Singapore-Industry Scholarship (SgIS)
Features | Government-Industry Collaboration

Opening Doors For Singapore’s
Future Leaders

SgIS aims to nurture a strong core of Singaporean talent with the skills, aptitude and capabilities necessary to ensure the continued economic and social progress of Singapore’s key market leaders.

SgIS was established in 2012 as an initiative between the Singapore Government and many of Singapore’s industry forerunners. It provides a platform for capable and driven individuals to get a career head-start with market leaders in Singapore’s strategic sectors.

SgIS scholars can not only indicate their preferred sponsoring organisation from a range of established enterprises – they will also receive plenty of developmental opportunities through the SgIS Scholars' Development and Engagement Programme. This holistic programme seeks to instil in scholars a strategic and global outlook, allow them to gain meaningful professional experiences with their sponsoring organisation and build their connections within the SgIS community.

Two SgIS scholars, Wong Wai Tiem and Daniel Boay, describe the multitude of opportunities they have received. They also explain how the scholarship has given them a head-start in their careers, an edge over their peers and a good grasp of what is needed to propel Singapore’s economy forward.

An Exciting Career Awaits

Accountancy student Wai Tiem is already into her final semester at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and will join local fast-fashion brand Charles & Keith after she graduates.

Her future role in the Inventory Management team will require her to analyse sales trends of products and determine the ideal order quantity on each product by understanding customers' buying preferences in the market. She will also manage stock by implementing new ideas to push their sales.

She tells us, “I find it meaningful to be able to optimise and apply my accounting and cost-management knowledge in a field that is not directly related to accounting. Working at Charles & Keith also give me good industry exposure.”

Daniel Boay Chong Zheng
SgIS Full-Term Scholar with Boustead Singapore Limited

Studying: Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering), National University of Singapore

"My supervisors were very flexible in that area and willing to let me learn new things, be it by sitting in on meetings or by meeting clients."

On Daniel's end, the civil engineering student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) looks forward to joining Boustead Projects Limited after graduation. Boustead Projects is the real estate solutions arm of Boustead Singapore Limited, a global Infrastructure- Related Engineering Services and Geo-Spatial Technology Group that prides itself on offering a full suite of engineering services.

Daniel explains, “The civil engineering fi eld is quite diverse and features various well-known channels such as development, construction and maintenance. Boustead Projects is unique in its recognition as a one-stop service platform and will be an excellent place for me to gain exposure to the various 'layers' of civil engineering.”

Gaining Ground Experience

Even before joining their respective organisations, both scholars have already had the chance to reap the fruits of both SgIS’ and their sponsoring organisation’s emphasis on professional development. They have each gained a better understanding of their sponsoring organisation’s operations and insight into their future roles through their respective internships.

Wai Tiem’s internship saw her conduct a research project on Charles & Keith's franchising policy to assess overseas franchise outlets' markup on their goods, after which she presented her fi ndings to Charles & Keith's management. She elaborates, “Charles & Keith has presence in the Southeast Asian, Middle East and Europe regions and I assess the validity of a franchise outlet’s markup by considering its sales data, import duties and taxes and determine the retail prices.

“It can be confusing to laymen when Malaysian-manufactured shoes are more expensive in Malaysian outlets than in Thailand outlets – one possible reason is the higher transport and logistics costs within Malaysia.”

On Daniel's part, he has finished two internships with Boustead Projects and is currently looking forward to his third one. His first internship required him to learn the ropes of being a contractor on the ground by fulfilling contractor duties onsite.

The chirpy individual tells us, “It was easy to bond with the contractors and I learnt a lot from them. As part of the pioneer batch of SgIS-Boustead interns, I also had the unique opportunity of taking a self-directed approach to my internship learning by finding out what I wanted to learn and how I wanted to learn it. My supervisors were very flexible in that area and willing to let me learn new things, be it by sitting in on meetings or by meeting clients.”

Daniel has learnt so much from Boustead Projects that his university final-year thesis will now be centered on Boustead Projects and its policies. Daniel will interview Boustead Project’s directors and pore over documentation to understand and define the organisation’s work processes. He adds, “I seek to help improve Boustead Project’s communication efforts after completing my thorough analysis of Boustead Project’s documentation.”

Meaningful Opportunities

Both Wai Tiem and Daniel also had the chance to participate in an overseas exchange programme in Hong Kong and Leeds, UK respectively. Wai Tiem spent four months as a student in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she learnt to be completely independent while picking up the Cantonese dialect. She also embraced opportunities to tread the Lantau Trail and reach the Lantau ‘Sunrise’ Peak (at 800 metres above sea level) and visit the Cheung Chau Island with Singaporean friends whom she met in Hong Kong.

Wong Wai Tiem
SgIS Mid-Term Local Scholar
with Charles & Keith


Studying: Bachelor of Accountancy,
Nanyang Technological University

"I find it meaningful to be able to optimise and apply my accounting and cost-management knowledge in a field that is not directly related to accounting."

Daniel too learnt lessons he never thought he would. “In Singapore, my priorities were centered on studying and never extended to cooking and doing household chores. Living on my own forced me to learn how to cook, and now I’m proud to be able to cook stingray, crab and make sambal (spicy sauce) from scratch!” Daniel tells us with a laugh.

But before aspiring scholars pursue SgIS for these opportunities, both Wai Tiem and Daniel offer a few nuggets of wisdom. Wai Tiem advises, “It is important to know which organisation you want to serve in after you graduate. The bond period is also not something that should intimidate you – think of it as job security after you graduate.”

Daniel concludes, “SgIS scholars should possess more than the drive to learn – they should also have the thirst to learn. Don’t place all your emphasis on meeting goals, only to feel downtrodden if you don’t reach them. Instead, learn how to embrace failure and see each failing point as a meaningful learning opportunity.”