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SHEN participates in Love without Boundaries!

January 3, 2013 in Activities, Event, Non-SHEN Event

SHEN was glad to have been part of Love without Boundaries, an annual charity event organised by Beacon of Love. Beacon of Love is a Shanghai Expatriate Organisation that supports children suffering from Congenital Heart Disease. Love without Boundaries is a charity carnival that raises funds for these children so that can live healthy lives and have a brighter future.

As part of the carnival, SHEN helped to run and facilitate the game stalls in the charity carnival, ranging from mini-fishing pond, mini-golf, chap teh, nerf gun, basketball shooting and a booth of mystery gifts!

We had a really fun and fulfilling time, because not only were we given the opportunity to run the games, but to bring joy and fun to the families that participated in the carnival. For many families, the carnival was a family outing and it was certainly very endearing to watch how father and son bond over a game of chap teh, and to watch how the young are so relentless in their attempts to get a game right. It was tiring but it was rewarding to see all the happy faces of the children and to also know that with each contribution made, it gives a child out there a better future through better health. Thus, being part of this charity carnival was also a good opportunity for SHEN to set aside time and come together to give something back to society, to love without boundaries!

We would really like to thank Beacon of Love for giving us the chance to be part of their carnival.

With that, I present to you the 17^th and 18^th SHEN batch!

Epilogue

The organisers for Beacon-of-Love invited SHEN students from the top 3 booths which attracted the most number of participants for an Appreciation Lunch held in Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel. The booth which attracted the highest number of participants was the mystery box booth manned by Seah Kay Siong and Lee Lixuan from the 18^th Batch. Coincidentally, both of them are also housemates and colleagues interning at House of Flour. For this ‘mystery box’ booth, participants pay tickets to have a try to ‘uncover hidden prizes’ in the boxes. The prizes ranged from KFC vouchers to little accessories.

Second in line was the nerf gun booth manned by Dexter Sim and Wang Shuxian. The booth had many small figures which participants would have to gun down using the nerf guns. The guns were contributed by a small boy (8 years old) who wished to share his love with others and contribute a part to charitable causes. The booth attracted several young gun shooting enthusiasts.

Last but not least, we have the water balloons booth manned by Abriel Ang and Justin Wong. Originally, the participant were supposed to fish for water balloons in an inflatable pool. However, to make the game even more interesting, our SHEN students decided up ‘sacrifice’ their handsome faces. The way they went about doing so, was to cut out the face from a poster and put their own faces into the gap. They then challenged participants to dunk the water balloons onto them. This is indeed the epitome of entrepreneurship whereby ‘innovation was generated from limited on-hand resources’.

The winners were acknowledged for their contributions and had a hearty enjoyable lunch, courtesy from the organisers of Beacon of Love. All other SHEN students who helped out in the event were also given a token of appreciation by the organisers. It was indeed a meaningful and enriching event and extended the significance of our 1-year stint in Shanghai beyond work and study.

Pictures from the thank-you lunch:

Chanelle and Dexter from the Nerf Gun booth receiving their token of appreciation from the Beacon of Love committee.

From left: Justin, Dexter, Abriel, Amanda, Shuxian, Hammie and Weijie.

The lovely and passionate Beacon of Love committee together with (a part of) SHEN.

SHEN would like to thank Beacon of Love for allowing us to be part of this meaningful and fun-filled event, and we hope that we will have many more projects together in future!

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Our SG Conversation in Shanghai

December 5, 2012 in Activities, Event

Written by Darrell Van of 18th SHEN. Photos Credit: OSU & SHEN.

The series of Our Singapore Conversations which focuses itself on seeking public opinion and inculcating a sense of ownership to Singapore amongst Singaporeans had reached its stop in Shanghai. Representatives from the Overseas Singaporean Unit facilitated the event which was held at the Consulate General of the Republic of Singapore along the quaint Wan Shan Road on the evening of the 22^nd of November 2012. The event saw 30 odd participants and was graced by Consul-General, Mr. Ong Siew Gay and Member of Parliament, Ms Sim Ann. Both attended the session in their personal capacity and were addressed affectionately by fellow Singaporeans as Siew Gay and Ann respectively. Despite the relentless drizzle, spirits were high amongst participants as they bonded over Singaporean cuisine like “Chye Tao Kway” and “Chicken Curry”. The event attracted Singaporeans from various walks of lives thus adding to a diversity of opinions during the valuable sharing session which followed after dinner.

"Do you see opportunities for yourself as young Singaporeans?"

Topics discussed included how the rise of China would impact Singapore in the coming two to three decades. The general consensus was that China would see continued growth albeit with caution thus Singapore had to constantly reinvent itself to remain relevant in the global economic landscape. Suggestions revolved mainly around how the Singapore education system can nurture increasingly creative individuals in an effort to produce a workforce that is able to differentiate itself from the rest of the world and compete in today’s globalised economy. Ideas such as inculcating greater emphasis on technoprenuership and creativity were passionately debated.

Shu Xian from 18th SHEN sharing her experience

Needless to say, discussing the Singaporean education system was opening a Pandora’s Box. The system which drew much flak drew an equal amount of praise. What was of essence however was the mentioning of how Singaporean society had a “narrow definition of success”. Participants shared openly about their own personal experiences with regards to the topic, drawing much passionate discussion.

Another topic brought up was the lack of a sense of belonging. This topic was close to every Singaporean’s heart, particularly for the participants in the room, who had been away from home for a period of time. They shared their difficulties about returning to Singapore after being away. Issues ranged from housing to the more intangible element of culture. As put across by a participant, “When I go back, what used to be a vacant land has now become a mall. I cannot recognize most places now.” Indeed as our nation constantly reinvents itself to remain competitive, our city’s landscape inevitably changes at an alarming pace. This paradox of progressing forward yet retaining familiarity amongst Singaporeans was truly thought provoking and left more question than answers.

Finger painting exercise after the dialogue session

Thank you Ms. Sim Ann for sharing your perspectives with us & engaging us in dialogue!

As the night drew to a close, participants concluded that despite the challenges and complaints, it was unanimous that every Singaporean looked forward towards building a Singapore where no Singaporean is left behind as we progress forward together as a nation. Despite the challenges that the winds of change would bring to Singapore, participants believed that with prudence amongst Singaporeans, we would be able to tap on opportunities that comes with change. While there was much to be done, there was consolation in knowing that almost everyone felt Singapore was work in progress and that the best is yet to be!

17th & 18th SHEN with CG Ong Siew Gay and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Ms. Sim Ann

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National Day in Shanghai: Home Is Where Our Heart Is

August 30, 2012 in Activities, Blog, Event

Written by Hammie Teo of 17th SHEN.

4th of August is a very special day for Singaporeans in Shanghai. The annual Singapore National Day Dinner was held on this very day where 500 over Singaporeans, Permanent Residents and Chinese attended the dinner organized by Shanghai Singapore Business Association (SSBA).

The Consulate-General of Singapore, Ong Siew Gay was the guest of honour for the night. He graced the event with a speech followed by cake-cutting and singing of the happy birthday song to celebrate Singapore’s 47^th Birthday.

To many Singaporeans who have been in Shanghai for many years, this day evokes much patriotism for them. This is one of the biggest Singaporean event in Shanghai as it provides a platform for Singaporeans in Shanghai to gather and mingle with fellow countryman.The food served that night was Peranakan cuisine along with signature Singaporean dishes. The dishes were simple but it gave us a taste of home.

The night started with the singing of the Singapore National Anthem, followed by a choir formed by Singaporean students living in Shanghai. The lead singer, Kay is currently studying at Singapore Shanghai International School (SSIS) while the rest of the choir was made up of SHEN students from the 17th and 18th batches.

SHEN choir with SSIS student-singer, Kay

The choir had numerous practice sessions before the actual day to ensure that they put up a good performance for all attending the dinner. They sang national day favourites like “Home”, “ Where I Belong” , “Stand Up for Singapore” and “One People, One Nation, One Singapore”, etc. They kindly volunteered their help for this event as they understood the significance of this dinner for the Singaporeans in Shanghai. In fact, the 18th SHEN students had just arrived in Shanghai and were still in the midst of settling in. It was commendable that they were willing to spend time rehearsing for this performance in their first few weeks here.

The night was followed by a game of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” where the crowd was split into Red and White teams according to their table colours. The winning team received iPhone 4 cover cases while the other team received boxes of grapes for each table. This pretty much ignited the competitive nature of Singaporeans, and there was not much of a problem getting 5 representatives from each team to compete.

The emcees did a great job engaging the audience and the people on stage. The game ended on a good note as both team shook hands and gave each other a pat on the back for the good time on stage. Meanwhile, a lucky draw was running on the side. A couple of rounds of Bingo was played as fillers and also to bring up the atmosphere of the event.

The Bingo tickets were sold out within minutes of sales, with people were asking for more. The game got more exciting with the prize money snowballing as the game progresses. The night ended off on a high note where the top eight prizes for the lucky draw was announced. Everyone was aiming for the grand prize of a pair of return tickets to Singapore via the Singapore Airlines. With that, the National Day Dinner 2012 officially ended.

Almost everyone walked away with something in hand. A round of applause for the organizing committee who made this happened. Happy birthday Singapore, from all of us in Shanghai!

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17th SHEN Visits Shokay – “An Idea Is Nothing Without Action”

August 27, 2012 in Activities, Blog

Written by Neo Wei Jie of 17th SHEN.

On the 25th June 2012, 17th SHEN had a field trip to Shokay in Tianzifang 田子访. The field trip was part of the curriculum for our New Venture Creation (NVC) module.

While entrepreneurship can be taught within the boundaries of the classroom, taking it a step further by incorporating field trips definitely makes the education of aspiring entrepreneurs more holistic.

Shokay places a strong emphasis on the element of social enterprise. It started off in 2006 with two women with big dreams to make a positive impact on the community. Carol and Marie visited western parts of China and they observed that the annual income of Tibetan herders is only 2800RMB. At the same time, they also recognized that there is a rising market demand for lifestyle products made in a socially responsible way. While the Tibetan herders may not be earning a high income as compared to urban dwellers, they have a key asset which is the herd of yaks they owned.

This thus marked the start of Shokay as a responsible lifestyle brand which utilizes yak fibers obtained directly from the herders to produce high quality well-designed lifestyle products.

The company would buy yak fibers directly from herder families in the Qinghai region thereby helping them to increase their income at the same time empowering them economically. The fibers are then sent to other parts of China to be processed into yarns. The yarns will be sent to hand-knitting communities in factories and Chongming Island to produce finished goods. Lastly, finished goods would be made available for sale in the Shokay flagship store in Tianzifang as well as around the world.

Till date, Shokay has already established a strong presence in several overseas markets including Germany and Japan.

It has been 6 years since the inception of the idea to bridge the development needs of the Tibetan herders and the needs of increasingly affluent and socially-conscious consumers.

Shokay has received several rounds of funding from investors so far, and Carol and Marie’s idea has been pitched at several business competitions as well. In recent years, Shokay has gained a lot of traction and development is indeed rapid.

One of the founders of Shokay, Carol

Carol and Marie have invested the main bulk of their time and effort in creating a positive impact which can help benefit a community. The idea should be driven by a purpose which is bigger than just the individual. Many people may have great ideas but these ideas remained merely as ideas because (for whatever reasons) they never managed to manifest the ideas into something tangible which can actually create a positive impact.

17th SHEN with Carol (co-founder of Shokay) and Virginia (NVC Prof)

Of course, it is also important to recognize the fact that certain ideas have limitations and might not be feasible; while trying to make an idea work out, we should thus also critically evaluate our ideas as far as possible.

The most important takeaway from our visit to Shokay (as well as many of our NVC classes) is that: An idea is nothing without action.

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We Had Joy, We Had Fun, We Had CAD in Shanghai

December 11, 2011 in Activities, Event

Posted by Darryl Tan and edited by Jerry Sim, both of 16th SHEN.

The theme of the 15th NOC Shanghai Company appreciation this year was “GLEE-SH”. Inspired by the TV series and its meaning of happiness, GLEE captures the spirit of the 15th SHEN here in Shanghai. In the TV series, the Glee Club “geeks” live out their passion for music despite facing many obstacles. Similarly, the 15th batch has braved numerous challenges to get to where they are today. The Glee theme song “Don’t Stop Believing” appropriately captures the entrepreneurial essence of the 15th SHEN who have pursued their ambitions and dreams here in Shanghai.

The biannual event, held on the 22nd of November was in appreciation of the participating companies which have played critical roles in grooming the entrepreneurial potential of the 15th SHEN. The guests came dressed in a myriad of colorful outfits according to the “GLEE-SH” theme, their enthusiasm filling the dining hall of 致真. The colors represent the energy and liveliness of the batch as well as the unique diversity of each individual. Equipped with a pair of colored “geeky” spectacles, the guests were directed to have their picture taken against a 2 metre tall backdrop bearing the colors of the theme. Our guest of honor and director of NOC, Associate Professor Teo Chee Leong appeared sportingly joined in the festivities in a velvety orange shirt. Professor Kau was also aptly dressed in bright pink.

Professor Teo formally addressed the event by thanking the various companies, which included Asia Voila, SheShan Golf Club, Strip and BrowHaus, DE Global, Love Box, Wild Fire and Trader Analytics, for their guidance and mentorship to the 15th Batch of NOC Shanghai Interns. He also emphasized on the importance of the close partnership between the National University of Singapore and the participating companies. On his ending note, he wished the 15th Batch the best and urged the juniors to do just as well.

Professor Yin from the Department of Business Management in Fudan and a long-time partner of NOC, also addressed the guests. He spoke of the long standing partnership between NUS and Fudan University. He emphasized the importance of the exchange of cultures, ideas and friendships between the students from the two schools. Prof Yin magnanimously extended a hand of friendship to the all NUS students, encouraging us to maintain the strong bonds between NUS and Fudan.

A spread of scrumptious Singaporean food was presented to the guests at dinner time as they tucked away in to our local favorites such as Satay, Fried Bee Hoon, Sweet and Sour pork as well as delectable desserts generously sponsored by founder of HoF, Brian Tan. As business cards were exchanged, so were smiles and laughter as the guests mingled convivially throughout the evening. Both the 15th and 16th batch of SHEN served as a connecting fabric by introducing the guests to one another and weaving together the entrepreneur network within the room.

One of the highlights of the night was undoubtedly the hilarious video montage of the 15th SHEN, which showcased their fun and lighthearted side, sparking much laughter throughout the room. The president of the 15th SHEN, Tan Yan Liang, then gave his farewell speech. Yan Liang reflected on his one year in Shanghai. On hindsight, his entire NOC journey can be said to be “connecting the dots”, stringing together all his experiences, challenges, opportunities and decisions. He also expressed his gratitude towards the program and his company DE Global. Lastly, he urged the 16th Batch to bring SHEN to new heights and to make the best use of their time in Shanghai.

The night ended with the incoming President of the 16th SHEN, Jerry Sim, sharing the direction which 16th SHEN. He presented the various aspects which 16th SHEN would look in to in the coming year which included the areas of Business Development, Community Involvement, Publicity Outreach and Fostering Cohesion.

The event gradually saw closure as the final pictures were taken and the handshakes exchanged. All in all, the 15th Shen NOC Shanghai Appreciation Dinner felt like a heartwarming reunion that brought interns, colleagues, professors and friends together.

This episode of Glee-SH, all who walked out, were winners.