- Can you introduce yourself?
Hi everyone, I am Peilu Chen from Beijing, China, and I am a MPA student, class of 2020, from NUS.
- If you've been working before taking Master, what was your occupation before joining the school? What prompted you to study at LKYSPP?
Since graduating from university back in 2013, I have been working at the Asset Management Association of China, a subsidiary organization under CSRC, in charge of regulating and making policies regarding the private fund industry.
I have chosen MPA for two main reasons. One is to further improve my theoretical expertise in the field of public administration, as my education background was in finance. Despite years of hands-on experience in public administration, I found myself severly lacking on the theoretical front. Another reason was to meey fellow classmates from across the world all being part of the public sector. I wanted to hear first hand and learn from their past work.
- Can you share what is your biggest takeaway from the Master Programme?
My biggest takeaway from MPA is learning to reason dialectically and think independently. Because of the highly diversified background of both the teaching and the student body at LKYSPP, I was able to see how various cultures tackle a public issue differently. I have realized that dialectical reasoning and independent thinking are of utmost importance in public policy making, as there is nor clear right or wrong in this field.
- Which module do you like the most? Why?
My favorite module was Public Policy Analysis. After taking part in public policy making plentily at work, it was refreshing to finally learn about the theoretical foundation of policy making and analysis. Moreover, I got to learn a great deal about policy making from my classmates through everyone sharing from their past experiences.
- Since the semester is coming to an end, is there anything that you would've done differently while studying at the school?
Due to the pandemic, we had a very unique year of learning. We finished our first semester almost entirely through Zoom. We finally got to meet our classmates in person in the second semester. This made us cherrish our time together even more. So, if I could go back in time, I would have treasured my time with my classmates even more, and have more thought-provoking discussion.
- Do you have any advice for incoming students?
For incoming students, my advice is to fully enjoy every opportunity of exchanging thoughts and ideas with your fellow classmates. All your classmates are not only experts in their own field, but may also come from a country with culture entirely different from your own. They may introduce you to drastically different way of perceiving this world, just like how I was.
Another important point is to do the class readings with diligence, as every piece of reading is picked by the profs, specifically targetting the materials being taught. The readings may be hard to understand at first, but you will learn a great deal by persisting through.