Life in the Lion City

One Friday at the end of July, Luise was sitting her last exam for the university portion of her program. Three days later, she boarded a flight for Singapore to begin the big adventure of her placement abroad.

“Singapore is a city that has always interested me”, says Luise. “I find the combination of modern metropolis and Asian tradition especially fascinating.”

Her arrival coincided with the opening of our new office and the month-long Hungry Ghost Festival where food and entertainment is laid on to appease the the souls of the dead who are believed to roam the earth. Luise also witnessed the local custom of laying tangerines and green vegetables on the ground for the dancing lions – a ritual associated with business success.

Her work turned out to be just as diverse at the local culture.

“I had responsibilities from day one, which really motivated me”, says Luise of her day-to-day work. She organized a complete photo-shoot on her own and was given sole charge of managing the development and implementation of several promo-packs including POS displays and material. The work pace, with a lot of projects running in parallel, was at first unusual and new for Luise. “I learned really fast to work more independently and to be more organized. That’s how I managed really well from the beginning.”

Supporting a video shoot for a NIVEA short film and a PR event for the launch of a new deodorant were also on the agenda during her three month stay in Singapore – also known as “the Lion City” or “the Red Dot.”

In our subsidiary office in Singapore, Luise worked alongside 24 colleagues, eight of whom worked in marketing. “Everyone is totally open and made it their personal responsibility to tell me as much as they could about Singapore”, says the 21-year-old. “One of their ‘projects’ for example, was to trick me during lunch into believing every dish was too hot for me. This led to a lot of fun.”

As Luise discovered, Singapore is a traveler’s paradise. Buoyed by her visit, she took the opportunity to visit various islands in Indonesia.