It has been more than 4 weeks the Movement Control Order (MCO) been imposed in Malaysia. We are now entering the 3rd phase of this bi-weekly movement, meaning to say altogether at least 6 weeks of MCO. Working from home for most people, myself included in this bunch.
Luckily for me my workload is not that bad mostly because if it is, it can be quite challenging as schools and childcare facilities are also closed. Which means WFH parents are also taking the babysitting or childcare loads over on top of their professional obligation.
As this morning my wife finally has to be on 12-hour duty at her office after 3 months of maternity leave, me left with my boys to be taken care of and they both are in control, I feel like writing after a while. What I feel like writing this morning is on how I planned my life ahead when I was a student.
Last night before sleeping, I had a random conversation with a friend who also used to study in France, triggered me to remember the way I think those days when it come to choosing for a town to live, what kind of residence to stay at and most importantly what course to take. When making decision with all these factors came into my mind, one thing for sure is they were all based on my life after graduation.
When most students prioritize on interesting course, I always opted for programs with most internship as possible. I already realized at the age of 19, that industrial relation is important as I always look to work with the company I did my internship upon graduating, at least I can build the relationship during my internship. It always tied back to money matters. Work as early as possible upon graduation to make money. I would also always opted for a small town for minimal cost of living and cheap rental. Once I knew the system, I opted for accommodation that can optimize my cash flow where I paid 240 Euros for rental and the French government provided 210 Euros subsidy so I ended up spending around 30 Euros for rental plus additional bills for utilities. It was important to fulfill my dream of having the most of what I wanted. I love travelling, I want a steady income and I want a good kick-start of life later.
Internship also brings allowance from company and additionally from my sponsor, provided the company located a distance away from my college as mentioned in sponsorship guideline. It has always been a habit for me to read guidelines or contract in detail ever since my student days till this very day, especially when it comes to claim entitlement and allowance.
When most students only did 1 internship during their 2-year diploma-equivalent program in France, I did 3. When most students didn't have the chance to do even 1 internship when they continue their diploma with 1 year bachelor' degree, I did 1 internship for 5 months. By the time I completed my 3-year Bachelor' Degree program (2-year diploma plus 1-year of BSc in Engineering), I did 4 internships in 4 different organizations accumulating almost 11 months of industrial experiences with the following breakdown:
1. 4-week (1-month) during the 1st year of diploma at the beginning of 2nd semester
2. 2-month during the 2nd year of diploma at the beginning of 2nd semester (not full time basis, but it was 2-3 days per week at the company continuously throughout the period. It was a final year project.
3. 12-week (3-month) during the 2nd year of diploma towards the end.
4. 5-month during the final year of bachelor' degree after halfway thru the 2nd semester (after completed my 2-year diploma, I complemented it with a bachelor' degree in engineering for 1 year, entered directly into the 3rd/final year as France is like the UK, the Bachelor Degree program total program duration is 3 years compared to 4 years in the USA, Malaysia or Australia)
And it did serve the purpose! I eventually hired by the company I did my very final internship after few months upon graduation. It was well worth the sacrifice I made in opting for a big oil and gas firm in Malaysia giving me only RM350/month of allowance vs Euro 1,300/month if I accepted the offer in France. I could have been RM26,000 (big money for a student without rich parents like me) richer upon graduation should I choose the offer in France but I knew what I wanted back then, to work in oil and gas industry in Malaysia.
Yes I wanted to work in Europe so bad those days. But remember the recession in Europe circa 2010-2012 where Greece, Spain and Italy almost went to bankruptcy? France was also badly affected, lots of unemployment and they prioritize locals. So I had to go with my plan B of making money out of oil in Malaysia. I managed to make around 3-4 times what fresh graduates in Malaysia made that time.
For my sponsored studies in France, my path obliged me to take a couple of decisions. After my SPM result, I had to take the 2-year university foundation program in France instead of in Malaysia like most other programs(it was revised to a shorten 1-year program since around 10 years ago so I at that time felt unlucky as I thought I wasted a year doing the 2-year program instead of one). It was an A-Level or International Baccalaureate (IB) equivalent which was the minimum requirement to enroll in most universities worldwide. For this program, there were 3 options in 3 different institutions around France:
1. Universié de La Rochelle
2. Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) de Blois
3. Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) de Colmar
We could not choose the desired institution back then so it was our management company who assigned us to which one of the three. The company was appointed by my sponsor to facilitate our journey in France as it was not as common as in English speaking countries.
Luckily for me my workload is not that bad mostly because if it is, it can be quite challenging as schools and childcare facilities are also closed. Which means WFH parents are also taking the babysitting or childcare loads over on top of their professional obligation.
As this morning my wife finally has to be on 12-hour duty at her office after 3 months of maternity leave, me left with my boys to be taken care of and they both are in control, I feel like writing after a while. What I feel like writing this morning is on how I planned my life ahead when I was a student.
Last night before sleeping, I had a random conversation with a friend who also used to study in France, triggered me to remember the way I think those days when it come to choosing for a town to live, what kind of residence to stay at and most importantly what course to take. When making decision with all these factors came into my mind, one thing for sure is they were all based on my life after graduation.
When most students prioritize on interesting course, I always opted for programs with most internship as possible. I already realized at the age of 19, that industrial relation is important as I always look to work with the company I did my internship upon graduating, at least I can build the relationship during my internship. It always tied back to money matters. Work as early as possible upon graduation to make money. I would also always opted for a small town for minimal cost of living and cheap rental. Once I knew the system, I opted for accommodation that can optimize my cash flow where I paid 240 Euros for rental and the French government provided 210 Euros subsidy so I ended up spending around 30 Euros for rental plus additional bills for utilities. It was important to fulfill my dream of having the most of what I wanted. I love travelling, I want a steady income and I want a good kick-start of life later.
Internship also brings allowance from company and additionally from my sponsor, provided the company located a distance away from my college as mentioned in sponsorship guideline. It has always been a habit for me to read guidelines or contract in detail ever since my student days till this very day, especially when it comes to claim entitlement and allowance.
When most students only did 1 internship during their 2-year diploma-equivalent program in France, I did 3. When most students didn't have the chance to do even 1 internship when they continue their diploma with 1 year bachelor' degree, I did 1 internship for 5 months. By the time I completed my 3-year Bachelor' Degree program (2-year diploma plus 1-year of BSc in Engineering), I did 4 internships in 4 different organizations accumulating almost 11 months of industrial experiences with the following breakdown:
1. 4-week (1-month) during the 1st year of diploma at the beginning of 2nd semester
2. 2-month during the 2nd year of diploma at the beginning of 2nd semester (not full time basis, but it was 2-3 days per week at the company continuously throughout the period. It was a final year project.
3. 12-week (3-month) during the 2nd year of diploma towards the end.
4. 5-month during the final year of bachelor' degree after halfway thru the 2nd semester (after completed my 2-year diploma, I complemented it with a bachelor' degree in engineering for 1 year, entered directly into the 3rd/final year as France is like the UK, the Bachelor Degree program total program duration is 3 years compared to 4 years in the USA, Malaysia or Australia)
And it did serve the purpose! I eventually hired by the company I did my very final internship after few months upon graduation. It was well worth the sacrifice I made in opting for a big oil and gas firm in Malaysia giving me only RM350/month of allowance vs Euro 1,300/month if I accepted the offer in France. I could have been RM26,000 (big money for a student without rich parents like me) richer upon graduation should I choose the offer in France but I knew what I wanted back then, to work in oil and gas industry in Malaysia.
Yes I wanted to work in Europe so bad those days. But remember the recession in Europe circa 2010-2012 where Greece, Spain and Italy almost went to bankruptcy? France was also badly affected, lots of unemployment and they prioritize locals. So I had to go with my plan B of making money out of oil in Malaysia. I managed to make around 3-4 times what fresh graduates in Malaysia made that time.
For my sponsored studies in France, my path obliged me to take a couple of decisions. After my SPM result, I had to take the 2-year university foundation program in France instead of in Malaysia like most other programs(it was revised to a shorten 1-year program since around 10 years ago so I at that time felt unlucky as I thought I wasted a year doing the 2-year program instead of one). It was an A-Level or International Baccalaureate (IB) equivalent which was the minimum requirement to enroll in most universities worldwide. For this program, there were 3 options in 3 different institutions around France:
1. Universié de La Rochelle
2. Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) de Blois
3. Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) de Colmar
We could not choose the desired institution back then so it was our management company who assigned us to which one of the three. The company was appointed by my sponsor to facilitate our journey in France as it was not as common as in English speaking countries.
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