An Act for Charity

Saturday, 22.5.2010

8 am - Reached Lake Gardens. Searched for my Juniors and old time best friends Sachie. Received our free T-Shirt, Cap , Number Tag and Pins.Met a few of my ISKL friends although Michael,the organizer was like so busy...but CONGRATS to him in making this huge event successful and second, congrats to him again for getting an offer from Harvard University for Political Science.All the Best Dude!

8.30 am- Changed and did warm-up

9 am- The walkathon starts.....Lols-  a huge crowd. 3 km walk and because of the fresh nature- the walk felt short and yea I got to know Sachie's friend, Zainab who is from Sri Lanka while walking.

10 am- finished walking...and it started raining ... We were soaking..wet...First, there was the cultural performances followed by ISKL Singers- they did some sort like a glee thing- Don't Stop Believing- Ended with- Imagine.

11 am- Textrano- Malaysian Rapper? and in the background-the Soulbratz did their thing-their hip-hop and pop and lock dance---- The kids really enjoy and crowd were so lively!

11.20 am - Finally Caprice lols----Everybody screamed....Especially when Bieber's song was out lols...FYI, Caprice performed enrgetically with his team and the dancers were so cool! I love seeing the children from Shelter Malaysia dancing- they were so adorable lols.

Left: Michael and friends. Right: Caprice

12 am- I had to leave with my juniors..We head back to KLCC.....Walk and walk and walk the whole day lol.

To all my juniors : Thank you for your help and support. Especially Ilham Mulya and Ameer.

To everybody who came: Thank you for making the event successful!

Killing Words

Jealousy kills. Not literally. But really just by hearing what you have got to say shows the real you.
Why bother about me when I don't bother you.

You never stick to your word- Once when you like something, its good, when you dislike it, its wrong..
You don't say things which kill a heart. You keep them to yourself. If you are the "angel" you encourage people to do what they desire- why is it ever wrong to aim for the moon? At least, we will fall among the stars...

 Shiny plastic on the outside but ugly elements inside it. You're so easy to be broken- that I will prove to you and make you see that you are not the world.

My final word- I am going to PROVE YOU WRONG. 5 years from now, you'll eat your own words.

Love, nurazre.

Letting Go.

How do you know when you really want something? It is when you let it go and it stabs you in the heart to do so..... Have you ever 90% close to your dream, but you have to let it go...? Well I am doing it now.

I am finally letting go of the opportunity to study in Cambridge College with 20% Scholarship because it is a huge amount of money for my family too support me studying IB Diploma there.

Why Cambridge College?
I am definite of what is best for my future. The first reason why I cannot let go of this opportunity is because Cambridge College (CATS) is the only college in the world which has strong network affiliations with Cambridge University and all the Russell Group Universities (Top 11 Universities in United Kingdom). They have specialised themselves in training students worldwide to gain an entrance into the top world universities for almost over than 57 years. Cambridge College has special techniques in shaping well-rounded students. Unlike most institutions, they focus on personalised learning and every student will be taught at his or her own learning pace through different approaches. Cambridge College also helps/prepares students for the interview of Undergraduate Degree Programs to enter into the top universities in United Kingdom. To apply for top universities, personal statements also matter and Cambridge College just seems to know what is required to gain an entrance into the top universities in United Kingdom as they have network connections in the Russell Group Universities admission departments. All of these mean that if I further my studies in Cambridge College, I could secure a place in one of the most prestigious universities in the world (Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics and other Russell Group Universities). Cambridge College has a track record of increasing students’ memories by at least 40% and the ability to think critically by at least 200%. The college also has special trainings for students applying for Cambridge and Oxford Universities under the OxBridge Program.

Whats IB? Why do I want  it?
I believe strongly in holistic development. Even The New Economic Model itself states that Malaysia needs creative and critical thinkers. That is why I really think that by taking the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is much better than the usual A-Levels/Foundation. During high school, I have really been active in Debate Competitions, PowerPoint Presentation Competitions and Public Speaking Competitions because I like pushing myself to the highest limit where I could question over things and resolve conflicts and issues related to the world which explains why I am also very good in literature. I believe that in business world, academics itself is never sufficient. We need to become great leaders, great entrepreneurs. In International Baccalaureate Program , there are six group of subjects (First Language, Second Language, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science and Arts). For the respective groups, I plan to take up English Literature, French, Mathematics, Business Studies, Biology and Visual Arts. The combination of the subjects itself proves that this program will shape me into a well-rounded person. As a student leader in high school, I have really loved helping and leading the student body towards a better environment, a much more friendly and productive one. This is another reason why I think the IB is the best course for me. The IB needs each student to complete 150 hours of Creative, Action and Services. This means, I would have the chance to train myself in organising beneficial events for the community, train my presentation skills and even contribute to the community through the voluntary community services. All top universities require someone who is outstanding and if I sit for the A-Levels I would have to find ways outside school to organise events or do any charity work. International Baccalaureate prepares an extroverted student like me for university life, to be independent and very proactive in the community. The IB also requires students to write a thesis of 4000 words on a certain subject. This will highly train me for university life and the essay/thesis will also give me an edge over the others (extra credits) when applying for top world universities. There will also be the theory of knowledge where students are taught to question things and introduced to critical evaluation of all knowledge. Research projects are similar to university dissertations and a programme of creativity creates reflective, open minded individual just like me. The IB is a broad and challenging programme with an international perspective and offers development inside and outside the classroom. The London School of Economics finds that, because the IB is intellectually and personally demanding, it provides a very good springboard for study at university level. From my point of view, if a person is taking business, taking A-Levels would only teach a person of the theories but not to implement them and only through IB, students will be able to train themselves to implement the theories they have learnt.

Why bussiness line?
Unlike any other students, I know what are my passions, my goals and what I do best. I believe only through experience with the IB Program at CATS, I will definitely gain an entrance into Cambridge University, Oxford University, London School of Economics or any other Russell Group Universities for Business Bachelors Degree after the two years of IB Program. After I finish my degree, I plan to help to robust our nation’s economic growth through business world with new creative and innovative, productive and constructive ideas which I have gained throughout my years of studying abroad. Only through business, we can generate lots of money within the shortest period of time. I am not being materialistic, but the main reason why I think making money is very important, is because, with money, we would be able to change people’s lives, able to develop a more advance technology and able to change the environment for the community into a more conducive one.

Why let go?
Recently, I have applied from MARA, Shell, PNB and Yayasan Khazanah Global for the loan/scholarship. For all of the above sponsors, I have been called for 1st stage screening as one of the few lucky short-listed applicants. However, all of these sponsors have a common policy: students who manage to get the loan/scholarship must do the preparatory program here in Malaysia. I tried everything but couldn't get the financial support I needed.

Besides, I received MARA offer to study IB at Mara Banting College for 2 years before letting me go overseas. It is a convertable loan and if I do well, it will be turned into a full scholarship. I decided to grab this chance as I am sure mnay applied thousands and only 1000 were offered what they requested for and I was one of them. And KMB is a creme college only for selected students, one of the best IB School in the world, so I should be saying no...since I have already taken the place of another applicant who failed to get what they wanted.....So I guess I have to leave my French and Visual Arts behind...but its ok, I will still make use of them in the Clubs I guess!

Letting go cuts your heart into two.....

Tiring Day

21 May 2010- Friday

Woke up with a headache and slight fever- and my mom actually scolded me because I still wanted to go for Art Class. What can I say, because it was my ultimate passion. Anyway, during art class I had a headache, so couldn't really focus my painting was only 30% finished.

My unfinished artwork

Anyway, during art class, my teacher did talk a lot about research. She asked me to study abstract art work by Picasso and also oil painting on Lavender. Next week task- finish the painting and start painting on mirror- also I have to find flower designs for the glass paintings!

After arts, headache was still there and me and my mom were on the way to pick daddy up. It was an hour earlier , so we stopped by at a roadside McDonalds. I read the newspaper- awful news on Metro.....why is there more and more social issues these days, murder,rape,abuse ......what's going on? What happened to you at that moment when you decide to be among the Satans- I have always wondered..Then daddy called and asked us to go back as he doesnt know when he would be back.

At home I check my MARA Application Results, thanks God, I got what I applied for. International Baccalaureate in Mara Bnating College as preparatory program before going overseas. My mom was so happy. I think she called my eldest aunt to inform her on the news. Well,  since I was bored that night I decided, hey why not watch Robin Hood at the cinema? And we did, my dad and his friend joined us at 8.30 pm. The movie finished around 11pm and we went for supper where we discussed on hmm? Ow yea polygamy- social desperate behaviour of woman. Weird topic lol. Anyway at 12 midnight we went back home and I was tired. Then only, I slept with full optimism for the next day "THE WALKATHON!"

Money week.

1. Got RM 200 from my mother's friend to calculate his daily graphs for two months :)

2.DBKL Prize Giving Ceremony - RM 200

3.UMNO Wangsa Maju Prize Giving Ceremony - RM 250

4.Kuala Lumpur Federation Prize Giving Ceremony - Coming soon but from RM 200-RM300 I guess.

So, in total this week- put my real bussiness line aside- RM950 - all given to my mom to spend lols. My love to her :)

Application For Scholarships

Applying for scholarships are rather easy I suppose, what is difficult is getting it lols.

I applied for Yayasan Khazanah Global Scholarship, PNB Scholarship,Shell Scholarship,International School of Kuala Lumpur IB Scholarship and MARA Scholarship

Right after SPM Results come out, keep your eyes opened for all of these scholarship. The dateline is usually like two weeks after SPM Results comes out.

But I think the ISKL Scholarship opens about a month before your SPM and the dateline is somewhere in February the following year.

PNB- Download the form, fill them up, insert related documents, arrange them accordingly and finally send them by hand or even post them. If you are shortlisted you will phoned for the first stage battery test! Don't worry it is just English, Maths and IQ- Not really English and Maths but more to how fast does your brain absorb information, evaluate information and intepret statistics. This year 10 000+ applied, 400 were shortlisted including me and my best friend Shaz. We were very happy to be from our school SMK Zon R1 Wangsa Maju:) as others come from elite and well-known school, Tengku Kudsiah, MCKK,SASER, SAB,ST JOHN,VICT and many more....

Shell scholarship- the most tedious scholarship application of all. Oh my God, you literally have to do everything online. The documents- you either have scan them or take clear photos and then submit them online. And you cannot really submit evrything, you have  got to choose the important ones. Lucky enough?- Phone interview or about 1.30 hour. Section A: Yourself, Co-co Activities, Commitments, Goals, Views, Vision. Section B: Choose a topic and they will ask many critiucal thinking questions related to the topics.
I chose Expanding Bussiness of a Global Company via Internet. Questions asked were how will it work, how to ensure the main core bussiness expands, what are the advantages and risks, what are pre-risks...and many more...Just be yourself, debate a lot, argue a lot and these will benefit you always in the future....

Yayasan Khazanah Scholarship- Easiest Application. Apply online. If you are shortlisted, you will be emailed for first stage screening. You only have to bring related documents during first stage screening. My firsts stage was held at UEM Building which was really condusive. First stage consists of 5 IQ Tests-Fun Ones.There are questions on complicated sets, mathematical reasoning,number patterns,arranging cartoons and identifying diagrams. Second stage- Group work.Third- Interview by Managerial Department.Final: Interview by Board of Directors, you know who, only our...PRIME MINISTER lol:)

International School of Kuala Lumpur Scholarship- The Scholarship is only offered for IB Diploma not until degree. Anyway for this, you have to prepare teachers recommendation letters, school testimonial,personal startement, community service commitment statements and a tick bundle of co-curricular activities lols. I would recommend people to hand in the documents. Then there will be a talk in February on the scholarship. 15 days later will be the entrance exam which consists of Maths and English Papers.A piece of cake- English- based on opinion/thoughts/expressions.Maths- Just add Maths. Anyway, if you're one of the ten short-listed candidates, you will be called for an interview. During the interview- they only want to know your thoughts, visions, goals and commitments- so don't be scared, be yourself, confident as ever and talk with pride and optimism and be fluent in English:)A month later, they will send a letter to you on your application status.

MARA Scholarship - Apply online and bring documents during interview. During the interview, be polite and speak confidently and also fluently. I appled for Bussiness and the questions were not related but still, I answered them with full optimism- Is your dad working? Oh, what does he think about the election? So how was your other interviews?What did you do for Geography Club when you were in charge? Did you do anything about the Earth hour? What are your goals? What do you want to do? and many other simple questions for me....

Well actually my preferences were ISKL and MARA because I have always aimed for IB due to its hollistic values and besides top universities do put IB students in priority. I still applied for other scholarships as a back-up plan. What's important is that we live our life span in high school to the fulles, be active and also do well in academics and you'll face no problem with the scholarships and during the interview you have many things to brag about-especially on your contributions....and thoughts on global society:)

Penang Breakaway

Penang Trip - I think this took place like in Dec 2009

Although its like so in the past, I think I should write down something about it because it was so memorable...

I couldn't remember when was this but I remembered it was like three nights and two days trip. Two on the train, one at Mardhiah's grandma's house.

Well, the first, I think it was like 6 hours on the train. I sat beside Nash. He damn funny. Although it was a very long journey, I guess I only slept like an hour because I spent most of the time chatting, reading eclipse and oh yea, standing the chill! And the train was packed! If I wanted to walk to the cafeteria, it is a very very long walk to the back of the train. What was cool? My friends could chat with me. Bad? There some troubledsome teens who think they are hot. Euw. Wannabe fakers!

On the train, many slept when it was about 2 am  but I was awake, and OMG praying on the train was kinda hard. Especially taking the wudhuk part, the toilet was so small and the train was shaky and all...but I still did what I had to do. It was so cold but I still prayed and even prayed Tahajjud. When we arrived at Penang, it was about 5 am in the morning. Got down the train and took a picture!

Girls posing at the middle of the train. Nice post hotties!Mardhiah, Shikin,Farah and Goh.:)

When we got off the train at Penang, we had to walk to the ferry station so that we can get to Butterworth.

This was on the ferry to Butterworth.

By the time the ferry reaches Butterworth, I was so sleepy! Look at me, like a dead person lols. It was about 7.30 am in the morning. Most of the shops were closed. We waited for Mardhiah's parents to come and fetch us. After like 20 minutes waiting, there they were. I think we had breakfast at a mamak stall. What I remembered most was that I had a breakfast with my eyes and brain shut-down.

After breakfast, Madhiah's parents sent us back to the bus station so that we could get a bus to Bukit Bendera. Our Bags? Bags were deported to Mardhiah's Grandma's house via Mardhiah's parents' car. So, we finally got a bus off to Bukit Bendera. What I remembered most: On the way there, I saw naked raw pigs were hung at the roadside stalls- especially near the temple area.

Yeap, we reached Bukit Bendera. Took a picture and waited for our turn to get on the "thing". Cable car so called. Anyway, I think we were among the earliest visitors who came that day.Getting on was no biggie, but what happened on that matters. After 2 minutes getting on the cable car, little noisy preschool children ambushed the cable car. It was damn crowded and I had to stand on the way up the hill.

On the hill, beautiful sights everywhere. The air was cool and fresh. If Nashriq didn't fart, then the environment would be just perfect. I think Nash's aroma of fart kinda spoil the perfect picture lols.

We had a very long walk on the hill and took pictures here and there. We could see the whole of Penang from up here. Everything was amazing except for Nash's aroma of fart, Shaz's face and Abbot's attitude. Nash wasn't a big deal of a srewup, but Abbott was. He didn't want to talk to any of us and pretended he didn't belong to our tour. Why? Because Shaz joked about him as a playboy. Gee, dude how old are you and we are ona trip! This is way no time for yoyr kindergarten attitude. Besides you've depended on Shaz all along, how could you have treated him that way in Penang. I hope one day you come to your senses. And btw Shaz, you should have just ignored his silly attitude and don't bother at all about him because at the end of the day, look at what he has done to you now. My perfect picture of a vacation is a happy relaxing time- but this was a little bit tensed. But anyway, something did cheer me up on the way back down in the cable car. Nash farted in the cable car and asked " What's this terrible smell?" And the teacher of the preschool children thought one of the kids farted. As a matter of fact, all of "us" knew it was Nash all along and he pretended as he was so innocent. Lols, Shaz was the first one to realize. What a fag!

Then, we took a bus to Mardhiah's village.On the way there, most of us sleep on the bus because we were like extremely tired. At Mardhiah's grandma house, we unpacked our bags, settled down, took a bath, some took a nap before we went out for lunch at a stall at about 12 noon.

Then we took a car trip to a few places. Ist the AF House. Then, the paddy field.

After that, the beach at Bayan Lepas. The Tsunami spot in 2006. Too bad the historical swings are not there anymore but we still had fun snapping shots.

After the beach we were taken to stalls to have tea. Yea right. It wasn't just tea! We had laksa- yummy.And fritters too! One funny incident, it was raining cats and dogs that time that when Goh went out of the car , she hit a lampost and fell on the ground! Clumsy and Funny..Ouch.

Then we headed back to the Kampung House. My friends decided to cycle to the paddy field, but I didn't join them because I wanted to take a bath after getting wet in the rain lols- I am an urban girl- Nothing you can do about me.

You guys should have listened to me. i knew it was going to rain again. As I was bathing I heard the thunder and guess what, my friends came back soaked with rainwater. Lucky me- I wasn't part of the mess. My mom would have killed me if she finds out I cycle i  a heavy stormy rain. It was kind out dangerous because the wind was strong too. It was the kind of storm which can take bare roots out of the soil. Funny part : As Mardhiah cycled as fast as she could back to the house she said "Goh! Cepat Goh!" It was raining and she did it in a kind of slow motion way but the thing is Goh was so far behind and not even in Mradhi's sight. She shouted at: NoONE Lols. After reaching home, they cleaned and dried themselves up. At about 8, after the football match, we dressed up to go out.

Dinner  time. We ate seafood! I knew everyone was so tired because of the rain lols. We chat and ate. Good old time!Then we were off to Queensbay Mall. Actually not the mall but just to view the xx island, I can't remember the name, which is across the mall. It used to be a place where they dump awful and cruel prisoners so that they can harm no one and die there. if they try to swim across and escape, they would be shooted.

Next, we were off to the carnival at about 10.45 pm. The carnival is being held every once a year in Penang. It was very colourful and bright. Many rides but we spent a lot of time walking and looking at stuffs and discussed what to do and at the end of the day, we didnt  ride anything or did anything. Just walked and mmy friends bought a few T-Shirts and they are not even Penang T-Shirts lol. Went back, cleaned up and slept. My first time ever sleeping ina cosy Kampung House. But wait there was more! I couldn't sleep, went up to the attic, and all of us had a forum in the middle of the night with Nashriq uruting his legs and kept on farting and farting and farting. It was rather fun laughing ...and chatting..just us like a 1Malaysia family. 3 Chineses and Malays..chatting in Kampung House attic with Nash's farts. Nice. We slept at about 2 am.

Next morning, I woke at 6 am for Subuh prayer. It was a really awesome view there in the countryside. Fresh air...Then I took a bath in the cold and freezy water. I thought everyone would wake up early but they didnt I waited and waited- OMG I think the guys are dead sleeping- Subuh Guys- Quite Lsat Minute.

At 9 am- I woke everybody up to get cleaned up and dress up to go out. Hello? We are on a vacation aren't we? Why sleep...we can sleep at home. We had "nasi Lemak" as breakfast at Mradhiah's house.....then we went to Penang Street....Just walk and walk.....A few bought pickles but i preferred key-chains. Not used to eating those things. Then We went and eat at a Nasi Kandar Restaurant-OMG - They way they serve the food- just grab and throw....

Before going back, we stopped at Batu Feringghi. We thought we could try Mardhi's Uncle famous Batu Cendol but it was raining heavily and the stall had closed. Then went back to the house, pasked our things and got ready to leave. Took picture and requested blessings from Mardhi's family members and went back.

It was a really awesome trip!