Yes one day… You didn’t see wrongly!
It all started from that one faithful day when I was checking through my school email (I don’t usually like to check my email unless necessary~), I came across an email asking for interns for a one day summer internship program at a Japanese company in SG. I was really interested about it for the following reasons:
1) The program happen to be on a MON – my free day! So coincident right?!
2) I get to meet and make Japanese friends!
3) I really want to know how a Japanese company’s marketing research is conducted! (Though at that point in time I was skeptical about how much I can learn within a day… Oh to be exact, it is less than a day!)
4) Probably one of the most important reasons: I think it is like an opportunity to continue ‘my destiny’ with Japan. I know it sounds very funny but yeah… ever since my secondary school exchange program to Kagoshima, I have secretly fallen in love with Japan- their architecture, their history, their people and their culture(though I’m not so into Manga)!
Okay so I tried my luck to apply and TADA I was selected! I was so so excited to meet the Japanese students that I couldn’t sleep well the night before!
The Faithful Day
Right after the self-introduction session… Me and another schoolmate (let’s just call her Ms J) were assigned to a group of 4 students and off we got for our lunch to together! Trust me, food is DEFINITELY one of the best ice-breaker activities! We ended up in Wisma Atrium foodcourt where we introduced them to all the local delicacies which include Hokkien Mee, Kway Teow Mee, Nasi Lemak, Wanton Mee etc… surprisingly the foodcourt doesn’t sell any Hainanese Chicken Rice!
One of the student ordered a medium size plate of Hokkien Mee and the portion turned out to be as big as hmmm maybe a 14″ size pizza! Gosh I salute him for finishing the whole entire plate! I think it was funny simply looking their expressions as they tried tasting different kind of foods. So right after the meal, we got down to real business work with discussion about Singapore’s culture etc.
Some interesting facts that I have found out(from this internship):
1) In Japan, most of their summer internship programs only last for one week! It is pretty interesting isn’t it? I doubt there are any companies in Singapore which offer such a short internship! In our society where man power = $$$, I would tend to believe they will prefer to hire interns for longer period so they can have more helpers to clear maybe jar-pa-lan jobs, having said that not all companies do that!
2) I think by now most of us know that Japanese are very polite, way too polite. It is not just reflected in the way they speak but also the way they behave, eat etc… On that thought, I just can’t imagine Singaporeans being so polite!
3) Japanese students are hardworking. 3 out of 4 students in my group actually hold a part-time job and they report to work almost everyday after school hours. That is to say, it is common for students to work 5 hours per day just to earn extra pocket-money! I am super supportive of that since I started working when I was 14, and I think Singapore parents should let their children to start working part-time while studying. It will definitely change the way that they view things and learn to appreciate the value of working (I.e: Working is not an easy feat, so one should not spend their money wastefully!)
4) I think it is highly commendable that Japanese tend to be very attentive to minor details. They seek to find out beyond the basic needs that their products can offer. This kind of working attitude is indeed what most marketing companies are looking for! On a side note, don’t we all agree that most Japanese products are very practical, useful and durable?
Unfortunately , all good things come to an end. We parted ways after a hearty dinner by the riverside. However deep in my heart, I know it is merely just the beginning…
The one day experience was indeed memorable! Not only it had helped me to enrich my understanding of Japan and its culture, I also managed to forge a meaningful connection with the Japanese students! Till our next meeting (hopefully)…
tweetyeggy 