Part 1 - CV

Kali ini saya ingin berkongsi pengalaman mengenai interview dan careers. Post ini sepatutnya saya sudah tulis sejak bulan Mac lepas semasa UKEC Careers Fair lagi. Namun, baru sekarang saya mempunyai semangat untuk menulis mengenai perkara ini. Yang baiknya, lebih banyak maklumat boleh saya tulis.

Saya akan menulis dari proses menghasilkan CV, interview, sehinggalah mendapat offer kerja. Semua post berkaitan topik ini akan diletakkan dibawah label "Careers" dan mempunyai tajuk bermula dengan Part X.

CV

Perkara pertama yang perlu kita ada ialah CV ataupun resume. Banyak sumber yang telah saya rujuk semasa menulis CV ini termasuklah CV abang-abang saya, sample di internet dan sample yang diberikan oleh University Careers Service.

Panjang CV haruslah kira-kira dua muka.

Kita boleh dapat banyak ready-made template untuk CV di internet. Nasihat saya, jangan sesekali menggunakan template ini. Buat CV kita sendiri daripada blank paper.

Sebenarnya terdapat beberapa perbezaan antara CV UK dan CV Malaysia. CV Malaysia selalunya mempunyai gambar dan menamakan 2 referees merupakan satu kemestian. Tapi CV UK tidak mempunyai gambar dan menamakan referees merupakan satu pilihan. Kita boleh tulis "references are available by request". Semasa saya menghadiri CV Workshop yang dianjurkan oleh IET, presenter tersebut menyatakan dengan tegas supaya tidak sesekali meletakkan referees dalam CV. Itu pendapat dia. Sekiranya anda memohon kerja di Malaysia, ada baiknya meletakkan terus nama referees.

CV UK juga tidak menggalakkan kita meletakkan butir-butir yang boleh menyebabkan bias. Contohnya, tarikh lahir atau umur, bangsa dan agama.

Selepas CV anda siap, jangan lupa untuk membuat appointment dengan staff Careers Service supaya mereka dapat check grammar, menilai dan memberi feedback mengenai CV kita.

Sekiranya kita berasa bangga apabila orang membaca CV kita, itu bermakna kita berada dilandasan yang betul.

WANTED!!!!

I found a very interesting advert inside the male prayer room in Union Building. It's about a single sister looking for a husband. I never found this kind of advert before. Guys out there, if you meet all the requirements and interested, please contact bro Abu Bakr as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if you are a single man or have 3 wives and 5 kids. Marital status is not an issue for her. Today might be your lucky day =)

To my female friends, are you dare to do the same thing?

English dance

I was sleeping yesterday afternoon. Suddenly, something noisy woke me up. Someone play loud musics in front of my hall. I tried to see what was going on from my window but i can't. The window's restrictor only allow the window to be opened for few inches. It's for security reasons. I saw lots of people from Victoria Hall sat by their window to watch that thing as well.

Because of curiosity, I went down. Then, I saw a dance group made performances. I don't know who invited them to make that performance. I don't think Devonshire Cat Bar invited them. It was quite strange because Wellington Street is not a busy road. If they want to attract audiences, they should perform at The Moor.

I talked to one of the performer,

Pena Biru: Where the dance came from?

Dancer: Ermm, I'm not so sure. But I think it came from Oxford or somewhere from the south.

Pena Biru: Owh, I thought it came from Scotland. It really sounds like Scottish musics on tv

Dancer: No, no. This is purely English dance. There are not many dance group right now. Especially in the north region.

I found something interesting with their attire. The dancers wore lots of small bells at their knees. So, everytime they move, you can hear the 'kling kling kling' sound. That sound reminded me of one story. It was about how Malaysian Indian got 'keling' nickname (I don't mean to be racist here ok!).

When I was a kid, I was told by others that Indian was called 'keling' simply because they wore bell at their heel. So, everytime they walk, you can hear the 'kling kling' sounds which was then became 'keling'. I think if they come and perform in Malaysia, 'creative' Malays will call them 'keling' as well. haha

I managed to record the performance and snap some pictures using my mobile phone. So, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the show!

Kantoi of the Decade

Saya pasti ramai yang terkejut dan hairan apabila mendengar berita mengenai kes rampasan tanah peladang-peladang kecil di Sabah. Berita melaporkan bahawa kes tersebut didalangi oleh seorang ahli politik kanan dan pegawai polis kanan di negeri tersebut.

Mari kita melihat fakta mengenai kes tersebut.

Ladang seluas 787 hektar yang bernilai kira-kira RM 40 juta milik 171 orang peladang kecil di Kampung Tingkayu, Kunak Sabah didakwa telah dirampas. Peladang-peladang tersebut mendakwa bahawa ladang mereka telah dirampas dan mereka tidak dibenarkan memasuki ladang mereka. Seorang pegawai kanan polis negeri Sabah dipercayai terlibat dalam kes rampasan tersebut. Tidak hairanlah tiada sebarang tindakan diambil walaupun sebanyak 40 laporan polis telahpun dibuat dari Januari sehingga Mac mengenai kes terbabit. Syabas dan tahniah saya ucapkan kepada TV3 yang telah membuat liputan mengenai kes ini. Inilah yang kita takut, bila polis sendiri sudah korup. Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi.

Menurut siasatan awal, seorang ahli politik kanan di negeri tersebut yang berumur kira-kira 60 tahun turut mendalangi kes terbabit. Dia dikatakan telah mendapat saham dan sejumlah wang dari sebuah syarikat hartanah yang merampas tanah peladang-peladang tersebut. Saya pasti wang sogokan itu berjumlah jutaan ringgit kerana nilai tanah tersebut sudah pun bernilai RM 40 juta.

Kes ini mengingatkan saya dengan kes yang berlaku di negara-negara Afrika lama dahulu. Semasa zaman penjajahan, penjajah yang berkulit putih telah merampas tanah-tanah penduduk pribumi yang berkulit hitam dengan sewenang-wenangnya. Namun, itu berlaku semasa zaman penjajahan.

Saya berasa hairan bagaimana kes seperti ini boleh berlaku di Malaysia. Mereka ingat peladang-peladang di Sabah bodoh-bodoh semuanya ke? Mereka tidak tahu hak mereka? Atau dalang yang merampas tanah itu sebenarnya yang bodoh? Adakah mereka fikir begitu senang mereka boleh merampas tanah orang? Tidakkah mereka sedar bahawa ada lagi orang yang lebih berkuasa daripada mereka yang boleh membongkar tindakan mereka?

Saya sangat tidak sabar untuk melihat perkembangan kes ini. Sekiranya terbukti bahawa memang berlaku rampasan tanah dan ahli politik serta pegawai kanan polis tersebut terbabit dalam kes ini, ini merupakan konspirasi jenayah paling amatur pernah saya lihat. Tidak syak lagi, inilah kantoi of the decade. (Kes kantoi hubungan sulit Dr. Chua Soi Lek jatuh tempat no. 2)

Sekiranya mereka mahu kaya dengan cara menipu sekalipun, biarlah rancangan mereka itu bijak. Ini tidak, mereka seolah-olah menggali kubur sendiri. Penipu sentiasa rasa mereka sudah bijak. Namun, saya percaya penipu tidak pernah bijak dan tiada penipu yang bijak di dunia ini. Wallahua'lam

My Ummah

I would like to share a song from Sami Yusuf called My Ummah. I feel that this song is really inspiring for myself. Whenever you feel lazy, unmotivated or fed up with your studies, listen to this song. Just click the 'play' button at the imeem media player at the right hand column of my blog if you want to listen to the song.

Don't waste our time, let's struggle, work and pray and bring back the our glory.

My ummah, my ummah
He will say
Rasulullah on that day
Even though we’ve strayed from him and his way

My brothers, my sisters, in Islam
Let’s struggle, work, and pray
If we are to
Bring back the glory of his way

Ya Allah ya rabbal ‘alamin
Ya rahmanu ya rahim
Ya rabbi

Let the Ummah rise again
Let us see daylight again
Once again

Let’s become whole again
Proud again
’Cause I swear with firm belief in our hearts
We can bring back the glory of our past

My ummah, my ummah
He will say
Rasulullah on that day
Even though we strayed from him and his way

Look at where we were
And look at where we are
And tell me
Is this how he’d want it to be?
Oh no! Let us bring back our glory

News: Independent vs Biased

We can get news about our country from lots of sources such as Utusan, Berita Harian, Malaysiakini, Suara Keadilan, Harakah etc.

Why do we read the news? Of course to get information and know the truth. But what if the news that we read doesn't tell us the truth?

Utusan claimed that they are the national newspaper. Materials that they produce are based on national spirit and it's for everybody. But, this is not really true because in reality they are pro to the government. The obvious one is how they report the Bersih rally. Before the rally takes place, I don't really bother to know what is Bersih and what they fight for. I thought it was just a small gathering organised by the oppositions.

After the event, I read in Utusan online that Bersih rally had caused traffic congestion in KL. They put a picture showing several police traffic standing in the middle of the road directing vehicles. That's it. Yeah, that was what I expected. That event was small and not really a problem.

On the next day, my friend YMed me and gave me several news links reporting that rally. OMG, I was shocked. The news (with pictures and videos) from these sources were totally different compared with the one reported by Utusan. The rally was huge and the situation was really intense. It made realised that Utusan didn't convey the true picture of the situation. They did not lie but the don't report the wholly true.

It shows how big is the government influence towards Utusan. An independent newspaper won't hide truth like that. They have to realised that they can't lie everyone. Just imagine if you were there, watched the event with your own eyes and see how chaotic was the event but on the next day, the news said like nothing has happened. I'm sure you will definitely loose your trust with that kind of news provider.

Ok, enough with Utusan. Let's see Harakah and Suara Keadilan.

These are the news sources which you cannot really relied on. You can read it but you shouldn't really trust everything reported by these sources. Why? Simply because they are clearly biased sources. Harakah is owned by PAS and Suara Keadilan by PKR. So, their reporters are definitely not independent and pro to their party. In the case of Utusan, they do not declare that they are pro to the government. So in some way there are still rooms for independent materials published by them.

I still remember one lecturer from UM said the information are no longer singular. Now, they are plural. Means that there are two ways of interaction between the readers and the news providers. It is not just about what the news provider feed the readers but also about what the readers want to know or read.

Utusan claimed that they are national newspaper and for everyone. Therefore, they should provide information that everyone want. There is nothing wrong if they reserve some spaces in their newspaper to write stories or updates about the oppositions because that is what the readers want. And they should write it independently. But since they choose to be pro government, some readers have no other alternative but to shift to other sources such as Harakah and Suara Keadilan which is clearly biased towards their own party.

So, which one is better; readers read independent news about opposition parties in Utusan or they read biased news about opposition parties in Harakah?

I can't really comment on Malaysiakini because I am not sure who own it. But so far, the news they published are fine.

I think if Utusan become slightly independent and provide information that covers everyone needs, alternative sources such as Harakah and Suara Keadilan won't even exist. If it exist, people won't really bother about them because they already get all the information from the national newspapers.