There was excitement in the air, and the campus was buzzing with energy, and that was because a set of 35 students were to embark on a journey to Malaysia and Singapore, the annual International Study Tour from Great Lakes Institute of Management.

We boarded the flight at 12:30am and reached Kuala Lumpur at 6am in the morning (local time, 2.5 hours ahead of India). From the airport we headed straight to Putra Jaya, a model town in the outskirts of KL; the mosques and parliament buildings were breathtaking. The next halt was at Genting Highlands, the famous tourist spot, 1 hour drive from KL. The weather was freezing cold and all of us were very tired, but that wasn't enough to let our spirits down. All of us enjoyed the place to the fullest. We had a list of activities the next day, and everyone hit the bed as soon as we reached our hotel.

The next day we visited the Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR), one of the famous B-schools in Malaysia and were warmly welcomed by the faculty there, also there was a presentation on the Malaysian economy which provided us with good insights on the subject. After having snacks at the campus we moved on to the next leg of the journey, that was to visit the Petronas towers, the tallest twin towers in the world for a photo shoot, and then to visit some of the malls in town for shopping.

The third day was packed with activities ranging from a trip to China town, a visit to the KL tower, a walk inside the Petronas towers and a visit to the Royal Palace. As the time went by we got ready to bid adieu to Malaysia and caught a train to Singapore the same night.

The next day we reached Singapore city and went straight to the hotel. After freshening up, the group of students liasoned with some of the companies in town. In the night almost everyone made a visit to Clarke Quay, among the famous spots in Singapore. The next day after lunch everyone went over to the Night Safari and witnessed an amazing show of animals and birds, a must visit for animal lovers.

It was a Sunday morning, and people visited the shopping malls, not to miss the Mustafa mall, a must visit for all tourists. On the last day of the trip we had an appointment with Singapore Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), there we got to learn quite a few things about working/doing business in Singapore. The CEO, Mr Pradeep Menon provided us with very minute details of Singapore's work culture, demographics and business environment. There was a question answer session that followed, so by the time we were through with the session, everyone had a decent knowledge about Singapore and its work environment. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and from there to the airport. The days had flown by and everyone who was a part of the trip gained quite a bit of knowledge and experience in terms of the culture of the two countries as also the business environment in the two places.

We reached our campus at 2am in the morning; there was a class at 9am the same day and everyone was ready for it!

Students from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai embarked on a 7-day International Study Tour to Singapore and Malaysia. Around 45 students were part of the student delegation headed by Prof. Rakesh P. Singh. This was a student-driven initiative to get a broader view of the industry, economy and business education of Singapore and Malaysia.

Later on, the delegation was addressed by the Dean of NTU, Dr. Jitendra Singh. He spoke about the need for business schools to become more relevant and to re-define their roles as contributors to society and in the process foster innovation, new thinking which has been woefully lacking even with the top B-schools of the world. He also talked about how India was regaining its rightful place in the world with its rapid growth, something which it had lost since the 1700s. The session ended on a high note with a proposal to have student exchange programs in the coming years between the two institutes and to work more closely in offering new and more relevant Business programs.

The students also visited companies belonging to different domains. At ASCO Numatics, manufacturers of pneumatic valves, an Emerson Group Company, Singapore, the students learnt about the inventory management techniques followed, and the processes followed right from procuring raw materials to distribution in the supply chain. At Temasek Holdings, Singapore, an investment banking firm, Great Lakers learnt about the investment diversification portfolio of Temasek, the geographies it operates from and the entry and exit strategies followed in the short-term as well as the long-term. The students got a feel of the marketing strategies at the Singapore office of P&G. This was followed by a visit to Redpill Solutions, a market research company.

Later on, Great Lakers visited the Singapore Economic Development Board and attended a lecture on the Singapore Economy by Mr. Engkeat Lee, Regional Director, South Asia. They also visited the PSA Port in Singapore and learnt about the techniques of efficient port management.

At the Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia, Mr. Mohammed Nasser Mohammed Noor, Director of Higher Education, addressed the students about the higher education scene in Malaysia. He talked about the problems facing higher education in Malaysia and the plan of action to improve higher education in the next 20 years.

After this, the students visited Graduate School of Management, Malaysia. This presented an opportunity to explore areas of common interest such as student exchange programs, etc. Great Lakes students got to interact with the GSM students and learnt more about the MBA program offered by GSM, and life in general as an MBA student in Malaysia.

This was followed by a visit to UNITAR, University of Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia. A lecture on the Malaysian Economy by Prof. Dr. Cheah Kooi Guan was organized for the visiting students. This was a great learning experience for the students and they gained insights on how the Malaysian economy is different from the Indian economy, and how it has evolved over the years, and how it is handling the current worldwide economic crisis. The students also visited Bank Rakyat, Malaysia’s largest bank and learnt about Islamic Banking fundamentals and the differences between conventional banking and Islamic banking.

All of these interactions proved to be beneficial to the students in terms of the understanding the students gained on various aspects of business in Singapore and Malaysia. This experience has truly broadened the horizons of the students.