Lieutenant Bridget Weeks fulfilled a lifelong dream when she sailed an Australian warship into Malaysia during a regional presence deployment.

Lieutenant Weeks, whose mother migrated to Australia from Malaysia in 1998, is a surface warfare officer serving on HMAS Ballarat.

“I’ve been telling my family since I was 10 that one day I would join the Navy and drive a ship to Malaysia, and I did it. How cool is that?” Lieutenant Weeks said.

Lieutenant Weeks has 10 aunts and uncles, along with eight cousins, who live in Malaysia.

So, as soon as Ballarat arrived in Kuantan, Lieutenant Weeks boarded a plane for Kuala Lumpur, where she spent two days with her family.

“The first night was really special because I got to celebrate my platform endorsement with my family,” she said.

This is a significant step in the life and career of a surface warfare officer, as it means Lieutenant Weeks is now qualified to conduct bridge watches on Anzac-class frigates without supervision.

“They had no idea what that meant,” Lieutenant Weeks said, jokingly.

“But for me, being able to share that moment with family was really special.”

'I’ve been telling my family since I was 10 that one day I would join the Navy and drive a ship to Malaysia, and I did it.'

Lieutenant Weeks said Malaysian culture was centred around family and spending lots of time together.

“Most of my family still lives in Malaysia, and I live on the other side of the country to my mum, so I don’t get to see family very often,” she said. 

“It was really amazing to experience Malaysian culture again.

“Whenever I come to Malaysia, it’s always really exciting for me to experience what my family likes to do in their culture.”

So what does her family love to do? Eat!

“The food in Malaysia is so delicious,” Lieutenant Weeks said.

“We had a big family dinner on the first night, which was amazing. Then the next day, we went to a street market for one of my favourite foods – Malaysian chicken rice.”

Lieutenant Weeks was also excited to show her aunts, uncles and cousins photos of her at work.

“Aside from saying I drive a ship, it’s hard to explain what we do. So I really enjoyed getting to show my family photos from our deployment,” she said.

Ballarat is away for three months on a regional presence deployment, deepening Australia’s relationships across the Indo-Pacific and enhancing the ability to operate with partner nations. 

Ballarat will return to Australia in December, following exercises and activities with New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Cambodia, Brunei-Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.