Tamara's Internship Abroad in Malaysia | MALAYSIA
My name is Tamara and I completed an Internship Abroad with EPIC - Extraordinary People Impacting Communities in Malaysia in February 2019. At Murdoch University, I am studying
Hospitality and Tourism Management and
Marketing.
- New Columbo
funding.
- Opportunity
to travel and experience different cultures.
- Learn about
different workplace etiquette around the world.
- Expand
employability.
- Expand
contacts in my field of work.
- Apply my
in-class university learning to real-world situations.
- Challenge
myself both personally and professionally.
A little about my Internship Abroad...
My overseas experience was the best
experience of my life so far! Within just 6 weeks I formed such close
friendships with my colleagues and housemates. At my company I was treated like
a fully qualified events and marketing staff member, which was a very big challenged
for me, an 18 year old who has only completed first year of University. My
company really threw me into the deep end with the foreign culture and very
high expectations of what was expected of me. It was tough at times, but I am
so very thankful because through this experience I was forced to think outside
the box and research and learn and teach myself how to complete tasks. I gained
independence and was given the opportunity to take on the same workload as all
other staff showing me exactly what it’s like working in my field. This
experience also showed me the importance of communication and teamwork in a
workplace as each of my colleagues were all dependent on one another completing
tasks in order to achieve final completion. Throughout my time away I was
responsible for tasks as simple as inventory to as complicated as creating
marketing proposals. My internship really pushed me and challenged me in ways
university hadn’t and I would recommend this experience to anyone and everyone!
A little about the city I lived in, Kuala Lumper...
I completed my internship in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. Malaysia runs on the idea of organised chaos, the roads are messy,
and nobody is ever on time, however this doesn’t seem to bother anyone because
the country is just so welcoming and interesting every day. While in Malaysia
there is never a dull moment, the town is always busy, and the locals are so
friendly and helpful. There was so much to see and do that I felt even with six
weeks, I just ran out of time. During my internship I experienced Thaipusm and
Chinese New Year, both of these holidays are very highly celebrated across the entirety
of Malaysia and as such I was exposed to many different cultural practices with
Malaysia being so multicultural. Malaysia is very clean and safe for an Asian
country and the public transport is good for city areas. The weather was humid,
which isn’t as bad as it sounds because you really do get used to the heat, in
fact towards the end I really started to enjoy it.
The best part of my Internship Abroad was...
The very best part of my overseas internship
experience by far was the friends I made. Within such a short time I became so
close to my colleagues and the other New Columbo Plan Australian students. I
just felt so happy and content when it began to feel like Malaysia was my home and
that’s thanks to the beautiful people I was surrounded by. I honestly consider
all the people I met during my time away to be family and will most definitely
be heading back in the near future to visit them again!
Next up, my company provided me with so
many opportunities to develop professionally and always supported me to do better,
stretching me to my limits. My supervisor always placed all faith in me and the
work I produced, and this challenged me more than University ever could. I am
so thankful for my company pushing me to always do better. It was a huge
learning experience for me to have a real job in the Marketing, events and PR
field and it was just amazing to be given an opportunity to apply my knowledge
to actual clients in the real world.
Last but not least, I really did enjoy the
travel opportunities and cultural differences I was exposed to. Working in
another country is completely different to out customs at home in Australia and
this opportunity gave me a taste at the differences across the globe. I was even
able to travel to different states and islands in Malaysia and experience a
wider variety of food and tourist locations including traveling to Penang, Malacca
and Langkawi.
Some challenges I faced and how I dealt with them...
Being away
from my family and friends and in a foreign culture was difficult at times,
however, any time I was sad, my colleagues, the global student and my
house-mates always supported me and helped me realise that I was given such a
good travel opportunity to be waking up in Malaysia. They helped me realise
that I shouldn’t be taking waking up in Malaysia for granted, I shouldn’t be wasting
my time being sad and missing home. Instead I should be making the most of this
once in a lifetime opportunity. We decided instead of thinking about how we
missed our loved ones, we would instead spend every minute experiencing the
different culture and ticking things off out bucket lists. Additionally, I was
always reminded that my family and friends were only a call or face-time away
and would still be there when the internship was over!
A little about my accommodation...
During my internship, I stayed in Petaling
Jaya, Metropolitan Square in Malaysia. The location of my apartment was quite a
distance from my work and in order to avoid 5 hours of transport daily I had to
catch a grab to work. The apartment was also over 2 km from the train station
which on a hot day could be quite difficult however, once on the train, it was
just a about 30 minutes into the city. The apartments were very average, the
cupboards were musty and moldy, our stovetop didn’t work, it took 2 weeks to
receive a kettle, we had no oven or microwave, my bed was rock solid with holes
in it, my toilet was blocked and the shower blocked twice. However, I got very
used to the living conditions and the lack of kitchen facilities didn’t bother
me too much as we were located very close to a lot of restaurants/cafes/mamacs
and a supermarket and the cost of buying food was so low. I am also very thankful
I stayed in this apartment complex because many of the other New Columbo Plan
Australian students were also in the same complex and as such we were never
lonely and always had people to go eat, go sightseeing or relax by the pool
with. I found this very important as being in a foreign country these people
formed my support network.
A little about how I funded my experience...
I was given a
New Colombo Plan grant and also received funding from Murdoch University.
Some places I visited included...
At the end
of my internship, on my way home, I stopped in Singapore. I spent just a few
days in Singapore and was able to see Gardens By the Bay and Universal Studios
as well as experience the different culture and high standard of living and
cleanliness seen in Singapore compared to Malaysia.
My advice to you would be...
The only
advice I have is to stop considering it and just go! It really is a unique
experience that you will be so thankful for. Every moment is an adventure and I
would just want to tell anyone about to embark not to take anything for
granted, enjoy every experience because once your home you don’t want to regret
anything, you don’t want to be wishing you did the things you may have been too scared or and missed out on.
- Tamara completed an Internship Abroad with EPIC - Extraordinary People Impacting Communities in Malaysia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murdoch University Study Abroad & Exchange - Outbound
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT US!
EMAIL: studyabroad@murdoch.edu.au
PHONE: +61 8 93607836
VISIT: Murdoch University, Student Centre, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150
FIND US!
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/murdochoutbound
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/murdochoutbound
