Our Very First Cover :)

Today I'm not posting long stories, experiences or study notes. Instead, I'd like to share a cover video that me and my sister did mainly for fun but well, we do like singing...

If it's good (as per our viewer's opinions) I may consider making more, hopefully. Who knows?

So here it is, for your entertainment. Enjoy :)



This video is also publicly viewable on its Facebook page - go ahead and comment there. Feedback is really appreciated, to be frank :D

Job Search (Part 2)

Image by elaine

Continued from Part 1 here.

The office visits that I made in my 1st round of job searching were all rather short, and I only managed to hand in the documents to the staff on duty, who said that they would refer the documents to their bosses and will call me if they need me. I left feeling a little unsure of myself. I was jittery when talking to the staff since this is the first time I've ever done such a thing, and the thought of having made a nerve-wrecked first impression kept replaying over and over in my head. Nevertheless, I hoped for the best.

A few days later, in casual conversation I received valuable pointers from a lawyer friend on how to improve my resume and cover letter so that they were more professional and direct. With suggestions from him and also from my dad who has experience reading job applications in his company, I made my second cover letter and resume better than the first one.

The 2nd time around, I tried a different job-searching approach. Instead of traveling to the respective firms, I would e-mail them the documents needed along with contact letters. Thinking about it, this approach was more direct, easier and saved costs in terms of transport and paper. The Malaysian Bar website had a very helpful directory of law firms in the area, so I emailed accordingly.

Immediately,the 2nd method proved more effective - I suspect it had something to do with the use of the word intern instead of just temporary job (I wasn't sure if intern was too big a word for a small fella like me to use!). Within the first 30 minutes of sending out the emails, I received a call for an interview the following day! Now I had a different set of thoughts going on in my head such as how to make a good first impression, how to answer the questions etc. Later in the day I got another 3 replies that were somewhat mixed responses, but the firms were all very professional and helpful in their replies.

I woke up early in the morning on interview day to get ready. Everything, from the outfit I wear to the documents I bring to the way I prepared for questions had to be just right. I tried my best. When the time came for me to walk up the office door, I took a deep breath and walked in. I was ushered into a room to fill up a employment form. After that, I was interviewed briefly by one of the lawyers who ran the firm. The interview went well and I gained a lot of insight on the firm and being a good lawyer from her. I was told to wait for a reply as my employment would need to be discussed.

I came back thinking "Wow, it was less scarier than I thought!" and when I reached home, guess what- I received another call for an interview, this time from another firm. So on Friday afternoon I geared myself up for the 2nd interview, this time in a corporate building (the first was in a uptown commercial area), and I kept telling myself not to take it easy since my first interview went well. So I went, this time slightly less hesitantly to the office. After 2 minutes, the boss was free to interview me and she asked me a lot of questions about myself. I stumbled a bit and have used big words (such as merger) with little idea of what it meant (I was trying hard to impress!). Fortunately, not only was I forgiven, I was hired with the advice of 'ask me as many questions as possible' from the boss as I left the office.

Wow! I'm hired! Thank God :)

I'll be starting work the Monday after Chinese New Year, so I have one week to relax, enjoy the festive season and prepare for working life. I hope that being an intern would be one of the most meaningful experiences in this season of life.

Job Search (Part 1)

Image taken from here.

Finally, the day has arrived.

Today, I was going to walk into the world out there...and see how law offices really looked like outside my somewhat wild imagination - no, I mean, to apply for a temporary job in a law firms so that I know how's it like dealing with 'law' on a daily basis.

Even when I woke up today morning my heart was pounding - I didn't know what to expect at all. This walking door to door thing was really scary, and it really felt like I was the 'deer' in the village. I changed my outfit twice and checked my bag repeatedly to make sure it was worthy of an office visit.

So after filling up the car with its breakfast of petrol, we headed off to the office blocks at a prominent business area near our place. The place was rather jammed in the morning but we found a place and started making rounds around the blocks.

(Most) law offices tend to stand out with obviously black and gold signage (so cool) and the words 'advocators and solicitors' on it. However we also had an address list from Google search for confirmation of the places. So following the signs we went to the offices and rang the doorbells (they all were air-conditioned). I was scared and profusely sweating but then I tried my level best to say what I came for: "Good morning, I'm here to look for a temporary job". My mom actually chipped in for me and elaborated: "She's a form six leaver intending to further her studies in law and as such she would like to..." Thank you mom. I wanted to say that but froze when I got a negative 'no vacancies currently available' back I'd get momentarily stunned.

(note to self: Deb you'd better learn to take rejection in stride, girl. People get rejected all the time. Welcome to the real world-lah!).

Anyway the people I've met so far were helpful and took my resume, reference, application letter and contact details (which I've pre-packed in envelopes and wrote 'To the manager' on top a day before) and reassured me that they will call me if needed.

Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed and continue part 2 of my job search on Monday! :)

Those Pesky Questions in My Head

picture by Alessandra Oddi

Do you like making decisions?

For me, being able to decide can be both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because I have free will and I can choose something that is better, rather than having no choice at all; it's a curse because deciding can be really scary,and you're fully responsible for the choices you make!

A lot has been flying through my mind lately.

I'm finding for a job - a decision that if I could, would not want to make. I admit that I do feel lazy to accept the responsibilities of work, and I'm also afraid of exposing myself to the working world. Are adults going to be really mean? Will I mess up? Will I be able to do what I'm told? Take any job or be specific to doing law (which means waiting longer to be hired)?

In relationships - decisions that I inevitably face every day. I have to decide to be interested in people's life, and act despite me being lazy and afraid of doing it. How do I handle things people say or do to me? How I react will affect them as well. How can I serve them? Be myself around them? And can I ever be able to do it without tears or manipulating? How is it that I can find joy in something that I am powerless to control except for my own part in it?

About studies - which direction to take? I say that I wanna do law but I put off reading law books most of the time because deep down I don't want to think about studies for now - I just want to enjoy the remnant of my teenage years. Why, if this is what I like? Am I kidding myself now? People ask 'what kind of law' and I get even more blur. Researching still hasn't make me see what I want to do - all I know is that I wanna help see justice served, I admire how (good, un-corrupted) lawyers think rationally and critically when helping their clients, and I want to put my brains to good use. That's all I know, actually, if that counts.

Others' comments and advice can help a little, but experience - personal experience that is - looks like the only way to go. Can't always avoid facing stuff, ya' know? (God's wisdom always to be sought out first - something more easily said than done)

Hmm, I wonder, dear readers, how many questions fly through your heads each day? :)

I'm going on a job search tomorrow and Tuesday...it's welcome to the work force I guess!

Twenty Twelve Resolutions :)

image by streetart

New Year's Resolutions may be quite common to  many people, but guess what - I'm turning 20 this year but I've never made any resolutions before in my lifetime. So to usher in the third decade of my earthly life I've decided to list'em down for once.

#1: Improve my relationship with my heavenly Father (God) and my earthly father (my dad).

image by Rebecca Weaver

Both will be by conscious effort on my part.

In the area of my relationship with God, I have to be honest and admit that I take Christianity a lot like culture. Religious may be a fine way to describe my lifestyle - active in church, we have ample supply of Bibles and Christian lit at home, and both of my parents are church elders. However, that says nothing about my own beliefs because I have yet to practice knowing God personally - I'm rather lazy to seek, and 'religion' is something I felt that I grew up with - and got bored of after that because I don't know the significance of why I believe what I do. So this year, I want to go on a seeker's journey to find out what makes up my beliefs and why I believe them - and do so actively, not passively.

As for my dad, I noticed that I'm a lot of the proverbial chip off the old block - my temperament is quite similar to his in many ways, but before this I didn't attempt to understand him (which could have saved me and him a lot of squabbles). I don't want to declare family stuff too openly, but in short my ego gets the upper hand rather often when I relate with my dad. So this year I want to actually get to know him and glean from his wisdom (he's street-smart and wise in my eyes but I didn't admit this in front of him) 

#2: Serve others before myself.

image by Artotem

Primarily, this will be through working and volunteering- a job teaches me to be in service for the society I live in, whereas volunteering in my family, church etc helps lighten someone else's burdens.

Secondarily, I can't click with everyone - and this is something that I fret about quite often! It manifests itself everywhere - school, church, while working, there's so many people I don't take the time to know because they are different (and most of the time because I envy them - causing a somewhat bitter adolescence!) When I try to to get to know someone I hear myself saying stuff like ''She's too pretty/He's too funny/she's so smart' etc, and you are not worthy of their friendship'! However, I find that most of the time by doing that I become cold and unapproachable. So this year I want to put aside my personal faulty beliefs, which are self-protective in nature and just go and get to know people. Your needs before mine. And if there's one slice of pizza on the table, you have it (no matter how much I love food!)

#3: Practice thorough thinking.

image by Hartwig HKD

Hmm, ain't I contemplative enough? Answer: Yeah, but most of that 'thinking' consists of repeating (mostly negative) thoughts in the head over and over, and jumping to conclusions too fast. In many ideas,there are shades of grey, pros and cons, thoughts that need to be carefully considered from both sides (this is the rational thinking skill that I hope to learn while studying law) but too often my emotions decide on one side and preaches hellfire to the other side - not an informed decision but one based on emotional cynicism, preconceived notions and bias. For example, I cannot say that a new government project or a new rule in school or a book that has negative reviews is automatically bad before doing my research on its sources and implications. The temptation is to be lazy to think and decide emotionally earlier, and this year I want to try and avoid falling into that trap of immature thinking.

What are your resolutions? :)