Seen and heard this week

In an opinion piece for Channel NewsAsia on 14 February, Dr Faizal bin Yahya, Senior Research Fellow at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS suggested four ways in which government assistance to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could be tweaked. One recommendation involved refining the categorisation of SMEs based on annual revenue or sectors to offer more targeted policy measures. Other recommendations included a review of existing government schemes; striking a balance between preventing abuse of the system and ease of application; and paying closer attention to schemes with low take-up rates.

Associate Professor Marleen Dieleman from NUS Business School offered in a 15 February Forbes opinion piece six tips for family firms to facilitate the drafting of a family constitution that outlines the values, principles and procedures for proper governance of the family firm or conglomerate. Her advice included demonstrating commitment to listen and place common interest above individual interest, as well as tapping on skilled expertise such as lawyers, trust specialists and family business experts. She also recommended that family firms devote time to addressing family risks, picking an opportune time to make decisions, and creating a positive atmosphere when drafting the constitution.

NUS Computing Professorial Fellow Professor Francis Yeoh wrote in a Channel NewsAsia commentary on 18 February that students who had completed the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme were more confident, vocal and tech-savvy. Prof Yeoh said that the NOC programme, which offers internship stints in major start-up communities around the world, was successful in preparing students to become entrepreneurs. He attributed the biggest proportion of the success to the complete immersion of the participants in a mature start-up eco-system.

Read more about the NUS community in the news.