Timeline of My Australia Visa 476 Application

Now that my visa is finally granted, I am going to list down the timeline of the entire process for future reference.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
10 May 2014 - Sat for IELTS in Kuala Lumpur
26 May 2014 - Created an ImmiAccount for online visa application
27 May 2014 - IELTS result released
28 May 2014 - Submitted application for Certificate of Good Conduct (Sijil Kelakuan Baik)
29 May 2014 - Collected IELTS test report form (TRF)
1 June 2014 - Submitted application for Skilled - Recognised Graduate visa (subclass 476)
4 June 2014 - Scanned, certified, and submitted IELTS TRF and Form 80
6 June 2014 - Translated, scanned, certified and submitted birth certificate
6 June 2014 - Scanned, certified, and submitted passport
17 June 2014 - Applied for Australia Federal Police (AFP) National Police Check (NPC). The application seemed to have failed since no confirmation was received.
18 June 2014 - Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) requested for more information, to be submitted in 28 days (before 14 July 2014):

1. Malaysian Police Certificate
2. Australian Police Check
3. Medical Checkup

20 June 2014 - Made appointment to visit the panel clinic Life Care Diagnostic Medical Centre Sdn. Bhd.
23 June 2014 - Collected Malaysian Certificate of Good Conduct at Ministry of Foreign Affair (KLN), Putrajaya
24 June 2014 - Visited panel clinic for chest x-ray, urine test, and general consultation
25 June 2014 - Panel clinic submitted the medical report via eMedical system
1 July 2014 - Scanned, certified, and submitted Certificate of Good Conduct
7 July 2014 - Requested DIBP to extend the deadline since the AFP NPC has not been received
8 July 2014 - Reapplied for AFP NPC
9 July 2014 - AFP NPC application processed and mailed out
22 July 2014 - Scanned and submitted AFP NPC
23 July 2014 - Visa granted

The Most Spontaneous Trip of My Life

Recently, the most important matter is my visa application. Submitting the application doesn't guarantee a visa. All that remain is to wait for their reply and get whatever documents required prepared.

Before the application, the final step was getting the IELTS test report form (TRF). There is a unique number in the form that I need to complete my application. The catch is that we have to either personally go to British Council office in KL to get it, or complete a form to officially grant a person to take it on our behalf. They have offices in Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, and KL. Why do they not set up an office here in JB?

I sent two emails to them asking whether it is possible to get the TRF by post. I sent the first email on 23 May. It took them two working days to reply. My question was simple: Can I get the TRF by mail? Yet somehow, the person misinterpreted my question, saying that they do not email TRF to candidates, a fact which I had already known even before I sat for the test.

I never waited for their second reply. I realized that I could not wait any longer. On the night of 29 May, I bought a return bus ticket to KL. The next morning, barely 10 hours later, I was on a Causeway Link Express bus at Larkin Terminal. This is the first time I take a bus trip to KL.

Larkin Terminal was a mess of travelers and drivers. Early in the morning at 7am, there was already a huge crowd of people and vehicles. Cars and buses were going in and out of the terminal. Since I had booked the ticket online, all I had to do was go to the specified counter and redeem my ticket.

Fancy bus ticket

Anyone in Malaysia knows that traveling in this country can be dangerous. For this reason, I decided to travel light. I carried only my phone, wallet, and a worn sling bag containing nothing more than my spectacles, water bottle, and a small umbrella.

Carrying the ticket, I went to the specified bus bays to wait for the bus. I didn't know Causeway Link has express buses to KL.

They look pretty

I was the first one to board the bus. The seat I selected - or rather, the seat selection I was given - was the first row, just behind the driver. The bus driver and co-driver were middle-aged Chinese. I think I have seen the driver before, perhaps during one of my bus trips to Singapore. As the time approaches 7.40am, more people boarded the bus. The departure time was 7.45am, but there were two more passengers yet to board the bus. Eventually, the drivers decided to depart at 7.50am without waiting for the two.

Nobody seems to prefer the first row. The person next to me switched to the empty seats left by that two passengers shortly after departure. The bus stopped at Sri Putri to pick up more passengers before finally hitting the highway to KL.

The trip was rather uneventful. The drivers were talking about cars, phones, traffics, etc. I overheard them talking with the headquarter about a broken bus somewhere at KM178. Indeed, they stopped there to check out a stalled Causeway Link bus. Something about burst oil pipes. We stopped at Tangkak for a short toilet break before continuing to Terminal Bandar Selatan (TBS), the bus terminal that replaced the old Pudu terminal.

We arrived at TBS at about 11.30am. TBS is a lot nicer than the messed-up Larkin Terminal. The terminal is huge and clean, with an integrated shopping mall inside, though I didn't have the time to visit. Straight after alighting the bus, I walked to the adjacent KTM station. TBS is a hub that provides transit options for KTM and KLIA express.

KTM is notorious for being slow and crowded, and it lives up to its name. I waited until 12.00pm before the first train arrived. It was a short trip to KL Sentral, but still it took about 30 minutes to reach.

I walked around KL Sentral and calculated the time. It was about 12.30pm and I had to travel to KLCC via LRT, which could take about 30 minutes. I had to be back at TBS by 4pm, which meant I would have 3.5 hours to get to KLCC, walk to British Council office, and back. I decided to skip my lunch and get to the office as soon as possible. The TRF was my main priority.

The wait at the office was ridiculous. For some reason there were a bunch of teenagers and families waiting to be served. They looked younger than me, possibly students. They looked rich, and I dislike rich kids. Don't ask me why.

I obtained my TRF at about 2pm. It was in an envelope which they provided on test day. I remembered that we were asked to write our name and candidate number on it. Without wasting more time, I walked back to KLCC and went to Kinokuniya to buy a plastic folder. I didn't want the TRF to get wet. I had always thought the books in Kinokuniya are more expensive. The stationery was no exception. RM3 for a simple plastic folder? No way! I could get it at 50 cents.

KLCC was crowded too. There were youngsters (school holiday) and working class people (lunchtime). I dislike crowded place. With nothing more to do, I traveled back to Sentral and had my lunch. Sentral was crowded as well. I wanted to grab some McDonald's but the queue lines were too long, plus there was no more seats. So I went to KFC instead. Queue lines were not as long, and there were seats. Good enough for me.

Departure/Arrival board ala Airport

I finished lunch at 3pm, waited for KTM until 3.30pm, reached TBS at 3.50pm. TBS was, as expected, crowded with people queuing to buy tickets. Luckily I booked my ticket online and boarded the KKKL bus at 4.20pm. Another uneventful trip.

We arrived at messed-up Larkin at about 9pm. My parents were soon there to pick me up.

And that is how I went to KL and back in one day without any planning.

The Waiting Game

May 31, 2014 marks the day I submitted my application for an Australia temporary working visa; specifically, the Skilled - Recognized Graduate (subclass 476). I should have done this last year, before I finished my study, but something has been creeping inside me.

I went to Australia full of spirit back in 2011. It was the first time I boarded a plane and left Malaysia. The first year in Australia was good; I managed to make a couple of new friends and was all excited about the new experience.

6 months (1 semester) later, one of my new friends left the school and migrated to the USA along with his family. The next semester saw another friend of mine graduating. They were the ones I always stuck together and they were leaving the school one by one. By the end of 2012, I was alone. I still had my group members, and they were a nice bunch, but they somehow felt distant. Perhaps the problem lied not on them, but me avoiding a close relationship with them.

2013 was my final year at RMIT. At the start of the year, I was hit with a great disappointment. We were given 5 preferences for our final year project. I had always thought I would get my first choice (Object Detection). In fact, I was so confident that I started brushing up my object detection programming 3 months before the decision was made. Eventually I was given the third choice of making a digital hourglass. From that moment, my life went downhill. Figuratively.

2013 was an uneventful year. I could have completed my study mid 2013, but due to differences in semester period, I was forced to study for 2.5 years instead of the required 2 years. Naturally, my final year was very relaxing, with 4 subjects to study in a year.

But I noticed something. I started to get distant. I didn't mix with any friends anymore. I became a loner, preferring to stay in my room than going out. I became lazy and laid-back. I lost interest in many things in life. This continued for a year.

Eventually, it evolved into a habit. It crept into every corner of my body and mind. After graduating, I had no goal, ambition, or direction in life. The idea of working scared me. All I wanted was just rot at home, so to speak.

This is why I sat for IELTS and applied for the visa in May. It's already mid 2014. I have wasted 5 months doing nothing productive and decided to change, even though I do not know where this path will lead me to. It is a blind bet.

Today I received an email stating that the immigration office has received my application. They requested for a long list of documents. Some of them require appointment (such as medical check-up) and long processing time (I am looking at you, PDRM Certificate of Good Conduct). It might take them few months to approve my visa, so I set a deadline: if there is no progress by the end of July, I will start searching for jobs in Singapore.

So start the engine and let the Waiting Game begin. I have wasted enough time already.

A Sudden Turn

When I was looking up on information about the Australia graduate engineers working visa, I found some people on the Internet commenting that it might take several months for the visa to be approved. I was being too optimistic, hoping to fly straight to the country around June or July, after I sat for IELTS and obtained my visa.

If that is the case, I may have several months, if not half a year before I finally fly to Australia. So instead of sitting around and waiting, I sent job applications to some local companies, hopefully to fill my 6-months gap with basic working experience. I didn't really expect much.

Then this afternoon, an email arrived at my inbox. The subject is about an interview of an electrical design engineer position. The sender's name is not local, and I see that her address is from a company called Rutherford Global Power. This is a reply of my random application for a company in Nusajaya. I didn't check its background. It was a random and blind try.

I was about to reply the email when father came home and took me and my brother out for lunch. During lunch, I received a phone call from an unknown number. I didn't look clearly at the number, but I saw it started with the country code +61. My first instinct was that it must be one of my friends using their Singaporean number to call me.

The person on the other side turned out to be a female, with a slang that is definitely not from Malaysia or Singapore. The person introduced herself and explained to me the reason for the phone call. It was the sender this afternoon.

"I noticed from your application that you have studied in Australia before, am I right?"
"Yes, I have."
"So I assume you will not have trouble understanding what I am saying. *chuckle*"

It was a call regarding the interview date and time. She briefed me with the company location and some details on the interview. It was only until after I hung up that I realized the country code +61 is, in fact, Australia.

A quick search on the Internet revealed that Rutherford Global Power is part of a group called Rutherford Group, which is an Australian power/utility company. I wanted to work in Australia, but due to visa requirement, I chose to stay in Malaysia for the time being. I didn't expect to get an offer from an Australian-based company here. It was a very lucky coincidence.

At the time of writing, I am waiting for the interview, set at two days later. I hope the interview goes smoothly and satisfactory.

Day 4: First Outing

It's day number 4 since the day I planted the seeds. All this while, the seeds are put under the roof in the garage. The sunlight they see is from the surrounding area, not direct sunlight. So, on this fourth day, I let them out to bathe in bright and "yummy" afternoon sunlight.

They look happy. Or so I think.

There have been a lot of activities in the pots since day 2. Most of the seeds have sprouted beautifully with two oval leaves. Their stalks are growing taller and taller each day. The instructions on the seed packet state that the flowers need a lot of sunlight to thrive. They recommend something called a flower booster and foliage booster to increase the flower number and speed up the growth respectively. I prefer not to use any artificial nutrients because I want to see how well the seeds thrive in a semi-natural condition.

(N.B.: I called it semi-natural because it involves manual watering, which is, strictly speaking, not natural.)

I also notice something called phototropism. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo to show. What I noticed is that the stalks grew towards the outside of the garage. Basic science taught us that plants tend to grow towards the sunlight, and it is evidently shown in my case. The garage is filled with sunlight from each side, hence by putting the pots on the inner side of the garage, they will grow towards the outside. Now most of my plants are slanted to a direction, which I always frown upon. I want them to grow straight up.

Nature is amazing.

Day 2: Sprouting Gracefully

In the previous post, I said that a weekly update on this subject should be sufficient. Well, I didn't expect to update this after such a short time. On May 17, I woke up to see this.

Snapshot of Day 2

Initially I have an idea of setting a different condition for each pot. I only planted one seed in each pot, except the green pot, which I put in four seeds. Then my father advised me to put in multiple seeds to increase the chance of germination and also increase the amount of dirt. After digging up and planting them many times, I don't specifically remember how many seeds each pot contains anymore, but I know that the green pot still has the most number of seeds. So it is not surprising to see the green pot sprouts first.

Two successful germination

The purple pot is intentionally filled with less dirt to see how the seeds strive in thinner dirt. The other pots doesn't specifically have any special condition, as far as I know.

After closer examination, I saw that the pink pot showed activity as well.

Barely visible activity

The rest doesn't seem to have any changes as of now.
 
From this I learnt that nature is amazing. The seeds are buried under layers of dirt, yet they manage to push through and sprout so gracefully. We as human could certainly learn something from nature: the will to survive no matter what.

Day 0: Placing the Seeds

Couple of weeks ago, I went to a local supermarket with my girlfriend. When we walked to the gardening section, I had a sudden urge to learn the skill. The varieties of pots and seeds piqued me.

My mother can be considered an expert in gardening. Back before we moved, she had already planted a number of fruits. From nangka (jackfruit) to watermelon, mother has tried to plant several produces, although not all are successful. Our new home has a huge yard, giving mother the perfect canvas. There is already some durian trees in the yard, but through my parents' hands, they transformed the mostly dilapidated yard into an orchard. Next to the house, there are tidy rows of pineapples. In the garage, several chilli bushes grows in a tidy column. At the back, there are even more fruits and vegetables which I do not even know we have.

After seeing all these gardening, and the gardening section in the local supermarket, I decided to venture into the field. Eventually it took me couple of weeks to finally start doing.

Yesterday, after renewing my passport, I went to the Giant supermarket near my house. The gardening section is not as big as I expected, but they still offer a selection of pots, watering cans, and seeds. Most of the seeds on display are vegetables such as tomato (well, technically it is a fruit, but let's ignore that), salad, lettuce, cucumber, and the likes. They are also rather cheap at RM2.99 per packet. At the bottom of the display are the flower seeds. I have never heard of all of the flowers on display.

The first one to catch my eye is the purple Delphinium, but after a quick search on the Internet, I found that it has some toxicity. Lacking choices, I picked the Dahlia-Flowered Zinnia, scientific name Zinnia Elegans.

Seed packet

Along the way, I also picked up a colourful stack of small plastic pots. Simply looking at them makes me wanting to grow some flowers!

Some time ago, father brought a pile of dirt and put them in front of the garage. I do not know what is the exact purpose of the dirt pile, but since no one is using it, the chickens and dogs made it their playground. They dug and rolled, and now there is a big crater in the middle where they usually lie in.

The dirt is dark and it looks "nutritious" and fertile. Taking the five colourful pots with me, I created another crater on the pile. Poor chickens, their playground is disturbed!

Colourful pots

The flower seeds are smaller than I expected. They look like dried leaves instead!

Dried leaves or seeds?

Initially I wanted to make a scientific journal to record the flower growth, in a similar way to what my friend did for his science projects; but I do not have a proper notebook to record, and also I am more familiar in typing than writing now. Digital notebook also has the ability to attach photos, which is good.

There was also small watering cans on sale in the supermarket, but I decided to cut down the cost. The 5 pots together with the seeds already cost me RM13. So, time to improvise!

Holes on the cap = instant watering can

I think a weekly update should be sufficient since plants do not grow very fast. I doubt there is anything to talk about in Day 1.

My life after graduation: Week 6

Every week from March 2, 2014, I will write a post detailing my life after graduating from my 4 years engineering course, such as weekly events, thoughts, life decision, etc. Hopefully in the future, these posts are still available to provide future-me something to laugh at.

*** 30/3 - 5/4 ***

This post is supposed to be written on April 6, but I had not found the mood to write. The previous week is skipped because I cannot remember what happened back then. So in order to avoid the same thing from happening again, I started writing down important things and thoughts during the week on sticky notes.

Sitting around at home doing nothing productive doesn't feel good. That is one of the reasons I picked up a skill that I have always wanted to learn since I first started engineering course.

My first more complex CAD

Strictly speaking, computer-aided drawing, or CAD, is not included in E&E engineering course. We are never taught on using this technique since it is mainly used in the mechanical engineering field. Mechanical engineers use CAD to design mechanical parts such as bolts, nuts, washers, and pipes. Architects use CAD to draft the floor plan of a building.

I first heard of CAD during my first year in engineering in Taylor's University. My friends in mechanical engineering had a subject which taught them CAD. My next encounter with CAD was during my 3-month internship at MMC-Gamuda, where a senior drafter in my department uses CAD to design and edit floor plans of the Klang Valley MRT project.

To me, CAD has a mysterious and professional feeling. Somehow I have an idea that people who are skilled in CAD are respectful. This feeling led me to pick up the skill while I still have free time, i.e. now.

The third reason for learning it now is that, after applying for engineering jobs, both in Australia and Malaysia, I have found that CAD skill is rather essential and highly sought after. This could be due to the fact that I am not looking solely at E&E jobs anymore; I found myself looking at just about any job that is related to engineering. The CAD skill requirement could have been listed in a mechanical engineer job and not an electrical one.

The reason I looked at a wider range of job is that I have finally decided to work in Australia. I realise that Australia has a significantly different economy and industry than Malaysia or Singapore. In my opinion, Malaysia and Singapore are more geared towards manufacturing and electronics; whereas in Australia, they are focusing more towards mining and agriculture. I realise that in order for me to work in Australia, my first step will be accepting a change in industry.

When I was studying at Taylor's University, I had a vision of working in a semiconductor or electronics factory. There is Intel, Agilent, National Instruments in Penang, WD, Motorola, and Freescale in Selangor, Seagate in Senai and Singapore, to name a few. Ideally, this is the industry I would be working in in the future. The decision to work in Australia completely conflicts this vision. There is hardly any Intel, WD, Motorola, Freescale job in Australia; instead, they have Shell, some mining companies, a few construction, telcos, and even accounting firms like the Big 4. Even if there are jobs from the large semiconductor companies, it will be highly sought after and competitive. Being a foreigner, I stand almost no chance at all. My only hope of working in the country will be under some unknown small companies, doing something unrelated to my degree, like drafting.

That is why I choose to go to Western Australia instead of Victoria, the place where I completed my degree; and the first step in achieving that is to sit for IELTS and get a temporary working visa. So on April 3, I registered for IELTS. The test date is May 10.

People have been telling me how it would be a shame if I let go of this chance to work in a foreign country. I plan to start a new life when I go there, and hopefully achieve the following:

• Become more mature to face the harsh real-life
• Be independent and solve any problem, ideally without any help from anyone
• Have my own place to stay, own money to spend
• Bring my girlfriend to Australia, either for holiday or long-term stay

I will give myself about 2 to 3 months to find a job there. If all else fails, I will return to work in Singapore to gain experience. Depending on the outcome, perhaps someday I will return to Australia again.

My life after graduation: Week 4

Every week from 2 March, 2014, I will write a blog post about my life after graduation. I want to record down my weekly activities, thoughts, etc so that in the future, I can look back at these posts and laugh at myself for being a fool.

This week had been quite hectic. My girlfriend was going through her first week of her new job. It was not a joyful process. The first week in any job is very confusing; there is a lot of things to get used to, people to meet, protocols/procedures to understand, etc. I am glad that she coped with it with no serious trouble at all.

I was supposed to enrol for an IELTS test on April 5 this week. My email to the Kolej Yayasan Melaka, where the test will be held, went unanswered. Usually, people would call them directly to enrol into the test when the school did not reply the emails. Somehow, I didn't do it. I didn't call the school.

On Tuesday, my father's X-Trail broke down near Senai. He called me to go pick him up after he sent his car to a workshop. After examining, it turned out that one of the car's sensors had broken. Wednesday was spent on getting the sensor and fixing the car up. On the same day, the Kancil almost overheated. A quick check showed that the radiator was leaking. Thursday was, again, spent on fixing the small car up.

When my father and I were at a tyre workshop on Thursday, the mechanic asked him about my future. Father said that he wanted me to work in Singapore, but I didn't want. This casual conversation sparked a dilemma inside me. Just a day before this, my cousin had asked me the same thing. He was trying to refer me to an open job position in the company he works in. Adding these on top of my father's rant about how difficult it is to get a job in Australia, I was further thrown into the dilemma.

I had thought about this over the next few days. If I chose to work in Australia, I would essentially cut off my girlfriend's future employment prospect. She will be extremely difficult to find a professional job in Australia. She is not the type of woman who would rather sit at home and wait for someone to feed her. She is an ambitious woman, therefore restricting her at home would drive her crazy in the long run.

I was angry at myself because I had not thought about this before. I was being selfish. She has accepted the offer and is working now. It will not be good if she quits her job now. So I hesitated: Do I sit for IELTS, get a working visa, fly off to Australia and start a new life, or, as much as I hate to say this, do I stay here and work in Singapore?

I dislike Singapore. I find it too small and claustrophobic, with people thronging everywhere. I hate crowded place. Singapore is not among my top choices of place to work. Yet, as written in the post in week 2, we have to face the reality. Disliking a place is not a valid reason for not working there. Singapore Dollar is on the rise lately and more people are trying to get into the island to earn a living. Singapore know this; they have increased the foreign worker levy from time to time, thereby discouraging employers to hire foreign workers.

That is one of the reasons I had started to consider working in Singapore. Maybe it is not such a bad idea? At any rate, I will have to decide quickly.

My life after graduation: Week 3

Every week from March 2, 2014, I will write a post describing my life after graduation, from relaxing (guiltily) at home to job hunting. Someday, when I am working my life away, I will look back at these posts and be like, "Heh."

My girlfriend has accepted a job offer. It is an auditing job in an electronics/plastic molding factory. After considering all the offers she has received, she decided to join this. Somehow, I have a mixed feeling about this. On one hand, I am happy that she has finally gotten out of the unemployment days and is going to start collecting paycheck soon. On the other hand, I feel that work takes away our freedom. Work means we can no longer loiter around the town enjoying food and fun. Work means you will be a slave 5 days a week, at least 8 hours a day. Work means the beginning of the largest part in our life.

But then again, I am happy she has started to get a hold of her life, whereas I am sitting around doing nothing useful or meaningful. My friends are rather envious of my current life, but I am not happy. I still don't have a clear plan for my future. What will I be? Where will I be? Those are the same questions I kept asking myself, every night and every morning.

The whole week was spent on getting my girlfriend acquainted with the route to her workplace and driving. She was nervous at first. Driving to an unfamiliar place is not an easy task. You have to memorize the route and any landmarks while at the same time be watchful around you. Traffic is not as safe as it was 10 or 20 years ago. Vehicles are getting more every year; drivers are getting more aggressive. I am happy that she handled the learning quite well. By the 4th time we practiced the route, she was already familiar with moderate traffic.

Now that she is starting to work, we won't have as much time to go around town as before. It has given me time to start preparing for my IELTS tests, which I also have a mixed feeling about. I am worried I could not pass the test with band 5 or above. I will have to, because the Australian working visa requires it.

Though to be honest, as mentioned, I am still not very clear about my future. What will I be? Where will I be?

My life after graduation: Week 2

Every week (hopefully) from March 2 2014, I will write a post detailing my life after graduation. Later, when I am working my life away and having a family, I will look back at these posts and be like, "Heh."

There was no badminton session last Saturday. My friends seemed to be busy with their own life, either working or having fun time with other people. So there is no more "have-you-found-a-job" type of questions.

Having no idea where my future leads to, I was busy helping my girlfriend with her job applications and interviews instead. She was quite reluctant in finding a job in her field, but we all have to face the reality somehow. The society nowadays has often shaped us into mindless robot, working to make ends meet. Reality sometimes forces us to give up our dreams, because our dreams "just seem too farfetched."

Sure, we can let go of everything and take the risk of working towards our dreams. That is how successful people always advise us to do. "Take the leap of faith." It takes a lot of courage and perseverance to do that, because sometimes our dreams are not really suitable in current society.

When I was young and naive, I used to be dreaming to be an astronaut, which sounds rather silly. When I have grown up, I realise that things aren't always as easy as we think. Being an astronaut requires rigorous training; military background is almost always a must. The fact that I am living in a developing and rather unstable country means my chance of realising my dream is really slim. So I decided to give up and chose a more realistic path: becoming a professional.

I hated electronics. When I was in secondary school, my best friend asked me to join the Electronics Club with him. It was not a popular choice at that time. I remember there were only the two of us in the class. Most of the students either joined the brigade, uniformed bodies like scouts, bomba, etc, or simply ponteng. I had hard time understanding circuits, which made me hateful towards electronics.

It was not a well-thought decision when I chose to enrol into electrical and electronics (E&E) engineering in Taylor's University. I was not really interested in the other engineering courses, mechanical and chemical. With the guidance from several good lecturers, I slowly developed an interest in electronics. I did not regret choosing the course.

But becoming a professional engineer is never my dream. It is due to the society pressure that I have to choose to be a professional. During my graduation, I witnessed the sheer amount of graduates my university churned out every year. The world suddenly becomes a giant competition; every graduate is fighting for a place. Without a degree, we stand no chance in getting a respected job or climbing up the corporate ladder. Society has shaped us into mindless robots.

Seeing my girlfriend attending interviews made me feel proud of her. She walked into the offices alone and got interviewed by professional people. She does not even speak fluent English, which is exactly why I admire her. She is courageous and determined in facing her fear. After going through several interviews with several companies, meeting good and bad people, she has finally gotten a job. It is not her dream job, but it will make do for the time being.

13 applications, 3 rejections.

Whereas for me, things are looking quite gloomy. Currently, after 13 applications, I still do not have any job offer. I know the reason, but I do not feel like dealing with it. To force myself to change, I have determined to sit for IELTS, which is a prerequisite for applying an Australian working visa, in April and possibly May. This will be my first step in changing my life.

Although I am not entirely convinced, I may have been suffering from mild depression. Symptoms of depression include oversleeping, feeling sad, hopeless, and irritable, difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions, etc. Most of these symptoms are consistent with what I am feeling recently, but I am sure I will get over it soon.

Once I sat for IELTS, got a visa, and found a job, I will proceed to change my life for the better.

My life after graduation: Week 1

"Have you found a job?"

That is the question people keep asking me recently. Last night, I went to play badminton with friends. I had not met some of them for a long time, and we did not really do any catch up to each other before this. Among the first questions they asked me was about job. It is not unexpected since they did not even know I have officially graduated.

It is now March 2014. I have been unemployed for 3 months. Strictly speaking, this is not Week 1. I suddenly come up with the idea for this title today, thinking that I should write down weekly updates of my life after graduation until I found a job. A lot of things have happened in the past couple of months, but I will just skip them and start counting from today. Someday in the future, when I am working my butt off as a senior engineer or manager or whatever, I will look back at this blog (assuming it is still here), read this post, and be like, "heh."

That being said, finding a job has proven to be difficult recently. Last night badminton session was also a chance for me to catch up on friends. Some of them have been working for quite some time in Singapore, while others have chosen to stay here. There seemed to be an invisible line separating us now. Those who have started working tend to group together and chat, talking about future plans, economy, work stories, gossips, etc. With no experience in working whatsoever, I find it difficult to mix with them.

Feng came to me to talk about movies and stuff. He is the type of person who will try to find something to talk to you, even when there is nothing to talk about. While chatting about life, I told him that I still keep the volunteer badge we got from participating a volunteer program for a charity which I do not remember. I think it had something to do with a banquet, but neither of us can be sure.

The badge with the word "Volunteer" in Chinese

"Isn't it great that we have at least done something special during our secondary school life?" Feng is the kind of person who would rather lead a eventful life than a boring, monotonous one. He told me that we should live an interesting life so that at the end of our journey, we will look back and reminisce those crazy things we did in our younger years. The same viewpoint is also shared by my girlfriend.

Throughout my life, I have never really had such idea. I am a rather... boring and laid-back person. I never aim to be adventurous, hoping instead to enjoy life as it is. Over the years, I have realize that such method of living is considered rather wasteful. To quote a Discovery Channel advertisement back in 2008, "The World is Just... Awesome."

"I love the whole world!"

When we were talking about career, he suggested that I should start by joining some volunteering work or temporary position such as in the event of PC Fair or book fair. We can pick up a lot of knowledge and skills just by participating in it, while at the same time earn some quick money. It is not a bad idea, and I admit that I did not think of that as a possible solution for my current jobless situation, albeit a temporary one.

To be honest, all these sitting at home and relaxing is making me lazy and introversive. I think it is about time I start to make some changes to my life.

"Life doesn't get better by CHANCE. It gets better by CHANGE."

Nobody likes to be old

I have been thinking of writing a new post for several weeks, but could not get my lazy hands and brain to write. Today is probably a good day to change.

For the past couple of months, my grandmother has been in a state of delirium. At least that is what my brother think it is. From what I can gather, delirium is not an illness; it is a mental condition where the patient is confused. Depending on how severe the underlying illness is, the confusion ranges from mild hallucination to severe schizophrenia.

I was not aware of grandma's situation until a week before Chinese New Year. It was a Monday. My mother was skipping her work for half day to take care of housework while we wait for my aunt to come. While I was waking grandma up at her bedside, I stepped on a puddle of liquid. It was yellowish. I suspected it to be urine, but I did not alert my mother as she was busy.

30 minutes later, my aunt arrived and was shocked to find out about the puddle. I overheard her asking grandma about it, and grandma explained that she was not feeling well and unable to hold her urine, hence the puddle at bedside. Once, mother called me from office asking me to give grandma some medication inside the fridge. Aunt told me that grandma had been talking nonsense. I still did not know what happened.

Few days later, my parents revealed to me that, on a trip to the hospital weeks before, grandma was diagnosed with urinary tract infection. UTI is one of the causes for delirium. This explains the urine puddle, the strange shoo-ing sound grandma has been making when she looked out of the windows of her room, and some other weird nonsense she has been talking about. Father said she told him once that she saw some trucks outside our house and believed them to be Japanese troops.

Grandma is nearly 90 years old now, which means she has been through the Japanese occupation of Malaya back in 1930s. I think words cannot describe the horror she has seen or felt. It must have been so traumatic that she is having hallucinations of Japanese troops outside our house. Apart from that, she also claimed to see some weird people with long teeth, which I think resemble the traditional Chinese zombies. Late at night, she would wake up complaining about some "mosquito" buzzing around in her room, and that she would use the insecticide to kill the imaginary pest.

Fortunately, delirium and the underlying UTI is not permanent. The medicine mother instructed me to give grandma was an antibiotic, leftover from 2 years ago when grandma was having the same condition. Now, after about 2 months, grandma's condition is slowly improving, although she still warns me and my cousin (who comes to visit her almost every week) about the long, dark road cutting through oil palm estate leading to our home. Throughout the day, she will never fail to peer out from any window, or take a peek from inside her room through the windows, or check to see if the front door is locked, or close any curtain. God knows what she sees. From the look of her weary and pale face, from the way she curls up in the curtain while looking out of the windows, I can only imagine it to be something horrific.

During weekdays, my aunt will come and take care of and provide company to her. She goes back to her house every Friday night, except on special occasions. Without my aunt, grandma looks lonely. She and the rest of the family do not share a lot common things to talk about. My 2nd aunt will occasionally call to check on her. Apart from that, she seldom talks. Daily activities include going to the toilet, using the foot massager in living room, folding clothes, talking on phone, and sleeping.

Nobody likes to be old. By being old, we are haunted by numerous diseases and illnesses, sometimes life-threatening. We are haunted by regrets, if any, memories of loved ones, and loneliness. Our body weakens; our mind deteriorates. We count to our unforeseeable demise, waking up every time to breathe a sigh of relief that we are still able to wake up.

After all, at the end of the journey, all we ever wanted was just to live and see another day.

2014: Blog updates, World updates, Betty grounded

Happy New Year 2014!

It is rather embarrassing that it has been 1.5 years since I last written here. Blogging used to be a popular activity among my friends back in the 2000s. With the advent of microblogging sites, blogging has seen a decline in usage. There used to be almost a dozen links in the You may also like section at the right sidebar, but over time most of the links are dead.

From what I gather, Yahoo! acquired Wretch.cc, a blogging site most of my friends used, and shut it down on December 26, 2013 (an act which Yahoo! has been notoriously known for. They acquired one of my favourite to-do apps Astrid and shut it down soon after.)

Lately there has been a resurge in my blogging interest. I want to record down my feeling at this point of my life, hoping that in the future when I looked back, I would laugh at how silly I was. So here I am, sitting down staring at my laptop, trying to resurrect my old, dusty blog. And this post is going to kickstart the blogging engine once more (God forbid I stop blogging again.)

2014 is the year my student life officially ends. It might be the year I started working professionally. It might be the year I moved overseas. It might be a year full of life-changing events.

Ushering in the new year is the news of extreme heat wave in Victoria, Australia, with temperature soaring to 44°C. On the other side of the world, the U.S. is hit by what is dubbed as the polar vortex, where temperature drops to -53°C (colder than the Arctic!) I am not sure this is a common occurrence but it does make me wonder what has happened to Earth.

On a more personal notes, after coming back from Australia and with an ample amount of free time to spend, I decided to get back into my RC hobby. My old, dusty Betty has not been flown for more than 2 years if I am not wrong. Having bringing her back here, I swore to let it soar into the sky once more.

Unfortunately, while I was testing out the receiver and servos, the stock transmitter broke. It no longer binds with the receiver, and I notice that the LED does not light up as brightly as it did.

Transmit LED is suspiciously dim.

This leads me to believe that the transmitter is not transmitting anything. There are two options for me:

1. Swap the Futaba receiver from my father's Align TRex 450 and use the stock Align T6 (Futaba 6J) programmable transmitter.
2. Get a new transmitter.

Maybe it is time to get my own transmitter? HobbyKing has an OrangeRx T-SIX 2.4GHz DSM2 6CH Programmable Transmitter (w/10 Model Memory) which really piques me.

Flamboyantly catchy.

At any rate, Betty is going to be grounded (again) for quite some time now.

Weak willpower or weak body?

It has been 15 days since I landed in Australia and it has also been 15 days since I fell sick.

The day I flew to Australia, I was already not feeling well with sore throat. The flight only made it worse because I could not rest on the plane. When I arrived, the cold winter here made it even worse. Soon after that, I catch a cold, sneezing every few minutes. My brother said it was cold/flu season here. Guess I was not very lucky.

Then I got some kind of skin allergy. I don't know the cause because it was the first time I had such a severe skin allergy with itchy rashes all over the body. It could be due to the dirty mattress. It has to be, as there is no other reason.

Fast forward, I went through another flu, cough, cold, mild fever after the allergy. Then I realized something.

It always took me longer time to recover from sickness. Is it because of my weak willpower to believe that I can get through the illness? Or, more logically, my body is so weak that it took more time to recover? At first sight, I do not look like a healthy person, even though I once led a healthy lifestyle of playing sports every week.

I would go for the second reason since it is more logical. Time to get some rest.

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28 days

On June 12, 2012, I came back to my home country Malaysia. In the following 28 days, I would enjoy the best vacation ever since I went overseas with plenty of badminton outings, old friends gathering, window shopping, and of course, enjoying good food with loved one.

Second Flight

November 12th was the second flight of my life, back from Melbourne to Singapore. I wasn't as anxious as the first time, nor scared. I remember the first time I sit on a plane, looking out from the window towards the wing. I remember the sensation of the plane taxiing into the runway and starting to speed up.

Vacations

Yesterday (8th November 2011) concluded my first final examination period at RMIT. Maybe it is because I did not really feel any pressure on the last subject; there was no 'big relief' or anything after the exams.

No pomp and circumstance, as I always like to say.

OCD Virgo

I used to think I am a perfectionist. They say this is a special trait of a Virgo, aside from being very sensitive about hygiene. The reason I think I am a perfectionist is because I tend to do things over and over again to get the most perfect result. One very good example is playing a city simulation game called SimCity. Whenever I feel that the city is doomed to expand even only after just merely 50 in-game years, I will obliterate the whole city and rebuild it. And rebuild it. And rebuild it.

I have gone through a lot of different city designs, always looking for the best symmetry, the tidiest city possible. This is probably the best example of my perfectionism. Other examples include arranging notes to the tidiest possible, trying to keep a book from being dog-eared, and so on.

That was until someone during my Taylor's University years noticed it.

"You're OCD, is it?"
"I guess so." *laugh*

So the proper name for my behaviour should be called obsessive compulsive disorder, and not perfectionism.


And I am not hating it. That is what makes me special.

Recent Days pt.1

"Where'd you be? Weribee! *giggle*"
- old blind man to his friend, Bob, who is also blind

Friday morning started out as usual, waking up in the morning and taking a train ride to Melbourne for class. But that day was different.

When the train stopped at north Geelong, two big dogs entered and startled me. I don't usually see animals boarding train; it is prohibited. I quickly remembered one exception: guide dogs. Then I saw them. Two old men holding the dogs. Blind people.

The guide dogs, one black and one brown, guided the old folks to the seats just beside me. They are quite adorable, despite their big size. The old folks are friends, and they chatted light-heartedly.

I was sitting quietly, listening to music, as usual. I travel to Melbourne everyday morning alone anyway. The old folks made me unplug my earphones, and think.

There are two types of blind people in the world: those who think their life is meaningless and continue to sit by the road and beg for sympathy; and those who choose to accept their disability and live their life. The old folks in the train fall into the latter.

It was their optimism that struck me. Despite having no clue of what is going on around them, they continue to live their life as usual, going places, meeting friends, even taking train ride. Their conversations told me this. They didn't sound sad at all. Maybe they had gone through those time.

It made me realize how fortunate I am, being able to see the world. I had a few times, during some group activities, walking around blindfolded. It wasn't a very pleasant experience. Not at all. I felt scared, afraid.

I wonder how will I cope with it if I were blind. Probably I would fall into the first category, lamenting about my disability.

That is just me, anyway.

This post is published via Blogger for Android on my HTC Sensation.