England Vs Czech

This is not a football match review. This is my simple comparison between those countries I mentioned on the title. In terms of living of course. Alhamdulillah I've been living in the UK for 2 weeks. Another 50 weeks to go. Sigh... Well.. Actually it is not a bad thing. I've been dreaming to study in the UK since after my SPM years. When I was still in Kolej MARA Banting (KMB) doing my preparation to study abroad. However, I was less fortunate and only manage to go to the Czech Republic upon completing my IB Diploma in KMB. So I have been keeping UK as my dream since then. But who would've thought? It comes back to me after 7 years. Sebenarnya bukan Allah tak bagi. Cuma die tangguhkan dulu. Remeber what I wrote about Hess's Law? InsyaAllah we all will get there. Only the route we take is different.

In terms of survival, I'd say that living in Czech is much more challenging as compared to living in the UK. Because the word Islam and Muslim is not as prominent as in the UK, practicing Islam in Czech might be a little bit challenging. For instance, Halal meat is much more difficult to get in Czech Republic as compared to the UK. I still remember that I used to travel 2 hours by train just to buy halal food. Yes you can find halal chicken in Tesco but the stocks are very limited and sometimes you have to wait up to a couple of months just to get the stock updated. There was a time when we have to buy chicken (a living one) and slaughtered it by our own because of the limited availability of halal chicken in Czech Republic. Of course I am talking about Hradec Kralove (about 2 hours drive from Prague, its capital). Perhaps life in the capital of Czech (Prague) is much easier as compared to the Hradec Kralove. Meanwhile in the UK (Sheffield at least), life is much easier. Halal restaurants are everywhere and if you fancy cooking on your own, you can find halal meat easily. Muslim community is quite big over here and sometimes I think because of its bigness, the bond among the Muslims here is not as strong as in Czech. When I was in Hradec Kralove, I can remember pretty much every Muslim in that area and we are very actively organizing exciting activities such as iftar, futsal and many more. But here, I think the Muslims are not as close as in Czech.

I still can't figure out how the public transport works in Sheffield because it seems like there are several transportation companies in this area and each of them are not integrated with each other. For instance, the bus which pass through my area does not go to my faculty where I am studying. Thus, I see no points of having a buss pass (It is expensive. 278 quid for a year. Ouchh!) to help me commute from home to my faculty. So I have no choice other than walking about 3km a day on a hilly route. Well.. Never skip a leg day. On the other hand, public transportation in Hradec Kralove is simple. Only one company is there and having the buss pass is I think compulsory for a student studying there.

I think I miss Czech Republic especially Hradec Kralove. I miss the bond we have over there as a Muslim. I miss the struggle we have there as a Muslim. Sheffield is a good place. Very calm and peaceful and it is not as busy as Kuala Lumpur. But as a place to study, I still prefer Hradec Kralove. I might change my mind a few months from now but as we speak now, that is my opinion on these 2 countries.

Salam Aidil Adha buat semua yang mengenali diri ini.

Penulis berada di persimpangan di hadapan rumah.

Selepas selesai solat sunat Aidil Adha bersama-sama rakan serumah.

Di hadapan rumah.

Bersama sebahagian komuniti Malaysia di Sheffield.

Jamuan hari raya bersama sebahagian kecil komuniti Malaysia di Sheffield. Jamuan diadakan di Botanical Garden.

Gambar lama semasa di Czech Republic.

Sheffield, anyone?

Terlebih dahulu aku ingin mengucapkan Eid Mubarak kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia yang akan menyambutnya dalam masa kurang 24 jam (kalau ikut kalendar kuda la.. Tapi biasanya kalendar kuda tu betul).

Kalau tiada aral melintang, InsyaAllah aku akan melanjutkan pengajian ke luar negara sekali lagi. Kali ni ke negara yang memang menjadi impian aku nak pergi sejak tahun 2005 lagi. Sejak lepas SPM dulu. Tapi apakan daya. Allah lebih mengetahui dan Dia telah menangguhkan impian aku selama hampir 9 tahun. Dan kali ini pun masih belum tentu lagi aku akan pergi. Cuma kebarangkalian tu adalah 95%. Buat masa ni semua persiapan aku telah lakukan. Cuma visa dan tiket penerbangan sahaja yang belum diselesaikan. Aku pergi kali ini sekali lagi di atas tajaan MARA.

Sebenarnya aku bukanlah nak sangat pergi oversea untuk sambung belajar ni. Mula-mula aku cuma nak sambung belajar di UKM di atas tajaan sendiri secara separuh masa. Tapi malangnya UKM telah menolak permohonan aku sebanyak 3 kali termasuklah yang terbaru ini. Atas sebab tu la aku merajuk dan gatal tangan nak cuba apply university di luar negara. Universiti pertama yang aku apply adalah University of Edinburgh, ranking top 20 dalam dunia. Alhamdulillah aku dapat conditional offer dengan syarat aku melepasi syarat IELTS mereka (Band 6.5 with 6.0 in each section).

Sombong sungguh UKM ni. This is my 3rd application.

University of Edinburgh punye offer. Mereka tidak sesombong UKM.

Mula-mula tu aku takde la rase excited pun pasal aku tau agak mustahil utk aku pergi jika tiada scholarship. So aku cuma simpan je la offer mereka tu. Pastu bila MARA keluarkan iklan untuk biasiswa ke luar negara, aku pun sekali lagi gatal tangan untuk cuba apply. Aku pun apply la tanpa meletakkan harapan yang terlalu tinggi. Ye la.. Aku dulu bekas pelajar tajaan MARA yang gagal menamatkan pengajian. Takkan la MARA nak taja aku sekali lagi. Siapa yang mengenali aku akan lebih mengetahui kisah ni. So aku pun buat la online test MARA dan lepas tu interview yang diadakan di Kolej Profesional MARA Beranang. Walaupun aku datang dengan semangat yang agak lackadaisical, tapi alhamdulillah everything went well dan aku agak terkejut jugak la dengan involvement aku dlm interview tu. Cuma tu la.. Aku tak rase aku dapat pasal aku berpendapat yang ramai lagi orang yang lebih bagus daripada aku dan aku rasa MARA takkan consider application aku pasal sejarah hitam aku dengan MARA tu. And to my surprise, after about a month waiting for the result, tiba-tiba aku dapati aku berjaya. Result keluar Jumaat petang. So Isnin pagi tu aku call MARA untuk double confirm. Betul ke diorg nak sponsor aku ni. Aku pun ckp la dgn pegawai MARA tu. Aku cerita kisah aku dulu dan aku mintak die double check result aku. Die pun check la dan die ckp memang xde masalah asalkan jangan kene senarai hitam pasal tak bayar hutang MARA.

MARA result.

 So bermula la dilema aku. Sama ada nak terima offer ni atau pun tak. Because I am traumatized by my previous experienced of going abroad. Tapi ini je la peluang yang aku ade untuk sambung master. Which I really want to do. UKM dah reject application aku. Nak apply universiti lain, aku tak mampu pulak pasal yuran semua mahal-mahal belaka dan aku tak mampu as a self-sponsored student. So selepas banyak kali berdoa mintak ditunjukkan jalan yang baik untuk aku, aku membuat keputusan untuk terima tawaran tu. Aku cakap pada Allah, kalau ini yang terbaik untuk aku, mudahkan segala urusanku. Tapi kalau ia bukan yang terbaik untuk aku, maka halanglah aku daripada pergi dengan apa cara sekalipun. And alhamdulillah.. As for now, semuanya ok je. Takde la masalah yang besar lagi. Part yang paling susah pada aku adalah nak cari penjamin kedua. Aku plan nak mintak sama ada sepupu or makcik aku. Tapi sepupu aku menarik diri. Kecewa jugak la pasal sedara sendiri pun tak nak tolong aku. Tapi nak buat macam mane kan? Itu hak dia. Cuma terkilan la pasal sedara sendiri pun tak percaya kita. Takpe la.. Luckily makcik aku sanggup jadi penjamin. Alhamdulillah.. At least die percaya pada aku dan aku sangat2 berterima kasih pada beliau. Aku takkan lupa jasa beliau.

Tapi walaupun aku dah terima tawaran MARA, aku masih ade lagi satu kekangan. Dapatkan band 6.5 utk IELTS. Aku pun daftar la IELTS. Tapi oleh kerana takut tak lepas IELTS, aku pun sekali lagi gatal tangan apply universiti lain yang boleh terima GCE-O English kita time SPM dulu. Aku apply Leeds, Sheffield dan Cardiff. Dan alhamdulillah sekali lagi semua universiti tersebut bagi aku unconditional offer. Tapi bila aku bace subject-subject diorg, accreditation pada course yang diorang tawarkan dan beberapa faktor lain, aku pilih untuk ke Sheffield. Sets off for Edinburgh, but most probably will end up in Sheffield. Aku yang merancang tapi Allah yang tentukan. Sebenarnya aku memang nak sangat pergi ke Edinburgh pasal aku nak lari dari komuniti Melayu. Edinburgh tak ramai sangat Melayu. Bukan nak sombong or lupa daratan. Tapi aku nak pulang dengan membawa something new to myself. But it seems that I cannot run away from the fact that I am a Malay. So kene jugak la duduk di satu tempat yang kaya dengan orang Melayu.

Offer from Cardiff

Offer from Leeds

Offer from Sheffield

Actually, there is a reason on my hesitation to further my study oversea. Firstly because of my job. I have quite a stable job at this moment. But I have to resign if I wish to further my study oversea. And I just did that. Aku sangat bersyukur dapat peluang kerja dengan Linde Malaysia. Pada aku Linde merupakan tempat kerja paling best penah aku kerja. Dekat Linde ni la aku belajar macam mane rasenye jadi orang kaya. You know.. Approximately 5k a month in hand. Dekat company ni la aku mampu beli kereta dan mampu bawak family aku makan dekat tempat-tempat yang best. Walaupun aku takde la minat sangat dengan nature of the job tapi I am getting the hang of it. I am going to write a separate post for Linde! Selain tu, aku juga meninggalkan banyak peluang yang aku dapat dekat Malaysia ni. Aku dapat calon simpanan Air Traffic Controller Officer under DCA. Gaji dekat sane pun boleh tahan jugak. Kalau dipanggil dalam masa terdekat ni, memang aku terpaksa tolak pasal aku kene sambung belajar. Dan tak lame selepas aku dapat tawaran MARA, Sime Darby pun bagi aku tawaran untuk SHE Exec. Gaji pokok lebih besar daripada Linde tapi dekat Linde aku ade banyak elaun. Dan selain tu, aku juga terpaksa tinggalkan kereta aku yang baru 5 bulan dipakai. Haha... Kawan-kawan aku banyak tanye "Abes tu kalau ko pegi sane, sape yang bayar kete ko??"... Haha.. Soalan tu jugak yang korang tanye. Jawapannya aku jugak yang akan bayar. Aku buat loan bayar guna direct debit. So rasenye takde masalah kot. Simpanan aku cukup kalau setakat setahun je.

Aku rase aku la antara yang rare decline offer kerja.

Mungkin tak berpeluang nak menyertai DCA.

Take care mate! See you in a year.

Dan itulah kisah terbaru aku. Aku harap kali ni aku pergi dan pulang dengan membawa perkara yang sepatutnya aku bawa pulang. Aku harap aku dapat tamatkan pengajian master aku dengan jayanya dan kalau boleh, aku nak peluang untuk sambung lagi ke peringkat yang lebih tinggi. Amiin.. Doakan aku rakan-rakan. Aku amat memerlukan doa kalian.

Di kesempatan ini aku ingin mengucapkan selamat hari raya untuk tahun ini. Berhati-hati di jalan raya dan semoga kita berpeluang untuk bertemu di lain waktu. Taqaballahu minna wa minkum... Semoga Allah menerima ibadat kita...

A short answer to the 'so called' Mr. Robert Chaen.

I am quite cross this morning. Actually, very cross. Read the short essay below and I am going to tell you why.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

I have talked with many UTAR undergraduates and lecturers, and most of them tell me in no uncertain terms that the Bumiputeras and Muslim Malays are not interested in applying at all, even though applications are open to them.

Bumiputeras would rather attend UiTM or other universities which have a big majority percentage of Malays.

Therefore, it is the discrimination of the Malay undergraduates against UTAR, and not the discrimination of UTAR for not accepting Malay intakes. 

As the CEO of BorneoHunter, an executive search firm, the feedback from our multi-national corporation (MNCs) clients who are graduates from UiTM are in general very one-dimensional, too quiet, and unpassionate. They have difficulty thinking out of the box, are cliquish and don't mix with well with other races and foreigners. They are awkward, quite judgemental and are not accommodating and accepting of other races’ opinions.

The other important aspect in seeking employment in big international companies is the command of English which is universally accepted as the language of global business, finance, law, IT, internet, marketing, engineering, science and arts.

A large percentage of resumes we receive from UiTM graduates display poor English. They are not even competent enough to construct a proper English sentence. When a graduate climbs up the corporate ladder based on meritocracy, many business and strategic plans must be written in good English and must be expressed and presented well in English. If not, one will be left behind in promotions as the competition for higher levels of management is fierce.

Understandably, UiTM-type graduates either prefer to work with government departments, GLCs and uniform forces, or because they have fewer options, they may be be forced to work with these uncompetitive organisations.

By isolating its students from other races and foreigners, UiTM has done real damage to the development of its undergraduates. The role of a university is to expose its students to the latest international thinking in corporate, business, finance, marketing, science or whatever field of studies.

UiTM only admits 100% Bumiputeras exclusively except for preparatory programmes where non-Bumiputeras are admitted at International Education College (INTEC), Malaysia, a campus of the university. This policy is unfortunately protected by virtue of Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia.

That in itself is blatantly racist and smacks of religious bigotry. It’s time that UiTM looked into being relevant, global, and progressive in today’s modern, open, free society.

In contrast, I’m personally quite impressed with the high calibre of UTAR undergraduates from the fields of marketing, public relations and finance. It is a known fact that most human resource managers will find it obvious that there is a significant contrast between UiTM and UTAR graduates that they interview.

As the Founder of ChangeU Group, we have hired many good quality interns and management trainees from UTAR. For the last two years in a row, “The Best ChangeU Intern of the Year 2012 and 2013” were from UTAR.

UTAR interns compete well with our other interns from Monash, Taylor’s, Sunway, MMU, iACT, Iowa (US), NUS, Melbourne, Telecom Business School, Evry (France), Lim Kok Wing, KDU, UM, UPM and UUM.

Many UTAR graduates have the added advantage of being able to speak Mandarin fluently. Some are also fluent in Cantonese, which is necessary in dealing with our China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong clients.

I even took a UTAR undergraduate who was the best ChangeU intern of 2012 along to a senior manager convention in Manila of one of the top 100 Malaysian brands with all expenses paid to further expose him to the international business environment.

I find UTAR interns generally to be open to new challenges, willing, quick to learn, resourceful, innovative, productive and able to hold intelligent debate on many issues. And more importantly, they are adaptive to our creative, high AQ (adversity quotient) and performance working culture and our clients’ pressure-cooker working environments.

The heads of human resources from our top brand clients such as Naza, Petronas, Public Bank, Genting, Celcom, Habib, Jewels, MSC and Berjaya are consistently impressed with our UTAR undergraduate interns and have made direct job offers to them.

Lastly, we will be very happy to accept expressive interns with the calibre of Dyana Sofya of UiTM and K.S. Bawani UUM law undergraduate of the “Listen, Listen, listen” fame. They are a rare breed who blossomed by their own efforts and personal values within a university that is a bit backward in thinking and approach as in UiTM – this is the feedback of our esteemed international human resources associates.

I hope this article is an eye-opener and a truthful wake-up call for future Malay students to decide wisely which progressive universities are best in developing them to be a healthily competitive and competent employee in either a local or international corporation. Or, Malay students and their parents can express and demand that their university be more progressive and less racist.

“We can change Malaysia by insisting on changing our education system to be progressive, inclusive, competitive, expressive, and innovative.” – May 20, 2014.

This piece of writing is written by the 'so called' Mr. Robert Chaen, who claims to be an International Change Expert, Online Pollster, founder of ChangeU Group and CEO of BorneoHunter (he must be a hell of a man. Look at his list of jobs!). But you know, people have a lot of claims for themselves but for the sake of simplicity, I'll just trust his claim.

My first comment will be on the issue of the command of English. I am sorry. I am not sure which UiTM graduate he had spoken to but as far as I am concern, UiTM graduates do speak English and most of us (if not all) speaks English rather well. Of course there will always be the weakest link among us (so does UTAR graduates). But over generalizing that all UiTM grads have a poor command of English is an utter lie (and we should have your apology there). Let me tell you my story. I graduated on August 2013 (officially earn my degree on November 2013). Up until now, I've been to numerous interviews and from all my interview, the panel actually praised my command of English. Some of them have actually said (and I am quoting) "You have the best command of English of all the candidates today". I am not saying I am fluent and flawless in English but I got the message passed to the panel. And that is the most important. Do I have your apology now?

On the subject of competitiveness. Again, what you were writing is a loose claim which is not supported by facts and figures. Upon my graduation until now, I've been to numerous interviews (as I claimed before). 8 interviews to be precise (2 government post, 6 private sectors). From the 6 private sector interviews, 4 of which are from a big multinational companies (Hitachi, Honda, Linde and Sime Darby). To contradict your claim, from the 8 interviews I've been through, 5 offered me the job I applied for. Success rate? 62.5%. The other 37.5% actually just cannot commit to the salary I am asking for. And errr... I am a UiTM graduate. The graduate you said very one-dimensional, too quiet, unpassionate, have difficulty thinking out of the box, are cliquish and don't mix with well with other races and foreigners.

In my humble opinion, it is the person who makes all the difference. Whether they wants to be a highly competitive person or having a laid back attitude. The institution does nothing to their attitude. They need to have the go getter attitude in order for them to be successful in whatever they are doing. Let me give you an example. Have you ever heard the name Hamka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamka)?  Mr. Hamka never received a university education but his books and writings are widely used as syllabus in universities all over the world. Who said university is such an important tools of success?

And one more, I don't agree when you includes government sectors as an uncompetitive sector. Do you know the number of graduates applying for a government post and how many of them manage to squeeze in? Do your research first Mr. Chaen. I am surprised you don't know the fact when you claimed that you are the CEO of a headhunting company.

Mr. Chaen, I seriously believe you owe us an apology. Apology for the piece of irresponsible writing you just did, a blatant lie you just published and a judgemental thought you have!

* Original writing of Mr. Rober Chaen in The Malaysian Insider: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/a-tale-of-two-universities-uitm-and-utar-robert-chaen

Mr. Chaen's personal website: http://robertchaen.com/

Mr. Chaen's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/robert-chaen/46/453/917

* The writer is Muhammad Firdaus Bin Mohd Nazam, an ordinary Engineer for Linde Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Period!

Subcontrating

I've been in the construction industry for more than 6 months now. As I mentioned before, I am not from engineering background. So there are a lot to learn for me. One of the simplest thing for me to understand is the act of subcontracting. Over the years, the word subcontracting has always been negative. Actually, it is not at all. Let me give you an example of subcontracting in construction. Let say there is a big project coming. A hospital to be build. In the whole hospital project, there are 2 divisions of contractor. Civil & structure, Mechanical & electrical (M&E). Under each of these contractor, there are a few divisions. For instance, under M&E, there are lift & elevator contractor, aircond contractor, fire safe contractor and in case of hospital, a medical gas contractor (where I comes in). Knowing all these, I feel that subcontracting is not a bad practice at all. Because not all company has the expertise needed to completely build a building. They need to engage other companies which have the expertise in their field. This will ensure that only those with necessary experience and expertise will do the specific job of the whole project.

Vios, Note 3 dan Interview ATCO

Salam semua... Agak lame tak menulis di ruangan ini. Sekarang ni aku agak busy. So bila weekend je, aku memang akan gunakan masa sepenuhnya untuk merehatkan diri. Atas sebab itulah aku dah lame tak menulis di ruangan ini. Idea nak menulis tu banyak tapi masa yang tidak mengizinkan aku menulis.

Seperti yang aku beritahu dalam post-post sebelum ni, aku ade membeli sebuah kereta baru. In my line of work, I need to do a lot of travelling. So keep using my Kancil is not a feasible option. Baru jalan dalam area Klang Valley pun enjin dah overheat. Bayangkan kalau aku nak round satu Malaysia. Mau terbarai enjin Kancil aku tu. Thus, I need to have a new car. A reliable one which can be used for hundreds of thousands of miles. Setelah dibuat perkiraan dan pertimbangan, aku memilih Toyota Vios yang baru tu sebagai kenderaan rasmi. Because Toyota is known for its reliability and the spare parts can be categorized as affordable. For a person who wants to start his life like me, it is very important to have a worry free motoring experience. Because of that, I've chosen Vios for my first car. Walaupun kereta tu agak basic kalau nak dibandingkan dengan kereta-kereta lain dalam lingkungan harga yang sama (i.e Honda Jazz, City, VW Polo, Hyundai/Kia), but basic means that there are less to go wrong with the car. It is always the case. Walaupun enjin dan gearbox is a carry over from the first generation Vios (it was 12 years ago!), but hey, it means that the engine and gearbox has a proven reliability. That is why we can still see first generation Vios cruising along confidently in our motorways.

Aku book kereta pada 1 Disember 2013. Alhamdulillah salesman aku dapat push kereta aku untuk dapat awal sikit. Sepatutnya aku dapat kereta pada 10 March 2014. Tapi alhamdulillah dapat ambil pada pada 15 Febuari 2014. Aku letak downpayment agak banyak pasal aku tak nak buat bayaran bulanan dalam jumlah yang besar. I want to manage my debt. I specifically told my salesman that I don't want to pay more than RM650 per month for my installment. Alhamdulillah I managed to do just that.

It has been a month I've been using my new Vios. For me, it is obviously a big step up from my previous Kancil. It is much bigger, much more comfortable, much more powerful and much more stable at high speed as compared to the Kancil. Memang la kn? But do I feel satisfied with the car? Hurm.. Not quite actually. I pay about RM 80k for the car. But the problem is, it doesn't feel like a car worth RM 80k. Because I treasure my own hard earn money very much. So my expectation when I bought the car was quite high. Don't get me wrong. It is a good car. A very good car actually. But there are a few rough edges which I think, shouldn't be found on a RM 80k car. Because Perodua can do the trick as well. And they don't need to charge you RM 80k for it.

However, the car gives you perceived quality by the way it looks, the way it is put together and the way it rides. The dashboard looks elegant though you will change you mind once you decided to knock on the dasboard. The use of hard plastic straight away throw the feel of elegance. But to be fair, what to expect? It is no Camry or Accord. It is an entry level sedan. The ride is very comfortable and not bad when you decide to have fun on the village road. As I said before, in terms of perceived quality, it is not bad at all. But once you examine closely, you'll see the rough edges. Not a big one but big enough to make you think.

Front view. I installed the TRD Sportivo bodykit.

Rear view

The centre console with the fake leather stitching. It looks good though.

The whole look of the dashboard.

Meter panel. The lack of optitron backlighting is a disappointment

The rear seat. The fabric they use is good.

The legroom is commodious enough for a typical malay man like me.

Ok. Enough with the car. Now, the Note 3. Amboi-amboi. Joli katak betul aku ni. Kete baru, phone baru. Hurm.. Phone ni pun work related jugak. Aku agak hesitate nk beli pada mulanya. Tapi macam yang aku cakap. Aku perlu jumpe banyak orang dalam line keje aku ni. And having a device which can take note is very helpful. Dan aku dh gunakan bende tu time aku pegi Hospital Rompin hari tu. I am not regretting buying my Note 3. It is a very fast phone and I need the S Note feature. Walaupun menggigil tangan nak bayar time beli hari tu, tapi aku rase amat berbaloi. Tak perlu bawak buku nota ke hulu ke hilir. Guna phone je. Kalau ikutkan memula aku nak survey je phone tu kat Mutiara Damansara. Tapi time tu ade offer. They give more than RM 200 discount for the phone. Macam rugi pulak tak beli. Dan aku pun beli la dengan abah aku.

One for me, one for my father.

Ok. Last but not least. 11 March hari tu aku ade interview utk jawatan Pegawai Kawalan Trafik Udara (ATCO) di SPA Putrajaya. Panel aku Dato' Najri, panel yang same interview aku untuk jawatan PTD tahun lepas. And to my surprise, he still remembers me. Haha.. So borak-borak macam berborak dalam kedai kopi je. I think I did better than my PTD interview. Tapi aku tak nak letak apa-apa pengharapan. Pasal soalan yang Dato' tanya pun tak banyak pasal dasar negara or DCA. Kebanyakannya pasal peribadi je. That is why la aku bole jawab dengan yakin je. Dan soalan-soalan tu macam soalan tak berapa minat je dengan aku. So takpe la. Ade rezeki, ade la. Kalau takde, anggap je la itu bukan yang terbaik untuk aku. Lagi pun there are a lot not to like about ATCO. Firstly, keje syif. Keduanya, tanggungjawab sangat besar. Jage 5-6 kapal terbang dalam satu-satu masa. Maknanya, kesilapan kita bole menyebabkan ribuan nyawa melayang. Lagi besar tanggungjawab daripada doktor. Tu yang paling aku takut. But the upside is the remuneration package. Elaun sangat banyak. Ade sorang ATCO yang dah keje 3 tahun cakap gaji dan elaun die mencecah RM 6k sebulan! Baru keje 3 tahun. But as I said earlier, it does come with a price.

Before aku terlupa, baru-baru ni aku dapat conditional offer drpd University of Edinburgh utk sambung Master in Sustainable Energy System (MSc.). Cuma aku perlu dapatkan IELTS band 6.5 dan scholarship je lagi utk aku ke sana. So aku sekarang tengah cari scholarship dan setelkan IELTS aku. Yang ni pun tak berharap sangat. Takut jugak pisang berbuah 2 kali. Tengoklah nanti macam mane. So tahun ni aku ade 3 pengharapan. Jadi ATCO, sambung master or success in this year's PTD interview. Ade satu lagi harapan sebenarnya. To tie the knot. I mean bertunang la. Bukan kawen. But actually I feel tired to chase that one girl when I have already gave her so much hint with no positive return from her. So aku pun malas la nak harap kat die. If someone comes to me and she is good enough, I am open for her. Aku pun bukan muda lagi. The word 'tunggu' is not something that I should make friend with.

Rasenye itu je la. Dah cukup panjang ni. Ya Allah, please make everything easy for me. I've been through a lot of your tests before. I hope the tests carry something good for me. Ameen =)

Tender Nombor Pendaftaran Kenderaan

Surat penganugerahan nombor pendaftaran. Hehe...

 As promised, kali ni aku nak tulis cara-cara untuk membuat tempahan nombor pendaftaran kenderaan. Alhamdulillah aku menang tender hari tu. Harga yang aku letak pun minimum je. Mungkin pasal nombor aku bukan nombor popular kot. Sebelum aku terangkan cara-cara tender, biar aku jelaskan dulu klasifikasi nombor pendaftaran JPJ ni. Kalau kita sebagai orang awam, pembelian nombor pendaftaran ni ade 2 cara. Cara pertama adalah memalui tawaran (i.e tender). Cara kedua adalah melalui pilihan.

Aku terangkan melalui cara tender dulu. Biasanya, pembelian secara tender akan dibuka lebih awal berbanding running number tu. Sebagai contoh, tender untuk W...S akan mula dijual sewaktu running number adalah W....P. So korang kene alert kalau korang memang nk pilih certain alphabet (maybe korang nk buat satu word dgn nombor plat korang. Mcm aku la =P). Korang bole check aktiviti tender dalam link ni untuk mengetahui tarik-tarikh tender. Harga minimum bagi tender adalah mengikut klasifikasi nombor tersebut. Korang boleh melawat link ni utk mengetahui klasifikasi nombor yang ditetapkan oleh JPJ. These are the steps involved if you are planning to tender your registration number:

1. Download borang tender drpd website JPJ. Boleh click link ni. Then, isi borang tu siap2. Cuma tinggalkan ruangan item ke 9 tu. Lepastu, sediakan satu sampul beralamat sendiri dengan stem RM 1. Sampul ni utk JPJ poskan keputusan tender tu pd kita nanti. Jgn seal! Nanti diorg x bole letak surat tu dlm sampul.

2. Beli wang pos dengan nilai separuh drpd nilai yang korang nk tender. Contohnya, kalau korang nak tender RM 1,000, wang pos yang korang kene buat adalah sebanyak RM 500. Utk wang pos ni, lebih baik korang buat dkt pejabat JPJ. Kalau JPJ Wangsa Maju ade pejabat pos kt bawah tu. Pasal ape better buat kt JPJ?? Pasal org pejabat pos kt JPJ tu tau wang pos tu nk di alamatkan kepada siapa. Pasal time aku tender dulu, ade yg ckp kene buat kpd KP JPJ. Ade plak yang cakap kpd Ketua Akauntan JPJ. So to be safe, beli wang pos kt pejabat JPJ. Diorang memang tau nk address kpd sape.

3. Lepas dh beli wang pos tu, isi la ruangan item ke 9 tu dengan nombor2 wang pos korang. Pastu pegi kaunter JPJ untuk buat bayaran perkhidmatan (RM10). Then, letakkan semua item td (wang pos, sampul beralamat sendiri, borang yang diisi td serta resit bayaran perkhidmatan) ke dalam sebuah sampul besar. Aku dulu tulis nombor pendaftaran yang ditender di sebelah kanan atas sampul tu. Tp kalau ikutkan diorang xde pun suroh buat mcm tu.

4. Tunggu la keputusan korang. Biasenye akan ambil masa dalam 3-4 minggu. Kalau surat lambat sgt sampai, korang bole telefon JPJ untuk tanya sendiri keputusan tender korang. Kalau Wilayah, boleh call 03-41450879.

5. Sekiranya berjaya, pergilah bayar baki nilaian tender korang dalam masa 30 hari drpd tarikh surat keputusan tender. Kalau tender RM 1,000, bayaran baki adalah sebanyak RM 500. Bayaran ni boleh buat secara tunai. Tak perlu wang pos lg dh.

6. Lepas tu bg la resit bayaran korang pd salesman korang utk urusan pendaftaran kereta. Korang tunggu je la kereta korang sampai nanti. Nombor tersebut mestilah didaftar dalam tempoh 3 bulan daripada tarikh pembayaran penuh.

Ok. Kalau pembelian nombor secara pilihan pula, korang kene pegi kt JPJ negeri dan tengok kt skrin tu nombor ape yg masih ada. Isi borang siap2.  Kalau nombor yang korang nk tu org dh beli, memang takkan keluar lg dh kt skrin JPJ negeri tu. Pastu korang amek la nombor giliran. Cara-caranya:

1. Download borang. Borang korang boleh download kt link ni. Bwk satu salinan I/C, resit booking kereta dan wang RM 210.

2. Ambil nombor giliran. Lepas tu, bila dh sampai giliran korang, bg tau kaunter korang nk nombor ape. Kalau nombor tu masih ada, maka korang bernasib baik. Tp nasihat aku, sediakan at least 5 nombor yang korang nk mengikut prioriti. Pasal takut2 nombor yang korang betul2 nk tu dh dibeli orang.

3. Bila dh jumpe nombor yang korang nk, buatlah pembayaran kt kaunter tu. Nanti die akan bg resit. Resit tu korang boleh bg salesman kereta korang untuk urusan pendaftaran kenderaan.

Tu je la cara nk buat no plate ni. Kalau pakai runner, upah diorang tak kurang RM 50. Kalau buat sendiri, dpt la jimat RM 50 tu. Tp kalau korang buat di JPJ Wangsa Maju, sila lah datang awal pagi. Kalau korang nk tender, aku nasihatkan pegi la JPJ Bandar Permaisuri. Orang tak seramai JPJ Wangsa Maju. Tapi kalau untuk nombor pilihan, aku tak sure sama ada boleh buat di JPJ Bandar Permaisuri atau pun tidak. Oh ye. Tender untuk negeri tu hanya boleh dibuat di JPJ negeri tersebut sahaja. Kalau nk tender nombor Kelantan, kene buat di JPJ Kelantan. Tak boleh buat kt KL, Selangor or mane2 negeri lain.

Unfortunately, aku masih tak boleh nak daftar kereta aku lagi. Nombor dh dpt, tp kereta baru siap drpd kilang 5 March nanti. Collection paling awal pun 10 March nanti. Huwarghhhh =(

Tu dia nama aku terkenal di seantero Wilayah Persekutuan.