My brother woke me up today, at around 8a.m. It was significantly early, but the thought of seeing my ex-teachers again in school promptly awaken my frail human senses. He was to meet up with Mr. Loh (similar surname) to discuss about his job as a temporary teacher in school, however he wasn’t around. Unexpectedly, all my teachers were very busy, even though it was ironic since I saw some classes without teachers and some of the students, like usual, were fooling around like nobody’s business. Had they realised how tough life could get without excellent SPM results, I bet the situation will be much better than now.
After my brother found out that Mr. Loh wasn’t around, he left me to rot in school. Alright, I’m just kidding. Actually, I was left alone in school while he visited his other ex-teachers at STAR school. Unfortunately, I wandered aimlessly around my school, trying hard to relive my sweet memories of schooling as my teachers were busy in their work. Gosh, that might had taken awhile until Pn. Lim (my school counsellor) ushered me into the counselling room for some friendly talk on my future plans. Later that day, we left school at around 11 a.m. My brother only managed to leave a written note to Mr. Loh, regarding his job appointment.
Next, we returned home to fetch my mom to Jusco, Bukit Raja. It was mainly due to my bad habit of buying books, whether relevant or irrelevant books; a dire condition that persisted since I entered Form 1, sigh. I bought two STPM books, knowing I’m going to pursue matriculation programme and consequently, we had to travel all the way to Jusco just to exchange them for a MUET book, a Chemistry Matriculation syllabus book and one stack of paper. What a hassle…
We had lunch at pizza hut and went home soon after. Nothing special or interesting later on…mundane routine lagi
Sunday, 29 April 2007
Friday, 27 April 2007
Tuesday (24/4/2007)
It was yet another boring day. As usual, I didn’t help my mom with her daily household chores, such as sweeping floor, mopping floor, wiping sofas etc. etc. Reasons? Well, there weren’t any acceptable reasons other than excuses. I slept very late at night and as a result, I woke up late in the morning, occasionally as late as 11 a.m. Sometimes, I wondered if I’m comparable with a pig, only to find out that humans sleep as much as pigs do, which is an average of 8 hours per day. So that means everyone sleeps like a pig, great news to all. Better think twice before condemning your friends’ sleeping pattern.
After taking in an icy cold cup of Nescafe, I sensed a sudden rush of adrenaline in my body likened to drinking tonic or sniffing Ice (Syabu or meta-amphetamine). I felt so refreshed and rejuvenated, although my blurry eyes seemed to indicate the opposite. Later on, I waited patiently for my friend, Thinesh to pick me up at my home as we had earlier planned to pay my tuition teacher, Pn. Sunita a surprise visit. Apparently, it was delayed till 2 p.m. because her chemistry class usually began at 3 p.m. However, we still managed to visit Pn. Asiah (my two-month BM tuition teacher), which was totally unplanned. We chatted for around 30 minutes, with me dominating the entire session. It’s like attending an interview, but the scenario was completely reversed. Rather than answering questions, I was forced to come up with questions to maintain the conversation. It appeared as if someone has bought my friend’s silent since he rarely spoke throughout the time. Guess what? She still remembered my name; it was odd and unexpected in view of the fact that she hadn’t called me by my name in class but rather summoned me by my shirt colour or my lefty attribute (budak baju kuning tu, or budak tangan kidal!). She offered us some words of encouragement and advised us to work harder and that everything else is rezeki.
After that, Thinesh decided to have his lunch at Modern Restaurant while I ordered myself a cup of ice-lemon tea. I could barely drink another cup of coffee; the caffeine had indeed made me slightly drowsy and giddy. Worst of all, I was slightly feverish at that time, probably got infected through my student. After lunch, we waited for quite some time at Pusat Tuisyen Formula to meet up Pn. Sunita. This time around, she dominated the entire conversation, leaving me and Thinesh slightly dumbfounded. To my surprise, I was told that none of her 4 flat (CGPA : 4.00) students who did matriculation were offered medicine as their preferred choice of course at IPTA. Now, I’m starting to have second thoughts of pursuing sains hayat (life sciences) at matriculation level. According to her, scoring a 4 flat at STPM for biology stream will definitely guarantee the candidate a spot for medical studies at local IPTA whereas scoring 4 flat at matriculation will only carry a 50-50 chances of getting into a medical school. To me, it makes no difference although STPM is widely recognised by almost all institutions of higher learning because I don’t intend to pursue my course at IPTS or overseas. Furthermore, the chances of getting a 4 flat in STPM are almost negligible. Reason; the difficulty to secure 4 flat for STPM is in some way analogues to the difficulty of securing a placement in medical school through matriculation even with a 4 flat. Therefore, STPM and matriculation are equally risky and uncertain. DAMN!
Sigh, the whole conversation seemed to revolve around the issue of matriculation, frequented with students arriving for her 3pm class. We bid farewell and shook hands (like real interviews) at the end of the “reunion”. After reaching home, it’s routine as usual, dinner…read newspaper…and sleeping…
P.S. Pn Sunita has started her Chemistry STPM classes; it’s held on every Fridays for two hours and the monthly fees are RM60/ person. For more info, contact her or ask me if you need her cellphone number.
http://www.sleepco.us/sleep_info_facts.html - similarity between humans and pigs in terms of sleeping regime
After taking in an icy cold cup of Nescafe, I sensed a sudden rush of adrenaline in my body likened to drinking tonic or sniffing Ice (Syabu or meta-amphetamine). I felt so refreshed and rejuvenated, although my blurry eyes seemed to indicate the opposite. Later on, I waited patiently for my friend, Thinesh to pick me up at my home as we had earlier planned to pay my tuition teacher, Pn. Sunita a surprise visit. Apparently, it was delayed till 2 p.m. because her chemistry class usually began at 3 p.m. However, we still managed to visit Pn. Asiah (my two-month BM tuition teacher), which was totally unplanned. We chatted for around 30 minutes, with me dominating the entire session. It’s like attending an interview, but the scenario was completely reversed. Rather than answering questions, I was forced to come up with questions to maintain the conversation. It appeared as if someone has bought my friend’s silent since he rarely spoke throughout the time. Guess what? She still remembered my name; it was odd and unexpected in view of the fact that she hadn’t called me by my name in class but rather summoned me by my shirt colour or my lefty attribute (budak baju kuning tu, or budak tangan kidal!). She offered us some words of encouragement and advised us to work harder and that everything else is rezeki.
After that, Thinesh decided to have his lunch at Modern Restaurant while I ordered myself a cup of ice-lemon tea. I could barely drink another cup of coffee; the caffeine had indeed made me slightly drowsy and giddy. Worst of all, I was slightly feverish at that time, probably got infected through my student. After lunch, we waited for quite some time at Pusat Tuisyen Formula to meet up Pn. Sunita. This time around, she dominated the entire conversation, leaving me and Thinesh slightly dumbfounded. To my surprise, I was told that none of her 4 flat (CGPA : 4.00) students who did matriculation were offered medicine as their preferred choice of course at IPTA. Now, I’m starting to have second thoughts of pursuing sains hayat (life sciences) at matriculation level. According to her, scoring a 4 flat at STPM for biology stream will definitely guarantee the candidate a spot for medical studies at local IPTA whereas scoring 4 flat at matriculation will only carry a 50-50 chances of getting into a medical school. To me, it makes no difference although STPM is widely recognised by almost all institutions of higher learning because I don’t intend to pursue my course at IPTS or overseas. Furthermore, the chances of getting a 4 flat in STPM are almost negligible. Reason; the difficulty to secure 4 flat for STPM is in some way analogues to the difficulty of securing a placement in medical school through matriculation even with a 4 flat. Therefore, STPM and matriculation are equally risky and uncertain. DAMN!
Sigh, the whole conversation seemed to revolve around the issue of matriculation, frequented with students arriving for her 3pm class. We bid farewell and shook hands (like real interviews) at the end of the “reunion”. After reaching home, it’s routine as usual, dinner…read newspaper…and sleeping…
P.S. Pn Sunita has started her Chemistry STPM classes; it’s held on every Fridays for two hours and the monthly fees are RM60/ person. For more info, contact her or ask me if you need her cellphone number.
http://www.sleepco.us/sleep_info_facts.html - similarity between humans and pigs in terms of sleeping regime
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
YouTube...
It’s arguably agreeable that YouTube has been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. Upon further research and firm analysis, I utterly disagree with it, but would rather point out that YouTube is created on the basis of money and entertainment as its primary objective (but not 'sole purpose' as intended)
[1If it is not for money, then YouTube will not be created in the first place.] Let’s face it; if there’s no money, would YouTube exist in the first place? YouTube, like any other internet businesses, emphasizes greatly on the importance of profit-making. Business itself clearly defines as 2 the activity of making, buying, selling or supplying goods or services for money. As such, internet businesses (Google, YouTube etc.) should be held accountable under such definition and not be criticised for making millions or billions in revenue.
Aside from money-making, YouTube also creates an excellent avenue for amateur videographers to publicise their works for public viewing besides enabling vast audiences to comment on the quality of the videos produced and gauging the popularity of such videos through in-built hit counters. For instance, Haffizzuddin Zakaria got into YouTube almost a year ago and posted a song called Right Here, which received numerous positive feedbacks from his first video posting thus inspired him to rope up in his friends to make more videos to upload on the site 3. Moreover, YouTube provides ample job opportunities to run its core business, aside from creating new opportunities for visual-enthusiasts to market themselves through YouTube.
The video-embedding feature also enables all videos to be streamed anywhere, likewise at MySpace and Friendster, just to name a few. As most email providers restricts users from sending files exceeding 10MB, YouTube extends the capacity by providing a massive 100 MB or 10-minute limitation for all videos7 to permit users to send in and view large video files.
YouTube users have been increasing on a rapid rate, with users now watching more than 100 million videos per day4. With such a huge audience, amateur videographers are indeed making their presence felt through their video or films, in addition to providing a safe testing ground for filmmakers to observe how they fare in pursuing their passion for visuals. [5The most significant one will be the 44-second film showing graffiti over the king's face…] As opposed, YouTube has pledged evidently that it’s against defamatory, unlawful and copyrighted materials as stated in its terms of use and community guidelines. Although certain copyrighted materials are found lingering on its site, nevertheless YouTube has always uphold its responsibility to remove such contents on a regular basis 6.
Undoubtedly, it would be practically impossible and illogical for YouTube to eradicate them as soon as they’re uploaded. On your accounts of inaccurate medical information being circulated through YouTube, YouTube certainly doesn’t constitute a qualified medical information website for public to gain information on related health issues. As such, parents, as matured human beings, alike should be wise enough to seek professional advice on such an important issue.
1, 5 Excerpt from Yueh Phing’s article (YouTube)
2 Source: Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary
3 The Star, StarTwo, page 2, 25/4/2007
4 Traffic monitor Hitwise, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5186618.stm
5 http://www.youtube.com/t/terms
6 http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55777&topic=10551
7 http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55743&topic=10527
This article is composed in opposed to Yueh Phing’s article (YouTube) available for public viewing at http://interestinghappenings.blogspot.com/2007/04/youtube.html . This article is intended purely an opinion and shouldn’t be held liable for any discrepancy, if present. It’s mainly my two cents' worth.
[1If it is not for money, then YouTube will not be created in the first place.] Let’s face it; if there’s no money, would YouTube exist in the first place? YouTube, like any other internet businesses, emphasizes greatly on the importance of profit-making. Business itself clearly defines as 2 the activity of making, buying, selling or supplying goods or services for money. As such, internet businesses (Google, YouTube etc.) should be held accountable under such definition and not be criticised for making millions or billions in revenue.
Aside from money-making, YouTube also creates an excellent avenue for amateur videographers to publicise their works for public viewing besides enabling vast audiences to comment on the quality of the videos produced and gauging the popularity of such videos through in-built hit counters. For instance, Haffizzuddin Zakaria got into YouTube almost a year ago and posted a song called Right Here, which received numerous positive feedbacks from his first video posting thus inspired him to rope up in his friends to make more videos to upload on the site 3. Moreover, YouTube provides ample job opportunities to run its core business, aside from creating new opportunities for visual-enthusiasts to market themselves through YouTube.
The video-embedding feature also enables all videos to be streamed anywhere, likewise at MySpace and Friendster, just to name a few. As most email providers restricts users from sending files exceeding 10MB, YouTube extends the capacity by providing a massive 100 MB or 10-minute limitation for all videos7 to permit users to send in and view large video files.
YouTube users have been increasing on a rapid rate, with users now watching more than 100 million videos per day4. With such a huge audience, amateur videographers are indeed making their presence felt through their video or films, in addition to providing a safe testing ground for filmmakers to observe how they fare in pursuing their passion for visuals. [5The most significant one will be the 44-second film showing graffiti over the king's face…] As opposed, YouTube has pledged evidently that it’s against defamatory, unlawful and copyrighted materials as stated in its terms of use and community guidelines. Although certain copyrighted materials are found lingering on its site, nevertheless YouTube has always uphold its responsibility to remove such contents on a regular basis 6.
Undoubtedly, it would be practically impossible and illogical for YouTube to eradicate them as soon as they’re uploaded. On your accounts of inaccurate medical information being circulated through YouTube, YouTube certainly doesn’t constitute a qualified medical information website for public to gain information on related health issues. As such, parents, as matured human beings, alike should be wise enough to seek professional advice on such an important issue.
1, 5 Excerpt from Yueh Phing’s article (YouTube)
2 Source: Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary
3 The Star, StarTwo, page 2, 25/4/2007
4 Traffic monitor Hitwise, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5186618.stm
5 http://www.youtube.com/t/terms
6 http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55777&topic=10551
7 http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55743&topic=10527
This article is composed in opposed to Yueh Phing’s article (YouTube) available for public viewing at http://interestinghappenings.blogspot.com/2007/04/youtube.html . This article is intended purely an opinion and shouldn’t be held liable for any discrepancy, if present. It’s mainly my two cents' worth.
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Yayasan TNB scholarship interview - My experience
“Early to bed, early to rise, keeps one healthy and wise”
I’ve been sleeping very late at night on a regular basis, slightly after 1 a.m. Gosh, my internal biology clock is in ruins due to my terrible sleeping regime. That’s why I’d decided to sleep early at 9 pm last night, skipping the 2nd episode of Prison Break season 2 for the sake of my health (I’m a die-hard of this series).
Alright, I’m just kidding!
I was forced to sleep early in preparation of another interview for the Yayasan Tenaga Nasional scholarship. Immediately after Buletin Utama ended, I dozed off in my room only to be awakened again at 1am, then at 2am, and lastly at 3.45am (just a mere, rough assumption). I guessed my mind was too clogged up with the interview and matriculation intake list that was due to be released on the same day. I got up at 3.45am and switched on my computer, knowing that the matriculation list was out by then (a sudden surge of instinct told me so).
And then,
GOOD NEWS for me, I’m selected to undergo the matriculation course at the Penang Matriculation College for a year. In actual fact, I didn’t apply Penang as one of the 3 preferred choices (they were Pahang, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan) but somehow, the ministry decided to place me there. I was so delighted, jumping wildly like a 3-year old boy (overly exaggerated) upon knowing the news. I walked over to my parents’ bedroom and woke them up, informing them the good news. For this year, there are 24 000 places available for the programme scheduled to begin on May 14th, 2007. Of 24 000 places, 10 percents are awarded to non-bumiputera students. So, I’m one of the 2 400 selected ones from non-bumiputera of about 400 000 SPM 2006 candidates in total. It felt like striking a lottery card.
It was already 4 am, but I could hardly sleep after that (my parents too!). My parents and I just chatted on many things till 5 am. Then, I got myself ready for the interview (i.e. bathing, combing, brushing teeth and shaving too). After taking my breakfast (a cup of icy-cold Nescafe – my favourite), my dad decided it was time to leave home for UNITEN, fearing that a traffic jam would occur at the HICOM interchange. We arrived in UNITEN at 6.45 am, which was slightly more than one hour earlier than my schedule time, at 8 am. Initially, I thought UNITEN is an undersized university with only a single building. I was so damn wrong; the university area is in fact as huge as UPM’s main campus. At first, we were lost in direction while searching for Yayasan Tenaga Nasional office because the lack of signboards in the university. Thankfully, after some help from a kind guard, we were able to locate the office which turned out to be a two-storey building – the lower flour was totally inaccessible.
After a short briefing, we were ushered into a meeting room whereby all candidates were required to complete three tests; verbal reasoning, verbal comprehension and a short personality test. Each test had to be completed in 10 minutes. Then, we waited patiently to be called for the interview with three high-profile executives. At about 10 am, I was called up for the interview. It was a 3-vs-1(me) interview, unlike JPA which was done in groups of seven. Indeed, this YTN scholarship interview provided me with a real interview experience, similar to a job interview.
Firstly, the interviewer (a Caucasian clad in black tuxedo) questioned me on why they should award me the scholarship. After giving them two reasons to support my answer, I was taunted about my ability of marketing myself. My mind was rather frustrated at that moment; nevertheless I kept giving them a few more reasons just to satisfy them. Next, I was shocked by his second question. He enquired about my Moral results (I scored 2A) – “why did you get A2 for moral? I answered him in a calm manner, citing the difficulty of the questions, answering techniques and a sudden change in question format. Several questions followed up, regarding national service, civic duties, any information on TNB corporation and so forth. I do admit that I fumbled slightly during the course of interview, especially on TNB objectives and core business information. Nonetheless, it’s a truly rewarding experience for me.
I’ve been sleeping very late at night on a regular basis, slightly after 1 a.m. Gosh, my internal biology clock is in ruins due to my terrible sleeping regime. That’s why I’d decided to sleep early at 9 pm last night, skipping the 2nd episode of Prison Break season 2 for the sake of my health (I’m a die-hard of this series).
Alright, I’m just kidding!
I was forced to sleep early in preparation of another interview for the Yayasan Tenaga Nasional scholarship. Immediately after Buletin Utama ended, I dozed off in my room only to be awakened again at 1am, then at 2am, and lastly at 3.45am (just a mere, rough assumption). I guessed my mind was too clogged up with the interview and matriculation intake list that was due to be released on the same day. I got up at 3.45am and switched on my computer, knowing that the matriculation list was out by then (a sudden surge of instinct told me so).
And then,
GOOD NEWS for me, I’m selected to undergo the matriculation course at the Penang Matriculation College for a year. In actual fact, I didn’t apply Penang as one of the 3 preferred choices (they were Pahang, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan) but somehow, the ministry decided to place me there. I was so delighted, jumping wildly like a 3-year old boy (overly exaggerated) upon knowing the news. I walked over to my parents’ bedroom and woke them up, informing them the good news. For this year, there are 24 000 places available for the programme scheduled to begin on May 14th, 2007. Of 24 000 places, 10 percents are awarded to non-bumiputera students. So, I’m one of the 2 400 selected ones from non-bumiputera of about 400 000 SPM 2006 candidates in total. It felt like striking a lottery card.
It was already 4 am, but I could hardly sleep after that (my parents too!). My parents and I just chatted on many things till 5 am. Then, I got myself ready for the interview (i.e. bathing, combing, brushing teeth and shaving too). After taking my breakfast (a cup of icy-cold Nescafe – my favourite), my dad decided it was time to leave home for UNITEN, fearing that a traffic jam would occur at the HICOM interchange. We arrived in UNITEN at 6.45 am, which was slightly more than one hour earlier than my schedule time, at 8 am. Initially, I thought UNITEN is an undersized university with only a single building. I was so damn wrong; the university area is in fact as huge as UPM’s main campus. At first, we were lost in direction while searching for Yayasan Tenaga Nasional office because the lack of signboards in the university. Thankfully, after some help from a kind guard, we were able to locate the office which turned out to be a two-storey building – the lower flour was totally inaccessible.
After a short briefing, we were ushered into a meeting room whereby all candidates were required to complete three tests; verbal reasoning, verbal comprehension and a short personality test. Each test had to be completed in 10 minutes. Then, we waited patiently to be called for the interview with three high-profile executives. At about 10 am, I was called up for the interview. It was a 3-vs-1(me) interview, unlike JPA which was done in groups of seven. Indeed, this YTN scholarship interview provided me with a real interview experience, similar to a job interview.
Firstly, the interviewer (a Caucasian clad in black tuxedo) questioned me on why they should award me the scholarship. After giving them two reasons to support my answer, I was taunted about my ability of marketing myself. My mind was rather frustrated at that moment; nevertheless I kept giving them a few more reasons just to satisfy them. Next, I was shocked by his second question. He enquired about my Moral results (I scored 2A) – “why did you get A2 for moral? I answered him in a calm manner, citing the difficulty of the questions, answering techniques and a sudden change in question format. Several questions followed up, regarding national service, civic duties, any information on TNB corporation and so forth. I do admit that I fumbled slightly during the course of interview, especially on TNB objectives and core business information. Nonetheless, it’s a truly rewarding experience for me.
Friday, 13 April 2007
JPA interview - my experience
I felt very sluggish and slothful these days. My mind has been idle, due to inactivity at home since SPM ended three months ago. Presently, I would teach on weekends for a modest wage of RM20/hour. To date, I am only teaching a (as in ‘the one and only one’) student who also happened to be a daughter of a tuition teacher. The pay is considered pleasant (this seems ironic since I mentioned ‘modest’ previously), considering that I have no particular experience in teaching whatsoever. The subjects concerned are additional mathematics, physics and chemistry. I found it rather challenging to teach science subjects (both physics and chemistry) as my lessons in school were conducted in Bahasa Melayu during the good ol’ days (actually, it was just last year!) but for now, I am required to teach all the 'easy, painless and effortless' scientific concepts to my student in English, *sigh. If truth be told, SPM science syllabi are exceptionally simple to understand because the scopes are pretty much restricted to colours, experiments, coupled with some simple concepts. A candidate with good memory retention skills will surely triumph in SPM as majority of subjects require candidates to memorise, and not analyse. No mind-boggling question, just “eat” the facts and “vomit” out on “the white piece of paper”. Alright, that maybe overly exaggerated. :P
Anyhow, I just passed another important phase of my life, which was the JPA interview. (What? JPA? Important phase? – Did I just hear someone snoring?) I’ve seen countless blog sites commenting on their interview process. Well, I’m just about to do the same, mundane thing. Here it goes…
On the interview day, I arrived shortly before 1pm, which was an hour earlier than the scheduled time. My parents accompanied me till we reached the second floor (or was it the third floor?) of the Putrajaya International Convention Centre. [I have to admit that Putrajaya is really beautiful, especially the bridge.] After that, I checked my name on the list which was firmly pasted on 2 whiteboards. There were 10 panels (each panel consists of 2 interviewers) and 47 candidates for each panel. I was placed under panel 7 with 13 others for the 2-4pm slot. My interview was scheduled to be held in Room 18. At about 1.40pm, I went up to another floor to prepare myself for the interview. The candidates seemed somewhat selfish, especially the ladies. Maybe they were too anxious about the interview. Nevertheless, I managed to meet some new friends from Taylor’s University College and a fellow mate from Raub, Pahang. My interview began at 2.20 p.m., as soon as I’ve handed my clear file containing all certificates to the jovial assistant.
Judgement time…
Firstly, each candidate was required to introduce themselves in Bahasa Melayu, stating our name, school, course, family background, financial concerns etc. etc. A lady candidate (pharmacy applicant) was speechless half way during introduction. The most amusing thing I heard was ‘mendispense medicine’, cited by another pharmacy applicant who was sitting next to me. Anyway, I was quite disappointed with my performance because I also had a fair share of difficulty speaking in Bahasa Melayu, alongside other candidates in my group.
After that, one of the interviewers gave us a topic (Crime rate among teenagers is on the rise) to discuss for 20 minutes in English. The lady who ‘mendispense medicine’ started the discussion and we discussed a whole lot, from parental concern to National Service. Nearing the end of the interview, the interview selected one of us to summarise the discussion and subsequently forwarded another 2 question to two candidates. Then, we shook hands with the interviewers and left the room. What a relief…
Next, we were ushered to Hall 2 to complete a personality test. The personality test consisted of a two-choice answer of 294 objective questions to be completed in 30 minutes. Once the test ended, we evaluated the marks and returned the answer sheet to the officer-in-charge. Soon after, I bid farewell to my newly-met friends and left the convention hall at about 5.30 p.m. I felt so lifeless and exhausted upon exiting Putrajaya to return home. Glad the interview had finally come to an end even though I didn’t play my cards well.
Enough said for today, tata!!
Anyhow, I just passed another important phase of my life, which was the JPA interview. (What? JPA? Important phase? – Did I just hear someone snoring?) I’ve seen countless blog sites commenting on their interview process. Well, I’m just about to do the same, mundane thing. Here it goes…
On the interview day, I arrived shortly before 1pm, which was an hour earlier than the scheduled time. My parents accompanied me till we reached the second floor (or was it the third floor?) of the Putrajaya International Convention Centre. [I have to admit that Putrajaya is really beautiful, especially the bridge.] After that, I checked my name on the list which was firmly pasted on 2 whiteboards. There were 10 panels (each panel consists of 2 interviewers) and 47 candidates for each panel. I was placed under panel 7 with 13 others for the 2-4pm slot. My interview was scheduled to be held in Room 18. At about 1.40pm, I went up to another floor to prepare myself for the interview. The candidates seemed somewhat selfish, especially the ladies. Maybe they were too anxious about the interview. Nevertheless, I managed to meet some new friends from Taylor’s University College and a fellow mate from Raub, Pahang. My interview began at 2.20 p.m., as soon as I’ve handed my clear file containing all certificates to the jovial assistant.
Judgement time…
Firstly, each candidate was required to introduce themselves in Bahasa Melayu, stating our name, school, course, family background, financial concerns etc. etc. A lady candidate (pharmacy applicant) was speechless half way during introduction. The most amusing thing I heard was ‘mendispense medicine’, cited by another pharmacy applicant who was sitting next to me. Anyway, I was quite disappointed with my performance because I also had a fair share of difficulty speaking in Bahasa Melayu, alongside other candidates in my group.
After that, one of the interviewers gave us a topic (Crime rate among teenagers is on the rise) to discuss for 20 minutes in English. The lady who ‘mendispense medicine’ started the discussion and we discussed a whole lot, from parental concern to National Service. Nearing the end of the interview, the interview selected one of us to summarise the discussion and subsequently forwarded another 2 question to two candidates. Then, we shook hands with the interviewers and left the room. What a relief…
Next, we were ushered to Hall 2 to complete a personality test. The personality test consisted of a two-choice answer of 294 objective questions to be completed in 30 minutes. Once the test ended, we evaluated the marks and returned the answer sheet to the officer-in-charge. Soon after, I bid farewell to my newly-met friends and left the convention hall at about 5.30 p.m. I felt so lifeless and exhausted upon exiting Putrajaya to return home. Glad the interview had finally come to an end even though I didn’t play my cards well.
Enough said for today, tata!!
Monday, 2 April 2007
JPA interview (April 3rd, 2007)
Doomsday is finally here, just 24 hours and I’ll be attending the second scholarship interview of my life. I passed my 1st interview few months back, but unfortunately, I’ll be rejecting the scholarship in favour of Form 6 because chances of getting admitted into a local matriculation college seemed so scarce. Hopefully, they are willing to offer me the scholarship in future, after securing a local IPTA degree spot.
Tomorrow’s JPA (better known as Public Service Department) scholarship interview is my most crucial scholarship interview compared to others. The interview format has been changing on a yearly basis. Last year, candidates are required to sit for a psychometric test before an interview of about 6-12 people in a group, lasting up to 1 hour. This year, however, might not be the same as before, yet I’m still harbouring hopes of securing a scholarship from JPA. Although my SPM result doesn’t look promising, I hope they will take into account my family background and other co-curricular achievements. Gosh, I’m freaking out! [My friend once told me “dun get dun get lo” – haha, she’s so damn right] If all else fails, it’s not the end of the road for me, there’s still form 6 wert… :P
Alright, wish me luck…I’ll detailed the scholarship interview process here, if and only if I done well tomorrow. Haha
Tomorrow’s JPA (better known as Public Service Department) scholarship interview is my most crucial scholarship interview compared to others. The interview format has been changing on a yearly basis. Last year, candidates are required to sit for a psychometric test before an interview of about 6-12 people in a group, lasting up to 1 hour. This year, however, might not be the same as before, yet I’m still harbouring hopes of securing a scholarship from JPA. Although my SPM result doesn’t look promising, I hope they will take into account my family background and other co-curricular achievements. Gosh, I’m freaking out! [My friend once told me “dun get dun get lo” – haha, she’s so damn right] If all else fails, it’s not the end of the road for me, there’s still form 6 wert… :P
Alright, wish me luck…I’ll detailed the scholarship interview process here, if and only if I done well tomorrow. Haha
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