ACT 2012 Final Documentation

University of St. Gallen 09.04.2012-18.04.2012 Institut Teknologi Bandung 20.07.2012-30.07.2012

Table of Content

Chairmans Note Snapshots Organizing Comittee Participants Swiss Part Indonesia Part Cultural Differences Final Budget Closing Words Special thanks to... Board of Recommendation

03 04 05 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

ACT in short
The Asian Culture Transfer (ACT), established in 1998, is an exchange project with annually changing partner-universities in Asia. Both participating Universities appoint 20 of their students to spend 10 days each in Switzerland and in the Asian country. During the programme the participants have the opportunity to gain deeper insight into the two cultures, to identify cultural differences and to encourage mutual understanding. The programme includes various activites in both countries, such as workshops and company visits, discussions, and social as well as cultural events.

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Chairmans Note
Dear supporters and fans of the Asian Culture Transfer, We can look back on a successful year full of new experiences, wonderful impressions and plenty of new, exciting friendships. We can look back on another year of the Asian Culture Transfer (ACT)! Our partner university this year was the Institut Teknologi Bandung(ITB) in Bandung, Indonesia. With a short lead time of only three months, from December until March, the ACT-Team organized a diversified tour through Switzerland. We managed to show the Indonesian students typical Swiss life all over the different regions of the country. The Indonesian students returned this effort in offering us a brilliant tour through their universities hometown and several other regions of Indonesia. With our friends from Indonesia we have had 20 amazing days. We have learnt a lot at our visits and even more important we got to know students from the other end of the world and had the chance to learn about their point of view and understanding about different topics and recent political and non-political issues in Europe and Asia. That is exactly what makes this exchange so important and interesting for us students in a globalized world to have the opportunity to meet other young people from far away countries and get in contact with them. At this point I want to thank my team members for the gorgeous time we spent together this year. Besides this I want to thank Roman Rampa for his support to make this exchange a real success and also ensure the quality of this and all the other international projects of the Student Union. Many thanks to our supporters who have made all this possible. Namely Presence Switzerland of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Switzerland, who were supporting us with their knowledge and expertise, the Mercator Foundation which supports all the international tours of the Student Union and by that helps to develop strong ties between different cultures. In addition I want to thank our longtime sponsor DKSH. We are very happy that they have been supporting the Asian Culture Transfer throughout the whole years and hopefully many more to come. I also want to thank our Patrons. Especially Professor Li-Choy Chong who established the contact with the ITB in Indonesia. Whenever we have had any questions during the organization of our tour the Patrons were fair and square with us and supported the project in every way they could. Personally I am very proud of Aina, Sarah, Thorsten and Valerie who have made this exchange a unique experience for every participant! ACT 2012 really helped to overcome cultural borders and prejudices, linking together forty students to one big fellowship. I am sure that you will share a bit of our excitement while reading the articles on the following pages.

Maximilian Gleiss Chairman ACT 2012

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Snapshots

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Organizing Comittee & Participants

Maximilian Gleiss Chairman

Sarah Badoux Sponsoring & Finance

Thorsten Middelho Marketing

Aina Cordero Swiss Program

Valerie Rau Participants

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Swiss Part The Program

09.04.2012-18.04.2012 Program Overview
The Swiss part of the program consisted of ten days, during which we welcomed the Indonesian students in our home in St. Gallen and toured around the country, showing them cities along the way. We showed them important Swiss cities like Zurich, Bern but also had a glimpse on the countryside. As most of the Indonesian students did not know that Switzerland was a multilingual country, we made sure to show them the French part of Switzerland as well. Throughout our journey it was possbible to o er an insight to the Indonesian students regarding each of the four cornerstone of our program - education, culture, economy and society. This was accomplished by organizing serveral lectures, visiting the Indonesian embassy in Switzerland, having a look on Swiss companies and o ering certain introductions to Swiss culture.

Day 1 Mon, 09.04.12 St. Gallen Arrival Welcome Din ner

Day 2 Tue, 10.04.12 St. Gallen Lecture on Swiss Politics Campus Tour St. Gallen Ab bey Library

Day 3 Wed, 11.04.12 Zurich City Tour Feldschlss chen Brewery Departure to Bern

Day 4 Thu, 12.04.12 Bern Indonesian Embassy Visit Brengraben City Tour

Day 5 Fri, 13.04.12 Geneva United Nations Patek Philippe Museum Geneva at night

Day 6 Sat, 14.04.12 Geneva City Tour Trip to Lau sanne Olympic Muse um

Day 7 Sun, 15.04.12 Lucerne Journey to St. Gallen Stop in Lucerne

Day 8 Mon, 16.04.12 St. Gallen Bhler AG Visit Lecture: Doing Business in Indonesia & Switzerland

Day 9 Tue, 17.04.12 St. Gallen Schoggiland Oikos Model WTO Confe rence

Day 10 Wed, 18.04.12 St. Gallen Review Farewell Party

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Swiss Part Impressions

As a Swiss student writing this chapter, I cant speak for the Indonesians and how they experienced our country and culture. Although having spoken to them about their time here, I think I have gained a little understanding. The Swiss part being the first one was very different for the experience we were to have in Indonesia. We didnt know our guests yet and had no idea what to expect. Having a little experience in Asia, I expected them to be somewhat reserved and shy, like the Chinese and Koreans I have had the opportunity to meet. But Indonesians are nothing like that, I often referred to them as the Italians of Asia, always ready to joke around and very open. It took some time for the two groups to start to mingle, but after a few ice breaking activities, the culture barriers were overcome. Here are a few aspects of the trip which stood out and made a lasting impression of the participants. Weather Unfortunately had cold and rainy weather during most of the tour. For Indonesians, who are used to almost constant 25 to 35 temperatures, this came as a shock. Although Switzerland functions well as a country and is clean and organized, the inconvenient bad weather is unavoidable. This took some getting used to for the Indonesians, and we all learned to make the best of it despite the cold and rain. Food During the program, we tried to eat as well and diverse as possible with the budget restrictions. During the tour the organizing committee often cooked for the rest of the group to cut down expenses. Menus were chosen to be practical as well as representative of a common Swiss diet. We introduced the Indonesian to Zrcher Geschnitzeltes, (??), raclette and crpes. Although the Indonesians enjoyed our European food, they often wondered where the rice was. As long as an Indonesian doesnt eat rice, I dont believe he will feel full. Transportation Getting from place to place is fundamentally different in Indonesia and Switzerland. One mustnt forget that the two countries are extremely different in size and structure. The Indonesians were shocked at the amount of walking we asked from them. It is common for HSG students to walk to campus and during the tour of the different cities, we often walked around, and used public transportation. In Indonesia, due to its very large size and hot weather people rarely walk. Rather cars, scooters, taxis etc. are used for transportation. Furthermore the Swiss culture is one of efficiency and punctuality, Indonesians on the other hand prefer to take their time and not stress. It was interesting to be confronted to this other mindset, and made us reflect on the way we do things.

Quotes
What should I do to get a job in Switzerland. Aziz, Indonesian student Upon asking what shocked them the most during their tour in Switzerland, the public displays of affection. Everything is so clean! Indonesian student Thank you for allowing us to participate in the ACT program and showing us your country and culture Andre, Indonesian student Where is the rice?! Indonesian student surprised Europeans dont eat rice with each meal

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Swiss Part Snapshots

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Indonesian Part The Program

20.07.2012-29.07.2012 Program Overview
After experiencing the stress and complexity of showing foreigners the best sides of our home country, we were excited about getting to know how our Indonesian fellow students would cope with the organization of their part of the exchange. We had heard a lot of Indonesia during the Swiss part of ACT but how is it, actually? How were we going to get a general impression of this very diverse country in only ten days? As soon as we arrived, we received a very cool designed booklet in which we could read the programmed schedule. If we were going to stick onto it, it was going to be exhausting. Because of di erent reasons, we did not go through every programmed point; it all owed according to the Inshaallah principle/philosophy. However, as you will appreciate, it was intensive enough. After waiting for more than one hour till all our hosts picked us up, we went to Tashas place, which turned to be our base camp. On that evening, we drove up to the hills surrounding Bandung and had diner alfresco at a restaurant contemplating the astonishing view of the city at night. It was the prefect start to the following program:

Day 1 Fri, 20.07.12 Bandung Arrival Welcome Din ner

Day 2 Sat, 21.07.12 Bandung University Visit Non-Aligned Movement Museum City Walk

Day 3 Sun, 22.07.12 Bandung Spare time Traditional Lunch Hot Springs

Day 4 Mon, 23.07.12 Jakarta Departure to Jakarta Indonesia Mini ature Park

Day 5 Tue, 24.07.12 Jakarta City Tour Ramadhan fast breaking Departure to Bandung

Day 6 Wed, 25.07.12 Bandung Sunrise at Tang kuban Perahus Crater Village Project Visit

Day 7 Thu, 26.07.12 Bandung Workshop In donesia Market Insight Spare time Departure to Yogjakarte

Day 8 Fri, 27.07.12 Yogjakarta City Tour Sultans Palace Visit Dinner with the Sultan

Day 9 Sat, 28.07.12 Yogjakarta Borobodur Temple Visit Batik Factory Visit Departure to Bandung

Day 10 Sun, 29.07.12 Bandung Review Farewell Party

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Indonesian Part Impressions

Which Keywords come to your mind when you think of Indonesia? Bali. This is the one and only word my friends told me when I asked them. When our new friends from Indonesia left us in April, we felt empty and sad...and like angry at the world because the goodbye made us realize how big it is. 11200 Kilometers tear our capital cities apart. But we were going to meet again soon, and this time in their homeland. Indonesia is often described as a hard country to understand. Indonesia is a country a lot like a patchwork family, much like Switzerland. With very different regions and folks willing to form one sole nation. But there is one tiny, little difference between Switzerland and Indonesia. The size. Indonesia is fifty times bigger than Switzerland and has about thirty times as many inhabitants. Which other differences were we going face once we were there? And why not, which similarities? FOOD- Back in Switzerland, we were told to be very careful with raw food. As time passed, we became too confident and started eating without precautions. This turned out to be a mistake for all of our boys; every one of them had some kind of stomach problems during the trip. We ate a lot of rice. Rice for breakfast, rice for lunch and rice for diner. However, most of us really enjoyed the numerous variations of this food. TRAFFIC- Traffic congestion is overwhelming, two lanes spontaneously become four and traffic signals are categorically ignored. We hear from the Inodesians, that their 12 kilometer trip from home to the office can take up to 40 or 50 minutes, on a good day. The number of cars is growing ten times faster than the roads they roll on; city officials in 2009 predicted that the Indonesian capital could experience total gridlock by 2014. But most of Indonesians need wheels to get to work - public transport in Indonesia is patchy. TIME- After a few days in Bali where being on time was very important because most of us did not have mobile phones, we headed towards Bandung to meet the Indonesians. As soon as we arrived there, we experienced the Indonesian understanding of punctuality. Time is not taken very seriously; it does not have the same status nor importance as it enjoys in western societies. As days passed, we learned that the activity was going to start about one hour after they had actually said. However, we could not change our attitude towards time so we, the Swiss, were always ready to go on time. These were just short glimpses to different aspects that really made us rethink how our vision of the world in general is. It was just a rough overview on how the trip was as it is impossible to pack all of our impressions in a report. It was a very special and enriching way to get a closer view on a society that at first sight seemed so different. I can state now, that from the individualistic point of view our fears and goals in life are quite the same.

Quotes
Never expected people coming from so different cultures to be so similarWe have had an amazing time together The diversity of this huge country is astonishing When I came I only knew Indonesians, now, for example, I can tell if someone is from Java or from Bali I have learned that not everything needs to be regulated to actually functionYes, Indonesia might seem a little bit chaotic but ei, it works! The trip was to short to find out the secret formula for happinessTen days in the happiest country in the world were certainly not enoughI will come back! Indonesia, we will miss you: Aku tjinta padamu! This is a see you soon, not a goodbye!

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Indonesian Part Snapshots

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Cultural Differences
With ACT 2012, two very different countries got together: Indonesia and Switzerland. Speeking in clichs, Indonesia was pictured as the big crowded and busy muslim country with everyone eating a lot of rice. But to be honest, we did not know a lot about Indonesia before the exchange, what made it even more interesting to discover the foreign country and culture. As we learned from the Indonesian students, the image of Switzerland consisted of mountains, cheese, chocolate and watches as well as the Swiss being quite rich. During the first 10 days of the exchange, taking place in Switzerland, we already adjusted many prejudices on both sides. The Indonesian students were very interested in Switzerland and asked a lot of questions, especially about the four national languages and the political system as well as the daily life, as these were the points that were considered very different to Indonesia. From the Swiss point of view the Indonesian students were surprisingly openminded, funny and communicative, what we did not really expect. But for this reason the trip was a lot of fun and not just a matter-of-fact exchange. We really liked their easy-going attitude and the way they are living for the moment and do not get stressed a lot. However, with the relaxed Indonesian way of living came the fact along, that Indonesians generally do not hurry what also goes along with their unpunctuality. As the Swiss are known as a nation that really appreciates punctuality and quick processes, we were challenged quite fast
Final Documentation ACT 2012

practically meant that all restaurants were closed until 6 pm, because almost everyone was fasting. Despite the good intentions, even most of our Indonesian students quitted fasting after one or two days. Some of the Swiss tried it out for a day, mostly successfully. In almost the same manner as the Indonesians missed their food in Switzerland, and had to adapt some kind of new time management, in Switzerland as well as in Indonesia. Another difference both groups of students recognized was the different way in talking, especially regarding the point of being straight forward (Swiss) versus being polite and not liking to speak about unpleasant affairs (Indonesians). Looking at the food as well as the hygiene, Indonesian habits and standards were a lot different from the Swiss ones. During the Swiss part of the programm we were mainly cooking the meals for the whole team ourselves, always trying to offer varied and healty food. But nonetheless, we were asked if we could maybe cook some more rice after only three days. During the Indonesian part of the exchange we mostly ate at restaurants as it was really cheap, therefore we could usually pick our food, but we still missed the European kitchen after a while. Only some of us were brave enough to try very special Indonesian food, for example baby-chicken or some kind of Indonesian rice soup for breakfast, but all in all we were quite happy with the food in Indonesia and liked most of it. It was also a great experience for us to be in Indonesia during Ramadan, as it is one of the most muslimic countries in the world. That In conclusion the exchange was despite all cultural differences and sometimes even challenges a huge success in the area of getting to know a new country and culture, experiencing a different way of living as well as making new friends from the opposite side of the world. In spite of the different heritages all students bounded very quickly and had a lot of fun together by sharing great moments. What we learned was that if you are open-minded and curious towards the other culture it is much easier to get along and you have a greater time if you try things out. 12 the Swiss participants missed the European toilets in Indonesia. Apart from that it was easy to see, that Switzerland is much cleaner and better organized than Indonesia, though the unwritten Indonesian rules certainly seamed to work surprisilngly well, too. In comparison, Switzerland is also very high developed, including good technologies, strategies and also a very good infrastructure, while Indonesia is still in the process of building it up. But as we spent a lot of time with Indonesian business students now, we can say, that they are really aiming for improvement and development in Indonesia.

Our Partners
The Organizing Commitee of ACT 2012 would like to thank our generous partners for their support! Especially Stifung Mercartor Schweiz, Prsenz Schweiz and DKSH shall be set apart in this point, as they helped us to make the programm possible in financial regards. Ritter Sport and Andros (Suisse) SA made our trip through Switzerland even more pleasant with their contribution of groceries.

Monetary Partners

Non-Monetary Partners

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Board of Recommendation
In addition to our partners we would also like to thank our three patrons Prof. Dr. Li Choy Chong, Prof. Dr. Dres. h. c. Dubs and Prof. Dr. Spremann for their assistance. We were glad to have some professionals we could always talk to and ask for help. We could not have organized the program like this if we did not have their support.

Prof. Dr. Li Choy Chong Professor of Business Administration with a special focus on International Management (South-East Asia)

Prof. Dr. Dres h.c. Dubs Professor for Business and Human Resource Education with special consideration of development assistance in Africa and Asia

Prof. Dr. Klaus Spremann Academic representitiv of the University of St. Gallen in Singapore Director of the Swiss Institute of Banking und Finance

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Closing Words
In conclusion, the Swiss organization team of ACT 2012 is very content with the outcome of the programm and in retrospect also with the previous organization work, as we managed to find a well-known university in a very interesting country with great students. We also set up an interesting 10-day program, that pleased everyone. ACT 2012 was a great success and a lot of fun for all the participants. Both teams of students discovered a fascinating new country and culture within two 10-day-parts of the program. What really makes ACT special is the fact that you do not travel as an ordinary tourist, but you are guided by locals and see special places that you would not know otherwise. Another point is that you spent 20 exciting days together and make friends, who you can contact in the future and eventually even make business with them. We agreed with the Indonesians to stay in touch and to exchange plans of the future, as we do not want to let the experiences and contacts slip away like that. As you may know there is already a new Organizing Comittee forming to carry out the Asian Culture Transfer in 2013. We wish the Team all the best and hope they can gain unique experiences like the ones we have acquired during ACT 2012. We hope you will be following and supporting the Asian Culture Transfer for more years to come as your support made it possible for us to carry our great porject.

Thank you very much!

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ACT 2012

Studentenschaft der Universitt St. Gallen Asian Culture Transfer Guisanstrasse 9 9010 St. Gallen Schweiz Telefon: +41 (0)71 224 25 10 Fax: +41 (0)71 224 25 13 Mobile: +41 (0)79 929 63 08 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.myunisg.ch/projekte/act

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