The first thing that travellers encounter when they arrive in Singapore is Changi Airport. With its world-class efficiency and service, on top of shopping and dining galore, Changi Airport has been named the best in the world by Skytrax for seven consecutive years.

As the top bonded scholarship provider for Top GCE ‘A’ Level and IB graduates1 and Employer of the Year2 , Changi Airport Group (CAG) is constantly on the lookout for young talent to join the team. We speak to CAG scholars Kenny Ang and Sng Zheng Yang, both 26, to find out more about their journey thus far.

Kenny Ang Yong Kang 
Senior Associate, Departure Experience
(Airport Operations Management)
CAG Mid-Term Scholar
Bachelor of Science in Economics with a second major in Applied Statistics – Singapore Management University

A Culture Of Care

For Kenny and Zheng Yang, CAG’s culture is what stood out from their experiences of working and interning there respectively. Kenny, who has been working at CAG for a year as a Senior Associate in Departure Experience, said that in his team, fuelled by mutual trust, everyone strives to do the job well together. “It is evident that the pursuit of excellence is deeply ingrained in the work ethic of CAG employees. The drive and passion that CAG employees all share to push things beyond the limits inspire me to work harder and better.”

The environment at CAG was what helped Zheng Yang to adapt quickly and pick up new skills during his internships in CAG’s Airport Management and Commercial clusters as well. “As an intern, you are assigned a buddy to help you with any problems you might face starting out, and I found myself settling in quickly into a welcoming and dynamic working environment,” he adds. “Because of the vastness of operations, there were also instances where I found myself out of depth in a particular area and having to reach out to colleagues across different teams. I’m glad to say that it was particularly heart-warming to find myself in an extremely supportive CAG family.”

Opening Up Opportunities

Under the CAG Undergraduate Scholarship, Zheng Yang was given the flexibility to choose what he wanted to study (except Medicine and Dentistry), with a relatively short bond period of five years.

He completed a Bachelor of Science in Economics at the London School of Economics & Political Science, and was also given the opportunity to pursue a Master of Science in Transportation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he had the chance to interact with and learn from like-minded peers and various experts in the aviation sector.

“CAG has been extremely supportive in various undertakings beyond my undergraduate degree. At the end of the second year of my undergraduate studies, I took part in a summer school programme in the University of Cape Town,” Zheng Yang says. “It was an extremely meaningful experience which combined interaction with local communities and innovative business modelling for social enterprises.”

Sng Zheng Yang 
CAG Overseas Undergraduate Scholar

Bachelor of Science in Economics – London School of Economics & Political Science
Master of Science in Transportation – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Internships are also offered to scholars to understand the diverse business functions in CAG, added Zheng Yang. “The different nature of work and skill sets involved across the internship projects have helped me to develop a better sense of my areas of interest leading up to my deployment in CAG.”

Similarly, Kenny had the opportunity to intern in the Customer Insights unit under CAG’s Airport Operations Planning & Strategy division in his third year of university, after he took on the CAG Mid-Term Scholarship.

The internship exposure widened his perspective on what skills would be important in a career with a forwardlooking company like CAG. “This encouraged me to take on industryrelated modules outside of my majors, such as Design Thinking & Innovation and Financial Accounting,” he explains.

“These gave me the academic exposure which has proven useful in my line of work today where we often have to formulate products with new business models and negotiate financial agreements with airport partners.”

World-class Service

Kenny’s work in Departure Experience also involves the management of departure spaces and operations, which allows him to improve on the check-in process, one of the key touch points of passengers’ journeys.

“With the increasing number of passengers and flights handled in Changi, my team is challenged to constantly get creative in improving passenger experience while serving more passengers,” he says. “The immediate and direct impact of our work to help ground handlers and airlines resolve operational problems to deliver the best experience for passengers also gives me an immense sense of work satisfaction.”

“The best part of the scholarship is the opportunity to work for a top airport company that cares about its people and its delivery of world-class service to its passengers.”