International Visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia & Singapore (19-24th February 2018)

After almost a month’s detailed planning on 18th February 2018, 5:00 pm, 48 students of PGDM & PGDM (IBM) from BIMTECH left for an industrial tour headed for Kuala Lumpur and Singapore alongwith Dr. K C Arora, Regisrar, Mrs. S Arora and Ms. Rupali Singh, Sr. Manager. The basic aim was to learn from and experience international industries to be better prepared for any future endeavours as well as get a short break from the fast paced life at BIMTECH.

First day of the trip began with a visit to the sacred Batu Caves, a series of caves and cave temples in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, along with a tour of the city of Kuala Lumpur. A dinner was hosted by BIMTECH on 19th Feb with the students avidly waiting to interact with the Alumni present in Malaysia. Mr. Kinnar Khokhani, Vice President (Strategy & Change), HSBC and Mrs. Divya Sahu gave the students an insight of working in Malaysia. They were very happy to answer any doubts from the students as well as provide guidance and support to the students.

After a full night’s rest, the students were welcomed on 20th Feb into one of Malaysia’s biggest seaport, Westports, Pulau Indah, Port Klang, Malaysia. An introduction to the port industry and a comparison with the current ports in India was given to the students by Mr. Suthahar Kanapathy, Sr. Manager. Westports has assumed a main part in Malaysia’s endeavours to give stockpiling, bunkering, payload/cargo taking care of and other port related offices which add to Malaysia’s significance as a connection in the worldwide oceanic exchange. Not only providing information on the complexity of the port business, but a taste of the innovation Westport has brought to the world, with its beautification of ports endeavour. Westport working 24*7 with over four thousand workers, manages to cater to ships of over nineteen thousand capacity, and is in fact waiting for bigger ones due in April 2018. A mega hub for business, the students were left in awe of the size and amount of containers Westport was able to manage at astounding pace.

After the tour of the Westports, the students were welcomed by Ms. Kashveena to Bursa Malaysia (stock exchange), the market regulator there. The Malaysian equivalent to SEBI, Bursa introduced the students to the various financial instruments in Malaysia, along with new and upcoming ones through detailed presentations by experts. With presentations on ETF’s, REIT’s, Unit trusts and the Sharia Compliancy Principle followed at Malaysia, the people at Bursa were very happy to share their experiences with the students, and answer the myriad of questions from them. This not only provided a taste of very varied financial instruments to the students, but the response the people have from a completely different culture. A unique learning experience indeed.

On 21st Feb, we had a visit to an L&T subsidiary TAMCO Switchgear (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, one of the most reputed suppliers of High Capacity Electric Switchgears. With clients consisting of Burj Khalifa, Petronas Twin Towers and even Hyderabad Metro, TAMCO has earned its reputation of quality and client service over the years. The group was welcomed by Mohd. Raffi Bin Rashid, GM, HR and a detailed presentation given by Mr. Bipin D Paul, GM, Contracts & Engineering and Mr. Rajesh Dhiman. Security and safety norms were shared in detail by Mr. Mazlan Mansor. The students were divided into groups for a complete tour of the factory. Full of curiosity and questions, the students toured the factory and were highly impressed. One of the most unique features there was the management and the organization of production, not only keeping everything spotless, but organized in an efficient way; a stark contrast to some of our own factories here in India.

After a full nights travel to Singapore, though tired, the students were on their feet on time for a trip to Universal Studios on 22nd Feb. It was a day full of rides, excitement, fun and lots of pictures. And by the end of the day, they were exhausted, but excited for Sentosa Island the very next day.

Rain might discourage a lot of people to avoid travel, but it only proved to be a small speed bump when it came to exploring Sentosa Island on 23rd Feb. A day of memorable luge rides and of course the amazing water show “Wings of Time”.

Dinner was full of mixed feelings as it was the last night in Singapore, but the interaction with the alumni quickly perked everyone up. This was very special as it was completely a one on one interaction, with Mr. Ritesh Srivastava, Talent Acquisition Manager at Capgemini, Mrs. Namita Chibbar and Mrs. Neelam Kumari another great guides. They not only shared their experiences in Singapore, but answered various questions related to their fields. We also met up with Ms. Shalini Srivastava, HR Consultant and Mr. Ranjeet Kumar working with financial sector, spouses of our esteemed alumni who shared the working culture of Singapore.

That concluded the international visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore. A great experience with lots of learning and fun mixed together. It not only provided a chance to meet new people and experience different cultures, but see how as different as things seem, they still are the same and familiar.