NYP Diploma in Marketing's Entrepreneur



Liming enjoys the freedom and flexibility of running his own business.

An Entrepreneur Since 13 Years Old

Liming’s good networking skills has also strengthened his business.  During his studies at NYP, he met like-minded entrepreneurs whom he could work together as partners. For example, he met Diploma in Business Management student, Derrick Goh, who runs AdVertive, a company which specialises in online advertising. 

His good networking skills also earned him a coveted internship with Yahoo! Singapore. In June 2010, he met representatives from Yahoo! at a marketing conference called Ad:Tech where he expressed his interest to join the company. Subsequently, he was put through an interview and test which he did well, and he managed to clinch an internship.

To share his knowledge and experience in online marketing, Liming recently teamed up with two online marketing gurus and authors to produce a series of online training courses.  This project has generated over $500,000 in gross sales in just a few months. With the successful launch of his online courses, Liming hopes to be a speaker at marketing conferences in future. 

Liming started his own online business at the age of 13 years old when he was a student at Montfort Secondary School. He was inspired to run his own business after reading about the success stories of other entrepreneurs.  He was also encouraged by his dad, who is also an entrepreneur. 

The business Liming started deals with online media buying.  He helps clients to generate targeted leads online using various digital advertising tools, such as Search Engine Marketing and Email Marketing. His clients are mostly based in the United States and come from a wide range of industries, such as health and finance. 

The former CCA chairman of Montfort Secondary’s Entrepreneur Club said, “I love the freedom and flexibility of this business. Being my own boss gives me control over my future. Like any business enterprise, I also enjoy the risk involved, especially when venturing into new areas.”Liming admits that running a business is not an easy task as there are ups and downs, as with most things in life. In 2010, for instance, his business went from making over a thousand-dollars-a-day in profits, to being in the red for a few months due to fierce competition. Thankfully, his resilience managed to pull him through and his business is now doing well again.  

Excellent Customer Service From NYP's In-House Attachment

Tan Li Wei (right) always go the extra mile for his customers at Health@NYP teaching drug store!

If there was a Best Employee Award for Health@NYP teaching drug store employees, Tan Li Wei could be in the running for one.

During his three-month attachment at the store, Li Wei, a third year Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences student, impressed many of the store’s customers with his excellent customer service skills and product knowledge. He was always eager to help and attentive to his customers’ needs.

Health@NYP is a teaching drugstore that trains Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences students in pharmacy practice, pharmacy operations and business operations as early as in the second year of the course.  It stocks over-the-counter and medicinal products for common ailments, hair care, dermatological use, dental care, and health supplements.

“Having a personal touch is important. You don’t want customers to come in, ask for something and you don’t know what you are selling. So I surf the internet for information, and read online reviews on the products sold in the store. I also listen to the customers’ feedback,” said Li Wei.

Li Wei enjoys interacting with people and would go the extra mile to please his customers. That extra effort paid off when some of them became regular customers.

“I had one customer who preferred to speak to me even when I was away from the store. So she asked for my number and called me. She wanted me to recommend some supplements to her. Another customer approached me during my lunch break to ask me how to use a product which she had bought earlier,” recalled Li Wei with a laugh.

And it was not just the store’s customers who took notice.

A senior sales executive from Bioderma was curious when sales of some of their product flew off the shelves, from a just 2 pieces per month to 70 pieces a month!

“She was curious when there was a sudden spike in sales so she came down to the store to find out why. She even brought along her colleague to test my product knowledge of their products. She was impressed and offered me a job as a product advisor,” he said.

Although it is a teaching drug store, the lecturers and their students come up with ways to improve the sales and profitability of the outlet.

Lecturer Ms Teng Siew Li, who is in charge of the store operations, said that Li Wei is an exceptional student who took his attachment very seriously. She said, “He was very active in coming up with a business proposal for Health@NYP to improve its sales. He treated the store as if it was his own.  He also distinguished himself by consistently submitting exceptionally creative and well-thought advertising posters which were distributed around the NYP campus for promotional purposes.”

His other suggestions include discontinuing products that are not doing well, introducing new products and starting a customer loyalty programme.

Li Wei plans to further his studies in business management and marketing.

“I hope to be well-versed not just in Pharmaceutical Sciences but in marketing as well. If possible, I would like to run my own pharmacy retail outlet one day,” he said.

NYP's Teaching Enterprise Project Featured On The Business Times

Nursing Student Woos Crowds in NYP Jam! Grand Finals

An unexpected victory for one singer, who beat a hot favorite to clinch top prize. A band member who rushed from the airport to made it in the nick of time for his performance. These are just some of the highlights of the NYP Jam! Grand Finals held on 7 January 2011.

Diploma in Nursing student Khairul Azree joined NYP Jam! as a part of a duo with a good friend. However, the judges who were more impressed with Khairul’s voice, asked him to audition as a solo singer instead. He eventually made into the finals.




Khairul captivated the judges and audience with his soulful voice.
That evening, Khairul serenaded the crowds as well as the judges with his own acoustic rendition of ‘Grenade’ by Bruno Mars. He won first prize. Hot on his heels was a crowd favorite Andrew Kim, a School of Business Management exchange student from Seoul Korea. Andrew had to content with the second place while Yellow Black Haze band came in third.

“This is truly unexpected as Andrew was a crowd favourite. I thank the judges and my friends who came out to support me,” said Khairul.




Andrew wowed the crowds with his rendition of "I believe I can fly.'
The 4 Avenues band, which competed in the Secondary School Students’ category, have every reason to cheer. One of their guitarists had cut short his holiday in Canada to perform at the finals. He only landed at Changi Airport at 7pm and made it at the nick of time just as the band was about to start their performance. His return lifted their spirits and the band went on to win the first prize.


The 4 Avenues singing "The only exception" by Paramore.


 “We are very happy that he made it just in time and performed with us. We are also thankful to NYP who made changes to the line-up and allowed us to sing last,” said lead singer Natalie Wong of Whitley Secondary School.

Chyee Gin from Orchid Park Secondary School, who performed his own song composition, came in second while Jurong West Secondary School student Siti Nurindah Musali took third place.

This year’s NYP Jam! and NYPTV on Air LIVE show – both signature events at NYP Night Open house were bigger and better with special the performances by local celebrities Jack & Rai, Tay Kewei and Malaysian recording artiste Farah Asyikin.

My NYP Experience

Interview with Anne Isabelle Van Dee Linde, Skema Business School (France) By Julian Abraham Chua, Diploma in Business Management Every year, some 50 international students come to NYP under the 50 NYP’s School of Business (SBM) Overseas Student Exchange programme. These students come from SBM’s partner universities and tertiary institutions from countries such France, Germany, Finland, USA, South Korea and Japan. myNYP student portal campus reporter Julian Abraham Chua met up with some of these exchange students on their experience studying at NYP, coming to Asia and their interests. In this first of a four-part series, Julian spoke to 22-year old Anne Isabelle Van Dee Linde from The Netherlands who is currently studying at the Skema Business School in France.

What made you choose Singapore over other countries for your exchange programme? Well, we had many options to choose from like the USA, Canada and Australia. I have already been to the States and Canada.  I’ve had always wanted to come to Asia. I have read and learnt about Singapore on television and was curious that it was a big metropolitan city with diverse cultures. I wanted to go and check it out for myself.

How do you find Singapore? Singapore is a big city and very organised in terms of transportation. There is absolutely no difficulty finding your way around. The variety of food available here is also extensive. You can find anything you like here. The people are very understanding and helpful. Communication wise, they are very advanced with technology. Tell us about your experience studying at NYP and in Singapore. When I first came to NYP, I amazed with the size of the campus and the wide range of facilities available. I particularly like the sports facilities available here. The pace of study here is more hectic with lectures, tutorials and assignments. In France, our professors spend more time explaining and discussing the concepts with us. Well I definitely know a lot about Asia and Singapore now. I have also travelled around the region such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia. I feel fortunate to be able to travel around, happy that to see the real Asia. How different is it here as compared to France? It is different in many ways in terms of food and the people. I think that Singaporeans are less spontaneous in nature but they are very friendly once you get to know them better. They smile all the time. So what do you do in your free time during your time here? I go to the gym at least once a day. During weekends, I usually go to the cinema, or spend time dining or clubbing with friends. Aside from that, I work for a Swedish media company and I am in charge of one of its websites. I also write online articles concerning energy globally. Have you made any good or close friends? We hang out with the exchange students, who are all very nice.  The locals are also very friendly so I have no problem in making friends with them. What is your favourite food in NYP? Beef stir-fried kway teow at North canteen. Tell us something about yourself that people don’t know…. I am Dutch.  As I study at the French University so I always get mistaken as being French.  Actually, the French and Dutch people are quite different. What best describes your country? I will speak for France because that’s where I live. France is a culturally-rich place with a lot of diversity and different nationalities. It is sunny, with good food and wine.   What would you suggest we do if we ever visit your country? The area where my university is located is strategically located like Singapore. In big cities like Paris, you can soak in the culture and see the museums. In the south of France, you can enjoy the beaches and the sun. You can go skiing during winter time in the mountains. In central France, there is a lot of nature, with big rivers.  It is a good place to hike.  From France, you can also travel all around Europe. It is very near Spain and Italy is only 45 minutes away by car.  If you visit Paris, you can easily travel to Holland and Germany.

University of Stirling and NYP: First Batch of Professionals for Retail Industry

The pioneer batch of 52 graduates of the BA (Hons) in Retail Marketing programme offered by the University of Stirling, UK, in partnership with NYP received their degrees in a ceremony on Friday, 30 July 2010.

The NYP-Stirling BA (Hons) in Retail Marketing was launched in 2008 under the Polytechnic-Foreign Specialised Institute initiative to provide polytechnic graduates with greater access to degree programmes in niche areas and, for this programme, to meet the industry’s need for retail professionals.

The programme, which is jointly taught by the faculty from University of Stirling and retail and marketing team of NYP’s School of Business Management, equips students with a strong foundation in retail management, with emphasis in areas such as retail operations, retail logistics and marketing communications. Students gain direct entry into the third year of the four-year programme.

One of the graduates is 22-year-old Jenelle Teo who joined the programme immediately after graduating from NYP in 2008 with a Diploma in Marketing. Jenelle is also one of seven on the BA (Hons) programme who received the National Retail Scholarship. This scholarship, which is jointly awarded by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency, SPRING Singapore and sponsoring retail companies, covers full tuition fees and provides a monthly allowance during the course of study.

Jenelle will be heading to Guangzhou, China in October to oversee the inventory for two of Charles & Keith’s upcoming inaugural stores there. Her posting to China came soon after she joined Charles & Keith in May as a management trainee.

The first run of this programme will commence in April 2011.