ASIA TERM - EXPERIENCE
REPORT
SMU Campus Life and Courses
BVWL, Fall Semester 2015, August – December
General Remarks
Before I go into the actual focus of this experience report - the student and campus life at SMU -, I
would like to highlight one aspect that I was very much unaware of, when I decided to do the Asia
term, but which in my opinion would have had a big impact on my decision.
Due to Indonesian forest fires Singapore is generally exposed to 1-2 weeks of haze during the time of
the Asia term. Under unfavourable circumstances, such as those prevalent in 2015, this exposure to
haze may however last considerably longer.
SMU Campus Life and Student Activities/Clubs
Singapore Management University (SMU) offers a wide variety of extracurricular clubs and activities.
There are frequent on-campus events held by the Office of Global Learning or Student body
organizations, these include amongst others: concerts, sushi-speed eating contests or stand-up
comedy competitions. After an exhausting day at Uni, SMU students frequently meet at bars and food
courts around the campus.
Sports
For everyone looking to stay active, SMU has both a well-equipped gym and a university pool on top
of the administrative building. Furthermore the underground passages that lead to the MRT are
frequently used by students for dancing, martial arts and other group training activities.
At the start of the semester most sports clubs advertise their training times via the SMU email and
there is also an open house event, where the clubs present themselves, thus making it easy to join.
There are countless sports teams. To name only a few, there is a swim team (the SMU sharks) and
soccer teams for both guys and girls. There are regular yoga and martial arts classes held at the SMU
gym. If you would like to try surfing, sailing or wakeboarding, you can join the respective SMU club and
head to a local marina. On top of the regular sports clubs, SMUX offers outdoor and adventure
experiences such as biking, diving and trekking amongst others. From personal experience, I can
warmly recommend the SMUX divers. I joined them for an Adventure Dive and a Shark Tank Dive at
the S.E.A. Aquarium on Sentosa. It was one of the most fascinating dive experiences I have had so far
and we got a big group discount as well.
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Clubs
The first thing you have to know, when you go to Singapore is, that Singaporeans love their food. It is
usually the first and last topic in any conversation and you will rarely encounter any Singaporean, who
does not have a very strong opinion on where the best food is to be had. It is no surprise then, that
SMU has a very active “Gourmet Club”. Throughout the semester the Gourmet Club offers different
wine and food tasting events as well as cooking courses at very affordable prices. Especially amongst
exchange students the Mixology Workshops were quite the rage.
Whether you are already Model United Nations experienced or are just looking for a cool way to meet
people and polish up your debating skills, the MUN Club at SMU “UNSA-SMU” might be worthwhile
checking out. They have weekly sessions in which debating and negotiating skills are refined. Though
you probably won’t have time to go to a MUN conference abroad during the Asia term, you may get
the chance to participate at a conference at SMU. During the Asia term 2015 they held a half day mini
conference on the topic of LGBT rights; it was not overly sophisticated, but a great experience for first
time delegates and a nice break from lectures.
These are examples of only two of the numerous clubs at SMU; SMU offers a multitude of other
sports, arts or academic clubs. Here you will find an overview. To get in contact, just sent the club you
are interested in an e-mail, stating your interest and in my experience you will receive a pretty quick
and detailed response on upcoming events and meeting times.
Seminars
As you will soon discover from your constantly overflowing inbox, SMU offers frequent guest lectures
and seminars that are free for students to sit in on. During the Asia term 2015, amongst others we had
Sir James Mirrlees, nobel prize winner, and Mr Jyrki Katainen, vice-president of the European
Commission at SMU. Most lectures are free for SMU students, but you are often required to sign up in
advance.
Buddy and Host Program
Before the start of the semester you will have the opportunity to register for the SMU orientation
program from the Office of Global Learning at SMU. As part of the orientation program you can
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participate in various events (for instance a guided city tour) as well as the Buddy and Mentoring
program. Try to register as early as possible, because the events fill up quite quickly.
During my exchange I was part of both the Buddy and Mentoring program. The Buddy program
allocates you a fellow SMU student, who will help you get to know SMU and get used to the life in
Singapore. My buddy and me hit it off from the first moment. She showed me around Singapore and
always knew where to find the best dishes, biggest sales and cheapest drinks.
The Host program assigns you an SMU alumni living in Singapore, who like a buddy will help you get
used to the life in Singapore. Personally I did not have the best experience with my host as he was
very busy most of the time and we barely found an occasion to meet. However many hosts go on
regular excursions and some even travel with their mentees.
Courses
Business Study Mission to Malaysia (6 Credits)
Lecturer: Dr. Christine Scheef
Grading: 20% attendance and class participation, 40% group presentation, 40% individual project
General remarks: In this course we were about 2/3 HSG students and 1/3 SMU students. The course
is comprised of regular weekly classes until the mid-term break and a one week long study trip to
Malaysia (either in the mid-term break or after the end of the semester). During our study mission we
visited companies and governmental institutions in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh.
Economic Development in Asia (6 Credits)
Lecturer: Prof. Madhav S. Aney
Grading: 10% class participation, 30% group presentation/debate, 20% mid-term exam, 40% final
exam
General remarks: This course was by far my favourite course during the Asia term. I was the only
exchange student in a class of around 30 SMU students. The course curriculum is based on the book
“Poor Economics” by Banerjee and Duflo, which is quite an enjoyable and easy read. Prof. Aney’s
lectures were very interactive and comprehensive and in my opinion quite interesting. The course
required fairly little effort aside from the preparation of the group presentation. The group presentation
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was structured like a debate. Each week 2 groups were assigned to a topic; one of them would
prepare an argument and the other the counter argument. Each would present their arguments in a 15
minute presentation, which was followed by a 5 minute rebuttal from the other team.
Business Consulting (6 Credits)
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Morkötter
Grading: 10% attendance and class participation, 10% progress report, 30% mid-term presentation,
50% final presentation
General remarks: Beyond a doubt the most time consuming course, but also the course where I
learned the most during the Asia term. During the first weeks of the course you are assigned a team of
SMU and HSG students and a corporate partner, with and for whom you will be working on a project
for the rest of the course. The weekly lectures are there to equip you with all the necessary skills to
successfully complete the project.
HSG Finance (6 Credits)
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Morkötter
Grading: 100% final exam
General remarks: The course is structured adjacent to the Finance Course in St. Gallen, but it
includes several guest lectures on top of the core curriculum. Especially the Independent Studies
tutorials are a great help when preparing for the exam.
Business Development in Asia (3 Credits)
Lecturer: Dr. Michael Hilb
Grading: 30% country or case presentation, 40% business development pitch, 30% learning summary
(individual)
General remarks: The course was a 3 day block course prior to the start of the semester. Mandatory
readings are assigned before the start of the course and the first group presentation is also to be
completed before the course starts. Due to its compact structure the course is quite stressful as you
are required to work on the group projects in the evening after a day of block courses. However, it is
manageable with due effort and the course itself is fairly interesting.
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