The eye-opening overseas internship has inspired our surveying students, Alex and Kenneth, to pursue excellence in their academic development and future quantity surveying professions.

Work-Integrated Education (WIE) has played an indispensable role in the curriculum of full-time degree programmes in our Department since its launch in 2006. It enables our students to get a taste of applying the knowledge they learnt in classes to the workplace in the construction industry. The two surveying students, Alex Wong Ching Hong and Kenneth Hui Chit Kit, can’t wait to share their story of inspiring internship in the world-famous QS consultancy firm, ‘RLB Pentad Quantity Surveyors Limited’ in South Africa.

Kenneth says, ‘To a large majority of people, South Africa is very mysterious. I haven’t thought of discovering this country before the internship. Amazingly, we could have an on-job training at RLB Pentad in South Africa.’

As the student interns, Kenneth and Alex participated in an array of construction projects, particularly working on cost plans. Paying visits to construction projects, for example, government offices and shopping malls in South Africa, was key ingredient during their two-month internship.

The internship was one of the best ways for Kenneth and Alex to get a picture of the different practices of thetwo places’ construction industries, South Africa and Hong Kong.

Alex shares, ‘In RLB Pentad, we were assigned to the project team of constructing a new academy building. It was really gorgeous to work with a group of professionals in South Africa. The knowledge we learnt in PolyU could be applied to our work. Although we finished the internship, we look forward to the completion of this academy building.’

In addition to work, the weekend travelling was part of their adventure in South Africa. They have been the University of Pretoria with the help of their boss.

Life is a journey of joys, adventures and surprises! Alex and Kenneth add, ‘This once-in-a-lifetime overseas internship further reinforced our ambition of being professional quantity surveyors. We are very grateful for Department of Building and Real Estate as well as RLB Pentad for this wonderful journey.’