Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Camera shopping, need help
Thus even as I’m contemplating on a Sony, I’m not closing my mind to other camera, but I am choosy and from what I’ve read and recommendations by friends I’m going only for three other camera brands, notably Canon, Panasonic and Nikon, sorry to all the Minolta, Olympus, Fuji and Kodak users out there ok. I think I’m going to stick to a point and shoot for now for two reasons; the first is that I’ve no income to spare to go for a true pro camera such as the Nikon D-70 or the Canon EOS350 though prices have gone down remarkably. The second fact is though I’m inclined to go for a professional camera to get the shots I want, my work brings me to some quite remote places and a bulky camera would be hard to take along and also hard to use in social gatherings thus a more compact camera will do wonders. So I’m going for cameras within the price range of RM2k and below at this time.
Though I’m interested in the specs I’m looking more for quality shots, the Sony P series has been good, giving me crisp pictures with minimal problems though there are still complains. Mega pixels have been on the increase though this isn’t in my consideration since a 5 mega pixel camera is more than enough for the current needs. My consideration has thus focused on a few models; Sony P-200, Panasonic DMC-FZ30, Canon Ixus 55 and Canon Powershot S80. Anyone out there using these camera and able to give some advise on which to choose from? What are the pros and cons of each, what do you find excellent in the models and more importantly what problems have you experienced with them. Appreciations beforehand.
Posted by Kervin at 11:14 pm 1 comments
Seniman Jalanan
Posted by Kervin at 7:53 pm 2 comments
Sky's Aflame
Posted by Kervin at 7:58 am 3 comments
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Iconic Symbol
Posted by Kervin at 11:43 am 0 comments
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
We are one big Malaysian family
It’s is always a cliché to portray Malaysia as being only composed of the three main races; the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians. When we are in fact made of out a tapestry of so varied a race that we may never see all of it within a single lifetime. Malaysia is populated by many, some famous and others forgotten or whose existence is not even known to a majority of people in the big city. By far Sabah and Sarawak itself boasts a wide variety of ethnic communities to boggle the mind alone. The Star's article published last Sunday brings to mind and make known this very important aspect. The article began articulating on the Bonggi people, a name I’m fairly aware of due to my many travels to Pulau Banggi where they mostly reside, yet in fact I have not actually met any of them before.
Why is this so? Many of the obscure people often live in places inaccessible to most, the Bonggi is a seafaring people whose main occupation is fishing and gathering jungle produce, all subsistence of course. The island of Banggi can be astounding to many that are not aware about it’s existence, it is larger than Singapore and sits at the northern tip of Sabah. There are few roads, making sea travel the main means of getting around. The town of Karakit has some modicum of modern civilization, several government offices, a clinic, ferry services to the mainland, electricity half the day and minor business activities. For those living on other lesser developed parts of the island, no such amenities exist. Theirs is a world not quite in the mainstream where the people are not in a hurry to go anywhere and their world mostly consists of their kampong, many know no other living. Though many of the younger generation are wandering out into the world and joining the society, many of the elder generations still prefer their lifestyle. Some have never ventured away from their village, others are more fortunate to step onto the mainland and see Kudat, and Peninsular Malaysia might as well be another world to them.
View of one of the islands fronting Kampung Karakit.
Truly it is like another world here on the island, it is immense traveling by dual engine motorboat still takes 2 hours to reach one end to the other. Time isn't too important, the day's rythm flows by and is measured by the beating pulse of the generator sputtering to life in the evening for 12 hours of power. Another unique feature of the place is its close proximity to the Philippines with only a few hours travel by boat to reach Balabac and Tawi-tawi. Thus borders are a bit amorphous, people do go across it time and time again making a blending of population, many on the island has no ic more so are not even citizens of Malaysia. Navy patrols are frequent and permanent stations of the army are present year round since smuggling is a main problem here, especially for cigarettes and syabu. But the modern world is encroaching into it, already modern stone housing is sprouting in several interior villages replacing the normal wood and iron sheet kampung houses that is the norm and plans are underway for improved roadworks to connect the island, Felcra is actively seeking opportunities to plant palm oil on the island and if a proposed Tun Mustapha Marine Park is finalized tourists will flock to this once remote island. We cannot deny to forstall development to the locals but to me it should not be imposed too forcefully and too radical a change in too short a time.
It’s great that the Star is highlighting such aspects of Malaysian life and I look forward to their next edition.
Posted by Kervin at 8:51 am 0 comments
Monday, September 26, 2005
Blissful Sleep
Posted by Kervin at 8:10 am 5 comments
Sunday, September 25, 2005
A night out in town
There technically isn’t much to do in Kota Kinabalu in the evenings, but a movie is always a good call seeing that only this week something nice came out to watch instead of all the horror movies and low grade films that were permeating the local cinema circuit these past few weeks. So we bought two tickets to watch ‘the Myth’.
Of all days it started to rain again today, winds were as sheer force as the previous week though the weekdays the weather was scorching hot. At least we were nicely tucked within the cinema with a box of popcorn and Cola. Dinner we had at ‘UpperStar’ Bar and Grill near the Kota Kinabalu Hyatt. The place was newly remodeled with the addition of a second storey recently and I must say they were doing a nice job with the décor and setting. We took a two seater in the upper floor with a view of the darken ocean and bustling streets. The rain was falling in a slow drip and the air was for one cooling. We had an order of the house specialties, Laura went with the Fish and Chips while I settled for their excellent Lamb Chops marinated in black pepper sauce. One thing I liked about UpperStar is the great service and affordable prices, the place isn’t too rowdy as with other bars and the ambiance is more akin to a diner than a dank bar, music is slow and easy and the television isn’t on full blast to drone out any modicum of conversation.
It was nice to be able to splurge a bit since my monthly pay was just made available the day before and it’s been a while since the both of us had any real time to spend on a romantic stint outside besides the usual dinner at the economy rice stall. Still we had a long day and the next we both have full schedules, she conducting three session of environmental education for work and me a full day traveling from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan so we has an early turn in, though I still haven’t packed fully my luggage even as I’m flying tomorrow.
Posted by Kervin at 5:36 pm 2 comments
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Swimming Lad
Posted by Kervin at 6:27 pm 2 comments
Holiday! Holiday!
So long Kota Kinabalu (for the moment at least).......
I'm flying off from Kota Kinabalu today (Yahoo!!!!) for a two week vacation back to Kuantan, my hometown! Will be updating from there. Click Here to Read More..
Posted by Kervin at 6:08 am 0 comments
Friday, September 23, 2005
Saying Goodbye to my Sony P-100
A week ago I was leading a sampling trip for the undergraduates to Pulau Banggi, as usual I had all my equipment and necessities with me wherever I go. I’m often careful especially concerning electronics and since I am dealing mainly in the marine realm, this requires extreme care since both electronics and saline water are anathema towards each other. I don’t really have to describe what a few minutes of immersion in salt water will do to circuitry.
Yet this time I must be slacking off, whereas I usually double bag my belongings, this time I only brought along a single plastic bag, and even so another cardinal sin I committed was to strap my camera to my belt instead of bagging it. This might not have cause any problems, but things went horribly wrong as I attempted to ascend the jetty after the first day sampling session ended. It was low tide due to the full moon and the distance between the boat to the nearest jetty platform was about 2 meters. Thus this necessitated a little maneuvering by clambering over the woodworks while avoiding the boat which constantly sways towards the pier.
Mr. Bujang, who was the resident marine expert hurled out his hand and asked me to grab it for leverage even though I didn’t like the prospect of having to depend on that single support alone. I should have aborted it or at the very least stow away my things before the attempt to climb but maybe it was due to the tiring session out at sea that made me forget such basic precautions and thus I had everything with me as I tried to make my way up. I caught his arm though I wasn’t too comfortable with the grip and slowly tried to get some leverage with my leg on the wood bar but it was high up. My other leg was still inside the boat and in a split second which seems like eternity events took a life of their own.
Weird that accident always seems to slow down in time when you’re in the midst of it. All I recalled was my hand loosening the grip, my leg slipping from the diagonal wood bar and the boat moving away from the pier while my leg was still inside it. Thus in this most awkward position I fell whole body into the ocean. Normally when I’m in the water the first thought would be to panic since I’m not too comfortable with swimming more so without a life vest of not being able to plant my foot down on solid ground. Ask anyone and they’ll say one of my phobias is drowning. Yet the funny thing this time is the very first thought was not the impending doom of me sinking to the bottom but ‘”Shit my camera is still on me and my wallet is in the bag I’m holding”. So much so I didn’t even realize that I was swimming and keeping myself afloat all the while shouting, “Grab my camera, grab my camera, don’t worry about me”.
In the end it was no use, I managed to drag myself up the boat but my entire belongings were soaked, my camera was flooded with sea water and was not functioning at all, my spare batteries and memory stick was with me as well when I fell (later I checked and all were proven dead) and my wallet too wasn’t spared. I was quite in the despondent mood and kept on uttering “shit! shit!”, wondering what if I did something different and my RM2k camera wouldn’t be in this mess now. It was the pits walking all wet from the jetty back to the seaweed project office.
Oh well after moping for a day or two, I resigned myself to fate and accepted what has happened has already happened and there was nothing to do about it to change things. Guess it’s off to shopping for another camera which is plunging my heart and a huge chunk of my wallet in very deep hole. So here’s to camera number three, when and if I can afford it. No photo taking for a while, sob.
Posted by Kervin at 11:19 pm 4 comments
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Countdown: 2 days till I’m back to Kuantan
Too bad its not all fun and joy, it’s going to be a working trip somewhat since my boss managed to wrangle me to be in Kuala Lumpur to help out for the UMS exhibition representing BMRI at the Education fair to be held at Putra World Trade Center next week. Still I’m glad I at least get to spend some time back home with my family, God knows a lot have been happening the last few months and it’ll be good to catch up on some family pampering and news. Still got errands to run, my computer will have to be sent to Twinhead to be repaired, the casing broke off and it has been marooned on my table for months and also maybe to shop for a new camera since my old one died on me.
Well so two more days and I’m home. I can’t wait. Maybe I’ll get the chance to meet some of my old friends back home.
Posted by Kervin at 12:43 am 0 comments
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Job opportunity available for marine biologist
Posted by Kervin at 10:45 pm 0 comments
Gems
Posted by Kervin at 4:50 pm 2 comments
Strange relations
We certainly make it a point to treat them nice, my dad especially never goes there empty handed whenever we arrive in Kl, usually buying something from Kuantan such as dried fish or stopping by Petaling Street to get a whole duck from Sey Ngan Chey (one of the more famous roasted duck stalls there) for dinner. We own a house in Kl situated in Kelana Jaya SS5 and since our whole family is residing in Kuantan, a cousin of mine and his family are taking up residence there while we’re away. It’s totally free of charge and we don’t charge a cent for it. In any case my cousin’s dad is really a no good lout (sorry to say it so frank) who never ever comes home and never pay a cent of support to the wife and kids, so much so that the other uncles and aunts are chipping in to help them keep afloat.
I have always gone back and stayed at my grandmother’s place (she resided there before she passed away years ago) whenever I am down Kl. Usually there isn’t much happening, we all stay for a while, uncles and aunts jostle to pay the bills for family dinners and after we’re done we head back to Kuantan. Times like these my aunt often is quite jovial though most of the time she declines to join us in visiting the other relations, stating she’d rather stay home because of all the housework to do.
Things seem a bit amiss when I was in university and was heading back for my semester break to Kl before boarding a bus back to Kuantan. That time I was still with my ex and since a large group of my former housemates were studying in Kl we wanted to meet up and catch up on old times. The problem was that we didn’t have a place to reside and since I naturally had a house there I decided to ask my aunt whether we could all just bunk in for the night (there were 3 of us) since some of us were from Nilai and UKM and we had plans to meet others at Midvalley early the next morning. Okay so I figured what can be such a big deal, it’s a small group of friends and we are just going to be there for a night maybe even not sleeping to chat the night through.
It turns out my benign intentions let loose a storm of controversy. I initially passed the message to my cousin since her mum was out to relay that I needed a place where some friends and I were to spend the night, at worst we’d just put out things there and head out to the local 24 hour mamak so as not to disturb anyone. Minutes later while I was studying for my chemistry finals, I got a call from my dad. He was hysterical and demanded an explanation why he was suddenly called by my aunt with reasons why it was not a good idea to allow my friends into the house.
Imagine, I called my aunt’s place just to ask whether it was ok, at the same time I was studying for my finals which was going to take place the next day and here my dad, as he usually does, was breathing fire and blaming me as if I had caused an international crisis without even allowing me to explain matters. I don’t know what my aunt told my dad about my request, but it seemed kind of overblown to illicit such a response from dad. I couldn’t even reason with him until later when I called mum and explained it through.
Mum told me that my aunt made it a fuss stating that my friends would be a bother to her family, that we’d be inconveniencing her household and cause disruption to her children’s studies. My God, she never does anything else besides being a clean freak and mopping the entire place twice over everyday and watching Mandarin dramas all day on Astro, so what inconvenience can we cause her. Plus for the fact that if she was so concerned about her children’s studies we could’ve always go out, it’s not like they study all night. The most galling thing was she did not confront me in person, instead choosing to go directly to my dad and telling her version of the situation without my knowing, that’s tantamount to disrespecting me as a person.
So its okay her son goes out for days and stays at his friend’s place while mine, who I have not seen for months are not welcomed even for a night? I was so indignant that when my flight from Kota Kinabalu reached KLIA, I straight went to the MAS counter and bought a ticket straight back to Kuantan, no need to spend a lousy night in an unwelcoming home. Yet when my dad and I were there when I was about to fly back to Sabah, once again she put on her cheery face as if nothing happened in front of dad.
Over the years, it seems that the same pattern was repeating and she seems ever more reluctant to put me up for any period of time. It was so bad that when I opted to work for my uncle’s firm, I stayed at my other aunt’s place so as not to bother her. After that incident I’ve never really felt welcomed, it’s sad because I had so many good memories growing up in that house. Whenever I'm I try not to 'inconvenience' her, going out through the day, not being a bother there, eating my meals outside and not depending on her to cook, but nothing works i guess.
Now the house in Kl is being put to sale due to the investment collapse of my uncle’s goldsmith business, my aunt and cousins have moved to a new apartment at Sunway Damansara (fully financed by another uncle as they do not have any income to speak of). I am planning a day trip back to Kl this September and my dad at first suggested I spend the night there, but she called my dad with various reasons such as there is no one at home during the day, her son is working at my uncle’s company, blah blah blah, in short a thousand and one excuses why she cannot accommodate me. Instead she suggested I stay at the other aunt’s place, so fine by me. I guess my perfect ideals on relations are shattered innumerably and though blood ties are often touted as unwavering I often find the worst feuds and prejudices come from within. At this point I think I’d be better welcomed if I asked my friend to put me up for the night instead of relations. Not to mention that the house now is being rented out to other people while we wait for the agreement to sell it and she went and somehow lost all the keys to the place, leaving us to fork out the bill to replace every single one there. Gratitude and family relations? Blood is not thicker than water, a hard fact in life.
Posted by Kervin at 12:24 am 0 comments
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Sea of garbage
Posted by Kervin at 5:50 pm 2 comments
Adult eyes only
Posted by Kervin at 12:04 am 4 comments
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Thousand Words turns 1!
It all started innocuously enough. Basically two things motivated my involvement online, a yearning to write and boredom. Yup you heard me right, blogging came about on a day when I was suddenly without a thing to do, since at that time I was just back from working in Kl and was just sitting about and writing my proposal for masters prior for submission. So in between slacking there wasn’t much to do. Adrian was the one that really got me into the whole blog thing, prior to that you just asked me what is blogging I’d wouldn’t know what to tell you in return. So he said, “try it, it isn’t hard and most of the functions by blogspot was built to cater to you newbies that don’t know squat about computing, and you're as hopeless a case as I've seen” The rest was history. Sadly I've just found out that he himself is winding down his blog, citing reasons such as his blog deviating from it's original purpose as well as a lack of time to update, guess I'm going to miss his entries.
The actual date the blog appeared on blogspot was in June 2004, but mainly in name only, I never really gave it much thought and wasn't motivated to build it up. Thus the first true forray was really on September 18th when I first began seriously twiddling with the functions and layout to the first inaugral post on the 20th. I started it for my own whim and fancies since I wanted a forum to showcase the pictures that I’ve accumulated throughout the years, plus there’s always the unrealised dream of becoming a reporter that made blogging all the more intriguing for me. From the start it was kind of personal, usually the two most regular commentators were Adrian himself and Jeremy, another one of my old friends now working in Germany. This was all prior to discovering the Malaysian blogsphere and more importantly Project Petaling Street, which was the catalyst to really deepen my interest. Sadly my blog's purpose in connecting me with my scattered friends were not truly realised, to date no more than a handful actually visits and many others are simply not interested in the web. I guess if people are not bothered to update their profiles in Friendster, the very same people cannot take the time to read entries and give comments.
It has been fun, I didn’t really ask for much of my blog and just let it developed by its own course, mostly posts about travels, a gallery of pictures and the occasional ranting. The early part was great, I began reading from other people’s blog and soon I discovered there were good writers out there with interesting articles posted in their blog, some are still here (nice ones include, 5XMom, Pok Ku, Marita, Acrix, Peter Tan, Messy Christian, fishfish, the Scarfer and a whole bunch of others) while others have gone or remain inactive (MDMafia, Buaya 69 reincarnated as Belacan, Baine’s World) but all made the blogging experience ever more pleasant than just writing alone. When things got bad these bloggers who only know me through my writings gave comments of encouragement, it was uplifting and also to share their lives through their writing made the days go by ever so nicely. It was never meant to be a popularity blog that is written to captivate the net's audience like many other out there, just my little space in infinity seeing that a few thousand blogs are born daily. When I do get audiences, more so those that interact with my blog, I'm pleased but neither do I mope if they keep away in droves.
I still enjoy writing though at times other priorities has made it take a back seat and also I’ve been reading people’s blog less and less. Recently too I guess traffic to my site not to mention commentators have been frequenting Thousand Words less and less. It makes me a little sad and though I don’t write to please people out there nor do I write about the more happening and controversial things in life, it does feel a bit of a let down that after a year my blog’s readership hasn’t really grown as many of the others out there are better known even if they have been in existence for far lesser a time. Maybe a little introspection is needed and the blame put to my own failings, yet a sense of failure does pervade. But I’m not letting that push me down, after all it’s suppose to be a cause of celebration and rather than looking at the glass half empty I should say it’s half full.
As with a new year I figure a resolution is in order, the first call of order is to set a target of 2 months to redesign my site, maybe making things neater and a more unique look rather than my old blogspot given template. Next is to get rid of the Adsense. Poof there it's gone! Yeah I know after months the total collection is only USD10 and it’s integration in the site, sucks (please go ahead and say so). So I think I’m going to get rid of it, at least those that are in each individual posts. Lastly I’ve been twiddling with opening another site (currently in construction mode indefinetly), one specifically for my travel posts so that things are neater to look through, I have wanted to do a blog site specifically for pictures as well but I haven’t found the time nor the motivation to do just that yet, so maybe in a future date.
So final words, to all who have given support by dropping by (especially to Lucia Lai, Bawang Merah and Messy Christian) and also for all commentators, I thank you for making the previous year a memorable one. I hope you’ll still all drop by often because it’s nice hearing from you all. Lastly if I’ve stepped on any toes of late, sorry about that and let bygones be bygones. Well maybe I’ll make it to two after all. Welcome to my little spot in cyberspace!
Posted by Kervin at 9:00 am 6 comments
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Silhouette
Posted by Kervin at 4:28 pm 0 comments
UMS 7th Convocation Ceremonies
An earlier session leaving the convocation hall as eager parents wait by the side to receive them.
The word convocation alone evokes vast feelings and emotions among those about to walk through the hallowed halls and receive their scrolls. The years of toiling, of late night coffees and staying up to complete assignments, the hours of lab work and study halls, the countless problems faced from the administration and generally surviving on your own in what may be a first time experience being away from home to most. All this culminates into this very one day, a day that may well make or break a person and a justification of all the effort and finances that has been put up to send a student through university education.
The large crowd of parents and students outside the main doors of the Chancelor's Hall before the begining of ceremonies.
For all the misgivings and bad experience that has been a staple for student life, this is the day that all can be forgotten, all made worthwhile and most importantly justified. The moment you know you’ll be walking in, moving up the stage with all the professors and senate members seated in full regalia and splendour, holding the scroll in your own two hands and walking down triumphantly, is a moment to savour and never forget. Some will not make it and may have to stay by the sidelines as their friends graduate but their time will come in future.
One of the parents adjusting the sash for her daughter.
This day is not the student’s alone, it is equally shared between the parents who made it possible for them to be here, of saving and financing an education in the hopes that their sons and daughters will be given greater opportunities in life; the educators that worked endlessly to impart the knowledge and endure the never ending chagrins concocted by the ingenious and devious pupils as well as friends sharing the same moment and experience along with you.
The long wait can prove to be difficult for many but still they wait and never complaining.
Many come from far and wide, parents from the kampungs congregate enmass with their huge entourage of extended families and even at times village neighbours to share in the moment; parents holding small kids and waiting out the tiring lines and crowded hallways to watch their progeny; boyfriends or girlfriends traveling the distance to share along the joy; Peninsulars flying the distance to partake in the ceremonies; elderly grandmothers facing the difficulties to be there; and many more instances of touching scenes. All come far and wide and gather in this very hall to bear witness to this momentous occasion. Just walking past you’ll be overwhelmed by the sheer atmosphere; here a mother helps her daughter to adjust her robes, another couple hugs each other, bouquets of flowers are seen everywhere along with gigantic soft toys, friends embracing in ecstasy after parting for so long brought together again for this day, generations of families congregating to witness a single family member graduating.
Various expressions seen from the crowd.
Rain or shine, tiredness and fatigue all are small prices to pay to be here and many do not mind what trials and difficulties faced and with smiles and feeling of pride, they come and they saw and they went back with a sense of purpose, of achievement.
Taking a break from the hectic happenings.
The graduates eagerly waiting in line for the procession into the hall.
The crowd was truly large, seeing that even with the ceremonies split into 4 sessions cars were still seen parked from one end of the place to the other and people were walking shoulder to shoulder trying to get in. The first session must be cursing as the weather that day didn’t hold and thus picture taking had to be postponed, the evening session was luckier and the weather broke to give a mild cloudy scene but no rain to hinder the required photo shoot. Those on Sunday would face the best weather of all, sunny throughout. The interior of the hall were chocked full, the stage seated by the lecturers as well as the chancellor and board of directors of the university, all in regalia with the cokmar in the fore, next came the ocean of black mortars and capes as the student took their place and lastly the back row were seated the parents bearing witness.
Enterprising bussiness selling flowers to last minute buyers outside the hall.
One of the countless boquet of flowers often seen as gifts to the graduates.
View of the convocation hall.
Graduates standing in attention for the procession.
The protocol team standing by to make sure everthing runs smoothly, mostly to prevent over eager parents from entering the procession area to take photo of their kids.
Crowd leaving the Dewan Chancelor after the end of ceremonies.
In the end after the ceremonies and fanfare, the most important thing that counts must be this;
The joy one parent’s feel for their child entering into the world. For many graduation is not the end, it is merely the beginning on the long road to life, with its inherent difficulties, heartbreaks and trials. Yet for this one day, all such thoughts can be dispelled, filled with euphoria and for some tears of joy. Thus this day will be forever etched in the minds of all in attendance. Congratulations to all, class of 2005.
People visiting the BMRI jetty for photo shooting session.
Posted by Kervin at 8:20 am 3 comments
Friday, September 16, 2005
Divinity
Posted by Kervin at 1:52 pm 0 comments
I’ve finally won something!
The very fact that the stupid Bendahari (treasury) of the university is dragging their feet is another bone of contention. After 3 months of not seeing a cent of scholarship money several of us finally decided to take matters up with the upper levels. We found out that the money was there but the bottleneck lay in the treasury itself. Thus after various meandering from every imaginable department I was finally given the number of a Cik Muhajirah who was supposedly the person in charge of it all. My colleague Audrey called first and was quite put of when the person not only acted unhelpful but in the end was quite rude by ending the conversation by slamming the phone down on her. My call to her to try to get an explanation of the holdup and to elicit what procedural matter still needed resolution before we see our cash was again explained in vague and non-transparent terms, stating that they’re on it and cash would be released in a few weeks time.
It’s a bit appalling that my other colleague Chen Fong who got the same deal albeit different payee (hers was given by the Ministry of Science while mine was by the UMS Foundation), got hers in a lump sum of over RM 10 K 2 months ago while we’re still stuck in limbo. Today at least was the first ray of good news when I was told the money was banked into my account already. A quick check online soon verified this though only payment for the month of August was received (RM 1,300 is still something), yet that means they still owe me well over RM10k for the past year, including a return of the fees already paid since it's covered under the scholarship. With this infusion at least I’m staving off poverty and starvation for a while, God knows if anyone without any other income and totally dependent on scholarship payment would already have dropped dead with no cash to support them.
The other piece of good news that I received lately came from Jeremy, who contacted me via email and told me that my article which was disqualified the past month had won the monthly prize of RM200! I couldn’t believe it at first and was sure it was a figment of my imagination but he soon confirmed it. That was enough to just make my day, just when I was going over the brink of despair. I really got to thank him personally one day for his help. Haha this must surely be the first contest that I’ve won that paid in cash. I’m touched really, not only because of the cash prize but for the fact that it feels good to know that my writing could even come close to netting something. I always envied people who could write and maybe I’m my own harshest critic since I’ve always doubt whether I could be equal to many of the other writers out there better off than me. Maybe this is just a small victory but it’s sweet nonetheless. So those two events made my week really. Well the money won’t last long though, I’ve already decided to use it to get Laura her graduation gift though I was hoping to have some extra cash to get myself a new DVD burner but that can wait.
Posted by Kervin at 9:45 am 3 comments
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Laura's Convocation (UMS)
Posted by Kervin at 11:53 pm 0 comments