'Call me entitled if you want': Indonesian woman, 28, looking for sponsors for S$82,000 SMU MBA - Mothership

She explained that she's simply fighting for her dream.

An Indonesian woman was accepted into a master's programme with the Singapore Management University (SMU).

Unlike most prospective students, she took to the internet to look for sponsors.

However, responses were mixed, and she was met with both support and heavy criticism.

On Instagram and Threads, Evelyn Clarissa Siregar, 28, made a post on Sep. 20 2026 to seek funding for her Master in Business Administration (MBA) programme.

In the post, she explained how she accepted an offer for SMU's Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, to begin in January 2027.

She managed to obtain an SMU ASEAN Discount of S$3,000 on the tuition fees.

However, this was still a small fraction of the total amount of S$82,840.

She admitted that she could not pay back her sponsors in money, but stated that she could offer her "skills and experiences".

She then detailed her past experience in sales and content creation for brands.

Noting that she was in her 20s, without a husband nor kids, she declared, "I have absolutely nothing preventing me from soaring high except for the funding".

"This request for help is not only for sponsors but also for anyone who believes in me," she wrote.

She ended her pitch by calling on others to share her post or to give her advice, and promised to do her best for those that supported her.

The post became widely shared, with some netizens expressing their support for Siregar. Others, however, were more caustic.

Her detractors labelled her as entitled, with one user telling her that there were no "free lunches".

Remarks were made about the travel videos that she previously posted on Instagram, questioning if she truly needed the financial aid.

In a criticism on Threads, one user questioned if she had ever "heard of student loans".

Another user suggested working first and saving up some money.

Other commenters were more supportive, lending her words of encouragement.

She also received advice from those who had taken the same programme, with some recommending various scholarship programs for her.

In a follow-up comment to the same post, Siregar gave an update, stating that she was refining her pitch to sponsors and arranging meetings with them.

She added, "Call me entitled if you want, but I’m just a girl knocking on every single door to fight for my dream."

Speaking to Mothership, Siregar shared that she was a pharmacist by training but worked mainly in business-to-business (B2B) sales in the tech sector.

Working as an employee in a small company, she said that paying for such exorbitant fees was a "significant financial consideration".

She had attempted to look for a full-time role that allowed her to complete the MBA programme part-time, but was unsuccessful in her search.

Hence, she began thinking of ways to make the MBA programme work, such as through finding a sponsor.

According to Siregar, she has been continually applying for scholarships as well.

She does not see the sponsorship as a gift, but simple as "another route", and a form of "value exchange".

"...instead of simply asking someone to fund my MBA, I thought, what can I actually offer in return?

That could be through a job opportunity, part-time work where permitted, or other ways I can contribute my skills and commitment.

That’s why I started reaching out to potential employers and sponsors, sharing what I can bring to the table, and seeing if there’s a way we can work together. I’ve also been pitching publicly, which is how this conversation started in the first place."

Four days after the first post, Siregar made a second post on Sep. 24 in response to the backlash.

She apologised, saying that she took the time to reflect on what had happened.

She admitted that while she "didn't see asking for sponsorship as something wrong", her execution and defensive replies came across as "too entitled".

She added that she had openly mentioned the amount she was seeking "without considering the current situation or how it might come across to people", and that this was "unacceptable".

"In doing so, I was undermining the journey and struggles that many people have gone through to get where they are today."

Taking the opportunity to further explain her pitch, Siregar stated that for quality products to be made, she believes Southeast Asia needs robust research and development (R&D).

Siregar envisions her role as being a potential bridge between researchers, investors, and industries.

She claimed that an MBA would allow her to realise that dream by equipping her with the requisite investing knowledge.

She added that Singapore was the ideal place to do so thanks to its developed economy and science sector, where she is able to "learn from the best".

She also shared that the journey to an MBA had not been easy — she had been rejected from various scholarships and programmes, failing several standardised tests and exams, before finally landing a spot in SMU.

This, Siregar said, was her last attempt at getting the MBA.

Her second post still drew some critique.

Netizens criticised her for not having numbers or figures to justify the pitch and told her that her plan would not make financial sense for a potential sponsor.

However, others praised her bravery and confidence in expressing her goals.

Siregar shared with Mothership that her goal was to see Southeast Asian products compete in global markets.

While she acknowledged that she's still "figuring out the exact role" she wants to be in,  she said that she was "less attached to the job title and more attached to the problem I want to work on".

She hopes to learn from Singapore's ecosystem and bring the knowledge to the rest of the region.