Hmm. THANKS.
The margin to allow us to screw up has got (or is going to get) narrower. So, don't screw up...
(Which means, if our GPA is not sufficiently buffered, we should start buffering by taking things like Satistical Analysis, Intermediate Chinese, Oral Presentation, etc...)
ST Interactive: 'I'm involved, I'm in charge', Oct 10 2006
Mr Yeo talks a lot about his scholars. He thinks that most public sector agencies do not invest in talent the way he did when he was at NCB, EDB and now at A*Star.
This year, A*Star gave out over 60 research-oriented scholarships. Scholars grade point average had to meet 3.6 before they could even be considered.
He is raising the bar on academic standards this year because the students are easily reaching 3.6 these days. So the bar will be raised to 3.7 for new scholarship interviewees, he said, adding 'that's why people are always complaining about us'.
'I tell them my purpose in life is not to make it pleasant but make it unpleasant for them. So that they push themselves.'
When he travels, he takes a scholar with him. He chuckles as he recalled telling foreign hosts that his companion is his 'paid slave' but someone who will run Singapore some day.
In his books, to be an A*Star scholar is to be just that: A star.
