Beijing Happenings
The months of October and November has been a busy period for many of us up in Beijing — it’s hard to even breath sometimes (pun intended)! Now that the tide has receded, here’s a rundown of some of the happenings over the past 2 months. For all you incoming NOC Beijing students, mind you — this is how busy life can get here, on top of our internship work and school projects we face as part of our daily routines!
October: NOC Beijing (BJ16) Speakers’ Series
The bi-annual NOC Beijing Speakers’ Series was held on 21st October, organised by the NOC Beijing YEAN Executive Committee. For each batch of NOC students that Beijing receives every 6 months, a speakers’ series session will be organised whereby esteemed speakers with relevant entrepreneurial backgrounds will be invited to share their experiences dabbling within the Chinese entrepreneurship ecosystem.
First up, we welcomed Ms Teo Xin Wei, the Centre Director of IE Singapore (Beijing branch), who shared with us about the up-and-coming China-Singapore entrepreneurial projects that are expected to shape both economies in the near future. It was indeed an insightful sharing for us, where we were able to gain a better understanding of how we can potentially be involved in terms of strengthening entrepreneurial relations between Singapore and China. Being a part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem does not necessarily only constitute being a self-starter of a business; there are so many roles one can play in accelerating the growth of entrepreneurship. These include building communities and facilitating the links and networks that entrepreneurs around us need in their quest to expand cross-border innovation across disruptive markets, such as that of China and Southeast Asia.
We were also privileged to have Mr Jason Zheng, Chief Operating Officer of 36kr.com share with us about the “New China Arena and Chinainnovation”. 36kr.com is an all-in-one platform that serves entrepreneurship ecosystems through three main business segments: media, venture capital and incubation services. Mr Zheng elaborated extensively about the China’s market demographics and how that has been a huge contributing factor to China becoming the pioneer and leader in the global mobile market. It was definitely eye-opening to hear from a local entrepreneur, who so deeply involved within the Chinese entrepreneurial landscape, were able to pique our curiosities further on why globally, people are starting to pay more attention to Chinese technological innovations.
Finally, Mr Nathan the CEO from 友墙北京以拉谷网络科技有限公司 painted a very discerning picture on how research into the everyday consumer behaviors shape the way technological products are being designed and built, particularly within the Chinese mobile landscape. Who knew that even the way we hold our mobile phones everyday would affect the placement of mobile functions on screen!
We rounded off the session with a fruitful panel discussion with our speakers on where they saw the direction Chinese entrepreneurship was going in. Indeed, it was a very engaging morning and definitely a knowledge exposure for all of us on what’s to come in the near future with regards to Asian entrepreneurship.
November: Jumbo Seafood Case Challenge jointly organized by NUS Overseas College and Overseas Singaporean Group (OSG)
November was a hectic month for many of us, with many of us being heavily involved in the organization of the NOC-OSG Jumbo Seafood Case Challenge as well as the bi-annual Company Appreciation Dinner (CAD).
Wanting to do something different for NOC Beijing students, YEAN’s president and vice-president, Yaokuang and Li Qing [Batch 16], approached the Overseas Singapore Group (Beijing) a few months prior with regards to the joint organization of a case challenge for Singaporean students in Beijing. Assembling an organizing team, the NOC team and OSG collaborated with Jumbo Seafood (Beijing) in pulling off a successful event — one where many new experiences were gained.
Participants were tasked with providing Jumbo Group a qualitative proposal on the strategies the F&B company could adopt to stay competitive and grow its business within the Beijing market. Within a tight deadline of less than five days, student teams were to prepare the necessary materials that would aid in their pitches to an esteemed judging panel that consisted of Singaporeans holding top-level management positions in the organizations they helmed.
Alongside the successful organization of an NOC-led case challenge led by Yaokuang, the team helmed by Li Qing and Siying [Batch 17] were able to emerge as 2nd Runner-up for the challenge. From the organizing team to those of us who participated in the case challenge itself, the entire experience was a great learning journey for all of us as we were exposed first-hand to the strategic business considerations involve when a business expands into a new market. The opportunity to initiate business growth game plans first-hand, was truly an embodiment of ‘experiential learning’ at its best.
November: Bi-Annual Company Appreciation Dinner (CAD)
The NOC Company Appreciation Dinner followed not long after the conclusion of the Jumbo Case Challenge. Held bi-annually, the event was organized in appreciation of the participating companies which have played critical roles in grooming the entrepreneurial potential of the graduating batches of BJ16 and DBJ7. With the organization of the event helmed by Jiang Jun [Batch 17], the affair was kept simple and heartfelt. After all our intentions were straightforward — to convey our appreciations to our mentors who played pivotal roles in planting the seeds of entrepreneurial aspirations within us.
Held in a cosy restaurant setting in 北邮科技酒店 where everyone was treated to a hearty meal that consisted of a mixture of Chinese and Singaporean cuisines, the night passed in a flurry. We were fortunate to have NUS Enterprise CEO Dr. Lily Chan graced the night and she indeed, represented us well in conveying NOC’s gratitude to those who had made our time in Beijing meaningful. Yaokuang, Zicen [Dynamic Batch 7] and Dilip [Dynamic Batch 7] were also invited to share the entrepreneurial lessons they had taken away from their time in Beijing.
We were also treated to a round of Bingo and the “Boss and Intern” game, jovially hosted by our emcees for the night, Liyang [Dynamic Batch 7] and Megan [Dynamic Batch 7]. The night ended off with the showing of the appreciation videos that featured Batch 16 and Dynamic Batch 7’s interns’ expressing their heartfelt thank-yous to their supervisors and mentors.
Amongst these happenings, there were many other meet-ups that we were privileged to attend as well. Some of us met up with fellow NOC alumni Jake Goh, the Co-Founder of RateX, over a casual dinner. Not too long ago, a few of us attended the Singapore-China Economic relations talk by Singapore’s Minister for Finance Heng Swee Kiat at the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management. We even managed to squeeze in for a shot with him that was later published in our national newspapers.
So there — it’s been a pretty hectic month for all of us, not to mention our never-ending projects and work! But we’re lovin’ it and it’s all part of the experience. Stay tuned for our next update regarding a handbook we’re releasing for all you incoming NOC Beijing students!
