Thursday, September 17, 2009

Report on Career Talk #2 - Academia

Speaker: Assoc Prof Lan Luh Luh
NUS Business School; Faculty of Law, NUS
Date : 29Aug2009, 2.30 to 4.30 pm
Venue : RI Lecture Theatre 3

The below notes are taken to supplement the powerpoint slides used by the speaker in the talk.

1. Brief background of speaker
- Prof Lan graduated from NUS Law School
- Worked in a renowned Corporate Law Firm for 2 years
- Received scholarship to pursue Masters of Law from University of Cambridge
- Obtained her PhD while serving in NUS Business School
- She teaches Executive MBA courses in both English and Chinese
- She is also a writer for our local Chinese newspapers, Zao Bao.
- Has been in NUS Business School for the past 18 years

2. Are professors a strange breed? Answer is “No”.
- they are just people who study a lot
- they have a lot of domain knowledge
3. Why do people become professors?

Noble reasons:
- passion for researching and teaching in a particular field of work
- they want to make a difference in the way people live
- they create new knowledge

Practical reasons
- well paid but not answerable to the bottom line
- they mix with the youthful students and remain young
- there is minimal office politics in their working environment
- teaching hours are quite short, about 6 hours per week, but time is set aside for research

P/s. For Prof Lan, it could be “accidental” that she found her career in Academia for she has always wanted to be a doctor but was offered to study Law in NUS and worked in Corporate Law for 2 years before furthering her studies and working in NUS Business School. She enjoys teaching and also likes the sparring sessions with the students.

4. Full time employment in Academia:
- Tenure Track
- allows one to work till age 65
- Different pay scheme for different ranks (pay scheme was shown in her slide)
- Research Track (judged by quality of papers published and conferences attended).
- Teaching Track (Fellows, lecturers)
- Practice Track (from SMU or the industry)

5. Comparable pay renumeration based on US Salary survey results, 2006- 2007.

6. Job scope: Research, Teaching and Admin (RAT life)

7. Qualifications to be a professor
- PhD (masters) UK-3 years, US (4-5 years)
- doctoral programmes normally have full tuition fee waiver

8. Job Prospects
- good
- Singapore is and continues to be an exporter of education

9. Prof Lan also went through the Admissions criteria of the NUS Business and Law School – please refer to her slides for details.

10. Prof Lan encourages our children to study in NUS; she cited the academic rigour of the local courses and also emphasized that these courses are heavily subsidized by tax payers, like us, the parents! Of course, she is also supportive of overseas education in top universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Watten, UCLA and the likes.

Questions & Answers Sessions:
Is accommodation for academic staff paid by the universities
Do they have fixed or flexi working hours
How’s the bonus?
How can students do double degree at the Business School?
Are there any occupational hazards, like the “stabbing” case which happened to the professor at NTU?
On the increase in foreign students...
What do interviewers look for? This refers to interview for admission to Law faculty.
How long does it take to do the double degree in NUS and what is the percentage of students who get to do double degree?
What are the requirements in terms of CCA involvement?
NTU vs NUS vs SMU On studying Law overseas vs local U…

Last but not least, Prof Lan’s advice for our children:

Achieve academic excellence, be willing to work hard, be Eloquent, Confident, Sincere and Think Broadly.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Mentoring Teens in Internet Age

On Gaming, Social Networking and Cyber Bullying Issues

Venue:           Lecture Theatre 3, Raffles Institution (Secondary)
Date:              26 September 2009 (Sat)
Time:             10.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.
Cost:              S$10.00/pax or S$15.00/couple (father and mother)
Contact:         Ms Emily Ng, Tel: 63549106 or Fax: 63538357
Please fill up the attached registration form and e-mail/fax it to Emily before 21 Sep 2009 . Hurry! Limited seats available. Sign up early to avoid disappointment!


Objectives 
  •  To educate adults (parents, educators, youth workers, counselors) to effectively mentor teenagers in the internet age.
  •  Survey the range of cyber wellness issues facing youths today
  •  Explore areas of difficulties in mentoring youths with regards to Internet usage.
  •  Impart principles and insights into adapting mentoring approach for effectiveness
  •  Adults who go through this programme will be able to know where to look for help.
Description of Programme

Seriousness of youth internet issues
- real life examples of counseling cases
Parenting & Mentoring Tips
- pertaining to excessive computer gaming habits


Primary Module:
Computer and Internet gaming
  •        gamers’ needs
  •        evolving gaming trends
  •        attractiveness of gaming
  •        symptoms and effects of problematic gaming
  •        sources of help
  •        key parenting principles on gaming
Secondary Modules:

1. Social Networking
- evolving social networking trends
- motivations of youths in social networking
- recent case studies
- dangers and effects of social networking
2. Cyber Bullying
- common cyber bullying mediums
- real life case studies
- seriousness and impact of cyber bullying
- spotting the bully and the bullied


Participants will learn proven handles to guide their kids in the areas of Gaming Addiction, Cyber Bullying and Computer mediated communication.

Speaker: Mr Poh Yearn Cheng