It was an exciting and fruitful December 2022 for a group of 40 over students who were part of SMU-XO’s course to Jakarta – Overseas Project Experience (Accounting in Asia). The course provides students an overview of business and investment opportunities in Indonesia, while giving them an understanding of its social, cultural, economic, and political landscape through an overseas experiential learning experience.
The course is a joint programme with Universitas Prasetiya Mulya, where faculty and students from both institutions worked together on the course and project. Students were tasked with evaluating problems faced by accounting and finance functions of an Indonesian company and recommending solutions to these issues. The project sponsor for the module this year was Indonesian conglomerate, PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk (EmTek).
For the project, students were given the challenge of defining the “Future of Work for Emtek”. Based on their research and supported by Emtek mentors, they had to recommend and provide explanations on new work policies that should be adapted in the endemic period in each of every business portfolio (Media, Digital Media, Digital Business, Hospital and Solution division) of the Emtek Group.
The SMU-XO students were in Jakarta from 3 – 11 December, where they worked together with students from Universitas Prasetiya Mulya on projects assigned by Emtek Group and LUCY (a fintech startup based in Singapore). In addition, they were given exclusive tours to SCTV Studio, Universitas Prasetiya Mulya, UOB Indonesia and Sinar Mas Land, where they witnessed work processes first-hand. Other highlights included attending the launch of the SMU Overseas Centre Jakarta and a gathering with SMU alumni based in the city.
The collaboration between Singapore Management University, Universitas Prasetiya Mulya and Emtek was featured in Indonesian media Indosiar TV and SCTV. To view them, please click on the links (videos are in Bahasa Indonesia).
On the project presentations by the students, Mr Pieter Hadrian (Vice President, Emtek Group HR) said, “The findings by the 4 project groups were very useful as it confirms our HR strategy in terms of how the future of work at the four different divisions of Emtek should be conducted.”
SMU-X course instructor for this module, Associate Professor of Accounting (Education), Yuanto Kusnadi said, “This has been a memorable trip as it represents the first time we work together with students from Universitas Prasetiya Mulya (PrasMul) on SMU-X projects involving 2 Indonesian companies. The virtual lessons we had before the trip, the online mentoring sessions, and online presentations before we went on the trip were smoothly conducted. And when we were in Jakarta, the client (Emtek Group) as well as Universitas Prasetiya Mulya (especially the students) were very hospitable to our students. Our students enjoyed the cultural exchange with their Indonesian peers and worked together seamlessly, culminating in successful presentations done in front of the senior managers of the Emtek Group and the founder of LUCY.”
Positive feedback were also received from the students who evidently enjoyed the cross culture exchange:
“I am very thankful for this opportunity to embark on an overseas study mission. During the opening ceremony of SMU’s first Overseas Centre in Jakarta, Indonesia’s Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Pak Nadiem Makarim, mentioned that education systems in this era need to provide a more holistic and experiential approach for learning, mainly because things around us have changed and progressed. With globalisation bringing people around the world together, it is definitely of critical interest to encourage cross-cultural learning between countries. I have learnt a lot about Indonesia and its culture from this trip. It was also great to be able to meet our friends and professors from PrasMul in person. They have been so welcoming and generous, ensuring that we are always well-fed." – Nor Khairiani Binte Mohd Hosaim (Year 3, School of Accountancy)
“Some of us got the chance to meet some famous artists that were having a concert near our hotel. We also visited some companies and PrasMul. Witnessing a live broadcast coverage of Liputan 6, a well-known news programme in Indonesia, exploring the SCTV studio in Senayan City, and the company tour of UOB Indonesia were all very exciting. Not only that, we got to make new acquaintances through interacting with the Emtek employees and some alumni members.” – Ng Qiu Pei (Year 3, Lee Kong Chian School of Business), Michael Johnpaul Chang (Year 2, Lee Kong Chian School of Business), Celine Ong Jing Wen (Year 2, School of Accountancy)