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.

10 things 2010/2011

I had to browse through my blog today because someone asked me to list down my achievements for documentation and record purposes. While I scrolled through my 2010 blog posts, I came across this post called, "10 things". Here was what it read:

"10 things" 

I received an email from a fellow Toastmaster the other day. It read: 

My Dearest Toastmasters!  

Every year on 31/12, I'll list down 10 things I achieved in 2009, and 10 things I want to achieve in 2010. 

Every year I would be so amazed, didn't know I have achieved so many wonderful things in my life, if I just rush through a new year. God is indeed Great and Wonderful. 

Simply taking 10mins of your time reflecting and writing down what you have achieved on 2009 (be it big/ small, "spent a 3 full days together with my family" is an achievent for me) and 10mins to think and write down what you want to achieve in 2010 (Not what others want you to achieve, but what are important to YOU and you sincerely want to achieve, personal career.

It will have a magical effects on written Goals.
Do it, you'll amazed yourself with what you have achieved. And you will not regret when you review on 31/12/2010.
Goals written down has 60% higher chance to achieve! 

And there are only 3% of the people has written goals, 13% had goals, not written down, 84% no specific goals at all.
BE THE TOP 3%!
HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY & PURPOSEFUL YEAR AHEAD.
Joescher Chee 

10 things I want to achieve in 2010 (my final year as a teenager)

1. Raise money for a cleft lip repair. Go to Kerala, meet Dr Hirji, and have the most awesome trip to a cleft lip repair surgery in India. Done.

becoming the extraordinary doctor

I've had the habit of putting off blogging until I'm really free. But when will "really free" ever be? So I decided that even if I can't write a lot, at least 15 minutes of writing should be sufficient to just jot down my thoughts and important reminders for my future.

Firstly, I wish I can type down everything I learnt at the "Fiqh and Usul Fiqh on Contemporary Medicine" course I attended yesterday. In our CST (Clinical Skills Training) classes, Dr Hazian always stresses on the importance of professionalism and ethics. During the course, there were 5 slots:

The first lecture at the
Fiqh and Usul Fiqh on Contemporary Medicine Course.
Organized by PPIM CUCMS Student Chapter.

• Islamic Medical Ethics, Oaths and Codes: The meaning, importance and explanation on Oaths (Hippocrates Oath and the Qawaid Syariah) and the Codes (according to Malaysian Medical Council).
• Introduction to Fiqh and Usul Fiqh: The difference between Syariah (the Divine Revelation) and Fiqh (human intepretation of the Divine Revelation). What I love most was that it was in English :)
• Qawa'id Syariah: Principles of Islamic Medical Ethics and it's application in medicine.
• Maqasid Syariah
• PBL (problem based learning) case: This was facilitated by Prof Latiff. We were grouped and had to choose 3 out of 12 cases which had a lot of ethical and moral issues. It was really really great and eye-opening because so many questions have finally been answered. Sometimes we think there is no right or wrong answer; but after learning Qawaid and Maqasid Syariah, you would be able to make the best decision.

First encounter with Qawaid Syariah.
But immensely grateful for knowing sooner than later.

And that it what I learnt the most: being able to make an "educated" decision (as Prof Thuaibah would always remind us). It's about being empowered with knowledge to make safe decisions.

That night, there was a forum with panelists Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin (ex Mufti of Perlis) and Prof Abdul Latiff Mohamed. If there's one thing that I remember most, it's what Prof Latiff said, "If you are in a war and someone comes charging at you with the intent of killing you, and suddenly that person falls hurt, it is your responsibility to help him. And that is the nobility of this profession."

To me, if I felt that a friend wronged me and suddenly they need my help, I don't even know if I would have the nobility to put aside my emotions. What more an enemy.

But throughout this course, I felt this overwhelming sense of pride of my college. Mainly because of the professors and my seniors. They never fail to always make me feel so motivated. I think after attending these kind of programs, they always inspire me to always want to be the best and become the envisioned extraordinary doctor. They always remind me to give and make the people around you better than you. I think that's incredibly awe-inspiring.

Now to start on SCTLs. Reproductive block begins tomorrow!

Nervous System done!

Assalamualaikum:)

There's always so much to write about. Honestly. But other commitments and pressing matters have been cropping up and I end up leaving my blog untouched. I should have the resolution of at least uploading at least a paragraph of reminder or thought if not pages and pages- which is almost always the case after not blogging for so long:P

We've just completed Nervous System block. Had our finals for the past 3 days. A lot of people said that CNS was the heaviest and most difficult block. Yes, I agree it is. But at the same time, I would have to say that it is the most fun and understandable block- but to say that I will pass with flying colours is still not definite. Maybe I find it fun because I've (sadly) finally learnt (after 1.5 years) how to learn pre-clinical medic as how I would enjoy it. Learning anatomy with the atlas and with the anatomy models and really concentrating in Dr Khin's class (which is actually not terrifying as I perceived when I was in 1st year!); her classes are really so fun:D Learning physiology by referring to Vander's. Learning diseases through concept maps and pathophysiologies. Learning pharmaco through tables and cases. It's scary how you wish that you could have caught onto this earlier. But as always, lessons which Allah has decided for you to learn the hard way is priceless.