Iron lady

She was dragged into a kancil.
Almost raped.

With a good intention of starting the lent season,
today,
She went to a church with a friend with the intention of asking for a blessing from Mother Mary.
Little that she knows a good intention could turn into a disaster

Her friend had to leave for 10 minutes to send an umbrella to her mom,
So she went in alone which of course she didn’t mind at all.

After lighting the candles and completing her prayers,
She went to the road to wait for her friend’s return.
But she wasn’t aware of her surroundings

A kancil came from behind,
Like a wind she was dragged into the car.

There were two man,
One fair Chinese looking guy did the dragging,
And a dark-skin guy with a cap on was driving,
Both were suspected to be high on drugs or alcohol

The guy who dragged her into the car was on top of her,
holding her so tight while kissing her neck and molesting her.
she was screaming her heart out with great disgust

Suddenly, dad’s face appeared in her memory with great intensity
and the UMS incident where a girl from UMS was dragged into a kancil andwas raped made her even more determined to break free
She refused to suffer for the same fate

She was thinking hard then,
how to defeat the man who was doing her,
she’s good in human anatomy,
so she chose the chest as the target

The man was strangling her then,
Trying to shut her off by choking her to unconsciousness
as she was struggling with her might to escape
The driver made a turn causing the fair looking man to stumble to the side close to her leg

She was thinking fast,
With her greatest might,
She used her only weapon at that time – her leg
And kicked him hard on the chest

The guy was short of breath after the attack,
The driver was shouting NOOOOO as he witnessed the defeat of his friend,
Like a superhero,
She jumped off from the car before the guy could even breathe

She hid in the forest while those men was searching for their prey,
She was trembling in tears and phoned her friend,
Her rescue came and she was safe again

She was a strong lady,
She escaped uninjured and most importantly still intact,
I couldn’t imagine to be in her shoes.
Even after what happened she could still talk to me with a clear voice

How glad I am that my little sister was okay.
She's an Iron lady.

World map

Believe it or not, I am very bad in geography. When I said bad, its very very very bad beyond explanation.

“Ohh! I thought Dubai is in India?”

“I think you meant Bombay or Mumbai.”

“And where is New Zealand? I thought it should be near Switzerland or Sweden since their names almost rhyme with each other.”

“Noooo, It’s down under! Oh my goodness, your school teacher should fail you in geography!”

“Oh shooott!!!!" What can I say, I haven't been learning much about geography for 10 years now since PMR.

But I know where Madagascar is because of the movie.

It’s pretty much embarrassing, I know. But seriously, I have taken the subject for granted. So much for saying I love travelling huh? I don’t even know what country is on the left, or right of the world map.

So today, I learned about Ottoman Empire from an Iraqi friend who has been kind enough to share some historical and geographical information which I never took time to learn. We even googled the world map. Like a kid, I played a little searching game on the map.

“Let’s find Brazil! Where is Netherland, Iceland, Argentina, Mexico, and Portugal??!!”

It doesn’t take long to understand the whole map. All this while I only know from Australia till Thailand, and after that, my knowledge is almost zero. I should be ashamed of myself even though I know these places by names.

So guys, don’t tell me you know where Morocco is, or Sahara, or Ecuador. I believe some people from the west doesn’t even know the existence of Malaysia. So I intend to share my knowledge here.

To those who took geography for granted, it’s not too late. I have something for you here to start with. Have a look on the map and see how much you know about the world.

Obama's twin brother?

Obama left his twin brother in Indonesia?

I certainly hope not. :)

Ilham Anas a photographer from Indonesia strikes a strong resemblance to the newly-elected US president Barack Obama. Find the article here and here.

People often mistaken him for Obama and took pictures with him. He starred in a phillipino commercial, which makes his fame grows even more worldwide.

Fatherly love

It was tough making them understand. But I am glad, in the end they agreed though they said I should have called SPA. Part of me was consumed by guilt for not being responsible but the other part of me is jumping for joy for not having to go through it again. I just need to take a breather. At least for now.

I will try again when I am ready, or maybe when their bad news isn’t so bad for me already, or when (maybe) I am earning somewhere and SPA is just like a passing wave that rocks my boat on the sea.

I had a good weekend except for a time when we left his house for a short outing to Starbucks on Sunday and we had to wave at a sad-looking dad at the front door. The face looks so creepy like I have stolen his son.

“Don’t think too much about it. It’ll pass.” His comforting voice never failed to calm me. His parents loved him as though he’s the only son. He has done great things for his family and he has been a responsible man. Yet that is never an excuse for his father not to remind his son about the importance of disciplines and decorum in every conversations they had.

T suffered a lot after two accidents last year (and one of it was a major case). Thank gawd, he didn’t suffer physically but financially. Though it was never a drunk-driving case, his father always claimed that it was T’s lack of responsibilities on things. First accident happened when he decided to finish his work in the office till midnight. I can’t tell you how workaholic this guy is. The second happened at the borderline of Sabah-Sarawak when his car skidded in the rain and went turtle after hitting a lamp post. That happened two days after my dad’s funeral. He was coming to visit my family to say his condolences in person.

Despite all the problems he is having, yet today, he bought his father a Perodua Viva. I was not surprised that a down-to-earth and a knowledgeable man who is a retired MAS captain pilot chose to drive a Viva. He said it is conducive enough for him and his wife. It reminds me of my dad who gave away his old Land Rover to buy a van for his extra income (apart from his 8am-5pm job), just so he gets to feed his 14 kids. Because of my dad, his perseverance as a father, his kindness as a man, I am what I am now and I believe he is now in Heaven tapping his foot on the ground and listening to his favourite song as his 100th day of earthly departure is fading away in the midnight of 21st February. Dad is not coming home anymore to play with mom. Mom won’t be able to hear him during her daily rosary anymore and Mom will soon find all her things which were hidden by him.

We both acknowledged this love.

This mutual conception of fatherly love has brought us together,
and I hope we’ll make a better future when our time has come.

Off the hook!

I missed my PTD exam today. I had to beg for T to let me off the hook this time because I really don't want to do it anymore, at least for now, because things are a bit tough for me at the moment. I am too tired to be excited and motivated for the exam.

Like I said, there's no point going for the exam because even if i pass the exam and go for PAC, they won't take me because of the obvious reason. I can't speak BM the way they do, unless maybe if i apply under Sabah. I have to say I don't have the confidence to out stand myself. Worse still, I get intimidated really fast and that kills my confidence. My brother told me once to use an insider, but I just thought if i got accepted for my qualification, then i can be proud of it rather than getting accepted even when I don't qualify. So at least for now, I know that I have fought fairly for my chance .

Anyway, my focus is more to my work at this time. I have about a week or two left to complete my final analysis for my project, and hopefully all will go smooth as planned. Then after that, I will proudly retire myself from Lab Works and hire myself to a full-time 'thesis-writing' job on my own work station at home. It is my final semester and if i miss another deadline, I am a dead meat to MOSTI.

Oh yeah, to answer your question Gnet, I am doing a project under the combination of Petroleum-Microbiology-Biochemistry-Biotechnology-Environmental Science field. What I am doing exactly is to find a solution for Petroleum clean up in a biological way, for example using microorganisms or bacteria to be specific. You can try BIOREMEDIATION on Google. That ought to be enough to explain my work. :D

morning series

Bad news is, I have wasted a good 45 minutes today waiting for someone to open the instrumental lab for today’s business. Good news is my biological clock has been corrected and now I don’t have to struggle to sleep at night or drag myself to wake up.

There was no heavy traffic in front of campus, everything was smooth sailing compared to yesterday, except for the striking sun which is rising exactly right in front of where I was heading to. I had to use one hand to cover my eyes though I was already on my sunglasses, and the other hand gripping carefully on to the wheel. Driving with too much light reflecting to my eyes is another struggle but there’s nothing I could do about it. I have to wait till my finance is good, only then, I could go to the eye specialist.

I got a nice road-side parking which is only 15 feets away from the staircase to my lab. Then, without wasting any precious time of my life, I got my samples ready in half an hour and immediately walked through two buildings on both sides towards the Chemistry building. With bags clutching tightly on both of my tiny shoulders and one hand holding my sample, I was all motivated for today’s progress!

Carrying and walking is no problem if I get to the lab soon after but I had to wait for another 45 minutes for the lab to be opened. Time was wasted but I couldn’t complain more because that’s one thing I could not change here. So I took a good use of that 45 minutes by reading while listening to my MP3. The passer-by looked at me as though I was an outsider waiting to commit a crime. Worse still, I even saw one guy spitting from the third floor and didn’t even look down if his spits hit someone. Ewwww! That was disgusting!

Guys, next time when you feel a drop of liquid from above, don’t just merely assume that it’s going to rain. Look up immediately and teach that spitting fella some manners!

Enough said. I took some pictures while I was at the corridor. Just ease your eyes with some unimpressive pictures outside the Instrumental lab.

This was where I was coming from, a very dark hallway

The lab

The front view of the corridor

The blue blue sky outside the lab. I bet today is gonna be another HOT day!

Not even a single cloud to filter the heat

The book I was reading

Oh well, since i cant go back Sabah, mind as well just go for the exam so i dont have to explain to his father the reason why i miss the exam. Lying to him seems to be very hard.

I hope they understand that i dont want to do this anymore cos there's no point anyway, I still can't get it! Maybe i should go for a BM class where they teach you how to speak BM in semenanjung slang so you wont get intimidated by those brainiac who can speak BM very well! So what if I can't speak like how they speak? Sipak karabau terajang trus! Kana bubut pun inda laju juga ba! Tau la sia tu, orang ulu duluan balik, yang berduit main duduk pun kena kasi suap juga beh! peiii...

And the dirty floor where I have seated

I wanted to take a picture of that spitting fella but it happened to fast and my hands were too slow..

Signing out..

ARK

Today I experienced myself the meaning of A.R.K (Act of Random Kindness).

I made a new friend today. A PhD student from Iraq. He came to get a little tutoring and guidance on Gas Chromatography for his analysis. I have to admit, his timing was a bit off as I need to focus on my analysis and do a lot of reading but turning him down seems to be very harsh as I always try my best to help anyone in every way I can even to those I barely knew.

The truth is, I have always been nice to international students.

First, I know how hard it was for them to blend in with the local students with all the differences. Even I myself, as a local Malaysian from Borneo found it very hard to be in the same frequency as they are just because of few redundant differences.

Secondly, I like to get to know new people and talk to them, not just for empty talks but for a real conversation. For example, like today, after we finished the ‘teaching’ session, this guy shared lot about peace he did not get from his country with me. He told me his experience when he was still back home where he has to be awake all night sitting at the front yard with a gun in his hand just so he can protect his family from any invasion. Though I don’t have a first-hand experience on that kind of situation, listening from his stories gave me goose bumps.

Plus, It’s always good to know their perspectives of culture and stuff. It helps to understand a bit why some Middle East students acted the way they did. This guy had been very open-minded in answering some of my sensitive questions. You wouldn’t believe if I say, he can speak Bahasa Malaysia very fluently, maybe better than me since my semenanjung slang is like a cat barking for food.

I was a bit worried, of course, because this ‘getting-to-know-you’ stuff seems to be a little bit extended to a stage where he insisted to buy me lunch. I said no initially, but he said he must since I was very helpful. Actually, I was more than helpful to him for a first-time meeting. I’ve had experience where people called me ‘stupid’ right to my face just because I don’t know stuff. But here I am teaching somebody the same thing I did not know about a year ago. Yes, this Iraqi fella doesn’t know a DAMN LOT of stuff about gas analysis. However, it does not qualify you to call him stupid just because you know a lot. I went through stages of learning to get to where I am now.

I know how it was in the past and because of those bitter experiences, I don’t think it’s nice to know another person facing the same humiliation as I did. So to celebrate my kindness to that person, I said yes to lunch. We weren’t alone of course, my brother’s friend joined us for lunch too.

Here are some pictures i took from Instrumental lab in Chemistry where I temporarily work.

My temporary work station from 8am-5pm

Where i spend most of my waitings..



Gas Chromatography Machine (used for gas separation analysis)
My best friend at the moment 'who' I hope won't make me cry again..

wind of change

I had a very good interview with a life science company at Megan Avenue II today. The interviewer was slightly serious yet very pleasant to me. He kept asking me why I wanted to do marketing job or sales when my options are wider given that I have a strong science background. He was surprised that I chose marketing/sales job over lab technologist post. I assured him that I have been in research field for years, and this time I would like to do something more outdoorsy and meeting people. He wasn’t convinced of course, so I had to satisfy him with a better answer. But we had a good session. There'll be a second interview for the shortlisted candidates.

I am not putting so much of hopes, I have learned from my previous mistake. I am just gonna go with the flow, building my confidence through interviews, perfecting my communication skills by being clear and concise with the information I am delivering during the interview. I am merely preparing myself for the big shot company so while I am at it, I just follow wherever the wind blows me.

Of course, you will ask me why would I change my field?

I like management jobs or marketing and I like being part of the system. Most importantly, I like doing something which makes me feel good. I like talking to people and get their perspectives of things. I am all about personal development rather than doing something that makes me feel stupid all the time. Research does not satisfy my personal development anymore though I used to be very good at problem solving and scientific troubleshooting when I was doing my undergrad thesis. But now, not anymore. My talents had been suppressed with the stagnant growth of my interest and I am very unmotivated. I am not interested in lectureship though I am doing a part-time teaching job in a center. But that’s just a part time job to sustain myself every month. Besides, my four-wheel bestfriend who followed me wherever I go needs to drink fuel every month too.

Don's get me wrong, research is a very good field, but it's no longer my thing anymore. I have passed through the stage of convincing myself about being a researcher.

Besides, if I do marketing or sales, I get to wear formal skirts like this... (cool huh?)

With my personality, which one suits me better?

This..

or this....