11 Jul Working in International Relations
I am lucky to be working with the firm I am at which is a political-economic think tank here in Hong Kong. Here I have been learning a lot about policy making in Hong Kong and about history itself of this amazing place. My co-workers are very knowledgeable and are always prompt to help me with any questions I have.
My tasks here include basic office work, as in typing documents, making calls and copies, but also organising events and managing their website. I confess that some of the simplest things, i.e. calling a hotel for a quotation at first scared me because differently from everything I have experienced before, I had to quote a whole day event and dinner for about 50 people and mind all sorts of details, such as the menu, tables layout, room allocation, price and etc. It has been an interesting experience.
But what captivates me the most is the opportunity I am having to speak at the Hong Kong Legislative Council on the public hearings and meeting they hold. The organization gives me support and training, I discuss policies at the office and I prepare my speeches to give at the Legislative Council on a myriad of subjects such as minimum wage, welfare system, infrastructure projects, competition laws and many others.
What makes it different is that for the first time, I feel that I am actually a part of the policy making process in Hong Kong, since at those meetings I discuss these matters with legislators, stakeholders and authorities. Moreover I am having the chance to improve my public communication skills and learn about a different political system than I know of from Brazil or the United Kingdom. And from that I can trace comparisons and create my own empirical perspective of so many issues I have learned inside the classroom throughout so many years of education.
The internship also encourages me to expand my network, and even on one of my first days, I was introduced to Brazilian friends of my boss who also run a political economic think tank in Brazil!
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