Evelyn Clarissa Siregar, 28, offered her professional skills to anyone who would sponsor her Singapore Management University MBA. Her public post drew criticism over entitlement; she later revised her pitch and apologized.
After criticism she apologized, deleted the original Threads post, and published a revised pitch framing sponsorship as a value exchange focused on connecting Southeast Asian products with investors and industry.
Siregar said she had applied for scholarships, failed several standardized tests and programs, could not find full-time work that allowed part-time study, and described this as her last attempt at an MBA.
# What happened
# Why the post drew attention
Her initial replies framed the request as necessary to "soar higher," and described herself as single with no dependents. That phrasing and the public solicitation triggered much of the backlash.
# Her response and revised pitch
After criticism she posted an apology on Instagram, saying she responded defensively and that she had "failed to consider the bigger picture." She deleted the original Threads post, then published a revised pitch.
The revised message reframed sponsorship as a structured value exchange. She said the MBA would help her connect researchers, investors and industry to help Southeast Asian products—starting with beauty and consumer goods—compete globally. She also said she had unsuccessfully applied for several scholarships and programs and had failed several standardized tests before SMU admitted her. The revised post drew noticeably more support, though some users still questioned the financial logic for potential sponsors.
# Background and context Siregar provided
Siregar is a pharmacist by training and currently works in business-to-business tech sales at a small company. She told Mothership she had tried and failed to find a full-time job that would allow part-time study, making the full-time MBA her remaining option. She described the sponsorship she seeks as a "value exchange," not a gift, and said she was emailing and meeting potential sponsors while applying for scholarships.
# What the story illustrates
# Practical next steps Siregar described
She said she is contacting potential sponsors directly, applying for more scholarships, and meeting people who might back her. Her stated aim is to use the MBA to create commercial links for Southeast Asian products with investors and industry partners.
# Bottom line
For 28-year-old Indonesian professional Evelyn Clarissa Siregar, asking strangers to help fund her MBA in Singapore was a gamble: she knew the request was unconventional but hoped putting her dream out in public might open a door. Instead, her appeal for more than S$100,000 (US$78,000) to fund her business programme at
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