First Days with BERJAYA University College of Hospitality

I started my internship with the Public Relations, Communications and Events Department at BERJAYA University College of Hospitality (Berjaya UCH) on the 15th of December, 2010. I was very fortunate to find this placement at the very last minute. By last minute I mean, I was invited for a Monday interview on Friday, and after the interview on Monday, as in, that evening itself, I was asked to start my internship on the upcoming Wednesday. I couldn't say know. Who would say no?

I was all prepped up and ready for that Wednesday. My first task was to help a colleague update and rearrange the wall of media clippings near the entrance of the campus. By the way, the campus is located in a shopping mall. The tallest shopping mall in Asia, BERJAYA Times Square. That's not all. It is also located in the same tower as BERJAYA Times Square Hotel. On can find the 5-star campus on the 11th floor whilst the School of Culinary Arts is on the 14th floor, in line with the hotel. I shall talk more about the Schools later on. Meanwhile, let's get back to the task at hand.

Everyone was ready for the University College's open days that were to be held on the 18th and 19th of December, 2010. So, there wasn't much time left as there were still many to do. As mentioned, the wall of media clippings needed to be updated and rearranged and the wall of fame, featuring the University College's many celebrity guests and speakers, needed to be put up near the Learning and Resource Center (Library for short). Yet the Creative & Multimedia Department was still in the process of printing the pictures, then they had to laminate them, neatly cut the edges, and mount them onto a piece of Styrofoam before mounting the pictures on the wall, and my colleague and I had to select some of the latest media clippings about BERJAYA UCH, laminate the them and arrange them on the wall. We all had our work cut out for us.

Did I mention there were only three of us in PR, Comm & Events including me? There was Ms. June Ng, then the PR, Comm & Events Assistant Manager, now Manager, and Ms. Nicolle Chin, then PR, Comm, & Events Executive, she has resigned now though and accepted a job in a spa Miri, Sarawak as Spa Management was her major in her Diploma course. Ms. June Ng was the person who interviewed me and took me in and I owe her for that.

The tasks pended through the first 3 days of my internship. I managed to put up all the media clippings by Thursday, 16th December, 2010. And the Wall of fame was put up on Friday evening, 17th December, 2011. All's well that ends well. Ms. June Ng requested for me to be present that Sunday to help out in the Open Day while Nicolle was to take Saturday.

Aside from the preparations for the open day, everyone was also getting prepared for the early Christmas Celebration that Thursday. There was choir practice on Wednesday evening, jobs were also distributed. On Thursday, around 10:30am, Ms. June asked me to tie ribbons on some presents that were to be given out to outstanding members of staff and get them done by 12 noon and bring them up to Samplings on the Fourteen (one of the two student-run F&B outlets under BERJAYA UCH) on the 14th floor. There nearly 30 of those presents. Good thing I only had to tie ribbons on them and not wrap them as well. With the help of Nicolle, we got them all up just in time.

The Christmas Celebration went along just fine. I wasn't fully briefed on what had to be done but I just went on with the flow of everything and it was fun. I helped usher the guests in as the event began, I helped with distributing the certificates and presents to the award recipients, and also to clean up afterwards and bring down what needed to be brought down back to the office on the 11th floor.

Looking back, I did quite a lot 3 days into my internship and it was fun. Now, about BERJAYA UCH. Long story short, BERJAYA UCH has four schools: School of Hospitality Management, School of Tourism, Arts and Culture Management, School of Culinary Arts, and School of Business and Management. The campus reception area on the 11th floor is designed to mimic the ambiance of a 5-star hotel lobby. The front desk serves as an information area where students and visitors may inquire about anything, students may also call for the lecturers via the front desk whenever they have questions about assignments, etc. Also on the 11th floor are the Learning Resource Center, air-conditioned classrooms, seminar rooms, and lecture theaters, as well as the mock hotel room suite, student council's office, and the students' leisure room where they can just chill with friends, play some billiards, table tennis, or board games. On the 14th floor, where the School of Culinary Arts is located, there are Samplings on the Fourteen which is a Fine Dining restaurant, and the Upper East Side Cafe. Bother outlets are run and managed by students, supervised by their lecturers, training them for the real world of the service industry. Inside the School of Culinary Arts, they have the Coffee & Tea academy, the Oenology lab, Pastry kitchen, preparation kitchen, production kitchen studio, demonstration kitchen, and a couple of kitchens with set stations for each student's perusal during lessons.

I don't think I've missed out anything else. All in all, it's a very impressive institution for one that's only three years running. Already they have a distinguished name amongst many other Universities and Colleges that offer hospitality courses. It was a pleasure for me to be serving in such an institution. Growing up with an Executive Chef for a father, I could very much relate myself to it and immerse myself to the very hotel-like environment, which I pretty much used to since my father has worked with many hotel and resort chains in his 30-year-career in kitchen operations.