On our final day in Singapore, there were no company visits or other “academic” components scheduled. Instead, students and faculty were able to select the Singaporean adventure of their own choosing.

Many students opted to explore the resort island of Sentosa, which features several beaches, a casino, theme parks, an aquarium, and numerous other attractions. Other students explored the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Several faculty members ventured to the undeveloped, government-preserved island of Palau Ubin. And, of course, beyond the excursions listed, many other adventures too varied and numerous to list were had.

To start off my free day, Wilburn Oziogu, Mitch Montgomery, and I enjoyed a round of golf at one of Singapore’s few public courses. The course was located some distance from the hotel, but luckily cabs are quite inexpensive in Singapore. It was a relatively short course, and only nine holes, so we opted to walk. Plus, from what we observed, it appeared that the majority of golfers at this course walk rather than drive a cart. This was welcome news to us, as we were happy to play at a leisurely pace and enjoy the warm weather.

Afterwards, Mitch, Wilburn, and I returned to the hotel. We joined up with Bryan Sulentic to have lunch. At this point, several of us were in the mood for some more “familiar” cuisine. Singapore has no shortage of American restaurants, so we headed to the nearby Chili’s where we feasted on a bottomless basket of chips and salsa and some cheeseburgers.

Thereafter, Mitch and I visited a nearby microbrewery called Brewerkz. Brewerkz is Singapore’s largest and oldest microbrewery. Its founders are U.S.-born and modeled it after similar establishments in the United States and Canada. We secured a table on its spacious, open-air patio, which overlooks the quay, and enjoyed a variety of craft beers.

That evening we met up with a number of others from our group to have dinner at the hotel’s poolside restaurant. Mitch, Michael Costolo, Scott Christopherson, and I went out for one final evening to an area of Singapore called Club Street. We visited several establishments there and, purely by happenstance, ran into Ryan Schork, Alissa Ohl, and Alex Small, three of the expats who spoke at the previous day’s expat panel. We shared a couple of drinks with our expat friends before heading back to the hotel.

In sum, our final free day was a great cap to an exciting and fun-filled trip that allowed everyone to experience Singapore on his or her own terms. No matter the activity chosen, it seems safe to conclude that everyone had a terrific time, which was just the thing needed prior to the long journey back to North Carolina.

Written by Chad Archer

On Friday, January 16 we landed at AmCham Singapore, a non-profit association representing the interests of present and potential U.S. investors in Singapore. Thomas McNutt, Head of Government and Public Affairs, gave our group an overview of AmCham and led a discussion with panelists John Watlington, Elon ’12 (MBA); Katherine Watlington, Latham & Watkins; Ryan Schork, Elon’09, SingTel Group Digital Life;  Alex Small, ZALORA Group; and Alissa Ohl, Weber Shandwick. We heard about life as an expat, insights, tips, observations, and the opportunities that exist for individuals interested in working or starting a business abroad. After the panel discussion, we divided into several groups and enjoyed lunch with the panelists at local dining establishments.

That evening President and Mrs. Lambert joined our group for dinner, which included an array of Asian delicacies, prepared by the Long Beach Main Seafood restaurant.  Conversation, bright smiles and plenty of laughter ensued. The evening left everyone with great memories that will last a lifetime…

AmCham provides insights, advocacy, and connections through events and publications to its members.  AmCham represents members at the highest levels of government in Singapore and Washington and offers members a platform to engage with leaders across the region.  It is the largest foreign business chamber in Singapore and represents an estimated $25 billion in investments in Singapore and the region, with over 5,000 members representing more than 750 companies. It hosts over 275 events a year and fosters 13 industry committees, providing insights into doing business in Singapore and Asia with focus on pertinent issues, enabling information exchange and helping develop advocacy strategies. Committees hold meetings monthly at the AmCham boardroom or a member company’s office to network, to hear insights from industry leaders and to discuss issues relevant to their sectors. Furthermore,  AmCham advocates on behalf of its members through dialogues with governments and their trade missions.

AmCham is a member of the Asia-Pacific council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC). Through 25 independent member AmChams located in 19 economies of the Asia-Pacific Region, APCAC represents the growing interests of over 10,000 business entities and over 50,000 business executives in the region. The APCAC membership manages trade volumes in excess of US$400 billion and direct investments (FDI) of over US$200 builion.

Written by Kim Giles

The business portion of our sixth full day on the trip, and second in Singapore, consisted of meetings with management from Manna 360, Krispy Kreme’s Singaporean franchisee, and Luxola, an e-commerce business offering skin and other beauty products in the Southeast Asia region.

The night before may very well have been the most sleep a good portion of the students on the trip had gotten in the past few days, and I think the restfulness of the group was apparent during our morning visit to Krispy Kreme.  The group met with Gerry, Cynthia, and staff at the first Krispy Kreme location in Singapore, which opened in October 2013.  The first thing I noticed was a painting of what I believe was the first Krispy Kreme store in Greensboro, NC.  I thought it was neat to see something from home in Singapore.

What probably struck me the most about the visit was how enthusiastic and passionate for their work everyone at the location was, from Gerry and his marketing team to the store staff.  Gerry and Cynthia were both extremely open and engaging on any questions we asked.  And I really got the sense that even the store workers really, really enjoyed their job.  It was quite different from what one might see at a Krispy Kreme—or any fast-food type place—in America, where the staff might not always be quite so passionate and attentive.  We also got to take a tour of the back of the store—the store is one of Krispy Kreme’s “Factory Stores,” which means the store makes Krispy Kreme’s famous original glazed doughnuts in-house.

After wandering around the mall area in which Krispy Kreme was located, the group boarded the bus for lunch in a food court area on the way to Luxola.  Singapore has these food-court type places—we’ve been to two now—with many different stations that serve a wide range of Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and even American food.

After lunch, we made the short trip to Luxola’s warehouse and offices in Singapore.  Luxola is an e-commerce business devoted to offering a wide range of beauty products.  The company offers over 200 of the world’s leading brands in beauty products, and offers extremely fast shipping of its products—sometimes on the same day an order is placed.   We met with Alexis, Luxola’s founder, and Ronan.  Similar to the morning visit, both Alexis and Ronan were very open and answered any question we threw at them.  Something that I’ve certainly noticed from our business visits is how charismatic all of the individuals we’ve met with have been.  As a relatively introverted law student, I’ve been in awe at how confident and savvy these individuals have been.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a little more sightseeing.  Everywhere you look in this country, there is awe-inspiring architecture.  It’s incredible.

The majority of the students spent their evening at a night safari and the Creatures of the Night show at the Singapore zoo.  We were able to see some interesting and strange—and sometimes adorable—animals from the region.  During the show, an Elon professor that some of the MBA students knew even made it on stage to hold a giant snake.

The night ended with a group of us having a few drinks overlooking the river and Clarke Quay.  Probably the most enriching part of the trip so far, for me at least, is having learned from my colleagues in the MBA program.  Law school can sometimes be such a competitive, individualistic endeavor that actively working and collaborating with a team can be challenging.  We’ve sometimes been trained to only give our opinion when asked (or when “cold-called”).  I’ve learned from the MBA students that the best way to make this trip as rewarding as it should be is to be engaging and to ask questions, both of the individuals with whom we were meeting on our visits, as well as other students, even though that may not be the most comfortable and natural thing to me.  As a result, the trip has become much more enriching, and I believe I will be a better law student, and lawyer, in the future because of it.

Written by Mitch Montgomery

On Wednesday, January 14th we left the lovely Hotel Majestic to go to the airport. The next city to visit was Singapore. After a few mishaps earlier in the trip, we were able to have a successful departure from the hotel. We had such a great time in Vietnam so we were all looking forward to seeing what Singapore had in store for us. After a delayed takeoff and a three hour flight, we finally made it to Singapore. It didn’t take 10 minutes for all of us to see the significant differences from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore. One of the biggest differences was the police presence in the airport. The police walked in unison while each carried a semi-automatic rifle. A few of us had already heard how strict the government was in Singapore, but I, personally, was not expecting the presence to be as blatant as it was. As a contrast from the United States, Singapore’s immigration information card stated, in red bold letters, that drug smugglers will receive the death penalty.  No questions asked.

After going through customs and reclaiming our bags, we met tour guide Jeremy Koh.  Jeremy is a native Singaporean.  He and his wife Evelyn would be our tour guides for our time in Singapore.  Once everyone gathered their bags we went to the Singapore Flyer for lunch.  The Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest observation wheel and one of Asia’s biggest tourist attractions.  From its highest point, we were able to see the Singapore skyline from 541 feet.  We saw the beautiful blue water, Gardens by the Bay (one of the world’s largest botanical gardens) and state-of-the-art buildings galore.  You are able to see Indonesia and Malaysia from the Singapore Flyer.  The Flyer truly captivated the beauty of the city.

From there, Jeremy took us to Chinatown.  Chinatown contained many areas for shopping and food.  Also located in Chinatown was a Buddhist temple.  We toured the temple and learned several stories about Buddha.  Singapore is a very diverse country and has a demographic of people that carry Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths.

Next, Jeremy took us to our hotel (Swisshotel Merchant Court).  The hotel was located two blocks away from Chinatown and was built next to the Singapore River.  After checking in to the hotel, and brief rest, we met Jeremy in the hotel lobby and made our way to  Clarke Quay, located on the other side of the Singapore River.  It is a place that is filled with food, entertainment, and nightlife.  Clarke Quay is a beautiful place as roofing and decorations light up and change colors throughout the night.  Jeremy informed us of the things to do while at Clarke Quay.

At Clarke Quay, we boarded a boat to tour the Singapore River.  While on the riverboat, we were able to get a closer view of the architecture – towering buildings and some of its older French-Colonial buildings.  We were also introduced to the Merlion, a legendary creature consisting of a lion head and a the body of a fish, located on the right side of the river.  The Merlion symbolizes the history of Singapore.  One of the earliest founders of Singapore supposedly saw lions throughout the land of Singapore.  Jeremy told us that there has not been a sighting of lions in Singapore and it makes the story questionable.  Nevertheless, the country has adopted the story and combined it with Singapore’s history of fishing in the river to create the Merlion.  We all posed and took several pictures by this symbolic figure of the country.

Next, we had dinner at the Lau Pa Sat, a festival market full of restaurants that served traditional Southeast Asian Food.  After having a filling meal, some of us went to the laser show and the rest of us went to the casino.  Singapore is second in the world for gambling.  Singapore spends a lot of money on its casinos as is clearly evident by the design and architecture we saw.  The casino consisted of three floors with games ranging from roulette, poker, blackjack, and more.  After an unsuccessful night (speaking for myself), we went back to the hotel to conclude our first night in Singapore.

Singapore is country full of things to do and things to see.  Jeremy gave us a great introduction to Singapore, and we were so excited to learn more about the country and the businesses that chose to operate in the country.

Written by Wilburn Oziogu

Royal Friesland Campina Visit

The visit to Royal Friesland was an interesting stop. After traveling to the outer areas of Ho Chi Minh City, we arrived at a pretty campus surrounding the Royal Friesland plant. After getting off the bus, we were welcomed into the main office of the plant. The facility was beautiful and modern, easily on par with anything a person would expect to find in the United States. From the main lobby we were greeted and taken into a conference room where we had the opportunity to meet the plant manager.

The plant manager showed us a company video detailing Royal Friesland and some of the goals for the company in Vietnam. He explained his personal background with the company and how the company is structured. After the presentation we were taken on a tour of the facility.

During the tour we had a chance to see the quality control lab, as well as the packaging process. It was interesting to hear how strict quality control is for the plant. There is frequent testing of the dairy products at different stages of production to ensure that the entire milk batch is up to the standards of Royal Friesland.

Theodore Alexander Visit

After the Royal Friesland visit we drove to Theodore Alexander to visit their furniture manufacturing facility. This was a visit that I believe amazed the group. The facility was still in the process of recovering from a recent fire that destroyed a portion of the plant. Theodore Alexander, in responding to the resulting challenges, demonstrates an amazing flexibility in changing their production process within the facility in order to work around the lost production space.

The most impressive aspect of the Theodore Alexander visit was the chance to see how much individual, hand-craftsmanship goes into each piece of furniture produced by the company. Each stage, from sanding the raw wood to hand cutting mother-of-pearl inlays, involves a remarkable amount of precision work. The result is incredibly beautiful pieces of furniture.

The folks at Theodore Alexander also gave us the chance to ask some questions that gave us a great opportunity to see how a foreign company has to operate in a foreign country. A company like Theodore Alexander is not always able to rely on the protection of the local or national government when dealing with serious issues like worker riots. They have to have the ability to be flexible in thinking in order to overcome obstacles that they may not even encounter in more “developed” or “westernized” nations.

Dinner

That evening, after our company visits, we were invited to dinner at the home of Anthony Cox, Creative Director for Theodore Alexander. The home was beautiful and a perfect setting for our final meal in Ho Chi Minh City. We were joined by Harvey Dondero, President of Theodore Alexander, and Jess Ruelokke, Theodore Alexander’s Chief Financial Officer. The casual setting allowed us to ask questions that we may not have thought of until after our site visit with their company. The food was amazing and the whole night left an impression on the group that I don’t think any of us will be able to easily forget.

Written by Bryan Sulentic

The day began with a visit to Lodestar, a factory that makes Stanley Furniture. There, we met many Stanley Furniture executives and the owners of the factory. We toured the factory, seeing the production of furniture from beginning to end. It was interesting to see the workers happily doing such repetitive work, but we learned that repetitive work is culturally valued. We definitely felt the heat. While we were sweating through the 90+ degree heat, the workers seemed to be unaffected. It was interesting to learn about how workers protect themselves; although it is very different from OSHA, many regulations and practices are in place to protect factory workers. Workers also receive three meals a day, and we were told that the meals were considered one of the biggest perks of the job. The factory was well-organized, and many of us were shocked by how nice the facilities were. It was a unique experience to see the way that a major factory in Vietnam works.

At lunch, the group split up in a food court area for lunch. Some ate sushi, while others visited a restaurant with a very familiar name: The Hard Rock Café. After waiting for an extended period of time for our meal (almost an hour), we finally asked the waiter what was happening. He remarked that it was not a fast food restaurant. We all found that very funny, because it shows one of the cultural differences between Vietnam and the United States. Meals are expected to be a longer experience, even at a location like The Hard Rock Café.

In the afternoon, we visited Baker & McKenzie Vietnam, a local branch of a huge international law firm. While there, we learned a lot about the judicial system in Vietnam in relation to counterfeiting. Unlike the United States, there is little to no precedent, and cases are unpublished. Therefore, each decision is made on a case-by-case basis. We found the dramatic contrast between the civil law system versus the common law system very interesting. It was also interesting that when dealing with counterfeit goods, administrative remedies and government raids tend to be more successful than seeking civil or criminal remedies. The experience was an enlightening view into how the government and judicial system work.

At night, many members of the group went on a “Foodie Tour.” They rode on scooters throughout Saigon, which is an experience in itself. They visited many different street food vendors and were able to eat crazy foods like goat and frog. The guides were very knowledgeable, and the group got to visit a variety of locations in the city, ranging from traditional Vietnam to the ex-pat district.

At one location, the guides taught the group a chopstick game. Players received an empty water bottle and a peanut, and to win the game, players must pick up a peanut with their chopsticks. The first group to reach six peanuts won. It was a unique game, though some of the losing groups are bitter about their loss.

The guides were all required to have high levels of education and perfect English. They were incredibly interested to learn about American slang to add to their vocabulary. Many are going on to get more advanced degrees.

All in all, it was a culturally-enriching and fun day in Saigon!

Written by Kelly Holder

The Quest for Scavenger Hunt Glory

The second morning for the graduate program opened with a Tai Chi class in the heart of the Ho Chi Minh City at the Tao Dan Cultural Park. A large contingent of Vietnamese were treated to a graceful display of Tai Chi that can only compared to what one might expect from a horse on skates. After about twenty minutes of flailing arms and uncoordinated movements, it was time to begin the main event… A scavenger hunt that spanned more than three miles and five places of interests. Each group was led by a Vietnamese tour guide who was instructed to offer minimal assistance to the students during the scavenger hunt. Let’s be honest, their main goal was to ensure none of us ended up getting run over by a herd of scooters as we ventured from location to location.

The five locations were:

1. Le Cong Kieu street
2. Ben Thanh Market
3. Reunification Palace
4. The War Remnants Museum
5. Central Post Office

The groups started in different locations with instructions to take photos of specific items at each point of interest. The instructions varied from taking a photo of team members eating a Durian fruit to buying a stamp from the Central Post Office. The purpose of the scavenger hunt was to allow each team to execute various tasks at each site in order to learn and step out of our comfort zones. The latter proved to be the greatest challenge of the entire scavenger hunt. Each team was allowed to choose their level of participation at each location. Several teams opted not to perform some of the suggested tasks (using locals to spell out ELON at the Presidential Palace). Many of the tasks were jovial in nature to encourage interactions with people such as a picture with a student fist bumping somebody in a conical hat. Now back to the Durian fruit–the best way to describe this “fruit” is it tastes like the smell coming from a stopped up sewer with the texture of raw chicken skin. We honestly have no idea how or why people would choose to consume this fruit but apparently they do.

The scavenger hunt ended up taking most groups about 6 to 7 hours to complete and left many people quite exhausted. The groups met in the professors’ suite to have a debriefing session, compare stories and announce the winners. The top 3 groups were awarded prizes ranging from paper whirly helicopters to spinning orbs with flashing lights. All in all, each group thought the scavenger hunt was a good way to dive into many of the sights around Ho Chi Minh City.

Written by Brian Piantadosi

Our first day in Vietnam, we went on the Mekong River tour in the Ben Tre province. We left from the Hotel Majestic Saigon and drove an hour and a half from Ho Chi Minh City past many rice paddies to the jungle of the Mekong Delta. An interesting thing our tour guide pointed out was that graves were situated in each rice field. These graves are how farmers who have passed return to the land they tended. Each year after they pass, the family brings gifts to the grave on the anniversary of their death.

Upon arriving at the delta, we boarded a long, narrow, wooden boat with a roof to protect us from the intense heat. All along the banks, palm fronds hang towards the middle of the canal and grow right out of the water, making a very lush scene. Our first stop was at a brickworks. The workers were local to the area and only make bricks when they are not taking care of their children, their household and their garden. The process of making the bricks was hard, intensive labor. The process included: making the clay mixture, pushing it through a mold to hollow some of the middle out, and cutting the long stretch of clay into small pieces. After the bricks are cut, they dry in the sun for a few days before getting fired in a high heat brick kiln shaped like a dome. The fire in the kiln is created from burning rice shucks, and the ash left over is then used for fertilizer on their agriculture.

The second stop we made was at a coconut processing workshop where they were making coconut candy. The guide showed us how each part of the coconut was used and there was no waste. The various products made from this nut are abundant–from coconut milk and water to taffy like candy and fertilizer for crops. We ate local fruit and the candy while a few of the group got friendly with the pet python there.

It became apparent that the Vietnamese believe in the idea of rebirth and a cyclical life of people and resources. Each instance–the farmer returning to his land in the afterlife, ash from brick making being used for fertilizer, and the coconut shucks also being used for fertilization–mimics this cycle and puts a value to things we might discount or discard in America.

Written by Jessica Odom

This blog chronicles the adventures of Elon MBA and Law students during their travel to Vietnam and Singapore as part of the Winter Term 2015 joint MBA/Law International Business course. Enjoy!