Birthday Request for 26/11

More interesting.

My life has gotten more and more interesting. Unfortunately,  I just don't have the time (and sometimes the internet access) to blog. I miss blogging. I should really blog. I need to blog so that I can look back and be reminded of the things I always tell myself "Ok, I'm going to do this. I'm not going to that. I'll remember this."

ALIEN Biz.

www.alienbiz.blogspot.com

Introducing ALIEN Biz! Stands for "ALIa's Extra Notes Business". Name courtesy of my older crazy and spontaneous brother, Ahmad.

What Sparked ALIEN Biz.: Well, there's a different "How It Started" on ALIEN Biz.'s first post. It actually REALLY started because I desperately needed money. Oh wait, dejavu... I think I wrote this somewhere before.  But I desperately need money a lot anyways.

Back in around April 2011, I visited a Somali Refugee Community in Puchong a couple of times. Shobana Nair (the organizer of a TEDxYouthKL for which she invited me as a speaker for) asked for my help to hold a Medical Checkup in the somali community. I was a part of PPIM CUCMS Student Chapter, and one of the medical outreach programs they did was free Medical Checkups. So we held a medical checkup for them.

At the same time, we wanted to raise funds for the school. They only had 1 Somali teacher, their school was only one room and was in need of school supplies such as stationaries and exercise books. Thus we held a fundraising event called, "Night of Gratitude" where there was a multitude of performances and which the somali children starred as Guest Performers.

In May, just before my professional exam break, I visited them again and they served us some of their food. What I tasted was exquisitely delicious and when I told them this, Uncle Jama (the head of the community), showed me a list of cuisines that they sell. Apparently, they already have a business, whereby the startup was funded by UNHCR's SPF (Social Protection Fund). However, looking at the menu, the photos weren't that clear, it was an A4 paper, printed on glossy paper. I think with the combination of help from other people, insyaAllah it could be improved and be way more attractive to the market.

So I was determined to design the menu and have it professionally printed- for which I needed money. And where was I going to get it?

Poster to promote OSCE notes.

Sell stuff and get money! So getting money would either mean I have to ask for it (like what I did when raising funds for Smile Train Kerala and also Twenties for Smil:)ys) or sell a service or a product.

It was my pro exam break and we were going to have OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination)- a physical examination. Alhamdulillah, previously for our Nervous System OSCE, I made notes and uploaded it and my classmates said that they found it really useful. So I thought of selling notes for physical examinations for all systems. And it was the crucial time too since it was nearing exams. I didn't know how well it was going to go but I had the idea so I thought why not just go for it?

And ALIEN Biz. launches! So I started ALIEN Biz. Started a blog and attempted to make it look professional, so that I can easily promote it and allow people to order from there. It took long hours and a lot of critics from my brother (in terms of logo design, website layout and managing). Good critics that is because as he says, "When you start something, think long term. If later you realize that you need to change it, it's going to take a lot more work". But it did worry me at one point because I was spending time on it rather than studying. But it also allowed me to take a break from my books.

Character for ALIEN Biz. ;)

Overwhelming response: I didn't know how much money I needed for the menus. I haven't actually thought it through but I told myself I just needed to raise as much money as possible. And if I need more money, I'd find other ways to top it up. Ahmad helped me calculate the cost of each piece, considering the paper, ink, electricity and time. That was something new I learnt; how to calculate each. I sold each at RM 5.

I thought only those from my batch (which are those who were going to take OSCE in about 3 weeks time from then) were going to be interested. But even juniors bought it and a few seniors:)

I'm really elated to say that the money received surpassed the amount I needed to pay, and even more, that people said they found the notes really useful! The menu designs will be in the next post insyaAllah. And another project is underway for ALIEN Biz. That too will be revealed in a few months:) (possibly in the next next post considering the rate at which I'm updating heh).

If not for Allah's mercy to inspire me at that moment, I think things wouldn't have unravelled like this:) It might have looked all fine and dandy but there were some obstacles I passed. I admit, I got into a little bit of trouble with my university, something about copyright issues and Intellectual Properties. And that had me traveling back and forth to my college during the holidays. But it's settled now:) and now, that's why the new project is taking place:)

Update more soon:)

With all my salam from peaceful Janda Baik,
Alia Nadhirah
Founder of ALIEN Biz.

ProExam break til 3rd Year

Currently sitting at the verandah of Saujana Janda Baik:) Finally able to sit down and type down my thoughts. Reading back my blog, I think the last entry about events in my life was the beginning of my professional exam 1 break. That is very very far. For my self-reflection, these are the things I've learnt since then:

1. Professional Exam 1 break was for a month. We started revising during the break; like all the core topics and by the end of it, got really really saturated and ended up feeling not wanting to study and just wishing that ProExam would come right there and then. I actually ended up understanding most of the topics I didn't understand earlier during classes. And I wished that I had read Robbin's Basic Pathology more diligently. But I learnt my lesson. And Alhamdulillah, from the support of lecturers and guidance from lecturers, passed my ProExam 1:)
2. End of Year 2 break: I think one of the most significant things was doing my Elective 1 with Brotherhood Arts. I didn't know that there was a lot MORE to art and design. Well, actually I knew but I didn't know WHAT. I learnt that art with business is about discipline and about Client-Design Brief. Best of all, I was guided by amazing people who genuinely wanted to help me. Kak Anfaal showed me books on art, colors, designs and samples of interesting art. Abg Syahid mentored me on using Adobe Illustrator and using Wacom Cintiq. Abg Ammar gave me gave comments for artworks. And Kak Ayu kept me company for lunches- vital after watching the screen for so long!
3. End of Year 2 break: I also started on a few projects. Researching, getting criticized and designing a menu was one of the things I did and that got me 1EXP up! Another project which caused me to go to college back and forth is also on its way. It's quite a short-term project but taking a little longer than I expected. InsyaAllah, will try to speed up the process. Note: I just realized I speak so 'unspecifically'. I just say 'it' and 'a', but nothing specific... InsyaAllah, will update with the proper info once they're out and official.
4. Start of 3rd year: Break was, of course, too short. In 3rd year, we're divided into groups and would be rotated around the postings Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obs and Gynae and Community Medicine. I was supposed to start with Internal Medicine but somehow it changed and we started with Surgery. I'm starting with Hospital Seri Manjung for Surgery and the week after raya, will be posted to Hospital Angakatan Tentera in Terendak. 

Well, what can I say about Surgery? It's really fun but really tiring. We're supposed to already know our basic sciences and being able to apply them but sometimes it's not that easy. What I really like about clinical years is that... you finally understand MOST of the basic sciences that you learnt. How the pathophysiologies give out certain signs and symptoms. Clinical years are to love!:)

Today, I'm on raya break for a week. Hanging out in Janda Baik with my family- the perfect place to be. As Ahmad puts it, "A slice of heaven on earth."

And indeed it is:)

Exactly what I needed.

Elbert Hubbard said: "To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."

Angah reminded me, "Well, now you know how 'he' felt. Just don't give up like he did."

And Faisal reminded me: "Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else."

a mountain

Dear Alia,

Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. This world is full of people who makes drama. But sometimes it's not their fault. Sometimes they misunderstood and sometimes they just don't see the full picture as what you explained. It's okay, don't freak out. You'll be fine. Just smile, accept and you'll come out a stronger person than now:) No one ever achieved great things without having to go through hardship, resistance and rejection.

Besides, these hardships are meant to make you wiser. And you'll pull through:)

ANADH

Hope you're doing well and happy:) Miss those days. It's a lot lot different know. And these words you wrote might not apply now anymore. But I'm happy they applied once in your life:)

"ANADH"
We, have not ended.
You and me, have a lot more to catch up with.
You and me still have a lot to tell, to share and to conquer.

You still have to be there to care, to control and to catch me.
You still have to draw, speak and advice me.
You still have to be there, to be, my friend..

I may sometimes run, but you'll have to chase me.
I may be selfish, so shake me with ur selflessness.
I may be ignorant, so nail me back to reality.

I am the kite, and you are the runner.
Don't let me go, let me fly high.
Control me with your strength,
Care for my beauty with your passion towards flying me.

Look up to me, knowing that you mean a lot to me.
Look up to me knowing that we depend on each other.

The string connecting us, shall never be cut.
The string between us, is our friendship...

Lessons from Entrepeneurship

The title of this post is misleading. It's not exactly lessons from entrepreneurship per se. But it is related to it. Greatly.

You see, my youngest brother (who is only 12), made an irresistible cookie recipe. Which was initially used to raise money to get plane tickets to visit his friend in South Africa. He managed to raise the money. And still, people were demanding for more cookies! Now the business continues and he's featured in magazines and sites and stuff and really famous.

But that's beside the point.

In this entrepreneurship business, a lot of things came up in the family. Two very powerful lessons I learnt in these past few days related to this business.

LESSON 1:
Ysee, Siraj isn't allowed to sell his cookies at school. School regulations. But there's a compromise that he's allowed to deliver them there when people order them. My parents then suggested to him, "Why not sell the cookies at the shop next to the school?" Even I thought that was a pretty good idea. But Siraj refused. When my parents told me about it, I too wondered why he rejected the idea... And then my dad continued. He told me that Siraj didn't want to sell it there because it would be more expensive. The people in the shop would, logically, jack up the price and it would be too expensive for his friends to buy.

I kept quiet when I heard that.

He doesn't think all about the money. He remembers his friends:) And from this lesson, I'm truly humbled.

LESSON 2:
This is more of a parenting lesson I guess. But closely related to the entrepreneurship of the business.

Earlier in the evening, I was sitting at the dining room table doing my work. Siraj was on the floor and my parents were on the sofa. Suddenly Siraj asked a question (something related to the cookie business). My parents were looking at something else on the iPad and mumbled a reply but didn't pay full attention. I didn't notice it but the living room suddenly got quieter.

A few minutes later, my dad is ready to go to the surau for Isya'. He sees Siraj lying down on the floor and asks, "What's wrong?" Siraj replies, "Well, I asked you a question and you didn't reply." I look at the corner of my eye and I see my dad walking. I thought he was going out the door but instead my dad walks over to Siraj and says dejectedly, "I'm sorry". In the corner of my eye, I saw my dad kneel to the floor and hug Siraj.

That took me by complete surprise.

He could have just answered the question later. Or go to the surau immediately. It was quite a small question. But what he ended up doing was lying down on the floor as well, comforting Siraj and going through all the reasons to the question. I'm not sure Siraj was fully convinced. Minutes later, my dad got up, and asked my brother to google something up. My dad took immediate action. And I think Siraj was pacified a little. But I learnt a lesson from that.

Being a parent, you never know when you're setting an example infront of your kids. In this case, I'm not sure my dad realizes it, but I was watching and half listening the whole time. It set an example for me. And I think that when I have kids (InsyaAllah), I want to be strong enough to apologize and make things better for my child.

So there you have it. Just 2 of the many lessons I've learnt from having an entrepreneur as my little brother.

Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah. :)

Ummi and Ayah.

Last Friday was the last day of my second year. Currently we are on study break for one month before the huge day comes: Professional Exam 1. 13th June 2011. The biggest (and only) exam for pre-clinical students to enter the 3rd and clinical year. 13th (SAQ), 14th (MCQ), 15th (OSPE) and 16th (OSCE) June will be exams and 17th will be feedback session and announcement of results. We've had briefings at college, multimedia reminders, and the very fact itself continuously interwoven in our facebook updates about the upcoming day.

After our last day, most people planned to go back home and take about a week break and spend time with their family. That was what I had planned too. Until all the "exam" scares and the cold hard truth of the closeness of the exam slapped me hard. I decided that I would only stay at home home for just a day and come back to Cyber on Monday (that's 2 days ago), ready and refreshed to dive into pathophysiologies.

On Sunday when my parents picked me up, this fact didn't come down so well when I told them.
"Ummi Ayah, I'm coming back to Cyber on Monday. That's tomorrow. May I?"
My parents immediately asked, "Why?" and after I told them about me being afraid that I wouldn't be concentrating enough at home, they pondered for a while. My mum immediately agreed that I "really need to focus on her exams because it's so close." My dad just kept quiet.

Then Ummi said, "Alia, if you don't have a table to study, you can take the dining table. We'll eat in a talam or something. And you can leave your books on the table all the time. And if you get distracted by your brothers, you can just tell them that you need time to study." My heart melted.

Ayah said, "Well, I thought you were going to stay home for a week. I've got 3 projects for you." Oh? "The first one starts today, at 4pm. Just you and me- we're going to the KL International Book Fair. There's a WHOLE floor of medical books there!" The other 2 projects he told me when we had lunch at Satay Kajang. My eyes watered.

When we reached home, I was so tired and fell asleep on the sofa. I could make out bits and pieces of the conversation between my parents with my mum defending, "She's too tired to go to the fair. Let her sleep." I think I slept for a while. I woke up when my dad gently woke me up and whispered, "Alia, do you want to go to the Book Fair?" I was groggy but managed a nod. My mum knew how tired I was and wanted me to rest. My dad wanted to spend time with me by going to the book fair. I bought 4 medical books and my dad never said a word about the costs. God knows how costly medical books or any textbooks are.

On Monday morning I had went to see the orthodontist and he tightened the lower braces. I slept in the afternoon and by evening, my teeth had started feeling the strain when your teeth realizes that it's being bound, they sort of rebel. It's like having a toothache on every tooth. And they're throbbing even when you're doing nothing. My parents sympathize immediately and suggest soft foods I can eat. Eventhough he's had a long and difficult day at work, he goes out anyway and gets me porridge.

On Tuesday, I ended up sleeping all day. Because of the tightened braces, it's all I can do to just sleep to ignore the pain. My dad comes home from work in the evening and knocks softly on the door. I smelled durian and asked if there were some more. And my dad said, "Oh. It's finished. But it wasn't that nice this time around. I'll get you nicer ones nanti." My mom came in and hearing the conversation, asked, "Can you eat the durian? I guess it's soft enough." I smiled. And tonight my mum cooked spaghetti. Not beef or rice or hard food. Soft spaghetti. They never stop caring.

Throughout the days I was home, my brothers and my parents would ask, "So when are you going back to Cyberjaya?" and when I tell them that I'm going back tomorrow, my brothers would complain that I'm rarely ever home. My parents would accept it. But sometimes I think they're not okay with it. I'm not okay with it either. And that's probably why I'm up awake right now wondering if I should be going home or not.

I know sometimes we have to sacrifice a lot of things when we're in the medical field. But what comes first? And should we not be looking after our families before we start looking after patients and victims?

The person who complains the most about my workload I think would have to be my youngest brother, Siraj. Just yesterday he asked for my help  to design a poster. And when he came to me just now, he said, "Kak Alia, do you remember I asked you to help me with my homework?" I was reading a textbook and didn't really respond until he stood right next to me and softly asked, "Do you really have that much work to do?" I looked at him and said, "Well, I have  a major exam coming up. It's my professional exam. If I don't pass it, I won't be able to go into my clinical year." He keeps quiet for a while and asks, "Do you really have to take medicine?"

Sometimes I wonder the same too.

Sorry, rewind. The whole purpose of this post was to highlight the dedication and commitment of my parents. How every single act they do, deeply touched my heart. And sometimes I wonder why we're so rebellious and disobedient and rude and unthankful to them. And it's really no wonder why Islam puts parents on such a high position.

I can feel it in my heart, that my thank you's are never enough no matter what I say or do. How can I show to them how immensely grateful I am for everything that they've done. And tonight I feel so ashamed for not being the best daughter and at the same time, so humbled to be their daughter.

Thank you Allah for opening my heart today and making me realize this. Alhamdulillah.

How far should we go?

I was walking back with my mum after lunch just now and we crossed paths with a homeless man. I've seen him a few times in the street, walking aimlessly and sometimes puffing away. His hair is thick and bushy in all directions and he is clad in the same clothes everyday, a worn-out shirt, a kain pelekat which falls just above his knees and a pair of battered slippers. He looks like he is in his 30s.

When we saw him, we decided to take a different route to the car. I think he saw us too and then he decided to walk in the opposite direction, coincidentally away from us. I don't know if it's because he just wanted to walk elsewhere or if it was because of us.

Suddenly questions came to my mind. Why is he like that? Shouldn't we be doing something?


In the car, as I stared at him just standing outside a restaurant, I remarked to my mum, "Ummi, I feel like just sitting down with him and do a history taking. Would you let me?"

Of course, I know I am not brave enough to deal with him just by myself and asking questions. Apart from the fact that I might possibly not know what to do if he has psychiatric disorders, the other major concern would have to be the language barrier (I really have to work on my BM. It's limiting me). But my curiosity happened to be really overwhelming.

My mum looked at me, "Well, I guess you can."

I asked, "So you're okay with that? I can interview him and find out about him?"

She hesitated. "Yes you may. But I prefer if you go with someone. Preferably a male. Or a group of people. You never know if he is deranged and can possibly attack at the slightest bit of provocation."

I nodded. I wouldn't dare to go alone either. But going with a group of people can possibly scare him. The question is, is he really deranged? Or is he just normal and beneath all that is a soul hoping that a warm-hearted person would reach out to?

"Ummi, I always wonder... we see these people... how are we supposed to help them? We assume that other people will help him someway, somehow. And other people would assume that someone should and would help him. Question is, does he want to be helped? SHOULD we help him? How much responsibility should we be taking?"

Sometimes I think that yes, we should be helping as many people as possible. But helping EVERYONE you meet along the way is impossible. I'd like to think that it's okay to at least be doing SOMETHING. But is that enough?

I remember watching the video about CNN Hero Narayanan Krishnan, a humble man high on social status but has the great heart to care for the homeless people who he finds in the street. He cooks for them, cleans them, bathes them, feeds them...and I think it's just truly amazing. Honestly, I don't think I have the will to do something like that yet. InsyaAllah, striving for it and I hope that I can gain a mindset that will guide me to help anyone regardless.

After googling for Narayanan Krishnan's video, I came across the main CNN Hero website. Now who they are and how they were nominated is beside the point. But it is WHAT they are doing that warms my heart. It's exactly incredible deeds like these that we should watch when we need to get inspired.

It's one thing to feed the homeless when they really need it. But it's a whole different thing when the person you're continuously feeding is insulting you without knowing it's you. Imagine our great Prophet s.a.w. going to the street and feeding an old blind lady who liberally degrades the Prophet. When he passed away and Abu Bakar came to feed the lady, she instantly knew it was not the same man who had been feeding here. When Abu Bakar inquired how she knew, she replied that the initial person (the Prophet) had broken down the food before feeding it to her. Subhanallah.

How do I attain that kind of attribute?

Coming back to the old man I usually see in the street, sometimes (just sometimes) I wish I am a guy so that I would be more confident and have the bravery and can always help people immediately without having to have an escort/bodyguard/companion/chaperone. I mean, I'm fine with being a girl. Though it has its limits when you are slightly at a physical and safety disadvantage. Okay, digressing. Allah gave us our own advantages and disadvantages. This is just an opportunity for me to find different methods to helping people insyaAllah.

Maybe I can't help him, that man in particular. But, thank you mister, for sparking a mini-reflection of my life's goals and dreams in me.

I hope I can be a someone for the people one day.

Productive

ProductiveMuslim.com:

A key part of being productive, is about focusing your mind on what’s beneficial and de-cluttering it from unproductive thoughts.