During the Winter break, I interned with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (Hong Kong), specifically the
Communications Department (Singapore office). I have always been passionate about international
development and creating social impact at scale, and my interest in the medical field led me to pursue
an internship with MSF, among the many INGOs. With prior internship stints in the government and
corporate sectors, I jumped at this opportunity to gain exposure and understand first-hand the
operations of an INGO.
My interest in MSF was further affirmed after attending the ‘MSF Goes To Campus’ webinar conducted
by MSF HK’s Director of Communications, Ms Baikong Mamid, who shared about her experience in
the international humanitarian world. Subsequently, I reached out to her to find out more about
volunteering and internship opportunities with MSF and was delighted to know that the Singapore
team had an opening for a Communications Intern.
During my time in MSF, I was tasked to facilitate the offline communication activities, including events
like mapathons, and digital communication activities for MSF in Singapore. I also executed research to
enhance MSF’s communication strategies in Singapore, through investigations on the voice of MSF
Instagram accounts worldwide and a comparative analysis of other INGOs’/NGOs’ YouTube, Facebook,
and Instagram strategies. Furthermore, I analysed MSF’s media relations and success of past events’
outreach in Singapore, consolidating and simplifying the data into clear visuals and key insights which
contributed to the Communications Best Practices Report. It was always fulfilling to know that I had
autonomy in proposing the framework of analysis and that my work was valued and translated into
tangible results which supported MSF’s short-term and long-term strategies, including partnership
decisions for events like International Women’s Day.
Beyond research, I was able to attend staff meetings headed by MSF HK which involved the Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan teams. It was eye-opening to hear about key issues
and upcoming events in the various countries, allowing me to grasp a better understanding of field
workers’ engagement with populations in distress and appreciation of the work behind the scenes.
The open and informal sharing of updates also highlighted MSF’s collaborative culture which I thrive
in, making my internship experience even more enjoyable.
Overall, my internship journey with MSF has been extremely enriching and meaningful despite COVID-19 restrictions which rendered it remote. I would certainly recommend MSF to my peers!