Singapore Management University (SMU) one of Singapore’s 3 main universities and home to the internationally recognized Lee Kong Chian School of Business. Plenty of emphasis is given to expanding international relations and on 10^th May 2016, a group of 34 talented students led by their Dean Professor Gerry George came to Taiwan for a friendly exchange and discussion.

Dean Andy Guo graced the event with his presence, extending a warm welcome and sharing his thoughts with the Singapore students as we started the day’s program. He urged both schools to work to further develop a deeper partnership and increase international exchanges for the benefit of students from Singapore and Taiwan. Associate Director of Professor Chen Chialin then took to the stage to share a friendly banter with the Singapore students and showcase the College of Management, its brief history, the school campus as well as the international curriculum we offered.
 

The day then belonged to the students as they engaged in a fun yet passionate exchange of ideas. The College of Management had invited students with more global experiences to come participate, and we had 19 undergraduates as well as 6 GMBA students represent NTU. The students were evenly distributed into several groups where they then discussed the similarities and differences in education styles. The room was filled with laughter and the time passed too quickly! After the short 1 hour discussion, each team was given time to present their findings. Without the help of any technology, and with just some simple pieces of paper, the teams were forced to use their creativity to showcase their results. Some teams put up a short role-play, others used an interview style, whilst some groups engaged in a debate, and everyone displayed no lack of enthusiasm.

Some points raised by the groups included the class size and teaching styles. SMU students were groomed to be really fluent presenters, where classes were kept to a small number, and students were encouraged to interact directly with the professors to learn. NTU used a larger class size, allowing more students to benefit from the knowledge and expertise each professor brought to the classroom. NTU also had many resources for students and was a much larger campus than SMU and significantly more student activity clubs! Both schools were highlighted for their various advantages and the students learnt a lot through the various presentations.

At the end of the program, a light drizzle fell but it did not dampen the mood of the students at all. The various groups went out to explore parts of the NTU campus, spending some time to enjoy the cool lunchtime breeze and the beautiful NTU grounds. Friendships were made and although it was the end of the exchange, we hope that this is just the beginning of more interesting and valuable exchanges between both schools.