A New Beginning

Salam
1st I would like to say sorry for not updating my blog for so long
Maybe it was because I couldn't find the time to write anything or maybe I was just lazy to write.



Yesterday I arrived at the University of Southampton, a new place which will be my place of study for the next 4 years..
This place will be challenging battle and a test of my emotions, spiritual, and physical attributtes.
This will be the place that will develop me into who I will become in the future.



Today I just checked into my room and I have finished packing and tidy up all of them.
(To Khalil - Bilik aku dah KEMAS!!)
Here I managed to get a room at the hall in monti 3 with a fellow penang and soksekianz, Faiz Omar.



Alhamdulillah, I was really relieved since this makes it easier to share kitchen utensils and food.
We also managed to do a little shopping at ASDA, which is a supermarket. My greatest thank you to brother Fauzi who have always been very helpful.
I am really grateful for all the things he have done. I hope one day I can repay him.



Finally, I hope that all of u would pray for our success in life. Hope to c u again soon.

Basketball Tournament

From 23/6-28/6 I was at UTP. I was invited by a friend of mine to join their basketball team to play in a basketball tournament called the Spritzer Cup which is held from 26/6-28/6. I was so excited since it has been ages since I played in a basketball tournament.

So on the 24/6, my father's friend sent me to UTP. However, during the journey I was restless about one thing which is whether or not I can get into UTP. UTP is very strict in enforcing it rules and one of them is that only UTP students and staff are allowed in. In my mind I was thinking of the best way to get into UTP. Finally I decided to act like I am a student. If the guard asked me about my matric card, I would just say that I left it at home : P Luckily, the guard just let us in without any question. I was so relieved.

The next morning, our training started. It was intensive since we only have 2 days to prepare. We trained 3 times a day! Morning, evening and night. I was exhausted. This is the 1st time I've experieced such training. By night I slept like a log.
On Friday our game started with our first opponent being SERATAS Sr. At first we were not playing at our best probably because of the lack of teamwork. The slippery floor also made it worst since we are not used to it. So we had to play carefully in order to avoid injury. However during the 2nd quarter we played better and we thrashed them. I can't remember the score but I know the margin was very big. Hehehe

The next day we were up against TLDM and STAR. The match against TLDM was a close one but we won easily against STAR. We managed to limit STAR to only 7 points while we scored 34 points. Hehehe So we were the champion of the group and we were qualified to go to the 2nd round. In the 2nd round, the teams which qualifies were divided into 2 groups and only the champion of each group will be able to go to the final. The teams which obtained 2nd place in their group will be able to fight for the 3rd and 4th placing. UTP was placed with Python and Manjong. Both teams are very skilled and we knew that we have to work hard to win.



On Sunday, we had to face Python, a team comprising of ex-MCKK players. It was a very intense game. During the 1st quarter, the score was Python 8 UTP 0. We were playing badly. However, we improved during the 2nd quarter and we got even better in the 3rd quarter which they did not even managed to score. However, we failed to continue our form in the 4th quarter and hence we lost.

Our next match was against Manjong. I did not play in this match because I had to leave for KL to attend the YTN Reorientation Programme. Huhuhu UTP managed to win the game and was able to play against MCKK to fight for the 3rd place. Sadly, we lost to MCKK by a narrow margin.
So UTP obtained 4th place in the Spritzer Cup.
Eventhough we lost, I was happy because I obtained many new things in basketball which I hope I can use to improve my skill. Thx to all my friends in UTP for inviting me to join this tournament. Hope to see u and play with you again one day.
Adios

A Factor of Success

Today, I woke up a bit late...
I have class during the morning so I quickly went for a bath and got ready..
After eating breakfast (bread with strawberry jam), I quickly rushed to my further mechanics class because I was already 5 minutes late...
When reached there, I saw what I had expected to see..
An empty dark classroom..
Not again!!
Including this, this is the 5th time I was the only who went to class..
Pn Ju came about 5 minutes later and she just smiled at me when she saw me standing in front of the class...
I think she too had expected the same thing...
So, I asked her to go and study at the RC and she agreed...

Some may say that I am writing this to brag about being the only one to go to class..
And wanting everyone to know that I am a very good student..
Well, that is not the reason I am writing this..
I am writing this to give an advice to my fellow friends...
And base on my story, I think you already know what am I going to say...

Respect and Baraqah
Like most of us, I too think that it is better if we have our own time to study..
We prefer to have study leave and study by ourselves..
Hence, since last week, most of us obtain a lot of free period because the teacher decided to cancel classes..
I am now free during block 3,4,5 and 6..
Which means I now only have two blocks to go to...
block 1 and 2..
This is the case for most of my friends....
So since now the percentage of free blocks is more than the percentage of class, I decided to skip most of my block 1 and 2...
"Alang2 dah free, baik free 1 hari trus..
bru best..
hehehe"
that was what I thought...
However, one day, a friend came to me and gave me an advice...
He said:
In exams, it is not only study that determines our success, it also comes from the baraqah of our teachers...
Baraqah is defined as the blessing of someone to us....
Many of us forget this important factor in running our life..
But trust me, the blessings from our teachers, parents and the people around us plays a very important role in our success...
We can not see it..
We can not quantify it..
We can not feel it..
But in order to be successful in life, we must believe that it exist and strive to obtain it..



A teacher once told me a story about a student who was very smart in his studies during his secondary school..
But he was not very respectful to his teacher...
As many people expected, he excelled in his SPM..
However, when he went on to continue his studies in university, he found it very difficult..
He couldn't focus and he was getting bad results for his exams..
One might say that it was all because he didn't get the blessing from his teachers who were the one giving him knowledge and guidance during secondary school...

Now the question is, how exactly do we obtain it???
One of the ways is to respect our teachers and parents..
Respect is define as the condition of showing honor to the person..
We show that we appreciate that person..
We do our best to make him or her happy..
We obey our parents...
We do our homework...
and
We come to class when we are suppose to..


After that, I promised to myself that I will never skip classes...
Why??
-The first thing is because I don't want to create a habit of skipping classes during my time in universities.
-I hope to obtain the blessing from my teachers
My results during trial was not very good..
So I need to do everything I can which can help me succeed in my exams..
Thx to that from of mine who showed me my errors..
All in all, please pray for my success in my A level examinations..
Wasalam...

7 May - Black Malaysia Day

This day should be considered a black day for Malaysia. The event that happened on this day is a disgrace to all Malaysians.
To those of you who are not aware of this situation, let me brief you a little about what had happened on that day:
1. The first state assembly sitting since the Pakatan Rakyat state government was ousted in February was held on this day. The BN formed government in Perak lead by Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir wanted to table a motion to oust the current Speaker V Sivakumar in this sitting.
2. Before the sitting started, the Speaker ordered Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six excos who was suspended to leave the assembly. They refused which lead to some mouth fights between the Pakatan reps and the BN reps.
3. Datuk Zambry then asked to table a motion to oust the Speaker but was refused by the Speaker since he said he will not start the assembly until all those who are suspended leave.
4. The Deputy Speaker, Hee Yit Foong then said that she was in charged and she ordered Sivakumar to leave the assembly. Datuk Zambry then tabled the motion to oust Sivakumar and obtained the support from all BN reps.
5. Sivakumar then said that the motion was not legitimate since he was still there.
6. After a few hours, police came in to forcefully remove the Speaker from his seat. He was then replaced by the BN elected Speaker R Ganesan.
7. Meanwhile, outside the Secretariat Building, bystanders and protesters were arrested for being in 500m of the fence, which was placed by the police. Those who were only drinking in a restaurant nearby were also arrested.

For more info about this event you can go to
1. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/103763 (malay language)
2. Malaysia insider

From the events which happened, it is clear to us that democracy in Malaysia is not practiced fully. This is an act of destroying the constitution, the law and the parliamentary traditions. It seems that we are more of an autocratic country than a democratic country. Force is used to enable the BN government to take over the Perak state. Yeah, you can be proud of doing such a coward thing. Celebrate all you want. You won't obtain the respect of other people by obtaining power using that method. It makes me disgusted.
Furthermore, it always makes me wonder, who is the police force working for?? The country or the BN government?? And why is it always the Pakatan reps who are given a tough time by the police?? From my observations, the police force are not working for the country to protect the people but are working for the BN government to hurt the people. They are like brutes who just want to bully the weak. Don't they have crimes to worry about than carrying out arrest of peaceful protesters??? What is wrong with wearing black clothes to protest?? What harm can it do to other people?? We should have the right to wear whatever clothes we want as long as it is decent. No one has the right to strip us of this right.
Another question that should be raised is why does the BN so afraid of dissolving the assembly and call for fresh elections?? Is it because they are afraid of losing in the election?? Only they know the answer.
On the whole,I think that it would be wise to dissolve the assembly and give the power to Perakians to decide who they want to represent them. Even though it is time consuming, this is the only way that peace can be installed back in Perak. The sooner this ends the better for the benefit of Perak.
The government can use force to control our actions and speech but they do not have the power to control our minds and thoughts. I hope that you can give me your opinion on this matter.
Thx

The Topup Industry in KYUEM

For about a year and a half I became a topup seller to my fellow friends in KYUEM.
It was fun. Exciting especially when I received the money. You have the chance to communicate and get to know a lot of people.
However, it was very tiring and the income was not that good. In economic terms, I was only earning normal profit which is define as:
the level of profit which is just enough for a firm to stay in business and is not able to attract any other firms to join the industry.



That is a bit of revision for economics students.
Hehehe
However, since February this year I have stopped selling topup.
Why???
Because I thought it was not worth it. My reasons are:

1. Exams is just around the corner. This is one of the most important exams of my life and it is important for me to stay focus and not be disturbed constantly while I'm studying or when I'm sleeping. This is because when I was selling topup, I get messages at 2 am from someone asking me to topup. Sometimes, people wake me up at 3 am to ask for topup. The worst part is, because I was too sleepy, I sometimes topup the wrong number which makes me making a loss. huhuhu

2. It is too tiring to collect money from people who bought on credit. And since I'm soo forgetful, I constantly forget who and how much people owe me. Sometimes, I even felt embarassed for asking the wrong person.

3. Profit is not that good. I only received around 10 cents for every RM10 topup I sell. It's too little. Not worth my time. I can do some other things like study. : P




However, I don't want to give the impression that selling topup did not give any benefits to me.
First, I managed to learn from my own experience how dangerous bad money management could be. Hence I continuosly tried to improve my money management (collecting money from debters) but I haven't found one that is really effective. But I did manage to make some improvement.
Secondly, it was very happy to be able to help people who are in need of topup. You see, KYUEM is not a place where you can just go to the small shops and get topup easily. No,no. In KYUEM, you need to know friends who sells topup and trust me, there are not many of them. Why can't we just go to shops to buy topup?? KYUEM is located at a very rural area where there are no small shops around! The closest thing to small shop is the dotco and it does not sell topup. So, whenever I managed to help my friend who are in great need of topup, it makes me feel good.
However, crisis sometimes happen when everyone of the people who sells topup are all out of topup. That is when havoc occurs in KYUEM!! Sometimes, it goes on for a whole week!!

Lastly, I would like to say thank you to all my loyal customers. You have helped me a lot. And a lot of thanks to my partner Syahir for helping with the posters and promotions.
Adios

The Story of a Butterfly

Today, I managed to wake up early and did mt Subuh prayer at the mosque thx to Brother Aidid who woke me up. After the prayer, like always, there will be a tazkirah (a session for people to give good advice and reminders to other people).
Today, the person presenting the tazkirah is Brother Aidid.
Here is a summary of what he said:

Imagine that one day, a person walked and saw a tree in front of him. At that tree, he saw a cocoon where a beautiful butterfly is about to emerge. The person went nearer to the cocoon have a closer look. He saw that the butterfly is trying very hard to break free from the cocoon. Feeling sympathetic to it, he went into his room and brought out a scissor to cut open the cocoon in order to cut the cocoon to make it easier for the butterfly to escape from it. So he cut the cocoon and the butterfly was able to break free easily and started to fly. However, after a few seconds, the butterfly fell and couldn't get back up to fly because its wing is too weak. Even though the intention of the person is good, his action has made the butterfly weak and unable to fly.

Now what does this story tells us??
That we shouldn't help people when they are in need of our help??
No, that is not the morale of this story. What I learnt from this story is that challenges and difficulties in life are very crucial in our lives. Everyone must have experienced failure. We feel depressed and weak when we are unable to achieve something. However, we must always realize that each and every failure will make stronger and better. A person who fails but then managed to rise and start all over again is a person who will succeed in life. This is because that person will now be able to learn from the mistakes that he did. This makes him a better person than he was before.


In life, we must always face these challenges and never give up. There is no shortcut to it. We must give it our best or else we will regret it in the future. Either we fail or succeed is another story. As a student, one of the most important exams in my life is just around the corner. This will determine my future. That's why I have promised myself to never give up no matter how hard the subject is and I hope that all my friends out there will feel the same way.

All the best in your life!!!

Garnet House Trip 'Pangkor Island'

Tired but lots of fun...

Friday, 17th of April
-Started our journey at around 2.45pm. 2 buses consisting of around 80 enthusiastic Garnetors were traveling towards the Lumut Port.

-Arrived at Lumut at 6.30 pm. We were given 45 minutes to stroll around. My friends and I decided to go and have roti canai since our stomach were already grumbling. Izuan an Amir ordered 2 roti canai kosong, while Anuar ordered 1 roti telur. Since I was not as hungry as Izuan and Amir, I only ordered 1 roti canai kosong but made it special by telling the mamak "kuah banjir taruk atas". 15 minutes later, my friends roti canai arrived but my special roti canai kuah banjir taruk atas was nowhere to be seen. I was getting restless. My friends have already finished their food. I put on an angry face and said to the mamak "Mamak, roti canai saya mana? Kwn saya dh abis makan, saya x dpt2 lg". The Mamak apologised to me and quickly went to tell the other Mamak who was cooking. I said to the Mamak, "Kuah banjir taruk atas tau". I was determined to get my specil roti canai. I did not have to wait long. Minutes later, my roti canai kuah banjir was served. My anger faded away with every bite of the roti canai.

-We then headed for Pangkor Island. The most enjoyable time was during our mini bus trip to our resort. The bus was very hot. No air-conditioning and it was packed. But, that was forgotten when we were on our way. We had a roller coaster ride when the bus was going up and down the hills. It was very slow when it was going uphill and I thought that we were going to go bakswards downhill at some point. But the skill of the driver did not permit that. When it was finally time to go downhill, it went very fast (well it seemed fast after a very slow uphill task : P). All the Garnertors in the bus went crazy screaming as the bus went down. It was very fun.

-We arrived at the Suria Resort. We got into our rooms and then had our dinner. After that, all of us decided to go to the beach. It was only a minute walk from our resort. Some of us had their own 'Johari window' session, some played 'pepsi cola' while others just walked across the beach. It felt really great and relaxing. At 12 midnight, Pn Halijah ordered us to went back to the resort. I watcheda tv show and then went to sleep.

Saturday, 18th of April
-We went to the Giam Island. It was not very far from the beach. As we arrived, many decided to just jump to the sea and have a bath. A few minor injuries occured when some of us had deep cuts because of the sea shells on rocks which was very sharp. Then, the tour guide gave us a lesson on how to do snorkelling. Many looked enthusiastic to learn. At around 11, we were sent to the snorkelling spot. I was not so excited because I couldn't snorkel due to the operation in my ear. So did not know what they saw when they snorkelled there. But I managed to get the experience of holding a living 'Gamat'. It felt like I was holding a big fat jelly. Then we headed back to our campsite. The boys had to walk there so we had our own mini jungle trekking with our bare footed because we did not bring along our slippers when we went to the snorkelling site.
Then we had our lunch. It felt great having a picnic at the beach with the wind and the sound of the ocean. Suddenly while I was eating, something got into my eye. It was painful. At first I thought it will go away in a few minutes but it did not. My friends gave many suggestions on how to get rid of it but all of them failed. I endured the pain while eating. I ate with my eyes closed. Huhuhuhu after about an hour ( I think because it felt so long), Mr Azman suggested to me to go and dip my eye in the sea. And it worked. I was grateful to him and Moja for helpin me out. Now I know how it feels to be blind.

-During the evening we headed back to our beach at Pulau Pangkor. Some of us decided to go on a banana boat ride which looked fun. I could just watched from the beach. : (
Then, my friends and I decided to go kayakking. We took 4 kayak and went back to Pulau Giam just for fun. Then I suggested to them to race back to the beach. The agreed. Four kayak was lined up ready to roll, consisting of me-izuan pilus, zul-amir, izzat-syafiq and najah-farah hazwani. On your mark, get set...GOOO and the race started. Each team was determined to win. Najah and Farah Hazwani was in front since we gave them a head start. My kayak was having a tough time bumping with Zul's kayak. Nevertheless, we manage to endure it and sped straight towards the beach to over take najah's kayak. With some very bad manouvering skills, we finally managed to overtake them and win the race. Yahoooooooooooooo. : P

-After that we decided to build our very own sand castle. Just one word to describe it. Disastrous. With no planning, our castle looked like a tank made of sand. I think we should have asked for some girl's touch. Hehehe

- During the night, we had a barbeque. The fish was very delicious. Then we were asked to go to the beach for our very own Survivor. When we arrived there, a big campfire was burning in the middle. Every group was placed at a candle situated around the campifire. It was amazing. Feels like 'Samurai Night'. Hehehe We had many activities. Water war, telefon berkarat, eating competition, and many more. And in almost every activity, almost every group cheated. What do you expect?? It was in the middle of the night. Hehehe The team that cheated the most manage to win : P Overall, it was fun even though we were exhausted after that.

Sunday, 19th of April
- We had our breakfast. But Izuan, Iman and I was not satisfied so we went for a second breakfast at a restaurant nearby. We ate nasi lemak which was very very spicy but delicious. I was sweating while eating because of the spice. Then we went for a stroll at the beach. After that, we decided to do some shopping. I bought some souvenirs and then headed back to the resort because it was raining.

-We then headed back to the port after having our lunch. We experienced the roller coaster ride once again. Hehehe We then boarded a ferry which has an open space at the back. This was soon packed with KYUEM's students taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. When we arrived at the Lumut Port, we were given some time to do some final shopping and thenwe headed for our beloved college.


Overall, it was very enjoying, fun, relaxing and exciting. Thx to the commitee for doing a wonderful job. May this be the mark for the rise of the House of Garnet. Go GARNET!!!!!

P/S: currently still searching for photos. I will upload them as soon as possible...