In this week’s episode of Looking South, Eric Gau chats with Alex Tran Van Hau, a student from Vietnam studying logistics at NKUST, about studying in Taiwan.
Listen hereTranscript below:
Eric Gau: Good morning. I’m Eric Gau, and this is Looking South, on ICRT. Every week, we explore different aspects of the government’s New Southbound Policy. We are currently looking at educational exchanges with other countries, and to tell us about his experiences, we have Alex Tran Van Hau with us today. Alex, good morning, and welcome to the show.
Alex Tran Van Hau: Good morning, my name’s Alex.
Eric: Start us off by telling us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what are you studying here in Taiwan, things like that.
Alex: Okay. I’m glad for this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Hau, and you can call me Alex. I’m from Vietnam, and my home is in the north of Vietnam. Now I’m studying in a master’s program in NKUST, stands for National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, and my major is logistics, so I’m a student of the department of logistics management. Also, my university is not in the top ranking of Taiwan, but it is one of the more dynamic universities about startup activity in Taiwan. Thirdly, NKUST is the best place for demonstrating my ability and makes the dreams of many generations come true. That is the reason why I am so happy to become part of NKUST.
Eric: I’m assuming you pursued your undergraduate degree in Vietnam. Why did you decide to come to Taiwan to do your graduate studies?
Alex: Perhaps the answer for some people is that Taiwan is a beautiful island, and its people are so friendly and nice and tight, or something like due to its high quality of education and teaching, something like this. But for me, Taiwan is a most important title. Taiwan is only a small title. Its area is only 1/10th compared to that of Vietnam, meanwhile the population of Taiwan is approximately a quarter of the population of Vietnam. However, the effort of Taiwanese people which makes Taiwan become a prosperous and developed nation in the world makes me highly impressed. That is what I really admire about Taiwan. I feel surprised and excited about the way Taiwanese do their jobs in the first time I work with them. My Taiwanese friend got me a book with the content of how to succeed, which makes me extremely curious about how Taiwanese how developed their country. From these things, I would like to discover everything about this success and help my country grow and develop like Taiwan. That is why I came to Taiwan.
Eric: You took part in the 2019 Startup, Starts Now! Entrepreneurial Summer Camp, yes? How did you hear about this program, and why did you want to join that as part of your studies.
Alex: I heard it from the office of international affairs firstly, which gets new information and relates it to international students and stands by them. But the reason I decided to join this activity is that an assistant in my school’s innovation center. She witnessed my passion for entrepreneurship. From her, I just really knew that this was a great opportunity to learn how to start a business and work in a group, in a team with many friends from different countries. Of course, this definitely was an unforgettable and unique experience in my life.
Eric: What did the camp offer that is different from similar programs that you might have been part of back home?
Alex: I think that…actually, in my country, there is also a start-up curriculum. But they only tell us about something like marketing, about finance strategy, or administration, something like this. Here, we have to work in groups to build and persuade others to support your ideas. We also have training to build a real company, not a plan or strategy. The most special thing I think is that we get to meet investors, hear them analyze and suggest to perfect our product. That was a wonderful thing I think.
Eric: What do you plan to do after you finish your education in Taiwan?
Alex: As you know, joining in this activity, every participant had to have an idea beforehand, and my idea was that I wanted to create an information platform to help international students like me to find information about Taiwan universities or Taiwan scholarships by easy, fast, and effective ways. At the same time, we can also apply directly without going through intermediary channels. So after I finish my studies here, I will make that idea become true before I come back to Vietnam.
Eric: Based on your experiences here, would you encourage other students from Vietnam or other Southeast Asian countries to join similar education programs in Taiwan?
Alex: Yes, yes, of course. Taiwan is not only a good environment for education, but also a beautiful country with kind people willing to give you a hand. The Taiwanese society is egalitarian, which makes it easy to adapt to. Therefore, I would call Taiwan my home away from home. Taiwan’s unique thing is that the blend of different things, traditional traditions and modern [unintelligible] familiar and smoother.
Eric: And finally, what advice to you have for other students who are considering studying in Taiwan?
Alex: I think if they are considering about Taiwan, studying in Taiwan, I think they should make effort to achieve the best performance they can. And also, needs to spend time to learn more about Chinese as much as possible to help them adapt to life in Taiwan.
Eric: We’ve been talking with Alex Tran Van Hau about his experiences studying here in Taiwan. Alex, thanks so much for joining us today.
Alex: Okay, okay, thank you.
Eric: That’s it for this week’s installment of Looking South. Join us again next week as we continue our look at education under the New Southbound Policy. I’m Eric Gau, thank you all for tuning in.