As mentioned in my previous post, the interview is the last stage of the ASEAN Scholarship. When I wrote that post, I had no experience with the interview, therefore I did not go in extreme detail of what exactly happens in this stage. However, I have recently went for the interview and decided to share the experience to all the desperate people out there.
Location: Park Royal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 13 August 2016
Time: 4:15 p.m.
(I received the interview letter roughly a week before the actual interview)
According to the letter, I was required to arrive half an hour earlier and also to bring along both photocopies and original copies of documents proving the achievements I had stated in the application form and identification documents (IC/passport).
When I arrived, the people from MOE were slightly behind schedule so I needed to wait. The interview was held in a different room so all of us candidates had to sit outside. Every once in a while, a man would step out of the room and check the documents of the newcomers. For me, he asked to see one of my UNSW certificates and also my results in Mandarin. The photocopies were given to him and he told me that I would be interviewed after one of the girls over there and I was to enter the room after hearing a bell.
The Questions
Most of the questions were expected:
When did you start wanting to go to Singapore to study?
Why do you want to study in Singapore?
What are some difficulties you think you will face and how will you overcome them?
Do you know anyone who has taken the ASEAN Scholarship?
What do you do in your free time?
Now, one of the questions was particularly odd:
Imagine you are in a sports stadium, choose something to represent you.
(Quite honestly, I feel like I bombed that question, but I won't talk about that here because you're probably only interested in the questions asked during the interview.)
Basically, they would ask you the typical questions which were expected, then follow up with other questions depending on your answer. There were 4 interviewers for my case, so they took turns asking me questions. Based on what I went through, I would say that they asked more 'formal' questions, e.g: 'Why do you want to study in Singapore?'; a few 'non-formal' questions, e.g: 'What are the activities you and your friends enjoy doing together?'; and one 'creativity' question, e.g: the sports stadium question.
I'm quite certain that the 'creativity' question will be slightly different for each candidate. I heard that another boy had to choose an object from the interviewing room instead of the sports stadium. So, the question probably differs slightly so no one can actually prepare an answer.
My Assumptions/Opinions
Now, this is the section where I list out what I think the interviewers will be looking for.
Disclaimer: The author has no actual idea what the interviewers are looking for, read at own risk.
- Of course, be able to speak proper English.
- Actually wants to get the scholarship, not someone who was forced by their parents to take the exam.
- Able to adapt to new surroundings.
- Able to be social and make new friends.
- Independent.
- Able to reason and answer questions logically.
Item number 2 is the most important for me. After all, if you really want something, you'd definitely work harder to get it, and then hold on to it.
Conclusion
The confirmation letter for the scholarship is supposed to arrive in 1 months time, so I have no idea whether or not I made it through, but I just wanted to share my experience with those who needs it. As I said before, I know how it feels like to search every corner of the internet for someone, just someone who wrote about what to expect in the ASEAN scholarship.
Best of luck!
A useful website to refer to about the scholarship:http://aseanscholarstory.blogspot.my
