(SINGAPORE) Finance, banking, law and accountancy are often tipped to be the university courses which students hoping for a lucrative career should take.

Too often have we heard parents and peers alike extolling the fiscal benefits of earning one's livelihood in the financial and legal sectors.

But now, a recent bit of research by The Business Times might suggest otherwise.
Our examination of the most highly paid chiefs of listed companies here shows that it's the engineering and hard science degrees that have stood these professionals in good stead.
A BT check of annual reports and corporate websites found that senior executives with engineering degrees form the bulk of top earners from companies in the Straits Times Index (STI).

This list of the 55 best-paid executives of STI companies gained fame when it was distributed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Parliament in April - to illustrate the earning power of the private sector, during the debate over the increase in ministerial pay.
An updated version by BT shows how much these executives - mostly CEOs, executive chairmen and managing directors - earn. Their annual pay packets range from above $250,000 to more than $9 million.

And engineers feature prominently among the big earners. Seventeen of the 55 executives - that is, 30 per cent, the most of any profession - graduated with engineering degrees.

Science degree holders were the next best achievers, with 12 of them making the top 55 list. It is possible that some of these also specialised in engineering - with most engineering degrees being bachelor of science - but further information was not available.

As a group, accounting, business administration, economics and commerce graduates made up 11 of the top 55. Others, like UOB chief Wee Cho Yaw and DBS Group Holdings chief operating officer Frank Wong, have not said what first degrees they hold but are well-known bankers here.

Arts graduates took two positions on the list. Dr Lim Cheok Peng, managing director of Parkway Holdings, is the sole doctor - he is a cardiologist. City Developments executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng is the sole law graduate. And Total Access Communication CEO Sigve Brekke is the sole holder of a degree in public administration.

Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah addressed those concerns in parliament, pointing out some engineers have gone on to do very well as CEOs of top companies. Other than those in the top 55 list, she also said 'that more than 40 per cent of our current ministers and many more top civil servants are engineers by training too'. And 'this shows the flexibility of someone with an engineering background'.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong picked up on Ms Lee's remarks, saying: 'Lee Bee Wah did us a favour explaining that engineers have done very well and lots of bright students ought to go and study engineering.'

Of the engineers, the most highly paid is Keppel Corp's executive chairman Lim Chee Onn, who took home between $7.25 million and $7.5 million in the financial year just ended. Mr Lim is a science degree holder with a doctorate in engineering.
The trio from Venture Corp - all engineers - also featured prominently. Chairman and CEO Wong Ngit Liong took home between $4.25 million and $4.5 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2006. He holds a first class honours degree in electrical engineering from the University of Malaya.

He was followed by fellow executive directors Soo Eng Hiong and Tan Choon Huat, who were paid between $1 million and $1.25 million in 2006. Mr Soo has a degree in electronics from the University of Southampton in the UK, and Mr Tan has a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Liverpool in the UK.

SembCorp Marine group president and CEO Tan Kwi Kin and ST Engineering CEO Tan Pheng Hock - both engineering graduates - also received impressive pay packages last year.
But it isn't just engineers working in an engineering-related field who are among the top earners. Many others have made good in other industries.

Property giant CapitaLand's president and CEO Liew Mun Leong, graduated from the University of Singapore with a civil engineering degree and is a registered professional civil engineer. He was the fifth-best paid executive on the list, with a pay packet of $5.14 million in 2006.

Fraser & Neave chairman Michael Fam and Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng each took home between $2.75 million and $3 million in FY06. Dr Fam has a first class honours degree in engineering from the University of Western Australia, Perth. Mr Chew has first class honours degree in engineering from the University of Singapore.

Genting International's executive chairman Lim Kok Thay holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of London, Keppel Land's managing director Kevin Wong holds a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering from Imperial College, London and Singapore Press Holdings' CEO Alan Chan holds a Diplome d'Ingenieur from the Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile in France, which is equivalent to an engineering degree.

interesting interesting.. frankly speaking recently i've tot about taking a finance related course instead of chem engine.. i have a significant interest in finance and of cuz money but yet chem engine fascinates me.. sigh.. i think i'll really will consider to try n take double degree... the value-adding will be useful i guess.. oh well... we'll see.. 1 more year.. time flies.

Sep 28 - Singapore (subject to circuit approval)

nice date.. hope i can go watch... my 21st birthday.. omg tt'll be like super memorable birthday? first ever night f1 in singapore.. imagine alonso, hamilton, massa and räikkönen coming down to sg to accompany me.. lol..



good! er if anyone want to buy me tickets as presents please indicate in advance okay? wouldnt want to have spare tickets.. lol..

live well and prosper people..

its rather alarming tt in e book, the supposedly good guys were dishing out unforgivable curses (except the killing curse) like giving out sweets..

quite disturbing..

harry of course had used it previously in halfblood prince when sirius died but he obviously didnt Mean it.. someone tell me why he wasnt punished? isnt the punishment for it a lifetime sentence in azkaban? hmmm


anw as u'll read about, he natually mastered them (hey, practise makes perfect doesnt it?)..



anw, 2 hogwarts headmasters have been killed by Avada Kedavra in a row... lol.. interesting piece of funfact..

james, lily, albus severus, ginny and harry are one big happy family..

cool ya?

albus severus, james and lily are all alive!!


all of james and lily's closest friends all died... (as in their batch mate)..

member of order.
Dead.

12 pages.

avada kedavra.

one teacher dies.


*goes back to read*

lol :P

"Boys, would you help carry your female classmates' bags for them? STOMPer xiiaoANGEL thinks that more often than not, they would rather take care of themselves.It explains why she was so impressed when she saw this boy from Yishun Secondary help his two female classmates carry their bags, in addition to his own.

She described him as a 'kind and caring' boy who 'upholds his school values'.She said in an email to STOMP yesterday (15 June): "A few weeks ago, I saw this yishun town boy helping 2 other yishun town girls carry their school bags while carrying his own as well in causeway point. Its very gallant of him helping his friends to carry their bags."xiiaoANGEL urges more young men to be this gentlemanly. "More guys should be like him. His school has indeed taught him well." "

Hello? maybe i've aged but during my sch years, my sch definitely did not advocate carrying schmates' schbags as school values... clearly, the guy either lost a bet, is being paid for his labour, or is OBVIOUSLY interested in one of the bag owner. i was taught about gender equality and how it will never be realised because people like xiiaoANGEL exists.. on one hand, they expect guys to treat them like VIPs the next thing u know it before u can even say "gender equality", they're complaining why guys and girls dun get equal treatment... IRONY!


and by the way, gallant is an adjective used to describe brave knights in shining armour who emerge victorious in killing their enemy, not some sheepish looking gina foolishly carrying 3 bags.


How stupid can some stompers get?


How about, I, volunteer my gentlemanly services and assist u in filling in the blanks on ur examination scripts so u too can get many As?


then u ask, what is that boy doing in causeway point on a weekday playing bodyguard? he should be home studying? how den is he going to get his As and also help his female frens get theirs too? =x

i think the 4d magix is super lame.. the water, shaking and the air blowing is -.-"

totally not worth $16 (for others who paid)...


anw i took/went to the:

monorail $0
cable car $0
underwater world $0
3 skyrides $0
2 luge $8
4D magix $0

the stuff tt i took/went to are mostly overated except for the luge probably..

cover cah chng

I was watching Just Follow Law last week and it was very hilarious cuz it very very accurately portrays things as they are happening in the government organisation I'm currently serving.

I never did expect to witness a cover-ass/cover-cah-chng incident 1st hand so soon.

Allow me to narrate my story. (being a story, it might not be true, decide for urself if its a fiction/non-fiction story)

Let's call the organisation i'm serving X.

Ytd was X's day, the 40th anniversary.

Some of my colleagues had to provide cover for the event and a driver had to drive them there in an ambulance.


As such, the previous's day (sat) ambulance driver had to stand in for ytd's one.

To cut the story short, this cah-chng-covering warrant officer came to know of wat was happening and instructed that the sat's driver go home instead.


Compassionate as it may sound, its utterly stupid and such instructions can only be given by a low IQ idiot.

If the ambulance driver goes home, who is going to drive the ambulance in case of an emergency??

As a result, let the games begin..

A driver spec shot 1 x arrow (email) to the base command and probably CC-ed to the dumb guy's superior regarding the fact tt driver has to do 2 consecutive duties. Yes, the WO did provide a suggestion, but it was so dumb, he might as well had shut up.


When ytd's driver finally came back from X's day cover at around 12am, the warrant officer decided tt he had to do something.

And so he came.

To the room where the 2 drivers were playing PS2 and very coincidentally, where i was soundly asleep.

And they argued.
And argued.
And argued.


And i woke up!!!!!!!!!!!! mailto:!#$%#$@^%$&%^&@#$%!$#%^&!!!!


DAMN IT.

I looked at that guy. He had that I'm-going-to-piss-in-my-pants look. Looking at the 2 drivers with pleading eyes and asking why the email had been sent. Damn hilarious.

Meanwhile, he was trying to act fierce. Yaya. His body language was so telling.

In the end, he asked the driver who hadnt slept for 17 hours to write a memo detailing what both the drivers had done and why sat's driver din heed his dumbass instruction to go home.

And of course, we all know tt the memo was for him to COVER HIS 见不得光 CAH CHNG.


Such is the power of a well written email. Unfortunately for my superiors who have offended me in the organisation i'm serving, I can write VERY GOOD EMAILS that happen to be VERY VERY sarcastic and stinging. I'm sure many of u have read a few i've posted. LOL.

And fyi, i have half a mind to compose one and send it out before i leave. WATCH OUT FOR MY ARROWS.