My 2011 In Review

My Reward - Reaping 2011 In Review (Read 5 Free 2)

I have selected 5 BIG events to share with you all in my review of year 2011.

1. Elected as the President of IEM – USM Student Section

I would describe this as the proudest moment in my USM life thus far. This is the Christmas gift that the God had delivered to me on 28 Sept 2011. To me it was a surprise at first since IEM was not the core in my activity blueprint. However I quickly learn that it is a great opportunity handed to me to sharpen my skills and gain more experience. Since then, IEM (SS) USM becomes my greatest love and one of my top priorities in the campus.

Being the president, I explore and experiment on different approaches that aims to strengthen the organisation, build a culture that focuses on professionalism, recruit and develop talents to run the organisation. I regard these elements are significant in positioning IEM (SS) USM as ‘The BEST Student Organisation In Engineering Campus USM’ which is the challenge that the current committee takes and strive to achieve. Besides arranging industrial visits and talks, the team is also working on the E-magazine, Junior Interns and etc, among the new implementation by IEM (SS) USM.

Furthermore, my previous tenure as the Director of PPKA Family Day 2011 and some mistakes that I had made provide me the chance to do better and the lessons learnt allow me to plan wiser and act smarter. I always remember what my predecessor, Keng Swee told me – the importance of SYSTEM and HUMAN CAPITAL in ensuring an organisation to function well.

I have high confidence to lead the team and have faith in my members. I believe together we will fly high and meantime IEM (SS) USM will play its role in facilitating and linking the students closer to the industrial world.

Yea~~ !!

2. Selected as the Ahli Dewan Perundingan Pelajar (DPP USM)

Still remember the time dated back to a year ago when the Student Parliament of USM was formed and the first session of DPP was held. I was so disappointed for not able to join the DPP session that time and it is the experience and exposure that I am not supposed to miss. Thanks God, a year later my turn has finally come and it does not come easily. Here is the story …

Eleven Ahli Dewan will be representing Engineeing Campus – 7 MPP’s and 4 YDP’s. all the clubs and organisations in the campus are categorised into four groups which are Persatuan, Pusat Pengajian, Desasiswa and Sekretariat. IEM (SS) USM is categorised under Persatuan and only one YDP from each category will be selected as Ahli Dewan. Since I am the incumbent Head of Welfare Secretariat (Ketua Sekretariat Kebajikan MPP) in my campus, DPP is definitely a great platform for me to fight for students’ welfare should I be selected. Therefore I volunteer myself without a second of hesitation. For the Persatuan category, I competed with another two candidates and one of them is my senior whom I respect a lot. After a short speech given, the three of us were requested to wait outside the meeting room while the rest of the attendee voted inside it. It was a tough PK and I didn’t see myself having strong advantage over the other two candidates. Finally after we took our seat, I was congratulated for being elected. That night, I realised how sweet a win – win would be as win – lose could hurt. How I wish my senior and I can both qualify as the Ahli Dewan, I think he is definitely more competent and suitable than some of the Ahli Dewan selected that day.

On 19 Sept the big day, I stepped into the Dewan Persidangan and it was like a dream came true to me. It leaves me with no regret already in term of activity or co-curricular achievement in mu university life. Also during the DPP session, I proposed the fourth ‘usul’ of the day – ‘Transparensi Pemarkahan Kerja Kursus’. After stating the justification of the proposed usul, I then stated three tuntutan usul. It ended up with the following declaration by the Speaker Dewan, ‘Dengan ini usul keempat, Transparensi Pemarkahan Kerja Kursus bersma ketiga – tiga tuntutan usulnya DITERIMA Dewan !’ Recently I am being informed that the usul I proposed had been brought to the attention of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academics USM. Discussion will be held and hopefully the outcome will be favourable to all sides especially the students.

We Want Transparency !!

3. Dean list

My academics achievement is quite a remarkable story to tell at least up to this point. It is not how high my CGPA is and honestly my CGPA is just nothing compared to most of my fellow coursemates, mine is merely 3.30. Rather, the attractive part of the story is how I stand up from the heaviest defeat, rebuild and recover, work hard and determined to achieve the target (hit above 3.50) instead of opting for an easier way – give up and be a quitter. Sacrifices had been made, tough challenges had been taken for I just refuse to be a loser. I might look soft physically but the spirits of a warrior to never say die is in the blood that circulates in my body.

Let’s wind back to December of 2009.. the night my pointer (Year 1 Sem 1) came out. Usually in secondary school and Matric, I prayed hard to score full A’s but things weren’t the same that time. I prayed for PASS for all subjects and I knew I did badly for my first Final, a consequence of too much sleep, excessive playing time and minimal study. Padan muka really. The result finally came out and I was not wrong, my CGPA was 2.77. What a sheer disaster and horrible stumble. During that lowest ebb, the thought of changing course did strike my mind and I had given it a serious thought. Some people including my dad suggested that the culprit was that I had spent too much time in activities. I refused to take that excuse. My bad attitude and laziness should be blamed not the activities.

Then I decided not to surrender but to fight ! I choose to stay not to quit half way. I reviewed everything again, analysed the failure causing factors and implemented some positive changes. One of the heaviest price I need to pay for in order to bounce back is to reduce the gaming time significantly. If you can’t imagine how hard it is, try imagine a smoker giving up cigarettes. It took lots of discipline and determination.

As a result, the CGPA of subsequent semesters had shown gradual increase. Finally my efforts paid off in the previous semester Final (Year 2 Sem 2) as I qualified for dean list (GPA > 3.50). The best is, I have a lot more friends who are like me, getting dean list for the first time. It’s always great to achieve great things together and share the joy.

14 December 2011 I received the Dean List certificate from the dean, Prof. Hamidi, I feel superbly proud of myself and happy for the little success I earn. Looking on my first dean list cert', it is clearly written there my name, FOONG HAN YANG but I attribute this little success of mine to my friends (especially Ti Amo Kent & Cheah Yen Xiang) who have helped me a lot in my studies as well my determination and efforts. Below was the post I wrote to my friends and juniors, hopefully my story here can inspire and motivate them:

“ Tahniah kepada semua penerima Sijil Dekan. Syabas !
Kpd rakan2 yg belum menerima anugerah ini, jgn berputus asa dan berikan lah usaha lebih gigih ! Saya bermula dari CGPA 2.77 (sem pertama), terima surat amaran dari pihak penaja lagi.. dan hari ini, setelah empat kali percubaan, barulah saya dapat sijil ini.All the best, hopefully our name will be in Dean List next time ya ^^
'Everything is possible the moment you believe in it and take action.' FOONG H. Y. “

The seemingly impossible had been made possible with the right strategy and action. I sincerely wish the story I share with you all here could leave a positive impact on you and as for myself I’ll take the lesson from this story as I fight along and stride towards my dream.

4. Civil Cameron + Ipoh Trip

This was the most awesome trip of the year ! Having lots of fun, joy and excitement with coursemates in Cameron Highland + Ipoh 3D2N trip. I begin to love the atmosphere, lifestyle and scenery in Cameron Highland. Strawberry, fresh vegetables, fruits, roses, fresh air… you name it! I have made a promise to myself to buy a villa there, a potential residence after I retired and it’s really a nice place to enjoy my time there with my wife and family. Apart from that, what I’m going to tell you next might be a bit unbelievable. Though I have been raised near Ipoh, I never drank the famous Old Town White Coffee before, not until that trip. Thanks to my friends for bringing noises and life to my otherwise quiet and boring house where I often ‘home-alone’ there during the semester break.

5. YNS 2011

A fantastic four day programme held in UM this year, assembling some of the most energetic and awesome youths of the country. Meeting new exciting people, gaining inputs and being exposed to some ideas. It was really a great experience, as great as EYLN 2010 I attended a year before. The only regret of my time there was my failure to fight for the chance to have a direct conversation with Prime Minister, Y.A.B. Dato Sri’ Najib Razak. The good side of this was that it stimulated me to enhance or strengthen some of the parts that I must improve on. Anyway, I’m sure I will have the similar opportunity again and who knows the situation may reverse one day whereby I am being sought after instead of I seeking for. I know, that day will come…

Would like to share with you all, the two quotes that I loved the most from speakers, Roshan Thiran and Dr. Goh :

‘Even the introverts (yea~~ I’m one of them) can lead and they can do well. Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong achieved great success in Genting, but when was the last time Uncle Lim gave a talk? ’

‘Leadership is practiced, not learnt from books.’

Normally supermarket and shops are having Christmas promotion – Buy 3 Free 1, 20 % Off …… etc .. Huh ! On this Christmas Day, I have no gift for you but would you love a 5 + 2 offer? You just can’t get it from anywhere else today XD

Above, I have shared 5 major events I went through in this year.

Below, I would like share a few compliments or words of motivation given to me that will surely give me some boost in the coming year as I progress :

‘If I'm still alive, I'll attend your talk and ask you how is the life as a professional engineer.’

Dr. Lau T. L. / my USM lecturer

‘Hope you will be a great entrepreneur one day.’

Mdm Lee B. S. / my SM Menglembu teacher

‘I know you will definitely be somebody one day.’

A friend of mine

'我的USM老大'(http://astrohock.blogspot.com/2011/05/usm.html)

Lim L. H. / my friend, coursemate

Last but not least, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year yea ^^

FOONG HAN YANG

21@2011