No rest for the weary

My first two weeks in university have been very eventful, hectic and full of activities. However, I often wish that there is some time for me to take a rest and calm myself down first before my next endeavour. Still, this is not always possible, so I am always in the go.

Tomorrow, being a Saturday (6th of February 2010), I shall be participating in the Chinese orchestra performance in Kg. Baru Bali. There is a charity programme organised by Petronita and that they will be having a ceremony in the public hall in Kg. Baru Bali, besides lunch.

My journey in the Chinese orchestra has been a strange one. I came into the orchestra as a cellist. Not long after that, I found myself being a student conductor for about two to three years. In that duration, I have also become one of its resident pianists and I have also performed as a pianist for many other occasions. Now that I am back in the orchestra after my disappearance for half a year, the current student conductor has asked me to lead the percussions section. Unbelievable! I have no expertise in the field of percussions at all!

It is, nevertheless, enjoyable to be back in the orchestra again. With the Final Year Project requiring quite a lot of my time, I hope that I can strike a balance between my involvement in the orchestra and my other academic endeavours. I intend to make the most out of my final year in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, because I believe that once I graduate from this university, I will not be having much opportunities, if any, to perform and to do the things I like.

So far, things have been going very well for me. Life in campus has settled down, although I still miss my industrial training period.

Nonetheless, some pictures of the Chinese orchestra which were taken during our recent practices:

Human beings – a difficult species

One thing that everybody should realise that being human beings, we are indeed a very difficult species to our fellow human beings. In whatever we do, it is often that dealing with others in a personal manner becomes one of the most challenging tasks in order to attain a certain goal or target which you might have set.

I want to address the issue particularly because it has been part of my experience for the past nine to ten years, and things only get more and more difficult as you try to lead a group of people whose numbers are increasing. It is definitely easier to lead a group of fifteen persons rather than leading a group of fifty.

Human beings are given the ability to agree and disagree with your views. They are also given the ability to disagree with your views but would willingly compromise in order to compensate for what they disagree. This means that while you may not be happy about having to do something, you would still carry out the task due to other factors involved, albeit perhaps unwillingly.

However, being human beings also meant that sometimes we are just very stubborn, which perhaps is also one of my prominent natures. It is not easy for me to be convinced of something unless I am really assured that your ideas or proposals have a high success rate. Likewise, to have me convincing others that my views are justified is no mean feat either. I have had my share of persuading others to share my views, yet often other people may not necessarily accept your views whole-heartedly, or would even bluntly refuse to accept your views, because they hold fast that their views are more justified.

Still, people must learn on how to deal with other people, and it is an art that cannot be fully taught by others. It is a skill which must be acquired through experience and much consideration, taking into account the ethical framework that is generally accepted by a community as well as the principles which govern the individual’s thoughts.

Human beings are indeed very sensitive. We respond excellently well whether we are complimented or offended, and we take actions according to how we respond, which is why we must always be so tactful and wise when dealing with other people so that you can achieve results that favour you. It is also in this sense that human beings are really a difficult species.

The examinations which we, as students, take may be gruelling, but nothing is more difficult than having to deal with just one person who is egotistical, argumentative and perhaps very stubborn. Then you would realise that the three hours which you spend in the examination hall is nothing compared to the three days of having to interact with such a difficult individual.

It’s back to the old times

It has been a busy week for me, with all the orchestral practices and training for the juniors to perform in the Introductory Night of the Chinese Orchestra. It is good to see that so many of them have improved tremendously and that they are really putting in their effort to make the event a success. Of course, there were some shortcomings here and there, which I would rather not divulge openly, but I shall approach the committee members and bring the issues to light so that further improvements can be made.

The new semester for me will begin tomorrow officially. It is back to having lectures, projects, assignments, etc. I truly miss my days in PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (in fact, I still do) and like many other of my batchmates, I do not really look forward to a humdrum academic environment. Let’s just hope that I shall be able to create some fun and enjoyment of my own in the final year of my studies.

Now, I had spent a week at home after my industrial training, and I had my share of meeting up with people, visiting my alma mater and even captured some funny moments that my father got the dog involved in. This is what he did to Rambo, our family dog:

My father had Rambo put on his pair of spectacles!

Isn't our dog cute? Haha!

This year I shall expect to be very occupied with something called the Final Year Project. Although I had worked on this topic during the case study back in PCSB, I doubt if there will be less work for me to do still. I shall be communicating with my lecturer often and seek his advice every now and then. I just hope that I don’t lose the diligence as time passes. You should know how human nature works – when an activity becomes a routine, we tend to make our own escapades every now and then.

Anyway, here’s to a new beginning! A year of redemption, perhaps.

Cheers!

How We Went From One Place To Another

It was a fine Thursday morning, and shortly after breakfast, my mother and I made our way to Tele Dynamics, which is located near Jaya Jusco Ipoh, to have my Toshiba laptop fixed. For your information, only the spacebar was not working; had it been some other unimportant key, I would not have cared less to have it fixed. Unfortunately, the only way to fix a broken keyboard is to have the whole set replaced, which would cost RM130, excluding the RM100 labour fee.

My mother also contemplated on having a computer for her own use. Our family once had an old desktop computer which I said was too old to serve any working purpose. Its operations were very slow and I had often complained that the house needs a new computer. Well, looks like my mother would not be buying a new computer for the house, but instead take my laptop for her own use after the repair work is done. She is still into the stock exchange so she will be relying on the computer and the Internet for updates.

Therefore, as she wants to take my laptop for her own use, she will definitely have to get a new laptop for me then! Initially, our visit to Tele Dynamics was not just to repair the keyboard, but to also purchase a new laptop there. We were surprised to learn that Tele Dynamics had relinquished its reseller status about a year or two ago and is now solely a distributor and service centre. They told us very politely that if we would like to get a Toshiba laptop, then we would have to visit resellers like Megamate, SNS, PC Depot, etc.

So, we made our way to PC Depot. We found only two models of Toshiba laptops, namely the Toshiba Satellite L510 and the Toshiba Satellite M500.

Toshiba L510

Toshiba M500 - 14-inch wide-screen monitor

I would want a laptop that would have a dedicated graphics card, be it by ATi Radeon or NVidia, so the Toshiba L510 was not an option for me. My attention shifted to the Toshiba M500.

My mother and I would go and purchase another Toshiba laptop simply because the laptop (a Toshiba Satellite L20) which I have been using all this while did not give me much problems. Nothing was damaged except for the spacebar, and it has been with me for four years now. Therefore, we were of the opinion that a Toshiba laptop is worth buying for its durability even though its specifications may not be as high as other brands of the same price.

Toshiba Satellite L20

However, when my mother went to the counter to enquire about the Toshiba M500 which I was interested to have, the salesperson were not at all gracious in his remarks and communication, and was not the least even polite. There was no doubt that we were dressed in a very simple and casual manner (a plain red T-shirt, brown pants and slippers; my mother was in a red blouse, jeans and shoes) but since the salesperson was not too keen about doing business, my mother did not say anything else and made for the exit, with me following behind her. Outside, my mother said, “What attitude! Even if I am keen to buy that laptop, I will still not buy it from him with that lack of business ethics. There are so many other resellers who are more keen to have business from me!”

So, we left PC Depot and made our way to lunch first. After lunch, I suggested that we should go to Yik Foong Complex as there are quite a number of laptop resellers there. However, judge our surprise to find that there were only two or three Toshiba resellers out of the eight to nine retailers there! One had the only Toshiba L510 left for sale, another had the only Toshiba M500 (display unit) for sale, and one more had only two Toshiba M300, which I was not interested at all.

We spoke to the salesperson who sold the only Toshiba M500 set. He was more polite, and I asked him to allow me to test out the laptop, a request which he readily granted. I found that the performance of the Toshiba M500 was not as good as I expected. Despite being on the Windows 7 platform, the system lags quite often. However, upon restarting the system, its performance improved somewhat, but still did not impress me much. I had earlier on tried out an Asus laptop – the salesperson told me that despite having a processor speed of just 1.3 GHz its performance is as good as one having the speed of 2.1 or 2.2 GHz. I was far from being impressed. The response was much slower than I expected, and the salesperson explained that this is because its response time is compensated by its longer battery life – up to 12 hours, as compared to other batteries which would last for only 2.5 to 3 hours. I was adamant that I want a laptop with good performance, not a long battery life.

As the Toshiba M500 was the best laptop that I could find so far among all the Toshiba models (I did not come across a single Qosmio or Tecra model), my mother tried to make a bargain, as the laptop which she would settle on was the display unit. After five minutes of bargaining, we could still come to no deal, so once again we left the complex empty-handed.

Quite exasperated, I told my mother that there was only one more place left to check for laptops, and that was Ipoh Parade. She said that we could go there and check the laptops there, if any, and if there wasn’t one laptop that I could set my eyes upon, then we would just go home. I said that if I had known that she intended to purchase a new laptop then I would have brought her to Plaza Low Yat when she went to Kuala Lumpur last week. She said jokingly that we could just purchase two train tickets to Kuala Lumpur, as the railway station is just five minutes from home.

In Ipoh Parade, the only retailer that I could think of which sells laptops is SenQ. However, as far as I could recall, they do not sell Toshiba laptops. I was right. They have Sony Vaio, Acer and HP (I think) laptops. Neither Acer nor HP was our choice after my friends have told me a lot of stories about their Acer and HP laptops. However, my mother had come across a Sony Vaio laptop in the advertisement and asked me about it. I said that Sony Vaio laptops are known to be quite costly in Malaysia, and would generally fetch a price of about RM4000 to RM7000, or even more!

But I was wrong! They had two models of the Sony Vaio – one of them was the same currently used by one of the engineers in PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (yes, JR, it is the same model as your laptop) and another was the Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF laptop. My attention was caught by the fact that the design of the latter model was quite appealing to me, the specifications are very closely similar to the Toshiba M500, it comes with a pre-installed genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), and it costs RM2999! I tested out the laptop and found that its response is good and it is very quiet. There is no doubt that the difference in the price between a Toshiba M500 and a Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF is a mere RM300 (Toshiba M500 – RM3299; Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF – RM2999), but the specifications are similar and that difference will allow me to purchase an external hard disk!

Perhaps some may say that the Toshiba M500 comes with the biometric login features. Well, I do not need that, and a laptop which allows me to run simulations, play games, complete my assignments and projects, etc. is an excellent laptop for me. I would not need an Alienware laptop for such trivial activities. After all, I am not a “hardcore gamer”.

Therefore, I brought home a Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF. And as I feel happier about getting a Sony Vaio instead of a Toshiba, I believe that I have definitely made the right choice. There is no doubt that a Toshiba laptop is quite well-known for its durability, but if I were to accord the same care, which I had given to my Toshiba laptop, to my new Sony Vaio laptop now, there is no reason why it should not last just as long, if not longer.

My new Sony Vaio laptop - 15.5-inch wide-screen monitor

The cover view of the laptop

It was so ironic that our search for a Toshiba laptop has ended with purchasing a Sony Vaio instead from SenQ. A similar scenario happened to my mother and I two years ago and we were shopping for a new digital camera. We had an Olympus or a Canon camera in mind, but we ended up purchasing a Panasonic Lumix FS3 camera in SenQ, too. You can read about our camera experience here.

The Office Moments

These few days have been quite busy for me, meeting up with friends, attending the MCO induction in school, getting myself a new laptop (I will relate the story of it in a later post), etc. And now, I guess it is high time that I talk a bit about my days as a trainee in PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. Well, I truly miss the department where I was assigned to, and also the people in there. They have been so supportive during my stay there, and it is from them that I have gained more than I expected.

So here are some photographs which I took during my final day in the company:

The view outside, from Tower 1 of the PETRONAS Twin Towers (Level 40)

The KL Tower, also as viewed from Tower 1 of the PETRONAS Twin Towers (Level 40)

The (in)famous Skybridge - have you been there? The ten-minute tour there is free-of-charge.

Do you have fear of heights?

Some of the engineers in Civil and Structural Section (from left to right) - Hazwani Hidzir, Aizat M. Jani, Arif Abdillah, Henry Yew (trainee), Ir. Aznor Abd. Karim, Pak Abraham Imam Mutaqqin (we address senior Indonesian staff as "Pak")

Sometimes engineers must let off a bit steam (act crazy) to maintain good mental health! Right-most now is the new trainee Moorthi.

With the lovely secretary, Kak Elly (centre) - she'd helped me a lot in admin matters

This senior engineer, whom we affectionately address as JR, really taught me a lot. His happy-go-lucky attitude and his teasing jokes never failed to amuse anyone in the office. That is why our department is full of laughter. He was away in Miri when this picture was taken. Sorry, JR!

Tn. Hj. Zahari (second from left), our Principal Engineer, has just returned from his haj pilgrimage not long ago. He is also a very funny person, but caring as well. It is thanks to him that I was given the opportunity to go with him to Oilfab and witness myself the fabrication of offshore platforms. Arif (left-most) and Aizat (right-most), as usual, are letting off steam.

Nigel is also a Principal Engineer who, I believe, is very disciplined when it comes to work. He comes into the office punctually and leaves for home shortly after 5.00 PM. Occasionally, I could hear some funny remarks from him, and his gestures are quite amusing.

Pak Timbul Suryatin, a Staff Engineer, was my supervisor. I hope that he will recover fully from his illness soon!

Fatimah is one of the two newest staff of the Civil and Structural Section. A very soft-spoken lady.

I pity Kak Rosniah, a Senior Engineer herself, during the time after the second SACS In-House Training where she was bombarded by lots of questions by participants of the training. We had a good laugh at some funny questions.

Standing at the centre is THE BOSS, our Senior Manager, Ir. M. Nordzi M. Rafdzi

En. Azri Abd. Jalil (right-most), the Manager (Civil), had been very caring about my progress during my industrial training and had always advised me to record some important topics that I have learnt from seminars and training sections into my weekly progress reports. Did I mention that Arif (left-most) has gone to Sudan already? It was our final day in the office for both Arif and I.

The only lady Metocean Engineer (so far), Syazana - did you really miss me, Syazana? =)

Uploading these pictures have made me felt so longing back for the great company there. I shall visit them sometime, no doubt about that. It has been great having such people around to talk to, to share knowledge, to have fun, etc. Therefore, from the bottom of my heart, I thank all DFCS staff!

Thank you so much.

Just a little note…

To tell you that I am now back home in Ipoh after thirty-two weeks of industrial training in Kuala Lumpur! I shall post some pictures here of the company which I enjoyed so much when I am not so exhausted.

It’s not very usual of me to have such a short post here, but it must suffice for now. It’s time for me to get some rest. Goodnight.

Reflect for a while

My blog will soon be five years old in about a month’s time. Often, when I have got nothing better to write, I would choose to look back to the archives and randomly read some old posts. I guess that is what you would call reminiscing the old times.

It is no mean feat to be able to maintain a blog for five consecutive years. In actual fact, I have started blogging since 2002, but due to lack of commitment I have actually abandoned the old blog for three years, before my passion for blogging was rejuvenated shortly after Chinese New Year of 2005.

In five years, I have written four hundred and twenty-five posts (excluding this post), so that gives an average of 85 posts per year. Not bad for me actually, but I know there are many bloggers out there who write more than I do, and some actually commit themselves to putting up a post per day!

However, recently I realised that the argumentative side of me has somewhat cooled off. You don’t see me being very argumentative often last year as you would in the year 2007 and 2008. Perhaps the industrial training has really taken a lot of my time on work and friends. However, the year 2010 might be different altogether.

I actually am thankful that I have got many friends, and even some parents and teachers, who drop by my blog every now and then to see what I have got to say about certain issues, or just to have some updates about me. I do hope that I do not bore my readers too much.

As you can see for yourselves, I am not a writer who attaches a lot of pictures or other forms of graphics in my posts, especially if I am writing on a argumentative post or something factual, unless I need them as supporting materials. Somehow, I do not have that urge to include pictures in my posts to make them more “interesting”.

But do I see myself continuing to blog for many years ahead? Why not?

Alpha and Omega

As the year 2009 comes to an inevitable end (the Omega), we welcome the new year 2010 tomorrow (the Alpha).

For the individual, it has been a year of success and fulfilment, therefore I have been happy and satisfied with the way things turned out for me. For the political scene, however, I cannot say the same thing. Messy and unruly, in my opinion.

Many times we wish others that they may have a better year ahead. However, it does not fall from the sky just like that. You will have to work it out. Will it be a good year for Malaysia, or will things turn out for the worse is very much a million-dollar question.

Nevertheless, in whatever personal endeavours that you hope to achieve in the new year, I sure hope that you will carry them out with perseverance, determination and diligence.

As the dawn of the new year approaches, let me share a particular piece written by Rolf Løvland and performed by Secret Garden (pianist and composer – Rolf Løvland; violinist – Fionnuala Sherry). It is called “Dawn of a New Century”. Although the year 2010 does not mark the coming of a new century, let’s hope that it marks the coming of a new beginning.

Happy New Year!

People have short memories

“People have short memories,” that’s what our Prime Minister says. Sometimes I wonder if he knows what he says.

Let me have the liberty of quoting the newspaper article which I read this afternoon from here:

KUCHING: A comprehensive monitoring and information delivery system will be set up to ensure there will be sufficient Barisan Nasional MPs attending Parliamentary sittings at all times.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he would discuss the setting up of the system with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz soon.

“We need a comprehensive system so that MPs will know when they need to be in Parliament to ensure we have sufficient numbers,” he told reporters at the Kuching International Airport before departing for Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday.

Asked whether any action would be taken against absent MPs, Najib said the MPs themselves knew they should attend Parliamentary sittings.

“The problem is the Opposition is trying to trap us. A vote count can arise at any time.

“As such, we must ensure that we have sufficient quorum all the time.

“We must ensure that the number (of MPs) present can secure a comfortable victory for Barisan.

“The MPs know what action they need to take and that is to be present (during Parliamentary sittings),” he said.

Earlier, when opening the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party’s (SPDP) triennial general assembly at the Civic Centre here, Najib said the only way to stop the Opposition from winning in an election is for the government to deliver all its promises to the rakyat.

“The Opposition doesn’t win elections. Governments lose elections. If we fail to deliver and to fulfil the expectations of the people, we will lose elections.

“It’s as simple as that,” he said when opening the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party’s (SPDP) triennial general assembly at the Civic Centre here Tuesday.

He said the Opposition could promise voters “the sun, the moon and the rose garden,” but it was the Barisan Nasional which had the best track record of delivery.

“We’ve seen in other countries where expectations were raised by those running for office, but when they were elected into office they were short on delivery.

“Barisan has the best track record in terms of delivery and it is my intention that our track record should be even better in the future,” he said.

He added that his New Year wish for 2010 was better performance from all, from elected representatives to party workers.

Najib also reminded Barisan component parties that past success would not keep them in power if they could not continue serving the people now and in the future.

“It’s not about what you have done in the past, it’s about what you can do for the people today and in the future.

“Yes, we have done a lot, but people have short memories and don’t look back, so we have to project Barisan as the party of today and of the future,” he said.

The sentences highlighted in red are those that I find highly distasteful and resentful. The sentence which I highlighted in blue is the only quote that is of the most reasonable sense. Let me tell you why I find all the red quotes distasteful and resentful.

First of all, if there is a Parliamentary sitting, why is it that MPs find it fit to be absent from it? It has always been of my opinion that the Parliament is where you voice out the opinions and the demands of the people, and yet you were not there! You can give us thousands of reasons for being absent, but if only about sixty Government MPs out of the approximately two hundred MPs were present in Parliament, does it not speak of the lack of commitment of the absent MPs thereof? The same goes for the Opposition MPs.

To have a comprehensive system to inform the MPs on when they will be needed in Parliament is utterly ridiculous and laughable. It is like having a system to warn employees that their bosses are coming to office so they had better be present in the office, otherwise it is all right to be absent without leave and do shopping or have tea somewhere.

Listen up! We elect representatives for a good reason, and that is to represent our voices in Parliament! They don’t need a SYSTEM to tell them when to be present in Parliament, they should be present in Parliament out of their own diligence and initiative. If they cannot even honour the august House by being present there, then I see no reason to honour them by voting them in. Agreed?

Next, do not play mind tricks with us anymore and point the finger at the Opposition, insinuating that they are trying to trap the Government. They have no need to do that. It was not they who were trying to trap you, but rather you yourselves have all slacked so much in your own comfort zone.

You keep talking about securing a victory for the Barisan. The truth is that if the Barisan had been more committed to serving the people, there is no need to worry about victory, because both sides somehow are required to toe the line, much to my annoyance. I don’t want MPs to agree on a proposal simply because the party leaders tell them to, but I want them to agree simply because it benefits the people.

Our Prime Minister has also said that the Barisan has the best track record of delivery. Now, if that is so, why did the votes not swing to the Barisan side during the 8th of March 2008 general elections, thus denying the Barisan the two-thirds majority? Think about it. The truth is facing you. Either you take it with good faith and reflect on it, or continue to lead in denial.

But I do agree when the Prime Minister said that the Opposition does not win the elections, but the Government loses it. If the Opposition had won the elections, then they would become the Government, would they not? And the Government, while they have lost many seats, would still manage to rule even if they had won by just a seat.

Nevertheless, you would be looking for trouble from the people if you dare say that the people have short memories and do not look back. Mr. Prime Minister, you are absolutely wrong in that. If you had delivered your promises well and also come up with national budgets that make the people happy, I can assure you that the people will remember for long. If you short-change the people, then we will remember that even longer. Our ratings of the Government will constantly change, whether the Government is performing better by the year, or worse. From there, we will reflect our ratings through the general elections.

So do not take us people for granted. As far as we are concerned, we monitor every move that the Barisan Nasional and the Pakatan Rakyat are doing and we keep them in mind.

We are no longer idiotic or ignorant people who can be brainwashed or played around with mind tricks that easily. The youth today are not  mere triflings. We are not afraid to tell you straight in your face whether you are performing well or otherwise, especially by means of a pen and a ballot paper.

Don’t ever forget this fact – we, the people, voted for you to be our representatives, to be our MPs. You may be a Prime Minister, a Minister of Health, etc. etc. but remember this: in our eyes, you are just a civil servant. Serving the people is your responsibility.

Dawn of a New Year

It is definitely inevitable that we will be moving into the year 2010 soon. It feels as if I have been away from campus for such a long time when in fact, it was only merely about six or seven months. My time flew past as if six months were merely six days.

While quite a lot of my friends would dread the industrial training, I must admit that I have enjoyed my time in PETRONAS Carigali thoroughly. As I said before, I am very likely to miss the people I am working with, and believe it or not, I have not had a single symptom of “Monday blues”.

Anyway, as Christmas is celebrated, we are often reminded that we will also be ushering in the new year, and this means that my days in Kuala Lumpur are numbered. Soon, I shall find myself back in the warm and welcoming hands of Ipoh, with quite a few events planned out for me. A visit to my old alma mater is scheduled, and I guess I shall be busy with the orchestra again back in UTP.

Despite spending quite a short time here (six months are not very long as compared to my uncle who has spent more than ten years), the experience I gained in dealing with city people is invaluable. It has made me more bold, more confident in dealing with people. It has also made me even more vocal, standing up for my rights. I would boldly confront officers to lodge complaints about any issue which is not of my own doing and demand that they resolve my problems; if I am in the wrong, I would apologise. If I am not and they dare to make a big fuss about it, I am not going to keep quiet either.

In my six months, I have lived life which I think suits me perfectly well. Tennis on weekends, attending Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra concerts at KLCC at least once monthly, meeting up with friends for dinner and lunch at various places, etc. etc. etc. really made me feel as if this is the true life of a bachelor, minus the installments and other bills that I need to pay (for your information, I do have my Celcom Broadband bills to pay monthly).

It feels great to be able to make your own decisions, and despite my mother’s fear that I will be unruly, I am even more aware of the situation outside and make calculated risks before I do something. And having the opportunity to fly to Alor Setar and back is like an imitation of how a travelling life will be when I work for real in the near future. I guess my parents will have to realise that they can never keep me in their folds for long already. It is hard for them to accept it, but it won’t be long before I shall be living my own life, and they will also have to accept that they will be in for a new phase of life, too – a life without me at home most of the time.

The time will come when decisions are entirely of my own, and that what I learn comes from all my downfalls, for who is a better teacher than your downfalls? If my parents were my decision makers, soon it will be me who am the decision maker for myself. It will really be a test for me and my parents; for my parents it will be a test of whether they are able to let go of me, and for me it will be a test of love for yourself.

And so, in the year 2010, I shall be pursuing my final year of studies, with Final Year Project to keep me occupied with and to secure some good prospects for my future career. It will also be a year of a lot of decisions, some hard ones as well.

However, life is all about making decisions. We just cannot run away from making decisions.