Saturday, May 29, 2010

RPA Career Talk Season 2 - Law

HELPING PARENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE BEING A LAWYER - MYTH VS REALITY

Date: July 10
Time: 10a.m. to 12 p.m.
Venue: RI(JC) LT3 (Not Secondary school)
Fee: $5 per pax for RPA member/spouse/child; $15 per pax for non-RPA member; $10 per pax for RGS parents

Dear fellow Parents,

In view of extremely positive responses for last year’s talks, RPA is bringing back the popular RPA Career Talk for Parents this year.The objective is to equip parents with knowledge and insights to guide our children in making key career and academic decisions.This time, we have invited a witty litigation lawyer who is an old boy, as well as father of 4, to talk to us about the following:-

1. What is the law about.
2. Entry routes into the profession.
3. NUS v SMU v Overseas degrees
4. Requirements for admission
5. Good reason for being a lawyer
6. Bad reasons for being a lawyer
7. Being a lawyer - The default option
8. Internships
9. The early years of being a lawyer - What to expect, what to hope for and what to avoid
10. When to specialise? What to specialise in? How to specialise?
11. The middle years - Career, Family and Happiness
12. The end years
13. Measure of worth and measure of achievement
Q & A

Speaker:
N. Sreenivasan (RI Boy from 1974 to 1977)
Managing Director, Straits Law Practice LLC
Former Council Member and Treasurer of the Law Society
Former Chairman of the Law Awareness Committee, Continuing Legal Education Committee and Project Law Help
Current independent management committee member overseeing pro bono activities of Law Society and Chairman Advocacy Committee

Our careers talks have proven to be both informative and entertaining. We seek only the best speakers.
Yes, you can bring your child along. Yes, he needs to pay too.

Do NOT miss.

Click here to register. Dateline for registration: 20th June

Any queries please email Siew Fay at sfayho@gmail.com. Do not hit REPLY to this email.
Thank you and see you!!

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

Monday, August 24, 2009

RPA Career Talk #2:Career Choice in Academia”

“Career Choice in Academia”

• Date : 29 August 2009

• Time : 2.30pm – 4.30pm

• Venue: RJC LT3

• Target Audience : Parents

Parents can develop better understanding for the profession so that they will be in a better position to offer sound advice on their children’s University and Career plans.

It is also aimed to address common myths or misconceptions about the profession by giving realistic views, inclusive of both positive and negative ones.


“ Professors are a strange breed. They are either too smart, totally oblivious, or anti-social ..” Myth of Truth ?


This talk will address the followings:-

  • Career Opportunities in Academia world
  • Does this profession suits everyone?
  • What is takes to become a good professor ?
  • What is life like as a Professor?
  • The unglamorous bit (boring, isolated fro real world ?)
  • Studying localy vs Abroad?
  • Drop out rate ?

Speaker : Dr Lan Luh luh

Associate Professor, NUS (Business School), PhD in Business Policy (NUS),Master’s in Law (1st class Honours, University of Cambridge.)

Prof Lan currently holds a joint position with both the NUS Business School and Law School; teaching both undergraduate and graduate students.sought after speaker in workshops and seminars on corporate governance and corporate finance.

Prof Lan was the Assistant Dean for Academics (Undergraduates), NUS Business School from Jan 2008 to July 2009 and is currently the Co-Director for the Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre. She is also the Area Chair for Law with the Department of Business Policy.

Registration: email to "rpacareertalk@gmail.com"

Provide the following information in your email :

  • Subject: RPA Career Talk
  • Your name :
  • Number of people attending:
  • RPA Member ? : Y/N ?

Fees: $5 per person (RPA member)

$10 per person (non-member)

Payable on the day of the Talk


Deadline: 26th August 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

RPA Career Talk #1

“Career Choice in Medicine”

Helping Parents to understand what is it really like being a doctor - myth vs reality

Parents can develop better understanding for the profession so that they will be in a better position to offer sound advice on their children’s University and Career plans.

It is also aimed to address common myths or misconceptions about the profession by giving realistic views, inclusive of both positive and negative ones.

The talk will cover :-

· Career opportunities for Medical graduate

· Does this profession suit everyone ?

· What does it take to be a successful doctor ?

· What is Life like as a doctor ?

· The unglamorous bits (long hours? high stress ? etc)

· Drop-out/burn-out rates

· Studying locally vs Abroad


Speaker : Dr Chan Tat Keong MMBS, MMed (Ophthalmology), FRCSEd, FRCSOphth

Dr Chan is a Senior Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon with the Spore National Eye Centre. He is a very experienced speaker and medical specialist. He has mentored many young doctors. Dr Chan had earlier given a talk to RI

Event Details:

  • Date : 11 July 2009
  • Time : 10.15am – 12.15pm
  • Venue: RJC LT3
  • Target Audience : Parents


Registration: email Siew Fay at sfayho@gmail.com

Email Subject : RPA Career Talk

  • State in email :
  • Your name :
  • Child’s nam/Class:
  • Handphone Number:
Fees (for logistics) : $5 (RPA member) : Payment on the day of the Tal
$10 (non member)
Deadline : 8 July 2009

See you !