Alumni Relations Begins From Day One

An undergraduate's first semester in university is often a harrowing one. There are much choices to make - modules to decide on and classes to sign up for. To be sure, these are but the beginning of many other important choices. Thankfully for the political science students in NUS, they have the guidance of the many alumni who are at hand to share with them how they can overcome life's challenges during the Political Science Alumni Association's (PSAA) Reunion Tea 2005.

Dubbed "Tea-Time Network Interaction", the PSAA Alumni Tea was held on 29 January 2005 in NUS. A normally quiet Saturday morning was transformed into a hub of activity as some 60 current and former PS students, alumni members as well as PS department staff gathered at the Shaw Foundation Building for a time of get-together. The gathering was both a time of reminiscence and a platform for graduating PS students to interact and network with their alumni through informal dialogues over tea.

The PSAA invited four guest speakers, which includes PS alumni Mr Tham Kok Wing, Managing Director, Senior Vice President and Partner, at Fleishman-Hillard Singapore; Ms Serena Khoo, Director, Marketing & Communications Department, at Ernst & Young Singapore; Ms Tan Siew Pheng, Manager, Advocacy at IBM ASEAN/South Asia and IBM Singapore, as well as Mr Yeo Hock Quee, Director, Business Development at JCS Microsystems Pte Ltd, to share on how political science has contributed to their professional lives and on how PS graduates can "market" themselves more effectively in the current employment landscape.

The Q&A session which followed the sharing by the Alumni saw a robust exchange of views on issues close to the hearts of the undergraduates. Issues such as the marketability of PS graduates and the resilience of our graduates were touched upon. The Q&A session was made all the more interesting by the real-life anecdotes shared by the panel of speakers and how they eventually found their calling in life.

Mr Jimmy Lee, President of the PSAA said, “This reunion tea is the first of a series of events and activities that we have lined up for both PS students and alumni members. Our distinguished speakers have all done the PS department proud and are sterling examples to us all. Plans are in the pipeline to provide further opportunities for interaction and to reach out to both PS undergraduates and graduates, to get them involved and allow them to tap on the experiences of their seniors.”

Guest of Honour, Associate Professor Tan Tai Yong remarked in his speech that “I am glad that PSAA is taking big steps in establishing a strong alumni network.” Judging from the success of the PSAA Alumni Tea, PSAA is certainly taking those big steps.