Sunday, March 28, 2010

MoneyTree YES2 Challenge

It has been a fruitful day today. Thanks a lot to UV for the invitation to attend MoneyTree YES2 Challenge.

Am very impressed by those 18, 19, 20 or 21 years old students, who stand on stage, and be able to really share on business plan. While some might face stage fright, some might face a little hiccup here and there, yet all of them are winners. All of them are able to take up the challenge, and qualified into the Judging stage, where 12 teams presented, with top 6 teams moving forward into the final stage.

Congratulations to the following teams for making it to the final stage:
Greenergy - Recycling Rewards
Crimson Concepts - Cup Advertising
Dreamzland - Online Tuition
Syco - Student Youth Community
Voila! - Online Food Ordering and Delivery
W.R.I.S.T. - Wrist tag identification

Good job to the other 6 teams which were unfortunately have to go through another path:
Fitlife - Wellness for Elderly
SolveIT - Online Point of Sales System
Shining Dawn - Educational Referral & Community
RichyRich - Cashflow Software
MallEzy - Mall Stores' Directory
Vaunt Investments - Investment Advices

Of those groups, I am particularly impressed by Voila! , Greenergy and Crimson Concepts. Am just amazed by the depth of the analysis that they have gone through, the detailed preparation and also the passion and the way they present it. Wish I could do even a little bit of that, when I was younger. In fact, even if I am taking part in this today, I might not even come close to what they have performed. Congrats!

To SolveIT and Shining Dawn, thanks for the opportunities for me to bounce a little idea with you all. Good to see you all grow and learn from this process. The outcomes must have been tough for you all to take it, but good to see that you all take it positively, and will bounce back! Don't give up.

As what Michael Reyes highlighted to the teams, some of you are now turning right and some of you are now turning left, but both are still possible paths towards success, just that the way is different.

To the teams, some areas of improvement that I would like to share:-
a) Be a Big Fish in a Small Pond, rather than be a Small Fish in a Big Pond. Focus on what you are trying to do.
b) Try to solve pain faced by those in the target group. If you are in the target group, would you use your product and if you are charging, would you pay for it.
c) Take care of Cash Flow. You can't afford to run out of money.
d) Ensure that your payback period is realistic. Most businesses may take more than 1 year to break even.

Congrats to MoneyTree - Michael Reyes, UV and Brandon for making it happen! It has been an exciting month for those participants, and I am sure it is lifetime memory for them.

To all the teams who would be pitching to investors, good luck! Treat it as a real business and not just as a competition!



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Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Congratulations to Lee Yik Lun, Stanford University Class of 2014

Congratulations to Lee Yik Lun for getting admitted to Stanford University Class of 2014!


He has made Bintulu proud! Following the footsteps of Wun Min and her sisters and Mark Wong. Of course, there might be more people too from there, who have gotten into top US universities!

Syabas!

Borneo Post International Education Fair and Royal Wolverhamption Scholarships

Thanks to Cynthia for sharing on this.


There is an ongoing Borneo Post International Education Fair at the Permata Food Center in Kuching from 26th to 28th March. There is a booth from MACEE as well.

There is also this Royal Wolverhamption Scholarships. For this year's application, it is over already, but do check out for future years. http://dayakbaru.com/weblog08/2009/04/11/schloarship-for-boarding-school-in-england1/#more-3399



Friday, March 26, 2010

Congrats to those of you who made it to US Unis

It's close to 1st April, and more and more universities are releasing their admission results!


Great to hear good news from quite a number of people, and it is great that these people do share with us the good news. Congratulations!

To all the 30+ facilitators who did the US Applications Workshop at Taylor's in August 2009, thanks a lot to all of you, as you have definitely made a difference in many of those people who got admitted!

For the full list of those who attended the US Applications workshop and got admitted, do go to http://usapps2009.blogspot.com . And you can find lots of resources too!

Some of those who have attended the workshop and have updated us on their admission decision, the list is below. Congratulations!

(Last updated at 1st April 2010, 12:05am)

Akira - University of California, Berkeley
Akira - University of California, Los Angeles
Brian Wong - University of California, Berkeley
Chan-Leong - Carnegie Mellon University (Early Admission)
Ching Yee - University of California, Berkeley
Ching Yee - University of California, Los Angeles
Coyin - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ee Xin - University of Chicago (Early Admission)
Hobart Lim - Carnegie Mellon University
Hobart Lim - University of California, Berkeley
Iswari - Cornell University (Early Admission)
Jason Leong - University of California, Los Angeles
Jason Leong - University of Michigan
Ken-Ji - Cornell University (Early Admission)
Kevin - University of Washington
Nik Zulhariz - Carnegie Mellon University (Early Admission)
Noel Wan - Carnegie Mellon University
Noel Wan - University of California, Berkeley
Noel Wan - University of California, Los Angeles
Noel Wan - University of Chicago
Shasha Fernandez - University of California, Berkeley
Soo Nee - University of Washington
Wen Xian - Villanova University
Yik Lun - Harvey Mudd College
Yik Lun - Stanford University
Yik Lun - University of California, Berkeley
Yik Lun - University of California, Los Angeles

If you have gone through the workshop and you have gotten admission too, do share with us the good news too! We would like to feature your name in this list too!

To all of you who have gotten some rejections, don't give up. Hopefully you would get offers over the next few days. In any case, hope that you would take it positively. Don't get too sad. Am sure you would bounce back.

Others who have gotten in, but were not at the US Applications workshop at Taylor's.

Amanda Foo - University of California, Berkeley
Amanda Foo - University of California, Los Angeles
Amanda Foo - University of Southern California
Chin Chon - University of Washington
Felicity Gan - University of California, Los Angeles
Felicity Gan - University of Washington
Jing Pei - Stanford University (Master's)
Jing Pei - Yale University (Master's)
Joshua Yee - Carnegie Mellon University
Ju-Hann - University of Southern California
Luo Yi - University of Washington

Congratulations to all of you!

For those of you who are applying end of this year, do start preparation now. Don't procrastinate. Use the 140+ resources at http://usapps2009.blogspot.com


Admission to UC Berkeley Class of 2014

Congratulations to Brian Wong, Hobart Lim and Yik Lun for getting admitted to University of California, Berkeley for Class of 2014.

PEMANDU Internship

Thanks to Joyce for initiating this.


PEMANDU is looking for interns. This is your chance to do national service. A chance for you to transform the nation, be it in education, crime, corruption, public transportation, low income household or rural infrastructure. Go for it & make the difference in the country.


Thursday, March 25, 2010

Malaysia Forum 2010: Singapore Satellite Event

Thanks to Yi Jian for highlighting this.


For those of you who are in Singapore, do check out this Malaysia Forum 2010: Singapore Satellite Event.

Date:- 4th April 2010
Time:- 9am to 5pm



MIT Undergraduate Admissions Talk - 3rd April 2010

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT) CLUB OF MALAYSIA will give a free undergraduate admissions talk for students (parents also welcomed) who
wish to apply to MIT this year or in 1-2 years.  The talk is in the Royal Selangor Golf Club, Jln Kelab Golf (off Jln Tun Razak), 55000 Kuala Lumpur at 1030am-12 pm, Sat 3 April 2010.  


Dress code: Smart casual. 

MIT Educational Counselors and Alumni in Malaysia will share with the audience about campus life at MIT, what MIT offers, what to prepare for applications to MIT, Financial Aid and other interesting questions/topics raised by the audience.  This year, two Malaysian students successfully obtained admission to MIT and they will share their experience in MIT admission application with the audience.

Please visit www.mit.edu for additional information on MIT, application procedures and financial aid.  Details: htewe@alum.mit.edu.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

TEDxKL

Check out TEDxKL on this Saturday, 27th March 2010. An inspiring event. Sign up at http://www.tedxkl.com 


Press Release

Kuala Lumpur – In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created TEDx – a series of regional events that bring like-minded people together to share a TED-like experience. At TEDxKL, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection here on a more local level. While the TED Conference, which hails from United States of America, provides general guidance for the TEDx program, TEDxKL is self-organized and is a fully Malaysian effort.  

"TED is a platform where new ideas flourish and we are looking to replicate the very sam experience in form of TEDxKL. As with the theme "What Malaysia Needs? We brought together leaders of community and industries to share ideas what will bring forth Malaysia into a new and prosperous age." said Daniel Cerventus, co-organizer of TEDx KL. Today, TED is therefore best thought of as a global community. It's a community welcoming people from diverse disciplines and cultures who have just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world, and they hope to turn that understanding into a better future for us all.

The team at TEDxKL curates great thinkers and doers from various fields, talents, experiences, industries to attend the event from all corners of the earth. Featured in the first TEDxKL event, the late Yasmin Ahmad spoke of "charisma, removing self importance, and being a nobody, so that you can be a part of something bigger" from her life experiences as a screenplay writer and filmmaker of astounding short clips, TV commercials and movies by learning to unearth hidden talents in many artists today. The event drew invited audiences from fresh minded students to seasoned entrepreneurs; therefore the second TEDxKL will host an interesting mix of talent and knowledge the same.

TEDxKL is made possible by lead sponsors Microsoft Malaysia and MDEC Malaysia. TEDxKL will be held at Microsoft's Office, Level 29 of Petronas Twin Towers on the 27th March 2010, from 10am to 3pm. Themed "What Malaysia Needs," The event will emulate the spirit and ideals of the renowned TED Conference (www.TED.com). The event is organized by Malaysia Entrepreneurs, an organization for entrepreneurs and small businesses in Malaysia (www.entrepreneurs.my).

Entry is at a minimum contribution of RM50 at www.tedxkl.com. For more details about TEDxKL and its speakers, head on to their website or contact Daniel Cerventus at daniel@tedxkl.com or Jason Ng atjason@tedxkl.com 
 

About TED

TED is an annual event where some of the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to share what they are most passionate about. "TED" stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. And in fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any discipline. Attendees have called it "the ultimate brain spa" and "a four-day journey into the future." The diverse audience -- CEOs, scientists, creatives, philanthropists -- is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck and Bono. Learn more at TED.com. 

About Malaysia Entrepreneurs

Malaysia Entrepreneurs is an online resource and magazine for entrepreneurs and business owners in Malaysia. The core of this organization is in developing entrepreneurial content, resources, linkages and market access to many Asian companies, education institutes, communities and similar circles of society. They are also initiator behind some of the more interesting entrepreneurial events all over Malaysia for the past year such as BarCamp Malaysia, Startup Camp KL, TEDx KualaLumpur, Facebook Developers Garage KL, NetBash with Guy Kawasaki and many more. Learn more about them atwww.entrepreneurs.my.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

TeAM Talk by Mark Chang, CEO of JobStreet.com

Live blogging from PappaRich at Telawi area with Mark Chang, CEO of JobStreet.com sharing at Technopreneur Association of Malaysia (TeAM) talk.

Mark highlighted that his journey started back in 1995. Mark would like to thank Mr. Siva for starting this initiative back then, and during that time, there would be a small group of 10-12 people who would be gathering and learning from each other, especially on technopreneurship. And along the way, everyone learned and grew in this area.

Now, 11 years later, Mr. Siva is still running the group and Mark really respected his efforts in nurturing entrepreneurship among the young entrepreneurs. Mark hope that in 5-10 years later, some of the people in this audience would be back to share on their entrepreneurship stories.

Mark thanked Chok Kwee Bee from Walden International, who was the initial investor for JobStreet.com. Mark highlighted that if anyone has anything to learn on getting funding, can definitely learn from her.

Mark commented that in this internet age, people can utilize Facebook or Twitter to connect to each other and know each other.

Mark started by sharing on his background. He was working in Perlis back in 1990, and it was not long after Communist surrendered. Perlis is quite a rural place, and Mark wanted to learn more about people, so he went there. But it is a very quiet place, and by 8:30pm, Kangar is quite dark and not many places are opened. Perhaps only the shopping center was open. So, Mark spent a lot of his time either working or learning on his own. Then when internet started, Mark was dying to tap on the power of internet.

At that time, internet was just starting, and most people just started with emails, and then internet browser started to be used. There was an attempt back in around 1993, where they tried to install sound in browser.

During that time, there was a group of internet enthusiasts in Penang who would meet up once a week. Mark started using internet back in 1992-93, when it was the days of Yahoo! and Netscape.

As there wasn't much to do in Perlis, Mark often worked 16 hours a day, so technically he worked for 10 years, instead of the 5 years that he actually worked. Then, Mark got the blessing of his supervisor to leave and try his hands on starting an internet business. Mark asked whether he could come back and work in the company in the future, just in case his venture didn't work.

Back then, Yahoo! was the popular one, and Mark was trying to build a Yahoo! of Malaysia. Mark remembered that during his students' days abroad, to get the news from Malaysia, it would be from Malaysian Embassy and it was about 1 month late. So, Mark tried to summarize the news in Malaysia and updated in the website.

So, it got very popular with the students abroad. And later on, the newspaper started to have their websites, and wrote to Mark that he cannot lift news from them. Mark also put up musics, like those from P. Ramlee for Malaysians abroad to listen as well.

As it progressed, Mark asked on what else the students abroad would need. At that time, the students need to get jobs, and it was almost impossible for them to know about job opportunities back home, when they were abroad. So, Mark started to get jobs from newspaper and then posted it online. Soon, Mark realized that he cannot continue to lift the jobs from newspaper, so he started to approach the companies. The 1st company that he approached was Intel.

At that time, Intel also wanted to hire Malaysians before they came back home, in the semiconductor boom. Intel put up 5 advertisements then, and after a couple of weeks, Mark checked with them, and there were only a few applicants, and they didn't manage to hire. Mark thought that it would be the end of his venture, but Intel gave him more job advertisements and soon more and more multi-national companies in Penang put up ads through Mark. After all, it was much cheaper compared to newspaper and it was very hard to get talent.

It was a good start. Back in 1995, there was an election in Malaysia too and Mark felt that it would be good to provide the news to the students. Mark had a bandwidth of 9.6 kbps, whereas his modem was 2.4 kbps. Mark would announce the news of the election to the Malaysians abroad, with the help of 2 students. One of the students would go to business center next door and watched the TV and jotted the results and came back to update it.

One of the hottest seats was Lim Kit Siang vs Koh Tsu Koon, and everyone wanted to know the results. By midnight, the modem light kept on blinking and Mark could no longer key in more results, as there was too much load. So, he had to disconnect the line and then keyed in the results and then connected back the line.

Mark said that a lot of things would not be as planned. A lot of things would have to be trial and error. Mark said that a lot of successful entrepreneurs are not super smart, but it was just that they are working very hard and keeping on trying very hard. And it is very important not to give up.

And from there, JobStreet.com got more and more popular, and a lot of the users were computer science students, as it was mostly computer-related jobs. And soon, more and more university students started to use JobStreet.com . Initially, the ratio of male vs female was 95:5, and soon it became 55:45, and Mark was very happy to see the ratio balanced up, as JobStreet.com became more and more accepted by people and became a mass market product.

Gradually, JobStreet.com was spreaded to Kuala Lumpur and Johor etc, from its initial base of Penang.

Mark said that he was a technical person. He didn't know about some of the other stuff, like how to comply with the law, without the support and guidance of others. Mark talked about having to line up to pay the electric bill etc. If he didn't do any of the task, it won't be done. Back then, there was only a handful of staff. At that time, anyone with working experience would not join JobStreet.com . So, a lot of those who joined were fresh graduates, who might be inexperienced. So, Mark rallied the team to try and made it work. Mark shared about many things that he didn't know, for instance how to pay commission and had to discuss with his staff on that.

In1998-99, Malaysia went through economic downturn. There was a reporter from Far East Economic Review, who wanted to interview Mark. Mark shared his story and the employment market. When the article was published, it ended up becoming an article on JobStreet.com , and the reporter put JobStreet.com in a very good light. Mark started to receive calls from venture capitalists. At that time, Mark didn't even know what is Venture Capital. He even got contacted by VCs from Japan.

Soon, Mark took up VC money and advice from VC in Singapore - Walden International. Before that, Mark didn't have the ambition of JobStreet.com become a big company. It was more of an expectation of a lifestyle business, where Mark could go to coffee shop during office hour and drank coffee with his friends. Mark asked two of his classmates whether they wanted to be partner, by asking them to put RM15,000 each. So, from day 1, Mark only have 1/3 of the company, as each of them had 1/3 of the company. They helped Mark along the way with quite a bit of things.

VCs went through the plan and advised Mark on what to do. JobStreet.com got SGD3 Million in 1999 from Walden, and expanded very fast. During that time, Malek Ali joined JobStreet.com . When Mark started the company, it was called Malaysia Online, and after that, JobStreet.com was spun off, and Mark focused on JobStreet.com .

Mark shared that coming up company names would be difficult. Financial center is called Wall Street, so Mark would call job center as JobStreet. By the year of 2000, JobStreet.com has already raised some money and Mark, Malek and Kay Yip was invited to Hong Kong to present JobStreet.com story and Malek presented at a Merrill Lynch conference to some high net worth people. A gentlemen walked up to Mark and said he was interested in the company. That person was Vincent Tan. JobStreet.com at that time was fully invested, and Mark said that Malaysia Online could possibly be available. So, Vincent Tan and JobStreet.com talked on MOL back then.

McAfee back then talked to Mark on possibly getting MOL, as McAffe's name was tough to be spelt. Another potential buyer was Microsoft. Mark felt that it would be better to sell off to Vincent Tan, as it would be a Malaysian company. Mark talked to the CEO of MOL at that time too.

The CEO of MOL showed Mark the ideas of MOL, and Mark was asking himself why he didn't think of the ideas. So, Mark bought quite a bit of MOL share at RM7, and eventually it dropped off to RM0.70 . So, Mark pointed out that he did make mistakes along the way.

With the VC money, JobStreet.com gradually expanded.

Now, everyone sees Mark as the CEO of a Multi-National Company, but back then, he was a programmer, and the first person he hired was a salesperson. Then, Mark had to become sales manager, and it was tough. Then, Mark had to soon hire an external sales manager. So, it was a tough decision, as he felt that it would be tough to hire from internally, as they might not be ready to do the job as sales manager. Eventually, Mark brought in someone from outside as sales manager.

Mark then became program manager, and slowly moved one level by one level up the organization. Mark had to consistently read up books to learn the new job scope. Mark had no finance background, and he just had to learn from scratch. Back then, everything was done in cash, as Mark didn't know about accounting. So, that was a simple way to move forward back then.

Mark gradually learned to become CEO of a public listed company and then CEO of a multinational company. Mark back in 2000, actually went out to try and hire a new CEO, as part of the agreement with the VC. But eventually the CEO didn't join and Mark became the temporary CEO, and today, he is still the CEO. During that time, he agreed with VC that he would be the Executive Director.

Mark said that in a new business, it would be tough to come up with a business plan, as there was nothing to copy from. Mark said that in budget planning, expenses would usually happen, but revenue may not really happen. So, it was like a water tap, where water may not flow out, even when the tap is opened.

So, Mark and the team bootstrapped along the way. And with the SGD3 million that Walden provided JobStreet.com, he didn't know how to spend it, as he never handled that much money. Luckily, the money was not spent, and when dot com bust came, the money saved JobStreet.com .

In 2004, JobStreet.com got listed in MESDAQ and more and more companies wanted to advertise at JobStreet.com and more companies would like to be partner with JobStreet.com as well.

When JobStreet.com was listed in 2004, it was already 9 years that Mark had worked on it. During the ceremony of IPO listing, Mark really didn't felt anything special. At that time, the price of listing was 0.54, and it quickly went up beyond 1.00 . Mark reflected back that he always told his staff that they had to work very hard, as it was not good enough, but when it was accepted and valued by the public, it meant a lot to Mark, that JobStreet.com is good in the eyes of the public.

A lot of staff who had been around with Mark since back then, they had now become quite successful, for instance some have become entrepreneurs or mothers. Mark commented on some of those early staff, for example See Ming, who played a good part in making JobStreet.com successful.

Mark got the invitation from the son of Robert Murdoch, who was interested to invest in the company in the year of 2000. So, during Olympics Games in 2000, Mark was invited there with his wife, and they were given business class tickets to go over. Mark stayed at a hotel that everything was paid for, and he was provided with the box seat to watch any games in the Olympics Games. Mark didn't know that there would be separate entrance to the stadium, as well as box office, where food was served and they watched in the comfort.

Mark didn't know anyone there, so he just approached people, and when the people told him their names, Mark would ask them what they were doing. Some of them could be quite famous in Australia, but Mark didn't know of their background.

Mark said that there would be a lot of difficulties along the way. Mark said that he tried to explain to his mother and grandmother about his business, but they never understood. Once Mark's grandmother went to office, and she wanted to see the physical stock of the companies, and Mark didn't have anything to show (as it was internet business), and his grandmother thought that he was running a scam business!

Mark was lucky to have a lot of good partners, like Malek, Suresh, Albert and Greg. Mark focused outside Malaysia, and let them run the business. Mark was focusing on Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Seek (Australia). Mark moved himself to Singapore for private and business reasons. Being there, Mark can talk more easily to more business analysts.

Today, JobStreet.com owned about 10% in Recruit Holdings in Hong Kong, and in the last few years, Recruit made quite a bit of money printing airline magazines in China. And indirectly, Jobstreet.com owned 10% of those large printing plants. JobStreet.com also owned close to 20% of 104 Corporations in Taiwan, and at one point, 104 Corporations made more money in one country than the entire JobStreet.com . JobStreet.com also owned some stakes at Innity and AsiaTravel.com .AsiaTravel.com is one of the largest hotel booking websites in Hong Kong. Each day, they booked more than 2,000 rooms and they had good margin from booking the rooms.

Mark said that as JobStreet.com grows, it has become more of a utility company, and some companies even banned their staff from accessing JobStreet.com at office, as their staff may leave if they found jobs there. Mark asked those future entrepreneurs to not ban their staff from accessing JobStreet.com, as the staff would have ways to do that, if they want.

Mark shared on him meeting Thomas from Brazil, who was helming Catho. Mark talked to Thomas, and Thomas said that Mark could just write a USD40 Million cheque and he would sell the whole company to Mark, and he would work for Mark for 5 years to make sure that everything was fine. However, JobStreet.com did not have USD40 Million for it. Mark came back to Malaysia/Singapore to try and raise money, but was not successful.

And a couple of years later, Catho was sold for USD40 Million to Seek for 40% of the stake, and what Mark was offered earlier was 100%.

Mark also said that sometimes time may not be right for things to happen.

In the Q&A session, Mark was asked on what he would do differently for JobStreet.com . Mark said that hindsight is 20-20, so it is easy for us to look back and comment, but being in the midst of it, it would be tough.

Mark highlighted that in the early days, he didn't know much about the concept of market share. So, he tried to focus on bringing in revenues, whereas his main competitor tried to build market share by giving some of the advertisements free. And eventually, the main competitor built up quite a bit of market share.

Mark highlighted that he was competing with a competitor who had sold a company to Li Ka-Shing, which eventually became a huge conglomerate in Hong Kong.

However, Mark said that ignorance could be a blessing sometimes, as they would just keep on fighting hard against the competition, without really knowing that they were huge giants and ended up giving up.

On the issue of job seekers vs employers, Mark said that "job seeker is king". Mark believed that if job seekers' needs are taken care of, they would be using the portal to apply for jobs, and with that, it would served the needs of employers.

Mark talked about quite a number of companies thought that online job board would be a good business to go in, and many had tried to start a job site. However, many of them failed. Mark said that it is a tough business, and if he was to start again, he won't do another job site.

Mark highlighted that he has about 60 programmers now building tools to serve the employers and job seekers. For instance, there is interview scheduler, which helped companies to arrange for interviews, and job seekers would be reminded of the interview and they can respond to it, informing employers about their attending of the interview. In terms of codes, there are millions of lines too.

So, to start from scratch, it would be tough. Moreover, currently, JobStreet.com has close to 1.5 Million job seekrs in Malaysia. For companies, if they were to consider spending a couple of hundred Ringgit more advertising at JobStreet.com versus lesser known job sites which is slightly cheaper, they would rather spend the money advertising at JobStreet.com, to get more quality candidates, as if they did not, their competitors may get to hire the better talent, and eventually, it would cost them a lot more.

When asked about the % that JobStreet.com gave to the Venture Capitalist which invested in the company, he said that it was around 20%-30% for SGD 3 Million.

Mark said that while he would love to be angel investors, sometimes, he is not prepared to invest in a business, where it might take another 10-15 years to succeed. He might not be ready to put in money and then shared the sufferings through many years. Mark also wanted the companies that he invest in, to have open minds, so that advice and opinion can be heard constructively. The chemistry between the investor and the entrepreneur needs to be there too.

Mark asked those who had business plans to share with Dr. Siva, Malek or Kwee Bee, and if they thought that it is good, they could help to contact Mark.

Mark also shared on his experience of visiting Silicon Valley back in 2000. His friend brought him to visit 2 brothers in the warehouse, where they were selling old games software. His friend was investing in it, and he asked whether Mark wanted to invest. Mark felt that the business was interesting, so he invested for some money. Since then, he occasionally kept in touch with them, and they assured Mark that the business is fine. Soon, dot com bust happens, and Mark thought that the business might get affected as well. So, Mark didn't follow up with them.

Then in 2007, they wrote to Mark to ask Mark to sign for them to sell the company for USD100 Million. It was the best investment that Mark had made. They were the one that created Guitar Hero, which was a top selling item in Christmas. A public listed company bought it over. Mark said that the two brothers worked very hard, and made it work.

Malek Ali, who was with Mark in the early days of JobStreet.com, shared that Mark is also an investor in BFM 89.9. Malek is the founder and CEO of BFM 89.9 . Malek shared that sometimes path might diverged, but eventually it might meet again. Malek shared that when he started BFM, he looked for his ex-colleagues in JobStreet.com to be his investor, and 3 of the JobStreet.com founders/top management invested in BFM. Kwee Bee played an instrumental role too. So, Malek advised on building network and friendship, and one can tap into trusted people.

Malek shared that BFM was for a different agenda and it often promoted for social cause, eg it promoted Jimmy's games.

Mark said that Malek's passion of radio was there, even in his JobStreet.com days.

Mark said that without the money from VC, JobStreet.com would not have money and know-how to expand abroad. He mentioned that things like how to sign lease in India was something different and one had to learn to do it. India is a different world.

Mark shared that he had always wanted to be here with TeAM members, but sometimes time was tough to be arranged.

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Above was live blogging during Mark's talk. I strived to capture as correct as possible based on what I could type when Mark spoke. If there is any typo or misinformation, do kindly let me know.

To know more about JobStreet.com, do go to here .

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Chen Chow's Other Posts
Subscribe to Chen Chow's blog

Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)

World Sudoku Championship

Are you good enough for World Sudoku Championship?


Malaysia hasn't had any representative yet.

So, do check it out http://wpc.puzzles.com/wsc2010/ 

TEDxKL

If you want to be inspired and be part of this TEDx initiative, check out TEDxKL. Thanks to Daniel Cerventus for sharing on this.

Among the speakers include Steve McCoy, Peter Nicoll, Surech Kuppusamy, Afzal Hashim, Urmilah Dass, Raj Ridwan Singh, Yvonne Foong, Ezrena Marwan, Aloha Lavina, Premesh Chandran and Pete Teo.

Do check the link below for any updates. The list of speakers are correct as of the moment this post is made.

http://www.tedxkl.com/schedule/

Blog for Students

Thanks to Kim Hoe for sharing on this resource.


This is an interesting blog maintained by a MIT student for students population at large.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

United Nations Youth

Thanks to Eunice Tan Shi Min for sharing on this. 


For those of you who aspire to strive towards United Nations, here are some of the resources that could be useful to you!



Monday, March 15, 2010

Congratulations to Coyin for successfully admitted to MIT Class of 2014!

Congratulations to Coyin for successfully admitted to MIT Class of 2014!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Sandwich Mob in conjunction with World Water Day

Thanks to Sonia Yeow for sharing on this initiative of Sandwich Mob by 6SOS and Taylor's Environmental Club, in conjunction with World Water Day.



Do check it out!

TeAM T3 get-together with Mark Chang CEO of JobStreet.com

TeAM T3 get-together with Mark Chang CEO of JobStreet.com


Date:
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Time:
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Location:
PappaRich Bangsar, right across Bangsar Village II

Invitation to the LSE Asia Investment Banking Conference 2010

Thanks to Sook Leng for sharing this with me. Aspiring Investment Bankers do check it out!

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Dear Students,

The LSE Asia Investment Banking Conference (AIBC) Organising Committee is delighted to present you with the exclusive opportunity to participate in the LSE Asia Investment Banking Conference (AIBC) 2010.

Following from the success of the AIBC 2009, this year we seek to bring you an even more impressive line-up of speakers consisting of top financial services professionals.

Our featured speakers* include:

*       Henry Cai - Chairman, Asia (UBS Investment Bank)
*       Lee Zhang - Chairman, Deutsche Bank China (Deutsche Bank)
*       Colin Banfield - Co-Head of Asia Investment Banking (Nomura)
*       Gokul Laroai - Co-Head of Asia Investment Banking (Morgan Stanley)
*       Fang Fang - Chief Executive Office, J.P. Morgan China (J.P. Morgan)
 (*List of speakers is subject to change)

 At the AIBC 2010, you will have the exclusive opportunity to gain insights into the financial services industry in Asia and network with both speakers and like-minded peers.

 The AIBC 2010 is scheduled to take place on 5-6 July 2010, at the Singapore Management University (SMU) campus in Singapore.

 For further details on registration and the Conference, please visit our website at http://www.lse-aibc.com/home.html.

Registration closes on the 4th of April 2010 and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Thus, we strongly encourage all interested applicants to apply at the earliest opportunity.

 CVs of all participants will be forwarded to our corporate partners unless requested otherwise.

 For further enquiries, please visit the 'Contact Us' page found on our website.

On behalf of the AIBC 2010 Organising Committee, I sincerely look forward to receiving your applications and hope to see you at the LSE Asia Investment Banking Conference 2010!

 Thank you.

 Kind Regards,
 Sook Leng Loh
 Vice-Chairperson
 Asia Investment Banking Conference 2010
 London School of Economics and Political Science


Friday, March 12, 2010

Alumni Coordinator at the American Embassy

If you are interested, do check it out!

ALUMNI COORDINATOR

The American Embassy invites applications for the post of Alumni Coordinator which is for a one-year period with a possibility for extension.  The incumbent for the Alumni Outreach and Programs position is responsible for promoting greater contact and cooperation among former participants of US Government exchange programs in consultation with the Public Affairs Office and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Alumni Office.   The incumbent accomplishes this goal by: organizing events and programs for countrywide alumni audiences; integrating alumni into all Mission programs; liaising with the ECA Alumni Affairs Office; preparing funding  proposals; preparing and disseminating news and information of general interest to alumni; helping to maintain the ECA database of alumni records (Global Alumni Archive Database); creating/maintaining country and/or program communities on the ECA alumni state website (alumni.state.gov); contributing content to this website and coordinating the promotion of the ECA State Alumni Website among the different alumni audiences throughout the country with Embassy colleagues.   

Applicants must have a University degree in the liberal arts, education, social sciences, international affairs or related fields and have 2 to 3 years administrative experience, preferably in a bilingual setting.  Must be fluent in Level 4 fluency in English and Bahasa Malaysia required. Must be able to read and draft routine correspondence in both languages and to facilitate working level contacts within the embassy and branch post, as well as with local organizations and alumni.   Must be familiar with general office procedures including filing, typing and drafting correspondence. Thorough knowledge of various computer software programs, specifically Word, Excel and database required. Ability to independently perform all administrative tasks required.  Ability to learn/understand the policies and set-up of various exchange programs.  Writing and translation skills required.  Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to initiate and maintain working level contacts with alumni, partner organizations, ECA and Embassy contacts.  Tact and discretion essential.  A high degree of reliability, flexibility and accuracy necessary.

The basic starting salary is RM38,405 per annum.  Benefits include a two-month year-end bonus, a competitive EPF contribution rate and life and health insurance coverage. Please write in (with phone number and expected salary) to the Human Resources Office, P.O. Box 10035, 50700 Kuala Lumpur by March 22, 2010.  Only short listed candidates will be notified.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Project Exchange for Change Malaysia

Thanks to Vienna for sharing on this Project Exchange for Change Malaysia.


Malaysia Forum in New York City

Got this email from Dominic on Malaysia Forum.


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Fri, 2 April
7pm – On-site registration, Welcome session, ice-breaker, socializing
9pm – What is MF? + Personal sharings on our concerns and interests in Malaysia's future

Sat, 3 April
9:30am – Briefing
9:45am – Local Forum
11:00am – Group Discussions
1:00pm – Lunch
2:45pm – Discussion with Jomo – "Berkhidmat Untuk Negara: Brain Drain or Brain Gain"
4:00pm – Free time
6:00pm – Makan! (Malaysian dinner)
9:00pm – Live Forum from KL – "Arts, Literature, and Education" (9am Sunday in KL)
10:15pm – Live Forum from KL – "Racial and Religious Harmony: Understanding the 'Allah' Issue" (10:15am Sunday in KL)

Sun, 4 April
10.30am – Breakfast AND Conclusions / Open discussions / Evaluation / Group photo
12.30pm – Makan… Selamat Jalan


Registration is open! So go ahead and register.

Check out our website for more info :)
http://www.malaysiaforum.org/nmf

If you need accommodation, email us and let us know. We'll be happy to help you out!

Our email: mf2010@googlegroups.com

Also, check out our Event page on Facebook for more updates.

INSEAD Executive MBA Info Session

Thanks to Farul for sharing on this.

This is regarding INSEAD Executive MBA information session on 7th April.


Do check it out!
-----
Chen Chow's Other Posts
Subscribe to Chen Chow's blog

Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)

Congrats to Luo Yi and Chin Chon for University of Washington

Congrats to Luo Yi and Chin Chon for admission to University of Washington for Class of 2014.

Apply now! P&G ASEAN Business Challenge 2010

Thanks to Jolyn Sia for sharing on this.


----

Do check out P&G ASEAN Business Challenge and get the opportunities to attend a 4D3N student event which allows you to work on a real life case study. Do check it out!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Soo Nee - University of Washington Class of 2014

Congratulations to Soo Nee for getting admitted to University of Washington!

One World Youth Project

Thanks to Ai Ching for sharing with me on this One World Youth Project. 


Do check it out at http://www.refresheverything.com/oneworldyouthproject and they are in contention to win USD50,000 for Pepsi Refresh Project. If you think their project is worth noting, do vote for them.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Kenneth Profiled at Wisconsin

Congratulations to Kenneth Hiew for being selected to be profiled by University of Wisconsin for its Admission Website.



You can click on the top right arrow at the top corner of the picture for another 3 more pictures of Kenneth Hiew and his comments.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Accenture Return Home Program offers Internship or Graduate opportunities: MALAYSIA

Thanks to Lysha for sharing this with me. This program is targeted for overseas students. For local grads, Lysha would share with me another write-up soon. If you have any question, do post it here, Lysha would be more than happy to respond.



Accenture Return Home Program offers Internship or Graduate opportunities

Jumpstart your career in a global company right here in Asia

Return home to Asia with an Internship or Graduate position at Accenture!

Accenture's Return Home Program offers internship and graduate positions in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand to individuals in their penultimate or final year studying in the US.

If you are originally from these Asian countries and plan to return home after graduation to launch a career, this opportunity is for you. Be sure to submit your applications before the respective datelines:

Internship Opportunities - 30/04/2010

Graduate Opportunities - 30/04/2010

Accenture provides the same excellent career advancement in Consulting, Technology and Services among all its locations worldwide. This program will enable you to experience the same international-caliber career at a truly world-class company, and still be among family and friends.

To learn more details about the program and to apply, visit the Accenture Return Home site.


Congrats to Eunice Tan Shi Min

Congratulations to Eunice Tan Shi Min for being selected as one of the finalists for Women's Learning Partnership Youth Essay Contest. Her essay is at http://www.learningpartnership.org/blog/2010/02/malaysia-sexism/

YCM CEO Series 21: Wing K. Lee, CEO of YTL Communications Video

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Survey for Malaysian students

If you care about Malaysian education and wants to make a difference, here is your chance, and this is targeted at Malaysian students at universities or colleges anywhere in the world.

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A survey is currently being run to understand the feasibility of launching "Teach for Malaysia". In this development stage, we are hoping to obtain feedback on the program from exceptional Malaysian students such as yourselves to gauge interest in the program.

Teach for Malaysia is a proposed program to enhance national educational balance through the transformation of outstanding Malaysian graduates into effective, inspirational teachers and leaders by placing them in our country's underprivileged schools for a duration of two years. Participants will be placed in challenging environments and will develop skills in planning, communication, negotiation and presentation. In addition, the program will partner with top firms who provide mentors, leadership training and networking events, and who publicly recognise the value the experience provides to future employees. Selected partner firms may even defer existing job offers to allow recruits to participate or to provide internship placements for participants. The program is based on similar models in the US and UK that have been successful in producing exceptional student results, and creating a network of alumni who are engaged in creating more systemic change.

As you can see, this program is targeted at high performing students such as yourselves. This short survey will only take ten minutes of your time and will provide valuable input to our work. The survey will run from today and will end on 11th March (Thursday next week). Simply click on the link below and begin:

https://www.113.vovici.net/se.ashx?s=13B2588B6D2A04A5

We thank you very much for your time! 


 

 



College Life at Harvard

Thanks Andrew Loh for sharing this.


College life at Harvard - http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/03/nonstop


Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Bayer - Young Environmental Envoy

Thanks to Chun Keat for sharing on this Bayer - Young Environmental Envoy.


This is a great opportunity for those of you who are passionate on environmental awareness.

Do check it out!

2011 INTERNATIONAL FULBRIGHT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING MALAYSIAN STUDENTS

Thanks to my loyal blog contributor for sharing this.

http://macee.org.my/02_08_22_content.html

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The International Fulbright Science and Technology Award For Outstanding Malaysian Student is for Ph.D study at top U.S. institutions in science, technology, or engineering. The award is designed to be among the most prestigious international scholarships in science and technology. The program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in Washington, DC.  It aims to convey the message that the U.S. remains the premier destination for serious scientific study and research, and that America not only welcomes top-notch talent, but encourages future leaders to shape their careers through U.S. study.

International Fulbright Science and Technology Award recipients come from all regions of the world and engage in a wide-range of scientific inquiry. Recipients are chosen through a rigorous multi-tiered, merit-based selection process in their home countries followed by a field and discipline review by well-known U.S. academic leaders, final nomination by a blue-ribbon Advisory Panel including U.S. university deans, presidents, and a Nobel Laureate, and approval by the Fulbright Scholarship Board.

 

ELIGIBILITY

 

 

Applicants must meet the following requirements :

1. Be a Malaysian citizen.

2. Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree (comparable to a U.S. bachelor's degree) before August 1, 2011. It is highly recommended that bachelor's degree is in the same or a related field for which you plan to pursue Ph.D. study.

3. Have a strong academic background in the sciences.

4. Have an official and valid TOEFL score ( iBT score at least 93, or CBT 237 or PBT 580 or higher) Visit www.toefl.org to register.

5) have a General GRE score report with a quantitative score of at least 700. Visit www.gre.org to register.
6) be in Malaysia for the interview
7) plan to commence studies in the U.S. in the academic year 2011

IMPORTANT
Please indicate that you want your score reports sent to the Institute of International Education (IIE). You must indicate the IIE code on the registration forms and/or the forms provided at the time you take the exam.
For all TOEFL and GRE exams, please indicate CODE: 2326.
For the IELTS, select the Institute of International Education from the 'Professional Bodies' listing.

 

You are ineligible if you:

  • are currently studying in the U.S;
  • have received a previous Fulbright award; or
  • only plan to pursue non-degree study

Eligible Fields

  • Aeronautics and Astronomics/Aeronautical Engineering
  • Astronomy/Planetary Sciences
  • Biology
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Sciences/Engineering
  • Energy
  • Engineering (electrical, chemical, civil, mechanical, ocean, and petroleum)
  • Environmental Science/Engineering
  • Geology/Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Information Sciences/Engineering (engineering focus only; business-focused study is not eligible)
  • Materials Science/Engineering
  • Mathematics
  • Neuroscience/Brain and Cognitive Sciences
  • Oceanography
  • Physics
  • Public Health (theoretical focus only)  

·     

 

PROVISIONS OF THE AWARD

 

 

All grantees receive tuition, a monthly stipend for up to 36 months, health and accident coverage, a book and equipment allowance, professional conference allowance, travel support and specially tailored enrichment activities, and are eligible to apply for additional research funding. After three years, U.S. universities have agreed to fund the remaining expenses toward completion of a Ph.D, assuming the grantees maintains satisfactory continuing progress toward Ph.D. completion.

 

 

U.S. UNIVERSITY PLACEMENT

 

 

Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York, will be responsible for placement of all Fulbright Science and Technology Award recipients. IIE will work closely with the recipients and ECA to ensure the best placement available for field of study and research interests.

 

 

VISA SPONSORSHIP

 

 

Grantees will receive J-1 visa sponsorship under the Fulbright Student Program for up to five years starting approximately August 2011. After five years, if necessary, ECA will transfer sponsorship to the host university assuming satisfactory continuing progress toward Ph.D completion. Grantees not able to secure an entry visa to arrive in time for their program start date may lose their fellowhips. Selected candidates must provide IIE with a valid passport prior to the issuance of Form DS-2019.

 

APPLICATION PROCEDURE 

 

 

Each applicant will be required to submit an online application from here.

Please refer to the application instructions and application form and checklist. (Please click on the repective highlight link)

A correctly prepared application packet facilitates the review process and increases your chance for an award. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete before submitting to MACEE.


A completed application should include the following:

i. 4 completed copies of the required application forms;

ii. 4 recent passport-size photos attached to each of the application forms;

iii. 3 letters of reference using the required forms (if they are not submitted online).
    Should be in a sealed envelope.

iv. 4 copies of your curriculum vitae;

v. 4 copies signed signature form

iv. 4 official academic transcripts from all post-secondary schools attended, copies of diplomas for all post-secondary schools attended, TOEFL and GRE scores :

These documents must consist of:

a. Academic transcripts: Nominees must submit official, complete and certified academic documents covering the entire period of study at universities and other post-secondary institutions. Documents must be accompanied by complete official English translations. These documents must consist of:

1. One certified, official record (transcript) from each university or post-secondary institution you attended, even those schools from which you did not receive a degree or diploma. The transcripts should list the subjects you studied and the grades you received during each year of your enrollment. Official transcripts must be submitted directly from the schools in sealed envelopes to MACEE Office.

2. Certified, official evidence of each post-secondary or university degree, diploma or certificate awarded to you should be included as part of the completed application.

b. Standardized tests: You will be required to take one or more of the following standardized tests to gain admission to a U.S. university. For instructions on registration, contact the Fulbright Program Office or the website for the test.

1. Tests of English Language Proficiency

a. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): TOEFL is an admissions requirement at U.S. institutions for applicants whose native language is not English. All non-native English-speaking candidates should immediately register for TOEFL. Click on to www.ets.org/toefl for more information on TOEFL.

b. IELTS (International English Language Testing System): A growing number of U.S. institutions will accept the IELTS in lieu of TOEFL scores.

2. GRE (Graduate Records Examination): The GRE is required by most U.S. graduate schools and/or departments for candidates applying in the fields of science, technology, or engineering. You should make every effort to register for the earliest possible administration of the GRE. Generally, the quantitative section of the exam is weighed heavily in the sciences. Click on to www.gre.org for more information on GRE.

3. GRE SUBJECT TESTS are required for the following fields:

  • Biochemistry, Cell and molecular Biology
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics
  • Physics

The GRE Subject Test is only offered on a limited basis in paper-based format—October, November, or April. You should make every effort to register for either the October or the November test.

IMPORTANT

Note carefully, you MUST indicate that you want your score reports sent to the Institute of International Education (IIE). You must indicate the IIE code on the registration forms and/or the forms provided at the time you take the exam.

For all TOEFL and GRE exams, please indicate CODE: 2326.
For the IELTS, select the Institute of International Education from the 'Professional Bodies' listin
.

Applicants must submit 4 copies of the completed application forms with photographs and all required supplemental forms no later than June 18, 2010 to:

MACEE
International Fulbright Science and Technology Award
18th Floor, Menara Yayasan Tun Razak
200, Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur