My name is Firdausi Suffian,

I am from Malaysia. Currently I am doing my Master in Public Policy specialising in Policy Analysis in Crawford School, I am proud to be a postgraduate student here in ANU and as your representative. I hope with our committed and diligent newly appointed Student Representative, we will organise program that benefit to all of you.

Interaction, in fact, among students across different countries is the most valuable experience that everyone should have. Moreover learning in class is not the sole purpose we come to Australia but learning new culture and environment via interaction will value add your learning. So don’t miss this opportunity while you in ANU. 

Hello Everyone,

I am Robert from the United States and I am the President for the Student Association.  I completed my undergrad in Civil Engineering and am currently pursuing a master’s degree in the EMD program.  Coming from a NGO background of working abroad for the last nine years, it is nice to finally be settled in a great place. 

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help represent the students of Crawford school.  We are all quite excited about doing this but can always use suggestions.  Feel free to tell us what we can do to make your time here even better.  If you see me in the hallway, stop me for a chat.

Regards,

Hi everyone,

I am Clennette Ong from the Philippines, doing my 2nd and last semester in the masters program in public administration. I am interested in women and gender, public service motivation and poverty reduction. My other interests include reading books (non-fiction) and dancing to relieve studies-related stress :-)

In the Philippines, I work as an administrative officer and had the opportunity to implement UNICEF programs on HIV and aids. I also organize press conferences and press releases for the local government unit where I work. I also host weekly radio programs at 2 local stations.

I am here to be of service. If there is anything that I can do for any of the masters in public administration students, or for anyone else in that regard, I am just an email away:

I am always happy to help.

I am Shata Michael Mothae and I prefer to be called Mike. I am studying Grad. Dip in Public Administration, articulating to Master of Public Policy next year, provided I satisfy certain conditions. My country of origin is 'The Mountain Kingdom' of Lesotho, situated deep down in the Southern part of Africa, and it is totally land-locked by South Africa (that's probably why people tend to believe that we are part of South Africa). I am a married man with two kids, a girl Puly, who will be turning seven in July 2009, and a new gift from above, a little boy Stuart, who just arrived on the 20th March 2009. 
 
As for why I am here, well like already indicated above, I am here to study. Actually my Government and the Commonwealth of Australia are currently collaborating to enhance the Lesotho Public Sector service delivery through capacity building by means of long term training in areas determined by my Government as key to the country's development. I work for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety, in the department of Police Directorate as a Senior Research Officer, mainly responsible for research, monitoring and evaluation aspect of the overall national policies on the internal security, efficiency and effectiveness of the general police force, and strategic partnerships between the police, stakeholders and the general public for purposes of community policing, crime prevention and appropriate resourcing of the police force to be able to carry out its huge mandate.
 
Lastly, my interest are mainly sports, especially football or soccer if you like. Also I enjoy reading academic literature, not magazines, and going out to admire and marvel at the beauty of God's creation, especially with my family (I really love nature, in its pure and not-tempered-with state). Finally I enjoy shopping in all its forms, be it window-shopping or giving out cash to get some of items from the shevles.

I'm in the final semester of my grad dip in public administration program after which I will be moving on to the masters program in public policy specializing in economic policy.

After that I will return home to my family (all of whom I miss very much) and also back to work at home (which I don't particularly miss at the moment).

Being a 'student' again is fun and I've enjoyed all my courses so far. I am particularly interested in learning more about how to harness the benefits of FDI and international trade to help my country progress and am therefore looking forward to next semester.

I also dabble in a little bit of creative writing on the side when I have time.

Email

I am Chester Abellera from the Philippines.

I worked as in-house oil and gas lawyer for the national oil company back in the Philippines.  I have a wide variety of interests; math, economics and environment are just some of them.

I did not want to go through the usual postgraduate studies lawyers take. That is why I came to Crawford. I wanted to merge my interests in (development) economics and environment with my legal background and practice. I am hopeful that the two disciplines would be complementary.                   

Cheers,

My name is Helen Molean from Papua New Guinea.

I am doing my first semester in GradDip – IDEC and obviously the female representative for the group.

My interest lies around development policies and econometrics.

Who is the happiest girl? Who is the most active girl?
Who is the most audacious girl? Of course,

Ivy (Tong, Yu)

She is from Beijing, a gorgeous city. She loves travelling and has had different working and studying experiences in the UK, Turkey, Poland, and the U.S...

She is crazy about making friends with people from different countries and glad to donate her help. Plus, she is pretty cool, but don't hesitate to tell her any complaints or suggestions. You are welcome to bother her anywhere and anytime

(except sleeping time).

I am Kaka from Bhutan.

I am studying International and Development Economics currently undergoing the graduate diploma program. This is my second semester and after which I will proceed to Masters. My interest is on rural development and econometrics.

I am one of the student representatives for the IDEC graduate diploma class.

I am studying my Masters in Environmental Management and Development part-time while working full time in environmental policy for Department of Defence. This is my second year at ANU.

I come from country south-western Victoria and did my undergraduate degree in International Relations at Deakin University.

I enjoy studying Indonesian and am fortunate to have been on several study tours over there. Once finishing my masters I would like to travel more and work in the area overseas.

Mabuhay, everyone!

I'm Michelle from the Philippines and I'm one of the course representatives for graduate diploma students in EMD.

I completed my undergraduate degree in Development Studies in 2005, after which I worked as a program officer in a CIDA-funded private sector development project in Manila until 2008.

My current specialization is in development management, and I want to channel that into environmental management, which is why I am currently in the EMD program.

Looking forward to a good year with you all!

Cheers!