“UNDERPAID and overworked” is a common lament among many workers but this is especially pronounced among interns. Forced to earn industrial experience credits for their university courses, many students are taken advantage of and experience untold hardships.
A recent post by a netizen on X (formerly known as Twitter) highlights this very issue. Using the handle @youngaljunied, the poster shared a video showing students demanding better treatment of interns.
The demands were three-fold:
- More equitable wages for interns;
- To implement policies that protected interns; and
- To abolish unnecessary and irrelevant costs in higher education.
The student activist lamented that despite a student coalition presenting a memorandum on the matter to the Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong, the silence from the authorities has been deafening.
To YB @scheekeong,
It’s been almost a month since we passed an Intern Bukan Buruh Percuma memorundum to your PTTK, Mr Chee.
But silence since then.
17 mahasiswa and youth groups came together and endorsed this statement. Does this mean nothing to you? pic.twitter.com/82uMuQVxbc
— Rashifa (@youngaljunied) March 1, 2024
She further highlighted the miserable plight of many interns by saying they were reduced to surviving on a single meal a day.
The post has garnered 2.8 million views at time of writing. Here is a sample of comments from fellow netizens.
One netizen chided the poster for her impatience stating that although the minister was new at the job, he had already taken steps to address a number of issues. It was argued that it is not easy to solve the problems highlighted by the students in the video.
More than a few netizens were less than impressed by the demands.
More than a few stated that perhaps youngsters needed a lifestyle adjustment and be realistic with their demands.
Some went on to highlight the unrealistic nature of the demands.
Some said that there should be less government interference, instead let market forces determine the true value of an intern’s worth.
One netizen underlined the reality of the situation by highlighting that it is the students who need to acquire the necessary internship credits for their courses. It is not really the problem of private enterprises.
Based on the many comments, it appears this activist has seriously misjudged the prevailing mood. People are not keen to hear inexperienced youngsters make demands when older peers are struggling with the rising cost of living.
Welcome to the school of hard knocks, young lady …. – March 6, 2024
