Straits Time - September 12, 2000 -

Students are putting their studies on hold to pursue dot.com dreams and varsities are happy to sanction leave

DEGREES can wait but not the dot.com gold rush.

More students are now putting their studies on hold to take the plunge into Internet start-ups.

This year, five National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduates -- from engineering, building and law -- did just that.

Professors at both NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) also say they have noticed that many students now reject places in postgraduate programmes in order to start dot.coms. They have no firm numbers, but it is noticeable enough to be a trend.

The number of deferments is not big enough to cause them worry -- at least for now.

In fact, university staff say they are encouraged to see that their efforts at promoting technopreneurship among students is bearing fruit.

According to NUS Deputy Vice-Chancellor Chong Chi Tat, it is a world-wide trend.

In the United States, students are dropping out of top-notch MBA programmes to start businesses.

He said: "We don't view it as a bad thing. If a student goes and starts a business, it can be a valuable educational experience.

"After all, education does not have to be within the confines of a campus.''

NTU president Cham Tao Soon said: ""I don't think it is going to happen in big numbers here. Singaporeans are still a practical lot. They will not postpone their studies unless they are sure that their business will take off.''

The young Netpreneurs themselves are of the view that they should strike while the iron is hot.

"The window of opportunity is now -- one year down the road, it may not be there any more,'' said NUS undergraduate Lee Choon Yau.

The 24-year-old student deferred his final year in electrical engineering to start an online IT magazine-publishing venture -- HardwareZone.com -- with four other NUS students.

NUS building student Ang Chun Siong, 26, who had taken a year's leave to start his property portal -- homes.com.sg -- feels the same way.

He said: "I am doing this whole thing on my own, so I really need to focus on it and get it going. If not, I am going to lose steam."

"And if I don't do it, someone else is going to come up with the same idea soon and beat me to it.''

Several recent graduates have also put their higher-degree studies on hold -- indefinitely.

For instance, recent NTU graduates Showbhik Kalra, 24, and Dilip Krishnan, 23, teamed up with their former don, Associate Professor Chong Man Nang, to start Nirvana Digital.

Postgraduate scholarships in top-notch American universities were theirs for the asking.

But they decided to devote themselves to building up their business.

And their efforts paid off. In April this year, their company was acquired by the Nasdaq-listed American company Dynatech for an undisclosed sum.

Mr Kalra, who is now working for Dynatech, said: ""We had been working on our software and then building our business three years prior to graduating. When we graduated last year, the business was at the point of taking off."

"We would have missed the boat if we had gone off to do our postgraduate studies.''