Taiwanese host Matilda Tao enrols in NUS EMBA after chance encounter on flight from Singapore

The Taiwanese host signed up because she wanted to learn about AI – only to find herself tackling accounting, business and interest rates.

Taiwanese host Matilda Tao. (Photo: Facebook/Matilda Tao)

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Taiwanese host Matilda Tao has joined her son in studying in Singapore.

The 56-year-old, whose son Li Wu, 17, attends an international school here, recently enrolled in the Chinese Executive MBA (EMBA) programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

After completing her first course, accounting, Tao returned to Taiwan and shared her experience on her podcast.

She said her professor crammed what would normally take two years of accounting into just four days.

After three days of lessons, students had to give a group presentation analysing a company's financial report on the morning of day four, followed by a written exam that afternoon.

Tao, who doesn't have a business background, admitted she barely understood anything on the first day and felt close to breaking down.

“For the first time, I felt like half my brain had been emptied out. I was really putting it to work!” she said.

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The syllabus covered 10 chapters, including accrual accounting, revenue recognition, inventory, fixed and intangible assets, and more.

There was no hiding at the back of class either.

Each student had a huge name tag on their desk, which meant the professor could call on anyone to answer questions at any time.

“So you can't even doze off,” joked Tao.

Somehow, though, things started making sense by day four.

“During the revision, I suddenly realised, ‘Hey, I actually understand it!’” she recalled, adding that she eventually found accounting “fun”.

Lessons started promptly at 9am, with each class lasting 90 minutes. Students attended around four or five classes a day, with lessons ending at 5.30pm.

She would then return to her hotel to revise, often falling asleep while watching lesson videos on her phone.

And this is just the beginning: She'll be returning to NUS every month for more classes.

Interestingly, Tao hadn't set out to study accounting – or even business.

She was inspired to enrol after meeting a young woman on a flight home from visiting her son in Singapore.

The woman told Tao she was taking an NUS programme that included AI-related classes and overseas exchanges, which piqued her interest.

“I made a mistake because I didn't know there would be so much about business, accounting and interest rates,” she joked.

Luckily, AI has also become her “secret weapon” for studying. She feeds her professor's lecture notes into AI and gets it to quiz her on accounting.

Going back to school has also put Tao in some pretty impressive company.

Many of her classmates are bosses and senior executives, including those from the electronics industry and someone who runs a stem cell clinic.

As someone outside the business world, she admitted she initially felt a little lost among them.

But being surrounded by business folk has had its unexpected perks.

She said she learnt about a stock from her classmates and decided to buy it – only for it to rise for five days straight.

Not bad for her first course.

This story was originally published in 8Days.

For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/ .

A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.

这位台湾主持人报名参加节目是因为她想学习人工智能，结果却发现自己要处理会计、商业和利率等问题。

台湾主持人陶晶莹。 （照片：脸书/陶明德）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

台湾主持人陶喆已陪同儿子前往新加坡留学。

这位 56 岁的女士，其 17 岁的儿子李武在新加坡的一所国际学校就读，她最近报名参加了新加坡国立大学 (NUS) 的中国高级工商管理硕士 (EMBA) 课程。

完成会计学这门课程后，陶回到台湾，并在她的播客节目中分享了自己的经历。

她说她的教授把通常需要两年才能学完的会计知识压缩到了短短四天内讲完。

经过三天的课程学习，学生们在第四天上午要进行小组展示，分析一家公司的财务报告，下午还要参加笔试。

没有商业背景的陶承认，第一天她几乎什么都听不懂，感觉自己快要崩溃了。

“我第一次感觉自己一半的大脑都被清空了。我真的在全力运转它！”她说道。

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课程大纲涵盖 10 个章节，包括权责发生制会计、收入确认、存货、固定资产和无形资产等。

躲在教室后排也没用。

每个学生的桌子上都放着一个巨大的名牌，这意味着教授可以随时点名让任何学生回答问题。

“所以你连打个盹儿都做不到，”陶开玩笑说。

然而，到了第四天，事情似乎开始变得明朗起来。

“在复习过程中，我突然意识到，‘嘿，我其实理解了！’”她回忆道，并补充说她最终发现会计“很有趣”。

课程准时于上午9点开始，每节课持续90分钟。学生们每天大约上四到五节课，课程于下午5点30分结束。

然后她会回到酒店复习，经常一边用手机看课程视频一边睡着。

而这仅仅是个开始：她每个月都会回到新加坡国立大学上课。

有趣的是，陶最初并没有打算学习会计，甚至也没有打算学习商业。

她在从新加坡探望儿子回家的航班上遇到一位年轻女子，受到启发后决定报名入学。

该女子告诉陶，她正在参加新加坡国立大学的一个项目，其中包括人工智能相关的课程和海外交流，这引起了她的兴趣。

她开玩笑说：“我犯了个错误，因为我不知道会有这么多关于商业、会计和利率的内容。”

幸运的是，人工智能也成了她学习的“秘密武器”。她把教授的讲义输入人工智能，让它来考考她会计知识。

重返校园也让陶结识了一些非常优秀的同学。

她的许多同学都是老板和高级管理人员，包括电子行业的从业人员和干细胞诊所的经营者。

作为商界之外的人，她坦言自己最初感到有点不知所措。

但身处商界人士之中也带来了意想不到的好处。

她说她从同学那里了解到一只股票，于是决定买入——结果这只股票连续五天上涨。

对于她的第一道菜来说，还不错。

本文最初发表于《8Days》杂志。

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