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Name of Intern:
Charles Tan
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Country:
Singapore Democratic Party -
Young
Democrats
- Internship
period: 29 March 2005 – 22 April 2005
Suggestions for Future Interns
The internship
program is an enriching and educational experience that should be continued.
I would suggest the following for future interns and ALDE/CALD/FNF
administrators of the programme:
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Interns
prior to their arrival should read up on the European Parliament from its
official website: http://www.europarl.ep.ec to better understand its
organizational structures, rules of procedures, working documents and
activities.
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Prior to
their arrival, the program could perhaps require the intern submit a short
written report on their political knowledge and background, their
perception on European politics, and what they hope to achieve during the
internship. This report can be used as an indicator for evaluating the
fruitfulness of the program.
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The current
system is such that an intern is assigned to following a particular
committee; but that flexibility is given such that he or she is allowed to
follow others as well. I hope the versatility of this program continues.
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Besides
assigning interns to committees, he or she can perhaps be assigned to an
MEP within the group. The purpose is to allow the interns to get a better
grasp of the EP through the work of an individual MEP.
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Since the
group is comprised of various European nationalities, an intern could
perhaps be assigned to one volunteer who has offered to be a "friendly
mentor". The mentor will be required to help the intern ease into his
daily activities in the parliament, answer some of his or her questions
outside the Parliament and in his or her own country. Thus, a form of
cultural and political exchange can take place.
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A short
presentation or project is required of the intern towards the end of the
program. The topic and format of the presentation or project should be
opened to the discretion and agreement of the intern and the
administration. The purpose of the presentation or project is to allow the
intern to put to use what he or she has learnt or feels strongly about.
E.g. doing a survey on the groups´ perception of the country of which the
stagiaire came from.
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I suggest
the intern keeps a daily journal to keep track of his or her activities
which may be useful for writing the intern report.
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