Solomon Poon, Scholarship Recipient

I have always loved Mathematics and was keen to be a Mathematics teacher. I did some time as a teaching assistant and realized that was not what I wanted to do with my life. After I left the National Service, I decided to study at SMU after applying to all three local universities. I am glad I decided to come here to study Economics. I enjoyed learning about Economics as it applies to real-world problems such as social issues and inequality. I took a second major in Marketing because it is a skill that can be applied anywhere.

When I first started SMU, my family had financial challenges and I had to tutor part-time during my first year. However, in my third and final year, I was awarded with the Kwai Fong and Raymond Goh Scholarship and Alvin Poh Endowed Scholarship. I am grateful that the donors saw my potential and believed in me. Being awarded with the scholarships, it definitely helped with my financial struggle. I was able to focus on my CCA, internship and was involved in active student life. I was a mentor with the mentoring circle in which I am still connected with my mentee. I was also very active in competitive sports and wellness activities.

Entrepreneurship came into my life when was in national service, it changed into how I want to be a creator and not a consumer. Currently, I am working for my startup DrinkAid after graduating in 2019. My startup business motivates me daily and it is also being incubated by SMU Business Innovations Generator. As a recipient of two scholarships, I am so thankful and the only way to express it is to give back in the future. I would like to contribute to SMU, once my startup business is doing well. It is one of the first things I look forward to. I may not know when but I would like to do it as soon as possible. Meeting SMU alumni entrepreneurs, I realized that they tend to give back to SMU and that is truly inspiring to me. I want to be a part of that, so I hope to pay it forward someday.

Solomon Poon Ke Foong, BSc(Econ), Recipient of the Kwai Fong and Raymond Goh Scholarship, 2017 and Alvin Poh Endowed Scholarship, 2018