Starting my adventure in Sarawak, Heart of Borneo.

In order to handle both my studies and the required PR internship, I applied for a PR internship in the Corporate Communications Department at Curtin University, Sarawak. I was most fortunate to be offered this exclusive opportunity.

As some of you may undergo a similar PR experience at an international institution such as Curtin Sarawak in the future, I would like to do a brief about this place, its people and my recent life enriching internship experience.

Location and ethnicity

Curtin Sarawak is located in the city of Miri in the state of Sarawak, East Malaysia. Please see the above map on the location of the state in relation to Australia and the rest of South East Asia. The state itself is on the island of Borneo. As some of you may be aware, Malaysia as a whole is largely made up of three major ethnic groups, namely, the Malays, Chinese and Indians. While this holds true for Malaysia as a nation, Sarawak itself is quite different. Here, in Sarawak, the majority groups are the Ibans, Chinese and Malays. The Ibans are part of the native population (eg. The orang Ulu, Bidayuhs, etc.,) of Sarawak, which together are known as the Dayaks. The Ibans comprise about 30% of the population of Sarawak.

Languages

The Official language in Malaysia as a whole is the Malay language while English (the ex-official language) is widely used in Business and Education. But the English generally spoken here has been mixed with other languages, so that the English in Sarawak, as is in the rest of Malaysia, has been styled as “Manglish”.

Except for the Malays, the other two majority groups here, namely, the Ibans & Chinese, would normally use their own languages in their communities.  Aside of these, Mandarin is widely spoken by the Chinese community as a link among the various Chinese dialect groups.

So the languages used in Sarawak are also different from the rest of Malaysia for although Malay and English are still the official and ex-official languages here, Iban and Mandarin are widely used in Sarawak.

Religions

Malaysia is a Muslim majority country and Islam is the official national religion but in Sarawak, the State constitution provides that there is no one official state religion. Another major difference, from the rest of Malaysia, is that Christianity is practiced by about 44% of the population, which makes it the majority, followed by Islam at 30%, Buddhism at 13.5% and Chinese Ethnic Religion at 6%. 

Customs

The various ethnic groups have their own customs and lifestyles. As there are some 29 ethnic groups in the State, there is much tolerance and respect for each others’ customs and practices in Sarawak. The pace of life here is much more relaxed compared to the more developed urban centers in West Malaysia, such as Kuala Lumpur. Afternoon tea (Drinking tea or coffee with friends) appears to be a norm for the people here.

People love to discuss about political issue with friends in Sarawak.

Media

The Main stream media is still very much utilized and effective in Sarawak. Sarawak does not as yet have its own TV station.  National TV programs are popular although citizens may subscribe to International channels through the main non-governmental TV media provider, “Astro”. Radio broadcasts are usually in English & Chinese as well. You can receive Miri FM & Red FM in the Curtin Sarawak campus area. There are 3 different kinds of newspapers available, according to the languages of the people. They are:

• English Newspapers: The Star, The Borneo Post, Sarawak Tribune, The Sunday post.
• Malay Newspapers: Utusan Borneo, Utusan Sarawak.
• Chinese Newspapers: Sin Chew Daily News, See Hua Daily, United Daily News.

Since most of the cities and towns in Sarawak have access to the internet, social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, is very popular especially among the younger generation. Some smart phone apps such as “WeChat” and “WhatsApp” are very popular among the youths as well. 

In conclusion, although Sarawak is a part and parcel of Malaysia, its background and environment greatly differs from the rest of Malaysia so much so that a person undergoing an international PR experience would need to do a more detailed background research on the place as well as understand the institution to which you will be attached.   

Internship experience

From my first day of this internship, after being introduced to my colleagues, my supervisor started to guide me in doing the simplest things in the office, such as how to use the office phone and fax machine, which printer is for colored printing and normal printing, how to log in the photo copy machine with our given staff ID, how to access my staff email, and also where the other departments and facilities are located.

Besides that, was thoroughly briefed so that I was able to remember all my colleagues’ names as well as their positions and job functions. The importance of working as a team and work delegation and management was emphasized and I was given an overall perspective on how the PR industry works in reality.

Media Clippings assignment during internship

During the first week of my internship, except for helping my colleagues to do some paper work such as typing, filling in information into the excel tables and photocopying, I was put in charge of compiling  Media Clippings which includes press clippings, featured articles and advertisement clippings. In order to that, I needed to read through all the newspapers daily, categorize them and use my advantage in being able to translate all the Chinese media releases into English. In doing this work, I have become more aware of how media releases can differ from among the feature articles in the newspapers - the different news angle of the same event- and the different angles presented between English and Chinese language papers.

Besides the above task, I helped to research and collate Malaysian Universities’ lecturers’ personal and academic information (their departments, titles, contact numbers, emails) online, for us to invite them to join our upcoming events and conferences.  This has taught me the important lesson that working as a PR, it is vital to keep a record of your clients and update them regularly and the importance of personal contact and relationships in PR industry.

Throughout my internship, I have been made to understand that as a PR personnel, I need to have a very good relationship with my colleagues for an on-going dynamic team working rapport. The personal example set by the staff has impressed upon me of the significance of being really nice people, always smiling and easy going, as fitting for a PR professional.   

In Curtin Sarawak, the PR division is named the Corporate Communications department. There are seven persons in the team besides me, each of them in charge of a portion of the required tasks in the team. Generally, the overall functions of the department can be combined and divided into two separate teams under a single manager, with each team having three persons to handle the PR section and the design segment.

Basically, the task of the PR section includes media relations, events management, corporate relations, social media management, advertising, CSR, internal relationship with students and staff, and some other special projects. The design part is including the branding, advertising design, web design, and publication design.

 

I have found that all these tasks intended for the corporate communications department corresponding to the structure of my Mass Communications and PR course at Curtin University.  One major lesson I have learnt from this international internship experience is that being a PR specialist means that you have to be thoroughly versed with the whole spectrum of PR and communications , be trained and therefore skilled in the smallest detail and one is not only a professional writer but also an accomplished  photographer and designer.

Tips for the new comers

1. It is better to do your internship during the semester break, full time, so that you will get enough time and energy to concentrate on it. 
2. It will be most appropriate to also started with some simple office work during your first week and to be patient to learn. Rome was not built in one day.
3. PR is not always about a single big project or a series of major projects. Much small efforts and communications to maintain good relationships with other corporations or individuals make for a successful PR department.
4. Be positive thinking during your work; don’t be upset if you are making mistakes for unless you are really a genius, you cannot be compared with your colleagues who have already been in this industry for years.
5. Keep a personal daily log for you to remember the lessons learnt and what you did during the internship. These materials can in turn be arranged and used for your final project paper.
6. For international students, especially those whose first language is not English, working in an English speaking environment is a great opportunity to practice your English. See your competency in another language as an advantage; you can help you colleagues translate those articles in your own language into English. 
7. It is always a challenge to do your internship in a foreign country but you can acquire considerably more than doing it in your own country.  

Zou Dan Ting 

14963841

Miri