adrianism…

Ask any Curtin student about Curtin Phase 2, chances that you’re going to hear:

1) some grumble (when is it sprouting?!!), or

2) a blank stare (with the "what phase-2" look?), or

3) "It’s coming soon. It has already been approved" (answers from patriotic Curtinians :P)

If you asked me, I would sway between answers 3 and 1 (sometimes response 3, and sometimes number 1)

You see, a day before our beloved PM visited Curtin, i was shocked to see what looked like a crane, to be set up across the AL building. In my heart, i was like: "WHAT?!!! Another groundbraking ceremony for phase 2? We already had 2 in the past!!! One between AL and LT building, and another on the same spot where this crane is" To sooth my heart, i just thought "Ah well, perhaps they were for different stages of the laucning/officiating of phase 2 construction"

Taking a closer look at the erected billboard, i noticed that this time, the ceremony was the "official commencement of Curtin phase 2 development" WOW! So this isn’t another groundbraking! This is the official commencement of Curtin phase 2! This is the day the first pile is knocked into the ground! And i hope to see more piles going down!!!

If all this while i’ve been whining as to why there are no sign of development, this is the answer. We are waiting for the PM and CM to sign and officiate it…hehe. Well, i hope to see more development. For those coming back anytime soon, just know that up to the time this entry is entered, there hasn’t been any new structures at the phase 2 site.

But there is one piece of good news though. Remember this entry on Curtin Updates? The extension along the convinient shop has been completed (i think about 2-3 months already). Plenty of chairs inside - looks like it’s going to be a classrooms Oh ya. Instead of only 1 printing station at the helpdesk, the area now has 2 printing stations. Besides that, it seems that the "underground residents"* of the student coucil room has been evicted, so the incoming council members can use the room in peace (*termites la!).

Before i end this post, just a picture to share. This picture was taken after Pak Lah’s visit. A "Kancil" (noun - the smallest version of the Malaysian made car, oh ya, i own one) can be a police’s best friend (notice the back portion of the car is lower than the front)

I LOVE K-A-N-C-I-L! ;D

It seemed to me that the Prime Minister’s visit to Curtin was quite a last minute decision on his part (he happened to be in Miri to open the PBB assembly). But well, he came! And we Curtinians (and some orang luar :P) got to meet him (for a while).

The crowd that gathered in Curtin were basically Curtin staff & their families, Curtin students (mostly the diploma and IEP students, and some degree students who happen to be around), representatives from the contruction company which is suppose to built phase 2 of Curtin, members of the press and some members of the public. It was actually raining heavily on that day, and although he was scheduled to arrive at 2pm, as usual, VIPs in Malaysia arrive much later (i was made to understand by my grand-uncle, who is a reporter, that there was a delay in the PBB assenbly, so hence the delay in Curtin).

I couldn’t recall what time he arrived, but everyone was anxious to meet him. For my part, i was hoping to at least shake his hand (which i did!!! Not everyone got to shake his hand - ah well, i was just lucky because a group of students from Dubai in their national clothing happened to stand in front of me. And somehow, these group of Curtin students got so much attention from the ministers, haha! And there i was, standing behind them :D).

His arrival was a rather silent affair - no MC to annouce his arrival. The only sign of his arrival was the sudden rush of photographers to the main entrance (click-click, flash-flash). He then got to sign something (which loked like a black tile), and was ushered to the mini-exhibition on Curtin Phase 2 plans (in the process, stopping to make a few hand shakes). From there, the entourage went upstairs to the council room for a formal session (which was live-telecasted to the library reading area, where we sat to watch (while eating, hehe) what was going on in the council-room). Datuk Sri George Chan gave a speech, and then Pak Lah delivered his. Then there was presentation of some memento. By then, Tiang told us to move outside to say bye2 to him. And so we gathered outside, waiting for him to come down. He did more signing, this time to officiate the commencement of Curtin’s phase 2 construction (in other words, now, construction is really going to start! I HOPE SO!!!). It was a nice opportunity to meet him

 

p.s. International students were told to use their national costume, while local students, their local costume. So i used a ‘Tapong’ a Kenyah hat Wished i had more ‘Kenyah Gear’

Just as i was about to rejoice, that my phone was alive, but now, IT’S DEAD AGAIN! After merely 3 days (and 2 nights) since Telekom contractors were seen busy fixing back the cables, the ‘cable thief(ves)’ has struck again! Well, i really don’t know how TM is going to deal with this problem, but this problem sure is causing lots of hassle to the users (especially those who do not have handphone, and those who use the internet a lot, and those who rely on the use of fax service). I’m really curious to know who are those behind these events…

Anyway, are other reasons to rejoice! The Prime Minister of Malaysia will be visitng Curtin University, Miri Campus on Saturday the 10th of February 2007. i will definitely be going - it’s an wonderful opportunity to meet the PM For those interested to come, know that YAB Dato’ Seri is expected to arrive campus at 2pm (we should be there at least half an hour before he is expected to arrive). Btw, Dato’ Seri was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Curtin University of Technology of Western Australia sometime in 2006.

Today as i drove to campus, many people were busy preparing for the PM’s visit: the road sweepers were seen busy sweeping the road leading to the uni (from the roundabout near DPS), the grass cutters cutting the ‘lallang’ beside the 2 sides of the road nearer Curtin, the ‘makcik’ cleaners wiping the outer side of the doors of each room (well, at least for the G2 block - i saw this with my own eyes ok, no exageration), and Mr. Rama, the director for Media studies was also busy preparing the media lab (it was the only time i saw the doors to the media lab open, and i managed to peek into the room and look at the spohisticated media instruments, video cameras, lightings, and that huge ‘apple computer’ which only the media students have the privilage to touch :P) And other staffs seem to be busy as well.

Oh ya, and on Sunday (11/2/07), the Higher Minister of Education will also be visiting Curtin. He is expected to arrive the campus at 10:15am. Not sure if i will be able to make it for this one though.

I’ve always liked to meet VIPs - especially leaders. The last the when Tun Dr. Mahathir visited Curtin, i was very happy to be present as part of the campus’ community and at least shake hands with him However, i missed the King’s visit to the uni.

Ah well, getting back to the phone line story. i just hope that this time i won’t have to wait for another 3 weeks before my phone line to be restored. It is very inconvinient, especially when i’m the only one having a handphone in my family. I really hope that this issue can be resolved. On the other hand, i’m looking forward to shake hands with the PM

Okay, okay. Let me put it straight: MY HOUSE PHONE IS DEAD!!! Not because i didn’t pay the bill (i mean my dad) but because,  (according to Telekom Malaysia a.k.a TM) the phone cables have been subjected to theft. It seems that some people have discovered that phone cables are made from copper, and copper has high value. So to earn some cash, why not "harvest" some phone wires that are hanging nicely from the poles, or "dig out" the ones that are nicely submerged underground? After all, a kilo can fetch to about RM18-RM20 (no, i don’t have experience doing this. i got the info from BP. Go find out what’s/who’s BP). Sigh, it has now been 3 weeks since my house became somewhat "phoneless".

Poor TM - they loose money because they have to replace the cables. Poor customers - they can’t make phone calls or use internet. Poorer those customers who needed to make an emergency or important call, but can’t do it. And poorest the cable thefts - even thought they get some money, they have caused the others to become "poor" by disrupting businesses,  communication and day-to-day affairs. It’s sin you know to do such thing? I don’t know what reasons you do it…maybe you have a family who has been starving so you resort to this technique to get money. If so, come and see me. I can bring you to the welfare. Or maybe i can give you some money. If welfare doesn’t do anything, i’ll fight for you! (talking about welfare deparment - hmmmm, i feel that they have to be more proactive. If people don’t come to them, go and find people who they can help). Argh!

Okay back to topic - so what needs to be done to address the issue of cable theft? Again info from BP: Some suggests to make copper wire a controlled item. TM suggested that they might go wireless! WOW!! (Terbeliak mata!). Another said we need to amend the current laws. And i know a group of TM workers in kuching set a trap to capture a few culprits! An dthey did it! They manage to catch 2 culprits! These TM workers ought to get some kind of recognition for their bold initiative. But i fear for their safety. I hope they can cooperate more with the police where this "catching" business is concerned.

Ah well, what say i? i think i would do what the group of kuching TM workers did. But do we have to go cathing people forever? I think there must be a shift of mentality among our people. I don’t kow why these culprits do not think a step further - that their actions can cause so much difficulties to others! I was surprised when i was told that phone disruption occured this time in the whole of Lutong area and spread to some Pujut areas as well!!! My goodness. Don’t we learn pendidikan moral in school?

Anyway, thank God for handphones. Thank God for this "experience" of being "telephoneless". I begin to appeciate the telephone - a gadget which i always took for granted. I miss my (slow) internet connection too. So nowadays, everyday when i reach home, i’ll walk towards my telephone, lift up the reciver (takes a deep breath), put it towards my ear, and when i don’t hear any tone, %^*$^%%###$@& (translation of %^*$^%%###$@& - AIYA, STILL NOT WORKING!!!)

Phoneline, i really miss you. i miss your tone. Phone, i miss you too. Even though i see you, i don’t hear you. So please, come back soon, k?

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute”
(Gil Stern)

“Men forget everything; women remember everything. That’s why men need instant replays in sports”
(Comedian Rita Rudner)

-adapted from Reader’s Digest Dec 2006 issue-

i developed a liking for travel after i visited Kota Kinabalu (KK) with my family in November 2004. i was blessed to be given another chance to go to KK in November 2005 to attend my cousin’s wedding in Ranau and Bundu Tuhan (which is near to the mountain area). From there, i discovered that i enjoyed travel (not to mention food!). In July 2006, i was given an opportuniy to go to Kuching to attend a meeting, and a month later, i found myself travelling to Kuching again - this time to participate in the march-pass for the national-level national day do. And what a great time i had in each of these travel!

And this time, i was going to Sydney! Never in my entire life (so far) i imagined stepping on Australian soil. Although i study in an Austalian university which is based in Malaysia, i thought that was the closest i can get to Australia….hehe. When i told a friend that i was going to Sydney for holiday,he told me that "Australia is an expensive place". It’s true, bearing in mind that Australian $ is 3 times our Ringgit Malaysia. Thank God we didn’t have to worry about accomodation and food as we would be putting up at my aunt’s place in Camden, about an hours drive from the city. I’m very thankful for my aunt, uncle and cousin’s hospitality and generosity!

"How come going to Sydney?" My aunt (my mom’s younger sis) stays there with her family. And for a long time, they have been asking us to pay them a visit. Rumors where circulating in my home that we might (the keyword is "might") be going to Sydney end of 2006. That was in June or July ‘06. Only about a month and a half before our planned travel, we started to look for airline ticket. Boy! End-of-the-year sure bring smiles to airline companies! So many people go for vacation. When we booked our ticket via Royal Brunei Airlines, we were told that we will be put on waiting list, and subjected to screening. We passed the first screening and got a seat to Sydney. But there was still problem, because there was no seat for us to come back between Dec-end and early-Jan. We prayed about it, and when all hope of going to Ausralia seemed to be gone, we got a call just 3 weeks before our planned travel saying that our seats have been confirmed! So we were to leave Brunei for Sydney on November 26th and come back on Dec 22nd (too bad, we couldn’t experience Christmas in Aussie….what to do?) By the way, i thought Sydney is 2 hrs ahead of Miri (which is correct) but wrong when i arrived. I didn’t know it was daylight savings, and so we had to add another hour in advance - which means Sydney is 3 hrs ahead now.

Lesson learnt here: BOOK SEATS EARLY! PLAN VACATION IN ADVANCE! Travel tip: Brunei Air offers lower travel rates as compared with Malaysian Airline Systems (MAS).

We drove from Miri to Bandar Seri Begawan on 26th November morning, left our car with my friend David’s parents. Then we boarded the 840pm flight for Sydney. The journey took 7 hours. We arrived Sydney at 640am Sydney time on 27th Nov. Here’s a summary of the time spent in Sydney:

27/11 - arrived Sydney International aiport. weather was cool, about 19*C. Aunt fetched us and drove home to Camden. Used highway, and also went thru a tunnel. 1st experince of going thru a tunnel Had pizza-hut for dinner. taste the same like home realised that it only got dark by 830pm.

29/11 - Took train to city. Visited St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral. Cool gothic design, both exterior and interior. Went for confession and also attended Mass. From there, went to walked to Sydney Opera House and also to the Botanic gardens. Walked around city. When to a shopping mall, and realised one stall sold Malaysian food. Funny thing the proprieter is from China!

30/11 - Went to MacArthur’s square, Campbelltown. Lunch and some shopping.

1/12 - Summer officially begins today. My goodness! i thought that the weather change would not have been so drastic! It was super hot today! Funny thing i don’t sweat much even though it is hot! The weather is not humid like back in Miri. (However, the next few days were pretty cold, and of course some days were hot. My uncle said the weather is unusual to be cold in summer, because it was rather a bit like winter - blame it on global warming. And Australia has been experiencing severe drought, till the point some farmers are committing suicide. Even the churches start to pray for rain now.)

2/12 - Botany Bay National Park. uncle brought us for ‘Yum-Cha’ at Regal Chinese restaurant in the city. The waiter literally threw our plates across our table when serving us wonder if he was in a hurry or was he showing off some kung-fu. Also went to the Sydney Paddy’s market (place for souvenir, clothings etc. at a lower lower price).

3/12 - Sunday Mass at St. Pauls Cathlic Church, Camden.

5/12 - Took a ferry across to visit Taronga Zoo. Saw many animals! After that walked to "The Rocks" australia’s first and oldest English Settlement.

6/12 - Visited some show houses in Mt. Annan area. The design of houses in Aussie is so much nicer than the one back home. So get some idea from the showhouses

7/12 - Uncle brough us to Harvey Norman (something equivalent to our ‘Courts Mammoth’). Gosh! So many goods to see!

8/12 - Visited Anglican Cathedral. Then Met Valerie and friend in the City outside Townhall train station. Valerie belanja lunch! (Oporto Grilled chicken, yum!) Went to Queen Victoria Building - beautiful! Walked to darling harbor. Got the opportunity to visit Macquarie University, about an hours bus ride from city. If not mistaken it is in Ryde. The uni looks kind of old because of the bare cement walls…but i guess it’s done on purpose. Had a bad experience on the way home. i reached the Campbelltown train station at 855pm, just in time to catch a bus home, and guess what, i met a drunken man on board. thank God the bus driver was kind enough to warn me about the man and asked me to sit away from the man. the whole way the drunkie was cursing and swearing……..and at that point i prayed all the prayers i could

9/12 - Visited University of New South Wales (UNSW). Visited Coojee Beach. Uncle brought us ‘Yum-cha’ at another Chinese Restaurant - delicious food!

10/12 - Sunday Mass. Then visited IKEA at Homebush Bay. WOW! I like IKEA’s concept of allowing customers to sit and test their furnitures. Btw, IKEA is a Swedish based company specializing in home furnishing. Their design are cool and also comfortable.

13/12 - Went to Sydney Aquarium. Got to see sharks Exam results out. Yahoo!!! Passed all!!!!

15/12 - Lunch in Hungry Jacks in Liverpool. Then, uncle brought us to another suburb, Cabbramatta. Lots and lots of Asians in this suburb!

16/12 - When to visit dad’s old friend, Mr. Riley. He drove us to Sydney University. Dad studied here before. Being the first and oldest uni in Aussie, the set up of this uni follows that of Cambridge in England. Beautiful buildings!

17/12 - Sunday Mass

19/12 - Uncle drove us to Canberra, the capital of Australis. 3 hours drive from Camden. Had breakfast at McD along the highway. Got to visit the parliament house and joined a guided tour It was a great opportunity to walk and have a close glimpse of the house of representatives and the senate. Visited a lake with a high fountain. Lunch at KFC Canberra. To me, KFC back home taste better

20/12 - Went to Mt. Annan area to see houses decorated with beautiful Christmas lights! wow! reminded me of Hari Raya back home. But the some people here really decorate their homes with so many lightings!]

21/12 - Meet Mr. Riley again. He brought us to St. Lukes Anglican Church because 30 years ago, dad left some belongings there. but too bad, his belonging is no more there. Anyway, got to visit the place where dad lived when he studied in Sydney - St. John’s college. Wew were honored to be allowed inside and to visit the chapel, dining hall and reading area. Dad had lot’s of memories there. Bid goodbye to Mr. Riley. Went to town and visited Jewish Synagogue. A dream come true to visit a Synagogue. Weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, and we had to use the skull cap when we entered.

22/12 - Journey back to Miri. Home sweet home (but i do miss Aussie…I DON’T SWEAT THERE!!!!). As the plane ouched down at Brunei airport, tropical weather immediately took it’s toll on me - I WAS SWEATING AGAIN! ARGGGHHH!!!!

Btw, whilst in Sydney, my aunt really fed us well! I was 78kg when i left Miri, and i brought home some 6kg extra of weight! (That makes me 84kg. So i HAVE to go on a diet now :P) Blame the ice-cream, chicken, double and triple-servings, huge servings! As far food is concerned, there’s plenty to eat in Aussie! All the supermarkets are well-stocked! Anyway, my aunt ket on reminding us that "you should not go on a diet in Australia"! I was pretty surprised that Australia is a country which produces a lot of their own things. For example - they plant their own mangoes, bananas and even lychees! i wonder if they plant their own durian?  hehe! Had a good time eating juicy kiwi fruits, strawberries, mangoes, peaches, nectarines…….slrpppp!

Well, this trip was a real eye-opener for me. i learnt so many things. was exposed to a different culture and environment. don’t mind living and working in aussie one day…..maybe yes? maybe not? Anyway, i do i hope to travel the world some day

i was in Sydney when i got my results for this semester. Well, i was pretty anxious waiting for it because i figured out that the atmosphere of the rest of my vacation in Sydney depended on my results. if it was bad, naturally, i wouldn’t feel good, and so my family.

I got a first glimpse of my results from Joel:
78 - Engineering Law 201
76 - Engineering Project Management 304
69 - Signals & Systems 202 (i thought the most i could get was 50 for this one)

and the same results were on the monitor screen when i rechecked it at my cousin’s house

Thank God i managed to pass all my exams again this semester! That made all the difference! I felt extremely happy! Everyone was happy, we had a good dinner to celebrate not only my results, but also the good results of my cousion for his yr 10 paper.

But at the same time, my thoughts when to my other friends - how did the rest do, i wondered…. Having gone through failure every semester for 3 consecutive years was a very painful experience for me. Thank God for the people who constantly supported and believed in me: Gen, John, David, Mei Ling, dad and mom. To those who did not make it, i’ve been in your shoes. i would say, just try again, and if you think the particular course is not suited for you and have the opportunity to pursue something different, go for it. If not, try again - YOU CAN DO IT!

Next sem i would be taking another 4 subjects - this time all ‘real’ engineering subject. i hope i’ll have the motivation to do well. Just have to remind myself that - YES! I CAN DO IT! (and for goodness sake adrian, please put in effort and also study smart!)

Exam was over on the 22nd of Nov, the last paper being Signal & Systems. My goodness - it was HARD! i just hope i can pass - it’s my 2nd attempt at this paper.

Mean time, while waiting for the results which will be out sometime in mid December ‘06, i hope to enjoy my trip to Sydney with my family

It’s been a long time since i last blogged. lots of events happened actually, but hadn’t had the time to blog. Exams are just round the corner - wishing everyone the best and may God bless us all!

Last Sunday, around 315pm after buying some things from servay Hypermarket i was driving towards Lutong when i saw what seemd like a scene of an accident. immediately, i wanted to take my camera - but of all the days, i did not bring my camera along with me at that moment. So i slowed down and being a curious person, i decided to park and see. I guessed the accident just happened because i noticed there were not many people gathered yet and many were just starting to park their cars coming out. The car, a dark brown Proton Wira, looked quite bad, and i notice that there was smoke coming out from the engine. And there was no one near the car - people all seem to be standing far away. i though either the driver is already out, or the people are afraid that the car will explode any time. So i decided to watch from the car. But when i saw a man getting close to the car, i decided to come down and go and see for myself the accident, and who know i can be of help there. A group of us men walked towards the car, and to my surprise, the driver of the ill-fated car was badly pinned. He had a big tattoo on his arm. His face was actually stuck to the tree-bark, and the dashboard was pushed to the front passenger seat. There was blood from his ears. I didn’t dare to look more. I guess the driver must have already died by then looking at the condition of the crash (i told myself that it would require a miracle for him to survive the crash). Although the car engine was still running (in fact it was still raving), and smoke was coming out from the engine and the exhaust, we decided to pull the car away from the tree to free the driver’s head. One guy suggested to take out his body, but i said we should wait for the Bomba. Earlier i tried calling the police and bomba - the police already knew about the accident, but the Bomba, no one answered. After that, i decided to leave the scene, since i could not do anything anymore. As i left, the police and ambulance came. That was my first time being at a scene of a fatal accident, and i was quite shaken. That night, i kept on thinking about the driver…..so kesian.

p.s. The next day’s papers carried the story, and it was confirmed that the driver died on the spot. O Lord, have mercy on his soul.