Her Excellency Catherine Wong, Ambassador, Singapore Embassy in Bangkok
Dr. Krith-paka Boon-fueng, Executive Director/CEO of National Innovation Agency, Thailand
Mr. Amorn-ched Jinda-apirak-sa, CEO, Orange Cap Innovative
Industry Partners, Ladies and Gentlemen
Sawasdee Khrap.
Welcome to the launch of our Success Academy by SUSS and Orange Cap Innovative in Thailand – Bangkok City.
1. Today marks yet another new chapter for SUSS and our partners, as we launch our latest Success Academy in the city.
2. Last year, we launched three academies in Ho Chi Minh City, Beijing and Shenzhen. After our launch today, we will be opening four more in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Mumbai, making it a total of eight regional academies.
Elevating Learning & Training for Students & Industry
3. The SUSS Success Academy is designed to enhance the connection between education and enterprise. It focuses on the progress of students by enriching their education experience with dynamic international exchange programmes, practical industry exposure, internships, and cross-disciplinary overseas studies. This is all part of our vision to be a university that inspires learning for life and impacts lives.
4. As we establish an academy in Bangkok, students from Singapore and Thailand receive many opportunities to interact in a fruitful manner.
5. So far, we have had 28 SUSS students across a variety of majors who have interned at UOB Thailand, Finema, Globish Academia, Mechai Foundation and The Trinket Company. These opportunities have helped our students broaden their horizons in a rich and culturally diverse work environment, thereby enhancing their personal and professional growth.
6. Aspiring student entrepreneurs in Singapore and Thailand can utilise our key regional programmes, like the Impact Startup Challenge and Venture Builder, to embrace practical opportunities and settings while learning to transfer their ideas from the lab to the marketplace.
7. In May this year, SUSS partnered Siam University to offer our Impact Startup Challenge as a credit-bearing course. Close to 50 students from SUSS, NUS High and Siam University took part in a six-day hackathon-styled programme, which trained them on the Lean Startup methodology, as well as the tools to test and calibrate their ideas and pitch to investors.
8. We are proud to share that our current full-time marketing student Clinton Li, who has completed our Alibaba-Cloud-SUSS Minor in Entrepreneurship, has successfully established his second office in Bangkok. His company, Hatch Development Asia, is a digital marketing agency that provides branding and social media services to SMEs in Singapore and Thailand.
9. Aside from industry partners, we also work closely with many local universities including Siam University, Chiang Mai University, Chulalongkorn University and Thammasat University to co-design and co-deliver both credit and non-credit interdisciplinary and experiential global learning programmes.
10. Over the past two years, over 150 SUSS students have had the opportunity to study with Thai students, enhancing their intercultural skills to evolve into responsible and impactful global citizens, contributing to a diverse and sustainable global community.
11. Aside from launching the Success Academy in Bangkok this morning, we have also entered a partnership with All Green Learning Centre to establish an experiential education site, known as Camp R.A.I.S.E at Khao Yai for student leadership development, focused on Social Sustainability.
12. This place-based education programme will help students explore environmental stewardship and sustainable practices, eco-preneurship, well-being and mindfulness strategies, and deepen their practice of the SUSS values, namely: Respect, Adaptability, Integrity, Service and Empathy, hence with, R.A.I.S.E – so we will be calling it, Camp R.A.I.S.E.
13. Now, coming back to the Academy – what is the purpose of this Academy? The Academy will act as a strategic overseas centre for our university, to build strong networks with partners across different parts of ASEAN, China and India. The idea is to link our students with local industries. Together, we will design programmes and achieve outcomes that address real-world problems.
14. In addition, the Academy will also utilise its expertise in adult and workplace education to create specialised professional development and enhance the programmes for corporate partners and institutions. It is not just limited to schools – we link up with industries and corporates to customise training programmes so that these institutions can boost their capabilities and foster growth as well.
15. We will be offering, as a university, our executive and graduate programmes, including Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas and Masters programmes, directly to local industry partners.
16. Moreover, the Academy will utilise its network of partnerships to locate and support valuable study abroad and immersion experiences for our postgraduate students, industry collaborators, and executives.
17. The SUSS brand is defined by our commitment to learning for life, experiential engagement across the ASEAN, China, India (ACI) region, and our commitment to social good.
18. With regional academies in eight cities, SUSS will work closely with university and industry partners to expand our influence and create positive changes that benefit communities and industries in Singapore and beyond. We are profoundly grateful for the trust and support extended by our governments, our partners, and students in advancing our mission.
19. I would like to extend my gratitude once again to Orange Cap Innovative (OCI), our steadfast partner and friend in Thailand, and to the dedicated SUSS Student Success Centre team whose efforts have transformed this vision into reality. I know you have all worked very hard to achieve what we have today.
20. Special thanks to Her Excellency Catherine Wong, Dr. Krith-paka Boon-fueng, Mr. Amorn-ched Jinda-apirak-sa and all dignitaries for joining us today to witness this significant milestone.
Thank you all very much.