Beginning of the End

notice board yang sarat..masa third year

Assalamualaikum and good day.

Someone might be expecting this kind of post, the reflection of a recent unofficially graduated student.So this is my version of story.It may be brief yet meaningful and I dedicated this to all my friends and faithful readers out there.

Well, where to start actually?

Eventually I started as an EE student but ironically, this is the least course that I like. At that time, I don't even want to be an engineering student but as I always learnt as time goes by, I'm destined to be here and will be graduated here on time, Insya Allah. I also considered the experience I gained here are priceless and was the most important decision of a lifetime.

Here, in this university, I faced my ups and downs in life.

BEST AND WORST

I'd experience the best- I studied smartly and played hard and managed my time as good as I can. My grades are neither too good nor to bad, but enough to pleased my parents (I suppose). Luckily I started with quite good grades, thus it balanced out my CGPA until the last semester I was here. I joined lots of events and made lots of friends, and many became good friends and sisters whom helped me through thick and thin. These people helped me doing assignments and projects when I finished my meetings until 3 a.m everyday for weeks. They also made my day and the ones I share my rantings, ramblings and problems with. Some of my friends lost their loved ones while in university days, and many faced difficult situations with smiles and the spirit of fighters. I was inspired by them, I always be amazed with their abilities and strengths to face tough life, and commitments towards living a better life and never give up. The lecturers were wonderful too, really.

There were times when I got sick of too much meetings and commitments to fulfil, but eventually I just think about the impact of my in appropriate decision to others. And sometimes the meetings really cheered me up for the various attitudes of the members and heated discussions. The busy seasons were during my second year until the semester before I went for my internship program, and I survived with helps of people around me and of course, The Almighty. After internship, it was quite awkward for me for not being as busy as I used to be previously and surprisingly, I did missed those days. Thus, I filled my time by knowing and helping the juniors, and spending quality times with them. During my last semester I also had the opportunity to became a facilitator for the freshies that was quite rare for final semester students, but I decided to give it a shot. I tried to give my best and share my experience with them so they can learn and be prepared to lead campus life.

MAS 2007 July Intake memories..students and facees of Platoon F

The worse got me too, although I think I'm a positive person who always tried to change bad times into valuable ones. I always being misunderstood, and I know I do misunderstand others sometimes. In my earlier days, I might be very stern, serious and bad-tempered. Sometimes I snapped back when people are criticising me. I expects other people works professionally and seek fo perfections in everyone, while not awaring that perfections are somewhat impossible. I got used of people commenting I've a slight bossy attitude, however I hope I'd portrayed it in a positive way. In my studies, sometimes I did get bad results for my tests and coursework marks. I 'd obtained `see me' scribbled on my papers a few times, even sometimes I did not show up at the lecturer's office for consultation hour. However Allah's still loves me, Alhamdulillah. Normally my end results were not as bad as I always imagine, thus I was and always convinced that my prayers and tremendous efforts are answered by the AlMighty. If it is not in the forms of what you desire, maybe in other means. It works for everyone, not only me. REALLY.

When I faced hard times, normally I would hold back and never show my weaknesses to everybody, but when it stayed in the heart way too long I did burst out. A few of my good friends had witnessed these, and I thanked you guys big time for being there for me. Really, you guys are my strength. By saying friends I don't only mean my immediate friends, but also my lovely seniors and juniors here. You all means so much to me. Sometimes I was hurt by the people that I knew too well, and many times I'd cried because of them. But at last I always convinced that they were never did those on purpose. Maybe they think its normal, maybe they think I deserved it. Or maybe they were too stressed up with personal problems that they found me to be their punching bag. Whatever the reason, I never hold any grunge against anybody. The best part is I do forgive and forget, and just live a new, a better life. That's it.I'm thankful for everything that happened, for better or worse. Allah gave me precious, invaluable friends around me all the time, what else could I wish for?

sempat bela kura-kura masa third year..tu pun 2 minggu je

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I might be cranky and annoying at times, but I did try to improve myself day by day. If you know me from day one I stepped my foot in the university, I think you would notice the difference as I leave the university for good, perhaps.

For my graduating friends, I hope we'll meet again sooner and frequent, and not just at each other's weddings. Haha. Do keep in touch, okay? Email pun jadilaa.. blog ke YM ke gtalk ke hehe. And for those who may concern, we have a very important mission to accomplish. Never let our family, high salaries, huge cars and big house fool us and later become our ultimate aim in life (Nauzubillah). Let strive all out and keep the high spirit!!

For my seniors, as you all had live your real life now, its time for me and the rest to follow your path. Thanks for the invaluable guidance and advice ( and many chocolates from Kak Shikin ;P), you guys rock big time! I think the tradition in my old school where the seniors and juniors as so closely bounded made me fully utilised my seniors in the university.Hehe and do pray for the best for us as we always pray for you.

For my remaining friends and juniors, jaga kampus baik-baik ye. Keep up the good work and strength and passion in living life, and NEVER GIVE UP! The tides of life will always come and go, just `hadapi dengan senyuman' (credit to Amie for mentioning this song to me sometimes ago, it was very nice ;). To those who will start their internship soon, best wishes for you guys. Spend time wisely since you'll have plenty of time compared to you being in campus, believe me. And whoever have blogs, do update frequently ya;) By the way, thanks Hani for your sweet thoughts..until we meet again :)

I'd also received a few gifts from my juniors and friends as a token of remembrance which I'll treasure for life.The spongebob keychain, the beautiful Labu Sayong,the hard covered 50 Wasiat Rasulullah saw untuk Wanita, the various video clips and many others. Thanks so much, I do love all of you.

And for those who will suddenly find yourself missing me, you know where to find me right?(mane lagi, this blog laa). Insya Allah I will try my best to constantly updating this blog and will never keep it dormant, at least not for a very long time.

This is just the beginning of the end, people!

ALL THE BEST!

Sincerely,

Shahira

29 November 2007, 1.40 am.

Travelogue : Osterreich

Beautiful places in Osterreich.
Namely in Vienna-Salzburg-Innsbruck.

Schonbrunn Palace

Belvedere

Shopping Alley

Crystal Lights

Golden Roof House

Kristelwalten

Mountain View

Slightly Snowy mountain in Summer

Pictures taken last summer.

Breathtaking.

One paper to go before unofficial graduation...

Oh and one presentation (how could I forget?)

Guess this is the way I get a peace of mind after a paper `yang mencemaskan' (hehe)

So long, farewell ! ;)

Of Exams and Weds

Assalamualaikum and hye to all.


In the mids of hectic final exams and everything , I managed to squeezed myself out for a while to attend my dear cousin's wedding. This is the first wedding among my Wan's grandchildren thus it was considered very important to all of us, also it became the benchmark and good reference for the coming wedding very soon (my Mum really take advantage of this event ;P).


Also the interesting part was no caterer included in this wedding ceremony, all dishes were made, cooked, served and washed by ourselves, including the neighbours and the great belia group whom helped in serving and washing. Thanks boys, you guys helped a lot! The end result was everyone fell unconscious due to fatigueness that night, and myself had to rushed early the next day to catch my 9.30 am bus back to Ipoh.

As usual, here are some of the pics taken by myself during the wedding. Of course my favourite are always candid pictures, thus enjoy yourselves ;) And Selamat Pengantin Baru too, to my lovely cousin Hidayah and her husband Salmizal.

the newly weds

the feast

the cousins (I asked Syamim to sit with the girls but he preferred to be the pengapit instead!)

this is aiman, our bounzer (pics taken seconds before the chair broke! bounzer btul ko ni aiman)

si syamim berangan jadi pengantin

.......and often cute faces caught my heart and lens.

Ok enough of the quick getaway, I'm off to finish my 3 remaining papers and an FYP presentation. Wish me luck, dear readers as I always wish for yours.

Warm wishes for all ;)

Masih lagi

(argh! Saya tak boleh siapkan report selagi tak tulis entri ini)




Rally BERSIH semalam! Sumber : Malaysiakini

Masih lagi mood BERSIH.

Peristiwa ini terlalu besar untuk diabaikan, walaupun sibuk dengan peperiksaan akhir sekarang. Gambar-gambar menarik boleh didapati di

1. http://minaq-jinggo.fotopages.com/?entry=1340101
2. http://kickdefella.wordpress.com/
3. http://sagaladoola.blogspot.com/2007/11/bersih-yellow-wave-pics-part-1.html
4. http://sagaladoola.blogspot.com/2007/11/bersih-yellow-wave-pics-part-2.html
5. http://sagaladoola.blogspot.com/2007/11/bersih-yellow-wave-pics-part-3.html
6. http://rockybru.blogspot.com/
7. http://shanghaistephen.blogspot.com/2007/11/daulat-tuanku-10-11-07.html

dan lain-lain blog popular dan laman-laman berkaitan.

Cuma JANGAN PERCAYA 100% dengan hampir semua media massa tempatan (cth: kebanyakan saluran berita utama dan surat khabar tempatan, kecuali surat khabar cina yang paparkan laporan sebenar, saya pun dah lupa apa namanya). They are not being sincere. Sebarkan kepada adik beradik/ibu bapa/rakan/jiran/saudara-mara/orang kampung kita. Ada yang tiada atau tak pernah akses internet, jadi mereka tak tahu hal sebenarnya.

Selain itu, saya setuju dengan mamat akubetul ni. Meminjam faktor kelapan dalam blognya:

8. Walaupun puluhan ribu hadir, ratusan ribu tersangkut dan jutaan visitor cari info pasal perhimpunan ini. Hakikatnya puluhan juta lagi rakyat Malaysia yang tidak mengendahkan perkara ini. Semuanya malas nak ambil tahu apatah lagi nak terlibat. Bangun la oi…! Jangan dok tidor lama-lama nanti jadi gila.

Tepat sekali katanya.
Maka ambillah tahu.

TInggalkanlah segala trend fesyen terkini/kereta paling hebat/ kelab mana mendahului EPL/ nak pakai baju apa keluar esok/apa brand mekap paling laris sekarang/nak buat reunion hujung minggu ni/nak pi shopping/nak pi picnic dan dan seribu satu macam lagi perkara, dan bangkitlah untuk fikirkan permasalahan negara, permasalahan manusia.

Percayalah, kita mampu mengubahnya.

Syabas rakyat Malaysia!

(Sebarang percanggahan informasi dalam pos sebelum ini adalah sangat dikesali sebab terus update daripada laporan terkini pelbagai sumber semasa perhimpunan berjalan. For now, please stick to the most reliable sources. Terima kasih.)

Sumber gambar : Harakahdaily.net

Alhamdulillah, memo menuntut SPR yang bersih dan adil telah selamat diserahkan kepada DYMM Yang diPertuan Agong sekitar jam 4.00 petang tadi. Justeru saya merasakan peserta dan penganjur gelombang kuning hari ini wajar diberi `two thumbs up' atau tabik hormat kerana keberanian dan kegigihan anda semua meredah hujan lebat, water cannon dan gas pemedih mata dalam menyampaikan mesej kepada kerajaan. Juga saya optimis DYMM Agong kita yang bijak laksana tidak akan membakulsampahkan memo penting sebegini seperti yang telah dilakukan oleh barisan pemimpin negara.

DAULAT TUANKU!

Ulasan lanjut boleh didapati di laman:

1. Al-JAzeera

2. Malaysia Today

3. Datuk Ruhanie Ahmad

selain laman-laman NGO, parti politik atau orang persendirian yang meyertai himpunan mega ini.

SYABAS RAKYAT MALAYSIA!

Updates on THE DAY

Salam.

I'm down in confinement period due to bad skin allergies. Thus I missed the most important event that I was ought and determined to participate since weeks ago. Nevertheless, kita merancang dan Allah merancang, tapi Dialah yang sebaik-baik perancang. I believe there's always concrete reason behind all this.

From morning I digged the latest news about the day, unfortunately too many websites are down (or is it the campus server???). I think both.

BERSIH website was down form morning, THIS also inaccessible since afternoon, let alone this and this. Even Malaysiakini live webcast pun tak dapat. Neither way, I tried to gather what I found for interested and alert readers.

Friday

1- From aku betul

Kalau kebebasan dan keadilan dianggap sebahagian dari maruah diri kita, sememangnya hari ini kita seumpama dirogol. Pertama kali dalam hidup aku melihat roadblock ditengah-tengah highway. Baru sebentar tadi aku lalu 2 roadblock di federal highway. Satu selepas toll Batu Tiga, Shah Alam dan satu lagi di Petaling Jaya. Member-member office aku kata di Damansara, Puchong, Sungai Buluh semunya ada roadblock dari tengah malam tadi. Kemungkinan besar di Selayang, Gombak dan kesemuanya pintu masuk ke KL juga ada sekatan jalan raya. Ini semua angkara kerajaan nak halang berlansungnya perhimpunan 100 ribu rakyat anjuran BERSIH.
Kenapa Pak Lah, UMNO, Polis, Kerajaan Barisan Nasional paranoid sangat?

Kenapa parti komponen BN tidak sertai BERSIH? Mereka tidak mahu pilihanraya yang tulus dan bersih ke? Bukankah itu motif perjuangan BERSIH?

2. From Screenshots : Bar Council Makes a Point

Saturday

1. From Screenshots

SMS ALERTS FROM READERS:
11:40hr: Federal Highway road block at PJ. Complete check by police. They check 100%.
11:41hr: As at 11.30am, buses & trains still reaching Dayabumi
11:54hr: Can't get into KL. All roads closed.
12:04hr: Road blocks along Old Klang Road

2. From kimberlycun

noon :They’re using water cannon and tear gasses already!
Closing up the city so that they can batter people up with no one watching?

3. From akubetul

noon : Confirm, KL dah kelam kabut. Roadblock semua tempat. Helicopter terbang macam burung. Website BERSIH down...

4. From the STAR

Motorists caught in traffic jams around KL

KUALA LUMPUR: Motorists in the Klang Valley found themselves caught in traffic jams on Saturday because of roadblocks and traffic diversions.
Motorists going to work, running their usual weekend errands or returning home from the Deepavali holidays, found themselves crawling on highways and roads in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas like Petaling Jaya.
According to PLUS Highway, traffic from the north along the North-South Expressway has been diverted to the Kota Damansara and Damansara exits as the Sungai Buloh-Jalan Duta stretch has been closed. At press time, no reason was given for the closure.
Meanwhile, police confirm that roadblocks have been set up at various major roads leading to Kuala Lumpur for security checks.

4. From other reliable sources

1445 hr : Authorities guna mercun, air dan gas pemedih mata untuk provoke di Dataran Merdeka
1530 hr : Team SMM (solidariti Mahasiswa) dan lain-lain dari Sogo dah berjaya sampai Istana Negara, yang dari Dt Merdeka ramai stranded
1615 hr : Kat masjid jamek ade lebih krg 30000 org.Still fru n polis tahan.Takleh bergerak.Polis dah lepaskan gas pemedih mata n water cannon.
1620 hr : Ramai lagi yang tengah bergerak.Di Istana Negara dah lebih kurang 50000 orang
1630 hr : 20 orang dah ditangkap oleh polis di Dataran Merdeka

Saya dengan rendah hati memohon agar Allah menyelamatkan dan memberkati para peserta himpunan aman kali ini. Sesungguhnya keadilan perlu ditegakkan. Amin ya Rabbal alamin.

UPDATE

1645 hr : Memo BERSIH telah diserahkan kepada Yang diPertuan Agong
P/S : Akhirnya saya berjaya akses laman ini dan laman ini.Sila click untuk info terbaru.

Jom BERSIH!

Ini bukan isu kepartian, ini soal keadilan.

Sudahlah nak mengajak rakyat Malaysia mendaftar mengundi pun payah, yang dah daftar pula tiada hak untuk mengundi calon yang mereka rasakan betul-betul layak kerana karenah dan manipulasi pihak yang berkepentingan. Jadi bukankah wajar kita menyokong perhimpunan aman untuk menuntut pilihanraya bersih dan adil ini?

Bukannya kita cuba melobi untuk pilihanraya ke apa, cuma menuntut SPR yang telus dan adil! Kalau di kebanyakan negara lain rasanya tidak perlu perhimpunan aman sebegini pun, kerajaan telah maklum tentang konsep demokrasi. Yang mana rakyat berhak memilih pemimpin mereka melalui proses pilihanraya. Negara kita negara demokrasi, bukan komunis/autokratik kan?? (err kan?although it doesn't seems like it nowadays..)

Teringat komen seorang pembaca dalam sebuah laman web tu. Kalau di England, perhimpunan aman macam ni siap dapat sokongan penuh dari pihak berkuasa. Polis yang tolong aturkan perarakan nak ikut jalan mana, nak belok jalan mana untuk memudahkan kawalan lalu lintas dan jaga keselamatan orang awam yang menyertai perhimpunan. Jadi saya rasa kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia, yang berpegang pada kepercayaan kepada Tuhan, kesetiaan kepada raja dan Negara, keluhuran perlembagaan, kedaulatan undang-undangdan adab sopan dan kesusilaan yang tinggi (rujuk Rukun Negara) lagilah wajar mendapat sokongan lebih lagi daripada mereka di England tu.

Meminjam peringatan dari laman Screenshots :

BERSIH is a congregation of 26 NGOs and 5 Opposition political parties from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.
People must know that.
Wrong perception may allow the authorities to justify their actions later.

Jadi, anda berani? Jom BERSIH!

How My Brother Became Fluent In English

This is a tale of my younger brother, who is very good in English language, say it written or spoken. I know a lot of people is much more better especially those who use it as their primary language everday, but I just want to share my version of story.

Many people thought we came from an English speaking family background, I just could not figure out why. In our family, we seldom speak in English, we just use plain Bahasa Melayu. However although both my parents came from two different state with heavy local dialect each, they never speak those kind of language at home. Just standard Malaylanguage, and that's the language that we use as we grown up. Plus a lot of technical English of course, sinch both my parents work in technical field.

My friends consider my English usage is quite good, I even once selected as a junior batch of debater in my old school during my tender age but I refused to join. As I consider my English was bad, and still not very good now. You see, I'm so particular with grammar and pronounciation, and I usually make sure I know how to spell each word that I use. Thus that makes it hard for me to randomly use the language to improve my English. This is also one of the reason I blog, by the way. To improve.

Oops, I'm sorry I forgot that the limelight of this post is my brother, not me.Hehe :)

When he was just a little boy, he loves to read. And still do until now. If I'm not mistaken, he starts reading at the age of three, and he was a very fast learner.He never talk in baby language ever since he can talk. He just read all reading materials in the house, luckily there were a lot. One of his favourite series of books I still remember were the series of `Beritahu Saya Tentang..'. I'm not sure those books still exist or not nowadays, but they were very very good. Even I enjoyed those books until now. It tells the young readers about almost everything and how they functioned scientifically, from rockets, cars, mechanics, dynamics until plants and animals. Another added value is this is another common interest of the whole family (reading), so my little bro always had enough supply of books in the house.

When he reach the age of 6, he digested almost everything that he found. In house I still remember, we have the complete series of Doraemon, Dragonball, Slamdunk, Kawan (local children magazine, it was quite good back then), Anak-anak Sidek, Mastika and only God knows what else.He kept on begging my Dad to buy more reading materials, and of course my Dad could not refuse. He also had developed the habit of reading during meal time, which was quite annoying at the first place but later on, we just have to respect his passion. Daripada makan sambil tengok tv baik makan sambil membaca kan..

When he reach 8, he starts reading atlas books. Yes you get me right, atlas that shows maps and locations and places.I do not know it was the surveyor blood (of my Dad, he is a land surveyor) or what, but he enjoyed every page of it. Everytime he sees me he would say something like this:

"Kakya, ape nama ibu negara Belgium? Apakah sungai terpanjang di Amerika? Apakah dataran ais terbesar di dunia? Apakah ibu negara Mongolia?"

Of course I could not answer back then la kan, even the names of places are not familiar to me. Then he would proudly tell me the correct answers of his questions. He's so informative, and I was so beaten up as a big sister. I felt jealous and proud of him at the same time. And I though his inquiry attitude is kind of cute. And again, of course those atlasses came in English so he was improving day by day.

Later on when he knew about games and gadgets and everything, there was no turning back. From PS1, PS2, Gameboy pelbagai kaler apetah itu and the list goes on and on, he never missed even once the latest technology of games. Typical boy. Until the extent he use his own money to buy those gadgets. The original one might be expensive, so he went for second hands. Gila tak gila my brother ni, but he is the type that if he wants something, no one can stop him. He learnt a lot from the games that he played too, like all the names of football players in EPF, car racers and the cars' details and such.He learnt English indirectly with his passion.

When he entered secondary school, I noticed he started English novels, the one that I use to read at that time. Being a natural reader, my drawback at that time was I'm quite `stingy' to spend my own money to buy those kind of novels that normally cost RM40 and above. So as my brother then had the same interest as me, I just read his books everytime I went home. Jimat jimat, hehe. And he did not hesitate to spend for books, and this attitude I later learnt from him. As books are life-long investment, no matter what type of books. I emphasized books okay, not magazines or comics. Hehe. Later on he surprised the whole family as he was involve in debate team of his school, first speaker plak tu. Gempar abis la the whole family, since he never shows his interest to the field even once at home. And when I just developed my interest in Grisham's and King's (err Sheldon not in the list, I even regretted I 'd read most of his books :( ) he already digested Albom's and Coelho's. Segannya saya.

He might flunk the science courses but always did well in English and EST subjects in school, he even obtained A1 in 1119 examination.(erm I pun dapat berapa je 1119..:P)

When he followed my parents to London few years back, he even tell my Dad :

"Abah takyah la cakap (English), biar Afiq je cakap. Nanti diorang tak faham plak sebab grammar tak btul"

Busuk sungguh ayat adikku itu but then we could not disagree more. He is really good then. And still is.

So the moral of story is, if you want your sisters,brothers or even future children to become good in English, developed reading interest in them ever since their tender age. Expose them with good english materials, and be selective of course so they won't digest the wrong knowledge. Do not disapprove their interest, but try to find way utilize their interest in a positive way (in my brother's case, his interests helped him to master English language). Also do practice to write and speak English, regardless your grammar, vocabulary or pronounciation because that skill can be developed later. As once my teacher said, "If you want to master English, you must think in English and even dream in English."

Believe me, my brother were from the same Malay background as most of you and me yet still he managed his way successfully in conquering the language. I learnt a lot too from him. I still do :)

Travelogue : Sungai Manik

Itu adalah telur siput gondang yang banyak terdapat di sawah-sawah

A huge and fascinating paddy field area in Teluk Intan, Perak.

Portrays the unspoken beauty of nature.

Peaceful and relaxing.

A perfect gateway for dizziness, headaches and hectics of daily life..or the upcoming exams.

All the best in the final exams ;)

Travelogue : Hannover - Amsterdam

check out the miniature town !

I love beautiful sceneries.

I just do.

source : Dad's private collection

Surprise surprise

Last Wednesday I had a trip to PFK, Gurun when I bumped into my ex-school ex-university senior. I haven't hear from her for quite some time, so this little meeting is quite a pleasant surprise. After all she's just a year older than me. As usual I playfully teased her with my favourite question :

"Ehem akak, bila nak buat kenduri..hehe"

And then she casually replied :

"Haa tula..nak jemput ni, datang la umah akak 1 haribulan 12 nie"

"Eh, ye ke kak? Ada kenduri ke? "

"Haah ada kenduri sikit.."

"Oo open house ke?" (erm me being blur la pulak)

"Kenduri kawin akak la..huhu" (ok, now I'm speechless.Huhu)

Ok so there it goes, when some people brought back urea fertilizer as a gift, I brought a beautiful wedding invitation card as a souvenir.. :)

Congrates and Selamat Pengantin Baru, Kak Citi!

On my personal note, I really thing this is a very cute way to announce a wedding!;)

Biar bagi gempak sikit. Hehehe dan-dan je bagi kad kawin kat orang. Huhu nak buat camni gak la nanti.Haha~