Dear Potential Global Support Executive...

To job seekers (Fresh graduates, expected to graduate, experienced.... It doesn't matter.), here's a piece of good news.

HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Malaysia), or HDPM in short, is hiring! To be more exact, this particular position is under HSBC Global Service Centre Malaysia (HSBC GSC MY).



HDPM is a subsidiary company of HSBC Group, under the umbrella of HSBC Global Resourcing. The main office is in Cyberjaya, Selangor but there is a branch office in KL city, which is located inside Bursa Malaysia building at Jln. Raja Chulan, KL.

The work here involves back office tasks and functions, where we receive, process, verify, and settle transactions. Structure-wise, we are categorised into Global Banking & Markets (GBM) and HSBC Securities Services (HSS). For HSS, our core functions are Global Custody (equities, bonds, corporate actions), Sub-Custody, Fund Services, and CTLA (corporate trust & loan agency).

Even though we are connected to HSBC Bank, or HBMY in short, we do not do the exact same things. HBMY handles commercial banking, while HDPM handles global services involving institutional clients (corporations, other banks, asset managers, fund managers).

I'm under HSBC *Group* -- HDPM *Company* -- HSBC GSC *Centre* -- HSS *Process* -- Global Custody (GC) *Service* -- GC UK: Overseas Settlements *Department* -- UK-Far East *Team*.

Even though I'm still new at the company, I can confidently say that I've made a good decision to work here, considering the values that the company practises, the work environment, the benefits, and the opportunities that we get, work-wise and non-work-wise. Of course, it has to start with you and your initial mindset.

If you're interested to apply or to know more, drop me a message or comment and I'll reply the soonest possible. Sorry if I don't respond right away, but I'll try.

If you would like to get the assistance of a professional job consultant, I can recommend one too.

"Sharing is caring"~

Cheers~ ★

posted from Bloggeroid

[FAN ACCOUNT] 140808 HAHA Fanmeet @ K-Festival Malaysia 2014

You just never know when luck is on your side. Of course, it's not advisable to rely on good luck all the time because effort still matters more, but when you're lucky, you're lucky.

So, I was very lucky to be chosen as one of the special pass winners for K-Festival Malaysia 2014, held at Pavilion mall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The pass that I won allowed me to participate in an autograph session by HAHA (Real name Ha Dong Hun; Korean reggae singer; SBS 'Running Man' variety show cast member) as one of the activities during K-Festival.

How did I sign up for the special pass' lucky draw, you may ask? Simple. Korea Plaza KL, governed by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) Malaysia, promoted about the lucky draw on its social media sites (website, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). I saw the promotional post on Facebook and decided to sign up since the steps were very simple. First, applicants should be Kaki Korea Club members (*Member registration can easily be done at visitkorea.com.my for free.*). Second, we needed to submit our basic information (contact details) and answer a trivia question about HAHA. Third, applicants needed to submit the online form and wishfully wait for the result announcement. I went through my days as normal and frankly, I wasn't expecting much from the lucky draw that I almost forgot about it. One evening, as I was having my dinner break at work place's cafeteria, I checked my e-mail inbox like I always do. When I opened the e-mail message sent by KTO KL (which I initially thought was a promotional message about any of its events), my next expression was literally O.O ... I then had my dinner gleefully and went back to my work area. I hesitantly asked my Line Manager if I could get a day off on the particular fanmeet day. Thankfully, I could! From that moment onward, I was looking forward to the day I would meet HAHA.

August 8th came around and I was more than ready to meet HAHA at K-Festival. The day before, a Korean lady from KTO KL called me to inform about special passes' collection. So, I made my way to Pavilion mall, KL via public transportation and a little bit of walking. Along the way, I couldn't help but to smirk or giggle on my own whenever I thought about meeting HAHA 오빠 and getting his autograph in person (!!!). Once I reached Pavilion, I went straight to Centre Court area of the mall, where K-Festival was held. I got my special pass (in the form of a red tag, placed on my wrist by the crew member) and a goodie bag from KTO KL, containing KLiK magazines, "Imagine your Korea" t-shirt, Dove shampoo samples, Sunsilk shampoo samples, and "Imagine your Korea" hand fan. I was then led to the special zone area, where I sat with other K-culture fans. I briefly talked to a few of the girls at the special zone and we ended up getting each others' contact numbers to enable us to stay in touch and discuss everything K-culture-related. ^^



All audience members were entertained by a Kayarang (traditional Korean musical instrument) performance, played by 예쁜 Korean twin sisters. They even performed 'Negaraku', Malaysia's national anthem, and the whole audience stood up during the anthem's performance and sang along. It created such a heartwarming atmosphere. After the Kayarang performance, MC Cody Lim took the stage to chat and interact with the audience. The newly appointed ambassador of Kaki Korea Club was announced - Baki Zainal, TV host and Korean culture fan. Baki went on stage and joined Cody in chatting with the audience. After that, we were entertained by Painters Hero, a 4-member group of male artistes (painters) who impressively created pieces of arts while dancing on stage.

A press conference session was carried out right before the opening ceremony of K-Festival Malaysia 2014. Representatives who delivered their brief speeches were all amazed at the big crowd that K-Festival managed to attract even from the first day of the 3-day event. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was carried out and K-Festival was then officiated.

After that, it was the moment that all K-culture and 'Running Man' fans anticipatively waited for from the beginning of the day - the appearance of HAHA! HAHA went on stage and the crowd went insane (*I did too.*). HAHA, along with his interpreter and crew members, was surprised to see so many fans at the venue. I can recall how HAHA exclaimed "Waaah~" when he first appeared from back stage. He even took out his handphone to capture the moment in a video. A talk session with HAHA was carried out with Baki as the MC. HAHA even gave away some gifts to the audience by throwing out the (non-dangerous) items towards the audience's direction. The audience was so excited and bold that HAHA had to momentarily go back stage to cool down and wipe off his sweats from all the excitement. ㅋㅋㅋ



Soon after that, the autograph session took place. As one of the lucky winners of the special passes, I excitedly and nervously waited for my turn to get HAHA's autograph on the stage. When it was my turn, I handed out my "Imagine your Korea" hand fan for HAHA to sign on. As he took my fan, I greeted him with "오빠, 안녕!" (Oppa, hello!). He looked up, smiled (so freakin' cutely!!), and cheerfully replied "안녕~!" (Hello~!). He then wrote down my name and signed the fan. When he was done, he initiated a high-5 while exclaiming "Okay~". I happily responded to his high-5. I wanted a little more interaction, so I said out "하그.." (Hug..). He immediately said "Okay!" and stood up for a while to give me a hug. I was smiling ear-to-ear the whole time. God, thank you for allowing such a special occurrence in my life! The official photographer, who had been snapping photos of the session from the end of the table on stage, signalled me to look at the camera, so I did (with my I-am-on-Cloud-9 expression that probably looked silly). I went down the stage, still smiling (*My poor facial muscles~*) and briefly met the new friends I made before making my way to the station to go back. When I reached home, I still smiled like a fool, thinking of how wonderful the whole experience was.



Thank you very much, KTO KL and other co-organisers and sponsors!
Looking forward to more events like this one in the future..
잘하다.. 감사드리다.. 사랑하다..

posted from Bloggeroid

I'm From Borneo, Malaysia

It's no longer a surprising occurrence for me if someone pops out a question like "Erm...may I know where you are from?" even when it is not an ice-breaking or self-introduction session. I get that kind of question a lot and I don't mind it at all. In fact, I feel that it's a great opportunity for me to introduce or promote my birth place to more people. So, to strangers or passers-by who are wondering where I might come from, feel free to ask when you bump into me. LOL..

One of the occurrences took place when I had my meal break at the cafeteria of my work place. Normally, my friends and I would have our meals outside of our office building but lately, we choose to be less 'adventurous' and have our break nearby. It obviously saves more time and energy. So, when I was about to select my meal, the auntie who was catering us, the customers, abruptly asked me "Are you a Filipino?". I smiled and replied "No. I'm from Sarawak (part of Borneo, Malaysia).". The auntie acknowledged my answer and responded "You look special." (- She said it, OK, not me! LOL) I just smiled again and continued to pick my food, which was so good, turning me into a regular customer.

Another instance that really happened was during a Malaysian public holiday. I was on my way to work and the station was particularly packed with people. As I made my way out of the station, I noticed a family of tourists wandering around, as if looking for assistance. I was walking towards their direction. The mother came near me and asked if I could tell them the directions to Independence Square (Dataran Merdeka, KL). I tried my best to explain the directions to them since their intended destination was indeed nearby. Before parting ways, the mother asked me "Are you from Japan? Or Korea?". (- She really asked this, OK. I'm not making this up. Hahaha..) I was startled at the question but tried not to show it. I simply replied "No. I'm from Borneo, Malaysia.".

From these couple of examples, we can see that outward appearance can be quite deceiving but it's not necessarily a bad thing. I see it as a good thing because it shows that diversity exists. In a country as diverse and colourful as Malaysia, it is common to see a variety of Malaysians who look different from each other. This is one of Malaysia's uniqueness. Differences should not break us apart. Instead, let's make use of our differences to complement each other so that we make up a great, diverse team. Despite whatever challenges that we may face as a country or as individuals, I still refuse to give up on our 1Malaysia ideal. It may not be easy, but guess what? It's the challenges that keep the journey alive.

We can make it happen. It's all up to us.

posted from Bloggeroid

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My Own Experiment

I am my own experiment.

No, I'm not a scientist, nor am I a participant of a particular research project. Nevertheless, I would like to once again state that I am my own experiment.

Here's why.
I have recently started my professional career about a month ago. I'm a staff member of a multinational financial institution. Before completing my Finance degree and shortly after completing it, I casually went for part-time jobs but those jobs were merely to occupy my free time and for pocket money. Now, it's serious (but no pressure, 'kay? LOL..).

A few months back, I applied for a job (*this current one*) via an online recruitment agency. I intentionally did not apply for many jobs at once to avoid complicating my decision-making process. Weeks later, I received a phone call from my designated consultant from the particular recruitment agency that I signed up at (for free). She informed me that I was invited to a job interview based on my submitted résumé and application. The thing was...the interview was scheduled to take place only 2 days into the future, and it required me to travel to another city by air plane. I was given the option to reschedule my interview, considering my location at that time. I told the consultant that I needed a few hours to think it over. When I told my mom and dad about my interview invitation, they 'excitedly' urged me to go for it. At first, I was like (O.O)?! ... because they seemed to jump into the decision. However, the timing was interestingly perfect. My family members were about to travel to the particular city where my interview was going to be held. Originally, I was supposed to go along but I changed my plan because I wanted to attend a dear friend's wedding dinner on the same weekend. So, my flight tickets were deemed to 'burn', unused. As if cleverly planned by God (which I believe really was planned by Him), I could then make use of my flight ticket to get to my interview place and only needed to buy a new flight ticket back home. So, that was what I did.

On my interview day, I remained calm and collected because I figured that stressing over it would exhaust me. So, I did my brief preparation by drafting some answers to possible interview questions in my head. Here's a tip - you should always be ready to present yourself as a potential asset to the employer. So, it helps if you know the company's name, core business or function, motto, shared values, and main goals. Do your little research. Apart from that, be prepared to emphasise on your strengths and specialties, not only as a potential employee but also as a person. Companies these days like employees with personalities and good attitudes. There is no need to rush into answering the interviewer's questions. Intelligently pause for a second in between your sentences, and use appropriate tones. Remember to make occasional eye contact with the interviewer. Politely smile whenever you have the chance.

Prior to my one-to-one interview session, I, along with other candidates, went for a BURPLAS test. I don't remember what it stands for but it was a written (multiple choice questions) English language assessment. It was quite simple and straight forward. I noticed that for some questions, there were more than one acceptable answers (because the employer would like to find out if we were more prone to use British English or American English). I just went with answers that I found to be most natural and seemingly correct to me.

I passed my language assessment and proceeded to my face-to-face interview session. My first interviewer was a guy (who is now my senior colleague ^^) whom I found to be friendly and engaging. I can't recall all of the questions that he asked as well as their order, but these are among the questions that I can still remember - "Tell me a little bit about where you are from (*Borneo part of Malaysia*)." "Why did you apply for this job?" "Are you willing to work during non-Asian working hours (*My particular job deals with the UK financial market.*) and Malaysian public holidays?" "What do you like to do during your free time?" .....
He then informed me that he would assign another interviewer to interview me again right after that. In my mind, I was thinking "Is that a good thing or a bad thing for me?" but I tried to remain calm.

My second interviewer was a lady who seemed fairly serious yet pleasant. Some of the questions that she asked me were - "Tell me about yourself." "What made you apply for this job?" "What makes a company a great company?" "Which one is more important to you - speed or accuracy?" "Which one would you choose - high salary or job satisfaction?" "What would you do if your senior or trainer does not seem to be cooperative in guiding you?".....

After my interview session, I went out of the building and quickly caught a taxi to go straight to the airport and go back home. I felt like I had done my best but I kept an open mind without having any expectations.

Less than a week after my interview, I was awakened from my sleep by a phone call from a representative of the company that interviewed me. I was delighted to find out that I was accepted as a potential employee (*At that time, I wasn't officially employed yet as the company needed to carry out a background check to ensure that I was/ am free from any criminal or financial charges.*). About 2 weeks later, the background check was completed and I was called to get ready to go to work. Yay~

I'm now renting a room in a double-storey house in a city next to the city where my work place is located. From the very beginning, I keep telling myself to be optimistic and alert of everything that's happening around me. I honesty didn't realise how big of a move it is for me to be away from home, working in a professional field. Remarks like "That's quite a big move.", "Wow~", "You're brave.", or simply startled expressions from my seniors and new friends were what made me see how significant my move is. ^o^ To be frank, I didn't think it was such a big deal at all. Sure, it's a new environment for me and working life is different than studying life. But everything's manageable so far. I hope everything stays alright for a very long time.

The reason why I consider this whole experience as "my own experiment" is because I'm practically doing new things out of my own guts and intuitions since I'm the eldest among my siblings and most of my cousins. I don't have many people to refer to but it's all good. I have good superiors, colleagues, and friends around me. Above all, I have the Almighty and my guardian angels by my side. :) I'll be fine. We'll all be fine. Just believe so.

posted from Bloggeroid

Japan 2013 - 「マレーシアから 来ました。」

(A formal version of the reporting account, without accompanying pictures, can be found here.)

On December 1st, 2013, we departed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan.

I remember how excited we were when the plane landed and we could see "Tokyo International Airport" neon signage through the plane's window.  Really.  You can ask Pey Ning who sat beside me in the plane.  ^^  Upon our arrival at Haneda airport in Tokyo, we were greeted by Maru san, Yanagihara san, and Miss Irma.

Yup, J-pop sensational group, Arashi, greeted us at the airport!  ^^

A bus was ready to bring us from Tokyo to Chiba.  It was about 7°C in Tokyo.  I must say, I kind of like cold winter weather.  No...  I love it!  By the time we arrived at Reitaku University in Minami-Kashiwa, Chiba, it was already around 1:00AM.  We stayed overnight at an in-campus hotel at Reitaku University.

Thank you to the bus driver and Reitaku University staff members for being willing to pick us up from the airport in the middle of the night. 

 Because of our anticipation and the hours of traveling, we were pretty much tired by the time we reached Reitaku University.

My rommate for the overnight hotel stay was Swee Kheng.  Ah Ching~! 

I wanted to watch a Japanese game show which was on TV but ended up sleeping instead.  疲れちゃった!

After waking up and cleaning up, we had a wholesome Japanese breakfast at the hotel's cafe.  

すてきだ ね..?  Just outside of the cafe, the autumn-winter colours of the leaves captivated our eyes.

Once we finished our breakfast, students were required to check out of the hotel and moved in to our dormitory nearby.  A briefing was made to familiarise us with Reitaku University and our dormitory.  We were also introduced to four Reitaku University students who were there to guide us.  They were Aki chan, Yoshimi chan, Shizuka chan, and Kosuke kun.  Each of us was given a Suica card, which is a rechargable card used to pay for public transportation fares in Japan.  We were then led to our respective dormitory rooms.  

 From the beginning, we could feel the おもてなし (the spirit of hospitality) from staff members and students.

Each of the doors of our dormitory rooms was beautified with a welcoming sign and a paper flower.

After lunch, Yanagihara san and Imai san brought us to Tokyo Stock Exchange for our financial visit.  An English tour was conducted by a staff of Tokyo Stock Exchange.  We were introduced to what Tokyo Stock Exchange is about and how the stock exchange is operated and managed.  

Visiting Tokyo Stock Exchange was quite nice, considering that my major in university was Finance.

In the evening, there was a welcoming party held by the dormitory residents of Reitaku University.  After the party, a number of Reitaku University students walked with us to a supermarket near the train station.  From that evening onward, I found it quite enjoyable to walk through the chilly Winter breeze with friends (with proper warm clothing, of course).  And so, Kasumi supermarket became our regular spot throughout our stay in Minami-Kashiwa. 

We had a good time at the welcoming party with Reitaku University students.

On the next day, we kicked off our technology visit by going to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Tsukuba with Professor Akune and Maru san.  At JAXA, a tour guide briefed us on the functions of JAXA.  We were also brought to the space dome of JAXA, where we could see models of rockets, satellites, and the space.  

I even took a photo with a life-size standee of a Japanese astronaut.

After JAXA, our next destination was Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), not far from JAXA.  We roamed around an exhibition area.  Then, the tour at AIST began with a video presentation on advanced science and technology in Japan.  A tour guide  brought us to the exhibition area to show and explain about some of the technological and robotic items on display.

Our technology visit resumed on the following day as we made our way to Kashiwa to visit Chiba University's plant factory.  Professor Emeritus Kozai Toyoki, the Chief Director of Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA), presented to us the mission, roles, concepts, and challenges of the Center for Environment, Health, and Field Sciences of Chiba University.  We were also brought to tour around the in-campus plant factory.  

The cooling winter breeze was definitely one of the things I particularly enjoyed during the whole trip.

Our next destination was Smart City Museum of Kashiwa-no-ha.  The concept of Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City merges the ideas of city of health and longevity, city of new industry creation, and environmental symbiotic city.  It was refreshing to see such innovative ideas that could be integrated into a whole city that caters not only its residents but also the environment.  

In the evening, we gathered at a conference room for a courtesy visit by the President of Reitaku University, Prof. Dr. Nakayama.  Then, we made our way to a reception party with the faculty members.  Reitaku University students who previously visited UNIMAS were given the opportunity to deliver short speeches.  After that, it was our turn to say a few words as UNIMAS students who were visiting Reitaku University.

The last component of our Japan tour was management visit.  For this particular visit, the aim was to expose us to how the urban management of Tokyo city is properly carried out.  First, we visited Ariake Incineration Plant to learn about the management of sewage disposal.  The concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) is heavily applied and promoted in Japan.  

We also visited Shibaura Water Reclamation Center.  Through video presentation and staff's demonstrations, we could see that a functional sewerage system plays a vital role in ensuring a healthy water circulation system, which supports day-to-day routines of residents.

This marked the end of our management visit, thus the end of our off-campus Japan tour.

On Friday, we had a campus tour around Reitaku University.  A video of the tour is available here.  We were brought to the library, mini museum, Rose garden, classrooms, and International Lounge (i-Lounge).  Our campus tour ended as we joined in the もちつき (rice cake making) that was carried out in the campus.

The pieces of rice cake with different toppings were so delicious that we shamelessly went for second rounds.

Since we had some spare time before our next agenda, Pei Gee and Mun Yin, fellow Malaysians studying in Japan, brought us to Kashiwa.  We stopped by at a sushi shop to eat.  Then, we walked around the area and bought some stuff to be brought home.

By far, my favourite sushi is ebi nigiri sushi.  おいしい~ 

This is Kashiwa.

Later in the evening, we attended a farewell party. 

Farewell party already?

Our weekend was free from any pre-scheduled visits.  Therefore, we decided that it was time to really become like tourists in Japan~  On Saturday morning, Maru san brought us to Tsukiji Market in Chuo, Tokyo.  We got to experience the atmosphere of a Japanese fresh market and tasted some delicious food.  Somehow, occasionally squeezing through the crowd at the market made the experience feel a little more real, you know?  LOL  

After Tsukiji Market  

In the afternoon, we headed to Asakusa in Taito, Tokyo.  FYI, I had always wanted to go to Asakusa, out of the tourist attractions in Japan.  So, to be able to finally step my foot there was great.  We took a good look at the temple there before checking out some of the shops.  We even had the chance to try out dango, green tea ice cream (Yes, we indulged in cold, tasty ice cream outdoor in winter~), and melon bread.  I also bought a red kimono, just because I wanted to.

I finally breathed the air of Asakusa~~

Before calling it a day, Maru san brought us to an eatery place in Minami-Kashiwa.  It was a zashiki-style restaurant.  Guess what?  I even got to eat a little bit of horse meat.

Having a meal together in a group was nice.

On Sunday, a few Reitaku University students brought us to Harajuku, Tokyo.  Once we arrived, we walked through Yoyogi ko-en and visited Meiji jin-gu.  We also walked along the fashionably congested Takeshita Street and had our lunch at one of the shops there.

A torii at the entrance  

 Lucky us!  We managed to witness part of a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony at Meiji jin-gu.

Are you up for Takeshita Street?

Our next destination was Shibuya, Tokyo.  There happened to be a group of individuals offering "Free Christmas Hugs" not far from the train station.  So, I (along with some others in our group) ran straight to them to get some warm Christmas hugs!  We spent a few hours checking out some of the shops and bought some things too.

As soon as we went out of the train station, we snapped photos with the statue of Hachiko, the loyal and loving dog.

 Being part of the crowd crossing Shibuya's massive streets was kind of fun.  ^^

After we were done with Shibuya, we headed to Shinjuku, Tokyo.  Upon our arrival, we spent some time listening to a street performance of a duo and cheering along.  Then, we made our way to Global Unit, a place to shop for clothes with tempting discounts and promotions.  The sky was already dark when we completed our shopping.  We had our dinner before spending a little time to admirably look at the tall and mighty Tokyo Sky Tree.

Tokyo Sky Tree  

We ended our Tokyo tour for the day and went back to Minami-Kashiwa.  The coming day would be our last day in Japan, but I was too tired to be too sad.  I just dozed off after cleaning up once we reached the dormitory.

The next day, it was bittersweet for me.  I'm sure the others felt the same too.  However, the past week had been fun.  So, it was all good.  At noon, we had a promotional event to let more people know about our university and country.  After the event, we had our lunch before continuing to pack our belongings.

I was wearing my traditional costume as part of the promotional event.

Frankly, we could feel the warmth and thoughtfulness of the host throughout the whole week.  Us, UNIMAS students, wanted to do a little more than just saying thank you.  So, we gathered food and drink items that we brought from Malaysia inside a box for the students of Reitaku University who had been helping and guiding us.  We also included messages for them.

It wasn't much but we wanted to leave some food and drinks items that are popular among Malaysian students. 

Some students of Reitaku University gave us gifts.

In the evening, we said goodbye to each other as the bus took us to the airport.

I told myself that I must visit Japan again in the future.

Japan 2013 - Before the Visit

I was thrilled when I found out that I was chosen as one of the delegates representing Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of UNIMAS to visit Japan.  In my mind, I was beyond ecstatic to be able to cross one of the things on my bucket list.

From the perspective of my faculty-mates and I, the 'journey' before the actual visit was a little challenging (but totally worthwhile).  Why so?  First of all, we had to be selected among many of our faculty-mates who had submitted resumes for the programme.  Then, we were further screened through an interview session.  I'm sure all of us who applied were hoping to be chosen.  So, I felt lucky to become one of the chosen ones.  Those who managed to make it to the final list of delegates were then briefed that it was necessary for us to come up with activities as a fund-raising effort in order to generate our pocket money for the visit.  Honestly, it was tough for us since we were still students and some of us had just recently completed our study at that time.  Despite that, we needed to at least put an effort.  I'm glad that we did, not only because of the fund that we managed to come up with, but also because it allowed us to get to know each other before the visit.  If we were almost like complete strangers when we started the visit, it would be awkward and less fun, wouldn't it?  ^o^

After several meetings and discussions, we decided to open up booth, selling mainly sweet corn and warm drinks.  We also sold some souvenirs and cosmetic products, thanks to generous suppliers.  For slightly more than a month, we opened our booth on every Monday until Thursday on weekly basis.  A duty roster was produced to divide our shifts.  As for every Friday, we carried out a car-wash service next to our faculty building.

What made the whole thing extra challenging for me was that I had to juggle between my part-time job, convocation preparation, and duty shifts for the fund-raising activities.  I tried my best to pull it together and thanks to the support that I received from every side, I made it through.  We made it through!

I never had the chance to properly express my gratitude to those who had worked hard in the fund-raising activities.  So, thank you very much for being helpful!

The Not-So-Typical Part of My Convocation

In November 2013, I had my convocation ceremony for my Bachelor's Degree.  Like many others, I felt excited to finally graduate and move on to the next stage of my life.  

You may think that this blog post is about how the day went and what I went through as one of the graduates.  Well, not really... 

Sure, it was one of the most memorable and meaningful days in my life.  I mean, being an undergraduate was sometimes tough and tiring.  So, there was this sense of accomplishment that I felt on the day of my convocation.  I'm eternally grateful for the knowledge, guidance, support, and opportunities that I received. 

However, this post is meant to reveal a fact that most of you didn't know about my convocation.  At the end of this post, if you find it to be unimportant or a-waste-of-time, I would like to apologise.  But I'm going to tell you about it anyway.

In the morning of my convocation day, I decided to 'invent' something that I found to be necessary.  You see, we weren't supposed to bring along bags during the ceremony because our seats weren't going to be definite.  I still wanted to at least bring along my handphone.  So, I resolved to this...

An earphone pouch, wire management straps, and safety pins were all that I needed.

Jjan~!  It worked fine. 

At times, I thought that it was quite a silly thing to do but I felt like a secret agent the whole time. LOL~ 

Thank you, UNIMAS!

Cheers!