AKAN DATANG PROGRAM BENGKEL KEMAHIRAN BERKERJA AMZZAH NASEEHAH RESOURCES

Bengkel ini mengandungi bukan sahaja ceramah, nota dan ucapan sehala, akan tetapi mengandungi perkongsian dua hala, amalan praktikal dan gerakerja berguna yang akan disampaikan oleh CEO dan Managing Consultant Amzzah Naseehah Resources Tn Haji Abd Malek bin Md Nor yang berpengalaman berkerja selama 25 tahun di syarikat multinasional antarabangsa di mana 20 tahun darinya di bidang Sumber Manusia dan 5 tahun di bidang pengurusan kontrak dan vendor perkidmatan relokasi antarabangsa, imigresen dan logistiks.

Tn Haji Abd Malek mempunyai kemahiran di bidang polisi Sumber Manusia, terma pekerjaan, penggajian dan imbuhan, analisa dan kajiselidik gaji pasaran dan proses mewujudkan kontrak komersial bersama kontraktor vendor perkhidmatan dari perumusan strategik, skop, pemilihan dan perlaksanaan kontrak. Beliau pernah memberikan khidmat nasihat antara syarikat-syarikat antarabangsa di mana beliau telah menganggotai Kelab Analisa Penggajian Sumber Manusia yang di anggotai oleh lebih 10 syarikat multinasional di Malaysia (Oil & Gas, Banking, Pharmaceuticals, Telecommunications dan IT) dan menjadi penasihat kepada Pengurus Sumber Manusia TMI di dalam bidang polisi dan terma kerja Sumber Manusia domestik dan antarabangsa.

Beliau juga telah menguruskan pasukan perkhidmatan selama lebih 10 tahun di syarikat Shell, menjalankan analisa keberkesanan perkhidmatan Pusat Khidmat Masyarakat ADN Gombak Setia pada tahun 2013, menyampaikan bengkel-bengkel professional berbagai topik kepada syarikat, agensi-agensi dan badan-badan persendirian serta latihan motivasi dan kecemerlangan pendidikan dan kepimpinan di sekolah-sekolah rendah dan menengah semenjak 2005.

Anda bukan saja boleh mendapat pengetahuan dengan mengikuti bengkel kami, anda juga akan dapat faedah praktikal melalui skit lakonan semasa bengkel, pementoran terus dan perkongsian pengalaman dari peserta yang lain. Bengkel ini juga akan diisi dengan tayangan video yang berkenaan dengan tajuk bengkel.

Hubungi kami untuk keterangan lanjut di amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com atau mesej ke laman web kami ini atau like facebook kami di https://m.facebook.com/AmzzahNaseehah .

Gangnam style craze

As of today 30 Sept, the Gangnam style video by singer, songwriter and choreographer PSY of Korea has been viewed by more than 300 million viewers in Youtube. With an average of 4 million views per day since its publication in Youtube on 15 July 2012, it is a very phenomenal video and is climbing the Youtube popularity chart for the most viewed video which is now being topped by Justin Bieber with 777 Million views. Gangnam style song has already penetrated the UK and US Charts with several localized copycats around the world such as KL style and Singapore style.

 

This phenomenon is rare worldwide as even K-Pop has not breached the world music scene except in east Asia. In the home front, this is not unusual as Malaysian music appreciation is very flexible. Hindi music has been a craze here since 1950s, especially Malays who adore the beauty and handsomeness of the Hindi movie stars. Ironically these movie stars are not singing the songs they purported to sing in the movies and the Malays do not even understand Hindi!

 

PSY is not only an international household name from Korea. Samsung is another. Samsung was founded in 1938 and ventured into Communication and Electronics market in 1977 and initiated its mobile communication business in 1983. It had several issues with its Korea domestic communication market until it gave an ultimatum to itself in 1993, to win the Korea market competition in one year or Samsung will close its communication business. Within a year Samsung improved its mobile device and started to capture the local market. In 1998, Samsung then ventured into international market and after several communication creations and well receipt innovations, Samsung is now among the world leader in electronics and communication industry. Its success had also made other market leaders trembled and did whatever they could to stop Samsung’s progress.

 

Going back further in history, Korea was mostly unknown except probably for the Korean War post World War II. Compared to China and Japan history, a lot more familiarity will be with Chinese Great Wall of China and Samurai from Japan than whatever else of Korea. Korea was just a country being fought over by these two regional giants.

 

What then made the difference with Korea today? We may find the answers by looking at PSY and Samsung traits for success.

 

PSY is an overweight and not good looking Korean star. He is not a common K-Pop star material. However PSY’s ingenuity in creating new dance steps with a mainstream popular music beat stole the fans heart in such a short time. So we can say that ingenuity is a lot more important than physical looks. PSY stands out from the rest with his ingenuity while K-Pop stars are just mere beauty and handsome looks.

 

Let us look at Samsung, it ventured into the Korea local mobile communication business 10 years behind the world market leader at that time, Motorola. In electronics, 10 years would probably be equivalent to a century! Samsung then was trailing behind Motorola for the next 10 years until it reviewed its position and made a tough decision, either made it work or they would stop. With a timeline of 1 year, Samsung’s technical staff scrambled and came up with a product that eventually captured the Korean market. It went further to create and innovate in order to venture into and capture the world market. So making assessment of one’s position with the ability to create and innovate pulled out Samsung from the pits and brought it to the top.

 

So let us recap. Ingenuity or creativity, assessment and innovation are the take ways from PSY and Samsung success. How then we convert this for our use

1. Ingenuity or creativity– this trait will differentiate us from the rest. Coming up with original and attractive ideas are tough. However it will bring us to the forefront and we will be known as the pioneer of the new invention. So making another copycat KL or Singapore style is not ingenuity or creativity. 
2. Assessment or review- this trait allows us to look back and work for the future. By looking back, we are able to look at the gaps and identify measures to close them. What had been our failures in the past should not be repeated and previous successes should be leveraged upon for more success in the future. We need to be tough during self assessment or review in order to progress. Some of the gaps maybe due to our own mistakes and making changes may be uncomfortable. So a lot more sacrifice is required to attain success if this is the case.  
3. Innovation- this trait allows us to be better than the next person who is bidding for the same position as us. Innovation is not creating a totally new idea however it is creating noticeable and acceptable differences which are perceived to be better from our previous position or from the competitor’s position. Innovation needs to be progressively done with the next innovation to be better than the previous one. This will ensure us to be always on the top of others.

After SPM - what's next?

Once I brought my family to meet up close with Prof Dr Muhaya, an ophthalmologist by profession and an inspirational speaker by passion. Two of my children were with me together with my wife. During the meeting Prof Dr Muhaya asked my children what they were going to be, my son responded "Accountant" and my daughter "Lecturer". Prof Dr Muhaya then said, "Children, why don't you want to become a doctor? Be a doctor, it is a good profession".

The question of "What you want to be?" is very common to children. Most parents in Malaysia would stress on Science and would dream for their children to become an engineer or a doctor. They will also derive great satisfaction if their children are in this stream. The sense of pride will be expanded if their children are in boarding school and eventually will go abroad to further their study.

My experience on boarding school was not so rosy and nice. I had my eldest son in Sekolah Tunku Abdul Rahman, STAR Ipoh. After a year, I took him out and put him in a normal school after I noticed that the school was not providing learning and education but stressing and pressing on scoring As in exams. As a result, my son was still happy with this decision and he also managed to do well in his studies even though he was in a normal school. He had straight As in PMR and 5 As in SPM. He is now pursuing a law degree in UiTM.

My experience when I was small was more of an old school. When I was schooling I could not decide what I would want to be. Doctor and Engineer are the common answers I would give when I was asked. This was more following the concept that "anything Science is good".

However when I was in High School, I slowly had an ambition to become a businessman and a politician. The reason for this was because I believe in one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad pbuh, which means: "9 out of 10 live provisions are from business". While my passion with politics started when I was in standard four. It came after one of my neighbours, Arwah Makcik Sawiyah came over to my house to campaign for PEKEMAS (Parti Keadilan Masyarakat) candidate, Cikgu Ishak Surin. The party was then led by the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon.

I eventually went to further my study in Engineering, then Mathematics, then Business and eventually HR. I am now neither in Engineering nor Mathematics, partly Business and remotely HR. Although I did not fully realised my ambition, the experience taught me that ambition and vocation may eventually differ. I still enjoy the work that I do and earn considerably sufficient to have a fulfilling life.

As parents, I think the fallacy that Science is better than others need to change. From my experience working in HR; Science, Arts, Vocational and any other denomination are equally good. Doctors and Engineers are not necessarily smarter than Lawyers and Accountants. The most important ingredient in success would be :
1. Interest in the subject and profession
2. Good attitude towards study and work
3. Willingness to study and work with others
4. Able to see through solutions rather than engrossed and became the problem
5. Balance between work and life; world and the hereafter

If you are in a cross road what to study or what you want to have as a profession, some pointers here to select your course and profession. Although it is not comprehensive but serves as a simple guidance

(Amzzah Naseehah Resources conduct "Tracking your Tertiary Education and Vocation" training and consultancy services. If you are interested, email to : amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com or call: +6012-5103364, terms and conditions are negotiable)

Patience and blessings

In this world of broadband and super lightning speed of information sharing, people tend to expect that everything will be equally speedy and fast. Of course if this is possible and achievable, it will indeed be speedy and fast. However certain things are slow and times consuming that require patience and perseverance in order for it to be possible and achievable.

Most people rely more on their ability, strength and intelligence to achieve their targets. Some of them achieve their targets and some will not. What makes this difference is still a mystery to some. What I am going to share with you is based on my own experience in life.

Some nights ago I had a guest to my house. He is young with a start up family and had just changed his job. He had come to share with me his vision and targets to improve the standard of living of his family and himself. He works as a gym instructor in a reputable Health Centre with good earnings and benefits. I got to know from him that professional gym instructor requires certification from international fitness bodies through certain exams. Most of gym instructors in Malaysia lack this certification as it is not made compulsory by most Health Centre. However, with proper certification, a gym instructor may fetch higher salary at reputable Health Centre. This certification is similar to professional accounting certification that requires study fee, exam fee and membership fee.

His vision that he shared with me is to be a gym instructor having the highest professional certification from the best international professional body. With this he hopes that he will earn a lot more and will be able to better cater the needs of his family. At the same time as he plans to sit for the next highest gym instructor certification, he also plans to start up a small business with his wife who is expecting their next born. So with the higher earning and the business, the family income will be higher than what it is now. However he does not have enough funds to implement all these plans. With this limitation he plans to make a loan and had come to me for an advice.

After listening to him, I planned my conversation to include the topics of vision, targets, priorities, capability, opportunities and risk. Firstly I congratulate him for having a clear vision and good targets. I told him that these are important for everything that we intend to do either be it our work or our life. After having visions and targets, I shared with him the importance of prioritizing the targets by looking at one's capability, other option of opportunities and the risk that is involved in the targets.

Looking at his situation, I told him that he needs to think of what is coming to his and his family. Firstly, he just changed job and currently earning quite well, his wife is expecting their next born and they are trying to start a business. I asked him whether he is able to handle all these changes with ease. He seems to be confident, however he could not answer me on what will be his plan if these do not work out well as he intended.

I then related this situation to how he would act as a gym instructor in coaching a new comer to the gym. He would first coach the new comer how to make stretches, warm up and start with the easy routine. After the new comer is able to handle these, only then he will teach the much more strenuous exercise until the new comer is able to handle all of the gym apparatus with ease. By then, the new comer will become a regular and would probably handle his or her routine by him or herself and will seek guidance from him once in a while.

I then concluded that in life it is more or less the same situation. We need to take some slow and some fast steps. As long as we have a clear vision and good targets, we will have to prioritise our tasks as we are provided with limited resources in term of time, fund, strength and ability. We will also need to find other opportunities as an alternative plan if the initial plans did not work out well. Last but not least, we will need to be aware of the risk involved in planning and implementing the plan so that we may avoid pitfalls and overcome barriers.

With a parting statement, I said, however all these will also require patience and blessings from Allah the Almighty. The blessings determined how contented and grateful one is with his or her achievement that Allah is pleased with his or her effort.

n.b: Allah in this context is the God of All in the Universe

July 24: An exciting reunion after three decades of Setapak High School Form Fivers 1981

I was one of 22 former Form Five Setapak High School students (1981) who gathered at Bangi Kopitiam, Wangsa Maju for a reunion after 30 years . The first to come and sat at the table was Martin Paul who looks young as ever. I then came second as the main coordinator of the reunion and saw Martin whom I have met once or twice prior to this. The numbers then became nine (Martin, Ganesan, Ahsan, Ruzaini, Annuar, Zafarul, Tarmizi, Felix and I) by about 9 pm and mostly made up of those who had confirmed their attendance via facebook. By this time we got to know that Zaid, Ruze, Gan Kim Beng, Tan Kim Ping and other who had been invited via facebook event will not be attending.

After a few more minutes, some of us started to ask impatiently "where are the others?", as the agreed time to start was at 8.30 pm, more than 30 minutes had passed. To reassure each other, everyone started to confess that they had done their part of inviting i.e. Zafarul said he had invited Azim and Megat, but two others Cikgu Jagdev and Kamalanathan might not come. Ganesan said he had invited Martin. The confession continued until everyone was placing their patience back in place.

The patience bore fruit as Azim and Megat showed up, then one by one surprises upon surprises as the attendance started to grow bigger and bigger. Hamid, Zainal, Ghulam and Man were the best surprises that night. Their names had not been mentioned, but somehow Azim were the connectors between the event and them

The event was a success and the attendees had a lot of fun and excitement. These are the comments from some of them:

I spoke to Mazlan who could not turned up, he promised to make it when we have it again next time. Eventually 22 people turned up, Yana being the last to show up while the rest waited patiently for him, except for Azim who had to go as the wife had called for him. In the meantime, we shared our memories and talked fondly of High School, other friends who were not present, teachers, incidences at the canteen (Azim with his "sudu"), Len Seng Bas Sekolah, Bas Semata, SJI and High School fighting and many other sweet, happy, fond memories.

Most of us are married with children, except for Oing (Kamarulzaman) who is now an actor in a local drama "Laila Asyikin", Tuesday to Thursday at 10.30 pm. Frankly speaking he was not an actor material, a few more centimeters (probably ten) of his height would be better. But he has a nice smile and can act as either a father, grandfather or uncle. In the drama, he acts as a shareholder. Another celebrity among our batch is the famous sportscaster, Shaukei Kahar who could not attend as he has a sportscasting assignment the same night.

We took a lot of photographs, especially Aziz with his band of handsome sons who sat at another table not far from us. At the end of the session, Zafarul and I paid for the drinks and foods, actually not much just a mere RM177, however what I was impressed with the rest of the guys were their willingness to put in their money and eventually we collected RM405. As the coordinator of the reunion, I then proposed that whatever has been paid by Zafarul and I will remain and the money collected that night will be brought forward to our next gathering.

The renunion adjourned at about 12 pm, as all of the patron of the Kopitiam had left, the staff had already cleared our table, the Kopitiam chefs and cooks had their parting meals, the lights were switched off and the shutter was about to be pulled down. Most of us left except for some who continued and extended the reunion at the new NZ Curry House just a walking distance from where we were before.

Another email from an ex schoolmate

Well.. well.. it is a pandemic. Another email from an ex schoolmate, this time of SRJK Sultan Alam Shah PJ, my primary school in 1971 (standard 1), mind you. What a wonderful cyber space.

--------------------------

From: Mohamad Salehhuddin Othman
Subject: SRJK Sultan Alam Shah
To: amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com
Date: Monday, August 10, 2009, 10:49 PM


Hi,

Came across your blog where you mentioned that you were
in this school 37 years ago (as of 2008). So were you in Standard 6 in 1971 & were you in School 1 or School 2?

I was in School 2, Standard 6 in 1972.

Salehhuddin.

Eric Fan:Setapak High School - 1980 - SRP and 1982 SPM

What beauty we can savour from cyber space. I had not updated my blog since May due to business commitment and travelling, then came this email during my inactive period. Beautiful indeed. Thanks Eric.

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From: Eric Fan
Subject: Setapak High School - 1980 - SRP and 1982 SPM
To: amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com
Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 3:10 PM

Dear Mr. Naseehah,

I saw your blog and brought back many years of memories. My name is Tuck Seng, Fan and I attended Setapak High School until 1982 SPM. Mr Chakravarthy - Principal at that time, and Mr. Rudolph was my soccer coach during 1980 and 1982 Soccer High School team.

In fact, I had two cane strokes on my buttocks from Mr. Chakravarthy for riding motorcycle without a license caught by the local police officer back then. It was the game before playing St Johns Institute 1982.

Anyhow I attended Setapak High School and Form 5 Arts 2. Since then I attended TAR College for my STPM 1984, went overseas in 1986 and migrated to USA since then. I graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1989 (Undergraduate School), and National University in San Jose, California for my graduate school in 1999. My parents are still in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur in the area of Taman Air Panas (Hot Spring Garden) now flats area.

I visited home every two years and I am planning a trip end of this year with my son. During my visit to Kuala Lumpur, I drove by Setapak High School and cannot recognized the school sometimes. The soccer field we trained our P.E. is now a building on top of it.

One year I went home for a visit 1997, I met Mr. Tan our PE teacher and we drank teh tarik at the school canteen.

Speaking about badminton, I watched your video clips and brought a tear in my eye. I used to play badminton there and the gym looks the same except it has aged since then. Currently I still play badminton in Northern California competitively at my age level against teenage players. I am hoping to make it at the Setapak High School reunion one day since my travel will be 24 hours flight and a few days of jet lag. Perhaps when I schedule my visit with my parents we can meet and have a few "Teh Tarik" and talk about the good old days or Badminton at the gym will be fun.

Thank you for reading my e-mail.

Regards,


Eric (Tuck) S. Fan
San Francisco, CA

email from my ex Setapak High School mate

hmmm... it has been a while since my last posting. Sorry, as my schedule was packed, I did not even have time to check my emails. Interestingly when I check my emails this morning, I saw an email from my ex Setapak High School mate.

From: Ganesan Streamyx xxx???@streamyx.com
Subject: Setapak High School
To: amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com
Date: Thursday, 2 April, 2009, 1:01 PM

Hi ,
I was checking out a key word search on Setapak High School....just felt a bit nostalgic and guess what I found your blogspot....Great huh,
The class picture takes me back...I can vaguly remember some of our friends ....Anyway this is Ganesan Krishnan
Do not know wether you recognise me but I sure the hell can't.
Anyway get in touch.....I still keep in touch with Zaid Kuda Shah .
Thanks for the memories
Ganesan (Gani)

this was the posting that Gani pointed to Badminton game at Setapak High School 20 Dec 2008 (26 years after I had left it). I am going to meet him later tonight, insyaallah.

New School Term is here again

Sunday 28 Dec, my wife, my daughter and me went to SRI Al Amin Gombak to purchase my daughter's text book and uniform. Yes it is the school season again. We reached the school at 9 am and were ready to go by 9.30 am as we were early and had beaten the que. As always SRI Al Amin is well organised in handling this sort of events, kudos to the school. Keep up the good work.

Employability Talk at Chemical Engineering Faculty of UiTM, 17 Oct 2008

On Monday 13 October, my colleague text me telling me that one of his friends would like to speak to me. I thought that it was only the usual Q&A on Human Resources questions that I normally received from mutual friends connection. The questions that were posed to me would be on Human Resources Policy or Compensation and Benefit or employment opportunity.

The caller was a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and she would like to invite me to be a Panel member in a talk on employability to her students' faculty, and she told me that there would be another Panel member from CCM. The talk would be held at the Chemical Engineering Faculty of UiTM, Shah Alam attended by students from the faculty. As UiTM was where I completed my Diploma study, I agreed and quickly linked myself to the Recruitment department of my company to source for materials for my talk. The Recruitment department was very helpful in extending materials that I found useful for my reference and use.

During the talk, I touched on the importance of collecting information and data, linking the information and data to understand the situation, proposing resolution to solve the problem and finally solving the problem. I shared with the students that problems are opportunities for businesses and not merely things to be avoided. Just merely scoring high marks in education would not be sufficient, how they utilise the education would be the key to their success in employment. I also mentioned about working in a team. In order to work in a team to solve problems, they are expected to muster skills of effective communication, teamwork and critical thinking to be able to secure opportunities in the employment market. The students were very interactive during and after the talk asking questions and seeking clarifications.

I would like to thank the Dean of the Chemical Engineering Faculty, Assoc Prof Dr Sharifah Aishah, lecturers Mr Zaki and Mdm Haslina for the invitation as well as the faculty students who had shown interest in the talk.

For more information and photographs of the events please click here http://zakizainudin.blogspot.com/2008/10/employability-talk-photos.html.

SK 1&2 Sultan Alam Shah

Last weekend, while on the way to the house of my wife's niece in Sungai Way for Hari Raya, we passed through Section 11, Petaling Jaya (PJ as we Malaysian call it). I was so excited as my former primary school when I was in standard one, SK Sultan Alam Shah at Jalan Bukit, Petaling Jaya is within the vicinity. When we reached the school, I stopped by the side of the school. My two sons went down to take a few photographs with me. The above is the best shot to share in this post (me and my second son at the front of the school).

I related to them stories that had happened to me 37 years ago. One that had them in stitches was the story while I was in the first week of school. I had not attended kindergarten, a luxury then as well as it was not available where I live in Kampung Sungai Penchala. So, my late mother (may Allah forgive her and bless her soul) would accompany me to school in the morning and stayed until recess. Her presence at the canteen was a reassurance to me. She had also cooked rendang; which is my favourite until now, just before the school reopened for the New Year and brought it along with her to school. I enjoyed the rendang for the whole week.

From time to time, I would scan the canteen from where I was sitting in my class, trying to locate her sight (my class was on the ground floor and the canteen was just next to it). However, it was probably on the second or third day of the first week of school that I could not locate her at the canteen while I was still in class. I then became afraid that she had left and I started to cry. Seeing me crying, the class teacher came over and asked me what had happened. She thought that some of my classmates had hurt me. However in between sobs I told her that I could not see my mother. She then asked one of my classmates to fetch my mother from the canteen. Apparently she was not at the canteen at that time because she had to go to the toilet. My family was laughing loudly in the car as we drove off.

Job hunting

Peace be upon you who receive the guidance

Towards the end my final semester, I had started to compose my resume and photocopied several sets of my educational certificates i.e. my transcript, scholastic achievement such as dean's list certificate, high school diploma (SPM and SRP) and many others. It was customary in Malaysia (at that point of time circa 1980's) to attach resume and copies of certificates with an application letter. Indeed this was required by the job advertiser which had now been replaced with on-line application via web portal. I had received some assistance in vetting my resume and providing me pointers in handling interviews from my Human Resources lecturer Puan Maimunah Aminudin (now a full Professor, photo on the right was taken in 1989, my final semester, she is on the right and I'm on the left).

As I had shared earlier, during the 1980's early 1990's, Malaysia was experiencing an economic recession and job was scarce. Newspapers would run at most 4 pages of job advertisements per day (whereas nowadays we have a separate recruitment section of 20 pages or more). I would hardly able to find a fit between what I could offer and what the job required. As far as I could still remember I had only managed to apply to a couple of jobs (without job experience required) and notably the ones that I could still remember were for a Management Trainee job with KFC in Singapore and a Production Planning job with Matsusihita Electrics in Johor Baharu,

KFC Singapore wrote back to me saying that they were looking for Singaporeans who were in Malaysia. I had then attended two interviews with Matsushita Electrics in Johor Baharu. The first interview went well and I was shortlisted for a second interview two weeks later. During the second interview I was pitted against experienced applicants. This I knew while interacting with the interview candidates in the waiting room. As a strategy, I stated my expected salary to be around RM1,000 which would be lower than the other experienced applicants. However I still did not get the job as probably they prefered a more experienced candidate.

~~~~~0~~~~~~

Puduraya Bus Station where I took my bus to Johor Baharu for my 2 interviews/Hentian Puduraya tempat saya mengambil bas ke Johor Baharu untuk menghadiri 2 temuduga saya http://www.udaholdings.com.my/

~~~~~0~~~~~

Selamat sejahtera ke atas anda yang menerima penunjuk

Di penghujung semester akhir saya, saya telah mula menyiapkan resume saya dan membuat salinan foto beberapa set sijil pelajaran saya i.e. transkrip keputusan peperiksaan di UiTM, sijil anugerah cemerlang sijil dekan, sijil sekolah menengah (SPM dan SRP) dan lain-lain lagi. Adalah menjadi kebiasaan di Malaysia (ketika itu sekitar tahun 1980an) untuk mengepilkan resume dan salinan sijil-sijil dengan surat permohonan perkerjaan. Malahan ini dikehendaki oleh pengiklan-pengiklan perkerjaan yang mana telah diganti sekarang dengan permohonan melalui talian terus portal jejaring. Saya menggunakan jasa baik pensyarah Sumber Manusia saya Puan Maimunah Aminudin (sekarang Professor) memeriksa resume saya dan memberikan tunjuk ajar bagaimana cara menghadapi temuduga

Seperti yang telah saya nyatakan dahulu, semasa lewat 1980an dan awal 1990an, Malaysia mengalami kemelesetan ekonomi dan peluang perkerjaan adalah tipis. Suratkhabar akan hanya menyiarkan sekitar 4 mukasurat kekosongan jawatan setiap hari (berbanding sekarang kita mempunyai bahagian pengambilan yang berasingan dengan 20 atau lebih mukasurat). Amat sukar bagi saya untuk mencari perkerjaan yang sesuai dengan kelulusan saya. Seingat saya, saya hanya berjaya memohon beberapa jawatan (tanpa syarat pengalaman berkerja) dan dua permohonan jawatan yang masih saya ingat iaitu jawatan Pelatih Pengurusan dengan KFC Singapura dan jawatan Perancang Pengeluaran dengan Matsushita Elektrik di Johor Baharu.

KFC Singapura membalas surat saya dengan mengatakan mereka hanya berminat dengan rakyat Singapura yang berkerja di Malaysia. Selain itu, saya telah dipanggil untuk dua temuduga dengan Matsushita Elektrik di Johor Baharu. Temuduga pertama berlangsung dengan jayanya dan saya berjaya untuk di temuduga kali kedua 2 minggu berikutnya. Semasa temuduga yang kedua, saya telah disaingkan dengan calon-calon yang mempunyai pengalaman. Saya ketahui semasa berbual-bual dengan calon-calon lain di kamar menunggu. Sebagai suatu strategi, saya catitkan gaji permulaan yang saya minta hanya sekadar RM1,000, di mana saya percaya adalah yang terendah berbanding calon yang berpengalaman. Malangnya saya tidak berjaya di dalam temuduga kedua kerana saya rasa mereka masih mementingkan calon yang lebih berpengalaman.

Graduation dinner, photo with the then ITM Director/Makan Malam Graduan, gambar bersama Pengarah ITM semasa itu.

College Life

Peace be upon you who receive the guidance


My final semester at Institut Teknologi MARA (UiTM) was filled with uncertainty. Malaysia was facing economic recession at that time (late 1980's) and jobs were scarce. I was following the vacancy advertisements in the newspaper and the primary requirement is something that I cannot offer i.e. job experience. Some of my coursemates had already planned to further their study but due to my financial constraint, this is not an option for me.

Unlike my studies in the States, my study at UiTM is self financing. My second brother gave me RM50 per month as I stay in the hostel and my meals are already taken care off. I used the money for my motorcycle fuel, photocopying, stationeries and once in a while outside meals at the stalls. Throughout the 3 years at UiTM, I was very frugal in my spending. As my mother was only relying on a meagre RM200 (around USD50) per month pension, hence I do not demand much from her. I had to do with the same wardrobe for 3 years at UiTM. My late third brother would support me for motorcycle maintenance whenever it broke down. There is not much to complain as I am already used to hard life.

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Kesejahteraan di atas anda yang menerima hidayah

Semester akhir saya di Institut Teknologi MARA (UiTM) dipenuhi dengan ketidak tentuan. Malaysia semasa itu (lewat 1980an) sedang melalui kemelesetan ekonomi dan pasaran perkerjaan juga terbantut. Saya telah mengikuti ruangan iklan jawatan kosong di akhbar dan mendapati keperluan utama setiap jawatan kosong ialah sesuatu yang tiada pada saya i.e. pengalaman perkerjaan. Sebahagian dari rakan kursus saya telah merancang untuk melanjutkan pengajian mereka. Akan tetapi oleh kerana kekurangan kewangan, ini bukanlah pilihan buat saya.


Berlainan dari pengajian saya di Amerika, pengajian saya di UiTM dibiayai dengan menggunakan kewangan sendiri. Abang kedua saya memberikan RM50 sebulan kepada saya dan ini mencukupi oleh kerana saya tinggal di asrama dan makanan adalah disediakan. Saya menggunakan wang itu untuk minyak motorsikal, fotokopi nota, alatulis dan sekali-sekala makan di warung. Selama 3 tahun di UiTM, saya berjimat cermat di dalam perbelanjaan saya. Oleh kerana emak saya hanya mendapat RM200 pencen sebulan, saya tidak selalu meminta apa-apa darinya. Saya memakai pakaian yang sama selama 3 tahun di UiTM. Arwah abang saya yang ketiga akan membiayai kos penyelenggaraan motorsikal saya. Tiada apa yang hendak saya rungutkan kerana kesusahan telah menjadi kebiasaan kepada diri saya.

Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM or UiTM)

Peace be upon you who receive the guidance,

I returned to Malaysia in July 1985. Contratry to what I fear, my family was very supportive of me eventhough I did not produce them a degree from the USA. My late mother told me "it doesn't matter to me as long as you're safe and sound in front of me."

Upon returning home, I spent a lot of my time pondering on my strategy to rebound from my predicament. Yes of course, I failed to bring back a degree but I've learned a very valuable lesson which would not be repeated again. This is of course priceless.

Finally I settled on a strategy of all out study. I enrolled myself for a short course on Speed Reading and Effective Learning and spend my time on reading. As I'm free throughout the day, I do this at ease. My nights would be spent on watching tv as a form of winding down.

In January 1986, I enrolled myself into ITM Shah Alam to study Business Studies. All praise to God, I managed to attain Dean's List award (Semester GPA of above 3.5) for three semesters out of six and graduated with CGPA above 3.0.

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Kesejahteraan ke atas anda yang menerima hidayah

Saya pulang ke Malaysia pada Julai 1985. Berlainan dari yang saya jangkakan, keluarga saya menyambut kepulangan saya dengan dokongan walaupun saya tidak pulang dengan segulung ijazah dari USA. Arwah ibu saya memberitahu saya "tidak mengapa, asalkan anak emak selamat dan berada di depan mata emak"

Di kala saya berada di rumah, saya menghabiskan masa saya dengan memikirkan strategi untuk memperbaiki diri untuk keluar dari keadaan yang tidak menentu itu. Sememangnya saya gagal untuk membawa pulang segulung ijazah, akan tetapi saya telah dapat pengajaran hidup yang tidak akan berulang lagi. Ini merupakan sesuatu yang amat berharga.

Akhirnya saya menetapkan strategi saya untuk meneruskan pembelajaran saya. Saya mengikuti kursus jangka pendek Cepat Membaca dan Pembelajaran Berkesan dan menafaatkan masa untuk membaca. Oleh kerana saya mempunyai kelapangan, saya dengan mudahnya melaksanakan perkara ini. Akan tetapi pada malamnya, saya akan meluangkan masa saya dengan menonton tv sebagai salah satu aktiviti santai saya. Pada bulan Januari 1986, saya menyambung pelajaran saya di ITM Shah Alam dalam jurusan Kajian Perniagaan. Segala puji kepada Allah, saya berjaya mendapat sijil Dekan (Semester GPA di atas 3.5) untuk tiga dari enam semester dan menamatkan pengajian dengan CGPA di atas 3.0.

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA

After scoring 17 Aggregate in SPM in 1991, I was offered a scholarship to study at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA. I did well in my Freshman (1st) year attaining GPA of close to 3.00. However when I was in Sophomore (2nd) year, I had to opt for Mechanical Engineering as my major since it was prescribed in my scholarship. I had a fancy for Mathematics actually and tried to reason out with my sponsor, to no avail. I tried to do my best in Mechanical Engineering but as my heart was not in it, my GPA started to decline. Only after my GPA had turned from bad to worse in the 3rd year, my sponsor finally allowed me to change my major to Mathematics. Sadly I could not salvage my study and I had to return to Malaysia without a degree.

Setelah mendapat 17 Aggreget dalam SPM, saya telah ditawarkan biasiswa untuk menuntut di Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA. Keputusan pelajaran saya adalah memberangsangkan di tahun 1 dengan GPA 3.00. Akan tetapi semasa saya di tahun 2, saya terpaksa memilih Kejuruteraan Mekanikal sebagai pengkhususan saya kerana ia telah disyaratkan oleh penaja saya. Saya meminati Matematik sebenarnya, akan tetapi saya tidak dibenarkan menukar pengkhususan saya walaupun saya cuba memohon pertukaran dari penaja saya. Saya berusaha juga sedaya upaya saya, namun oleh kerana kurang berminat, kemajuan pelajaran saya telah terjejas. Setelah GPA saya menjadi buruk di tahun 3, barulah penaja saya membenarkan saya menukar pengkhususan saya kepada Matematik. Namun semuanya telah terlambat dan saya terpaksa pulang tanpa sebarang ijazah.

My secondary school

Peace be upon you who receive the guidance.



I sat for my Ujian Penilaian (now UPSR) in 1975. My result was 2A 3B, at the top quartile of my school, alhamdulillah. However, I purposely failed my interview to enroll into MRSM, a boarding secondary school, so as I can be at home with my family. This was a concsious decision which I did not regret.
I then enrolled myself into Setapak High School (Sekolah Menengah Tinggi, Setapak) in 1977. I studied there from Form 1 until Lower 6. I sat for my SRP (Grade A) and SPM (Grade 1- 17 Aggregate) at that school. Apart from studying, I was active in intra-school competitive sports, representing my class and house. I was also involved in clubs and societies, I was the Vice President of the Kesatuan Pelajar Islam, Committee member of Persatuan Bahasa dan Kebudayaan Malaysia and a Sports Prefect. I was the class monitor from Form 1 until Form 5, a testament of my popularity and leadership among my classmates. These are due to my willingness to put in extra work and rapport with the teachers


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Selamat Sejahtera kepada anda yang menerima hidayah.

Saya telah mengambil Ujian Penilaian (sekarang dipanggil UPSR) pada tahun 1975. Keputusan saya 2A 3B, berada di suku pertama dalam sekolah saya, alhamdulillah. Akan tetapi, saya sengaja menggagalkan temuduga saya untuk masuk ke MRSM, sekolah menengah berasrama penuh, agar saya dapat bersama keluarga. Keputusan ini saya buat sendiri dan saya tidak pernah menyesal.


Saya kemudian bersekolah di Sekolah Menengah Tinggi, Setapak (Setapak High School) bermula pada 1977. Saya menuntut di sana dari Tingkatan 1 hingga Tingkatan 6 Rendah. Di sekolah ini, saya menduduki peperiksaan SRP (Gred A) dan SPM (Gred 1 - Aggreget 17). Selain dari berlajar, saya telah bergiat aktif di dalam sukan kompetitif intra sekolah, mewakili kelas dan rumah sukan saya.


Saya juga aktif di dalam persatuan dan kelab, saya merupakan Naib Presiden Kesatuan Pelajar Islam, AJK Persatuan Bahasa dan Kebudayaan Malaysia dan Pengawas Sukan. Saya menjawat jawatan ketua kelas dari Tingkatan 1 hingga 5, satu penyata akan kepopularan dan kepimpinan saya di antara rakan sekelas saya. Ini semua ialah kerana kesanggupan saya untuk membuat kerja tambahan dan hubungan baik dengan guru-guru.

My primary school

Peace be upon you who receive the guidance.

My primary school started when I was 7 years old. My school was Sekolah Rendah Inggeris Sultan Alam Shah, Petaling Jaya. I was in the same school with my late brother. He was 4 years older than me.

My father was ill with brain tumor for a few months while I was in standard 1. As my mother was caring for my father at the hospital, my brother and I were put up in one of my cousins house in Gombak. Both my brother and I were in the afternoon session and we would start off early mid morning from Gombak to Petaling Jaya. We had to take 2 buses and it was not easy compared to now. Now we have all the fantastic infrastructure in KL to move around with ease. Though we started early to school, we would ended up coming back late as we had to go through the same regime coming back from school. My father passed away middle of 1971. My family then had to move to Gombak staying with my uncle's house. After a while, we then moved in with my sister house also in Gombak until our house was built, also in Gombak.

Both my brother and I then enrolled at Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Gombak 1. I studied there from standard 2 until strandard 6.

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Selamat sejahtera kepada anda yang menerima petunjuk.

Persekolah rendah saya bermula semasa saya berumur 7 tahun. Sekolah saya ialah Sekolah Rendah Inggeris Sultan Alam Shah, Petaling Jaya. Saya bersekolah bersama arwah abang saya. Dia lebih tua empat tahun dari saya. Abah saya kemudiannya jatuh sakit selama beberapa bulan menghidap barah otak semasa saya di darjah 1. Oleh kerana emak saya menjaga abah saya di hospital, arwah abang saya dan saya tinggal sementara di rumah sepupu saya di Gombak. Kami berdua bersekolah petang dan akan keluar awal dari Gombak untuk ke sekolah di Petaling Jaya. Kami terpaksa mengambil 2 buah bas dan ianya tidaklah mudah seperti apa yang ada pada masa ini. Sekarang, kita menikmati infrastruktur canggih di KL untuk ke mana-mana dengan mudah. Walaupun kami bermula awal ke sekolah, kami akan pulang lewat kerana kami terpaksa melalui kaedah yang sama untuk pulang. Abah saya kemudiannya meninggal dunia pertengahan 1971. Keluarga saya kemudiannya berpindah sementara ke rumah arwah Pak Long saya di Gombak. Kemudiannya kami tinggal bersama kakak saya, juga di Gombak sebelum rumah kami siap, juga di Gombak. Arwah abang saya dan saya kemudiannya berpindah ke Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Gombak 1. Saya berlajar di sana dari darjah 2 hingga darjah 6.

Standard 3 1973 /Darjah 3 1973 SRK Gombak 1