1st Post: Internship at Sarawak River Cruise.

Hello everyone,

My name is Adrienne from Curtin Sarawak. Currently I am currently doing my PR internship at Layar Warisan Sdn Bhd which runs the Sarawak River Cruise in Kuching. Sarawak River Cruise is currently the only cruising ship along the Sarawak River. I had actually started this internship since the 22nd of August and is till attached with this company until I have 20 days at least under my name. 

Due to the fact that my placement is located at another city, I try to go back to Kuching for each time there is a break/holiday to continue my time as an intern until I could fulfill the minimum 20 days required by the unit . At first, I was a bit weary to whether I would be able to get a placement as the management is still very new and small. The current management started operation last year in December and is currently going through a re-branding phase in order to improve the relationship among the players within the tourism industry of Sarawak. 

The management have been very considerate in my appeal in flexible working time though I am still in active contact with my supervisor through emails and phone calls if there is any need of my assistance. In this company, Public Relations and Event Management is tied together especially when there is public function organized by the company itself such as Father's Day, Valentine Candle Light Dinner Cruise or when the cruise is being chartered for a private events or private group cruising. 

My first week of internship was during a week break from Uni and I took the plane back to Kuching. When I got the office, I was introduced by the manager to all administrative staff and the crew on the ship. It's the normal 9 - 5 pm at the office and Sunset Cruise will be from 5 - 7 pm. To date, Layar Warisan has only one ship, MV Equatorial, which is 120 feet in length and 20 feet in width and it accommodates 70 passengers in its lower deck and 60 persons in its upper deck.

On the first day, Ms Rosita and I discussed and we agreed that the main purpose of my internship was to enable me to gain valuable work experience and insight in the PR profession. To achieve this, it was agreed that throughout the duration of my internship, I would have to work as though I were a member of the staff and my position in the company was as PR assistant (a vacant post at the time when I did my internship) to the PR Manager. I also have to abide to the rules and regulations of the company,  attend staff meetings as scheduled, meet clients with Miss Rosita and to adhere to the working hours assigned to me. I am not required to be on the cruise but if there is function on the boat especially with private chartering, then extra help would be needed to control the crowd and in making sure that the operations goes well during the cruising time.

The following are my responsibilities as an assistant to the PR Manager:

assist in writing press releases on as-needed basis

assist in events on as-needed basis

read and clip media coverage relevant to the tourism industry

assist in coordinating visits with tour operators and corporate clients

prepare promotional posters

provide research and administrative support on assigned projects

submit weekly reports to PR Manager  

The first function which  I had experienced on my 1st day and 1st time on the cruise which was both exciting and yet a horrible experience. The ship was chartered by the Kuching Buddhist Association. Prayers was performed by monks and members of the association along the Sarawak River in conjunction with the Hungry Ghost Festival where the Chinese believes that in the 7th month of the lunar calender, the 'Gates of Hell' are open and that the dead return to visit the their living relatives. Prayers are offered to the dead and offering such as white rice, fruits and vegetables are then thrown into the river to appease the spirits and prevent the potentially dangerous wandering spirits with no descendants to worship them from causing disturbances. After talking to some of the crew on board, I found out that this is a yearly event and respects could be felt between each other even though of different culture, race and religion. I think respect for the one the major key to making an event a success as both sides understands that even though we believe in different things but everyone has the right to have their own belief. 

Anyways, everything went smoothly until it started to rain heavily with strong wind hitting the ship as it is still cruising along the river slowly whilst the monks are chanting. The boat became unstable and half of the people on the top deck is required to move to the lower deck to balance the boat from over-turning. Communication became a big problem as the gap in Chinese speaking skills was apparent especially with the older generation (50 years old and above) but after a few failed attempts (even though I am able to converse in Hokkien and Mandarin) and with the help from English-speaking members, the situation was in control and so water lily lanterns are then released to float along the river on the way back to the dock. The whole function took 3 hours. 

Long story cut short, at the end of day 1 of internship, I was exhausted because it was a long day and drenched wet. Exciting yet horrible.