| Azaraimy HH |
CHINESE telecommunication giant, Huawei, aims to be part of the process in nurturing highly-skilled human capital in support of Brunei’s economic transformation programme.
Serving 45 of the world’s top 50 carriers and a third of the world’s population, the ICT giant is today a leading global ICT solutions provider.
In the Sultanate, Huawei partners with all major telecom operators including TelBru, DST and Progresif Cellular Sdn Bhd.
A programme called ‘Huawei Seeds for the Future’ is an example of how Huawei is supporting Brunei’s effort in producing highly-skilled human capital. The programme provides a comprehensive hands-on work experience programme for Brunei tertiary students.
Six students from Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) have successfully com-pleted the programme and they are: Chua Kah Kheng, Dayangku Nur Syazwina binti Pengiran Haji Yasmin, Lim Pei Nee, Awangku Mohd Zulfakhri bin Pengiran Awang, Awangku Yura Mohd Iqbal bin Pengiran Haji Yura Mohd Abai and Naasiruddeen bin Abdul Wahab.
Bruneian students under the ‘Huawei Seeds for the Future’ programme
Senior Lecturer Jennifer Voon, who is the Director of Industry Liaison Office at UTB, said, “The programme gave opportunity to our students to have some experience on how innovation is nurtured and realised in the industry. It gave them an insight on the connection between what they study in a classroom environment and how technology is applied in the industry. The students are in their final year of studies and the experience will enhance their knowledge in the classroom.”
When asked about career prospects of participating students, she said Huawei is a global and world-class company with over 170,000 plus employees and its technology is also applied here as well, especially in telecommunication.
She added that students’ career prospects can be enhanced not just in terms of local employment but also globally.
“The experience of Bruneian participants in the programme provides the seed for the young students to consider oppor-tunities in this industry, not only local employment but also global employment opportunities,” she said.
Dayangku Nur Syazwina binti Pengiran Haji Yasmin, a participant of the programme this year, described the expe-rience as inspiring partly due to the level of exposure it provides into current and future ICT development.
She said it is also remarkable to see how Huawei has grown from such a small company to one of the world’s leading telecommunication companies in such a short period of time. The company is always looking to innovate and has invested heavily in the research and developmental areas that is its winning formula, she added.
“At the Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen, we had a chance to visit the exhibition halls and it really opened our minds on the levels of progression that Huawei has had over the years. I believe that even greater innovation could be achieved through cooperation with other passionate people in the field,” she said.
Part of the fun and learning experience for her was the opportunity to have discussions with talented people as well as the opportunity to learn basic Mandarin lessons and take examinations.
Chua Kah Kheng, another participant, said their journey in China kicked-off in Beijing, where they were brought to their hotel, Geosciences International Conference Centre, located near the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). They were given the opportunity to visit some historical sites as part of their cultural lesson, such as the Summer Palace and the Great Wall of China.
Chua said, he and the other participants also had a chance to introduce the cultural song ‘Cabuk Cabuk’ during the opening ceremony. In Beijing they also learnt basic Chinese painting and Chinese calligraphy. They were so immersed in the lesson that they completed three hours without a break.
The students have the opportunity to take Mandarin language lessons during the programme. PHOTOS: 2015 SEEDS PARTICIPANTS
In Shenzen, the participants learnt about Huawei’s corporate culture at a session held by Huawei University. Chua said they learnt the value of never-ending perseverance and customer-first attitude that transformed Huawei to what is now.
They also learnt how Shenzen developed from a small fishing village to one of the most developed cities in China.
During lessons at the Huawei Global Technical Service Centre on wired and wireless mobile networks (2G, 3G and 4G), Chua said there was an overload of useful information, but they managed to absorb everything. They were able to understand further the concept of how mobile networks work, and how voice and data connection maintained when moving from one location to another.
“The mobile network course was definitely interesting and I am grateful to be able to learn it. For me, it is a new sector to learn about and the knowledge gained will definitely help in the future,” Chua stated.
They also had a class on cloud operations, which is a growing segment in the ICT industry.
UBD computer science student, Pei Nee Lim, another participant, expressed her appreciation for her selection into the programme.
She believed the cultural tour included in the programme gave her deeper understanding of Chinese culture, history and heritage. She said learning and opening up to a new culture helped her to be more flexible and appreciative of other people’s opinions and actions.
In addition to the technology-driven programme, she said her lessons in the Mandarin language were important as she believes language can be seen as a tool that is vital to understanding, exploring and experiencing the uniqueness of cultural perspectives.
“Learning a new language will enhance my ability to communicate in today’s globally connected world, increase my networking skills and provide better career choices in the future. Also, it will allow me notice and appreciate the things that are sometimes lost in translation,” she explained.
At the core of their programme, Pei Nee Lim said, there were sessions on topics that included ‘Mobile Internet Application and Development Trend’, ‘Intelligent Network Application and Development Trend’, and ‘Networking Supporting of Mobile and Intelligent Network’.
She said first-hand technical training was conducted through laboratory sessions after every lecture enhanced the participants’ understanding on topics that were covered during lectures.
She said the opportunity to visit Huawei’s exhibition halls also brought her to witness some of the Huawei’s latest innovative products such as software-defined networking technology, Internet of Things for smart phone, smart cities and so on.
“These technologies can be used to provide faster, safer and more easily-scalable IT infrastructure to enterprises as well as to fight crime and provide security and emergency services.”
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