Salam.

Ok, now I figured out the differences between INTEC and IMU.
After 4 days of watching, i know now.

I have been with government people for my whole life till 4 days back.
So, when i stepped into IMU, it feels different.
Because this is a private education centre.
I had a weird unexplainable feeling during my first few days.
Now the feeling is explainable.
One word, intimidated.
Well yes, perhaps it is embarrassing to admit but as I always like to say, (Atikah will know this) "Honesty is the best".

So yes, i'm intimidated.
Simply because of the fact that most of the students are there because they PAY.
PAY with their parents money.
Which means they are well off people.
And i am there because of a scholarship by the government.
And that is what differs IMU from INTEC.
Back in INTEC, all of us are schlarship holders.
Nothing differentiates us.
Except maybe some of us are more well off than some.
But that was such a small issue.

Somehow i felt like the issue had successfully amplified itself here in IMU.
But i'm pretty sure i'll be able to get rid of this feeling soon, real soon perhaps.

So, i must always remember:

Salam.

Well, I arrived home at around 10.40pm last night, wet, slimy and dirty plus, tired.
So, wasnt able to update. Hehe...

Anyways, yesterday was a FUN but a MEANINGLESS FUN. Why? Will talk abt it later.
Well, the climax of the day was the ice breakers activity. Ice breakers? For 19years, i always hear ice breaking. Ok, never mind that.

We were first gathered at the Lecture Theatre and been shown a short movie, IMU Orientation Committee produced movie. For me, it was an excellent one. It was the continuity of the first movie we were shown.

Then we were brought to the Chancellor Hall which is a big hall located at the uppermost floor, 4th floor. We played a few games there, which the seniors called "the dry icebreakers".

We were then instructed to go to the basement carpark for a "wet icebreakers". The condition of the basement that time surprises me. With very few cars, wet and dirty floor with some already-dirty seniors playing water amng themselves. They divided the basement into a few sections@stations using rope tied to the pillars. We were lined up in groups and were given a list with the stations we were supposed to visit and do whatever the seniors there asked us to.

My group's first station required us to tie 3 of our members leg-to-leg. The middle one should be facing backward. Get the picture of it? So, the group need to send 3 triplets for the game and i'm one of them. Frankly speaking, i didnt know what i'm supposed to do, i was the middle one so they asked me to face backward. Then i got the hang of it when one of the seniors started to tie my leg to my friend's leg. A boy.

I stopped the senior and pleaded to change with another group member. I don't want to be tied with a guy. Eew! So, i changed and become the middle person of the next triplet. The 3 of us were supposed to walk towards the end of the station, grabbed the scissors and ran back to let another triplet move. The florr was very very slippery. We almost fell on our way to the scissors. And while running back o our team members after cutting the rope on our legs, i fell down. Really really fell down as i lost my balance, control and grip on the floor. The members dragged me to the side so that the other triplets can start moving. So yes, i started my ice breakers with a fall. Before that, one of the seniors put on some thing on my face. Very slimy. But i dont know what is it. It looks like peanut butter, but i did not and will not taste it to prove my hypothesis.

We visited a few more stations and i fell once again. Shampoos, hair conditioners, oil, flour, water, were everywhere. The seniors simply rubbed on unknown stuffs on our faces, clothes, basically anywhere. I'm very glad that i wore a hijab. At least my hair is very very protected from all that slimy things.

The activity was supposed to end at 10pm but at 10pm they were going to start a new game. So i asked the OO (Orientation Officer) of my group if i could go back early as i have to drive back. Most of the students are residing at the condos there. So he excused me and i went bac home much earlier than other students.

Fun But Meaningless?

Why is that so?
Well obviously, the seniors are having fun poring, rubbing, spraying unknown stuffs to our faces, clothes and all, but when i was in the middle there, took a few minutes to ponder, i realised that all the fun they were having were meaningless. U dont get anything out of that fun.

From my eye as an observer, they were all laughing, hugging each other (literally), enjoying themselves but then i asked myself a question, "after this?".

Practically, we didnt get any benefit of it. We may say we are able to get to know ourselves better. Well, i believe there are a lot other ways to get to know ourselves. One that does not involves hugging each other of not the same sex perhaps?

Salam.
Am i really going to keep posting 3rd day, 4th day, 5th day and so on?
Hurm...
Ntah la, dunno yet.

Anyways, the orientation week started today.
The gimmick was interesting.
The committee started off with a short movie they produced themselves.
The movie was about a virus being accidentally let out into IMU and the virus are actually going to contaminate the auditoriums (we were in the auditorium at that time) and they were trying to scare us etc etc. We cant help but laugh though we know that we're supposed to be scared.
It was creative. That's all i can say about the movie.

Moving on, we had our orientation grouping and i was lucky that my Head of Orientation Group i.e. the senior in charge of my group was an INTEC student, Johnson. I know him as he participated a lot in debates under MINDS club. But he doesnt know me. Ok fine, not so much an insult. I wasnt the type that goes and tell everyone who i am.

Our group members were at first very quiet, and shy.
We started to communicate better with each other during lunch hour.
Whatever it is, most of my group members are staying near IMU i.e. the Vista Condos. So they'll be meeting tonight at 7pm. I'm not sure whether i can make it as i'm staying at home, a 20minutes drive, and i'll need to be back home by 10.30pm the latest.
We are supposed to bild our mascott tonight and based on my previous experiences, this type of group work will take a very long time.

What else will i want to talk about here?
Oh yah... Ragging!
That's gonna come under one subheader of itself.

Ragging

As we were having our group discussion in a small room, some Indian boys knocked on our door.
The only indian boy in my group went out, so I was like...

Salam.

1. Wow... A lot of people! I don't know them! Where are my INTEC friends?
2. What should I do now? People are queing up. For? Should i juz follow them?
3. Ok, let's queue up. Oooh.. Need to take lab coat. Ok, one M size pls. (Luckily I dont have to take L)
4. Where is Hui Fong? Ok, let's call her.
5. Waiting for Hui Fong.
6. Still waiting for Hui Fong.
7. Waiting....
8. Naaah, there she is!
9. Ok la, go toilet.
10. Can we proceed to the auditorium now?
11. Oooh.. They separate the parents from the students. So, where is my father? I'd better find a seat first.
12. Ok, I have to sit in the middle of new friends. I dont know them. Oh, I can see my father across the hall. Hye pa!!
13. The girl next to me started the converstion. Her name is Amy. Hye...!
14. Bla bla bla bla.... (Both of us talking) p/s: She's taking dentistry and she did her PreU in UK.
15. Welcome speecheS
16. Oath taking ceremony.
17. Faculty photography session.
18. Queuing up again. This time for student id photography session. Got a bag, a box file.
19. Refreshment.
20. Go back home.

Ok, so far, that's roughly how i spent my first day as an IMU medical student.

Tomorrow will need to be there at 8am. Orientation week.... People say the orientation is very very bad i.e. rough! Dip-ur-head-in-the-drain and pour-butter-on-ur-hair style of orientation. Is that true?

Well, let's see tomorrow!

Salam.
Today, 23rd Feb 0p9 will be the first day of a new stage in my life.
It's 6.51am and i'm going out to register myself as a medical student in International Medical University (IMU) at around 7.30am.
Cool huh?
Or is it?

Hurm....
Being a human, we must always accept challenges, do our best and move forward.
K, gtg now!
X ready pun lagi.
Btw, i have juz did a recovery to my laptop.
So, i hv no software now!
Eee.. Kosong nye.
Will try to fortify it later when i come back home. (remembering what Raymond said)
Hahaha.
K, Salam..

Because when i'm worried, i gain weight.
Hahahaha....
It's undeniable.
Thinking abt many things, then when i can't think of any solutions (yet), i'll go to the kitchen, open the refrigerator, take any edible things, or if nothing grabbed my attention, further my exploration to the nearest cupboards, and start eating.
Still can't find anything?
I'll grab a pack of instant mee, cook it, and eat.
Nyam nyam nyam....

One of my friend posted about how to lose weight.
Well, those methods he mentioned do work.
Experienced it before, plus the fact that we students are staying FAR from home i.e. no food available 24hours. Assignments are always there, activities almost every minute, how can we not lose weight?
But now, since i moved back home, things just go the opposite way.
Food is available 24hours, assignments@tasks just make me eat more, and of course, adding pounds to the weighing machine the next time i step on it.

My aunt, who havent seen me for less than 2 weeks said, "You put on weight".
In less than 2 weeks time??
What is that?
Am i evloving into a monster?
Yikes!

Ok, i think i talked much (crapped much also) about weight gaining.
*A trouble faced and worried by many teenage girls in this era*

Hahaha...
Salam...

p/s: To Atikah: If you read this, this is my latest cerita gempak!

Salam....
Well, whose who knows me, or at least read my previous post, will know about the latest project i am involved in.

Frankly speaking, I pity my fellow teammates i.e. the designers, the money collector, and the leaders. Leaders here, i am actually talking abt AMM and HH (those who know will know). One is a former leader while the latter is the current leader.

I am trying my best not to disturb other people's life, not to burden other people, not to worry other people neither to bug other people.
But when some students refused to pay, I need the do something.
Hence, i contacted the former leader thus the former leader told the current leader.
Now, i bet the current leader is very much in stress for what is happening now.

The designers, sorry!
I know u guys worked so very much hard (trying to make it sound real though grammatically wrong sentence) for the magazine. With trial exams just around the corner. I hope u guys can handle it all.

To those who may concern, i am not that wicked.
I dont want you to be in any trouble, but some situations are unavoidable.

So pls, forgive me.
Lets forget our differences and work together for the same cause, the ALManac.
Salam...

Assalammualaikum wbt.

I am now bearing the responsibility as the editor of ALM yearbook a.k.a The ALManac.
It may sound great to some but honestly speaking, I am starting to feel the burden of it.
Some of the few problems faced:

1. The juniors i.e ALM 9 refused to pay.

• ~hey hey, come on ALM9 students. This is not a single batch annual magazine. This is a magazine for all, i repeat, ALL and every single ALM student. Why aren't u guys supporting our very own project? All the seniors i.e. ALM8 students paid, and I only hear some minor sighs from them but still, they paid. Honestly speaking, i am very very frustrated with those who do not want to pay. RM15 is expensive? Yes, if u're comparing the price with your previous school magazine. My school magazine was only RM10. But there are some important factors you need to bear in mind:

~First, the school is printing thousands of copies of books. Any of you bought anything in bundle before? Buying in bundle, ie huge amount, u'll get a cheaper price. This project of ours, will only print ~430copies. That is 5times less than the school's!

~Second, the school charge >RM 1000 for every advertisement page. And usually it is the tuition centres that will give such an advertisement. This magazine of ours, can only charge less than RM500. Can see the VERY BIG difference here???

If i want to be harsh here, i definitely can. But i wont. Because i know, we need to build up healthy relationship and be kind to other people. So people pls, be kind to me?

2. Printing company changed their price out of a sudden

• Ok, this is a bad scenario. First, they called me last week, telling me a price, which i agreed with. It was very cheap. And if everyone paid, and we received a lot advertisement contribution, we might be able to give some refund to the students.
  
• Yesterday, they called me again, saying that their staff gave me the wrong price. It is supposed to be a lot more expensive. They said they'll email me the quotation.
  
• Guess what? I juz received the quotation, and the price has been TRIPLED. I received the email half an hour ago and now i am still cracking my head on how should i find the money to pay them.
  
• The money collected and will be collected, is only half the money we should be paying. Can imagine the situation if i suddenly ask the cls reps to collect more money from the students? If i really did that, i think i would really have to walk with very stern and fierce face in INTEC because i am distorting a lot of money from my fellow friends, and i am sure i'll get a lot of curses, whether directly or indirectly from the students.
  
• The reason why this magazine is so expensive is that we are trying to publish a 70% coloured 100 pages magazine. Remember our school magazines? Were they colourful? No, they weren't! Most of them only have certain coloured pages.

3. The authority is not cooperating.

• Well yes, this is a very common problem. To get something done in this full of bureaucracy world, we really-really need to see really-really lots of people before we really-really get the really-really exact answer @ approval.
• sounds great?

Ok, thanks for reading my moderately-emotioanlly-affected rantings. I know i can be more emotional than this. That is a girl's power.

I know i have some ALM9 readers, so please, i hope you guys are not in the refusing-to-pay group. If you were, i hope u understand what i am talking about here, and please do persuade ur friends to pay for the mag?

Your cooperation is very much appreciated~

Assalammualaikum.

In Malaysian language, I'll call myself a kepohchi.
Which means, busybody.
Hahaha....

Lately, I havent got much idea on what to talk about. The idea came, but did not expand. Stucked there. Until now, I wrote two posts for today, but saved them as drafts as i ran out of ideas to continue writing.

So now, perhaps i'll just crap about love.
Love?
My mother told me that there are actually no love before marriage.
It was the westerners who bought the concept of love before marriage in our daily life.
Marriage had been for diplomatic, business or convenience reasons.
And love only come after the marriage.

Centuries back (i'm talking about Chinese Civilisation) or decades back (Malacca Sultanate), princess were sent to neighboring states or countries for the princesses to marry the autocrats there.
So, in this case, marriage had been for diplomatic cause.

Parents arranging their children's marriage because they believe in their own judgement.
They know that the other side will take good care of their children, and them as well.
Some parents were also forced to marry their child off to settle their debts.
I take this as convenience reason.

Business reason?
I think everybody in the world will know.
Marry someone rich, whose family runs a huge business and they will help ur business in return because a valid relationship exists between these 2 families.
But of course there are a lot more examples of couples getting married for business sake, but i'll not mention all.

Since small, i have been wondering, why won't these princesses argue when they were sent to a far-away land to be married to a complete stranger?
If i were them, i would have fought not to be sent out of my country to marry.

But when my mum mentioned about the inexistance of love before marriage before this era of ours, it made sense.
The princesses did not argue, because it was not a norm that young girls get to choose their own spouse.
Marriage had always been arranged.

Then came in "Romeo and Juliet".
Two young adults, falling deeply in love with each other to the extent of committing suicide.
Next, we have Titanic.
Another love story where the guy sacrificed himself to keep his lover alive.


-to be continued. ran out of idea
this time, i dont want to save this as a draft. i'll just publish it.
=p

continued on 18th Feb 09

So, where did i stop last time?
oh ya, love before marriage did not exist once.

one may ask why would we want to follow that, as that the arranged marriage tradition was practised long long time ago?
We should be moving forward instead of staying where we were.
After all, that's life, moving forward.
However, we must not forget that we must always move not only forward, but also to better.
Do you really think the blooming of love before marriage cases are better?



~The end

Fuh, at last i managed to finish this post.

Assalammualaikum.

I have been very2 busy this few weeks, with the ALMANAC magazine project in hand, and only one week of holiday left, i am practically sleeping less, eating more, and hopefully thinking more.

So, sorry for not be able to update this blog for now.
LOADS of things happen, with the Perak scenario etc, but too bad i'm not able to join in the discussion abt it yet.

I'll be writing again when I have time.
That's all.
Thanks for reading!
=)

p/s: The temperature in the Middle East is very low especially at night, let us pray that our Palestinian brothers and sisters can withstand the cold as they are having very little heater to warm themselves up there.

Salam...

I've got a story, an interesting one, and it's a real one.


What can we do remembering the fact that we, human are Allah's greatest creation compared to tiny little birds to help our Palestinian family? Are we now, trying our best to help them, support them and make full use of what we are gifted with, our brains and minds?


So, a former PM, whom I know had experience dealing with country's finance after 22 years of ruling, said directly that our boycott WILL NOT bring the economy of the US down. Are we still going to boycott US products? Are we still going to restrain ourselves from buying J&J baby powder, Clean & Clear cleanser etc, just to show our displeasure? It won't bring them down.

But, say we do not boycott. In the hereafter, we will be asked "Your relatives in Palestine was being bombed, was being killed, was being shot almost everyday for 60 years (up to 2009). What did you do to help them? What was ur effort to relieve them?" What can we answer?
Can we really say we did our best, we prayed for them night and day. Is it true? Is it really the best we can do?

I never deny that prayer is a Muslim's superweapon. But tat doesn't mean we do not have to do any other than praying. If tat is so, why would our beloved Prophet Muhammad S.A.W need to go to war? Why didn't he sit down, and pray that Allah bestow upon them victory? That is because, Islam do not allow us to leave everything to Allah without lifting a finger. We must work hard for what we want to achieve, and leave it to Allah whether He is going to bestow that achievement upon us or not. He knows best.

My point here is, DO NOT stop boycotting, just because it will not bring down the economy of US. But, continue boycotting because that is the best most of us can do. I am pretty sure some of us can do better. Some can donate thousands RM to Palestine, some can even go to Palestine to contribute. But for us normal citizens, boycott is our biggest contribution.

Warm warm chicken stool (a direct translation of a Malay proverb) To Malay readers, figure it out urself. Eheh...

Remember Fitna?
A short film by Geert Wilders, a Dutch parliamentarian.
It's a story which manipulated the verses of the Quran as if Islam is very wild, and cruel etc.
Enough of intro, bet most of us know what is the film all about.

What happened right after the film being released?

1. The whole Muslim World was in chaos.
2. Almost every Muslim in the world criticised the film.
3. Malaysia even prohibits the distribution of the film.
4. Malaysians decided to boycott Dutch products.
5. Philips, a Dutch company in Malaysia expressing its frustration towards Geert Wilders who made the film in order to stop Malaysians from boycotting its products.
6. Mydin helped in boycotting Dutch products.
7. "Boycott Fitna" was the most popular words coming out from almost everyone's lips.

What happens now?

1. Malaysians (not all) forgot about Fitna
2. Malaysians started buying Dutch products, again
3. Dutch Lady is still on the shelves in all stores in Malaysia.
   

Why aren't we not boycotting Dutch products now?
We stopped, becaue the issue is over?

Know what Geert Wilders said?

Salam..
Haiz.. Akmar ni, xde keje lain ke? Translation: "Akmar, don't u have other things to do?"

Oopss.. Sorry la.. It's not that I wasn't satisfied with my former layout, it's just that I love to have new things, innovations bla bla bla...
Umat Islam kan kena inovatif dan sentiasa bergerak ke depan... *Akmar, jgn suka hati nk kaitkan 2 bnda ni ek*

Passed or failed?

I said i don't want to connect to the internet yesterday, and i really didn't! So i passed...
But I also said I want to study hard for my upcoming Bio paper, and i didn't.. So i failed...

The Theory of Evolution

I will be sitting for my Unit 6B (synoptic) and W2 Bio tomorrow. Unfortunately, i can't actually get myself to study today. I flipped thru some pages in the A2 Biology Book, read on Evolution and Genetics, and realised one thing. - The book actually agrees with the evolution theory proposed by Charles Darwin. The theory that said we, humans are from the evolution of apes. In short, apes are our ancestors.


Upon reading the chapter on "Evolution Through Natural Selection" in my Biology book, i was ashamed at myself. Why? Because this is a CLEAR evidence that i didn't read my bio textbook. Eheh... So what have i been surviving on all this while?
As Akmar, i have 2 excuses:

a) Lecturer's notes are sufficient
b) I myself is lazy
c) We have just studied genetics 2 months back. It's normal that I haven't read that topic in the thextbook. Or is it?


What else would I want to say here?
Hurm, I don't have much idea now...
Actually, i do have a lot of ideas, but i havnt put all the ideas together and sort them out yet. As organisms need to be classified, (which is why we need Taxonomy and nomenclature naming to make it easier for scientists to do their research) my ideas need to be sorted out and classified too (perhaps it is called Akmarnomy?) - uh, i'm crapping...

That's all...
Thanks for reading my rantings...
Salam...

Eee..
The title is very controversial!
No, I had just said that i don't want to go online tomorrow.
And is started missing my blog though i am still online now.
Haiz...
Akmar.. wake up!
Allah gave u the facility to go online for 24 hours, is not for u to really use it for 24 hours.
But merely to see how u fare in this test of getting a 24hours connection and juggling with ur study time, housekeeping time and praying time.
So, let's not fail the test!
Full stop.
Salam....

p/s: Jihad is NOT putting on a suicide belt and blowing up a load of civillians! Studying hard, to get Allah's blessing is also a jihad.

Salam...
I had just came back from Chinese New Year Gathering organised by MACMA Selangor.
For those who doesn't know what MACMA is, it is actually Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association.

I said that my mum assigned me LOADS of task rite?
Well, actually she asked me to put captions for the multimedia presentation she did plus create another multimedia presentation. I spent my half day doing it.
We were supposed to present it during the dinner time but, Allah is more powerful, we can only plan. We couldn't find the cable to connect my laptop to the projector. So, what happened? My "blood and tears" were wasted. But, don't know, I didnt get mad. I was totally relaxed. "Lantak la, dh x boleh pasang, nk wat mcm mana?" Am i supposed to be like that? I don't know...


The dinner was awesome. The caterer was Restoran Muhammad Chan Abdullah, a Chinese Muslim restaurant located in Dataran Glomac Kelana Jaya. The food? Delicious... :-)


Performance? Oh yes, we have a performance from students from Sek Agama Al-Amin, Bangi. The group called themselves "Eminence" which means "Terunggul". Cool.. Their music was fresh, and interesting. They didn't use any percussions. I think they sang their own songs at first, cos I nvr heard of those songs b4. But their last song was "Merah Saga". Specially dedicated for Mujahideen in Palestine. And i loved that song! I am know googling the song, will try to post the lyrics later.



What amazed me during this event is the universality of Islam. Guess what? It is a Chinese New Year dinner by a Chinese Muslim association. But the guests consist of Malays, Arabians, Chinese and half Chinese half Malay. Oh, how I love Malaysia. Eheh...


Change Blog

Those who read my blog b4 tis, i believe u guys must have realised that I changed my blog from wordpress to blogspot. When i started to realise that wordpress doesn't suit me, I thought a lot, before changing blog. It will be very difficult to change blog as that means u're changing url as well. People will not be able to find ur blog anymore etc. I will have to announce to everyone that i'm changing url. Wordpress provided the redirecting feature which will redirect people who visits the old blog to the new blog. But, as usual, it requires money. So, i continued changing, as i don't want to regret in future when i have more posts in wordpress and it still does not satisfy me.

It turned out that

But today, as I googled Dr M's blog, i found out that he changed his blog too!
Haha, and I bet my life that he has more readers than i do.
If he can change blog, why can't i?
And if he did it manually, without paying the host to automatically redirect his readers to his new blog, why can't I?


My Last Exam Paper

Ok, i'll be sitting for my lst exam paper on Wednesday this week.
Biology W2 and Synoptic paper.
Freakieee!!
I haven't revise anything yet! And i really really mean it.
I spent my last two days in front of this notebook of mine.
Doing what? Updating my blog.... Reading people's blog...
Update my blog again... Read people's blog again...
And the cycle goes again.
Wasting time huh?
Well, say whatever u want, i like it.
But i know i can't continue doing it.
That is why I decided to not to go online at all tomorrow (Monday) except for (why do we must always have "except"?) emergency cases. I will only use my laptop for playing songs but not to go online.
I might do the same thing day after tomorrow (Tuesday).

My holiday plan

Holiday?
Huh, this time my holiday is really really short.
My last paper will be on 28th Jan, and my admission to IMU is on 23rd Feb.
That gave me only 26 days of holiday! Not even a month!
Anyway, as usual, I had my holiday plan ready.
Right after my last paper, i'm heading to Penang. Yahoo...!
To celebrate CNY with my chinese relaives. Can't wait for it.
Then?
I might go to Penang again with Farahin. To go round Penang.
In the mean time?
I have gotten myself involved with almanac (it's a yearbook for ALM). This almanac shd hv been piublished last year but, due to some reasons, it didn't.
So, i think with all these, i'll finish my 26 days of hols in no time.
Ok, that's all I think.
Salam...

p/s: Below is a lyric of Merah Saga song. Click here to get to the imeem page which host this song.