Freeloaders Hub

[khunking]

NUS, NTU scholarships most popular: Survey
Updated 12:33 PM Jun 14, 2012

SINGAPORE - Scholarships issued by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) were voted as most popular among 'A' Level and International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma graduates, according to an annual survey by BrightSparks, an information provider on scholarships and higher education.

NUS retained last year's top spot as the most popular scholarship provider among 'A' Level and IB diploma graduates in the 2012 BrightSparks Scholarship & Career Survey, while NTU climbed up one spot to second place.

The Public Service Commission (PSC), which was ranked second in 2011, fell to sixth place. Changi Airport Group ranked third, followed by Singapore Airlines and the Economic Development Board.

A total of of 2,738 respondents were surveyed in March and April. Of the respondents, 1,533 were 'A' Level and IB diploma graduates, 650 were final year polytechnic students, and 555 were undergraduates in their first and second year of study at NUS, NTU and the Singapore Management University (SMU).

Respondents were shown a comprehensive list of scholarships available in Singapore, and were also allowed to add scholarships not listed. They then voted for scholarships they intend to apply for, or have already applied for.

"University scholarships have been progressively gaining popularity over the years. We've been observing this trend for quite a while now, and it's not surprising that the top two spots are taken by NUS and NTU this year," said Mr Lim Der Shing, chief executive of JobsCentral Group that owns BrightSparks.

He noted that university scholarships "allow more freedom in courses of study and are also predominately bond-free".

The survey also found that just over half of the 'A' Level and IB graduates expect to earn more than S$3,000 per month in their first job, and about half of these graduates said they would want to study locally - an increase of 4.4 percentage points over last year's 45.5 per cent.

Business Administration remained the most popular course of study, with 40 per cent of 'A' Level and IB diploma respondents selecting it as their course of choice, followed by Accounting (28.8 per cent), Engineering (28.6 per cent), Economics (26.9 per cent) and Social Sciences (26.7 per cent).

Copyright 2012 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

 

[khunking]

Singapore Zoo should have recycling bins
04:45 AM Jun 14, 2012

From Patrick Pua

My family was recently at the Singapore Zoo for a New Citizen Integration activity organised by various community centres, with about 1,000 participants. Each of us was given two to three bottles of mineral water for the outing.

My family carried the empty bottles to the exit, thinking that there should be recycling bins there. We could not find any. When I asked the staff, they mentioned that there were none at the zoo.

It is amazing that the zoo prides itself on conservation, yet does not encourage recycling.

Imagine the thousands of plastic bottles discarded that day alone. What would tourists from First-World nations, with all their recycling bins, think of Singapore?

In contrast, I was impressed by Taiwan's recycling efforts after a recent visit. Even McDonald's does a good job there by having separate bins for food and recyclable items.

But Singapore has far to go before everyone and every organisation goes green.

Copyright 2012 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

 

[fukyuman]

If you visit zoo the next time, look at the plants around you. No insect life whatsoever. Whole place must be fumigated. Next time they should use plastic plants instead.