kp007 wrote:
Hi Ali. Thanks for your compliments on my post.
If you ask me personally, I would always prefer Hong Kong over Singapore. I am a Chartered Accountant fresher from India. I have been to Hong Kong twice already. Hong Kong is a lively place. All the investment banks in the world like Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC etc have their asia pacific headquarters there. As you may be aware, Mainland china uses Hong Kong as a base to raise funds from overseas investors. So, it is a very active financial market. More active than Singapore. Singapore is a financial centre of south east asia. South east asia economy is growing at a fast pace and there is scope for more and more growth in the coming future. Many upcoming countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei etc use Singapore as a finance base.
You would also agree that currently the chinese economy is larger than the south east asian economies put together. China has contributed on a large scale to Hong Kong's development. Hong Kong is technically a part of china now, but it has the freedom to make its own laws and governs its own economy ie it is a democracy unlike mainland china. Hence, many westerners prefer to go to Hong Kong as they can get a window to participate in the mainland china growth story and at the same time live in a westernised atmosphere in Hong Kong which offers good quality housing and other facilities which serve as a reminder of the british days.
One must also understand that Hong Kong has become overcrowded. It is very difficult for a foreigner to get jobs in Hong Kong nowadays because many companies would like to employ someone who speaks mandarin well as they have a china focus. My own relative from London Business School tried to get a job in Hong Kong but was told by the companies that since he did not speak mandarin, they are unable to consider him. But, all his chinese classmates at LBS got good jobs there as well in in the mainland. This is a risk you will have to consider if you want to go to Hong Kong and study as after all you must get a good return on your investment in education there. The english language is getting eroded slowly.
If you have still decided to study in Hong Kong, I would advise you to get enrolled into a basic chinese language class. In your university, you will have a lot of classmates from the mainland and networking is a good way to build a successful career in a foreign country. Just good grades do not matter solely. Out of HKU and CUHK, I would recommend the msc finance offered by CUHK as they ask for a GMAT score. The HKU does not ask for a GMAT. This is despite the fact that CUHK is 40th in the world ( 5 in asia) and HKU is 23rd in the world ( 3 in asia). Always look at the course content. The university's overall ranking does not always matter but the quality of the course and the entrance requirements are valued on a higher scale by the corporate world. CUHK has a mock stock exchange trading system which i have already spoken about. HKU does not have this facility.
Singapore is expected to replace Hong Kong as an asian financial hub. There is still a lot of scope for development in singapore. Because of this, singapore encourages immigration as its sparse population needs people from abroad to help it develop. There are many american and european corporate powerhouses in singapore. A degree from singapore will enable one to get a decent job of course not only in singapore , but also in nearby countries like indonesia, malaysia, vietnam etc which are fast growing. I have seen people who have studied at SMU and being successful in their careers in countries like Jakarta, Indonesia and Malaysia. SMU has a msc finance which is inspired from the american system. It is a govt funded institution. It is still unranked because it is far too small to be ranked with others. The msc finance is called master in applied finance which is practically the same thing.
I would suggest you to visit the websites of SMU and CUHK and read for yourself about the master in applied finance and msc finance respectively on offer there. Based on the course content and the other things i have written above, make a final decision. Also, consult good professors and senior corporate executives in your contact for a well informed decision. I would personally recommend singapore management university based on the research and enquiries i have made even though i like hong kong and its people more.Wish you all the best.
Dear KP
Thank you very much for your detailed post and time. what i have come across is that MS from CHUK and HKUST is relatively less expensive as compared to one offered by SMU and one would like to have a facility such as mock exchange . however as you mentioned finding a job in hong kong is difficult these days.Do you think Chuk or hkust graduates are recognized globally
I was thinking if Chuk or Hkust graduates can find jobs at other places such as singapore, indonesia or in the US market. Also, i came across few US schools that have reasonable tuition cost . one of them is temple university's fox school of business ms in finance program. the location is as at philadelphia. do you think its a good program?. they have good facilities. However one needs to see about the placement. Thanks again.
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12 Nov 2009, 05:02
