Income Tax

These few days my parents have been busy doing the income tax forms thing... I guess we will need to do the same thing when we are adults later on...

Looks really complicated.... haha! But I tried to have a peek... I understand a bit here and there, but also at the same time, do not understand a bit here and there... haha....

Demopower Interview

Last Friday, went for the Demopower Interview. Well, actually it was really for fun. Hehe... Nothing to lose if they reject me... But if they accept I would be really happy... I really wanna try out promoting, just like those in the supermarkets (got inspired by those people while I was in Jusco working...)

So, I drove all the way to the Demopower office which was at Section 16 of Petaling Jaya. Was asked to sit in a meeting room. Then, a woman asked us to follow her to a training room which looks like a classroom. There, we were given a piece of registration paper. Next, they will call out one by one our names, and asked us to follow them to a room. There were two person in the room which I was usher in. A man and a woman.

"Introduce yourself, please."

I introduced myself la, of course. Very briefly.

"What are you doing now?"

"When do you plan to go back to study?"

"Why do you want to work as a promoter?"

"So, you actually work as a sales assistant in Jaya Jusco before?"

"You also worked at Sunway Pyramid as a guest service staff?"

"You worked in McDonald's before also?"

"How much was the pay for the jobs? Really RM3 only ah for McD? RM4 for Lagoon ah?"

Don't need to type out the answers, but I kinda think I answered well to those questions. Weird as it seems, but I think I was not being myself when I answered those questions...

"There's so many people outside, why do you think out of the bunch of people we should take you in?"

"What are your qualities? Why do you think you will be a great promoter?" (Or something like that...)

"Here's three products (there's a milk powder, a shampoo, and a insect killer thing... I guess-lah... actually I forgotten already except for the milk powder...) Choose one and promote to us...

So, I promote la... Actually I think I did terrible for this one. I don't know if it is because the two person in front of me are judging me, or maybe I just not up to the standard that they want... Anyway, hopefully, they can give me a second chance next time when I sign up again... (Oh dear, so fast already know I can't do it..)

After a few thank yous, and a few handshakes, I walked out of the room, and out of the office. The office was really like those typical offices that you see in the movies... and each one of them (if I remember) have an ad stand which helps you to promote your product... I guess each of them are in charge of a certain product...

Didn't time my interview, but it was not too long not too short. Very friendly the two of them. But I don't think I will be keeping my fingers crossed that they will give me the job... But at least I been in there, and got the whole experience of the interview... haha... Anyone wants to go there next time? Can come and ask me for some tips.. haha...

CHS Excellence Awards Ceremony 2008

This post will be very short. Just a short recap of CHS Excellence Awards Ceremony on 21st, Saturday morning...

What happened on that day? Ordinary stuff... not like we have not seen how it worked before when we were in Form Five or Form Six...

Out of ten from U6F/2007 who got 3As and above, only five turned up that day. The other classes I don't know. Anyway, I expected it to be very low key at least for our class....

VIPs on stage, with the banner on the background

One section of the hall (this left section of the hall is reserved for prize winners)

The right section of the hall. The front rows are for the parents and teachers; the back rows are for the CHS students.

One of the performances: "The Possessed Maska" Performance

UTAR Kampar Campus Visit

Last Sunday, my family and I went to UTAR Kampar Campus' Open Day (which was of course, at the Kampar campus!)

Long story cut short... drove all the way there... went for a tour around the campus... took a few photos. Very nice building indeed... or more like: nice environment... nice view... nice surrounding... nice... wateva la....

Can't really describe the tour for you guys... it's best that you take one day off and then have a look for yourself the university that has everyone talking about these few years... (at least within my family...)

Anyway, my thought of the new campus? Exhilarating. Beautiful scenery indeed (as stated above). Not surprising as the new campus was ready just a couple of years ago.. The hallways are very wide... Spacious. The rooms for the talks were big enough... three of the four sides of the room is made of glass... easy for people outside to see what is happening inside...

There's also the talks and booths for you to ask questions... nothing new there...

Final comment? Definitely a good environment/place for one to study, at least infrastructure wise... the lecturers? That one I promise myself to seriously do some research on it... But the talk speakers over there shown to the audience the list of all the names of the lecturers as well as their qualifications... which I think was done to kinda like reassure the parents and their kids that their programmes are really of high standard...

If I may, I want to state my opinion on UTAR. One thing I don't like about UTAR is that the students and even staffs like to converse using Cantonese or Mandarin. When I was sending in my application form there last December, even though I told her about me sending in the form in English, the girl at the counter still speaks to me in Mandarin!! Something like... (in Mandarin) "Send this form to the counter over there..." Come on! I don't blame if she speaks broken English or anything...

Oh yeah, the same thing with the office staff that I worked with while I was a temporary assistant at UTAR. "Do you understand Cantonese?" That was like the second thing that the girl said to me after introducing herself to me. Aiyo...

Front Building

Inside the exhibition hall

Canteen

Food Menus at the Canteen
View from the Canteen (Canteen on the left)

Library under construction

That's me!

UTAR Temporary Assistant

On 4th April I went for an interview at PJ UTAR campus for their temporary examination assistant position. Actually saw the advertisement in the newspaper three days prior and called up to ask when is the appointment. So, took two buses till I got there. Interviewed. Basically, the most important thing was for us to declare that we do not have any siblings, friends, relatives or any other people who are close to us, who are currently studying in UTAR. Informed of the working time: 8am till 6pm for those who chose to work at the PJ or Setapak campuses, and 7am till 7pm for those who wants to work at the Sungai Long campus (with transport being provided as well). Of course the main thing was how much was the pay... FROM WHAT I HEARD, he told us that it is RM5 per hour. RM5. (Maybe I really listened wrongly about it...)

But our working period do not start till 21st, which was almost two weeks away. Was going to look for another job nearby at Sunway Pyramid until I got a call from the same guy, Mr. Lim on Monday who asked me if I can start work the next day. I agreed and the next day I arrived at the PJ campus right on time. After signing in, he introduced me to two of the staffs in his department. Next, was down to business. Basically the job was this: (at least for the two days I was working there) to calculate the amount of examination answer sheets a hall require, and then pack them, and tie them up properly. The three of us assigned among ourselves who do what: one person count the papers, one person do the packing, and another one tying. That was what we did for the first half of the day, up until lunch time.

After having lunch with the other office staffs (for blog posting purpose, I refused to acknowledge them as colleagues... They are permanent staffs and I am temporary... haha..), it's time to continue my work. This time I need to do everything on my own, which was to calculate the correct number of test papers, graph papers, query forms etc. (didn't know there are so many kinds of stuff @.@) for each type of examination and class hall. Then, I need to wrapped them up. (Exactly like what I did before this.)

It was around 4.30pm when suddenly I received a call from the HR Department. The person asked me to go and sign the offer letter. Oh! Went there and looked at the form: RM 26 per day for nine hours!! What? I thought it was RM5 per hour?

I quickly went to meet my supervisor (Mr. Lim), who knew right away why I was looking for him. "Come into the room, I explained to you..." Blah.. blah.. he explained. "At the end, you still get around RM4 per hour, in fact, you will get more than those people, if you calculate also overtime."

No lah, it was all my fault, my mistake again: didn't ask for the offer letter. Then it didn't cross my mind for it: a lot of the shops that I have worked before in Sunway Pyramid don't have this kind of thing... even though Jusco have one.

So, what to do? The next day, I gave 24 hours quit notice. I was thinking all the time the night before how to tell this guy. He is going to flip out, I thought. Yeap, he did.

"What???!!!" he asked loudly.

At that time, I don't really care if I will get paid or not. But then he assured me that a cheque will be given to me at the end of the month. Anyway, all I was thinking about was to get out of there...

Oh dear, my fourth job ended just like that... two days.

KL International Book Fair and PICOM PC Fair

Went to two places within a day. First was to PWTC to visit the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair. First time there so wasn’t sure what to expect from it. It turns out that it was really not what I thought it would be. I mean, it is stated there “International”, but there wasn’t anything ‘International’ about the fair. Hmm…

It was about Malay books… I don’t think I saw English books or Chinese books there… except for a section where they sell magazines (which really surprises me because it was supposed to be a ‘book fair’…sell magazines like Times and Readers’ Digest??) There were also revision books for secondary schools… (Har? What does it has to do with International Book Fair??)

Kinda really looking forward to the Popular Bookstore’s Fair… but that will be like… 2 months away!! I remember my family and I spent the whole day at the Fair once… it was so great, so many interesting books for us to read… I wasn’t ready to go home when it was time to go!!

Spent less than an hour there (have to lor, since I paid like RM2.40 just to detour to PWTC, might as well use the best out of it…). Then made my way to KLCC for the PICOM PC Fair!! Yeap, have been looking forward to it, not that I want to buy anything… (In fact, did not even buy anything, maybe except a small thumb drive…) I noticed that the LRT trains have notices advising customers using its services to buy their tickets early to avoid congestion at the KLCC station. Good thought!

My STPM results

I will be deadly honest about how I feel about my results: I don't feel anything.

Yeah, I'm dead serious.

It does not matter. Up until now I still don't know what that I want to study, where do I want to study. I don't have a clear vision of the future. I am practically as lost as a person can be. I can't see myself in a year's time in university, let alone imagining what will happen to me in five years or ten years time (darn those colleges and universities asking me what do I see myself doing in five years, or ten years, or twenty years, or... don't care also, damn many years la...)

Darn those As... for what? What's the use of pursuing a course like Engineering because one got A for Physics, when that person is not a hands-on person, not someone who are curious about things that happen all around him... My father told me, it's not enough to be able to understand in a snap of a finger, the syllabus of the subject, but continuously be curious about things, to always think out of the box...

Let me see... I don't even really have the urge to learn how to drive early... I mean, after SPM. I passed my driving test, in fact, almost 16 months after my 17th birthday (the eligible age to start learning to drive). I have always been a simple person (tell me, if you heard me talking to anyone about the latest electronic gadgets or cars or stuff like that...)

Maybe civil? But am I the sort of person who likes to go up and down, letting myself expose to danger, able to communicate with contractors, architects and etc. in such an outdoor environment? Or perhaps mechanical or e&e? No way. I am not that person who takes out small gadgets and see what is it inside....

Or perhaps chemical engineer? Hmm.... never really felt excited about chemistry experiments back when I was in Form Six. Never got my results out good. (i.e. always copied my friends' readings... the same goes to the questions... just can't think so fast.. or is it that I am lazy to find out the answer to it beforehand?) And don't ask me to start counting on the number of apparatus that I broke in the lab (come to think about it, no one asked me to pay for them... why ah?)

If the way we study engineering in university is just like how we study in Form Six then I don't have any worries. It is the speakers of the talks, and the people at the education fairs that 'question our interest to study a particular subject' by questioning us about our past... whether or not we are like this, like that...'because if not, you better consider studying something else other than engineering'... they said.

My parents found out about actuarial science and talked me about considering that course also (yeah, pay is a lot, IF you pass the professional papers which passing rate is like 15%...) Somehow thought about my characteristics, and felt like I should just sit down in the office and calculate, and earn money just by doing so... to be an accountant...(But for that I need to start ALL OVER AGAIN... which I am not prepared to do so...)

I am still blaming myself for making the wrong choices that I made after SPM... I know I should be dwelling over it, but I guess that I am now...

Next Step After STPM is?

I have asked before a lot of people from my sixth form class about what course they want to study next after STPM. At that time, we have not sit for the exam yet. Anyway I thought those who have came in to Physics class in Form Six should have already know what they want to study, but a lot of them have not decided yet.

Anyway, I have started thinking about it right after I finished my STPM. I kinda thought that since I like Physics I thought that I should go for a career in Engineering. But liking Physics and scoring good Physics grades aren't going to promise one a brilliant future in engineering (an analogy to that of medicine: interest in biology and fantastic grades in Biology aren't gonna guarantee that person is going to graduate as a medical student and become a doctor...)

The thing is that we kinda need to 'predict' that we would succeed in the field that we choose right now. One might be so interested in course A, and so thought a lot before joining. But maybe two or three years down the road he or she might lose interest and drop out. Not that that person does not persevere. One can't force him or herself to continue studying that course if that person don't have interest in it anymore. Also, not that he or she did not do optimum research in the course or the profession that the person want to take up. I mean: how can one know that what he is seriously interested in right now, will equally interest him few years down the road?

Really REALLY CONFUSED right now what to study next...