By Varic Loh
GEORGE TOWN: Due to the spread of Covid-19, the Malaysian government had announced the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) from March 18 to April 14 2020. This has forced Han Chiang University College of Communication (HCUC) students to end their internship earlier than the scheduled date of 22 March.
Winnie Oon Chia Xiang (Diploma in Mass Communication (Public Relations), Year 3)
Winnie Oon Chia Xiang was an intern at Go Communication. She commented that it was a pity to end the internship abruptly and did not get an opportunity to bid farewell to her colleagues.
During her internship, she discovered that life as a student and life in the working world are totally different from one another. While there are designated configurations and formats in the campus, tasks in the industry are accomplished according to the fulfilment of customers.
“Being proactive and courageous when asking questions is an essential internship attitude,” said Winnie. There were a few difficulties she had faced during her internship, especially the complications in understanding the clients’ needs. Thus, she has learned to conduct a research before proposing a plan that would meet the requirements of the clients.
Khoo Ching Huey (Diploma in Mass Communication (Public Relations), Year 3)
Khoo Ching Huey, an intern at Roots Public Relations said she was happy to participate in the company activities. Among the benefits she attained was learning the procedures and protocols to adhere in conducting an event. This includes choosing the proper channel to invite the media for an event.
The forced cancellation of an event because of the MCO demanded us to issue an immediate notice of cancellation to all the stakeholders. It was also necessary to adopt online communication and the rest of the team had to design new programs within a short period of time.
She had to hand over the pending work hastily due to her early departure.
Tang Xin Chei (Diploma in Mass Communication (Broadcasting),Year 2)
During her internship, Tang Xin Chei learned to value her time by prioritising them according to their importance. She said working in a television news station, she had to race against time because broadcast journalists must be always alert on the latest happenings in their surroundings. In spite of that, she had the opportunity of meeting politicians in events which was totally a new experience that caused her to feel slightly nervous at certain times.
She said that she was very grateful to experience the role of a stand upper. This was a challenging task because Media Prima is a large conglomerate that emphasises professionalism over mediocrity. Hence, she needed to be competent to use appropriate words when she was writing news. She also tried the role of a production assistant in which she had to run back and forth between the office and the control room.
When she received the news that her internship had to end early due to the MCO, she was apalled because there were still many skills that she hadn’t learned. She was hoping to spend the precious internship period with her newfound colleagues, but there was nothing she could do.
Lew Haw Wei (Diploma in Mass Communication (Public Relations), Year 3)
Lew Haw Wei felt it was unbelievable that his internship was called off earlier. He said March is the month when his company would be busier than usual, where he and his colleagues had lined up several tasks for two weeks before the MCO was announced. This forced him to pass his incomplete projects back to his colleagues.
Haw Wei was an intern at Allianz Malaysia Berhad. In his short tenure as an intern, he has learned to maintain professionalism because every aspect of work required a formal approach to it, even if it was a small project.
He said his duty was to assist his colleagues, especially when they were in need of help. One of the projects he had done was modifying the website layout to make it more attractive. He was grateful to have colleagues who gave him the opportunity, space to learn and improve himself. He wished to continue working in this company after he graduates.
Ngo Wan Jun (Diploma in Mass Communication (Public Relations), Year 3)
Ngo Wan Jun, a student from Public Relations, felt it could have been better if the internship had not ended earlier than it was supposed to. He mentioned that during the period before MCO, he was in Selangor for a final event before his internship came to an end. Unfortunately, halfway during the event he received the news that he was told to go back as there would be a lockdown.
Wan Jun was an intern at Gohkaki Childhood Museum where he learned various skills of social media advertising, video production and event management. He was interested in these specific skills for a long time and the internship allowed him to have a hands-on experience in this area. He also learned time management, self-discipline, communication skills and people management.
At the company, his job scope included assisting in events, handling social media accounts, taking photos and videos for advertising purposes, managing in-house and corporate communications. One of the projects he felt worth mentioning was the shooting of a series of weekly videos. The videos were to complement the article written for a local publication.
The challenging part during his internship was being self-disciplined. He stated that his company offered him flexible working hours resulting in having a hard time to organise his work schedule and meeting deadlines. Luckily, his supervisor and operations manager guided him to manage his work schedule and tasks.
Ho Bing Yang (Diploma in Mass Communication (Journalism), Year 2)
During his internship, Ho Bing Yang learned that it was compulsory to do research before going out to cover news or conduct an interview. He learned to explore interesting angles in news writing as well. When going out for a job, the seniors would help him by giving advice about interviewing skills among others.
He said he was honoured to cover the Malaysian political crisis which resulted in the Pakatan Harapan government falling to the Pakatan Nasional led government. Bing Yang reported the situation at Istana Negara through Whatsapp when the Conference of Rulers was taking place.
He found translating the press release as the most challenging task because he has neither learned the skills of news translating, nor tried it before. He took almost one and a half hours to complete his first news. His seniors would often help him by reviewing his work and tip him with some useful advice. He is optimistic of returning to Sin Chew Daily after his graduation because he is comfortable with the system and his colleagues are friendly too.
When the MCO was announced, Bing Yang returned to the company to handover some documents and bid farewell to his colleagues before heading back to his hometown. He had even planned to give presents to his seniors but because of the MCO, he was unable to do it.
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