It s been a long time..

It has been a long time since i wrote something.
Have started on work at the new place - Taylor's and I m happy, i guess..
It s amazing how i dont feel scared going to work anymore or just feel like crying at my working desk like how i used to feel.
It s amazing how much i actually miss my trainees when i dont miss working where i used to work at! :)

The new place is good. My boss is ok :) okies..wait..my bosses are ok. hehe! lots of work..practically doing a-z as my partner is only joining me mid of oct _ Hopefully with fingers crossed! I wish Mel was working here with me!! it ll be such a havoc and sigh..i wont at times dread to come to work.
There s so much to learn! marketing!? what?? publicity?? what?? calling parents?? what??? and i have to answer the phone this way , 'HI! GOOD MORNING! SuperCamp Malaysia. Chris speaking here. How may i help u?' in a very chirpy way!! heheh!!that s just me isnt it?? can u imagine Mel doin the same thing!! heheh! and we ll both be fighting who will pick up the call...like how my boss and i are fighting now! ahaha! but usually i ll let him do it! ahhaha! :)

i MISS working around with friends. the thought of having graduated is hitting me real hard in the face! sigh...and i cannot believe that i ve already worked for 3 months!!!at 2 different places!!! It s been too long a time since i last saw the 3 stooges - Mel, Grace and Mun! and CHENG yee too!! bad bad...so much of being the exclusives !! hahaha!!

well, anyways...yung tat s leaving for HK soon..erm..in 48 hrs time! ahahha! he called to ask me out for breakfast...haha..forgetting that im actually working! hha! hopefully i ll get to meet him before he leaves! hehehe!Safe journey Tat!

it was ronald's (my lil bro) 21st yesterday..but had a surprise party for him the day before at Tony Romas and being innocent, believing we re just goin to have dinner at Sushi King..hahah..he wore a SRI KDU shirt and shorts! SO AH PEK!! n the moment he walked into Tony Romas and saw my aunt n cousins...he went, 'EH? what s happening?' AHHAHA!!!so there he was...caught speechless!! heheh! it was a gr8 dinner! i had some grilled salmon..was good!! hehe!! the ribs, which i stole from Ronald was GREAT!! yumm yumm!! hehehe!

Well, it was my turn to make lunch for my uncle who s diagnosed with cancer and send it to the hospital on Sat and Sun. hehe..on both days...i prepared lunch late..hahah! but he was ok with it la.. he s getting better too! but yesterday at the hospital, i arrived approx at 2pm..and there was a huge crowd of ppl standing at the main door of the ward. i had so many bags around me..as though i was goin camping! and i saw there were some ladies weeping..and some men looking distressed...well, i just walked pass them..and walked towards my uncle s ward. and there he was..he was looking panic. he asked me, 'Hey, u ok?' and i was puzzled. 'erm, ya, i m ok.' 'Someone s dying.' and i was like...oh..ok.. i looked around..and there he was. A 14-yr old boy diagnosed with leukemia. i heard that he was discharged earlier in the morning and then when he arrived home, he fainted. sent back to the hospital..and yup..he regained conscious..bt soon after, he left.
just days to raya and his family has to go through such a moment. my deepest condolences out to his family. i left soon..and saw that his family members surrounding his bed..saying prayers and all. hmm...waht a day.

well, that was my weekend..IT vanished just like that! POOF! and here i am again..at work..in the office..hehe..blogging! :) not something that i get to do when i was at the old work place! :)

SAVE OUR MEDIA!

When the GYS organising team was discussing on what topic should be included a few months back, most said that Media should be part of what youths should focus on today.

I have to say that, during the forum of 'MEDIA AND ITS EVOLVING ROLE' on the 21st August 2008, with Mr. Edmund Bon and Miss Sabina Inderjit as our panelists, it was one of the most eye-opening forum that i ve seen. Too bad, i was too tired to even phrase my questions. if not, i would have also taken part in the Q&A session. Youths were very worried bout the state of media nowadays. Malaysian youths were and are still worried bout what s goin on with the state of our media in the country now. what has happened to our freedom of speech? how much freedom is freedom? how is freedom justified or defined here in malaysia? What is going on? Why do the journalists have to suffer just because of their efforts to report the truths? why?

Miss Sabina Inderjit, from the International Federation of Journalism, was shocked to find out the state of our media in the country and after the forum, she purportedly told me that i have to do something about it. What can i do? i still dont know. prob, what i can start doing is to create awareness amongst the youths on how media in our country is being stripped off of their one main objective. and we, the younger consumers of information, should applaud those journalists, who are brave and courageous enough to report the truths without taking sides. even bloggers, they have the right to share with us their thoughts. everyone should be given the chance to speak. we need to stop sitting around and being told what to believe in. we need to mold and shape our own opinion. and these journalists are merely trying to help us look at things from different perspectives before we decide what our views are. today, i m saddened by what has happened- eg. journalists being arrested. what message is being sent out to the other journalists? report what is wanted to be heard by the government? or report what is needed by the people?

The two teams that presented on the topic of media were very enthusiastic. they pointed out things that are needed to be done and here is the declaration that GLOBAL YOUTH SYMPOSIUM 2008 has made based on the topic of Media.

I present to you, one of the three declarations that were made,

KUALA LUMPUR '08,DECLARATION III.

The Declaration on

“Media and its Evolving Role”

by the Global Youth Symposium 2008, the University of Malaya,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“KUALA LUMPUR ’08, DECLARATION III”

The delegates of the Global Youth Symposium 2008 gathered in the University of Malaya from 19^th to 23^rd August 2008 under the theme of “Empowering Youth – Meeting Global Challenges” to discuss

Australia

Chinese Taipei

Hong Kong, China

India

Indonesia

Kenya

Malaysia

Nepal

Pakistan

Singapore

Thailand

The Philippines

Vietnam

Preamble

In recognizing that the right to information and the freedom of expression is fundamental towards a progressive society;

AND that the disregard for the freedom of press has resulted in social stagnation due to the suppression of public voice and misled masses;

AND that accountable and responsible depiction of events done without fear and favour is the core duty of all media in enabling the public to make informed decisions in contribution to society’s welfare;

AND that a common understanding of the above mentioned rights and duties is of great importance for the full realization of a truly dynamic and evolving society

FURTHER that absolute freedom of media is subject to the readiness of state and civil society

Now, therefore the Global Youth Symposium 2008, proclaims this declaration as a common standard for all peoples and all nation-states to the end that every individual would strive for true freedom of expression. The above participating nations of this symposium hereby declare as follows:

Article 1

We urge the youth to practice responsibility and accountability in blogging.

Article 2

The media should provide the public with unbiased and neutral information, presenting all aspects of an issue, without forming a pre-determined result.

Article 3

(1) We propose for the registration of bloggers in encouraging responsible blogging culture and practice provided sufficient safeguards are put in place.

(2) The foregoing safeguards shall include and not be limited to the bloggers’ registration information being confidentially stored with an independent body such as the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing clause, we further propose that any individual who attains the age of 18 or 21 (whichever is applicable to each nation state) shall be held criminally accountable for practicing irresponsible blogging culture.

(4) Provided further the foresaid blogger shall only be prosecuted by an independent body before an independent tribunal.

Article 4

The media shall be an independent entity and shall be free from political influences in reiterating the stand of the IFJ that there can be no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions of corruption, poverty or fear.

Article 5

Journalists must substantiate their publishing with evidence and be able to identify their sources, checks and balances have to be in place to ensure the accuracy and credibility of the info provided.

Article 6

Media has to be respectful towards political, social, economic, religious, culture and gender issues and be cautious with provocative expressions.

Article 7

(1) The government should provide awareness to facilitate the exchange of ideas in an open yet protected manner.

(2) Government should create opportunities for greater number of private media corporations so as to promote the independence of media.

things that i ve learnt..things that i ve missed out on

it s been a roller coaster week..with some sugar though..i tendered in my resignation. thinking that i could rest for a month before i start the new job..but only to find out that i have to start on the 15th sept..which gives me only a month to rest.

one thing that i ll miss most about working at METC would non other be my trainees. they ve been the greatest mentors in my teaching life. this could be my last time teaching english. and i m glad they re the first and last batch of students! ;) love u guys to bits! this could be the end to my career as a teacher. taking up a whole new portfolio is making me a lil worried. but, a challenge will always make someone stronger..and better...so, being optimistic, i will strive through this challenge.

GYS is over. and i still cannot believe it. lots of things have happened. internally and externally. i miss all my members. every time i go back to uni, i miss the noises that they make, i miss the gathering. and i wish i could turn back times and erase all the times that i got angry with them ;)
within GYS also, i ve made lots of good friends. they ve been by my side through thick and thin and now, they re even by my side when i ve got personal problems. and i cannot be more thankful to have found them! even Sheikher has got my name in his facebook shoutout saying that he s happy that i quit my job!! sheikher sheikher!! miss ur funny laughs! ahahah!
cant wait for our soon-coming reunion!! ahaha!!

saturday night..just got buzzed..a fren s asking..what u doing at home on a sat night? hahaa...i m tired..i am. abit moody..dunno why..i wonder if it s gotta do with love? hahaa! nah..it cant be...hmm...i dunno...so, i ve decided to stay home. Snoopy..me dog..is sick. and it s raining..so what the hell..i ll just stay home. anyways, my pocket s running dry too..and it s only the 6th today! wish there s a man to take care of me la..to the MAN : WHERE ART THOU?? :)

what shall i eat later? hmmmm...

it s over and i was wrong..

GYS..it s over...and i was wrong that it was killing me inside. it did, but then again, it also did help me build a tougher me. i was all happy when it ended, not because it was over, but because it was a success!

i ve finished the journey which i dont plan to leave now. it wasnt GYS that was stressing me out. it was my job. i didnt see that part coming. it was my job that was stressing me out. it was what others expected of me at work which i cannot at my utmost best give them. i dont know what to do but one thing i know what i want to be is happy.

GYS taught me more than just how to be a director/leader. it taught me how to be a friend, a sister and definitely a person who cares. i m glad to see how the project ended. there were lots of participants who came up to me and said the organising committee did a wonderful job. and i was overwhelmed. i m so proud of each and everyone on the team for doing their best, for being so hospitable to the participants. i m glad that they gave their all, even to the last ounce of their strength to the project. walking with me throughout the whole time, especially those 5 days, i really thank god for them.

not only did i make new frens amongst the organising committee, but i also did make some good frens amongst the participants! they were awesome!
sigh..it s over and now, i still feel empty some nights...still feeling a lil lost..dunno where to go..ahahha! it s been so routined for me to head back to UM after work. now, i stay at work till 8 pm...13 hours at work. that isnt nice..and i hope it wouldnt be for long.
i miss GYS terribly.

but, i ve got my members who are so enthusiatic about meet-ups for dinner..and thanks to them for filling in some of my empty nights.
thanks to jia xian and choi too, for being there for me. thanks to mel and grace who both never stopped caring for me. sigh, what would i do without u guys? i seriously do not even want to imagine my life without all of u! :)

love u guys to bits!
so, when s our buka puasa outing ??