Opening up new horizons

By Desmond Lim

WINNING the Lee Kong Chian Scholarship in 2006 was a huge milestone in my life. Coming from a poor family, I have been working part-time to pay my university fees. The scholarship was an immense financial relief for me.

At the same time, having founded a tuition coordinating company previously, I was spurred by the many opportunities offered by the scholarship to explore other business possibilities on my own.

As a young undergraduate, I was surprised to discover how university students filled with passion, entrepreneurial spirit and a strong conviction of their ideas had started these companies. Greatly inspired by my experiences from the trip, I was determined to pursue entrepreneurship.

In 2008, I started my own cafe, Treehouse, which serves pastas, sandwiches, shakes and cakes to the Singapore Management University (SMU) community.

Despite our limited knowledge about running a cafe, my partners and I successfully bidded for this venture. It proved to be a steep learning curve for us as we were taught subjects ranging from retrofitting the cafe, developing the operational flow, hiring the right people to making financial projections and marketing the cafe.

This was the real-world experience as we applied concepts learnt in class, including business negotiations and making presentations.

We are now in our second year of operation and I am proud to say that we have built a brand name in the university. If everything goes well, we are looking to break even before I graduate this year.

Last year, I went on an overseas exchange programme to the City University of London. I attended finance classes that included alternative investment management, equity investment management and risk analysis and modelling. It was a new experience. All relevant indexes and markets were explained, with real- life examples provided by the workings of the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. This was a useful and interesting contrast to classes at SMU, where we learnt about the Singapore stock exchange and case studies in the local context.

Independent learning in the United Kingdom was also encouraged, and so one had to be focused in our studies in order to excel.

Cooking sessions

Another aspect I enjoyed tremendously was meeting people from different countries. It was intriguing to be living on the same floor as an American girl, an Irish national gymnast, a Polish national fencer - and to become best friends with them.

Daily cooking sessions were the norm so I got to enjoy kimchi, sushi, Swedish meatballs and Norwegian delicacies - all on the same table. My contribution was char kway teow, which, thankfully, received accolades from my international friends.

The interaction with and learning from different cultures was a special experience that awoke in me the realisation of how much there is to learn from the big world.

After my exchange programme, I was accepted as an intern at an accountancy firm in London. I was assigned to the corporate finance team of RSM Bentley Jennison where I was tasked to conduct market research on clean technology and come up with a proposal to be implemented.

I had to absorb a great deal of information in a short time. I also had to analyse current market trends across the industry, and suggest initiatives that the firm should have. I had the opportunity to sit in on meetings which dealt with corporate finance transactions of companies from Ireland, Kenya, the US and United Kingdom.

I observed how my team, as the consultant to these firms, provided relevant advice on issues such as improving the structure of company offerings or increasing their marketability as they sought to expand in the clean technology industry.

There was also the occasion in the boardroom where I was asked to give my feedback and views at the end of a meeting with a client, my director and the chief executive.

I gave them my perspective as an Asian undergraduate and shared some ideas that I had. The warm, open culture and great learning opportunities marked a fruitful internship experience, and made my time living in London a most fascinating one.

Armed with new insights into doing business, working experience in the corporate world, international friendships I made and an undefeatable spirit of risk-taking and enterprise, I am looking forward to starting my own Singapore-based global company one day.

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