The geography lesson of a lifetime

Northland College student William Hohepa (forth) and his fellow New Zealand team members at the Asia Pacific final of the Federal Express Junior Achievers' International Trade Challenge in Singapore.

It would be fair to say that until a few weeks ago Northland College Year 13 student William Hohepa didn't know a lot about Singapore.

He knew it was in Asia, and he suspected that Asians didn't like rap or reggae. That was about it, but all that changed when he became one of six young New Zealanders selected to represent their country at the Asia Pacific final of the Federal Express Junior Achievers' International Trade Challenge in Singapore.

The competition gathers together the 54 finalists of national competitions in nine Pacific Rim nations to compete for a prize of $US4000. William was the only Maori attendee, and the only representative from Northland. And he was from a school where such opportunities are few and far between.

After a 10-hour flight from Auckland, Singapore proved to be a real eye-opener for William, who plans to become the chief executive of his own company when he graduates from Business School at Waikato University. His first sight of the city was a carpet of bright lights as far as the eye could see, coming from the banks of skyscrapers, some 65 storeys high.

He learned that Singapore boasts a population of 5.5 million people within an area about the size of Lake Taupo. And far from being impoverished, he was confronted with a high-tech, fast-paced and sophisticated centre of commerce and industry.

During the orientation dinner at the Copthorne King Convention Centre, his fellow competitors, mostly from high-decile Auckland schools, were amazed at the amount of Asian food he was able to consume at one sitting. He told them he was making the most of it, because when he got home it was back to mince on toast.

Over the next three days each two-person team was tasked with producing a hypothetical global business solution - a new fast food chain for Cuba that would solve the country's economic issues and provide opportunities for the local people. This involved extensive research on the political and economic situation of Cuba, particularly the effects of the sanctions and embargoes imposed on that country during the Cold War.

William and Daniel Liu (from Auckland's ACG private academy) came up with Nueva Cuba, in reference to the realisation that most of the country's resources were outdated and that the local farmers who would supply the produce for the chain were struggling after their release from Communist-run state farms.

William said the experience of producing a market entry strategy, not just for a project but an entirely new national service, was intense, challenging and different from anything he had been engaged in before in his business studies and Young Enterprise schemes.

He admitted to being nervous when he and Daniel presented their plan to the judging panel, where ultimately they lost out to another New Zealand team, who were judged the overall winners.

Despite that he was adamant that his trip was the experience of a lifetime, one that gave him the confidence and inspiration that he could achieve his dream of creating a significant and successful business in his home town. It also taught him that ultimately all people are the same.

Daniel Liu turned out to love rap music and have a great sense of humour, while travelling abroad and meeting people from many different countries and races helped to dispel the stereotypes he admitted to having before he left home, and to question why the opportunities in education and experience that most of these young people took for granted were not readily available to him and his fellow students back home in the Kaikohe.

"Perhaps one day he will play some part in changing that," teacher Susy Pointon said.