Working experience - note to share

I first thought that blogging was easy. Just type it down when you have the idea. But it is not that easy to be honest. Constraints like time, energy all come into place. I really admire some people that can do it on daily basis, as I can't afford to do that. Second is to carefully select the topics that you want to share. I think I better avoid sensitive topics as we know that not all of us have the same level of emotion and discuss in the rightful manner. So I better restrict it to maybe life experience, or something that we all go through.

Well, let me share my working experience. I graduated from local university and I was lucky enough because I graduated straight with a degree, rather than going through matriculation or diploma beforehand. To be honest, I am unsure about my job prospect. Not because of the 'hybrid' degree that I got, but to tell you I am not really big achiever. I was one semester late behind the rest of my class - having to re-sit a few papers before (you know why). But one thing I am sure of is that I want to go into IT line. I got the inspiration when I boarded on LRT every day after class, just to see people wearing IBM, Microsoft, and HP lanyard standing in front of me. But I am not an IT graduate to be honest. The hybrid degree consists of business + IT + library science. I can't apply for F41 (Pegawai Teknologi Maklumat) post in government because they recognize my degree as library science degree. I tried to apply for PTD (Pegawai Tadbir and Diplomatik). I went for the exams, assessments, interviews but nothing happened. I guess I was too fat or I didn’t have the right connection. I know my mom was disappointed about it, as I believe she wants me to be a government officer.

It wasn’t an easy journey. I was jobless for a good few months and the experience was painful. It’s hard to secure an interview and not a lot of options available. And the best part is I am not staying in KL. I was sitting at home waiting and frantically searching for an interview opportunity. All the emotions including ‘Lagenda Kain Gombang’ really transpired my life. But I was determined and tried to motivate myself even its hard. Anyway to cut short the story, I was offered a job, not in IT but it was a nice experience for me. But I have to work on shift, unlike most of you guys. It was a relatively new experience because it means that I have to adjust my body clock to wake up late and sleep late. I was assigned to European region, so I have to come to work at 2pm and finish work at 11pm. It is kind of hard to adapt. Not only the sleeping problem, but I can’t hangout after work as well, as my friends are already sleeping at that time. The transportation was a bit of a problem too. I depend a lot on public transportation as I can’t afford a car at the moment.

I had to move from my first company because I am not interested to continue my contract. And I do not really like the environment either. As I was still on probation, I was allowed to leave after 24hrs notice. I managed to secure a job (finally…) in a tobacco company. Well, it is my second job and also my first in the IT line. Entry level it seems and I learned bit by bit there. But it comes with a price. As much as I wanted to learn, the shift problem gets deeper. I have to work even in night shift and weekends. My body clock gets even confused with me. There are three shifts, morning, evening and night. I have to take one bus and two LRTs and one taxi to get to the office. I still remember, I will be accompanied by my discman that I bought with my first salary along with a few CDs. It’s nice to travel when you do not have to be involved in peak hour travelling, hustling with others to board into a train or bus. And the best thing is you can spend your morning doing your chores or run your errands. But the downside is if you work at night, you have to sleep during the day and it is not easy. You have to get a cozy room with dark curtains and air-condition before you can sleep. Your body needs to adjust and what I did was follow the routine as I am working in normal hours. Say when I wake up for work, I will make sure I have breakfast. Sounds crazy but I got to do it.

After a few months I decided to buy a car, which is against my plan at that time. I plan to get a car only after 5 years or working but working in odd hours makes me push my plan forward. Then after a year I changed job and moved to Cyberjaya. It’s been easier for me but it’s too far from where I live in KL. Imagine if I am in night shift, I have to drive home in the traffic jam when I can’t open my eyes because I am too sleepy and the sun is really hot! I have to move nearer and picked Seri Kembangan as my crash site. I worked with two companies in Cyberjaya, both in IT line before I get my job now.

Now I am feeling like a normal person again. Wake up in the morning and go to work like everybody else. Have lunch at 12pm not 3am. Go back at 6pm not 7am. And I can use public transport to go to work. And I am still in IT line.

After 5 years, I got what I wanted at the first place and I got the one that is proper. It doesn’t matter how long you have to wait for something, just keep your faith and work hard for it.

Another marveles wiken

Yeah, it actually means 'another marvellous weekend'. It was typed in SMS language - well you know how short and confusing it can be, but I believe you still can get the meaning. Well, we had three in a row, as far as I can remember. The best part is watching Manchester United winning so stylishly and comfortably in the last three weekends of football. Secondly, my lifestyle changed a lot in terms of keeping myself fit physically. I always wanted to do it, go jog, play futsal and other things but laziness and lack of effort means all of the plans went into the drain. But not for the last month or so. I pushed myself to run (with the help of my Nano) and run. I think I ran more kilometers in last three weeks compared to the last five years! I went for futsal game (thanks to Idzwan) and played for an hour. Result: even after 15 mins of stretching and warming up, I felt the effects of not being fit. I cant't breathe, I can't feel my leg and I almost lost my voice. I intend to continue what I am doing now, even it is not properly done, but at least my body can acclimatized with the changes without being pushed on.

But I owe it alot to Izzie. Since we made the decision, I feel more calm and relaxed. Our relationship began to grow and going to the right direction. It feels so different, well we took three years to know each other and still learning about each other. I guess this is what relationship is all about. During the early times, we are not sure where its heading to. But we have come through leaps and bounds - just to be where we are now. Seems slow but we are making giant strides to achieve what we want.

Alhamdulillah, I enjoy my life right now, although it is not perfect but it makes me happy and driven to achieve what I want even more.

Bie,

I never thought I was going to say this but - Happy Valentine's Day.
I know you have such a great taste and thats why you choose me...:)

2010

Well, 2009 is coming to the end. The new year wishes comes flying from every quarters. Friends, family members all wishing each other and most of us will set in mind what are they going to achieve this coming year. Whats your resolution for 2010? Most importantly, have you achieved what you have set for 2009? For me, 2009 has been a good year if not spectacular. I have achieved what I wanted , if not all. Its a difficult year with all the economic slowdown and cautious approach by a lot of people. But I am looking forward to a better year in 2010. I have list down all the things I wanna do/achieve next year. it is gonna be tough, but I am confident. You gotta believe in yourself right? In fact, I have started early because my aim for the future is to have a better, healthy life. I know it sounds hard, but I gotta try. I haven't touch any rice for the last week and only drink plain and less sugar water in the last two weeks. Sounds good yea? I quit smoking for about 2 1/2 years now. I want to make sure that I get the momentum going. Gotta do it bit by bit, but I am gonna need to be strong. We all have to be, right?

2010 is about living healthy physically and mentally. Happy new year.

Blogging made easy.

I always wanted a laptop. But the thing is I am too fussy with it. Because the design, specifications and after sales service need to suit my liking. After a year and half looking for one, finally I stumble into one that match my criteria. It was love at first sight really, but I keep looking for other options to make sure I do not regret it. I was proved right. She has been almost a week with me and it is near perfection. I love everything about my lappy and I can rumble for ages just talking about it. To add the gloss into the perfection, I also bought a speaker system that I always wanted as well in Bose Companion 3. It is a bit pricey but it was worth it. The crisp sound that is coming from the speaker was just awesome.

Welcome to my beloved lappy, Sony Vaio FW56. I promise to keep the posts coming.

Belasungkawa : Mikael Jibril

I was on Twitter when Ryan Seacrest (American Idol host) updated his status to inform that Jacko is gone. I was trying to seek for the confirmation on the Internet, but due to heavy traffic, the connection was painfully slow. Even Google crashed and service was only restored after 30 minutes.

Personally I am not a big fan of Jacko. But I did take some time to follow his career, mainly because he is a global superstar. Everybody listen to his song, a lot of young teenagers aspire to be like him. I remember there are countless numbers of Jacko dancing competition organized just to see who can dance like him. He still holds the record for the most number of albums sold worldwide. Despite all of these, one of his songs that was recorded 1995 really touched my heart. The song title was You Are Not Alone and it was co-produced by R Kelly and Jacko himself. The song was one of the tracks in HIStory album and it was his last song that hit #1 in Billboard 100. I can listen to that song over and over again. The song was written when he was fighting to save his marriage with Lisa-Marie Priestley and at the same time he was facing the child sexual abuse charges.

I feel sorry for him. Despite his status as a world megastar, his life was never easy. He was part of the Jackson Five and since he was a kid, he never had a childhood like most of us. He started his career very young and all he had was his family. When he had all the money, he tried to create a life he wants as a kid. He build a mansion in LA and named it Neverland. Neverland was build taking the theme park concept like Disneyland. He will invite a lot of kids to his house and played with them. His dream backfired him when one of the child parents filed a charge on Jacko, accusing him to molest their son. The first case was settled out of the court with huge payout to the victim’s family. That is when it all started. I believe this issue affected Jacko much, as concerned parents thinking of filing a lawsuit against him.

But I have to admit, Jacko changed the face of music with his trademark moonwalk dance, energetic performance and his contribution to charity. They even mentioned Jacko in the same breath as Elvis Priestly, the Rock n Roll king. He was preparing for his world tour concert in O2 Arena, London in a rented house in LA when he collapsed and stopped breathing. His family and aides called the paramedics when he was not responding to CPR. The cause of death was said to be cardiac arrest, but his family have agreed to perform an autopsy to determine he exact cause of death.

Al-Fatihah for Allahyarham Mikael Jibril.

Halwa telinga anak 90an.

Sebelum aku pergi ke pejabat, aku melepak di rumah, langsung tertonton siaran Ritma (usaha pertama RTM menuju ke arah stesen digital). Kebetulan ada satu program Zoom In bersama Ameng Spring, Shamrin Fotograf dan Rahmad Mega. Rancangan tu memang membangkitkan nostalgia zaman 90an dulu, yakni zaman persekolahan aku. Lagu lagu seperti Sampai Hati, Sejiwa, Cempaka di Rembulan, Romantis, Luka Seribu Rindu, Jangan kau Ucap Selamat Tinggal, Di Pintu Kasihmu, Takdir dan Waktu, Bayangan Gurauan, Nina Karina telah dinyanyikan oleh mereka. Aku begitu kagum walau telah bertahun tidak muncul di kaca TV, alunan suara mereka langsung tak berubah. Ada sahabat pernah mengusik aku yang katanya gilakan kumpulan Spring oleh kerana aku sentiasa menyanyi lagu Spring setiap kali kami berselisih! Memang pada zaman itu, radio menjadi hiburan selain televisyen, Pita kaset adalah sumber terbaik untuk mendegar lagu pujaan. Internet masih lagi di peringkat permulaan dan stesen TV berbayar masih lagi menjadi barangan mewah untuk dimiliki. Pada sesiapa yang mungkin bernasib baik (seperti aku) akan memiliki ‘walkman’ (aku memang menghadapi masalah mencari perkataan Bahasa Melayunya, tapi bolehlah ditafsirkan sebagai pemain kaset/radio mudah alih) yang membolehkan aku mendengar muzik di mana sahaja. Berbalik kepada rancangan Zoom In tadi, boleh dikatakan aku memang tahu lirik kepada hampir kesemua lagu dan disambut dengan wajah pelik adik perempuan aku yang agak sulit untuk memahami mengapa aku mengetahui lirik lagu lagu tersebut. Dahulu tidak ada Google, Yahoo atau enjin enjin carian lain. Semuanya bergantung pada inlay (kandungan kulit album). Kalau sekarang, nah. Taip sahaja apa yang dihajati. Semuanya di hujung jari.

Aku membesar di zaman 90an. Pada ketika itu, tahap muzik di Malaysia memang memuncak dengan pelbagai rentak. Awal 90an, gema irama rap mula berkumandang di sini dengan kelahiran penyanyi seperti KRU, 4U2C, Nico, KOOL dan berbagai lagi. Maka berbondong bondonglah anak anak muda yang berpakaian gedabak berjalan jalan di sekitar kota. Topi terbalik, seluar londeh dan besar menyapu lantai adalah uniform rasmi. Aku pun tak terkecuali. Siapa yang boleh lupa dengan seluar londeh dengan sepuluh poket yang aku tempah untuk dipakai pada Hari Raya tahun 1995. Ataupun topi Boy London yang dibeli di Kuala Lumpur. Dan juga kegilaan aku kepada baju yang ada hood (pelindung panas dan hujan). Jiwa rap betul betul meresap dalam jiwa. Hinggakan pada satu tahap memang aku bercita cita untuk menjadi pemuzik terkenal, bintang rap yang punya jutaan peminat. Terkinja kinja di pentas menyanyi macam orang semput. Pergi ke konsert tak kira di mana, waimma di Kuala Lumpur sekalipun.

Pertengahan 90an, lagu lagu melankolik mengambil tempat. Kumpulan muzik seperti Ukays, Slam, Exist dan juga one hit wonder seperti Spoon, Arrow, Screen, Umbrella berkumandang di corong corong radio. Pada zaman itu buatlah kumpulan muzik, rakam lagu dalam studio walau guna sessionist (pemuzik undangan) sekali pun tak siapa tahu. Bila buat persembahan, pakai saja minus one, jimat kos. Tak payah buat konsert besar besaran. Buat album pun ala kadar. Sepuluh lagu dalam allbum hanya satu lagu yang meletup. Yang lain sekadar tangkap muat bak batuk ditangga (tak pasti kenapa hanya batuk di tangga, tidak di atas kerusi ataupun di bawah meja).Fenomena ini membuatkan industri muzik terbelah dua. Penggemar muzik yang rata ratanya peminat rap agak tidak bersetuju dengan kebanjiran lagu lagu melankolik yang disifatkan sebagai muzik kekampungan, tangkap leleh dan jiwang. Lagipun pada masa itu fenomena muzik alternatif melanda dunia. Itupun setelah Kurt Cobain membuat keputusan bahawa jalan terbaik untuknya menyelesaikan masalah hidup adalah dengan memasukkan hujung pistol ke dalam mulut. Tahun tahun ini juga menyaksikan kemasukan pengaruh muzik dangdut Indonesia turut sama membantu percambahan kelab kelab dangdut di bandar bandar di Malaysia. Walaupun impak dangdut begitu kuat, tetapi ia gagal bertahan lama.

Mungkin secara kebetulan, ataupun kerana niat mahu menyebarkan dakwah tiba tiba nama kumpulan Raihan melonjak dengan lagu lagu nasyid mengajak peminat ke arah kebaikan. Pada tahun 1997 dikatakan album sulung kumpulan Raihan dijual melebihi 700 ribu unit. Satu pencapaian luar biasa oleh sesebuah kumpulan muzik ataupun penyanyi. Konsep kesenian muzik Islam diadun dengan paduan suara acapella berjaya menusuk hati kalbu pembeli kaset di Malaysia. Dan seperti rutinnya, kumpulan nasyid bercambah bak cendawan di musim hujan.

Sejujurnya aku merasakan bahawa arena muzik Malaysia dari dahulu lagi memang banyak dipengaruhi oleh trend semasa. Trend ini tercipta kerana permintaan halwa telinga pendengar. Kebanyakan mereka yang terlibat dalam ini bukanlah pemuzik sebenar, jauh sekali dari menjadi ‚true believer’ kepada muzik mereka. Kerana muziknya bermusim. Orang buat muzik rap, mereka ikut rap, orang berdangdut mereka ikut bergelek, orang bernasyid pakai jubah labuh mereka ikut sama. Tiada pendirian. Tegasnya mereka pun sendiri tidak faham apakah tujuan mereka bermain muzik. Kerana mereka sendiri tidak tahu apa itu muzik! Asal punya suara, wajah lawa tanpa jerawat itu sudah memadai. Mereka tidak berusaha untuk mencipta muzik sendiri atau pun original sound mereka. Bila album dicetak rompak baru meraung sana sini menyalahkan orang lain. Walhal anda sendiri menipu peminat, mengaku macam ada bakat tapi pengetahuan muzik kosong. Bila orang Indon menguasai industri, mula melalak. Peminat dituduh tak patriotik. Yang minat muzik Indon pula berhujah mengatakan lagu Melayu semua berbunyi sama. Mula dengan not A dan habis dengan not C. Tiada pembaharuan.

Pada aku lebih baik minat muzik Barat, dah sah pemuzik Indon ciplak idea mereka. Apa bezanya orang Amerika dengan orang Indon? Mereka semua orang luar. Adat orang kita, semua yang datang dari luar itu semua baik. Tapi setidaknya kalau aku dengar lagu berbahasa Inggeris, sedikit sebanyak menimbulkan minat aku kepada bahasa tersebut. Penyanyi dari Malaysia kalau ada pun cuma KRU, Poetic Ammo, Too Phat dan. Tapi setidaknya dari lagu lagu mereka inilah aku berminat belajar bahasa Inggeris, satu perkara fobia pelajar Melayu di sekolah. Bila berbual dalam bahasa Inggeris dituduh berlagak, lupa daratan dan bermacam lagi panggilan berunsurkan penghinaan. Prinsip aku mudah, Bahasa Melayu dijunjung, Bahasa Inggeris dikelek.Bahasa lain masuk dalam kocek. Anda takkan rugi apa apa kalau anda boleh bertutur banyak bahasa.

Apapun, aku begitu terhibur dengan rancangan Zoom In tersebut. Aku memang minat kerana pada aku itulah identiti muzik Melayu. Mendayu dayu meruntun jiwa. Sememangnya dari zaman Tan Sri P Ramlee sekali pun datuk nenek kita mendengar muzik semacam itu. Jangan salahkan darah yang mengalir dalam tubuh kita. Walau seburuk manapun muzik kita, janganlah dicerca dan diherdik dengan kejian. Apakah perasaan anda, apabila anda berkahwin, orang mengatakan isteri anda tidak cantik? Tentu anda marah bukan? Setiap orang punya citarasa dan pilihan masing masing. Jadi dari situ anda boleh belajar bagaimana untuk menghormati pandangan orang lain.

Jika wajah cantik persis bidadari tetapi perangai kurang elok pun tiada ertinya.

Wedding bells..!!!

Alhamdulillah, my sister Fizlah has married to Sharul Amen on 13th June 2009. The wedding reception for both sides was held in Kompleks Sukan DBKL, Kepong and most of the guests attended (I think). This is our first experience as family in organizing the wedding. Well, I really hope that they will live happily ever after, with a lot of kids (haha)

My turn? Just wait for the invitation card. Hehe.