Scholars in a nutshell

This section serves as a guidance for those who want to apply for scholarships especially for SPM leavers (excluding state-funded scholars like FELDA,YT,YS and MAIK because it is state-specific and not open to students from other states/non-FELDA)

PNB
BNM
Khazanah

Petronas
YTN
YTM
UEM
JCORP
Sime Darby

JPA
MARA
YPPB

If you want to know the amount of allowance of each scholarship, you would have to comment or dm on my post in this blog before I give you the access link to it.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

My Ramadan 2014

It is the time of the year where I share the precious moments that I have over the years. For this year, it was somehow different that the previous year. But first, I would really like to speak in Malay for today's post.

Aku memikirkan untuk menukilkan kenangan Ramadan aku pada tahun lepas kerana tahun lepas lah merupakan ujian ramadan yang sebenar2 kepada diriku. Oleh itu, aku merasakan lebih baik untuk aku menerangkan setiap perkara yang berlaku dalam temoh tersebut.

Tahun lepas, cabarannya amat berbeza. Bayangkan, buat fieldwork FYP di tengah2 panas dan siang waktu bulan puasa. Bukan sehari dua, tapi lebih daripada 5 hari rasanya buat fieldwork masa tu. Mujurlah ada peneman dan rakan taulan di sebalik itu semua. 

Ceritanya bermula lebih kurang macam ni. Aku dan beberapa rakan yang lain memilih untuk melakukan FYP di Semester 2 dan 3, berbanding pelajar-pelajar lain yang buat semasa semester 1 dan semester 2. Pada mulanya, aku dah tau dari awal yang bulan Ramadhan 2014 memang akan jatuh pada bulan Jun dan Julai, tempoh yang sama aku akan berdepan dengan Seminar dan Viva dan juga Report Submission.

Namun, ianya tersasar dari study plan yang asal. Kononya, segala fieldwork akan disiapkan sebelum puasa, namun akhirnya terpaksa meleret ke bulan Ramadan. FYI, tajuk aku adalah Resistivity Survey. Walaupun nampak mudah, namun ia sebenarnya agak sukar untuk Pure Geologi student macam aku ni.

Kenangan melakukan fielwork di Putrajaya dan di Johan Setia akan sentiasa diingati sehingga bila2. Bagi aku, itulah pertama kali membanting tulang di bawah cahaya matahari terik, dan dengan keadaan yang berpuasa, aku berasakan macam mahu saja qada puasa pada hari itu kerana sudah terlalu dahaga dan haus. Yang paling menyedihkan, apabila melakukan fieldword, perkataaan "Error" yang sering terpampang di skrin mesin tersebut menyebabkan aku berasa semakin fed up dan ingin menyerah kalah sahaja. 

Itu belum masuk lagi Reader yang bagi aku "krik"2. Sori Dr Sam, tapi awak agaknya terlalu kasar untuk student lelaki dan awak tak boleh assume semua orang sama dari segi IQ dan knowldege. Bukan berniat nak kurang ajar, tapi saya rasakan Dr Sam ni mcm terlalu bersikap kasar dan sebenarnya tidak langsung membantu keadaan yang sudah keruh. 

Namun begitu, saya percaya Dr Sam mempunyai paternal sidenya yang tersendiri. Mungkin kerana aku jarang ke biliknya untuk bertanyakan sesuatu. Mungkin kaedah mendidik beliau agak unik berbanding yang lain, mungkin juga kerana faktor persekitaran beliau membesar. Kalaulah saya boleh tau segala sejarah hidup Dr Sam, mungkin saya akan lebih memahami kenapa dia bersikap sedemikian.

For my SV, Dr Islami sememangnya melayan segala karenah pelajarnya, dan bagi saya, saya memang banyak berhutang banyak dengannya. Mungkin satu hari nanti, saya berharap sangat dapat makan bersama2 dengan dua Dr ini dan juga Dr aftab, seorang lagi readerku.

Namun begitu, semua ini terbalas apabila aku berjaya mendapatkan A- untuk FYP aku ni. Aku sendiri berasakan aku tidak layak dianugerahkan A-, SEWAJARNYA hanya B+ dan ke bawah kerana banyak benda atau masalah yang aku hadapi dalam FYP ni. Ditambah dengan seminar yang suam-suam kuku dan viva initial dan final yang juga samar2 dan terlalu stress untuk dihadapi kerana ternayata aku tidak layak untuk mengambil FYP sebegini rupa.

Tak lupa juga semasa habis fielwork pada suatu hari, kononya saya dan kawan2 ni ingatkan sempat nak balik ke KL, akan tetapi tak sempat pun. Kenangan yang tak boleh lupa apabila sudah masuk waktu maghrib dan kitaorang masih tercari2 mana vending machine yang ada sediakan air manis. Last2, tuju balik ke tempat aku buat fieldwork. Memang x boleh dilupakan saat tu.

Selain tu, aku x akan lupa pengalaman naik jeep lama milik kawanku yang meredah pelbagai jalan yang berliku2 dan kadang2 sampai tersekat pun ada. Maaflah tapi kalau aku pakai kereta family aku memang aku x boleh pakai pun. All in all, bulan ramadan pada tahun lepas banyak mengajar aku tentang erti kesyukuran dan menghargai masa kerana dua nikmat itu hanya akan dirasai apabila kita kehilangan kedua2nya. 

Berbuka pun hanya di bilik tesis kerana sudah ketiadaan bilik pada masa itu, namun nikmat itulah yang aku gunakan untuk menghargai segala benda yang ada dalam hidup ini. 

Dan sekaran, Ramadan 2015 sekali lagi menjelma dan sudah setahun peristiwa tersebut berlalu. Semalam aku terfirkir di dalam benak sanubariku. Aku dihadapi dengan pelbagai ujian dari dulu sampailah sekarang. Cukup dengan aspek masa depan dan turning point hidup aku sahaja. Aku ambik time frame 2010-2015. 

Bermula 2010, aku sudah diuji dengan kegagalanku untuk mendapat biasiswa Jpa atau mana2 biasiswa untuk belajar ke luar negara selepas SPM. Salah satu fakornya adalah result spm aku yang terlalu average dan biasa untuk dibandingkan dengan calon-calon lain yang jauh lebih hebat. Pada tahun 2010 juga, aku muntah dan pening semasa peperiksaan Mid Semester 1 di Pasum, sehinggakan aku terlepas satu subjek daripada mendudukinya. 2011, aku diuji sekali lagi apabila aku gagal untuk medapat kursus perubatan yang menjadi impian ramai. Mungkin disebabkan aku gagal mendapat 4 flat. Dan bermula dari 2011-2015, aku gagal untuk mendapat Anugerah Dekan kecuali di semester terakhir. Dan yang terbaru, 2015 juga diiringi dengan kesukaran untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan di sektor Awam dan swasta yang established. 5 tahun sudah cukup mengajarkan erti kekecewaan dan kedukaan yang begitu perit untuk ditelan. 

Namun, aku berpegang pada prinsip hidupku, untuk setiasa berusaha dan tidak pernah menyerah kalah walau apapun yang berlaku kerana aku pasti di sebalik setiap kesedihan pasti ada sinar harapan yang akan mendatang. Untuk itu, aku hanya perlu berusaha dan berdoa sesungguhnya untuk mendapat apa yang terbaik untuk diriku di samping belajar segala kesilapan yang dilakukan pada masa lalu.


Sunday, June 21, 2015

Anugerah SPM 2013 Kebangsaan


MEXT INTERVIEW AND CH2M HILL INTERVIEW


There were 2 interviews last week. I did not know what to expect but I always thought that each interview would be a pretty intimidating one. Asking for my employer for extra leaves, I managed to do so by giving reasonable excuses and plenty of explanations of course.

Arriving in KL, I went to the stipulated area for the exact place a day before, to know its actual location. On the day of the interview, I arrived an hour early to get a parking space. I t was not until 2.00 pm that I started to get into the building. Once I entered the area, the officials requested that all mobile phones and electronic devices should be taken by the personnel. Thus, I could not take any picture and as such.

Then, I proceeded to the designated area before the interview. We had to wait there for about 20 minutes before going to another waiting room for the interview. After going to the waiting room, I met up with some candidates, asking their majors and their past career options and others. I just did that so that I could gather more info on what are the options for my type of major.

FYI, in that day, there were about 18 candidates(Tuesday) that were divided into different time slots. Not to mention the previous day, about 16 candidates(Monday) were called for the interview. I would assume that more candidates are being called upon on Wednesday and Thursday. This would result in an approximate total of 60-70 candidates before the final 20-25 candidates are being offered the scholarships.

Interview wise, it was quite ok although the interviewers were not that much of friendly bunch. There were 5 interviewees in total. (1 MALE from JAPANESE EMBASSY(He was there during the 1st written exam too,sitting in front with Japanese Embassy staffs), 2 MALES FROM UM(I knew them because they are lecturers in Ambang Asuhan Jepun in UM), 1 MALE FROM UPM(Presumably because I could see a business card that stated "UPM" in front of him on the interview table, and 1 FEMALE (from JPA or Malaysia Governement or Universities I guess, because she was the most interviews that asked much about my research thingy). I did state about my topics, my aims and the repercussions that I could use from the study for both Japan and Malaysia. It went for about 10-15 minutes for each candidates, although some might exceed 30 minutes due to interesting researches that caught up the interviewees' attention. After the interview was over, I went home feeling somehow elated that the interview had ended.

For CH2M Hill interview, I went to the office in Mont Kiara. I would say it a more relaxed and enjoyable type of interview because the interviewers were so casual and yet full of expertise that takes years of practice. The interviews had 2 interviewees, one local manager, and another one foreign worker. All in all, they just looked at your academics,ko-k, your working experience, life expectations and etc. It went for about 1 hour plus.

It was good to know there are companies that are willing to take you eventhough you are just fresh graduate. Most importantly, you need to have good values within yourself so that you could become a good worker for the organisation that you are working with.

JAPAN EMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR

Saturday, June 13, 2015

the art of choosing

It was not meant to be something that we would thought of in our crossroads of life. But, it does happen occasionally. It is these unlikable moments that teach us the ordeal of life. It should be noted that some people in the past had suffered the difficulties before they become into where they are today.  

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

What have I learned in university for 4.5 years?

This is going to be a very short post. Some things that you and I need to ponder upon. It was quite surprising to note that 4.5 years had gone by just like a lighting bolt of thunder. You could not resist nor dampen it strong enough. That is why people always say, live life to the fullest and never let the time fading away without doing things that you cherish most. As for me, I have lived my life of 23 years with not just academic studies and results, but also a myriad of co-curricular activities, talks, swimming, debating, doing Summer Exchange Program in Taiwan, visiting to many countries, you name it.

But, I still utterly feel that I have not done much yet, most probably of the lack of financial capacity that I have yet to obtain in a quite stable position. There are things that don't require money but most of them do. Thus, I just keep on looking various ways that I can explore so that I will grab the chance whenever it comes. 

Back to the topic, HERE are the 5 THINGS that I have learned from my university years:

  1. Every people is unique and each has different personality
  2. Lecturers can be quite friendly and hostile at the same time
  3. CGPA is not everything, but still, it is very important plus with kok and other stuffs that you want to add to your self-value
  4. You reap what you sow
  5. Grab as many opportunity as you can for any events/program/activities that might interest you
All in all, I could say that my batchmates are extremely pluralistic with different attitudes and characters. Some of them are too conscientious and diligent while others can be very indolent, sluggish and slothful people. Being in a competitive environment previously, I have faced with many chinese counterparts during my Primary and Lower Secondary years, incredibly genius girls during my Upper Secondary and Pre-University Pasum years. Thus, that could explain the reason that I always take things very seriously. I don't blame them for their own sluggishness but I just hope that they can change for the better because I do want to share the success with the people and friends around us.

As far the opportunity is concerned, it is true that you won't have much free time once you are working after your graduation. It is a fact of life. Thus, enjoy your time in you uni just as your school years had been previously. Those moments will never come back for certain. It just occurred to me that I wanted to be involved with many more activities, joining competitions etc, but at least I had been given the opportunity for a summer exchange and a few thousand bucks for winning a music composing competition. Not to mention, the certs and trophies that I have collected so far.

p/s: Hoping for something is not enough, putting an effort in getting what you want will definitely make your hopes few steps closer to the dreams that you always wish for. Plus, with God's blessing and our parents' blessings of course.
My first ever "Umrah". Hoping for a second one if I get my ovc scholarships or ptd offer. Keep on praying and putting self effort towards it