Breathing new air

After the second week of being employed, I have had a coooolllll 2 weeks of my life already. The newcomers including me, went through an induction on the first day and soon after that, we were brought to our desks! You've no idea how exhilarating it was for me to see a desk with my name on it. The feeling of finally having a job and a project to handle... we were dedicated a big and meaningful project to do. Everybody in the office is doing the same project, just by different roles and obligations. In the one space of office, we are one big family, and we are a team.


The moment I stepped into the office, the situation in the office was as lively as night market, with voices coming from every angle of the room. But sometimes at one moment, suddenly the office turns as quiet as exam hall hahaha. Most of them are men in the room. It's no surprise to me as I know which industry I'm in right now. The existence of me and my friends added around 5% of female in the room? Hahaha.



For this project, we'll all be placed on site. I know the impression that I'm gonna get as one of the five female in the room. Being a junior QS, with my sometimes-soft-and-feminine look, one of the few malays (and muslims), am I good enough to contribute for this project? Hahaha.

(picture courtesy from Google)

Maybe I'm wrong, but MAYBE (just maybe) some of the people would underestimate me, because I look small, young and inexperienced. But hell yeah, I am so going to prove them wrong. What makes them think only men (or older and more experienced people) could do well in this industry? In their eyes, I might look soft and naive, but think before you realize what actually my brain, hands (and heart) can do. *grins* Hmmm just motivating myself right here haha.

  (picture courtesy from Google)

Guys, if you're millennials and currently reading this,  as soon as you get your job, you'd have to always be positive in whatever position you're in, and however much salary you're being paid. But of course, you ALWAYS have to understand and aware of your rights as employees and as humans. Don't be too calculative of your time and effort, but always be brave and strong that don't let the superiors bully you and let you down.


In our 20s, it's time for us to learn, to sacrifice, and essentially, to GROW as much as you can, be it mentally or physically, build your networks and nurture relationships that bring out the best in you.


Definitely I'm so excited for my career and can't further wait to contribute to the industry. For now, I have my own goals for the path I chose. But ultimately, I want to learn a lot, and soooo thrilled to finally be able to give back to my country! Alhamdulillah.

Positive Vibes

Those days of feeling tired and helpless... Today is the day. 

Those days of feeling less motivated... Today is the day.

Sometimes, we just need help. We need more strength than we ever required.

People look at us like we are capable, hardworking, and independent.

But inside, only God knows how worn-out we are, craving for more strength.

I must say... That's women. You see as if they are independent. 

Meanwhile,

they need people to be there to lighten everything in their shoulders.

I got this from twitter ;

"To all independent women out there who once in a while just wanna cry because sometimes you just don't wanna be independent anymore..

Happy International Women Day."

I still remember how I was motivated with these words last year, 

"Women empower one another"

These four words which have given me more courage,

These four words which have brought me back closer to my soulmate, Allah,

These four words which have made me thankful with my life,

These four words that constantly open my heart wide to forgive,

These four words that once inspired me to let go of a guy I used to love for a woman who needed him more,

These four words that make me want to make every women in this world happy especially the woman of my life ; Ibu.

So... Again,

Happy International Women Day.

Stay who you are, and in case you are tired (like me noww), 

Stay courageous! But remember to be HAPPY. (:

The After SPM

3rd of March that day SPM result 2015 was released. Reminds me a lot to the moment my batchmate and I in the big hall of SAMURA, coming with the same outfit theme which was white, anxiously waiting to know whether the result paid our sweats and tears throughout the two years struggling together. It was a very good memory as for our batch that time in SM Sains Muar, we managed to   bring up SAMURA's name again and at the same time remained as Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi. We were called the "Batch of Redemption" at 2012 (the whole year we're taking SPM), and we did it as the name given to us. We managed to 'redeem' better achievement, top 10 in SBP ranking, despite the fact that we have the most number of students sitting for SPM that year among other SBPs which was about 320 something. It wasn't easy for all the teachers, especially. Thank you so much, dearest Teachers :)

After a few years, things have changed anyway. We all now went in separate ways. Well, there are lots of things I learnt throughout the life after SPM result was out, until now. There are two things I'd really like to share with my brothers and sisters out there who've just received SPM result, whether they reached your expectations or otherwise, here I'd like to say :

(1) 

If your result does not reach your expectation, YOU will see a brighter side of your future, something better is planned for you. Jangan pedulikan makcik pakcik dok tanya-tanya, compare-compare kau dgn sepupu lain cakap cam ni, "La, dapat tu je ke?" Hello, makcik, pakcik? Get ready guys to open their eyes wideeeeee. Maybe not as soonest, time has their own way to make things happen anyway, inshaaAllah your highest achievement does not stop after SPM. You have wayyyyyy many things to achieve in your Uni, Master, PhD, Career, Family and Life.

I have friends who did not make it well in SPM, but I saw them happy doing things they never expected to do now. I'm so proud of them! They have travelled the world wayyy more than myself and that's so impressive. From their story, they all wanted straight As / A+s to become doctors, engineers etc. But little did they know the less As result of theirs actually lead them to something they'd really really love to do, and in the best way, what Allah knows the best for them. Allah is the Most Knowing. You just have to trust Him and pray for guidance a lot.

(2)

 If your result is very good and okay you're happy but you are lost in deciding your future and thought that SPM result is not useful in this competitive world, you're wrong. Jangan pedulikan sangat senior-senior cakap, "Ala, setakat SPM, tengoklah nanti universiti macam mana." 

I know, nowadays we are all driven to study abroad and that's our main expectation especially if you got straight As. We can do so many things that we lost in direction of where to go :

Studying abroad :  too expensive

Getting loan : too competitive 

Asking for parents' sponshorship : don't want to trouble parents

Seeking private company sponsorhsip : they don't sponsor for the course you want

Studying in public Uni(s) : you don't prefer

I kindly would like to advice you to think : What kind of working environment you'd like to be in the future? Are you passionate enough? If you're not, are you okay to find ways to gain it? And most importantly ;
What do you want to do to contribute to the world, country, religion, nation, family, and not to forget, yourself? Look at your result slip and think. Some people say, at the end, you're born to just pay the bills and die. 

To my dearest juniors whether you've good or less-than-your-expectation result, actually, at the end, after all the hardworks, when you're about to take your last breath, you will think : What did I really do to LIVE. Did I really live. And you will feel nothing but the best if you know you've contributed enough to the world, to those people in need, and if in Islamic way, to gain Allah's redha and blessings.

Back to the part when some seniors might say that SPM is just SPM, even good result won't help you to survive this world. What I have to say here is that I was thinking the same thing too. I thought the good result was useless up to my PASUM (Foundation in Science at UM) days. I wanted to be so many things like Doctor, Entrepreneur, Politician (hahaha), Quantity Surveyor etc... Too ambitious I think. Being overly ambitious is useless too adik-adik. Haha. Stay focus!

Back in pasum days, I went through hard times surviving but alhamdulillah I did well at the end. I really wanted to be a Doctor actually but I did not apply for any medical course when applying for UPU (because to me, if I were to do medicine, I wanna do it in RCSI or UM), instead I applied for something else. This was actually because my CGPA during the first semester in pasum (they require 4.00 cgpa for medical course in UM and it's really hard to get) wasn't good enough for UM medical course. I have the feeling that I wasn't going to do degree in UM. I also tried another interview (can't remember what uni) in India for medical course but unsuccessful cos I wasn't a 4.00 student in pasum :(

Then, I got offered by UM doing the course I applied, but it was after I was really determined to go and hence already registered in Heriot-Watt University Malaysia in Putrajaya (the first batch as it was just opened), I fell in love with the Uni since the first time my father showed it to me in advertisement in Star newspaper, until now. :) 

So, before I officially started my undergraduate programme in September 2014, a number of emails hit my inbox and some of them are scholarship offers. The annual fee for HWUM is quite costly as this Uni is Scotland-based. I really don't want to let my Dad pay for the expensive fees so I went to seek for scholarship. One of the scholarship offer was YTL. It was the scariest (but realllyy beneficial) experience in my life. The moment I sat down facing the interviewers, the first sentence came out from one of them was, "This is not a normal interview you usually do, but THIS, is your job interview." Wth I was only 18 man haha but it was a really good interview though. After two interview sessions (1 hour for first session, 1 hour and 1/2 for second session, it's a second chance cos I failed the first one hehe), I made it till the end. However, the highlight of this interview relates back to my blogpost is that during my second interview, they mentioned this, "Based on the first interview, you've failed cos you seemed to not have any passion in construction at all. But to look back to your SPM result, it's really really good. You're smart. It'd be so good to have a person like you here." I previously almost cried during the inteview session but this sentence somehow strengthened my gut back, until the very second of NOW. I never thought the SPM result was useful and might be one of the factors they accepted me to be sponsored with full scholarship in hwum. The guy who said that was so nice too, he gave a lot of useful advices and it really helped me to remain strong in accepting where I'm at now.

I'm happy cos YTL is not merely a small company, I could learn a lot from them throughout my working years there cos I was basically bonded with them for 5 years after graduation. Some people say I'm doing QS because my dad doing QS too. It was definitely the most incorrect statement ever. After praying a lot for guidance from Allah, I knew and felt that the decision to study QS in hwum is the best for me. Of course sometimes I doubt, meanwhile feeling stupid in this new thing I'm learning, but it's really really interesting if I look at the brighter side. 

Remember when I said I also wanted to be an entrepreneur? QS is the platform now, guysss. QS is in construction line, we also learn business management, investment, property thing and everything. I never thought I'd love these stuff more than I love Chemistry, Physics etc... 

So, jangan pandai-pandai cakap result spm tak pakai dah, buang dalam tong sampah, bye bye. Haha.

In spite of this lengthy post, don't give up and never lose faith. You will see brighter side of your future. Just keep going, okay? Future is different for everyone. Not necessarily you need to focus on studying medicine, dentists (but if you're doing this now, it's already very impressive! :) ). There are soooo many things you haven't explored in this world yet. Based on what I've read in news and what my father told me is that Malaysia currently needs more brilliant youngsters to contribute in other fields than those fields mentioned above. Go for business, construction, technology, arts, science and many more. You'd make your extraordinary future, inshaAllah !

Of the KL dUCk and Tun Dr Mahathir

On the remarkable  21^st of November 2015, I attended a dinner celebrating SAMURA’s 3^rd decade. SAMURA is actually an acronym for Sekolah Menengah Sains Muar (Muar Science High School). I was a student there and was one of the 29^th batch students (batch Penebus Maruah).

                                  

Batch 29 SAMURA. Attendance : 13/313. (Shasha wasn't in the picture cause she was our emcee of the night)

But here's a picture with my lovely Shasha. You did great for the emcee baby :*

The best thing about this dinner is that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was our VVIP for the night. One of the ultimate reason I went for the dinner because I actually wanted to see him right with my own eyes. But not only that I saw him with my eyes, he even stood beside me!!! (A second beside him was stupefying enough for me, it’s Tun M!)  *can’t wait to jump to the climax of my entry here*

For this memorable night, I wished to wear something special for the moment I’d be seeing my idol. It’s really significant for me because this man has given impact not only to my ownself, but to the whole nation, to the Malay people, to our Islamic religion, to our beloved Malaysia and definitely, to the whole world.

  

Therefore, I decided to wear the KL dUCk. dUCk is actually a brand of scarves. dUCk’s printed releases are always the prettiest ever. Basically, the KL dUCk is one of their special printed releases, most importantly is that because it is illustrated with the  beauty of the KL skyline and… of course there is the Petronas Twin Towers!

The KL dUCk box. Picture was taken when I was entering a competition for FashionValet Merdeka Flatlay!

Can hardly see the Petronas Twin Towers T__T only one tower. But nevermind, present to you the KL dUCk (Rear view).

(Front view)

It’s reaaaaaally meaningful for me because the twin towers was inspired by our Former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohammad. It was a very successful project lead by him. Let me tell you the parts that I love the most about the construction of the twin towers.

Firstly,  the floor layout plan of the towers were originated by Tun himself. Tun wanted a skyscraper for Malaysia because Malaysia was the least famous countries among the five Southeast Asean countries that time (Year 1992/3). He wanted a skyscraper that looks ‘Malaysia’, but how do you actually design a skyscraper that looks ‘Malaysia’? So he drew an image of interlocking squares that represents order and harmony in Islamic culture. After that, the design was further developed by the architect, César Pelli, where he added in semicircular scallops located at every corner of the original floor plan by Tun M. And there it is, a brilliant fundamental design that results in such fascinating twin towers!

Design development of the Petronas Twin Towers' floor layout plan. The first one was by Tun M (Photo credit to : http://shu1229.blogspot.my/2010_11_01_archive.html)

Second, two project managers were involved in the building of each tower. They were actually competing for who’s gonna finish their tower first. It was a very brilliant idea that this competition encourages the project managers to not take time for granted. They work hard 7 days, 24 hours a week with heavy workloads everyday.

Third, this project managed to finish on time! All the stakeholders’ hardworks really paid off! (which is one of the most important element for a success of construction project)

And now, Malaysia still holds the record of being a country with the highest twin towers in the world. It’d not had happened if it wasn’t for the brain and spirit of our beloved Tun M. He’s such a ineffable Malay man.

As a girl dipping in the construction world seeking for passion, I have been very inspired with the construction of skyscrapers and rail sectors especially. In my opinion, these two sectors include one of many reasons that benefit one’s country as they result to a more well-known and economically well-developed country. Skyscrapers are non other than that it represents  a country’s status in the world as it goes higher, reaching the skyline of one’s city. Whilst rail sectors make people more productive! I went to Japan and I’ve always most impressed with their public transportations especially the bullet train! If we have bullet train in Malaysia, we could be more productive because it moves fastttt that we can reach our destination quicker and we can also do our computer work while on our way to a particular meeting because it’s so convenience and comfortable inside! Getting to save time, money and energy to-and-fro for a long journey meeting location would be very economical right?

Don’t worry, as a future Quantity Surveyor, I’ll make sure that dreams don’t just remain dreams. “Pelopor kepada kemajuan pembangunan.” As the lyric goes in my SAMURA school song :) #feelingmotivated

 

Back to the dinner thing, I was in awe the whole time he gave us his speech about ‘Knowledge’. Like a facepalm, I never thought that an amazing man like him once felt what I have also felt throughout my learning days. The most unforgettable part of his speech was when he said, “When I was in the Medicine College, I got only 3As over 8 subjects in exam. I was the worst among my friends who most of them obtained 6,7,8As over 8 subjects. All my friends teased me for getting bad result. I know I need to do something to reach higher, so I work harder. I put more effort. I read the Pathology book for 10-15 times. I kept on reading and reading and reading, non-stop. Eventually when I was in the next exam, I got to remember which page of the book was that answer, and also the images in the book vividly appeared in my memory. As a result, I obtained the same result with those who got 6,7,8As.” 

I almost teared in happiness listening to his speech, was so touched and happy as well. Like a father-to-daughter advice, he gave me a bundle of joy and spirit without him realizing it. I always feel down in this kind of issue, where I’m not as smart as my friends are, so I know I need to work hard. But sometimes, I feel so stupid. I always ask myself, “Am I the stupidest? Why don’t they work hard also like me? Am I the only one who thinks that this subject is hard? Why do they take it easy? Do they understand this already? Why can’t I understand this if I don’t study?” I acknowledged that everyone has their talents and limitations. It’s just frequently I feel down and low-spirited. But as I remind myself to this part of Tun M’s speech, if you know you need to work hard, just work hard. “Belajar rajin-rajin,” kata Tun M. Thank you Tun for giving me motivations back. I need it so much T__T You are forever an inspiration.

So, I managed to get a selfie with him! Like always, at first I almost gave up in doing things. Even in taking picture with celebrities. I was once disappointed because I couldn’t get to take picture with Dato’ CT during the simplicity meet ‘n’ greet session because the security guards were annoying. But yesterday it’s unexpected that Allah gave me a chance to have a picture with Tun M instead, an idol to Dato’ CT herself! Hahaha. He almost got into his car, but my friend, Jiha said, “Go Rah, just go.” The crowd became lesser, I walked towards him slowly without pushing anyone, I said, “Tun, boleh tunggu kejap tak…” 


I think only my voice was heard because it was suddenly quite sileeent that time, or maybe it’s Allah who made everyone quiet hehe. And Tun M just smiled at me!! He looked at me like ‘Oh kesian budak ni, takpa saya berdiri je dekat sini.’ Senyuman macam senyuman atok kepada cucunya. Awwwhh. Then I stood right beside him and we took a duofie! My best achievement of the year! I had a duofie with a person who gave the best for Malaysia and I wishhhh I could be one of the young generations who will give the best to Malaysia and the world too! I wisshhh I could do lots of amazing things for our nation, religion and country just like how you did, Tun M!  :’)

  It was a great night indeed. Thank you Allah (swt) <3