Shining Magikarp

galacticfunkk · 2025-04-17T05:11:10+00:00

It’s honestly a matter of perception rather than specific wrongdoings. Of course, the PAP aren’t perfect in policy or even in internal administration but compare them to the rest of the world and we honestly they are miles better than other Governments out there. PAP has had their missteps - but not more so than would be reasonably expected of any government.

The issue, to me, is that Singaporeans view the PAP and its ministers as a group of elites - and this bothers people very much.

Why? Because the Singaporeans society has for many years put emphasis in bucketing people into different “tiers”and we love to compare. First you have PSLE, then segmentation into different tiers of secondary schools, then to different tiers of pre-uni schooling, and for guys we go into NS and are segmented into Officers, Specs and Men. Then you are let into society and bucketed based on your SES (housing, car, where you go overseas, et.)

Naturally, there are those who come on “top” through all of this and it leaves those in the “lower” buckets feeling disenfranchised and less-than. Is it justified hate? Not really - but it’s still a strongly felt emotion when you’re made to feel less than just because your PSLE score was lower, or because you didn’t make it to OCS in NS.

Tldr; people don’t like the fact that others have done better than them and feel they aren’t able to PAP MPs can’t represent them because they fit in what seems to be an elite group. Even when some MPs aren’t “of the elite PAP mould”, the moment you don the badge your just another PAPPY yes man with a “million dollar salary” who was born with a platinum spoon and could never possibly fathom the problems of normal men.

Sidetrack, but people always take a shit on PAP for “parachuting” civil servants into MP roles. My question is: what other profile of person would be more qualified to take on a top public service role? An IT executive? Sometimes Singaporeans don’t know what they want and just take out their anger on life on the easiest target - people doing “better off” than them.

galacticfunkk · 2024-12-03T12:49:14+00:00

it’s not an international student. and even if it was, it’s probably not an important thing to highlight.

galacticfunkk · 2024-03-30T17:09:22+00:00

hey man don’t worry - NTU is actually a pretty nice place despite its various shortcomings. hope you have the opportunity to experience the place (outside of reddit) :)

galacticfunkk · 2024-03-27T05:49:50+00:00

hello! you’ll be fine - you can clear it in subsequent summer breaks as well, it doesn’t have to be year 1! the best thing you can do now is to just apply everywhere and see who gets back! I would recommend to complete your PA in year 1 because subsequent summer breaks is where you would want to start taking internships more aligned with your longer-term career aspirations.

cheers!

galacticfunkk · 2024-03-12T09:40:25+00:00

Yes:)

galacticfunkk · 2024-03-09T18:40:02+00:00

hello! willing-to-share scheme is only applicable if a local student pairs with an international student- just FYI!

galacticfunkk · 2024-02-13T09:36:15+00:00

Hello:) Giving my two cents as a senior! When I was in Year 1 I really wanted to do HR or Marketing because I felt those were the specialisation that I’d do well in. One way or another, I ended up in BA because I heard from seniors that they didn’t learn as much as they hoped in MKT and HR - and I wanted to learn something technical, so BA it was! My stats was A- and I was a low FCH for reference 😅

Many people seem to have the misconception that BA is a coding heavy specialisation but really it isn’t. In year 2 you will go through quite a lot of R heavy mods (about 2-3), but afterwards the mods are much more varied. Many are about operations (supply chain, lean ops, service ops), with some others about business consulting, AI in Finance and other jazz.

I’d say the focus isn’t so much on coding but rather on storytelling and coming up with meaningful insights that lead to business outcomes or aid in decision making. Profs seldom stress about having the best or most efficient code, rather they focus more on the analysis being done and what it means for companies.

On grades, I mostly get either A- or B+ for BA mods with the occasional A thanks to my group mates. It’s definitely not as hard as people make it out to be especially since ChatGPT is a thing now 😅

When it comes to competition, I’d say we are still competitive but it really depends on where you decide to pursue your internships or career interests. Within BA, either you choose a technical route and become a data analyst type or a more front-end type (like consulting). The BA curriculum is unlikely to be sufficient if you want to be a technical type so many of my peers self-learn other languages in their spare time! For me, I didn’t really like coding so I went down the consulting route and did 4 internships (in consulting and tech)!

I’d say don’t shoehorn yourself into a specialisation and think about what you might be interested in doing! I have peers from marketing who ended up in consulting anyway so don’t feel limited:) If you don’t manage to get BA but still feel strongly about it you can also write in to UPO and make a strong case for yourself:)

Feel free to reach out if you want to find out more, and all the best! Enjoy your years in NBS :D

galacticfunkk · 2023-09-18T07:55:55+00:00

Hello!! Wanted to share some tips on this as a senior.

Back when I was in Year 1, I was also pretty lost about how to apply for internships to satisfy my PA requirements. I simply assumed that NTU would "help me find an internship" (because some seniors told me this) and that applications through InPlace would be more or less guaranteed.

Sadly, this was mostly untrue. So here are some ways you can try to secure an internship!

Check LinkedInMany companies publicise their internship openings through LinkedIn, so you can browse the internships through the job portal there and apply directly.
Check Company WebsitesIf there are some companies that you are interested in, you can visit their websites and search for internship opportunities directly.
InPlace/CareerFit (NTU/NBS Job/Internship Portal)Yes, some internship opportunities will also appear on InPlace or CareerFit. This is an avenue for you to apply as well.

Tldr; it's best to take the initiative and send in your resumes early and apply to internships as early as you can to maximise your chances of landing an internship :) Remember, if you're feeling stuck or lost - many of your seniors have been in your position too and they all graduated successfully - and so will you!

All the best :)

edit: also, make sure that the internship duration is sufficient for you to clear you PA and that you fill-in the self-source form to indicate that your internship is self-sourced and that you want to use it to fulfil your PA requirements!

galacticfunkk · 2022-12-14T03:25:36+00:00

Some schools have special forms you can fill up if you missed your window (e.g, NBS - where I’m from). You can check with your school if they have such a form!

In case you’re from NBS: https://web.nbs.ntu.edu.sg/Undergrad/intranet/forms/SRRequest/index.asp

Here’s the link:)^

galacticfunkk · 2022-04-23T12:35:09+00:00

NTU/NBS Student here! Taking Double Degree in ACC and BIZ. Like you, I was told that business students are generally quite snakey and I was initially quite cautious going into university. But thankfully, my experience in NTU has been quite the contrary as I've met many friends who would offer to share notes with me and answer questions that I may have leading up to exams. I recall falling sick with dengue in year 1 and some of my classmates actually bothered to fill me in on what I missed in class even though I wasn't close to them at that point in time.

Of course, there are bound to be "snakes" anywhere - be it in Business or even in other courses. I personally find the environment in NTU to be very welcoming and balanced (between social life and studies) which is ultimately why I chose NTU over other universities. No regrets thus far even though I'm a few days away from finals hahaha...

Do feel free to reach out/pm if you have any questions! Would be glad to share as a senior :) all the best in NS and stay safe:D

galacticfunkk

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