Pass it on

Text: Nur Isyana Isaman

Behind a great leader is a mentor.

We all know Mark Zuckerberg. Well, do you know that the Facebook co-founder has a mentor that was probably a greater legend than himself? When Zuckerberg got lost in his early career path, it was the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs who showed him the light. And the rest is history.

Likewise, Bill Gates credited his mentor, billionaire investor Warren Buffet, for helping him with the vision to build Microsoft into a world-changer. Gates admired Buffet for his desire to teach complex things and simplify it in a form that people can understand and gain experience from.

NTU President Prof Ho Teck Hua also credits Peter Ho, former Head of Civil Service for mentoring him when Prof Ho first moved from being an academic to being a university leader.

There is a Chinese idiom about how the student can surpass the achievements of the teacher. And this was what happened for alumnus Ernest Chin.

Now a Senior Copywriter at creative agency MullenLowe Singapore, he was among the pioneer batch of NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information students who attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2017.

A celebrated copywriter, Ernest Chin (right), who won Copywriter of the Year at the 2023 Gong Awards, finds fulfilment in mentoring his juniors.

Says Ernest: “When my lecturer Wong Pei Wen invited some of us in the advertising industry to mentor current undergraduates who joined the D&AD New Blood Competition 2024, I readily agreed.”

Under his eight-week mentorship, his mentees Katelyn Onn and Ethan Lim, then Year 2 communication students, won a Graphite Pencil from amongst 170 entries worldwide.

Ernest says: “As someone who did not win any Pencil as a student, the next best thing for me is to help my mentees nab one.”

“Ernest taught us a ton, and my biggest takeaway was to always be purposeful. It’s great if the work looks good and sounds slick, but the real test is whether it adds genuine value,” says Katelyn, describing Ernest’s advice as a game changer during their campaign preparation.

Equally rewarding

The mentor-mentee relationship is often seen as a two-way street, learning from each other, growing together.

Class of 2013 accountancy graduate Ang Kah Yee enjoys the reciprocal relationship of mentoring where both she and her mentee benefit from the experience.

Ang Kah Yee (right) helped illuminate Sarah Abdul Halim’s career path.

She says: “As a mentor, I help my mentee set career goals, identify growth opportunities, and advise her how to advance in the field. Mentoring also enables me to learn new perspectives from my mentee, which challenges my thinking and broadens my understanding.”

Says her mentee Sarah Abdul Halim: “I came to her as a lost 20-year-old with a vague idea of my career interests. After we talked, I got a better sense of my interests and strengths, plus a game plan for what I need to do to reach my goals."

Tan Lai Yoong, a 2012 Chemistry graduate, takes on mentoring to share new perspectives and impart learning points to his juniors. “After working for several years, I realised I learnt mostly from experience and that I could have made far better decisions earlier in my career if I had a mentor to guide me. I thought it would be good for me to help my juniors in their journey.”

Tan Lai Yoong, a Market Development Engineer at chemical manufacturing company SABIC, passes on his experience to his mentees.

Says Ada Koh, who was mentored in her final year: "Regular check-ins with Lai Yoong where he gave me invaluable advice helped me grasp the workplace culture in the chemistry industry and figure out what paths I can explore after graduation."

Paying it forward

Echoing the motivation of paying it forward, Master of Science Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme graduate Angelina Terlaki, co-founder of NTU spin-off Red Dot Analytics, signed up for the NTU Entrepreneurship Academy’s Mentorship Clinic.

Angelina Terlaki takes time to share her entrepreneurial experience with two NTU undergraduate mentees who are keen to start their own companies.

Computer science undergraduate Veer Dosi says: “Angelina helped me figure out the choices I needed to make in my career as I geared up to become a startup founder.”

For instance, Angelina explained to Veer about Singapore’s startup ecosystem and how lab research is translated into commercial products.

“Initially, I questioned how I could help any student effectively since I still needed mentors myself. However, I realised that everyone has invaluable experiences to share,” says Angelina, whose company uses AI to help data centres reduce energy consumption.

Takeaways from mentoring

The best part of mentoring, says Lai Yoong, is watching his mentees transition smoothly into the workforce.

Kah Yee agrees: “I’m incredibly proud of Sarah’s transformation. She actively seeks out new opportunities and strives for personal and professional development. It is a testament to the impact mentoring can have on an individual’s growth and success.”

Reflecting on his mentoring experience, Ernest says: “I take comfort in knowing that it will not be AI that replaces me in the future, but a bunch of eager, generous and immensely talented juniors. I hope they will remember me when they make it big. That counts as success, I suppose?”

"Ernest taught us a ton, and my biggest takeaway was to always be purposeful. It's great if the work looks good and sounds slick, but the real test is whether it adds genuine value." - Katelyn Onn

"Angelina helped me figured out the choices I needed to make in my career as I geared up to become a startup founder." - Veer Dosi

 

Sign up as an alumni mentor to your undergraduate juniors.

 

This article first appeared in issue 5 of U, the NTU alumni magazine.