Priceless Experience

I called MARA just now to ask information about loans if I want MARA to fund my studies overseas. I thought there might be some good news for me, but got turned down instead. The female who answered the phone told me that all sponsorship for overseas studies are being frozen at the moment. Plus, she said there is no sponsorship for studies at the Foundation level. Another bad news. Uff, now I am solely depending on JPA and PETRONAS. I really really hope I will get any of those two. And I really really hope I will get to study in the country of my choice [provided I get the scholarship].


Talking about PETRONAS, let me tell you how my interview was. Well, I'd just got back from my Sarawak vacation on Sunday, 5th April 09 when I first knew about the interviewee results. As usual, I browsed this website www.recom.org to search for infos on scholarships. Cutting long story short, I checked on my PETRONAS application status and I was called for Educamp for OVS programme.


My Educamp was held for two days from the 11th to the 12th of April 09. My former schoolmate, Amor, was there too. She got the interview for Economics whilst I got it for Accounting. But we weren't placed in the same room.


That Saturday, we had a little briefing about what was going to happen for those two days in UTP. They told us a bit about UTP etc. Then all 415 of us were separated and sorted into groups of 5. I was in the 2nd group. It was fun because I made a lot of new friends there. Studying in STF from 2004-2008 somehow limited my races of friends, but not here. We were brought to the library which I thought was the biggest library I've ever been into. It was really hi-tech, but still under construction. Then we went to the lab. There was this one girl named Farah that I walked with. Pity her, she injured her foot during PLKN, so she couldn't walk properly.


Then, it was tea time. We were given some refreshment to fill our hungry tummies. Next was an informal group discussion. We were divided into four sub groups. Each of us was given a sheet of paper containing instructions of the group discussion. The topic was about motorcycle. Each of us had to pick and choose any component of the motorbike but everyone must not have the same part. We were required to explain why we chose that particular part and why that part was important to the bike. And then, after everybody finished presenting, we had to come up with a conclusion of which 2 parts of the motorcycle had to be dropped.


Later that night, we had a test. The test was different according to what type of course you applied. For those who were taking technical courses (engineering), they had to sit for a mixed Science and Mathematics test. For those who took non-technical courses, they had to sit for Mathematics test only. And that Mathematics test was not actually 'Mathematics', but more to Additional Mathematics. I forgot some formulas that I felt like calling Pakyem at that instant. LOL. But I think I did quite well. No bragging here (only to please myself ;)). 5 minutes after the test finished, we got another test. It wasn't a test actually, more like a questionnaire. After we finished the questionnaire, we headed back to the hostel.


Came the interview day. We were sorted into groups according to our assessment no (this assortment had been done the night before), mine was B-20-04, which meant I would be in Session B, group 20 and the 4th person (the last) to be interviewed. Being in session B meant that I would be interviewed in the morning and would sit for other three tests in the afternoon. We were brought into a hall where we were given a case study each. The case study was about 'Corporate Social Responsibility'. Seriously, when I first read the topic given, I was like, what's this? I couldn't understand a thing! After reading it a few times and assisted by the facilitators explaining to everybody, I got it. And my recommendation was something like this, "The Government should play a more active role in pressuring international companies to serve the public and should not run business only for profits." 30 minutes for everyone and we had to decide whether we agree with the recommendation given or not. State some reasons and elaborations. And a few suggestions.


30 minutes up. We went to the waiting room. It was quite tense there. Then, it was my turn. Let me tell you, it was an individual interview first followed by group discussion. Okay, I entered the room and did the formalities. There were two interviewers, both were females. One asked to briefly introduce myself. After finished, she asked me to present whatever I'd come up with the case study and the suggestions. Then, it was the group discussion. We were required to sit in a circle and discuss in front of the interviewers and pretend like nobody was watching us. Haha. We came up with a smart conclusion that every suggestion was accepted. Fair and square. Haha. Then, came the English test (similar to the SPM level), a testing-your-brain-speed test (60 questions in only half an hour; thank God I finished it) and lastly an IQ diagrammatic test (40 questions in 20 minutes; I know, it's crazy but I managed to finish though). Then, it was time to go home. Phew!


Overall, I have just one thing to say; it's a valuable and priceless experience. But I am not satisfied with one thing. Throughout my whole individual interview, the interviewers didn't ask me ANYTHING AT ALL! They didn't even butt in during the introduction! And during my case study presentation! Uff!


Now I can only pray that I will get the scholarship. Irrespective of whether it's JPA or PETRONAS. But I do hope more for PETRONAS, haha.

Losing Hurts

I am supposed to be in grief. But after being deeply depressed for a whole day, I managed to cheer myself up. The reason for my grief is because KKR lost last night in the match against DC. And Dada, the man everybody was hoping for to bring victory for KKR, had let his fans down. For those who don't know, KKR is Kolkata Knight Riders and DC is Deccan Chargers. What I've been talking is about cricket sport, and the cricket league which is the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the second season has only started last Saturday.

Now, KKR is a cricket team owned by my heartthrob, Shah Rukh Khan. Yesterday was supposed to be a big start for KKR as it was their first match, but everything seemed to go wrong. Because of the whole captaincy issue the media has been madly reporting, I guess that is one of the causes everybody in the team performed poorly (except for certain).

Just imagine, KKR, a team which every fan expect them to get 100 runs in 12 overs, got the final 101 runs in 19.4 overs and DC got 104 runs in just 12.4 overs! And DC beat KKR by 8 wickets! I know KKR can do better than this. Sometimes I feel like they are distracted by the multi-captain theory. Well...

Perhaps it's true.

Perhaps it was just, like a gimmick, so that other teams are at their most comfy notch. And KKR will get them back, and win IPL 2. Hopefully.

But truthfully, I felt so sad when they showed Shah Rukh. I could tell from his face that he was really sad and worried throughout the whole match. Plus, he wasn't there during the presentation like last year. Last year, eventhough they lost, he still showed up but not this year. This really showed he's truly heartbroken. When he gave an interview post the match, I could see that he tried to put up a brave face. Thank God, he brought his family too with him to Cape Town so I'm not too worried for him because Gauri is there to comfort him. ;)

KKR was ranked at the 6th position out of 8 teams after the first game. Sad to say this, but frankly speaking, they should be at the last place if accordance to their performance yesterday. But they got the 6th. So, that must mean something. That means, God wants to give them a chance to amend their mistakes and improve. I hope, with this quite-good-news, they will gain back their confidence and focus on the next matches.

Yes, losing does hurt. A lot. I'm just hoping and I pray to God that KKR will do better for the next matches. They better do. They must! Because I don't think I have the guts to look at Shah Rukh's sad face anymore.

Go KKR! Win IPL 2!

p/s: Apart from badminton, yes, cricket is now my new passion. Cricket is probably one
of the most difficult games to understand. But once you understand it, you'll get addicted
to it. Just like me!

JPA interview

Sorry for the long silence. Wow, it's been a really long time since I last updated this blog. Well, for a start, let me tell you what I've been through for the past few weeks.

After the SPM results were out on the 12th of March 09 (in which I am satisfied with my results; but still, I won't reveal what I got, LOL), I'd been busy filling up application forms online for every scholarship available. That included Sime Darby, PETRONAS, JPA, TNB, and UEM (I can't remember the rest). Yea, I didn't apply for those 'high-standard' scholarships eg. Yayasan Khazanah, BNM etc. because I'm not eligible. And after few weeks, scholarships' interviewee results were released. I got rejected by Sime Darby and TNB. Frankly speaking, I was not that frustrated because I am aware that the competitions are really tough. But hey, I got JPA and PETRONAS!

My JPA interview was on the 13th of March 09. As other normal applicants will do, I'd made some preparations for the interview. And the day came. My interview was held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC). My parents took me to the PICC in the afternoon as my interview was scheduled at 2.45 pm. Man, the scenery, the building, is so beautiful, I tell ya. When we arrived, I went to the counter and signed my name on the namelist. I noticed that I would be interviewed in Panel 9 and that my name was the last in sequence. That means I was the last to be interviewed in my group (5 person per group). What was more surprising was that I was the ONLY Malay in my group. Read that, the ONLY!

Then, I went straight to Panel 9. There I met my groupmates. I can't recall their names. Sorry :p . Since we were the second group to be interviewed, we chatted outside the room, getting to know each other. Most importantly, each weaknesses. LOL. But, while standing. Haha. Yea, there were sofas but we just stood there. There was this one girl named Reynu (read Indian). She was so talkative. Yes, she was the one started the ice-breaking session. Other two were Chinese. Then, a Malay boy came to us and join us. Whew, thank God I had another Malay in my group. Oh yea, we were the noisiest there. Chatting, laughing.

Then it was our turn. I started to feel nervous again. As I stepped into the room, I saw two gentleman in black suits smiling at us. Seriously, I thought I would be seeing strict-looking faces. But it turned out otherwise. We took our seats. Then, we were asked to give a brief introduction about ourselves either in English or Malay, one by one. Yup, this was the time to brag about yourself. Haha.

Next, we were given a topic about 'Patriotism'. They gave us about 2 mins to think about the ideas of how to project our patriotism to Malaysia. And yes, no discussion allowed. We were required to present our points in Malay. Next came the second topic. This time was in English. A topic about 'Mat Rempit'. How to prevent this problem from aggravating. Then, that's it. The interview was over. Before we stepped out of the room, the interviewers wished us luck. Seriously, I tell ya, the interviewers were really friendly. And I had a very pleasing and smooth interview. It was like I wasn't being interviewed in the 'interview' format, but more like a regular chat. Now, I can only pray that I will get the scholarship.

14 Feb

I've just visited Kaklong Dina's blog. Yup, I love her blog because she always updates her blog. Not like me anyways.

Hahah,

And I got this latest news from her - Abg Firdaus got DISTINCTION for his SECOND CLASS EXAMS! Can you believe it? Wow, he must've worked real hard for this. Anyways, congratulations Abg Firdaus!



HATS OFF TO YOU! I hope my SPM results will be just like Abg Firdaus'. I hope I'll pass with flying colours.



Last Saturday I'd gone out with other Valourians, only those who reside in KL. Yea, we had a great time together.



As usual, as soon as I saw them [I was the first to arrive at the KLCC and had to wait for nearly half an hour!], I rushed to them, and just imagine. I couldn't stop myself from talking about Shah Rukh!



Only then we talked about each latest happenings in life.




There were eight of us that day. - Me, Farz, Saps, Nurina, Banks, Miza, Mira, and Hyatt.




Well, there were Shayla and Shera too, but they'd got to work. So, we decided to meet Shayla first before she got to work. Sharp at 1.15 pm, we sent her back to her workplace.



Then, we went for the movie 'Eden Lake'. In which it was a horrible and terrible movie, I tell ya! Well, this is my opinion only. From the poster, we thought it might be a horror, spooky ghost story but we were wrong. Totally wrong. It was horror but in terms of, killing.



This movie was about a couple who had a vacation in the forest. They went to the Eden's Lake to have a picnic and slept there for a night. There they met a bunch of 12-year-old bad naughty kids who were supposedly having their own kind of 'vacation'. Then these kids disturbed the couple by stealing their belongings and even their car keys. The movie progressed by the kids trying to get back at the couple for messing around with them and they even had attempted to kill the couple. Seriously, I regretted so much for watching this movie.



I should've listened to myself. I should've rather watched 'Slumdog Millionaires' which is the movie of my taste. Bollywood movie, you see.



And yes, I'm not the only regretting it.



Then, we had our lunch with Shera who was on break at the time. After that, we went for a stroll outside the KLCC and finally went to Wangsa Maju to visit Syaf who was working at the JJ.



Pity her, as we were about to leave, her manager saw us and she was caught red-handed. She told everyone in MySpace she was lectured after that by that fierce woman who looked like a lioness. Haha, that was what she said.



Credits to Farz and Syaf for being the organisers for this.



And yes, we're also planning for the next outing, perhaps to - Genting!



Just wait guys. We will keep you informed of the latest news buzzing around.



Gotta go, I've got driving lesson tomorrow. Why does the instructor always comes early in the morning to pick me up? Urghhhh!

21 Questions To Ask Myself

Why 21? Because it's my favourite number!

1. What is the exact time right now?
errr...

2. What are you listening to at the moment?
dance pe chance - RNBDJ

3. What is keeping you busy lately?
everything concerning SRK. youtube, blog. everything. visit my channel.
me21missy [youtube]

4. What was the last item you bought?
a watch. i love it!

5. What song are you singing into right now?
marjaani - billu

6. Who else is awake besides you at this very moment?
no one. my brothers and sister got school tomorrow.

7. What is your habit that you consider weird to you?
if i know the lyrics of any songs, i will sing into the songs and no one can ever talk to
me during that moment. because i just won't respond to them. until i finish singing.

8. Besides that?
i love to read DICTIONARIES. hahah. don't know why.

9. What was your last meal?
instant noodles.

10. What is the thing you can't take your mind off of it right now?
my spm results. i think about it every single portion of minute. all the time.

11. Who was the last person to text you?
tkapad. in fact, she is the most frequent person to text me.

12. Any plans in mind right now?
after this, i'm going to bed.

13. What was the last thing you discover about yourself?
that i am one of the hungama contest winners to meet shah rukh? yes!

14. Where do you plan to further your studies to?
overseas of course. in fact, the UK. has been my dream since i was kid. but that too
depends on my results. i hope i'll get what i wish for. [praying hard]

15. Do you own any laptops?
i will in the future.

16. What are you most anxious for for the time being?
to drive my own car!

17. Are you working?
no. i had that plan initially but decided against it eventually.

18. What are your hobbies? (lame question, i know)
just to let you all know. reading english novels [seriously, i don't read malay novels
that much], watching DVDs and VCDs [bollywood of course], playing badminton,
hitting cinemas and shopping malls [most of the girls do!], teasing my youngest
brother [my favourite], video gaming, et cetera...

19. Why do you not have the desire to sleep early?
i don't know. to me, my bedtime is around 2-3 am.

20. What is your curfew?
7 pm.

21. What is your curfew when you are at your cousin's?
it doesn't matter at all! even post 1 am! that is what i call heaven!

Ancient questions I just made up,

Be A Kid Again =)

Sing into your hairbrush.

Do a cartwheel.

Walk barefoot into wet grass.

Play a song you like really loud, over and over.

Dot all your "i"'s with smiley faces.

Read the funnies. Throw the rest of the paper away.

Dunk your cookies.

Play a game where you make up the rules as you go along.

Step carefully over sidewalk cracks.

Change into some play clothes.

Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich. [In my case, I don't like sandwich]

Eat ice cream for breakfast.

Kiss a frog, just in case. [Eew, I would never ever do this]

Blow the wrapper off a straw.

Have someone read you a story.

Find some pretty stones and save them.

Wear your favourite shirt with your favourite pants even if they don't match.

Take a running jump over a big puddle.

Get someone to buy you something you really don't need.

Hide your vegetables under your napkin.

Stay up past your bedtime.

Eat dessert time.

Fuss a little, then take a nap.

Wear red gym shoes.

Put way too much sugar on your cereal.

Make cool screeching noises every time you turn a corner.

Giggle a lot for no reason.

Give yourself a gold star for everything you do today.

Get grounded by your parents.

Spread news to the world that you have finally succeed in drawing a so-called portrait of yourself.

Ancient wisdom I just made up...
Okay,

My Memories

wooo! lots of things have happened for the past 4 months. i've sat for my spm examination [11.11.08 - 27.11.08]..yup..woohoo! spm's over! but i've to admit, this year's papers, they're pretty tough..esp add maths..even my add maths teacher, pakyem, the head of examiner for add paper in johor bahru district predict that probably 50% is already enuf for a student to pass. u can imagine how difficult the paper is. hmm. these pics will tell u what happened for the past few months..


~ form five dinner 2008 (24 oct 2008)

-->> this is me and ayzee [i'm in the purple scarf]

-->> these girls are/were my setmates [set 1~add 2008]
can you see me? standing just beside our sir.

-->> beauty pageant [hahah]
my classmates 5S 08.

~ prefects annual dinner 2008 (1 nov 08)

-->> intan baizura samsudin and i had a wonderful meal that night.

-->> another beauty pageant.
form five prefects of 2008.
and the head girl is sitting right in front.

sorry, there are not so many photos i can put here. you see, just important memories in my diary of 2008. actually, there is more. but, later yeah? alvida [goodbye] 2008, welcome 2009!