FAM Internship Abroad Forum

Panellists ready to share their abroad experience (from left): Law, Andrik Nge, Tan Rou Qian, Chua, Lim Yi Jing (moderator), Hey, Lim and Tan Wei Han

Seven Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) students who went abroad for their internship came back to share their experiences with their juniors and the faculty on 8 August 2018.

The International Business students carried out their internship in Taiwan from January 2018 to April 2018. The internship programme was a joint effort/collaboration between UTAR and two other universities namely Tunghai University and I-Shou University.

The “FAM Internship Abroad Forum” is a collaboration between FAM and International Business & Global Economics Society. The forum served as a platform to disseminate and share the interns’ experience and exposure to prospective students while encouraging more participation for the international internship programme.

Attending the forum were FAM Dean Dr Sia Bee Chuan, FAM Deputy Dean for Student Development and Industrial Training Assoc Prof David Ng Ching Yat, FAM Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Dr Hen Kai Wah, FAM Internship Abroad Forum Advisor Alexander Tay Guan Meng, FAM Internship Abroad Forum Chairperson Tan Wan Qing, FAM lecturers and FAM students.

Being Malaysian students, multilingual capability was an advantage for them. “I learnt how to negotiate with clients, especially from Malaysia and Indonesia. This is because I can speak Malay,” said Chua Ti Ling, who interned at HeHao Consultancy. She was also the first international intern for the company.

The nature of friendliness that was portrayed by the Taiwanese was also mentioned in the forum. Law Kah Chun shared his memory of a surprise birthday celebration in the office and Chua presumably felt that the Taiwanese were generally friendly.

“However, their friendliness is not to be mistaken for being lenient in time management or task execution. Try to be punctual. Taiwanese are very good at multitasking; hence, they expected the same from me. While I had some task to do, I was given another, which I thought can be done in a few days because the boss told me that I can take my time to do it. However, after two hours, he asked me if I had completed the second task,” said Andrik Nge, who interned at ThinExpress Technology, with a serious yet humorous tone.

Ongoing forum session

According to the Taiwan Institution of Economic Research (TIER) intern Lim Dao Wei, Taiwanese companies may also aim for Malaysian workers, “Malaysia is one of their target markets. They would like to get to know more about Malaysia. Therefore, having someone who is originally from Malaysia will give them a better chance of penetrating Malaysia’s market.”

Other than working experience, the students also shed some light on their daily living expenses, routine and interesting incidents. Despite living in the city, Tan Wei Han mentioned that 100 New Taiwan dollar (approximately RM13) was sufficient for a day.

As a bonus to an abroad industrial training, they also took time to travel to places in Taiwan while savouring local delicacies. “I tried almost all of the food that I came across. If you are going there, I recommend you to try their chicken chop, stinky tofu and also their famous milk tea,” said Hey Yin Fong.

After the forum, Division of Community and International Networking (DCInterNet) Assistant Manager Liu Dan briefed the audiences about the outbound programme offered by DCInterNet. Liu Dan said, “For those who are interested, they can directly consult and seek advice from the DCInterNet office. They will also receive assistance in preparing the documents as well as for the application process.” As for those who are not able to go for the outbound programme, Liu Dan offered them an equally interesting programme, “If you do not have the chance to go overseas, you can also choose to join our Buddy Programme where you will assist inbound students from all over the world. Even if you do not get to go abroad, you still get to interact with international students to enhance your communication skills.”

Liu Dan representing DCInterNet to share information about the Division

In her opening speech, Dr Sia thanked DCInterNet for taking the time to track down universities that were willing to host the students and for finding a suitable place to carry out their internship. She also said that the abroad experience served more than just to introduce a new perspective to the students, “This is called the internationalisation of education. When you study at UTAR, we do our best to ensure that you are exposed to the globalised world and environment. We have ongoing collaborations with universities and organisations around the world and I am grateful that you are a part of this. I would like to urge all of you to get out there and try to understand what is happening; I urge you to foster relationship across culture and geographical border through an exchange of ideas.”

Dr Sia delivering the opening speech

Tan Wan Qing delivering her welcome remarks

Joining an international programme adds “international” value to the students’ curriculum vitae and it shows their mobility.

“When an opportunity knocks on your door, always be willing to take the chance. Remember to seize the opportunity because more often than not, the same opportunity does not come twice,” urged Tan Wan Qing.

As an advice to her fellow juniors, Tan Rou Qian said, “Do not think too much, and just go for it [abroad internship].”

For those who are interested in outbound or inbound programme, you may find more information at the following website: https://www.utar.edu.my/dcinternet/ or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dcinternetutar.