Oscar was never my name until I turned 18th. My dad bought me the very 1st PC. That pc was quite a junky one with big CPU and box-like monitor. Key board is white poping-out buttons and my mouse.. last me for 2 years? that is the gadget that died off earliest. I bought that PC from "orange", costed us about RM4k. That was a huge sum for us and that was the very 1st "dian-na0" (computer pronounced in Hokkien) in Tan's family. Just few days after the purchase, dad, mum and myself went on to shop for a "proper" PC table. The table is greywish office table with 3 drawers at the right bottom and the top drawer is lockable. We carried that back with our Pajero. We rearranged the furniture in my room and there we have a PC or probably I should say, I had a PC.
Oscar was a nick that I read in a paper. I was so active in mIRc and I just so addicted to it but only at night. :) I am not a discipline person and I thank God that I am just not a PC Game person. Those days to get on-line, we need to unplug the telephone connecting cable and plug in a cable which connect the modem to our telephone socket. So it means, no in-coming call from 8pm onward. :) That funny dial up sound is exactly the same as you pick up your house phone and dial "1515" following up with "dwen-dwen-zhh....gr....dwen-dwen... ". Over the weekend during the peak period, probably need to redial several times until it was connected. I met my 1st GF via mIRc and made lots of friends via that. mIRc then replaced by ICQ with that "ooh-ooh" message notification noise. I spent most of my time with my 1st gf on ICQ. Soon after that is MSN then Friendster. Now I am hooked up with facebook. I just couldn't live without checking what's up with my page and anybody commented on my pictures etc. Yes, I do enjoy praises, but I prefer "instructive comments"... :)
I wasn't "outstanding" in my primary school era. I was just an ordinary fat little boy who hate PJK warming up session. (PJK is an Outdoor Exercise Period. It is compulsory.) Don't get me wrong, being a boy I like all the competitive activities but sorry, just never the warming up session. Apart from regular 1,2,3,4; 2,2,3,4... warming up standard moves, we need to do a light jogging rounding the school and that means running in front of all the ground floor classrooms. Yeah, I hate that. Kids just never know what is light jogging and we just did it like it was a competition with total grand prize of billion dollars and being a "fat little boy", it tells you why I hate that so terribly much. My favorite games back then was basketball. I have no idea how I got hooked up but I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the ball goes into the net, even till this very day... I did quite well back then.. :) but I stopped playing since I moved to SG. Remember during one of the conversation with my cousin, he mentioned this..the type of sport would change according to you age. Enough saying of that...
As I wasn't outstanding in my UPSR exam, I was enrolled to "Transition Class" or more commonly known as "Remove Class". I was in one of the lousiest class with dozen of gangster-wanna-be. Burning RM5 in the class just made me so damn admired one of the bad boy in my class. (RM5 was big in my era okie?). KPB (Kelas Peralihan B) is the name of my class. B doesn't stand for Best. KPG was a good class following with KPF, KPE so that would probably give you some idea where was I. The 1st exam, I was amongst the Top 5 in the class. :) That was the very 1st time I could show my mum that my ranking is within 1 numberic-digit. Mum was amazed by that, in fact we all did. It doesn't matter that I was in the lousy class but the ranking is all the matter. Being Top 5 back then, which also means teachers would pay more attention to me. From there, I gain my confident bit by bit and there, I improved. The next year, I was in 1B (Form 1 class B). I did well... in poorer class... haha...
Form 2, I moved to Class 2H. School restructured in order to get the class smaller and also to get us be prepared for coming PMR exam. Class 2H wasn't the best class in the school. The class basically was formed up by those "better" students in the "poorer" class. I joint the class with few others friends. I remember the 1st day I went into the class, there are so many new faces. It was a total reshuffle. I sat next to Michael, one of my primary school classmate. The seat was last row from the teacher's table. Michael is a quiet person. He smiles a lot but he doesn't speak much. The 1st exam was a test for myself. I studied hard and I was in Top 10. I wasn't happy with that as being Top 5 all the pass 2 years just made my ego grows big as moon. I push harder for the 2nd exam and I managed to get myself closer to the top. English is always the pain in my ass... (even until now... ) Nobody tell me English is so important. Back then, everyone was telling me Malay is so important that if you fail the subject probably you would not be able to pursue further. Damn it. I wish somebody have told me Malay is just a language for 3 countries...I totally neglect my English.
There was a time my teacher gave me an assignment. He scribbled a name on a paper. "George" he wrote. He told me to go to class 3D (?) to get this guy to see him. I walked up to the stairs and politely knocked on the door. I spoke to the teacher in the class that I was instructed to pass a message to somebody in the class. I then pronounced his name.. "Geo-r-ge".....yes... i did it in Malay pronunciation. I remember vividly how the teacher looked at me with his eyes open so wide and asked me... am I at the right class.... That was really bad experience. Please, those who are parents, tell your next generation English is so important. It is an international language and Malay is just so unimportant. The politicians just play over it and making the people suffer. How far can your language goes my dear MALAY-sian... stop dreaming... opps.. swayed away...
Form 3, I did quite well then I scored...ehem... well... in my PMR (don't know how to explain but it is basically a nation-wide exam). So then, I was again reshuffled. I was placed in class 4S2 (Form 4 Science Class 2) and this time round, the number says it all. 4s1 and 4s2 were good classes. The result for both classes were at tie. Of course, some would argue that S1 was the best, I leave it to them. I didn't manage to get in Top 10 in that class but I never let myself wonder too far from them. There were few subjects that always pulled me down. History, Moral and... ENGLISH~!!!! damn it... I was so poor in History until I scored remarkably well in one of the exam and even the teacher himself praised me. Since then, I pushed harder and harder until I was rank Top 20 (in history) in the school. That happened towards the end of Form 5. (so proud of that..)
SPM (something similar to O'level) I scored quite well. Then I wonder off from my humble town. It was so impromptu. A call from a friend asking whether do I want to share the rental for the house (in KL) and I agreed. Then I went to KL, Taylor's College. It is a good college with very experience teaching staffs. I met more people and these people made me feel so uncomfortable. It wasn't for their character but it was the language. A country boy joining a class where majority of them were City Kids with English as their main language? I tried... I tried to pick up but swapping from Malay to English is really hard. After the 1st exam, I decided to quit. I went back to my school and my school just happily offered me a place in L6S1 (Lower Form 6 Science 1) and miserably I went on to U6S1.
I thank God for a pause on that and it was during that period I figured out, I don't actually want to be an Engineer. I want something in combination of Art and Math. These were my strongest subject from day one I picked up my pencil. Then I found myself in HBP (Housing, Building & Planning) in a Local University, USM. It is so far away from my home and I have to start with it all over again. With the bad experience during my trial period in KL, I am now more prepared. In fact I picked up "A LOT" in my english subject during the 2 years in Form 6. My a lot may means nothing to many but that would also give you a picture how bad was I before then.
HBP is a school with combination of all the construction lines. With QS, Planning, Management of course ID and Architecture. Architecture was the hottest pick. 175 (?) students all aiming for that 60 vacancies.
Uni 1st semester is basically to filter out the students from Design and Non-Design classes. After the 1st semester, it was clear. Those were placed under Non-Design group would then choose from their designated majoring. 1st hurdle has cut the number to 105 (?) and the 2nd semester would then decide who to fill up the vacancies. Of course there were some people who swapped from ID to Archi or the other way round.
I finished my 3rd year with a Bachelor of Science. To complete with Bachelor of Architecture we need to pursue another 2 years in the same school. ( Stupid system in M'sia where other country would granted us a Master but M'sia likes her very own way of managing their students...) Another round of filtering from 60 (?) to 24. Gosh... I thank God I made it through...
My Uni life was really sweet and special. I met some of my best friends here who really help each other when in need and I met my ex-GFs here to. :) ( FYI, none of the GFs work.. how sad...) Lecturers here mostly MALAYsian but I have to say that some of them are really nice people. Saying that also means, some of them are just literally to make up the number. Fair system? Pui~! (*spitting) enough saying on that before I go on long and wide. I thought I could improve my language there but sorry, they just so don't like it when you speak English. :) Graduated twice with the same costume, same atmosphere, same people and even the chancellor who gave us the "empty" roll was the same.
Sent out resumes to KL and Penang firms and I was so impressed by the interviewers in a Penang firm. I literally pushed away some better offers for them and it last me only 1 full year with them. Haha. I learnt plenty from them and I think I pick up some very precious lessons for that particular year. :)
I moved to Singapore. I sent out the 1st batch of letters, went for interviews but it doesn't works. Guess my language has not do me a justice. Then 2nd batch, I sent out 2 and repeated the same procedure and I gotten both. I am glad that I joined this firm which I am still working with them. I really grew up a lot within the past 2 years with this firm. Good and Bad experiences but I remember my ex boss said this..."Take it as LESSON LEARNT". Yes, every incident is a tutorial to make me a better person. I picked up tremendously but at the same time, I filtered out what I think otherwise. I just couldn't follow instruction if they don't have a reason to justify that. So, I was tagged as Stubborn, Inobedient and Lazy in the office but surprisingly, my client think otherwise. :)
On the way back from Vietnam, I read an article. It was a self-write-up by somebody who should be well-known but sorry, Oscar is really bad in remembering names. There is a phrase saying this... "You just couldn't satisfy everybody... there bound to have people to walk in and say, oh gosh... look at what you have done... We can't help but you have to be sure that, you enjoyed what you have done.." (not a direct quote but it goes something similar to that..) So agree with her. She also said this.. "Don't let people stopping you to do what you feel that's right.." I don't know what exactly she is trying to tell but I agree partially to that. I take advices provided you have testify my way is wrong.....and... that is not stubborn... that's how I learn. :)
Thus far.. this is my life.. I am 29 and supposingly 30 if I have to follow the count of year. I predict myself going on to 65 - 70 provided there is no major accident in my life. So at this age, I have just step into the another half of my earthly journey.
Looking back... could anybody explain how I gone so far with the background and the environment I was in? :) I can't.... except.. by the grace of God.... I was nobody... and now I am just an ordinary person walking on the street... but.. I have repeatedly telling myself... I have to be somebody when I end my earthly journey....
Give thanks... Amen..
oh yeah... I am BACK.... :)
Venue: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
