1415T2g1 South Korea/Participant Information/Soh Seng Chian
Contents
About Kenneth
SMU email: scsoh.2012@sis.smu.edu.sg
Facebook: Kenneth Soh
Academic Year: 3
Degree: Information Systems Management
2nd Major: Technopreneurship
Why TSM South Korea?
What motivates you to join TSM?
I have always wanted to start my own business, yet I know that I am not the innovative kind that can always pull ideas out from a hat. Therefore, I see going overseas and looking at how many businesses operate in other countries as an opportunity to be able to find ideas and inspiration that could potentially be brought back into Singapore and be developed here.
Furthermore, I have always enjoyed traveling, yet in tour groups, you never really get the opportunity to look at anything more other than tourist attractions. I would love to have the opportunity to be able to talk to people and businesses and to figure out the how they live their lives there, and see what I can do back at home with my newfound experiences.
Why pick South Korea?
To be perfectly honest, I have never been a fan of Korea. The K Wave has never really impacted my family and I. What I do appreciate, is how the Korean companies actually managed to do what other companies from other countries failed to do - to ride on the K wave. A few years prior to the K wave, it was the Japanese wave and at that point in time, Japanese companies still did not ride the waves well in advertising their products.
With the emergence of the K wave, companies like Samsung and LG really made use of the popularity of these Korean celebrities and ride on their popularity to push their products into the rest of the world. I really admired their ability to react quickly to these "tidal" cultural changes. I would thus, love to have the opportunity to look at these companies and understand how they actually work, in terms of their innovative marketing strategies as well as technological innovations.
Internship Opportunities
What types of internship opportunities interest you?
- Companies in general that do lots of product innovations
- Game Design
- Events Marketing and Planning
Any ideal firms (based in South Korea) that you wishes to join?
- Samsung
- CJ E&M
- Nexon
Starting a business
What types of business interest you?
Largely technology and gaming businesses. With the growth of eSports in the past few years, professional Korean players are gradually becoming the rock stars of the world, drawing hundreds of thousands to watch them play live in major LAN events all over the world. And as more eSports become an integral part of society, I view it as an important segment that many are unwilling to explore due to the "games are for kids" mentality.
What plan do you have in starting a business?
I am still in the process of finding out which industry am I most comfortable in, and which particular aspects of an industry I want to be in. Having grown up playing games and being surrounded by family who both play professionally and manage games under major game labels such as Blizzard and Asiasoft, it is only natural for me to feel more inclined towards this industry. As I see it as a budding industry, I would love to be able to go the Korea, where eSports is already a major part of life (to the extent of its integration to the Korean legal system) as a portal to see the future of eSports in SEA region.
Past Experiences
Describe your past experience
- Was involved in the trading of virtual goods (serving as a middle man) for close to a year prior to university
- Interned at the International Cybercrime & Forensic Examiners (ICFE Group) for 3 months as a Business and Marketing Associate
- I was primarily put in charge of designing of marketing materials (Brochures and eDMs) as well as the preparation of logistics prior to the conducted seminars
- Interned at Vinova Pte Ltd for 10 weeks as a Web / Mobile Intern
- I was part of the development and maintenance team for a new social platform for parents and educators (MyQlix) as well as a moving company review website (Moveaide).
