ECONOMICS Department of - NUS Arts ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Department of
ECONOMICS June 2021 Newsletter
Insights: Alumni in Tech 02 – 09 Undergraduate Teaching Awards 22 – 25
Freshman Profiles 10 – 11 Events 26 – 28
Senior Profiles 12 – 15 Alumni Awards 29
Faculty Interview 16 – 19 Faculty Research 30 – 31
PhD Scholarships 20 – 21 Faculty & Staff News 32
specific problems. For example, in the MOT project, we
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
studied how to enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as
a transport hub.
In the first 18 months of my career, I was mainly working
on one-off Proof of Concept (POC) data science projects
with different agencies. I have since been deployed to
Enterprise Singapore (ESG) where I focus exclusively on
working with ESG’s business units to embed data science
into their processes. The first 18 months exposed me to
a breadth of problem statements, and now I focus on the
depth of specific problems.
What made you decide to pursue a career in tech?
When I was an undergraduate, I was quite sure that
I wanted to become an economist in the private sector or
the public service. One day, I came across an article by
a group of data scientists who shared about how they use
data to identify rogue trains on the Circle Line. That article
piqued my interest in what we can do with data.
How has your economics education prepared you for
your current job?
First, economics taught me how to simplify complex
problems through modelling and abstraction. At work,
we’re trying to solve complicated problems, and the first
step is often to break down the problem into simpler bits.
Such processes force us to be very disciplined in the way we
think about a problem; we need to simplify a seemingly
insurmountable problem into one that can be tackled by
analytics or data science.
Second, economics gave me a very solid background
in statistics and econometrics. Many students find econo-
metrics challenging because there is a lot of math involved.
I think the way to go about it is to spend a little more time
trying to understand what the math actually means. I was
lucky to have a group of friends who were just as interested
in econometrics. We would discuss the concepts and help
one another arrive at a deeper understanding of the
material. Having a study group made learning much, much
easier for me.
Third, economics taught me to be discerning in inter-
preting the results of my analysis. In our economics classes,
we were constantly reminded that correlation does not
imply causation. I am experiencing this for myself now! In
analysis projects, we sometimes observe correlations that
are just coincidence or due to some other unobserved
factor. My training in economics made me more sensitive to
such spurious correlations. I don’t just take the numbers at
face value; rather, I try to understand the mechanism
underlying those numbers.
How would you describe the culture at GovTech?
Generally, my colleagues at GovTech are rather driven and
Jovi Loo motivated. Many people think that learning stops when
you get your university degree, but I find that to not be the
case. In fact, every single day, there’s still a lot more for me
Student Interviewer: Huang Xiuqi to learn. I find myself looking up to my colleagues because
they have expertise in different domains. We’re encouraged
to be continually learning, and I feel that I’m growing as an
What do you do as a data scientist at GovTech? individual in terms of my skillsets.
I’m part of the team in GovTech that sits at the intersection We’re embedded in a lot of areas in the government.
of public policy and data science. Besides technical work, Digital transformation is not isolated to GovTech. Many
I work together with agencies such as the Ministry of other government agencies are also embarking on this
Transport (MOT), the Ministry of Social and Family journey. Hence, the exposure that we get from working on
June 2021
Development (MSF), and the Ministry of Education (MOE) different government projects is quite extensive. I like the
to understand policy requirements, scope out problem breadth as well as the depth of the experience, which has
statements, and brainstorm how data can be used to solve helped to deepen my technical skills.
02
Did you experience a steep learning curve at the cloud computing, networking, operating systems, artificial
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
start since most of your colleagues at GovTech intelligence, and more.
probably studied computer science? Ironically, the more I learn, the more aware I am of how
I think whatever you do, there’s going to be a steep little I know. If you look at the Dunning-Kruger effect, I am
learning curve, especially at the start. I have some expe- probably on the downward sloping portion now. I am
rience in programming, so I didn’t think that was the striving to move beyond the trough!
biggest challenge. I did a minor in Computer Science, and
I learned Stata and R as a Research Assistant and also when How do you balance a full-time job and part-time
I was working on my honours thesis. What I’ve found more classes?
important is understanding what data can and cannot It’s honestly quite taxing. Unlike my undergraduate degree,
deliver. The programming part is just googling my way I’m not able to fully immerse myself in learning because of
through to execute what I have set out to do. how little time I have to really think about the problems
The learning curves that I experienced were more about that they’re trying to solve in computer science.
understanding the business domains, getting up to speed Essentially, I spend most of my nights working on my
with the technical standards, and most importantly leading assignments and trying to catch up with school. Something
projects and driving change. I don’t think economics majors has to give, which is my social life. My supervisors at work
are necessarily disadvantaged compared to computer are generally quite supportive, for which I’m thankful.
science majors, because I believe the economics degree
prepares us, to some extent, to work with models, data, Now that you have been working for some time,
and abstraction. what do you miss about university?
Oh, there are so many things that I miss about university!
What are some interesting projects that you have I had more time and bandwidth to think about theoretical
worked on at GovTech? questions. In university, the focus is on your own growth
My team helped to build the COVID-19 dashboard. The and learning. There is less pressure to deliver and perform
problem that we were trying to solve is how to quickly and since no one is paying you to do it.
effectively disseminate information to the public. I really enjoyed my time at NUS studying economics.
The daily press release will show the number of com- Some of the fascinating modules that I took were EC3312:
munity cases and imported cases, but it’s much nicer if all Game Theory & Applications to Economics, EC3333:
the information is available in the form of a web-based, Financial Economics I, and EC4304: Economic and Financial
interactive dashboard. That was one of the things that my Forecasting.
team came up with within the first two weeks of the Then, there are the experiences outside of class. I was
pandemic. a Teaching Assistant for the introductory economics modules
for three semesters. I really enjoyed teaching as I was able
What are some challenges that you have experienced to share my passion for economics with my students.
at work? I also had more time to do other activities, like going for
Since my work is at the intersection of public policy and a technical mountaineering course in Kazakhstan with NUS
data science, it’s neither purely a business role nor purely Mountaineering and training for and participating in road
a technical role. If you are doing purely technical work, you relays and aquathlons with NUS Aquathlon. When I was
can just focus on your work and be very productive. But for staying at the College of Alice and Peter Tan, I led the
someone who has to attend meetings in the morning, and organisation of the freshman orientation camp.
then code later in the afternoon, sometimes switching I did the NUS-UNC joint degree programme. I spent my
gears can be quite costly. So that’s one challenge that I face second year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
— trying to find a balance between the business and Hill, where I took classes in history, political theory, and
technical aspects. astronomy. I gained a lot of exposure to different fields,
The second challenge is trying to deliver value. GovTech which is what I loved about university — the intellectual
is not a research unit, so we cannot spend six months trying stimulation it provides.
to study a problem, and then not deliver anything at all.
When government agencies engage us, they expect to see If you could do university all over again, what would
value from the money they pay us. There is a very strong you do differently?
focus on trying to understand the problem statement and I would take more classes outside my major. I think there’s
how data can be used to solve a particular problem. We a lot of value in being exposed to the thought processes in
will take on a project only if we think it is worthwhile. different disciplines — the type of issues the discipline
The third challenge is the technical aspect. Technology is focuses on, how a problem is framed, and what techniques
always changing and the problems that we’re trying to are used to tackle this problem.
solve become increasingly more challenging. So there is In economics for example, problems are usually framed
always the need to pick up new skills to deliver value. At as either cost minimisation or utility or profit maximisation.
ESG, I’m not just doing data science; I’m also doing a bit of When there is uncertainty, we use probabilities to express
software engineering, which I have no experience in. Picking this uncertainty. As an economics undergraduate, such
up skills while trying to deliver value is quite challenging. a mode of thinking slowly became embedded in me. (It could
also very well be the fact that I have an inclination towards
You are currently doing a master’s in Computer such thinking, hence I chose economics — simultaneous
Science. Why? causality!)
I want to develop my technical skills and become more I would definitely have benefited from being exposed to
June 2021
confident in my work. It’s hard to find time at work to deep other majors. Some classes outside my major that I would
dive into a specific area. Doing a master’s allows me to dive have liked to take include philosophy, food science, and
deeper into the theoretical aspects of technology, including environmental engineering.
03
Insights: Alumni in Tech| Alumni Inter view
Ritika Vatyani
Student Interviewer: Vivian Wong Siqi
How would you describe the work culture at PayPal? clearance from the underwriting team to ensure there is no
PayPal has an international culture, with people from financial risk involved, clearance from the compliance team to
different countries. It is very collaborative, and accommodative ensure there is no reputational risk involved, and clearance from
of every individual’s work style. People are happy to help each the legal team to verify that the merchant is satisfied with
other. You could even reach out to the CEO and he would our terms and conditions. My team facilitates these processes.
take the time to respond to you. It is a flat organisation, I am also responsible for tracking the sales representatives’
and I learn a lot from my seniors and peers. compensation as there is a component of variable pay in
their salaries. I have to make sure that their compensation
As the Strategy & Operations Manager for Growth statements reflect the accurate figures, such that they are
Markets, what does a typical day look like? rewarded based on the revenue that they bring in to PayPal.
I have a few primary responsibilities: analytics, sales operations, I also conduct sales training. I coach the teams on the
compensation, and sales training. different sales processes and products across the organisation.
With regards to analytics, I start the week looking at the Besides the day-to-day tasks, we also have a host of side
performance of growth markets in terms of revenue, the projects. Currently, we are helping the sales teams formulate
forecast for the rest of the year, and our attainment thus strategic account plans for our top merchants, and grow the
far. I would then touch base with the sales managers. We existing merchant portfolio and revenue. For instance, if
discuss the reasons that they are above or below target, merchants have PayPal enabled on their websites, the strategic
and the things that they would like to adjust in the coming plan covers details on how we can cross-sell more products
weeks. Then we have a review with the sales teams and to them, how we fare against the competition, and how
managers where we discuss the opportunities or merchants we can capture the volume from the merchants’ businesses
they are targeting. across the Southeast Asian markets.
June 2021
There is also an element of operations involved because What makes us busier is that we need to get alignment
whatever deal the sales teams are pursuing, there is a ton from the global teams. We cannot do anything in a silo in
of processes involved. The sales teams need to get competitive Singapore. We need a “go ahead” from the teams in the U.S.,
pricing terms from the pricing team. They also need to get the UK, and Australia before we launch an initiative or project.
04
What are some of the trends in digital payments? as we worked closely with the marketing team to organise
With the pandemic, PayPal and other digital payment campaigns and evaluate the return on investment.
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
companies are thriving. Since businesses are now entirely One of the most memorable moments was when we
online, our online traffic has tripled. onboarded Adidas — which is a huge brand! We celebrated
We are also seeing a surge in revenue in the gaming by organising an Adidas launch party, where we all received
industry. Because of recurring lockdowns all over the world, free Adidas tees.
more people are now indulging in online gaming. At Zalora, we often had wine and cheese parties, which
Another vertical that has done really well in these times added to the culture of fun!
is CFD (contract for difference) and financial services merchants,
as customers have flocked to these platforms to conduct What was the next step after Zalora?
financial trades. I joined Shopee as a Regional Brand Partnership Senior
Historically, merchants used to be deterred from using Associate, managing the Health and Beauty segment. The
online payments due to the risk of fraud. PayPal, through Shopee mall was set up six months before I joined the
its in-house solutions and partnerships, handles fraud issues company as Shopee was looking to brand itself as a platform
really well, and offers seamless solutions to merchants. We where users can purchase branded products with full faith
are seeing many start-ups entering the fraud prevention in the reliability of the products.
industry and offering competitive solutions. Now customers I was responsible for the onboarding of health and beauty
have more trust in payment service providers, and we are brands to the Shopee mall across six markets: Singapore,
seeing a huge trend of new digital wallets across the globe. Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. We
The next trend is cryptocurrency. PayPal strives to be provided these brands with marketing exposure and analytics
ahead of the game. We have enabled paying online using support. The key challenge we faced across the six markets
cryptocurrency. You can go to a merchant website, pay in was customising the message and marketing campaigns for
Bitcoin, and get the products delivered to you. each market, due to key demographic differences. Catering
to these diverse markets was both challenging and exciting.
You did your master’s in economics at NUS. How were
your experiences at NUS a catalyst for your career? While PayPal, Shopee, and Zalora are all e-commerce
Since NUS gives us the flexibility to take classes from different firms, they cater to different aspects of the digital
faculties, I was exposed to classes ranging from financial economy: payments, marketplace, and retailer. How
analysis to marketing strategy. Probably the most impactful would you characterise your responsibilities in the
class was one where we had to do a project on entrepreneurial three firms?
strategy. I was exposed to a lot of start-ups, which ultimately In all three jobs at PayPal, Shopee, and Zalora, I was
led to my first job at Zalora. responsible for evaluating the markets and the competitors,
Life at NUS was very exciting, with a lot of student assessing the performance of the different categories, and
activities being organised. In my second or third month at conducting data analysis. The skills that I developed in
NUS, I joined the NUS Graduate Students’ Society (GSS). a specific role are transferable to a different role.
Most memorably, I had to contest in an election and deliver At Zalora, I developed Excel modelling skills and learned
a speech as to why I should be selected as the Director of a lot about e-commerce and digital marketing. These skills
the Career Committee in the GSS. I spoke in front of an and knowledge are now put to good use at PayPal.
auditorium full of graduate students, who then voted for Through working with various brand partners at Shopee,
their most preferred candidate. The entire experience — of I developed stakeholder management skills. These skills help
promoting myself and going from classroom to classroom me in my current job at PayPal, as we regularly conduct
to ask my fellow graduate students to vote for me at the trainings for our sales teams and work very closely with the
elections — was very exciting. senior leadership team.
I was eventually selected as the Director of the Career Furthermore, having worked in a sales role at Shopee,
Committee, which led me on to a rewarding journey at NUS. I know what sales teams need in order to be successful. At
As part of the committee, I organised a number of networking PayPal, I support the sales teams with financial reporting,
events including the Entrepreneurship Seminar, using my product training, and better pipeline management.
personal network to reach out to leading entrepreneurs in
Singapore. The seminar provided a glimpse of the daily What skills should students develop if they are keen
realities of entrepreneurs, and helped our entrepreneurs in to join regional business development roles?
the making at NUS to evaluate their ideas in a holistic manner. A big part of my responsibilities at all three firms is industry
My role in the GSS helped me gain more confidence, research. You should learn how to search for information
improve my presentation skills, and build a solid network of on platforms like Euromonitor and Bloomberg or even on
like-minded individuals. Most importantly, it provided me with Google.
a rich experience outside the classroom and complemented Good presentation skills are important, as is having the
my education. confidence when speaking or presenting to senior leadership
or to a brand that you are seeking to bring on as a client.
Tell us about your first job at Zalora. What matters most is the way you conduct yourself and
Zalora, an online fashion company, was what initially got deliver persuasive presentations. Your audience needs to
me interested in e-commerce. I could get my deliveries within believe in your mission.
two days of placing the order. The customer experience was In general, it is important to be very thorough in whatever
amazing! you do and to know your products inside out. Otherwise,
I felt that Zalora offered a lot of learning opportunities. you will be questioned on little things and your confidence
I gained massive knowledge on the e-commerce industry will evaporate. Whatever you study, study it in depth.
not only in Southeast Asia, but also across the globe, as we Being more social also helps! Do not be afraid to talk to
frequently analysed e-commerce players in other countries a person whom you do not know. Cold calling or reaching
like the U.S., the UK, and Australia. out to people on LinkedIn could help you in your career.
Zalora is a very flat organisation, and I had the opportunity NUS organises tons of networking events, so use those
June 2021
to work closely with the senior directors and the C-level opportunities to further build on your networking and
executives within the company. I was able to observe how social skills. Be open to chatting with representatives from
senior executives evaluate a pain point and think about companies, and do your research in advance. There are
solutions. I also received a lot of exposure to digital marketing, many opportunities at NUS; you just have to go after them!
05
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
Cliff Chew
Student Interviewer: Vivian Wong Siqi
As a senior data analyst at Grab, what does a typical or on Facebook.
day look like? We work with colleagues from various departments such
Work can be quite varied in a tech company, but I would as user acquisition campaigns, customer relationship
say that a typical day is split between ad hoc analysis and management, and search engine optimisation. We first need
long-term projects. to understand the objective of the campaign; is the objective
I am in the Risk Analytics team, where we primarily use to increase brand awareness, acquire new users, or engage
our platform’s data to help detect various forms of frau- existing users? Then we bring in the data to support the
dulent and bad behaviour. Occasionally, ad hoc analysis is campaign’s objective. As data analysts, we ensure that what
required to identify the scope of a particular problem — is we spend on marketing is worth every penny.
the problem region-specific or is it a larger issue? We will
then need to clear these ad hoc queries, mostly in data What is the most memorable experience that you
extractions, perhaps by aggregating the data and flagging have had at Grab or Carousell?
out certain anomalies in the data. As a data analyst, most of the time I work with numbers.
Long-term projects include: analysing data; updating But I had an opportunity to embark on a fieldtrip to
our stakeholders; establishing the objectives and specifi- a particular region. On the trip, I had the opportunity to meet
cations of the projects that we hope to execute; determining some of the workers on the ground. It was an interesting
whether a particular insight that we have just discovered experience because as much as data are “just numbers”,
fits with what we know; and assessing whether a project is these numbers make an impact on people’s livelihoods.
on track.
What do the data tell you about the impact of the
Prior to Grab, you were a Digital Marketing Analyst COVID-19 pandemic on the different services offered
at Carousell. Can you tell us about your previous by Grab?
stint at Carousell? The ride-hailing segment was hit quite badly by the pande-
When I first joined Carousell five years ago, it was in its mic. Many times, we had to keep checking the numbers as
infancy; it was up and coming with a team of fewer than the drop in business was quite substantial. We even wondered
60 people. As their digital marketing analyst, I helped with if the programming script (used to extract and process the
setting up the organising and cleaning of data. There was data into the dashboard) was wrong. But as with tech
also a lot of data “evangelisation” to spread the knowledge companies, things always change, and we need to figure
and to get people to realise what can and cannot be done out how to adapt.
with data. Overall, we had pluses and minuses. Although there was
I also curated reports and helped to aggregate data from lower demand for transportation services, there was higher
various sources. Different companies capture and present demand for food and grocery deliveries. Last year, food and
their data differently. Particularly for digital marketing, I had grocery deliveries overtook ride-hailing as Grab’s biggest
to resolve differences between the various datasets to make business. This trend is not unique to Singapore; the pande-
June 2021
the data comparable and tractable. For example, by compa- mic has escalated the use of food-delivery apps in many
ring datasets from Google and Facebook, we can determine countries around the world, e.g., Uber Eats and DoorDash
whether a specific ad campaign is more effective on Google in the U.S. and Meituan and Ele.me in China.
06
What is the biggest challenge as a data analyst? The not-so-fun fact about this project was that it took
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
Aligning with different stakeholders. We work with both me three years. My advice is to find a project that really
non-technical business stakeholders who are more focused interests you and keep at it. Identify your objective so you
on profit margins and engineers who are more concerned can break down the process into modular steps, and keep
about how to efficiently run our platforms’ systems. As the end goal in mind.
a data analyst, balancing the business needs and the
engineering requirements can sometimes be a struggle. What skills should students develop if they are keen
Essentially, we deal with complex engineering but also to join the data science field?
the responsibility to ensure that the logic is clear, such that The data science field is very wide. Here’s an analogy; in the
stakeholders understand and are convinced by our analysis medical field, you can be a doctor, nurse, pharmacist,
or solutions. When I joined Grab, I thought I would become therapist, or radiographer. The variance in job scopes and
more technical and learn more machine learning and deep skillsets in data science is similar. You need to know what
learning. But I have realised that learning how to talk to a particular position entails. And you need to understand
a human is the most important skill in my job! how data science can be applied to your domain, be it in
banking, healthcare, or the government sector, which can
What got you interested in data science? range from monitoring the nation’s power grid to doing
When I did my master’s in economics at NUS, the term urban planning.
“data science” was not common in Singapore. For my You cannot run away from programming if you are
honours thesis, I had the option of writing either a theoretical interested in being a data scientist or data analyst. I am not
paper or an empirical paper. I found the empirical paper saying that you have to learn Python, but you would need
more interesting as I could process and analyse numbers to be familiar with general programming concepts such as
and use econometric models to come up with some insights conditional statements (if-statements) and iterative state-
that may be useful in public policy. In a way, data science is ments (loops).
very much like detective work. Things move very fast in the data science industry, and
I began taking the time to pick up skills such as SQL and we could all be using another programme five years down
to read about advancements in technology. the road. So if you are fixated on just learning Python, you
may be redundant in just a few years. Learning a program-
How did an economics major like you get into the ming language — and learning it well — will definitely
tech scene? make it easier to learn another programming language in
When I looked through LinkedIn and Glassdoor, I realised the future.
that hiring managers were looking out for skills in Python I’m playing devil’s advocate here, but you may not
or R. I was familiar with only Stata and EViews so I began necessarily have to be proficient in programming to be in
learning Python on my own. I did a few side projects to get the data science field. For example, you could be a data
my feet wet. product manager who works with data analysts, but you
Luck also plays a part. I was “shameless” and applied to would need to be familiar with what data science can or
companies large and small. Eventually, the co-founder of cannot achieve.
Carousell reached out to me to join their team.
How can economics majors carve a niche for
Do you have any tips on how to learn programming? themselves in the tech industry?
I often remind people: you are not just learning program- I feel that economics majors have a good mix of technical
ming, you are learning a programming language, just like and non-technical skills. We know more statistics than
learning Japanese or Korean. If you do not practise it, you computer science majors, and we have stronger technical
will forget what you have learned within three months. skills than business majors. It’s up to us as economics majors
I feel that most people do not lack the capability to pick up to figure out where we stand in our modern knowledge
programming; what they lack is the motivation to constantly economy. For me, I position myself as someone who can
practise to enable the programming language to stick. transit across both tech and non-tech domains.
I was fortunate to have found a topic that intrigued me. Economics majors who learn some technical skills such as
I am very interested in the NBA — the American professional programming will be much sought after. You do not
basketball league — so I decided to analyse their data using necessarily have to be that good in programming as there
Python. First, I learned web scraping, which is a way to are engineers whom you can work with, but you need to
automate the process of downloading data from websites. It keep asking yourself: “What are the problems that society
took me a good six months to figure that part out. needs to solve?” and “How can technology help us solve
After I downloaded the data, I had to learn how to clean these problems?”.
and structure the data. Because I was doing it on my own, We also need to recognise how the use of technology
it was quite painful as there were many things that I was has differential impacts on society. For example, while
not aware of. This is where some people may give up due food-delivery apps have given restaurants access to stay-
to the lack of motivation. But I was just too interested in at-home workers, many hawkers have been left out due to
the NBA to call it quits. the high financial barriers to entry.
Finally, once I had the data in place, I even managed to I do see more tech companies needing social science
perform some machine learning training on the data, where majors to evaluate the “softer” aspects of their work, from
I was able to get a daily prediction of which teams would the ethical implications of their decisions to measuring the
win the games that will be played on that day. While the social impacts of their business. Social science majors do
June 2021
predictions were only around 75% accurate, the whole bring different and fresh perspectives to the table, espe-
end-to-end experience from data collection to having the cially if a team is heavy on engineers and computer science
prediction model out was a great learning experience for me. graduates.
07
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
Sarah Tan Jia Wen
Student Interviewer: James Yong Jun Wei
Can you tell us about your role at the Competition What does a typical day at work look like?
and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS)? I wouldn’t say that there is a typical day at work at CCCS. The
I work in the Policy and Markets division at CCCS, which is work here is rather dynamic, and we are constantly working
a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. on multiple cases across different industries at the same time.
We are responsible for enforcing and administrating the One day I could be contributing to an economic assessment
Competition Act and the Consumer Protection (Fair on potentially anti-competitive conduct in one sector, and
Trading) Act. the next day I could be considering a different theory of
My role involves conducting economic assessments on harm in a different sector. The nature of my work also
competition issues in an array of cases including merger means that there are always new things to learn every day!
reviews, investigations, and market studies. I am also I had to grapple with the fast-paced working environ-
involved in advising government agencies on the impact of ment that requires me to quickly switch gears from one
their policies and regulations on market competition. My case to another. As a fresh graduate transitioning into the
role also entails reaching out to government agencies, the working world, this was my steepest learning curve. In fact,
business community, and educational institutions to it is something that I am still learning to better manage
advocate pro-competitive market practices. every day. I have found that keeping a record of the key
concepts discussed on a particular case helps me to organise
my thoughts and to quickly catch on where I last left off.
How did you end up at CCCS?
Besides the desk work, I have been involved in conducting
I first heard about CCCS in a lecture in EC3322: Industrial
outreach sessions to junior college and university students
Organisation I. CCCS conducted an outreach to share about
studying economics as well as other government agencies.
what they do and the various enforcement cases they have
At these outreach events, I share about the work that we
been involved in. I recall being interested in the work do at CCCS including the various prohibitions of the Compe-
because it so concretely applies the theoretical concepts tition Act as well as the different types of conduct that we
that we learn in the classroom. have observed in the market.
To be honest, I was also attracted by the fact that the In addition, I have participated in various international
office is in Tanjong Pagar, which (in my opinion) is a less fora. I had the opportunity to contribute written submissions
busy part of the central business district. And Maxwell and attend a global forum held by the Organisation for
Food Centre is just opposite the CCCS building so there are Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
affordable food options in the vicinity. The experience — networking and learning about the work
I applied for an internship position and did a three-month of international competition authorities in the antitrust
internship during the summer break. I assisted in various field — was indeed an eye-opener.
analyses and had the opportunity to learn a new data
June 2021
scraping tool. Having had a good learning experience and How does CCCS detect anti-competitive practices?
a better appreciation of the antitrust scene, I decided to CCCS regularly monitors market developments through
apply to CCCS for a full-time position. self-initiated market scanning. We also have a feedback
08
channel where members of the public can file their What types of hard and soft skills do you think are
complaint with us should they suspect that any business, needed in your role at CCCS?
Insights: Alumni in Tech | Alumni Inter view
company, or organisation is engaged in anti-competitive My training in economics provided me with a strong
conduct that infringes the Competition Act. Examples of foundation to contribute at CCCS. For example, market
such conduct include: agreements that prevent, restrict, or structure, substitution effect, entry barriers, price
distort competition; an abuse of a dominant position; and discrimination, and horizontal mergers were concepts
mergers that substantially harm competition. CCCS also has that I first learned in EC2101: Microeconomic Analysis I,
a leniency programme for businesses that participate in or EC3101: Microeconomics Analysis II, and EC3322: Industrial
facilitate cartel activity to come forward and report such Organisation I. These are key concepts that are applied
activities. daily in our work at CCCS. Exposure to econometrics and
As a student, I thought that collusion only takes the statistical software such as Stata and R have also enabled
form of price fixing or output limitation. However, collusion me to add value to my team.
can take many other forms such as market sharing (where CCCS offers opportunities for further studies in this
competitors agree to divide customers or suppliers among field, and I was glad to be given the chance to do a Post-
themselves) or bid rigging (where competitors collude to Graduate Diploma in EU Competition Law offered by
determine the winner of a bidding process). Also, these King’s College London. The course complemented my
agreements need not always be in writing; they can be background in competition economics and provided me
verbal, informal, and secret. with the competencies necessary to independently and
Cartels may occur in almost any industry and at any level effectively carry out holistic assessments of competition
of the distribution or production chain. However, certain issues at CCCS.
markets may be more susceptible to collusion due to the In terms of soft skills, having an independent analytical
inherent structure. For example, in markets where there are mind and being able to effectively communicate your
fewer competitors, communication between the cartelists is thoughts verbally and in writing are important. As a fresh
easier. And in markets where there are significant barriers graduate entering the workforce three years ago, I recall
to entry, maintaining high prices is easier. being afraid of appearing incompetent and stumbling to
articulate my thoughts. However, my senior colleagues
What is the most interesting case you have been generously provided me with guidance and helpful feedback.
involved in?
There is much to learn from each case that I have had Could you tell us about some of your most
the opportunity to be involved in. One that stood out is the memorable experiences as an undergraduate at NUS?
review of a proposed acquisition between two Korean In my bag full of memorable experiences from NUS days,
shipbuilding companies. We applied econometrics to assess I would say that one of the highlights would be EC4324:
the degree of rivalry between the merging parties, which Economics of Competition Policy by Prof Julian Wright. We
was paramount to understanding whether the acquisition had a (graded) mock trial where we could apply what we
— which eliminates the rivalry between the merging have learned in theory to formulate arguments in our role
parties — was likely to lead to anti-competitive effects. as either the plaintiff or defendant for an assigned real-life
I found myself applying theoretical concepts and tech- trial. We also had the opportunity to cross-examine the
niques that I learned at NUS — and probably took for other party. It was a refreshing and fun way to reinforce
granted at that time — to inform our decision-making. I even the theoretical concepts that we had learned in class. This
referred to my notes from EC4305: Applied Econometrics! module was also fundamental in shaping my interest in the
Another interesting case is the review of a local operator’s work that I do today.
proposed acquisition of another operator’s hawker centres, Another highlight would be staying at Raffles Hall for
food courts, and coffee shops. It was one of the first few cases 2.5 years. From participating in competitive sports such as
that I was involved in. Rather than assessing a Singapore-wide track and field and road relay to organising committees for
geographic market, we assessed some of the relevant markets camps, these experiences shaped my university life. I even
within catchment areas (e.g., a 500-metre radius) that may made costumes from scratch — with just a sewing machine
be affected by the proposed acquisition. and pieces of fabric — for the Raffles Hall Musical
Production!
Can you tell us about the work that CCCS does with
regards to the digital economy? If you could do university all over again, what would
We constantly monitor key developments in the digital you do differently?
economy and seek to understand the impact of these I would have talked to more people! I often kept to the
developments on competition and consumers in markets in same group of friends I met in my freshman year, and I was
Singapore. For example, we recently carried out a market comfortable in that social bubble through the four years in
study on e-commerce platforms in Singapore and another university. In hindsight, talking to more people would have
market study on the online travel booking sector in been beneficial for at least two reasons.
Singapore. First, it would have trained me to be comfortable
We have also looked into the ride-hailing and food- talking to strangers. I recall attending a professional event
delivery platforms in Singapore. The issues that we consider in my first few months at work; during the break, almost
would depend on the facts of the case. For example, in the everyone started to talk to one another while I sat there
Grab-Uber merger that happened in March 2018, CCCS alone feeling uneasy. It took me some time to snap out of
determined that Grab had increased prices after the the awkwardness and strike up a conversation.
removal of its closest competitor (Uber), and that potential Second, you never know what you can learn from the
competitors were hampered by exclusivities and were people around you. I was recently approached by a friend
June 2021
unable to scale to compete effectively against Grab. In this studying at NUS; she was trying to decide which modules to
case, CCCS issued directions to lessen the impact of the take, and she asked me for my views. As I shared my thoughts
merger on drivers and riders, and to open up the market with her, it struck me that I could have also benefited from
and level the playing field for new players. such advice if only I had talked to my seniors.
09
Tell us about your academic plans. ted my CCAs to three meetings per
I am majoring in Economics, and week and kept my weekends entirely
Freshman Profiles
planning to take some modules in the free to meet up with my friends and
Business School before deciding on family.
a minor.
What do you do for fun?
What is one thing that you have I love playing basketball. Whenever
enjoyed in your first year at NUS? I say I play basketball, I usually get a lot
I found a group of friends who have of questions about my height. I am not
really spiced up my university expe- that tall and besides, I can’t really jump
rience. From breakfast and late-night high. I have been practicing my vertical
supper walks in West Coast Park to and I can now finally reach the net.
movie marathons and cramming the Playing basketball gives me so much
week before finals, we spent a great satisfaction — especially when the shot
deal of time together. goes in with a swish.
I usually go to the hardcourts beside
What was the most challenging the University Sports Centre. On cloud-
thing that you experienced in the less nights, you can see dozens of stars
past year? in the sky.
Managing the academic workload
while sustaining an active social life. What is the best meal you can get
With the semester going online, I had in Singapore for under $10?
to watch the recorded lectures multiple For a meat-lover like me, it is definitely
times and simultaneously make notes mookata! I went to Siam Square
to understand the material. Mookata with a couple of friends and
At the same time, I busied myself in we had to wait 40 minutes, but it was
CCAs such as AIESEC, the RVRC welfare worth the wait. It might be slightly
The view from Aditi’s balcony.
sub-committee, and the Art Interest expensive if you go alone, but with
Group. So I often found myself either a group of three or four people, it
Aditi Madhav
studying or in CCA meetings, which left should cost under $10 per person.
me mentally exhausted by the end of My usual orders include pork belly,
the day. marinated chicken thighs, bok choy,
Kamath At some point, I figured I needed to
actively make time for myself. So I limi-
and of course instant noodles. Pro tip:
ask for chilli sauce for that spicy kick.
Tell us about your academic plans. Tell us about a student group that
I am majoring in Economics and you are involved in.
pursuing a second major in Business I am doing Business Development for
Analytics. I’m Friendly Co., a student-led project
under the NUS Social Impact Catalyst.
What was the most challenging We’re looking to improve the mental
thing that you experienced in the health landscape in Singapore by
past year? developing a mobile application that
All classes were held online. I had no will connect our volunteer listeners with
prior experience with online learning, people in need of support. We hope to
and it was tricky for me to adapt. reduce the stigma of and barriers to
I had to be disciplined as I get easily seeking help for mental health issues.
distracted when I’m studying at home. Check us out on Instagram at
I achieved this by planning my time @im_friendly_co!
carefully and maintaining a regular
schedule where I had to complete my What do you do for fun?
weekly tasks by a certain day each I enjoy listening to music, especially hip
week. Having a schedule ensured that hop and R&B. My favorite artist is
I would not be feeling overwhelmed or Frank Ocean.
rushing to finish my work at the last I also watch sports, especially football
minute. and F1. I had planned a trip to Hanoi to
As the COVID-19 situation improved catch the inaugural Vietnamese Grand
in the second semester, I occasionally Prix last year, but unfortunately it was
studied on campus. Being in a different cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation.
physical space from where I rest and
play helps me get into the mindset that What is the best meal you can get
I should be focused on my work. in Singapore for under $10?
I think the professors and TAs tried Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak is worth a
Alif at Tokyo DisneySea.
their best to keep online classes try; it’s one of the best nasi lemak in
engaging and enriching, but I still feel Singapore. The fried chicken is crispy
Alif Naufal
June 2021
that face-to-face lessons are much and the rice is fragrant and aromatic.
better. I hope that the COVID-19 It is open till 3:00 a.m., so if you’re
situation improves and we can all go looking for a late-night supper spot,
Farrashady back to normal as soon as possible! you know where to go!
10Tell us about your academic plans. myself being pushed and having to
I am a Computer Science major. I am handle the unexpected. While university
Freshman Profiles
also considering pursuing a second life is very exciting, you can find yourself
degree in Economics even though it staring at a question on a problem set
sadly means a lot more work. for four hours with little to no progress,
regretting your life decisions, and
What is one thing that you have wondering if McDonald’s is hiring.
enjoyed in your first year at NUS?
The best thing about university is the Tell us about a student group that
lack of monotony. In comparison with you are involved in.
junior college or secondary school, I participate in USPeace, which is
there is a lot less emphasis on rote a yoga class. I used to think of yoga as
learning. Questions are very varied — people doing odd poses on top of yoga
you will never get the same questions mats. However, this class has really
and you can always expect to apply
expanded on my idea of yoga. Most
your ideas in new and exciting ways.
classes, we do not even touch our mats.
For example, we learned about how
Instead, we would be moving around
vouchers affect our happiness compared
the Town Green hoping that no one we
to cash, and we learned how to draw
graphs to reflect the two scenarios. knew would pass by or we would be
However, we would then get questions meditating, i.e., falling asleep.
on vouchers in different contexts. What Pushing away all the stress and
if the good was for something that was work from my mind for an hour each
undesirable? Or what if there were week feels great. Instead, I spend that
vouchers for more than one good? hour just laughing, breathing, or
These questions tested my understanding moving my body.
and pushed me to apply the concepts
Yu Cheng in Australia petting a kangaroo;
learned in class. What is the best meal you can get one party is clearly more excited than the other.
in Singapore for under $10?
What was the most challenging Wanton noodles from Boon Lay Hawker
thing that you experienced in the
past year?
Centre for under $5. The sauce is rich
and thick and coats the noodles so well. Chan
Yu Cheng
The best thing about university is also It sells out by around 9:00 a.m. on
the most challenging part — I find Sunday, so go early!
Tell us about your academic plans. dancing another go sometime soon.
I am doing a joint degree program with
the Australian National University (ANU). What do you do for fun?
It’s a four-year program where I study In the past year, I picked up piano just
economics at NUS for three semesters, to learn some songs I like. I used to play
then spend four semesters doing the guitar, but overall, I have a pretty
actuarial studies at ANU, before coming weak musical foundation. So instead of
back to NUS for the last semester. bothering to learn how to read sheet
music, I just learn specific songs by
What is one thing that you have watching YouTube videos. It takes me
enjoyed in your first year at NUS? longer to learn songs than it would if
I spent my first semester studying fully I could sight-read, but after a while,
online from Australia, so I didn’t get playing a song becomes muscle memory.
much of a chance to meet new people. Recently, I haven’t had access to
Luckily, I got to come to Singapore a piano so I picked up trading as a new
in February. Through some face-to-face hobby. It can be a bit pricey for a hobby,
classes and CCA’s, I got to make cool but it’s something fun related to my
new friends and try some new sports coursework, so why not!
like floorball and wushu.
What is the best meal you can get
Tell us about a student group you in Singapore for under $10?
are involved in. Maybe not the best under $10, but the
I always thought dancing was pretty most bang-for-your-buck place for me
cool, so I figured I’d give it a shot. has got to be the mixed rice stall at
I joined the NUS D’Hoppers, where we Techno Edge. You can grab a yummy,
had weekly hip hop lessons. I had never filling meal for as little as $3. Vincent posing at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, Japan.
danced before, and even though the This stall was recommended to me
sessions were for beginners, I still really by Prof Wong Wei Kang. I actually saw
June 2021
struggled. I had never felt so uncoor-
dinated in my life! But it was a fun
Prof Wong there once; I left my friends
in the queue and chased him down like
Vincent
experience, and I’m keen to give a paparazzi just to say hi.
Jia Jing Xu
11What is the most memorable economics class that
you have taken?
Senior Profiles
EC4301: Microeconomic Analysis III under Prof Chen Yi-Chun.
The module introduced many new and interesting concepts
that deepened my understanding of microeconomics and
aided my understanding in future applied microeconomics
classes. For example, I saw how the indifference curves we
use in other classes are constructed, and how different
variations of the indifference curve are derived. Prof Chen
was also very funny and used relatable examples to help us
understand complex concepts.
What is the most memorable non-economics class
that you have taken?
(Re)Building Communities: Insights from India, which is
a senior seminar at the College of Alice and Peter Tan (CAPT).
The class focused on community development concepts and
explored Indian culture. We went on a 16-day trip to India,
travelling around the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. We
visited different non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
to understand how they draw on the strengths of the
community to promote development. Some of these NGOs
focused on building earthquake-resistant homes by tapping
on local knowledge and modern building technology, while
others provide platforms for local artisans to sell their art at
fair prices.
We had to create a documentary based on a theme or
organisation. My group decided to focus on families and
gender-equitable development. We learned about how
improvements in accessibility to technology, such as gas
stoves or mobile phones, have created opportunities for
females to gain employment and education. The female
village leader whom we interacted with explained how the
gas stove meant that less time is spent on cooking. Now,
female villagers have more time to study or pick up skills,
which will enable them to earn higher incomes. One of the
Daryl at Yelagiri, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, India, on a hike with his Overseas skills that she highlighted was learning to ride a motorcycle,
Service Learning Team in 2018. so that the female villagers could drive an automatic
rickshaw.
Daryl Joel What is the most memorable non-academic
Lee Si-Xuan
experience that you have had at NUS?
Serving as the project director of CAPT’s flagship event, the
Community Engagement Festival. My team and I planned
and executed 12 different learning journeys for 12 different
communities in Singapore comprising approximately 200
participants.
Tell us about your honours thesis. An example of a learning journey is following the
My honours thesis was on evaluating the role of university cleaners of the Residential Colleges back to their homes in
education on social mobility in Singapore. Using data from Johor to understand the journey that they take each day to
the 2018 and 2019 Graduate Employment Survey from NUS, come to UTown to work. Another learning journey is visit-
I found that students from lower-income households do not ing the rough sleeper community in Chinatown to under-
appear to be underrepresented in NUS. I also found that stand their decisions to sleep outdoors. I was surprised to
lower-income students have similar earning outcomes as hear that many rough sleepers actually have homes of their
their higher-income peers, which suggests that in Singapore, own. However, they choose to spend the night sleeping out
university education can level the playing field and contribute in the open due to various reasons, such as arguments with
to upward mobility. I also found that there was heterogeneity their rental flat roommate, disagreements in their family,
in mobility when considering race and gender. For example, a sense of community in Chinatown, or even saving on
females were found to be less mobile than males, even transport cost as they have to work in Chinatown early in
within faculties. Of all the faculties, the School of Computing the morning.
has the highest rate of students from lower-income This project gave my team and I greater insights into
households reaching the top gross income quintile. communities in Singapore that we may not normally notice.
A/P Jessica Pan was very helpful throughout the entire We were pushed to reflect on why some of these communities
process, and provided me with a lot of guidance. The are less visible. We realised that their invisibility can be
opportunity to work as a research assistant before embarking attributed to both societal and structural issues.
on my honours thesis helped me improve my STATA skills,
June 2021
making the data cleaning and exploration process less difficult. If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life,
The process was very enjoyable, albeit stressful at times: what would it be?
formulating my research question, identifying the appropriate Bak chor mee (minced meat noodles). I always order
variables and methodology, and analysing my results. a kway teow dry with extra chilli and vinegar.
12Tell us about your honours thesis.
The journey began when I took EC4304: Economic and
Senior Profiles
Financial Forecasting with Dr Denis Tkachenko. At that
point in time, cryptocurrency was beginning to pick up
steam in the mainstream media. I wanted to see if
multivariate volatility forecasting that is often used for
conventional stocks would work well with cryptocurrency.
My goal was to forecast the conditional covariance matrix,
which is used as an important input for asset management,
using modern forecasting techniques that have not yet
been applied in the cryptocurrency market. I showed that
modern forecasting techniques can indeed work well with
cryptocurrency.
Under the guidance of Dr Tkachenko, I learned so much
about conducting research, and picked up many tangible
skills along the way, including Python and MATLAB.
What is the most memorable economics class that
you have taken?
EC3333: Financial Economics I with A/P Wong Wei Kang.
The class helped me realize the extent of my interest in the
financial markets. Studying for it did not feel like a chore
because I found the content really useful and interesting.
After learning about the Markowitz mean-variance
framework in class, I was inspired to write my honours
thesis incorporating that framework.
Furthermore, the class boosted my confidence during
my job search. The topics covering bond valuation and
option pricing with the Black-Scholes model were of great
help when I was preparing for job interviews in the finance
industry.
What is the most memorable non-economics class
that you have taken?
The Korean classes — every lesson was fun. Most notably,
singing “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” in Korean!
It’s not Chinese New Year if you’re not dressed in red!
What is the most memorable non-academic
experience that you have had at NUS?
Serving as an orientation group leader (OGL). As someone
who is relatively reserved, I initially did not feel confident Mohammad
about taking up the role. After much deliberation, I finally
decided to step out of my comfort zone and do it.
In the process, I made many unforgettable memories
Haikal Cheong
along with many new friends that made life in NUS more
enjoyable. The experience taught me how to work with
many different types of people. I found that stepping out
of my comfort zone allowed me to develop skills and traits on a trip to Japan. Having tasted the authentic takoyaki
that I would not have been able to otherwise. made in Tokyo, I have been craving it ever since. I even
bought a takoyaki cooker so I can make my own takoyaki
You are an above-average student (to put it mildly). almost every week!
Is there anything you are below average in?
I wouldn’t exactly call myself an above-average student, Tell us about the next chapter in your life.
but I do believe that I put in an above-average amount of Fifty-three job applications and 49 rejections later, I landed
effort in everything I do. a role as a management associate in OCBC. My responsibilities
I would definitely be below average when it comes to involve data analysis and data science. In the next chapter
anything artistic or design related. Throughout my journey of my life, I envision myself being much better than I was in
in NUS, I am thankful for the many people whom I’ve met the previous chapter. I want to be a master at my craft, and
along the way who, while working on group projects, were eventually lead a team of data analysts and data scientists.
able to make up for my lack of creativity when coming up I also intend to pursue my interest in the financial
with presentation slides and ideas. I find that the way markets and investments in my personal time. This includes
presentations are carried out, along with the slide design, is learning more about the many types of investment products,
very important in capturing the attention of the audience. and looking for investment opportunities. Over the next
My weakness has often been mitigated by people who are five years, I would like to build a portfolio that I can be
much better at presentations than I am, and I have also proud of.
learned a little more about being creative. I cannot be certain about the outcome of this next
June 2021
chapter, but there is one thing I can be certain of, I will
If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, continue to put in 150% in all that I do. There will be
what would it be? plenty of challenges ahead, but when the going gets tough,
Takoyaki. My love for takoyaki came about seven years ago the tough get going!
13You can also read
