Purpose of the Business Study Mission

The objective of the Business Study Mission is to understand how the use of study trip can
enhance student educational experience. The fieldtrip in Business Study Mission is a useful
educational tool for transforming learning experience beyond reported study trips to have
enhanced students’ learning and increased their practical knowledge in the absence of actual
work environment, culture and environment. Furthermore, to understand the historical side of the
city itself and Singapore, with a strong economy, stable political situation and highly
multicultural society, offers very attractive living and working conditions.

Journal of Visited Companies

Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS)

Established in February 2009, EOS is an autonomous research institute funded by Singapore’s

National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education and Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) as part of Singapore’s Research Centre of Excellence initiative. Many of our scientists
will hold joint faculty appointments in NTU’s new Division of Earth Sciences. The Earth
Observatory of Singapore conducts research on earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and
climate change in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

Presentation of OUE

OUE is a diversified real estate owner, developer and operator with a real estate portfolio located
in prime locations in Asia and the United States. OUE consistently grows its business by
leveraging its brands and proven expertise in developing and managing landmark assets across
the commercial, hospitality, retail and residential sectors primarily in Singapore. With its core
strategy of investing in and enhancing a stable of distinctive properties, OUE is committed to
developing a portfolio that has a strong recurrent income base, balanced with development
profits, to enhance long-term shareholder value. OUE has achieved consistent growth over the
past 50 years by developing and managing landmark properties at prime locations in Singapore
and across the region. OUE are shaping our future by diversifying into commercial, retail,
residential developments and fund management businesses in addition to our hospitality
excellence. We are committed to maximizing shareholder value through our growing portfolio.

Singapore City Gallery

There are few places in the world that have transformed themselves from a backwater village to a
first-world metropolis in just 50 years. Singapore has pulled off this amazing feat, and with it has
come a remarkable physical transformation that sees skyscrapers and other iconic structures
emerge to create a distinctive city skyline. Singapore City Gallery documents the nation's
planning challenges and effort in over 10 thematic areas and more than 50 audiovisual and
interactive exhibits spanning three floors. One key attraction is the massive architectural model
that gives you a bird's eye view of the city center, which comes alive with a light and sound
show. Another key attraction allows you to immerse yourself in the city through a 270-degree
panoramic show that depicts scenes of daily life in Singapore from dusk to dawn.

Cultural Awareness Chinatown

As the largest ethnic group in Singapore is Chinese, Chinatown is considerably less of an enclave
than it once was. However, the precinct does retain significant historical and cultural
significance. Large sections of it have been declared national heritage sites officially designated
for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The street architecture of Chinatown's
buildings, the shophouses especially, combine different elements of baroque architecture and
Victorian architecture and do not have a single classification. Many of them were built in the
style of painted ladies, and have been restored in that fashion. These styles result in a variety of
different colors of which pastel is most dominant. Trengganu Street, Pagoda Street and Temple
Street are such examples of this architecture, as well as development in Upper Cross Street and
the houses in Club Street. Boat Quay was once a slave market along the Singapore River, Boat
Quay has the most mixed-style shop houses on the island.

NEWater Visitor Centre Tour

Singapore is an island and urban city state with no rural hinterland. Conflicts with the
neighboring country made it necessary for Singapore to find a sustainable solution to find a
reliable substitute for the life-saving fresh water supply. Singapore Government has been
investing in research and technology to build a robust, diversified and sustainable water supply
from four different sources.

BLK 71 NUS

Affectionately called Block 71 by tenants, it will house about 750 startups by 2017, up from 500
now and 250 when it first began in 2011. The project is acollaboration between JTC Corporation
and SPRING Singapore, government agencies in charge of industrial development and economic
growth respectively.

Photo Session at Merlion

Cultural visit to the Merlion to take a group photos, Chinatown and the Little India brought us to
the streets to gain an up-close experience of the local way of life. Obviously, Singaporean
government has successfully nurtured a favorable business environment with high sustainability
that is vital to the country’s success and international competitiveness.
Comparative Study between Indonesia and Singapore

Work environment and practice

Singapore is well known for its excellent working conditions, but also for its competitive
salaries. In 2016, the average income of a software engineer was 47,000 SGD, an information
technology consultant made 63,000 SGD, and regional sales managers earned 91,500 SGD.
However, you should make sure to negotiate your salary so that it covers your cost of living in
Singapore before signing your employment contract. After all, there is no minimum wage in
Singapore, and your salary depends on what you and your employer agree upon. Employees who
are covered by the Employment Act and who earn more than 4,500 SGD per month may be
subject to salary deductions. Deductions occur, for example, for absence from work, damage or
loss of items entrusted to an employee, the cost of meals or accommodation, and so on.
However, these deductions may not exceed 50% of the overall monthly salary.

Ease of doing business

There are several challenges involved in setting up a business. A crucial decision that needs to be
made in the early stage of incorporating a business is choosing the right jurisdiction for business
setup. Some of the factors that investors and entrepreneurs look for while shopping for a business
jurisdiction include the following: Business climate of a given jurisdiction, tax burden imposed
on the corporate level, Intellectual Property protection, extent of red-tape and corruption,
availability of a cost-effective and talented human resource pool, and last but definitely not the
least, the living environment. An analysis of a country’s performance in business surveys and
economic indices is a good reference point to assess the suitability of the given jurisdiction. This
article explores the feasibility of doing business in Singapore and Indonesia.

Singapore is the world’s easiest place to do business according to the World Bank’s ‘2016 Ease
of Doing Business Report‘. However, Indonesia ranked #109. The disparities between the two
countries was evident is all parameters. For instance, an analysis setting up a company in
Singapore against Indonesia shows that it takes only 24 hours and two procedures to incorporate
company in Singapore while it takes 3-6 months and as many as nine procedures to form a
company in Indonesia. Investors are better protected in Singapore (ranked #1 for minority
investor protection) as compared to Indonesia (ranked #88 for minority investor protection).
Other areas where Singapore gains an upper-hand over Indonesia are taxes and enforcing
contracts.
Access to tertiary and post-graduation education

Singapore is a very disciplined, neat and clean place to live in. It has a number of official
languages in addition to English: Malay, Tamil and Mandarin Chinese. You may learn these
languages just by going around Singapore. Universities there offer a variety of degrees: diploma,
bachelor, master and doctoral. Singaporean universities also have a tight network with top
universities abroad, resulting in cross-bred universities in Singapore such as Yale-NUS (Yale-
National University of Singapore), Duke-NUS, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (Imperial
College London and Nanyang Technological University) and many others. In these institutions,
we can pursue degrees in Singapore with the world’s top universities’ programmers. The
government of Singapore and the universities also provide many scholarships opportunities for
international students.

I can attest that, as in other Asian institutions, studying in a university in Hong Kong or
Singapore is very demanding. I witness this at first-hand while discussing the workload and
stress with my close friends and acquaintances who are currently studying in Australia, the US,
the UK and Singapore. It seems that my friend who was studying in Singapore and I expressed
the most heightened level of stress and competition at school. I thought that was our problem
alone, but after discussion with other friends who have had a similar conversation with their
peers, they also agreed. I think this may be because Asian culture tends to overemphasize
passing courses with flying colors as a measure of success. Even though it was tough, after my
bachelor’s degree graduation I realized that it was worth it.

Social and cultural practices

Cultural differences Indonesia and Singapore culture is closely connected to the community.
Everything is contained in a society is determined by the culture which is owned by the
community itself. Each country has different cultures, depending on ethnicity, religion, customs
and other things that affect the lifestyle of the people. Both have their respective cultures that
make the difference between the two countries. Similarly, Indonesia, the State of Singapore also
consists of various tribes which 77% is dominated by ethnic Chinese population, Malay and
Indian. In Singapore, discipline and clean culture from an early age, behavior instilled discipline
and clean living while they are still attending school. We can see for them how to discipline the
behavior of citizens in maintaining cleanliness and order environment. Examples While in one
area of trade, it appears there is a little boy who accidentally fell out of the car just throw a candy
wrapper into the trash. We all understand that the behavior of citizens that great a way certainly
cannot just be the responsibility of any educational institution. Government as an institution that
is mandated by the people to set also has a role and a great responsibility to order the behavior of
its citizens.
Three most important takeaways from this Business Study Mission:

1. Education system and development goals

The strong link between education and economic development in Singapore has kept investment
in education a central priority, made education policies highly pragmatic, led to high-quality
mathematics and science and also to world-class vocational/technical education – an area where
most countries fail. It has also kept education dynamic, expecting to change as conditions change
rather than being mired in the past. While the tightness of the link may not be possible in less
planned economies, bringing together economic and education policy makers, business and
education leaders to continually assess changes in economic conditions and how education and
economic development could better work together would strengthen both.

2. Small City, Big Opportunities

Integrated urban planning with limited land, Singapore took an integrated approach to urban
planning; developing the city-state into the thriving business and financial Centre it is today. The
wealth of experience accumulated in Singapore has enabled them to deliver a full range of
capabilities in building cities for the modern world – from master planning to development,
architectural services, construction services as well as property and facilities management.

3. Start-up Ecosystem

There are more than 2,000 start-ups in Singapore. A start-up typically refers to a fledgling
enterprise with less than 3-5 years of establishment and comprises a team of specialized
personnel running a business with innovative elements. Its operation, in general, will require
some sort of support from the government and venture capitalists.