Post-SPM, Post-Grad - Fujitsu Asia Pacific Scholarship - Diploma and MBA (Oahu, Hawaii)

Want to spend 3 months or a year in the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii? Read on then. This is an opportunity most suitable for school leavers with at least one year of work experience, though a candidate of 3-5 years work experience would stand a greater chance for the scholarship, especially for the MBA selection. Though, I always believe if you submit a well written personal statement with a striking first paragraph, the scholarship committee would always spend a little more time to read the application further and may decide to grant the applicant the chance to convince them of his/her competence at the interview. And I know the dean who will be in the scholarship selection committee and she does select based on her gut feeling.

JAIMS Scholarship
Every year, a scholarship is given to a Malaysian to pursue either a 3 month leadership and business diploma course ICMP (Intercultural Management Program) in JAIMS, Oahu with a 5 day tour of Fujitsu facilities in Tokyo, or a 15 month MBA postgraduate degree in University of Hawaii at Manoa, Oahu that comes with a 3 month internship in either China or Japan and later a 1 week graduation ceremony in Tokyo. There have been instances where two Malaysians are chosen in a year, one for the ICMP program and another for the MBA program. Also, if there is unfortunately no promising candidate for that year, the selection committee will select more candidates from other South East Asian countries. The scholarship comes with airfare to and fro, a monthly allowance and books for your program. Check out more information at this website.

This scholarship was started in 1985 to commemorate Fujitsu's 50th anniversary. By selecting bright and team oriented students from Asia, the program is enriched by diversity. Both the ICMP and MBA program is coordinated by an education organization named JAIMS (Japan America Institute of Management Science) established by Fujitsu in Oahu, Hawaii as a training ground for East-West exposure. Check out the JAIMS website.

The ICMP and MBA programs
The ICMP program is a program that is well attended by many Fujitsu employees from Japan to learn American management skills as well as an opportunity to study abroad and improve their English skills. The group is comprised of around 30-40 students. It is an intensive program of day and sometimes night classes, packed with many presentation sessions and hands on learning. All classes are held in a nice school in suburban and beautiful Oahu.

The MBA program of which I am a recipient of the scholarship for 2004/2005 has a Japan or China portion that the applicant needs to select to specialise in. This is not just a financial MBA program, but it comes with a 1 year intensive language program in either the Mandarin or Japanese language. If you are already well versed in Mandarin, the dean will advise you to take the Japanese classes, but you can still choose to specialise your MBA as a China focused MBA and take the Chinese portion subjects such as Chinese Marketing, Chinese Law or Chinese Management and then later do your internship in China. For me, I took the Japan focused MBA and studied from scratch my nihongo and later did my internship in Tokyo for 3 months. I am currently working in Tokyo since December 2005 after my graduation to take advantage of the economic growth in Tokyo. Check out my photo blog of life in Hawaii and Japan here.

GMAT and GRE
To qualify for the MBA, one needs to take the GMAT exam and this is what differentiates the applicant for the ICMP program and the MBA program. The GMAT exam is an entrance exam for most business schools, though sometimes, the selection committee may consider a GRE entrance exam score if you have one already or if a scheduled GMAT test date is not possible. An applicant for the ICMP program only need to demonstrate that he or she has completed a degree.

Let me go into a little more detail about entrance exams for MBA courses. Most business schools would want to assess the quantitative and English language skills of the applicant. This ensures the prospective student is able to handle accounting and finance subjects as well as subjects that require critical thinking offered by the business school. The exam would have a section with A-levels (pre university) mathematical questions and some IQ questions. There would also be essay writing and comprehension. To read more about GMAT, go here. GRE is a more general entrance exam for any discipline. Hence, some business schools may be strict on the requirement for prospective students to take GMAT instead of GRE. Check out the website.

Tips on Applying
I have noticed that most recipients of the scholarship for the MBA portion demonstrate that they have an international exposure, preferably from their work or a pleasant personality to withstand the 1 year intensive drill which is shorter than the average length of a MBA program. The group is comprised of 40-50 students and there are many students from USA in the program who have plans to specialise in Asia.

I thought it would be helpful to list the attributes that the scholarship selection committee may be eyeing.

1. Job experience - while anywhere above 1 year may be desirable, I have a feeling any experience that adds value to your knowledge of the working world will count. The committee may be less strict on applicants for the ICMP program. So, if you share that you have part time work experience during your vacation and possess other attributes in this list, you may well qualify depending on the competition of capable candidates for that year.

2. Team builder and mentor - to be able to motivate others, have a kind outlook towards helping others in the team in their assignments and working together well to achieve team objectives. There will be certain members in the team who may have weaker English language abilities and if you impress the selection committee to be a person who is kind, helpful and cheerful, you may fit in well deserve a scholarship.

3. Leadership skills and participation in extra curricular activities - this would demonstrate team building contributions.

4. Overseas exposure - working in projects or participating in extra curricular activities outside Malaysia. This demonstrates the ability to work in cross cultural settings.

5. Language abilities - demonstrate your abilities even in Chinese dialects and any previous endeavours to study other foreign languages (even if it was a small endeavor).


It was a beautiful 15 months for me in both Hawaii and Japan. While University of Hawaii at Manoa is not one of the top USA universities, it has good resources in studies in Asia. The school at JAIMS has good connections with Japanese and Chinese companies which can land you a good internship and maybe a good career after that. Hawaii is not only a beautiful island, but also a land of peaceful coexistence with the environment, tolerant of diversity and different ethnicities and it has been successful in coming up with many researches for mainland USA. I managed to save enough from my scholarship allowance to visit the other islands in Hawaii besides the main island of Oahu which proved to be a worthwhile experience. Also, I participated in many co-curricular activities in the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Read about my business plan competition win at the JAIMS website here.

Feel free to write to me after reading the materials on this website. All the best! Carpe Diem!

by Philip Lee Chee Hoong

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Philip Lee, an ex-Sea Parkian, is currently working as a Business Analyst in an IT consulting firm in Tokyo. He has various interests, including publishing research papers for international conferences to attending networking events and meeting new friends in Tokyo. You can contact him at philchlee[at]gmail[dot]com.