I could have not asked for better, says myASEAN 2015 intern

At the recent myASEAN Market Day 2016, Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) YB Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed, also fondly known as Tok Pa, announced the three winners of the myASEAN Experience Essay contest. Lim Ben-Jie, Carmen Chong and Ditya Hasna Karima walked away as champion, first runner up and second runner up respectively. (You can read more about Ben-Jie’s journey with AirAsia here and Ditya’s experience with GE Malaysia here.)

This essay competition was organised to encourage myASEAN interns to document their experience and share interesting highlights of their internship placements in ASEAN countries.

Carmen, first runner-up winner, shared with us her Cambodian adventure in her winning essay submission below. This Malaysian found her time with Axiata to be both educational and eye-opening.

My name is Carmen Chong, and I am currently studying Logistics at the University of Portsmouth. I was one of the top 20 participants of the Axiata University Leadership Development Programme in 2014 and was selected to be a part of the myASEAN internship experience. 

Being a part of this, I was prepared for the unexpected. First overseas placement, first actual job experience, first roommate. Smart Axiata is the leading telecommunication company in Cambodia. Working with the Digital Transformation team, I was given the opportunity to explore the working structures and to give suggestions and evaluations on how to improve existing prepaid and inventory management processes. This involves interacting with my Cambodian colleagues, mostly those superior to me to understand the overall workings of the operation.

Through these encounters, I learnt that Cambodians are simply generous people. Despite the two-month stay, they regarded me as their peer, giving me the opportunity to freely ask questions about the organisation, patiently guiding me through the processes and offering advice whenever I hit a dead end. 

Walking on the streets of Phnom Penh where the city may not be as glorious as those of more developed countries, but on every street, I see remnants of what my parents’ early years would have been liked, and how the Khmer Rouge still haunts the older generation and their simple way of life. Bonding happens over a casual meal or strolls around the park.

My fellow interns became my family as we shared home-sickness and work-related stress. We carried each other during times of needs, and together we strived to make the most of our internship experience. We travelled, we explored, and we experiment with the local language, culture, and delicacies. 

I could not have asked for a better cultural immersion experience. Cambodia is no longer just a place for me; it’s where I had the best of ASEAN.

A collaboration between MITI and TalentCorp, the myASEANinternship programme provides a platform for top ASEAN students and fresh graduates to engage with leading employers in neighbouring ASEAN countries. Through essays like this, we see that students like Ben-Jie, Carmen and Ditya have benefitted from not only experiencing but also thinking ASEAN through the programme.