On 2 August 2008 , Millennia Institute organised a flea market at Plaza Singapura involving 300 students and 30 stalls, attracting many of the 70,000 weekend traffic at the shopping mall to visit.

With their thorough business preparation, the students transformed Plaza Singapura into a vibrant and bustling place with their handmade jewellery and flowers, personalized handphone accessories and electronic goods procured on a consignment basis. Applying their business knowledge acquired in the classroom and training, they brought in total earnings of $12,000 and a portion of which will be donated as financial assistance to their fellow students. The students' marketing techniques, creativity and enterprising spirit greatly impressed Ms Pauline Yeh - General Manager of Plaza Singapura, who is keen to provide further opportunities for the students.

Before the event, 28 entrepreneurial students travelled to Bangkok 's Chatuchak Weekend Market and Suan Lum Night Bazaar with 3 teachers to represent their groups in sourcing for unique goods for sale at MI Mart. The following are what some of the participants think about their merchandising trip to Bangkok :

Alicia/Doreen: More variety, uniqueness, Foreign designs that Singapore doesn't carry

Li Yong: While in places like Bangkok or near Asian countries, you can take budget airlines to cut some costs and buying in bulk will allow us to have discounted and cheaper rates at wholesale prices to sell in Singapore at a profitable rate.

asyidah: …we need to look for the quality of goods as Singapore is a developed country, the requirement from the local people is much higher.

Jiaman/Liyong: Inconvenience (takes up time and energy), travel costs, taxes on goods, risks of damaged goods, hard to negotiate in foreign language, accomodation

Rachelle: Singapore has strong currency dollar as compared to some other Asian countries. This allows us to maximize profit as we buy goods at a low price and sell them off in Singapore at a high price (this gains our profit)

Contributed by Teachers from MI Business Department

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