University of Sussex Business School

By William Hagon, BEng Mechanical Engineering

Four weeks in Malaysia have passed, taking with them any doubts over the best way to spend a month of the summer.  Our final Thursday marked our last afternoon at TIME and meeting with Sussex alumnus and TIME CEO Afzal. We spent a few hours discussing our time with the company and in the country, complemented by the occasional interjection of Afzal anecdotes which never fail to entertain. Everyone on the programme contributed to the feedback whilst Mizi and Afzal considered what could be done to develop the experiences we shared. Being only the second iteration of the internship, flexibility and refinement ensure that every year is more impactful than the last.

By Nicholas Teoh, BSc International Business

On the last day of our penultimate week at TIME, we met with the customer service team and had a briefing on our assignments for our final week. In the afternoon, we held a video testimonial with Mizi, our TIME sponsor, about our experiences at the company and in Malaysia as a whole

Being from Malaysia, I felt the responsibility to show my new friends around and take them to the good spots where locals hang out. The next morning we left for Penang, the northwestern coastal state that is known as the food capital of Malaysia.

By Kwan Ho Lee, BSc International Business

Facebook Malaysia motivate their staff

Facebook Malaysia know how to look after their staff. From the pantry to the office area, every single detail of Facebook Malaysia headquarters amazed us all. It’s not only the free beverages (which we enjoyed), but also the freedom and resources they have given to their employees. Besides the spacious desk area, there are facilities like a quiet room (for meditation, and phones are banned), a massage chair, and a games room for staff to relax from a busy workload.  These things are a very good way to motivate Facebook employees to work effectively, providing them with an environment to help maintain their work-life balance, which in turn helps maximize their efficiency.

By Diana Liedloff, BSc Marketing and Management

Half of the group spent the weekend visiting Singapore, which has an entirely different atmosphere compared to Kuala Lumpur (KL). They place a lot of emphasis on cleanliness, as there are restrictions on chewing gum, throwing litter on the street and even on carrying durian (a strong smelling local fruit) on public transport, resulting in a nearly litter-free city. As for the city’s architecture, it has many futuristic skyscrapers with eccentric design features. Just like KL, Singapore has a mall at nearly every turn and some of them are connected via viaducts and underground tunnels. Singapore’s GDP per capita is higher than its neighbouring countries, and this was never more evident when we saw all the luxurious shops and the extensive and very well maintained public transport system.

By Jed Sexton, BSc Economics

Going into our third week at Time.com. our group felt at home in Kuala Lumpur, with as we fully immersed ourselves into the local culture. The week got off to the perfect start with TIME.com hosting their annual ‘Open House’ which turns out was ideal opportunity to consume vast quantities of delicious Malay cuisine, something I personally took full advantage of.

By Gemma Hayton, BSc Business and Management Studies

We are now nearly two weeks into our internship and it has flown by!

For the last two days of our second week, we were with the marketing department. We met at Dentsu One, TIME dotCom’s marketing agency, and heard talks covering all aspects of TIME’s marketing. Mun, from the communications team, told us what she does on a daily basis. She also explained how interdependent her role is with the other departments in the business; particularly, the marketing, corporate, IT and customer service departments. Her job is to ensure that all communications from TIME dotCom are consistent with the business brand image.

By Miles Griffiths, BSc Business and Management Studies

After ten days in Malaysia, I was now accustomed to the nation’s spicy food. Over at the office, we were placed in the coverage department, which I was unfamiliar with. We were tasked with finding a suitable area for TIME to lay down network cables around high rise buildings. My group was challenged by researching the area of Seremban.

Initially, I was concerned we would not complete this extensive task within such a tight deadline of one day, as we had limited knowledge on the tasks we were completing as well as the multiple calculations we had to make.

By Elia Gollini (BSc International Business with German)

Batu Caves and Botanical Gardens

On Sunday 23 June (our first free day since we got to Malaysia), we all woke up at around 10.30 am as we were still extremely tired from the previous day visits. All 14 of us decided to head to the Batu Caves, which are a series of caves and caves temples located in the northern outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. We really enjoyed the majesty of the Murugan statue at the entrance, which is followed by colourful steps that took us to the caves.