task-oriented all the
way, this experience was also a
wonderful opportunity for us to
discover more about ourselves:
how Steffi becomes a laughing
maniac at 3am in the morning
while doing work to how Steph-
anie really likes her items orga-
nized if not she will get cranky.
Learn more about your strengths
and weaknesses to your quirky
tendencies, likes and dislikes,
because only when you under-
stand yourself well, then you
can enhance the working rela-
tionship with your team.
Thank you HPAIR, for all the
awesome memories you have
given us with our team, for let-
ting us see ever so clearly who
are our true comrades in times of
difficulty, and most importantly,
helping us to grow so much in
times of adversity that we can
quite confidently say that we are
no more the little girls of yester-
day.
As much as the organizing of this event has given
us much wrinkles, grey hair and hair loss, until then
it was when we fully appreciated that this experi-
ence has also give us so much in terms of charac-
ter building, perspective moulding and learning so
much more about yourself.
From the
Organisers
■ Stephanie Liow & Steffi Tedjo
HPAIR
Perspectives
the blue and gold36

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