And miles to go before I sleep

A lot of friends and other regular visitors to my blog have been asking me why I stopped blogging and when I would be back again. Well! I am finally back.

If you are wondering what happened, read on………..

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and emotions. Words can’t describe the feeling that I have now – it is as if I am floating on top of a cloud.



I am really and truly happy. Maybe it is due to the fact that my wife and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary recently. Or maybe it was because my daughter Rahil turned 2 in October, followed by my wife’s birthday 3 days later. Plus my parents were able to come down from Kota Bharu to celebrate with us.

If you thought that I was enjoying myself all this while, then it cannot be further from the truth. There were times I went into the blogging mode, like the time I read about the abandoned smiling baby in a bag. But I had to focus…..

I finally sent off my revised PhD proposal to my potential supervisor in UK. The next task was less taxing - revise and redo a paper for a journal, which I have since resubmitted. And just three days ago, we finally completed a chapter (co-written with my wife) for a book, a joint project with some lecturers in the Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya. The book is due to come out somewhere near of the end this year.

However, the biggest update.

People close to me know that I have running around Government offices for quite sometime now.

Only my wife knows the frustration, the tension, and the uncertainty we went through. I almost gave up

I FINALLY GOT IT!

That’s the biggest reason that I am happy. Happy may not the right word. Delighted or ecstatic would be the better expression.

I kept telling people, “I see some light at the end of the tunnel”. Now, I am out of that tunnel and into the sunlight.

My mind went numb when I heard the good news and I didn’t know how to react. In fact I was not ready to believe it until I got the letter in black and white. Then it finally sunk in – “Yes! You finally got it”.

I will tell you guys (those who don't know yet) what I am talking about when all the formalities are complete.

Tags: milestone

I am back

Finally back. Will be blogging more soon.

Lot of things to write about but this is all for now.

Wishing all visitors to my site a very

Happy Halloween, Deepavali & Selemat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Bye For Now

Dear visitors,
I will be on indefinite hiatus.
I love blogging but decided that I needed to take a break from the blogging world.
No special reason, just felt like it.

Endon Passes Away

While I was on the way to service my wife's car, I heard a shocking news on the radio - Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had passed away at the age of 64 after her prolonged battle with cancer.

It was reported that she passed away at 7:55am this morning at the PM's official residence.

Members of the public can pay their last respects at Seri Perdana, Putrajaya between 11am and 4pm.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been married to Endon since September 4, 1965. They have a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.

She had been fighting against the disease since she first discovered that she had breast cancer in 2002 and had recently come back after undergoing months of intensive chemotherapy in Los Angeles,

She is best remembered for her efforts to popularise and rejuvenate the Malaysian batik industry and more recently the Songket industry.

Less known is her involvement in various charity programmes. She spearheaded efforts to assist children in North Korea, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo and was deeply involved in breast cancer awareness programmes.

My deepest condolences to the PM and the rest of the family. Al-Fatihah.

Malaysia’s Golden Girl

Nicol David the World squash third seed, beat fourth seeded Australian Natalie Grinham 9-6 9-7 9-6 to win the women's singles crown in the British Open final on Monday.

On the way to the final, she beat world number one Rachael Grinham of Australia in five games. She came from behind twice to beat the double defending champion Grinham 3-9, 9-7, 7-9, 9-4, 9-1 in 69 minutes.

FYI, Rachael Grinham is Natalie's sister.

In his letter to her, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stated that "Saya amat tertarik dan berbangga dengan kejayaan Nicol (I'm thrilled and proud of your achievement, Nicol)."

Nicol who turned professional in 2000, is truly Malaysia's Golden girl.

Unfortunately Malaysians were sleeping at that moment and we didn't even get to see replays of the match on national TV or even on Astro.

RELATED POST:

Not Again

Waiting for the call

I haven't been able to update my blog for quite sometime now. The past few days have been quite hectic with work, meetings and other stuff.

I am now waiting for a call from the UK. It’s from my prospective PhD supervisor.

Yes! I have decided to continue with my PhD in the UK. I was pursuing it part time in University of Malaya but made the choice to discontinue it here and start all anew in the UK after taking several factors into consideration.

It’s a tough choice considering that I have to leave the security of my present job and the fact that have covered nearly a year in University of Malaya. And in the end I may end up changing the whole topic based on the area of interest of my prospective supervisor.

Another factor that adds to my feeling of insecurity is that even if I do get selected as one of the PhD candidates, I still may not be able to accept their offer if I cannot come up with the funds to support my study. I don’t have enough funds for the study and I would have to apply for a scholarship. And I can only apply for a scholarship after I get accepted into the University. There are only a limited number of scholarships and I would be fighting for them with people from all around the world. That’s why obtaining strong support from a supervisor is very important.

Fortunately, living costs and other expenses won't be a problem as my wife is going there too supported by the Malaysian Government.

I am not sure what he is going to talk about. I am praying that everything goes OK.

UPDATED 20 Oct. 2005:

I received his call while I was on my way to pick up my wife from her office. Talk about lousy timing. And my prediction was right, he expects me to incorporate some of his research areas into my proposal if I want him to be my supervisor. Now I am cracking my head wondering how I am supposed to do that. Guess I have to change my whole proposal.

Simply Not Enough

I love reading about new electronic gadgets. Quite a number I have my eyes on, for sometime now... a digital camera, a laptop, a new handphone and some other stuff for myself. Materialistic? I guess so but I would like to get other people things too.

I would also like to buy my wife a nice big diamond ring because that tiny one that I put on her finger on our wedding looks so small when I see the stones on other ladies' fingers. I would like to give something back to my father too after all he has done for me. And for our close friends.

However, something or the other keeps coming up and I never have enough money in the end. I could also run up a debt on the credit cards but that won't really solve the problem. Actually I could take out the little savings I have but that’s for unforeseen circumstances in the future - say for example, unemployment.

I remember what my economics lecturer taught us in University - "human wants are unlimited."

It's true. When you just started that job and took the LRT to work everyday and had to push into the crowded feeder bus and nearly vomited from the body odour, you looked forward to the day you could afford to buy a car - any car.

When you finally got that Perodua Kancil, you were happy for a while but got pissed off when guys in bigger cars bullied you on the road and acted as if you didn't exist.

Then you upgraded to a Proton Wira. Wow! It was like a dream come true but later you started casting your eyes on that curvaceous Toyota/ Honda in your parking lot. When you do get the Japanese car, I guess a Merc or Beemer is next. And it never ends.

Someone was complaining that only a few non-Bumiputra's are working with the Government (BTW, I am one of those few guys). This was from a guy working in a nice MNC with a handsome salary and perks. I would be happy to trade places with you anytime.

It's not that bad actually. I do earn more than a several other employees of our organization. Some of the clerks earn less than RM2000 and I wonder how they are going to raise those 5 kids.

I am really looking forward to our one month's bonus and was really happy when I learnt that we would be getting a pay rise too (not much but any rise is welcome). God bless the PM. I am supposed to have some money coming in but the stupid organisation (a so-called strategic alliance with ours) is delaying the payment.

However when money comes in, something or the other turns up.

I have our 3rd wedding anniversary and Rahil's 2nd birthday coming up this month, closely followed by my wife's birthday in November. Of course I have to spend some money. Then ther's the renewal of our maid's visa to take care of. We also have to give her some money when she leaves for Indonesia for a short break. Then finally, there's my sister's wedding in February next year in Melbourne.

Do I really need those gadgets? Actually, I guess not. There are a million other more important stuff to tend to - like my PhD (as my wife always remind me) and a future addition to our family.

I could certainly do with some extra cash in hand.