We got acquainted with a member of the AlmaU Board of Trustees and talked about his activities and impressions of Kazakhstan.
Tan Chin Tiong, Singapore City, Member of the AlmaU Board of Trustees, Honorary Professor at Singapore University of Management
About myself
I was born and educated in Singapore. Later I went to the USA, where received a PhD degree. I also started my career there — I taught at local universities. Two years later I returned to Singapore. I worked at the National University of Singapore. A few years later, the third National University opened in the country: Singapore Management University. I was invited to be its co-founder and first vice-rector. My responsibility was to manage faculties, professors, schools and students.
After 10 years, the Ministry of Education of Singapore offered me to become the president of the Singapore Institute of Technology. This is a professional university where nurses, cooks, managers are taught.
I teach Business and Marketing at undergraduate, graduate and executive programs.
One of my achievements is book published in collaboration with Philip Kottler from Northwestern Kellogg School of Business. We have adapted standard American marketing textbooks for the Asian region. We used stories and examples from Singapore, China, India and other Asian countries. I think this should be done for Central Asia as well, since the region is large and significantly different from the USA and Europe.
About the activity
I started my career as a scientist. Taught, wrote scientific articles. But over time, I realized that this is not so relevant for business. Therefore, I shifted the direction and engaged in consulting, working with companies.
As a teacher and university administrator, I often attended educational conferences. Thanks to this, the Association for Management Development in Central and Eastern Europe invited me to become a member of the board of their organization. And about 10 years ago, one of my friends, with whom I often interacted in the Association, invited me to become a member of the AlmaU Board of Trustees.
The AlmaU Board of Trustees meets twice a year. One meeting always takes place outside of Almaty. We usually visit universities in other countries. This allows the members of the Council to know what is happening in the world and present AlmaU to other educational institutions.
About Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has changed a lot in 10 years. But the people remained friendly. I am impressed by AlmaU's activities. The university is different from state universities, which have not changed for many years. On the contrary, AlmaU makes new and modern things that attract young people.
Almaty is a wonderful place where there is a lot of nature. There are many new and old buildings here, so you can trace how the city developed. I have also been to Astana. This is a more "cold" city. But I think it fulfills its role as the capital.
One of my management friends at AlmaU has opened the company's head office in Singapore. Thanks to him, I got acquainted with a large number of Kazakhs who work in my country. They often invite me to national holidays. For example, on Independence Day. Therefore, I know a little about the culture and traditions of the Kazakhs.
About the plans
I like what I do. Therefore, I will continue to work — as long as it brings me pleasure.
