To the big city: A 'Kelate' intern's adventure in journalism

 

 I was never deep into politics and news, only digging deep if the cases are controversial.

I was raised on a lot of entertainment and I am hooked on anime, Vtuber (virtual YouTuber), Role-playing games (RPG) and K-pop.

I specifically like sports anime such as Haikyuu, Backflip, Tsurune and Free but at the same time enjoy other genres such as Jujutsu Kaisen, To Your Eternity and Moriarty the Patriot.

Some might think watching anime or listening to K-pop (I now solely focus on NCT) a waste of time but the reason why I learned English is to read the subtitles in anime and Korean dramas!

Last semester, when my university asked us to find a company for our internship, I was very nervous because I was unsure where to go.

I would be lying if I said Malaysiakini was my first choice because my family asked me to do my internship in my hometown of Kota Bharu instead of the big cities in Selangor/KL.

Situation outside of KLCC Convention Centre for Comic Fiesta 2022

I applied to a lot of companies especially those in Kelantan but the only company that reached out to me was Malaysiakini.

And the internship has been a brand new experience because of how fast I have to be to write news.

Although I am quite a shy person, I was required to talk to everyone and make connections not only with the ones I interview but also with journalists from other media agencies.

At first, I would tag along with other journalists who would teach me some tips and tricks on how to be a good journalist.

Now, I’m required to do outside assignments myself, up to two to three times per week.

They can be tiring due to commuting and others but I realised how fun reporting can be.

Covering a press conference

The satisfaction gained when many people are reading your articles and giving positive feedback is definitely an unbeatable feeling!

Living in Klang Valley

After spending years at a boarding school and pursuing my studies far from home, I’m no longer homesick and no longer cry every time I call my family.

At first, after high school, I pursued my studies in Foundation in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Dengkil.

I struggled to catch up with the learning process although I really liked to study English more in detail. Eventually, I dropped TESL and pursued my degree in journalism at UiTM Shah Alam instead.

I am one of six siblings but the first in my family to pursue tertiary education. This comes with the awareness that I have an additional responsibility.

Coming from Kelantan where anime is not widely known, I have always been wanting to go to anime conventions.

And living in Selangor gives me more opportunities to attend cosplay events or fan meets and I already planned which events I should go to despite having no easy transportation - unlike in my hometown.

Fortunately, the house I rent is very near to a KTM Komuter station, as there are so many anime conventions you can attend at different locations in KL.

I’m thrilled to attend and maybe even try to cosplay but sometimes, I do not have enough time and there is no one to accompany me to the event.

During anime conventions, you can see your favourite characters in front of your eyes, as everyone is doing their best to achieve the accurate look for the character they are cosplaying.

Anime conventions are also a great place where you can support your talented local artist by buying amazing fan-made art at a very affordable price.

When I was still in school, I have always been wanting to go to Comic Fiesta, which is one of the biggest anime conventions in Malaysia, usually held for three days at the KLCC Convention Center.

Whenever my friend said they would attend the Comic Fiesta, I couldn’t help but feel envious, especially when Hakken, one of Malaysia's most famous cosplayers would attend.

Last year, when they announced Comic Fiesta, I was excited but tickets sold out very fast and it felt like going to war - where I had to look everywhere to get tickets for my friends.

Although it was a very messy and crowded event, I was happy because I finally could attend such an event after years of waiting.

I managed to take photos with a lot of cosplayers and bought a lot of fan merch as well.

‘Even the food's different’

Living in KL is a totally different experience from living in Kelantan.

In Kelantan, we have roadside restaurants scattered all over, where they sell Thai and Malay food in "kedai tomyam”.

However, in KL, it is quite hard to find good "kedai tomyam" but you can definitely find “kedai mamak” everywhere.

Food hunting in Kelantan

When I first arrived in Shah Alam, my friends would ask me if I wanted to go to "kedai mamak", but I had never tried it before since we don't have such outlets in Kelantan.

Now, I miss going there since it is in Shah Alam while my office is in Petaling Jaya.

The food price in KL is also something to be considered because I spend around RM15 per day - depending on which restaurants I go to.

This requires the “skill” to survey which restaurants offer food at affordable prices, especially for an intern like me.

Another difference between Kelantan and KL is that my home state does not have a lot of entertainment so whenever I want to hang out with my friends, we usually just go cafe hunting which is kind of boring sometimes.

But in the Klang Valley, there are plenty of events and places to visit such as thrift markets, petting zoos, theme parks, museums and many more.

Back to politics

My family has always been interested in politics, especially my brothers and I can always talk to them to get differing perspectives from different party supporters.

I still remember during GE13, my second brother was very enthusiastic and asked me and my sister to hoist PAS flags all the way back to our hometown.

It was a one hour and 30 minutes drive and every time we passed other cars, they would honk in support!

At the centre of Kota Bharu, it was very lively because everyone was driving and there was cheering and singing to show support - which was mainly dominated by PAS supporters.

This was very different from college when many of my university mates would question why Kelantanese still support PAS for decades especially those from Selangor/KL.

At the Parliament

GE15 was my first time voting and truth be told, I was clueless about who should I vote for. So, I did a lot of research on the candidates.

My first-time voting experience was great because you could see everyone wanted changes for the country in their own way. - Mkini

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NABILA SHILA is coming to the end of her internship at Malaysiakini.