The 2 very educational days of my life (part 1)
A perfectly normal rainy Saturday morning. Umbrella in hand, I trans-located myself… from the murks of home to the foot of the tallest building in South East Asia… It would appear that I have been early. The KL convention center is busy and silent in its own unique ways.. students and workers who are strangers, greet each other silently by not bumping into one another in the gigantic walkway of the KL convention center. I for one, just found it amusing contemplating the exciting events which lie ahead of me, as I gazed at the clouds touching the pinnacle of the twin towers through the giant glass walls of the KL convention center…
This was the first time I attended The Star’s annual education fair. Undoubtedly a big event for aspiring scholars and priggish parents throughout the Klang Valley, it provided an excellent weekend family trip. I was alone though, Weng Sheng wasn’t there yet.
The doors of the first convention hall opened. I made a dash to the front seats. The first talk of the day as it was written on a board in front read Studying and Working: Personal Experiences. Sounds interesting. Oh no, I forgot my pen again. Well, I guess it would be a good opportunity to test my mind mapping skills to help me remember what was being said. The panelist soon filled the stage, took their seats and the talks began.
First speaker: Lawyer - M.S Teofillus Ponniah
Well, the lawyer started the ball rolling for the first talk of the day. In a nutshell, I’ll try to regurgitate what I think he said…
Knowledge: There is a major misconception that what one learns in university have little to do with the real working world. As a matter of fact, the university is an excellent place for scholars to get a taste of social life and develop important skills by involving oneself in co-curricular activities. That having said, one should always have an inquisitive mind and gain a large array of knowledge from reading. For example, when I was interviewed for my job I was asked questions about the WTO (World Trade Organization) as well as a myriad of controversial issues. It seemed that what the interviewer wanted to see was not the best answer, but a logical one that presented the interviewee as a competent individual with a strong command of general knowledge as well as good social skills. It is also important to study consistently and smartly for exams such as STPM… learn to learn.
Technology: What’s the difference between students now and students 100 years ago? Well, generally there were books, pens, stuff like that, which has not change for just about that long. Now however, with the addition of new technology such as the Internet, electronic devices etc, students must embrace this new technology and use it to their advantage. Otherwise it really is a sad thing, that one did not maximize the advantage at hand. For example in the field of law, should a lawyer want to find a certain part of a law, a long time ago one would had to go through tons of archive in a library but now, with technology, one only needs to search for it using a computer application.
Networking: Never underestimate the power of friendship. Make it a point to keep in touch. Value relationships because they will be very helpful. If you have a friend in the police force for example, you probably don’t have to worry about summons. Kidding of course, but the point is one should get to know as much people as possible. Who knows if the person sitting next to you now would be a billionaire tomorrow or in ten years? And then how you would regret not getting to know him!
Second speaker: Public Relations Executive - Anandhi Gopinath
A bubbly Indian lady, typical of a PR executive. A nice job she has with lots of meeting people and stuff.
Attitude: In this world attitude makes a person complete. You need to always be polite and have a strong character. Because later when you get into life, you’ll be faced with lots of challenges. Also you must follow your passion in whatever you do, becoming a doctor, engineer, or lawyer are not the only jobs available, pursue your dreams.
Activity: Always be active in everything! In universities, be active in co-curricular stuff. If you have time, I highly recommend working part time. The experience gained is useful. And it helps lower expenses too.
Reality: In whatever you do, you need to put one foot in reality always. Realize what is your position in life, and basically, get real. In the working realm you’ll definitely be stepped on as a freshman, you just gotta bear with it with a smile because later when you’re promoted, its your turn to step on others! lol
Third Speaker: Engineer - Ling Seng Woo
His presentation was slightly different compared to the 2 previous panelists, interesting presentation methods. When he talked, there just was this air of seriousness and authority which kinda made it humorous.
Self Searching: The question is not what I think you should do or think, but that question should be asked by yourself. Search yourself to find what really suits you. It may seem glamorous to have top notch jobs but trust me unless you enjoy them you’ll regret for the rest of your life. I have a friend who is a clown who earns $8000 a month, and that’s twice my income. My wife has a degree in Genetics but settled as a Guitar instructor, and of course earns much more than me.. also parents, let your children decide what careers they want, because it is they are mature enough to know what suits them best.
Fourth Speaker: Doctor - Dr. Tan Li-Zsa
A well mannered lady, who would’ve guess what she had in store.. lol
Who wants to be a doctor?: Let’s see if these people who raised their hands will have second thoughts after I’m done with my presentation. (’evil’ grin). First as you all know it is extremely hard to get into medicine, and to survive the 5 year course is another amazing survival feat itself. Well after that, you’ll have to serve the government for 4 years, regardless if you paid for your own education or you took a government loan or scholarship whatsoever. The working hours of a doctor is also interestingly long. You have to work 34 hours a day, basically you go to work at 7 O’clock in the morning and go back home at 5… the next day! So you don’t even have time to take a shower or clean yourself. Naturally there’ll be strange smells. And during houseman-ship of course, for every extra day 24 hours non stop you work, you get RM25. So yeah, you can do the calculations yourself. You earn more working in a McDonald’s restaurant! So if you’re into medicine because of the money, then you should seriously reconsider! Also, being a doctor you won’t have holidays. And no you can’t take leave for being sick unless its a government certified MC. And normally one only gets it when he’s in a coma. Otherwise you’ll be expected to work. Also the hospital is no heaven, you cannot escape the people politics there, the competition for promotion, and also the being stepped on during your junior years. Not forgetting also that Malaysia has the among the world’s highest road accident rates, be prepared for a myriad of disgusting and difficult cases coming from these misfortunes. So that being said, you’ll of course be expected to rush to the hospital if needed during the middle of the night. The bottom line is, don’t get into medicine unless you’re very sure of it, and don’t do it just because your family or friends pressure you to do so. Its ultimately a choice and question you have to ask yourself…
And with that the Q and A session followed but nothing interesting there. A round of applause follows and I stepped out the hall to see if WS arrived yet. Well, apparently he’s at the exhibitions. The next talk was biotechnology. Unfortunately I didn’t find it too interesting. The first guy was a professor something… notably shaken to make a presentation in front of so many people. The next speaker was an Indian fresh graduate guy who is working, the third was a UM lecturer Indian lady, and also last but not least, a professor with the most inquisitive look.
The first and second speaker generally outlined that the prospects of biotechnology in our country was excellent, with the government making the recent biotechnology dunno what what act. Which generally reflects the government’s realization of the importance of biotechnology thus seeking to improve it. Biotechnology also branches to many many fields. Stuff like that. The third speaker was a little more interesting as she gave us an insight to the bio-tech courses in UM. She specializes in fungi, so she explained the prospects of using fungi’s antibiotic properties to help kill bacteria. Unfortunately she also underlined the fact that for a certain medicine to be developed and mass produced for public consumption, the process itself could take well up to 8-10 years, and then perhaps by then the pathogen might have mutated or only need a short time to grow an immunity to it. So it’s generally difficult. The fourth speaker with a twinkle in his eye emphasized the importance of practical work in the field of biotechnology. One must not only study the theories but it is essential to conduct experiments and stuff like that. He also added that the research process is generally a try and try again process, so don’t get disheartened if you fail, because one of the key trait of a great scientist is the ability to rise everything he falls. And last but not least, he also stressed that one should enter university with the correct mindset, that is, to learn, and not merely to pass test and get a degree. Learning to learn, is extremely important.
Well said. Applause again. Finally met up with Weng Sheng, so we went for lunch at Burger King. After a long wait we finally got our chicken burgers.. lol. Apparently Yi Ling saw us as and waved to us as we were sitting next to the glass window. lol she didn’t come for the fair but apparently we didn’t notice her. jajaja. Later we went to the exhibitions. The third talk of the day was not of our interest as it was Sunny Yee’s talk about SPM stuff which was nothing of our concern. The exhibition was like PC fair! Not hard to imagine. So as I was time conscious, and because Weng Sheng already made his rounds around the booths, we only went to the booths that held my interest. Medicine.
As I was in an inquisitive and playful mood, excitedly I skipped from booth to booth inquiring about medicine. And most of the people there were very friendly too, and willing to spend their time explaining their offers as well as other stuff invaluable for a wannabe medical student like myself. I managed to obtain some useful information, about the general options for those interested in medicine. Choices include, Russia, Indonesia, India, Egypt, etc. It would be great fun to get to travel to a country and get a culture shock and study there… but hmm. I would prefer to go to Russia because I think the weather is interesting. Also after seeing Joanne seemingly having so much fun in Russia after the student exchange program, I would l like to experience it myself! Indonesia and India were definite no-no to my parents, apparently they’re worried that I get killed or something =.=".. Yea of course, I guess. Egypt was something I’ve never seen before. By far the cheapest foreign medical course at $91,000! Hmm. But I’m in no hurry… My major step into the realm of medical studies will only start after STPM, and I certainly want to have a fighting chance into local universities, which offer medical courses at $40,000 more or less. And then of course. The one at Bukit Jalil, the International Medical University… aiks by far the most expensive… about 300,000 ringgit! HMM, and to think I wanted to fund myself……. To amass that much money, I would need a passive income of $500 a day, earn $15,000 a month, for 2 years… and I must study my pre-U course at the same time, LOL, what a dreamer I am eh…
Having amass a considerable wealth of information, we left the exhibition. Hey look free gifts for those who fill in some forms. So I filled in a form, simply ticked my choice for best booth, and received 2 soya bean drinks, and an instant curry Maggee noodle. whee, now that’s a good deal. Again we quickly greeted everyone around us by not bumping into them, as we made our way up to the 3rd floor to attend the final talk of the day. Sunny’s talk is almost over…
The final talk of the day…
We sat in front as usual of course.
First speaker: Dentist - Dr Suresh Nair
Ok, it is appropriate to note that during this session, every speaker seems to have an objective of promoting their own profession, so depending on how you view it, it might even seem like some sort of competition.
Dentistry: It is extremely satisfying being a dentist. Basically you have a chance to help people in a very special way. A dentist deals with the region of the mouth and teeth just as well as a psychologist deals with the thinking and a physiotherapist the body. It is nice that you are able to help a person by inflicting a significant physical improvement in a person’s smile for example, and that in effect gives the person a better self esteem. This is all thanks to cutting edge dentistry technology. As a dentist you will also be able to meet other dentists and discuss about the latest techniques etc. For example recently I attended the world dentist something something gathering thingy. A dentist’s work does not lie in the clinic only, but also covers forensics, aesthetics, health, etc. If you want to be a dentist, you will need to be patient and enjoy meeting people, because sometimes a patient in pain will behave in the most annoying manner where in that situation as a dentist you will need to be understanding as well as competent enough to act swiftly and decisively in order to help this person.
Second Speaker: Pharmacist - Ang Khoon Lim
Hmm, perhaps the job of dispensing medicine does not deal with too much people and the notion of speaking in front of so many may perhaps have been a little mind boggling if not a lot.
Pharmacy: When I was a young lad my family gave me a lot of encouragement, they even gave me a nickname, Doctor Lim. Lim is my last name but not my surname, anyway I had always aspired to be a doctor but unfortunately after the STPM examinations, I was a grade short of entering medicine, so I chose pharmacy instead. Of course I didn’t regret. Because its of itself interesting and I get to help people too. Basically a pharmacist’s job is to dispense medicine, sell medicine to doctors so to speak. So it can very well be very rewarding. To the parents, I have this to say, that it is important to give encouragement to your children, in the same way, I encourage my children to pursue their interests. Like when I noticed that my daughter had a liking to use green tea leaves to make tea for me, I could tell that she would be a future herbalist in the Ang family. Anyway, pharmacy is a very good and may be considered as an alternative to the medical course. But when choosing an institution, make sure that it is recognizable. Finally, I would like to emphasize that aptitude, attribute, and attitude are the 3 things that make a successful pharmacist.
Third Speaker: Psychologist - Dr Goh Chee Leong
Being a person who deals with people rather than medicine tablets, the psychologist was stark contrast to the pharmacist, taking a bold front he stood in front of the stage and made an interesting presentation.
Psychology: Many people confuse psychology as a profession for people who like to work with crazy people. This is of course about as far from the truth as it can get. Psychology actually deals with the study of the way people think. It is about understanding people and it is by itself a proper stream of science. There are many types of psychology such as bio/neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, and even sports psychology etc. Psychologists never have a problem finding a job, prospects locally are good because our country is in dire need of psychologist, there are only 800 psychologists in Malaysia! And yet psychology deals with an important asset, people. And therefore psychologists are always in high demand in any institution you could possibly think of. Also, they make excellent employees because they are the best in understanding people, interpersonal skills, and research skills. In short, people who become psychologists not only have the ability to help others, but more importantly to help them understand themselves better, so what do you think?
Fourth Speaker: Physiotherapist - Marc J Daniel
Physiotherapy: Generally speaking it is a kind of allied health science which aims to treat patients without the use of medicine or surgery. This also includes the usage of electromagnetic devices to facilitate the recuperation of patients. Physiotherapy has excellent career prospects in sports teams for example, where team players need constant and proper guidance on ways to strengthen specific muscles as well as because in sports players often get hurt. Again,it branches into many sub-science including kinaesiology, etc…
Well, after all that, day 1 of the education fair was over. Talk about a general account! I hope you will find these information about as useful as I do. I will resume blogging on day 2 very soon. Just give me a 5 minutes break.
