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MPM Survival Kit

 

Singapore Component

 

Preparing for Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School)

1.     Bring along some souvenirs from home, traditional and national items such as dress and instruments and flags to display during International Night. Hone the cooking and singing or dancing skills and do not leave behind the sense of humour.

 

2.     As dress codes are quite relaxed, do not worry about taking along many long sleeve shirts and tailored pants. Dress smart but jeans or slacks and polo t-shirts are accepted except during oganized functions or visits. Bring your medical records and proof of jabs. They will turn useful, trust me. Do mind that if medical records from home are incomplete, they (MPM Course Admin) will make arrangement for the fellows to do the check-up again in Singapore. 

 

3.     Take with you most current country's statistical year book. This may be used in evaluating own country's economic policies in most of the modules. Knowledge on economics is defenitely an advantage. Most of the modules will have some spins of economics.

 

4.     It is highly advisable to have own laptop/notebook. The school has an excellent computer lab but can be sometimes crowded especially when papers are due. There are also computers sold at the University at reduced prices.

5.     Voltage in Singapore is 220-240 V. So if you are from the lower voltage countries and want your items to work, bring along transformers and adapters. The electrical plugs are the three square pins - the British format.  

 

6.     Cell phone cards are easily available at most shopping centers. Just bring your own GSM phone and grab a prepaid phone card at no extra charge (passport needed for new registered number) and start talking to loved ones with your new phone number. There are 3 major phone service providers, each having its own packages and plans. Talk to the dealer for advice and make your own decision on what plan do you want to venture.

 

7.   College Green residence boasts a basketball court, a tennis court and two badminton courts. Sports lovers are suggested to bring their own equipments and have a go any time they feel like a perspiration. Bukit Timah Campus is only a few yards away from an MOE sports complex inluding a standard swimming pool, free or S$1.3 after 6 and during weekends, a standard football pitch for S$12/hour, multiple tennis courts, etc. (booking required).

 

 

Driving in Singapore (for foreign students)

1.     This guy gives reasonable (and negotiable) rates for renting cars, Jeff  (+6592762662). On driving information, this website is particularly useful as reference to road regulations, ERP and parking rates, road directory at onemotoring.com.sg. Bring along an International Driving License if you plan to drive in Singapore.

 

Eating around the campus

1.     College Green, where most of the students stay, is just 10 minute walk from LKY SPP. A hawker centre sits nearby, just 5 minute walk away on Adam Road. The school also has a canteen with about 6 stalls serving Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Malay dishes.

 

2.     The cafe at the Thinking Corner serves more contemporary sandwiches, pastas and cakes. Coffee is served fresh-pressed. More expensive than the canteen.

 

Places of Worship

1.     For Muslims Fellow, 15 minute walk from the school is Mesjid  Ba'alwi on Lewis Road. The Friday Prayer usually finishes around 1.45 PM and it gives just enough time to make it to the afternoon classes after lunch.  At the University, the school allocates a Muslim prayer section on Level 2 in Block B of the Law Faculty.

 

2.     Here is a link to Singapore Prayer Times and mosques locator. (taken from islamicfinder.org)

 

Smoking

1.     Price of cigarettes in Singapore is S$11.60 for a 20 stick pack (ouch!!). Be aware of the customs regulations on importing tobacco. A traveller into Singapore is only allowed a single 20 stick opened pack. Bukit Timah Campus is a non-smoking institution so if you are thinking of quitting, I hope this paragraph incentivices you.

 

Elective Courses Selection

1.     PP5311 Globalization and Public Policy - Taken by Prof Ramesh and Prof Dodo. One of the best module offered by the LKY SPP. Really appreciate the module but do take note Prof Ramesh is no longer the faculty there as well.

 

2.     PP5230 Strategic Management in Public Organizations - Taken by Prof Neo Boon Siong. This is an elective course offered by the School. First rule of the class, always read before coming to the room. If you do not read, sorry mate...will be a torturous three hours lecture. That said it was also one of the best module offered by the School. Prof Neo? Do you guys know him? For those who are not familiar with him, he is the lead writer of the Dynamic Governance: Embedding Culture, Capabilities and Change in Singapore which was launched by Singapore's President in July 2007. Like his style of teaching, personally? I thought he is easily a "Harvard Material" when it comes to teaching style; quality of knowledge and depth of expertise. I would even go further in saying he is probably on par with some of the experience faculties in Harvard Kennedy School.

 

 

take a short break & watch the corporate LKY SPP clip

 

ask what you can do... 

 

US Component

 

Accommodation in Cambridge

1.      Those with family secure your apartment early, as early as once you know where you are going, Harvard or SIPA. For those going to Harvard, in Cambridge, Corporate Stay is a good place to start. Contact Ila Patel (email: info@corporatestay.net, Telephone:  +1617-354-3500 , Fax: +1617-354-7546). The Units at 100 Banks Street have very comfortable 2-bedroom apartments (one bath). It is 8 minute walk-away from HKS and is near to everything. It has free car park behind the building (expensive around Cambridge) and free LAN Internet access (no wireless here. Bring along a wireless router) in each unit. It also comes with cable TV, DVD player, full kitchen, cutleries, crockeries, beddings and towels.

 

2.      For those coming unaccompanied, Marriott Residence Inn is extremely comfortable. The shared 2-bedroom unit has en-suite WC and a queen size sofa bed in the sitting area. It provides free wireless and LAN Internet (erratic) access in each room and through out the hotel. It serves dinner from Tuesday to Friday and daily breakfast comes with the room. Free flow of coffee, tea and hot chocolate 24/7 at the lobby. The hotel is safe and the staff is friendly. Kendall/MIT T-Line (Mass Rapid Transport) is just 5 minute walk from the hotel. Those taking the studio suite, it has en-suite WC, a queen size bed and a queen size sofa bed (good if you are planning to fly in your wife or hubby and kids later in the year). The studio comes  with a fully loaded kitchenette, a good bargain at US$139++ a night.

 

 

Before and During Arrivals in USA

1.     Understand the luggage regulations especialy those concerning weights and dimensions of checked bags and carry ons. Be prepared with some change upon arriving at any US airports to use the trolleys with. Do note that Boston Logan Airport charges $3 for the use of the trolleys, and most travellers avoid this by pulling their own luggage. The trolley vending machines are called SmartCarte (they are trolleys for rent, so do not expect to get the $3 refunded) and accept 6xquarters (25 US cents) and US$1 notes. 

 

 

3.     Students will pick up welcoming packs at the reception counter of Marriott RI including those not residing at the hotel. Each pack has useful information on Boston, Cambridge, HKS and for registration at International Students' Office at Harvard Square. The pack also contains the Charlie Card, a fixed value card good for a month.  Dress wise, arriving in August and 1st week of September the weather this year in New York and Boston was hot. Dress light.

 

Driving and Traveling around US 

1.      Do not forget to bring your driving license and do not forget to convert it to an nternational one before coming over. Child seats are a must and they are quite expensive to buy or rent (some car rental companies have them charged on daily use). If you are planning to drive and you have children with you (under 8 years old), it would be cheaper to buy a cheap child seat from Wal Mart for less than $50, rather than renting it for between $12 - $15 per day from the rental companies (again www.craigslist.org is useful here).

 

3.     Cycling is quite safe and very convenient in Cambridge and around HKS. Most roads have lanes for cyclists and drivers are usually aware and acknowledge the presence of cyclists around them. Search for ugly bicycles as the uglier they are, the less are the chances they get stolen (hence the ugly basket on my handle bar). Visit www.massbike.org for more information on cycling in Massachusetts.

 

4.     Zip Cars.  Besides car rental, another option is to join Zip Car, which is a car sharing scheme. There are hundreds of cars all around Boston and Cambridge. Depending on the car, the cost of using them ranges from $8 - $10 per hour or about $70 per day.  This price includes insurance and fuel, and for short trip, may be cheaper than regular car rental. Join as a Harvard affiliate, and you could save the $25 joining fee.  More info can be found at www.zipcar.com. If you are planning to become a member of Zipcar, do make sure that your national driving license is recognized. If you plan to use the UK's, make sure you have DVLA provides you with your license history.

 

5.     Arriving at Logan International Airport, renting a car is very easy. All rental companies (Thrifty, Budget, Avis, Hertz, National and Alamo) have their courtesy shuttle buses going to and from the airport terminals serving their car depot locations. Once at the rental counters, getting a car is quick (helped further if the car is booked online). Except Budget, the others only accept credit card transaction, no cash. You can return and drop the car at their various locations around Cambridge. You definitely need GPS to find your directions and some small US money for the tolls (US$3.50 out of Logan and US$1.25 into Cambridge). Parking around Marriott RI is costly. There is an overnight parking facility next to the hotel which charges over $20.00 per night. The road side parking by the hotel is quite safe, machine paid charging 25 cents per 30 minutes and maximum parking of 2 hours. It is free from 6pm - 8am Mondays to Saturdays and free all day on Sundays. There is no parking problem at 100 Banks St as it comes free. However, let the agent know in advance that a car park is needed so it can issue a car park card with the keys. Wihout it the car can and will be towed away.

6.     New England is beautiful during fall, and you must get out of Boston for the best leaf-peeping. Have your digital camera with you at all time. You just don't know what or who you may bump into. However, regardless how good your map reading skill is, a GPS is definitely needed. Garmins are widely sold here but they do not come with Malsingmap of Singapore and Malaysia. The price is relatively higher here compared to Singapore after reclaiming the GST at Changi.

 

7.     If you want to budget yourself in search for the best leaf-peeping, Autumn foliage at Cambridge, Harvard Square and in our own HKS Backyard and Front yard is also beautiful to see. After all the Charlie Card will bring you to most of Boston beautiful places.

 

 

Public Transportation

1.     Taxis.    Taxis fares are expensive in Boston and in Cambridge.  The single way trip from Logan Airport to Marriott RI was US$15.00. Avoid them unless necessary.  

 

2.     The T is the most convenient form of transportation around Cambridge.  The passengers density is not as bad as that of Singapore MRT even during peak hours.  HKS provides Charlie Card monthly to the LKY Fellows. MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) is the subway operator and check here for maps and schedules. Marriott Residence Inn is nearby Kendall/MIT station whilst the Harvard Square best serves Harvard Kennedy School. 100 Banks Street Apartments lie in between the two stations.

 

Clothing

1.     Arriving in September the weather was pleasant but it gets very cold (0 and sub 0 temperatures) towards the third week of November. Be prepared to dress warm.

 

Shopping and Eating in US

1.     Halal Food in Cambridge.  

a.     Steffani Pizzeria on 783 Main Street (10 minute walk from Marriott RI. Tel:                617-491-7823) delivers free with purchase of US$7.00 or over. Operation hours form Monday to Sunday: 10 am - 12 midnight.

b.     Al-Hoda Halal Market (more like a convenient store) on Prospect Street (15 minutes from Marriott RI on foot) sells beef, chicken, lamb and mutton. A mosque is also situated nearby. 

c.     Sabra Grill on Elliot Street (across HKS) serves halal chicken and lamb shawarma. A little on the costly side.

 

2.     Fast Food Restaurants. KFC is located at the junction of Prospect Street and Hampshire Street. This is about 20 minute walk from Marriott RI. The nearest McDonalds is situated by Central Station on the Red T-Line. But there are many good restaurants and cafe's around Cambridge that you would not even look twice at KFC or McD.

 

3.     Clothings. Wrentham Village Premium Outlets has 170 stores including branded ones. It is about an hour drive from Cambridge. Marshals also sell last seasons, overstocked branded clothings, which are usually cheaper than the outlet stores, although range and sizes are limited. Winter clothings are cheaper here, especially those sold at the outlet malls, than in Singapore, with better brands and quality. With that in mind, do not rush to buy items in Singapore as it will only get terribly cold later in October onwards.

 

4.     Again, hunt for bargains from Craigslist of Boston or New York. From apartment to bicycles to computers to books. It just has everything. (http://boston.craigslist.org/). Alternatively buying things online from eBay or Amazon.com also saves some $$$ and shipping to US is usually free for purchases over $25.00. 

 

6.     Food Markets

     a.     Chinese/Asian Markets

     b.     Indian Market

     c.     Hay Market

     d.     Harvard Farmers Market

 

Communications and Getting in Touch with Home

1.     International calls from mobile or landlines are expensive unless done by using the International Calling Cards which are widely available from corner shops. Better be buy the one from the man who is selling a bunch of CCs from a cart down at the T station at Harvard Square (No additional charges for tax). A better alternative is Skype. Get Skype set up at home before leaving for the US, you'll save $$$. Besides with free connection everywhere, including the school, using Skype is a no brainer.

 

2.     Most dual-band and above GSM cell phone from home work. You just need to buy a pre-paid or pay as you go plan SIM card with any of the Service Providers. Radio Shack on JFK Street in Cambridge sells mobile phones and pay as you go lines. Alternatively, you can buy a SIM card with some credits on ebay. Dialing and sending text messages from US to international numbers need 011 instead of + (then followed by international country code. Example: to sms Brunei 01167387xxxxx). Alternatively, get a Calling Card such as the RNK which is quite reputable among the students, which charges only 1 cent per minute (depending on the country). However, local call charges will apply. 

 

Computers

1.     Some of us crashed our hard disks in US. Lessons learnt, be financially prepared to buy a new one as work is itensive and you just can't afford to have days without computers. If you decide to wait for the repair on your computer to complete, you can choose to work at the school's computer lab. It has about 30 over work stations in it. You can also choose to work at the hotel lobby which has 2 work stations with black and white laser printer atached to each. The courtesy rule is that you do not hog the computers for more than 15 minutes.

 

2.     If your notebook has those external CD/DVR reader/RW, bring all to US. You may need to run your recovery disks and re-install your softwares after your hard disk has been fixed.

 

Subject Selection and Books

1.     Select subjects carefully. Some are real killer with lots of readings and assignments. Shop at least 7 or 8 classes and register for 5. It is easier to drop the classes than to get into another one later. Do not rush out to buy books before really decided on the modules and Harvard Coop is not the cheapest outlet to buy books. Strategise the purchase as some books are readily available from the library or not needed urgently, that buying them from Amazon.Com is a much cheaper option.

 

3.     STM-110A - Strategic Management for Public Purposes. Taken by Mary Jo Bane and Pete Zimmerman. If MPM Candidate 2009/2010 do decide to take Professor Neo's Strategic Management for Public Organization, do consider seriously before committing to STM-110. You might end up un-fulfilled if your aim is to expand from Boon Siong's module. Review classes are taken by Course Assistant on most Fridays from 2.40 PM to 4.00 PM.

 

4.     STM - 480 Leadership for a Networked World - Taken by Jerry Mechling. One of the best courses I have ever taken. I have no substantial IT background but I end up learning a lot about Technology, Workflow, Leadership and Value propositions (T+W+L=V) from this course. The course work is light in comparison to others. Reading materials are provided online with discussions and comments are threaded in the course website. The cases are then disected rigorously in class with further follow-ons in the discussion threads. The capstone paper is in the form of term project, 20 pages, double-spaced long. The paper is where applications of the T+W+L=V could be applied in your own settings. There is an option whether to submit this paper individually or as a group project. Additional suggestion, try to finish the paper ahead of the given dateline, which is sometime in early January 2010 (for the new MPMs). Review classes are taken by the teaching and course assistants on most Fridays (2.40 PM to 4.00 PM). These are good to attend as technologies are better explained in this smaller size class and in more intimate setting.

 

5.     API - 413 - Challenges in Democratization - Taken by Pippa Norris.     If you are coming from a non-democratic nation, don't be shy from taking this course. It is a very eye opening and full of learning about world's government, governance and social issues as well. Worth to note though, reading can be a bit extensive.

 

6.     PPP - 184 - New Media and Democracy. Prof Nolan Bowie, a lawyer by training is very passionate about technology and regulations on freedom of expression and speech in the US. This is very an American-centric class and is class is very popular for journalists, TV anchors, advertising personnel and PR people. The workload is light in terms of reading and submissions. If you are very creative, try it. Final submission does not have to be a written work. It could be in a form of new media (videos on YouTube or DVD) which makes it even more interesting. Shop it.

 

7.     API-602 - Ethics in public life Taken by Ken Winston. Thought provoking and insightful.  Highly ranked and recommended by MPM students.  Lecturer is excellent with good time management (time is strictly observed both for starting the classes and concluding them).  Drawback  is that there are Friday Review classes, which are conducted personally by Prof Winston himself, and students usually feel obligated to attend. In Fall 2008, classes were held on Tue and Thu from 8.40 am - 10.00 am. Do place the early start as a major consideration factor. Once things are rolling and assignments and readings are plenty, getting up early and be at school by 8.40 am is a big challenge. With regard to the review, in deciding to attend or not to attend the review, think what is good for you in terms of learning not because of personal obligations to the Professor. Any how by mid-Semester there will be a lot of other review commitments as well. 

 

Entertainment and Watering holes

1.     The cinema at Kendall Square is less than 15 minute walk from Marriott RI. It has concessions for students for shows before 6pm (Mon - Fri) and the first shows on Saturday and Sunday. It does not show the latest movies but a good diversion nonetheless. The Loewe Cinema on Church Street, Harvard Square (walking distance from HKS) is a better alternative to watch new flicks.

 

Sightseeing

1.    New England

2.    Sights in Boston

3.    Sights in Massachusetts

4.    New York

5.    Washington

6.    Niagara Falls

7.    Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine

8.    Rhode Island, Connecticut 

 

Banking

1.    Be safe, deposit in a bank, not under the matress. It is useful to open up a Student Account, where you would have debit card facilities (need not carry too much cash) and a checking account.  Banks like Citibank and Bank of America do not charge a service fee for students and there is a nearby Citi Bank just 5 minute walk from HKS.

 

Holidays in Boston during Fall

1.    Columbus Day - (Needs to be qualified. Did we have a break on Columbus Day?)

 

2.    Labor Day - First Monday of September. This year Labor day fell on Monday so we had an extended weekend. Our Tuesday began with registration at International Students' Office and the Orientation began on Wednesday 3 Sep 2008.

 

3.    Veterans' Day - 11 Nov. The school observes this day and no class is held on this day. If it falls on the weekend extender (Monday or Friday), leave Cambridge. This year it fell on Tuesday.

 

4.    Thanksgiving - (Fourth Thursday of November every year. This means Thursday to Sunday are free). This is an excellent opportunity to go away from Cambridge.