GIC Scholarship Interview 2009

Venue: Holiday Inn, Malacca

Date: 4th March 2009

It has been long since I blogged in detail about my interview experience i.e Jardine and Oxford interview. Today, I am very glad to share about my adventure in Malacca.

Basic Essentials

GIC stands for Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pt Ltd. Historically, GIC was set up to manage Singapore’s national reserve right after its separation from Malaysia in the 60s. GIC started with a mere SGD 2 billion in the 60s, and now it is managing in excess of SGD100 billion, in only 28 years of existence.

To put it short: GIC has money, and loads of it; this is what makes the GIC Scholarship so prestigious. I am not going to elaborate about GIC further because all these can be obtained through their corporate website at www.gic.com.sg .

Interview Experience

0900 hours Short Talk about GIC

The interview started with a short talk about GIC and its history in fund management. Surprisingly, the one who made GIC what it is today is a MALAYSIAN. Malaysians rock!

After the short talk by Mr Chan, the Group’s Recruitment Director I believe, there was a short Q &A session with the floor.

Tea Break 1000 hours

Then, we stopped for a short tea break at 1015 hours. This was when we get to mingle around with the other GIC hopefuls. I was surprised at how small the world is.

I met Jason, who is from the same church as Jonathan Mah Koon Chung besides knowing Aaron Baskaran Nair in Catholic High School, and Kien Keong, who is a friend of Jorrel Too. (Jonathan Mah, Aaron Nair, and Jorrel Too are my IB coursemates.)

Then I met Au Yong who lives in BK5 which is 5 minutes away from my house. It was just amazing and we clicked really quickly.

Met Mitchell (a guy by the way) who is doing IB in Penang Uplands International and was shortlisted for Sri KDU IB Scholarship. It was fun meeting a fellow IBian.

I also met a couple of applicants who is completing/has finished their A-levels. Hats off to Jean Yip, the only girl I knew in the whole GIC episode, because I was really shy and busy talking with the other guys.

One-on-One Interview 1015 hours

I was called in for interview with Mr Chan. The interview was rather informal, but I tried to be as formal as possible. I was asked the generic question i.e tell us about yourself.

I felt that that was a good chance for me to sell myself. So I talked about myself, my family, my activities in school, and my interest in finance. To those of you who didn’t know I am very much interested in finnce, now you know. I am Chinese. $$$

Then, the interview headed towards my political views. I spoke at length of the local political scene (not sure that was the best thing to say; I thought talking about world politics would be better) and how frustrated Malaysians like me are with our local politicians.

Next, he asked me about my economic viewpoint. I didn’t take economics and therefore, I thought that I responded to this question rather weakly. Anyhow, I spoke about Obama’s stimulus plan and how the recession could have been avoided if credit card laws were tightened. I also did mentioned that I believe that the recession crisis will recover somehow.

After that, I was given the chance to ask about GIC. I asked some personal questions, but I can say that GIC also offers language classes to all their employees i.e Japanese, German during their careers.

Interview: Pass.

Writing, Verbal, Numerical, and Abstract Test

Okay, so now it comes to the not-so-fun part. All applicants must take these tests so that GIC is able to measure the aptitude skills of all applicants. For someone who hates test, I think I did rather badly.

The writing was rather random and quick. We were given a prompt about “It is a mistake to look too far ahead.” I just blurted out whatever I had in mind, but I guess it should be okay. You have 5 minutes to respond in less than 100 words.

Next, I took the Abstract test. It was abstract literally. Generally, it is a test to see whether you can spot differences and similarities in different patterns. Some of my answers were abstract and I didn’t know what I was doing. Anyhow, you have 30 minutes to complete 115 questions. Tough, you bet.

Following was the Verbal Test. It is something like SAT Critical Reading, but on a milder note. I think I did okay on this, but I can’t finish the last 4 questions. So, I kinda just took 4 wild guesses. You have 30 minutes.

Then, we stopped for lunch. *Relieved.*

Lunch 1215 hours

During lunch, the most dominant topic is our conversation was about our tests and interview. Apparently, some went for interview first while some did the these first. Some also had their interview sandwiched between the tests. I am glad that everyone found the tests to be hard. =)

One of the things that Mr Chan look for in a GIC scholar is that the scholar must be HUMAN. Yeah, you read that right, YOU MUST BE A HUMAN. Being human generally means you can relate with people and have a balanced perspective on life. He is not looking for Olympiad Gold Medallists, but for people with a balanced study and play portfolio. I think I can offer my extra-curricular portfolio to them, but I am not so sure about my academic prowess. IB 42 points don’t say a single thing about intelligence, but only persistence!

Back to the lunch, I had a 5-star buffet. Although all the food I had was so bad for my blood pressure and cholestrol, I decided that the food was irresistable. I didn’t behave like a glutton which I did on many buffets in the past, so I took lamb chop, sweet and sour chicken, pasta, salad, chocolate cake, blueberry cake, melons, and water in a balanced proportion.

Numerical Test Continued 1315 hours

Back to taking test. I am a person who can’t think when I have a full stomach. Anyhow, Lord Jesus, grant me wisdom and strength! Right, so the test was basically a maths test.

There weren’t any calculus, vector, or trigonometric questions. In fact, the questions were so easy that you would find them hard! They were simple questions in layman terms, but you would need some time to dissect what they want. I think I did quite badly in this test. The thing was, there were 16 answer options for each question. I was required to answer 33 questions in 30 minutes! Go figure how can you get that done.

I thought I was disadvantaged because I left my maths for three months already, and my brain now is not fit to crunch on numbers like it used to be. Well, commit it to the Lord and hopefully that His favour will be on me. =)

So, there you go, GIC Scholarship Interview 2009!

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Non-Essentials (Optional to Read)

I arrived in Holiday Inn, Malacca at 11pm last night. I went there with a friend who was also selected for the interview. That was my first time staying ina 5-star hotel alone!

I had a king-sized bed and 4 pillows. Also, the room comes with free Wi-Fi, which I can’t utilise because I need a lappie. On top of that, you have a large LCD TV with satellite channels. The bed was so comfortable… haaaa….

Then, this morning I checked out at 8.30am. Guess how much it cost me to pamper myself for 9 hours in Holiday Inn? Answer: MYR 276.

Super jakun!

The Honda Dream Fund… I want to be a…..

Kringggggggggggg……

It was 9am. I just woke up when I got a phone call from Miss Harjit.

“Hi Winson, today I came across an article in the papers about The Honda Dream Fund. Please take note of this ok?”

“Thanks, Miss Harjit,” I replied half awake.

Honda Dream Fund is funded by Honda to help under-privileged students to pursue their tertiary education in ANY COURSE of their choice in ANY COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY of their choice in Malaysia.

It is a relief that Honda is still continuing this Corporate Social Responsibility even though the economic recession is looming. Thank you, Honda!

I am planning to apply for this fund because I think I am eligible in almost all of their criterion. It will be good to have this scholarship because then, I can pick any of my 4 options, without any restraint! (Please refer to previous post for context.)

Extracted from the Honda website, the criterion are:

1) Aged 17 to 25 (check)

2) Combined household income not more than RM1500 (erm….)

3) Medically fit (erm….)

4) Not receiving any financial aid (check)

I am not sure whether I will be successful, but no harm trying?

With Honda Dream Fund, I want to be a(n):

1) Doctor – Medicine in IMU

2) Engineer – Mechanical Engineering in Monash

3) Lawyer – Law in ATC College, OR

4) Accountant – Business (accounting major) in Monash.

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For the rest of us out there who need financial aid, this is a good scholarship to consider.

Dateline: 31st March 2009

All the best!

P/S: There is no bond because Honda Dream Fund “wants students to mould their own future after graduation”.
Download Honda Dream Fund Application Form

Jardine Scholarship Interview 2009 Con’t

I went for a second round of interview in Mandarin Oriental, KL today at 10.05am. Yesterday, I stayed over in Joshua’s because we had some discussion about IYLC and a whole range of other issues. Thank you Joshua for dropping me at Bukit Jalil LRT station. I shall fill your petrol tank full should I make it to the third round in Hong Kong.

Arriving in Mandarin Oriental at 9.30am, I was half an hour early. I thought I would be late because I left Joshua’s slightly late, at around 8.30am.

The public transportation is reliable for once – I got there using the Ampang Line (previously known as STAR Link) and the Kelana Jaya Line (previously known as PUTRA LRT). After a short walk from KLCC Main Entrance, tada I am in Mandarin Oriental.

Commercials: Mandarin Oriental has great service.

(To Mandarin Oriental, just a tip to improve your customer service: Please help a small gentleman like me with a height of 165cm, weight 52kg, to open the large entrance door in future.)

Back to the story, I met a few others who were waiting for their turns. I met Angeline again. During the first round of interview, I met her but I didn’t manage to get her contact.  Everyone was really friendly and I found myself comfortable the very first minute I conversed with them. Hi Shi Yu, Angeline, Jonathan, Jun Kit, Teoh, Ruben, and Vanessa.

Vanessa came all the way from KDU Penang; Jonathan and Teoh came all the way from Singapore – they are ASEAN scholars; and the rest are KL boys and girls.

Fun Facts
A majority of Jardine applicants are applying to Cambridge. In my batch of interviewees, only 3/4 out of 12 are applying to Oxford. (And yes, for the second round of interview, there were only 12 of us from all over Malaysia.)

The interview:

The interview was a one-on-three interview. There were three interviewers on the panel. One is the Chairman of Jardine Malaysia, one is the Secretary of Jardine Foundation, and one is from Hong Kong – a manager I presume.

The Challenge:

I was slightly caught off guard because I forgot to review my personal statement to Jardine the night before. Most of the questions were asked from my personal statement. In future, please read your personal statement or whatever documents you submitted before going into the interview!

I found of one of the questions slightly bizarre. One of the interviewers actually found my English oratory skills to be really good.

The question was: How did you improve your English up to such a level?

I was puzzled at first because personally, I think Jonathan Mah and friends have better English than mine. As a product of the Malaysian education system, I find it really painful to improve my English up to this level.

So I mentioned how I read articles and news, and converse with other English-speaking friends. Thanks for the compliment, Jardine. For that, I am giving you some free advertorial space here.

***Jardine – bringing you forward……… ***

Back to the interview, I got some questions about my family background, my plans after university, and my involvement with the NGOs and clubs I mentioned in my personal statement. (I am currently a member of Omega Leo Club of PJ Integrity.)

One of the interviewers asked me about my cross-country events. (Yes, I did complete a 10km and a 15km run.)  They seemed to enjoy my explanation about my running strategies.

The strategy: Young runners have high recovery rates. If you feel tired, do take a short walk to help your heart and body recover. After about 10 seconds or so, continue running and jogging. This is far more beneficial than jogging at constant pace throughout the entire journey. In short, walk and run rather than jog all the way.

One of the interviewers asked: “How long did you take to complete a 15km run?” I answered, “1 hour 52 minutes”. Then he asked again, “Did you walk all the way?” *you should be able by now to decipher the reason of me mentioning the walk-and-run strategy.*

The KLCC View:

It was exciting being interviewed with the Petronas Twin Towers as the backdrop. I was interviewed in one of the boardrooms on the 24TH FLOOR, facing the Twin Towers!

The Water:

Unlike my Oxford interview in PJ Hilton, where I bought a mineral bottle for RM11, water here in Mandarin Oriental is FREE! Free water after a long interview is good customer service. Another commercial ad for Mandarin Oriental.

The Rest:

I will know during the end of December to see whether I am shortlisted for the final and third round of interview in Hong Kong. By this time, according to a very reliable source Miss K, all shortlisted candidates will already have a conditional offer from their respective colleges.

The interview ended with a really trivial question from me. I was really out of questions when they asked, “Do you have any other questions?”

Dada always say, “Always ask a question when they say,’Do you have any other questions?’ to show that you can ask something sensible. “

So, I asked:

“Will Jardine pay for my airfare to Hong Kong?”

“Yes, Winson. We shall pay your airfare to Hong Kong.” (Dad, am I making you proud?)

And there it was. The interview ended on a funny note. I am not sure whether this will work out well, but all glory goes to God for helping me to make it thus far. Thank you, God.

This post is partially and indirectly brought to you by Jardine:

***Jardine – bringing you forward….. ***

Jardine Scholarship Interview 2008

Venue: Jardine Matheson, 4th Floor, Bangunan Setia 1, Lorong Dungun, Damansara Height

Time: 2.30pm

Date: 18th November 2008, Tuesday

“Hello, Winson, are you able to attend an interview on the 18th, which is next Tuesday? I am Miss Kanaga, calling from Jardine regarding your scholarship application.”

“Yes, I am.”

That was the phone call that I received last Thursday evening, at 4pm right after my final IB paper. I was elated. In the whole Malaysia, Jardine only sponsored one student from Malaysia last year! I might be that special one….

On Monday, the day before the interview:

“Hello, Miss Kanaga, I am not so sure where Damansara Heights is. Can you provide some landmark?”

“Just look for the Manulife Building and you will see Bangunan Setia.”

So came Tuesday.

It was frustrating not knowing where Damansara Heights is because Damansara is simply not my turf. I was googling around to only find out that Bukit Damansara IS Damansara Heights. Anyhow, the landmark provided by Jardine was quite helpful, but it could have been more detailed. Probably because I didn’t asked in detail, so my bad. I found Manulife building. I also found Lorong Dungun, but man, where is Bangunan Setia? There was Bangunan HP, Bangunan Malaysia Rubber, Bangunan KPMG, and all of them looked the same!!!! In the end, I found it.

For the benefit of non-Malay speakers, please look up to Winson Leaps Dictionary for definition of ‘bangunan’:

entry Bangunan

*noun 1 a man-made oblong-shaped erected structure 2 something that stands under the sun

ORIGIN Malay bangun, which means ‘to stand’.

ALSO KNOWN AS ‘Building’ in English.

Dad dropped me in Bangunan Setia, which is really good-looking. Good-looking as in the building looked really modern and had sound architectural designs. There were good-looking cars around as well i.e Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Mercedez Benz.

I was there early; I arrived at 1.30pm and hence I was able to have a Lonely Planet-style globe-trekking to check out the surrounding areas. There were massive palaces, and all of them were simply Western-looking and elegant. I wished I had a camera to film them, but unfortunately, I cannot afford one yet.

After some globe-trekking, which in essence was nothing but a ‘rusa masuk kampung’ kind of walk, I went up to the 4th Floor. The time was 2.15pm.

Please refer to Winson Leaps Malay Phrases Glossary for definition of ‘rusa masuk kampung’

entry Rusa masuk kampung

ORIGIN Malay

* proverb. Literal meaning deer enter village.

This phrase figuratively means someone who enters into a new environment and behaves like a total squid. A deer has no idea of how a village looks like, and would therefore portrays traits of anxiety, fear, and probably excitement. Hence, when this phrase is quoted, the person referred to is very likely to exhibit foolish behaviour i.e sitting in front of Bangunan Setia reading “How to Manage Your Money” to pass time.

I went up to the Jardine office and I was again behaving like a total squid. A squid, or ’sotong’, is a metaphor for someone who is at total blur and not knowing his surroundings. There was an intercom, asking ‘Hello, may I help you?’. I was stunned for a moment because I saw no one, but my presence was noted. “I am Winson and I am here for an appointment with Ms Kanaga.” As I walked in, I saw a CCTV facing the door directly. How silly!

At 2.35pm, I went in and I finally met Ms Kanaga in person. She was a nice lady who explained what Jardine is all about before commencing our interview.

Some Fun Facts About Jardine

1) Jardine is already in business for over 100 years.

2) Jardine owns most of the brands that you could possibly know of i.e Giant, IKEA, 7-Eleven, Cycle & Carriage.

3) Jardine gives out scholarship as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Each scholarship is estimated to be about RM1mil, including tuition fees, lodging, return airfare.

4) Jardine rhymes with ’sardine’.

Jardine Scholarship applicants would need to go through 3 rounds of interviews. The first two will be in Malaysia and the final one in Hong Kong. The first one is (what I am going through now) about getting to know the applicants in person and to verify all the materials written in the submitted personal statement. So yes, please don’t even think of lying in your PS!!

The second one, to be held in Mandarin Oriental KL, will be a more challenging interview trying to gauge the applicant’s awareness about world issues and your principles. I would interpret that as whether you know simple facts such as who won the American Election and why Anwar should be Prime Minister of Malaysia. In essence, you really got to be politically aware and have some ideals of yourself to be shared with them. They want to know what and how you think.

The final one will be held in Hong Kong. This would include a written test, an interview with the Jardine Board of Directors and officials from Oxford/Cambridge, and a lunch with the Board of Directors. The written test would basically test your aptitude. I am not too sure what will be tested (since I am not there yet), but you should really know your stuff. The interview will be the final interview, probably with five or six interviewers. The lunch is an assessment on how you carry yourself and behave. If you eat clumsily, please improve. If you cannot socialize on the spot, please improve. The lunch I would say is a subtle test on your demeanor. AIRFARES MIGHT BE PAID FOR. I don’t know about this yet!

But there are speculations: It will be a first class ticket, hotels will be paid for, and you get to shop in Hong Kong.

For the interview, be sure of who you are, where you come from, why this course, why this university, and what you want to do after university.

My interview was around 30 minutes, and I didn’t even know that I spoke for 30 minutes. It was very open-ended – please tell us about yourself, your education background, your family, achievements, and plans after graduation. The ball is yours to play.

I met a girl from HELP University College. She was very nice and she is aspiring to be a doctor. She has applied for Cambridge. I gave her my email but because I was running for time, I didn’t manage to get hers. Hope to see her again in the second interview. All the best, applicants!

*The author now knows that there is a bus from HELP University College to Bangsar LRT.

No Place for Mediocrity: Affirmative action for Malays/Bumiputeras

This is a reply to Khairul Syahir’s post “No place for mediocrity” on www.khairul-syahir.com .

Yes, indeed the bumiputeras are given so much. It is something that the non-bumiputeras could had wish for. The affirmative action is something that the non-bumiputeras can understand when the Malays are still needing some help to catch up with the other races in Malaysia.

But, when the affirmative action is taken for granted by the bumiputeras themselves, that is something that the non-bumiputeras cannot accept.

I strongly commend Khairul for his selfless post in reminding all Petronas scholars (both Malays and non-Malays) that they are a lucky bunch.

To all Petronas scholars, this is a perspective from the rest who do not have what you have:

Be thankful that you have a secure scholarship to pursue your desired dream and desired university.

Be thankful that your parents do not need to mortgage their only house to fund your studies to go overseas.

Be thankful that you only need to score a minimum of 35 points in IB to secure funding and placing in your university. The rest like me who do not have a scholarship are caught in a do-or-die scenario. We aim for high scores in IB not for showing off to others nor for self-glorification, but only as a bargaining chip for us to approach sponsors, to beg them to fund our studies in universities. Our dilemma is, you must get a good enough IB score to admit into a university that is famous enough to get yourself sponsored.

Be thankful that you have such a caring friend like Khairul who is selfless enough to write his post to remind you. As a personal friend of Khairul, I am truly glad to have a friend like him. I cannot say for sure that I have enough selflessness to teach weaker students Mathematics at the expense of my time, but Khairul has.

To all readers,

Scholarship is a gift from God. It is given to you so that you would use it with the wisdom that He has imparted in you, so that you would be able to bring out the fullest potential in you to bless others. A gift from God is meant to be multiplied, to be grown, and to be used for the benefit of others. Yes, Khairul has said it well that a scholar has the task of carrying the trust given to them, because they are a select few, the chosen ones, chosen from the rest who do not have such gift.

Scholarship is an example of affirmative action for bumiputeras. Indeed, there are non-bumiputeras who have gotten scholarships from various bodies, but come on man, we all know that the real intended target groups are the bumiputeras.

Again, it is acceptable to me that the scholarships are given to the bumiputeras for the progress of their race, for the race to catch up with others.

But, it is totally unacceptable to me if such scholarships are taken for granted by the scholars themselves. Taking it for granted means denying others who are more deserving than you the opportunity to do things better than YOU.

I wish all my IB friends good luck in the finals. God is looking, and I pray in the name of Jesus that we all will score perfectly well in our exams. May the Lord bless us all with His wisdom, humility, and grace.

*Yeah, I kinda broke my own ISA for writing this post, but I find this extremely important. I just have to get it off my chest. And I kinda like written this in Khairul’s comment space, but man, the comment vanished!!! Writing on my own turf is the last option.