Monday July 6, 2015
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Mustapa sharing some knowledge and key pointers on Asean with the soon-to-be interns.
Kuala Lumpur: As the commencing date for the MY ASEAN Internship program draws near, both local and international students selected for the program underwent a three-day camp-cum-workshop from July 1 - 3, gearing these top students up for a rare lifetime opportunity to intern abroad, within ASEAN countries.
MY ASEAN Internship programme is a collaboration between the MITI and TalentCorp to raise the awareness of Asean among Malaysian youth, where Malaysian students have been placed with companies in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, with other destinations still to be finalised. Asean students from member states including Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam will intern in Malaysia.
The workshop included sessions from notable speakers including the Minister of MITI Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, MITI secretary-general Tan Sri Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, Air Asia group head of people department Zulfa Ashida Zulkifli, and BFM producer and 2015 Eisenhower Fellow Noelle Lim.
“Be ambassadors for the Asean region, recognise that to be competitive in today’s globalised economy, you need to embrace an international mind-set and think beyond the borders of your country,” Mustapa advised the MY ASEAN interns.
“Young Malaysians have a central role to play in this, and I look forward to seeing more of them and their counterparts working and thriving together in a bigger, stronger, inclusive Asean,” he added.
Muhammad Harrith Redza bin Zulkefli
Asean is one of the world’s fastest growing economic regions, and is home to some 600 million people. Its population is twice the size of the US and bigger still than the European Union. At current growth rates, Asean should become the fourth-largest market after the EU, US and China by 2030.
Malaysian Muhammad Harrith Redza bin Zulkefli who will be interning for eight weeks in Cambodia looks forward to putting his knowledge and skills to practical use during his internship.
Thiha Nyi Nyi
“This workshop has been very helpful in giving us a better picture about Asean, preparing us for the working world and learning how to communicate and network better,” said the second-year economics student at University of Exeter.
“My family was proud when I secured this internship,” says Thiha Nyi Nyi from Myanmar, one of the students about to participate in a six-month internship in Malaysia.
Rajiv Dharma Mangruwa
“The banking system is much more developed in Malaysia, and I look forward to bringing back the knowledge about the system they use in Malaysia.”
Indonesian Rajiv Dharma Mangruwa who’s studying his Masters in technology and innovation in University Teknologi Malaysia has already started his two-month internship in the communications industry.
“It’s good that I get to intern in Malaysia, because the cross-cultural differences are very different. Malaysia is more project-oriented, whereas in Indonesia, they are very strict about each task,” said Mangruwa.
Mari Giam
Mari Giam, from Vietnam, feels a little nervous about her upcoming internship.
“I have some knowledge about cultural differences in Asean since I studied in an international university. Nevertheless, I am a little nervous and excited about my internship, and I look forward to bringing my learning experience back to Vietnam.”
The companies involved in the MY ASEAN Internship programme are: AirAsia, Axiata, BDO, CIMB, Digi, GE, Maybank, Nestle, P&G, Securities Commission Malaysia, Sime Darby, Sunway Group, UEM and ZICOlaw.
For more info on MY ASEAN Internship, log on to www.ready4work.my/for-students/asean-internship.