ATC Lawyer Interviewed ATC Student

Once upon a time before I got this internship as a blogger, I had enthusiastically emailed my resume to a law firm, requesting to be an attachment student at their firm. I was turned down because they "only want second years and above."

Disappointed but unable to do anything, I saw MALSA's message on Facebook telling us Intermediate students to send our resume to Logein to get attachment (a.k.a. internship) at law firms which are collaborating with ELawyer. I sent mine, but after what happened with my first experience of asking for an attachment, my hope weren't high. And I was kind of right for not hoping for anything, because until now, I had not got any reply from them.

So I "adjusted" my hopes. I told myself: I want to work at a law firm, whatever position offered to me. And the scale of the law firm does not matter. As long as it is a law firm, and as long as they employ me, be it to cuci tandas or bancuh kopi, I don't care - that's my bottom line.
(and I also decided since law firms don't find me good enough yet, I might as well as get a job that reflects my interests. Hence this internship.)

Because I'm a law student so I want to gain some experience working at a law firm. And also, because, because... if I work at law firm I only have to work for five days. I don't wanna work on Saturdays and Sundays. =P

So one day I was wandering around Maluri aimlessly (wearing some old tee and old jeans) and I stumbled across this law firm which posted up a notice "GENERAL CLERK WANTED." It said "walk-in interview", so without hesitation, I climbed the stairs and pressed the doorbell. A very sweet-looking lady opened the door for me.

Sweet lady: "Yes?"

Me: "Good afternoon, I saw the notice requiring general clerks. Are you still hiring?"

Sweet lady: "Yes. You are here for interview?"

Me: "Umm, yes. (The truth was, I didn't prepare anything. I didn't have my resume with me, nothing. I just "accidentally" came across this. So I got... tongue-tied.) But erm, you need resume when you go for interview right (I'm seriously talking nonsense! Damn it!) but I didn't have the resume with me now, so umm is it okay if I come for interview tomorrow, umm can you give me a specific time?"

Sweet lady: "Before 1, or after 2 will be fine."

Me: "Okay, thank you so much... See you tomorrow."

That definitely was a lousy first impression. Real lousy. I couldn't believe myself.

The next day, wanting to overturn my lousy first impression, I went to the firm in white collared shirt and ironed pants and a pair of Vincci heels which really hurt my toes, carrying a transparent file containing my resume and certs. I reached there at 2pm sharp. I was so punctual.

Me (said brightly): "Hi, I'm here for the job interview."

Sweet lady: "Please wait for a while..."

So I was TOO punctual.

Anyway. Keen to leave an impression that I'm a suitable candidate who loves to update myself whenever and wherever possible, I glanced around the office and picked up a business magazine to read.

Waited for ten minutes or so and another smart gent and smart lady entered. The sweet lady indicated to them of my presence, and the smart lady handed me a form. She even had a very smart smile. It's like, when she smiled at you, you just get the impression that she's smart. She had the smart aura.

Once the form was filled, she gestured me to a desk for typing test. I was asked to type out some law document. Some kind of letter.

With lots and lots of symbols. Slashes. Brackets. Damn it!

I may be fast at typing mere words (but not fast enough to turn into Alien on Typing Maniac... I still remained a space man, lol), but I am not familiar with symbols. "Shit" was the only thing on my mind that time. Plus the smart lady told me to "type out in exactly the same format as this document is typed."

The formats. What formats I remembered apart from Tab and Paragraph? Another damn!

Had to try my best anyway if I want the job... I was sure I made no errors in typing when I was done, but I knew I made a few regarding the format. And I was slowed down by the symbols. Not significantly, though. Phew. Well, at least, I did my best.

The smart lady printed out what I typed and gave it to the smart gent, with my filled form and photocopied IC.

(So I don't need resume after all! Sheesh)

The smart gent then gestured me into his office. The interview began with a formal handshake, a couple of formal questions regarding my education background, and then I somehow told him I'm taking LLB at ATC, and he went...

Smart Gent: "So you are from ATC! I myself am from ATC too. Who are your lecturers?"

Me (surprised to know that my interviewer is my senior): "There's Mr Reuben, I don't know if you know him, but he was featured in The Star yesterday..."

(and the paragraph Mr Reuben gave in the article was exactly the same thing he told us when we attended his first lecture, and it was the same thing he said during Edu Fair when introducing ATC to the visitors... It'll never change, I suppose)

Smart Gent: "Reuben de Rozario? He's my coursemate! Is Santhi Latha there? Still very thin?"

Me: "Yes, she's still teaching us, and yes, she's still very thin! She's a great lecturer though."

Smart Gent: "Tell her to eat more, or else any gust of wind will blow her off. Who else?"

Me: "Let's see, there's Ms Mary George..."

Smart Gent: "That ciplak mat salleh with hazel eyes?"

LOL, the way the Smart Gent described one of my favourite lecturer! It's the first time I actually lol-ed with an interviewer during a job interview! Not the kind of fake laughs, but real laughs!

The job interview then turned into an informal chat about ATC. Funny how things happened. Fate is indeed a funny thing.

Smart Gent was keen to give me an opportunity (but he became hesitant when he learned that I only intend to work for two months. "I have to train you, you know, and you will leave once you are trained. It's terrible for me," that's what he said. I guess I should have lied, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it.) He even told me to "don't expect too many clerical work here", because "I don't want to hire you as a general clerk. You are doing LLB, and of course you should learn more about how law firm operates." It's really unexpected, you know. I come here to work as a general clerk, but I get something like an attachment, which was something I was rejected couple of weeks ago and had dare not to hope for anymore since then!

The interview only lasted for ten minutes or so. We then had an informal chat about legal career. A real long one which lasted for about an hour (what an "interview"). He admitted he definitely won't waste time telling all these things to a normal person applying to be general clerk. But he said, I am a law student, and I had came to his firm, and he should let me know what kind of future I should be expecting. "It will be long working hours with revenues that are disproportionate to your hard work" is what he told me. Some stuff he said was too technical and procedural to be understood (I pretended to look like I understood anyway), but most of the time, I really enjoyed listening to him. Some quotations from him:

• What you really need in litigation is not language nor skill, but passion. Passion makes you argue well.

• Despite what everyone tells you, law is NOT a profession. It is nothing more than business. Like every other business out there, what your clients tell you are your commands. So you end up becoming very choosy and picky about which client you want, because you don't want one that brings you troubles or march up to your office to beat you into a pulp.
  

• Some lawyers are too personal to be professional. They take cases too seriously and they get emotional about it when they lose. That is not professional at all.

• To litigate for criminal cases, you deal with idiots. That's why, don't litigate for criminal cases. You will go against your conscience for idiots, and you can't sleep well. On the other hand, to litigate for civil cases... Well, strictly speaking, you are still dealing with idiots. And most of the time, it will be idiots pretending to be smart, because they had read about the law, and they think they understood it, but they had somehow misconstrued it. And these idiots are really hard to deal with. I really rather deal with the uneducated idiots that listen and believe in me rather than dealing with the educated idiots who reiterate all the time, and I ended up fighting with them, not fighting for them. It is ridiculous.

He told me his firm dealed with conveyancing mostly, which I had accidentally told him I thought it was boring (damn it! What makes me said that?!). He smirked. I couldn't help it but to ask, had he ever found conveyancing boring? He heaved a sigh and told me: "I cannot afford to get bored of conveyancing. I have a family, there's burden on my shoulders. I have to always do something to think that conveyancing is not boring."

Reminds me of a quotation: In the end none of us die as a virgin, because life F us all up. Yeah, most of us ended up bowing to reality. The day I choose to do law, I had already bowed to reality.

But really, this is the best quote I heard from him:

"I study law because I sucks at everything else."

Haha! And what's with the perception that "law is tough and only the best of us shall do law"?

Internship for... Blogger?

I saw this job post on asiaparttime.com which says...

"INTERNSHIP FOR BLOGGER."

I was like, what? You mean there's actually an internship for blogger?

I wonder if there's a course called Degree in Blogging and those who graduated can perhaps pursue their Master in Blogging?

Anyway. Curious about this internship, I emailed my resume to them. The next thing I knew, they emailed me, asking me to attend an interview.

And let me tell you guys something. On the day of interview I went online to check that job post again to make sure that I had not misread the location (stuff like that), and I suddenly realized there were comments regarding that post. People were saying things like:

"Hi, I have a degree in IT. I have knowledge in web-designing."

"Hi, I have a degree in Mass Communications."

"Hi, I have a degree in marketing, and I specialize on e-marketing."

They all have a degree and they all need industrial training.

In my case, it is...

"Hi, I WILL have a degree in three years' time, I am a blogger but if you give me a chance to work at your esteemed company I MAY gain knowledge in web-designing ."

I start to wonder how will I feel if I turn up at the office for interview to discover four or five other smart-looking graduates there smirking at me?

But I can't think too much, I've promised to attend the interview and if I keep thinking, I will be late.

So yeah let's skip the process of the directionless me losing my way while looking for the office and let's proceed to the important issues so you guys can finish reading this ASAP and go to sleep.

It turned out to be a new media company (and it's new, but it was backed up by big time investor - Modal Perdana, which proves that it is a potential company). Think of it as something like Nuffnang - a more serious version of Nuffnang.

A new media company doing online advertising.

And!!! A new media company which decided to offer internship to a law student like me. Thank you! I mean yeah by right I should work at a law firm but really, I still have the chance to do so next year but how many times do you come across something like Internship for Blogger?

It sounds cool and I really think it's cool and I know when I think something is cool and I am given opportunity to get what I think is cool, the only thing I will do is to grab the opportunity.

Anyway, so far I was told that my jobscope including contacting publishers and co-manage competitions, but apart from that, I really don't know much about what precisely will I be doing.

Tomorrow's the first day I'll start working. Wish me luck, guys!

Love Story (Malay Version)

And I must admit, I actually find this version of Love Story pretty lovely. Exceeded my expectations, frankly speaking.

Lyrics:

Kita masih muda bila bertemu
Ku tutup matadan memori itu pun bermula
bayu angin masih terasa
Bintang berkelipan menyinari malam
Kau berlalu di hadapan dan terus daku menyapa,
tidak kusangka
Yang kaulah puteriku ketuk hatimu
lakaran kisah ini pun baru bermula
namun ku perlu pergi
Tinggalkan kau sendiri
kata mu putera, bawalah aku ke mana saja
Asal ada sentiasa di sisi
Biar pena akan terus menulis lagenda kisah cinta kita berdua
Di taman ini kita bersua
Mengharapkan mentari terus bersinar
Tinggalkan kesibukan kota
Dan kaulah puteri di istana
hati meredah rintangan yang kian melanda
mampukah cinta bersemi
kau mahu ku percayai
puterimampukah di bawa biar ke mana saja
walau kamu akan ada di sisi
Biar pena akan terus menulis lagenda kisah cinta kita berdua
kelu lidah tak mampu bersuara
cinta ini sukar ku menerangkan
usah gusar biar terus percaya
lagenda kisah cinta kita berdua
ohoh
Kau penat menunggu
menanti bila akan aku kembali
Pudar sudah rasa
tak pasti di hadapan kita
kata mu
selamatkan daku wahai si putera
menunggu mu yang tidak kunjung tiba
lalu aku melihat ke matamu
melafazkan kata ingin kau gembira
Sudikah kamu jadi permata hati
takkan lagi tinggalkan sendiri
kasih ini sudah mendapat restu
teruskan kisah cinta kita berdua
Kita masih muda bila bertemu

BEAT IT, Michael, then HEAL THE WORLD

I hate Michael Jackson. Don't get me wrong, MJ fans. I hate Michael when he started to get crazy with all those whitening and nose surgery and always work hard to make himself looking more and more monstrous day by day. And it's not just his appearance that gets monstrous. Apparently he was then involved in child abuse which makes him truly monstrous. He did lived up to be a THRILLER. He really made me want to SCREAM, in a negative way.

But wait a minute. I used to love MJ. That's when he's still a black guy. Because he's just so damn good at dancing, it really doesn't matter whether he is BLACK OR WHITE. Plus, generally speaking, I like dark guys. Louis Koo, for instance. Dark guys are masculine. MJ used to be dark, and he was so goddamn energetic when he danced, and he really looked masculine to me, and I really really really really liked him back then.

And I'm sure I can't be the only girl around who digs black dudes (even though it may only be the minority), so I never really understand why MJ was so over conscious about his appearance.

Until the day I learned of his story, which is today. Like Queenie said: "Nobody cares about him when he's alive. It's only his death that makes him famous."

It's a funny world we are living in, isn't it, where death becomes a contributing factor to fame. Anyway, what I've learned about MJ today really changed what I think about him.

As a child, MJ was physically and emotionally abused by his father. His father held him upside down by one leg and pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his backs and buttocks. When he was asleep, his father climbed into him room through the bedroom window wearing a fright mask, screaming and shouting. His father said "this was to teach the childrens not to leave the window open when they sleep." The intentions may be good, but the methods used were definitely inhuman, causing MJ to suffer from nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom many years after that. MJ himself said because of that he often cried helplessly out of loneliness.

Anyone who grew up under that kind of inhuman circumstance would grow up with certain mental problems, I suppose. I now find it easier to tolerate with the allegations of MJ's scandals of child abuse. He himself was a victim of child abuse, anyway.

Still, despite all those dreadful experiences, MJ was a charitable person. MJ founded the Heal the World Foundation, which brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to go on theme park rides that Jackson had built on his property, as well as sending millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war and disease (yet he's alleged of child abuse?!). MJ had also helped draw public attention to AIDS, something which was still of a controversial issue back at that time. He had received award presented by US President for support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drugs.

Ironically, MJ himself was a drug addict. He began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations of child abuse made against him, which not only caused him to be addicted to drugs, but also deteriorated his health, causing him to lose weight, and of course, not to mention, it further destroyed his image. Which was perhaps one of the reasons why he was keep to help people overcome drugs, seeing he himself had suffered from its effects.

I had always wondered, why was MJ so conscious with his outlook. I mean, so he bleached his skin to be fair, fine, seeing how black people were discriminated, it is kind of natural for him to dream of being white one day. But what's with the nose, and the Picasso face?

It turned out that MJ broke his nose during a complex dance routine back in 1979, which caused him breathing difficulties, which he claimed could affect his career, hence the rhinoplasty surgeries.

Another factor that contributed to MJ's consciousness towards his appearance was the incident which happened while he was filming a Pepsi Cola commercial. He suffered second degree burns to his scalp after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire, which had happened in front of a full house of fans during a simulated concert. It must be a serious blow to his confidence to not only be embarrassed, but injured in front of a group of fans who see him as somewhat a near-god genius. In the end, MJ undergone multiple nasal surgeries, forehead lift, thinned lips and cheekbone surgeries. A change in the diet out of the desire for "a dancer's body" also contributed to changes to his face. And also, MJ bleached his skin. All these actions taken had did little to take his appearances to a better level, however. Truth to be told, instead of bringing positive changes, they brought negative changes. Not only did the surgeries turned the energetic MJ into a monster, they gave him vitiligo and lupus, making him sensitive to sunlight.

But really, despite all the negative stories told about MJ, he is still one of the best performer out there, being one who could sing, dance and write songs. His moonwalk and dance moves were learned by many aspiring MJs. It is no wonder that he becomes King of Pop in our hearts.

BIG BOY, you really GONE TOO SOON. All those illnesses you were facing, I thought you could BEAT IT and then continue to HEAL THE WORLD, but you didn't. Anyway, we really hope that you know that, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, because you and all your fans together, WE ARE THE WORLD.

To the idol who lived ahead of his times hence to some extent unacceptable by the public, I sincerely pray that he would rest in peace.

(excerpts taken from Michael Jackson - Wikipedia)

MobileFun

I was the first among my circle of friends to own a Nokia 5800 Xpress Music, and I was so proud to be the only one around to own it. Back at that time, I mean. I will take out my phone and text somebody (or pretend to text somebody) so that people around me can go "ohhh that's a Nokia 5800 Xpress Music right? Can I have a look?"

Alas, that satisfaction did not last. After a month or so of being a proud owner, I suddenly realize that many people around me are owning one of these phones too. And then there's 3G iphone, so my phone is no longer recognized as "that cool touch-screen phone". All of a sudden people are ooh-ing at the sight of 3G iphone, everyone is talking about it, and my phone becomes so ordinary that it no longer makes the owner proud.

Still! I still love it very much. Nothing's gonna change my love for it, and I want to equip my dear phone with all the nice accessories (despite the fact that I cannot afford them). I enjoy hunting for accessories.

I then stumbled upon MobileFun. It has all the accessories I need for my phone, from bluetooth headsets to music headphones to handfree kits to GPS (GPS!!!!) to screen protectors to memory cards to bluetooth car kit to speaker... simply put, it has everything.

And it doesn't just offer accessories for Nokia 5800 Xpress Music. It offers accessories for other phones as well - not just Nokia - it ranges from Nokia to Sony Ericsson to Samsung to LG to Blackberry to HTC to Motorola to Vodafone... You name it, they have it.

And it's not just accessories for mobile phones. There's accessories for ipod as well, and most importantly, gaming accessories! Well I'm not much of a gamer, but there's certainly plenty around me and I always thought of buying them gaming accessories for their birthday gifts. Now I know where to get them! You know, it's a bit embarrassing for a non-gamer who knows nothing about gaming at all to randomly walk into a store in Low Yat and ask all kind of stupid questions and annoy the promoter... Really, I'll say it's better for a non-gamer like me to get these stuff online!

There's also a variety of electronic gadgets for non-gamers like me. MP3 player. USB. And the coolest of all, in my humble opinion, the eco gadgets! You guys gotta check it out, seriously, it's too cute to be missed! Especially the solar ready made helicopter (serious I wanna fly one) and the horizon H-racer hydrogen powered car! I know I'm turning 21 this year but all the same, I still get all kiddy and excited when I see cute toys... can't help it!

Now let's see, which should I go for: bluetooth car kit, jabra bluetooth headsets or Bluetooth Headphones? Guess I'll need a bluetooth car kit more than bluetooth headphone now since I'll get more chance to drive since Myvi arrived (finally finally finally finally I'm getting to drive! Woo hoo hoo hoo)...

Oh and I almost forgot to mention one very important thing. They now accept paypal! Reminds me of what Chloe tells me about China websites not accepting paypal which makes it very troublesome for buyers... A website that accepts paypal definitely gets a plus point from me!

Reasons Why Megan Fox is Hotter Than Me

With mala fide I uploaded a picture of Megan which is not-so-hot in order to make you guys think "So she's not that hot after all". So that I have a better chance of winning. It's all about psychology.

People always compare Megan Fox with Angelina Jolie. It happens so often that Megan decided that she had had enough. She decided if people want to make comparison, they should at least compare her to someone real hot. Like me.

Kidding! Okay actually I'm the one who had had enough (obviously!) and decided that if Megan Fox really really really really need to be compared with someone, really, it should be me.

Fox. It means foxy in English. So her name is hot.

Shin. It means happy in Mandarin. So my name is un-hot.

Alright, one point for Megan.

She tattooed Brian Austin Green on her crotch. I had fake tattoos on my back. A tattoo of an ex's name is so un-hot. But a fake tattoo is un-hot, too. So we tied. No points awarded.

She had sex with Brian. I didn't. Well, not that Brian is some super hunk. Seriously, who fancies having sex with him... I won't have him in my sex fantasies, no, no way. No points given for having sex with Brian. It's so un-hot. But I had not had sex with a hunk, too. That's un-hot as well. We tied, again. No points awarded.

She has a notable film called Transformers which all my friends are eager to watch. I have a notable film called Shin's Dancing. Notable to a few friends of mine, by the way. It's still considered as notable, regardless of the size of audience.

Another point for Megan. 1/2 point for me.

She is FHM Sexiest Woman in the world for Year 2008.

FHM had not heard of my name, on the other hand. They don't know how I look like, either. But that's only because they haven't discover me. No big deal. IMHO, I'm the Sexiest Woman in the world for every year since 1988 till now.

One point for Megan for being widely recognised.

1/2 point for me for my courage to recognise myself.

She is Maxim's Sexiest Woman Alive 2008.

Again, Maxim had failed to discovered me.

One point for Megan, again.

Another 1/2 point for me. Same reason as above.

Her acts of charity includes having sex with Brian Austin Green.

My acts of charity include helping good-looking foreigners who can't understand Cantonese when they want to buy stuff. I volunteer as their translator. I flash my warmest smile to them, brightening their day. I'm so charitable, in a hot way. Megan's act of charity is meant for one person to enjoy only. I vow to help as many as possible.

One point for me. No point for Megan.

She's got nice boobs which everyone wants to see in the cinema. I've got nice boobs too, but I had not advertised them, asking people to look at my boobs in a cinema. Real hotness doesn't need to be advertised.

One point for Megan.

1/2 point for me for the faith I have in my boobs.

She's compared to Angelina Jolie.

I'm compared to her. On a blog called Rojak Memoirs.

One point for Megan.

1/2 point for me.

She's got thick sexy lips. Hey, I have it, too! A bit of lip gloss and I think my lips beat hers for sure, no competition. It's just that my goddamn sexy lips are not widely recognised.

One point for Megan.

1/2 point for me. 1/2 deducted because my lips are not famous.

She's got baby blue eyes.

I've got black eyes.

It's hard to tell whose eyes are sexier. It's a matter of opinion, really. In order to not offend Megan, I'll say we tie.

She thinks Zac and Robert are both too pretty and young hence immature, and she won't consider dating them.

I think Robert is not suitable to act as Edward Cullen. Not good-looking enough. But I won't say no to a date with Zac. Meaning to say Megan is more hard-to-get if compared to me. Hard-to-get is somehow equivalent to hot.

One point for Megan.

1/2 point for me. 1/2 point deducted because I think Zac is hot.

So now we have Megan with 8 points, and me with... 4 points. I lose badly. Megan won with a score that's double of my score.

Ahhhh KV, you are so right when you say Megan is hotter than me. With all the statistics above, I have nothing left to defend my level of hotness. Yes, you may date Megan from now on, I have no objections since I finally realize she's hotter than me. Go ahead.

Father's Day - Commercialized?

Father's Day/Chichi no hi is indeed too commercialized. A conversation with my dad is more than enough to prove that:

Upon receiving SMS from KV wishing my dad happy father's day, I started a conversation with my dad.

Me: "Hey pa... Erm, my friend wishes you happy father's day."
(Note: He calls my girlfriends by their names, he doesn't know any names of my guy friends, and he insisted on addressing KV as "your friend".)

Dad: "What, your friend? Why would your friend wishes me? Then what about you? Your friend wishes me happy father's day but you didn't? What kind of daughter you are?"

Me: "No, that's not the case... Ern and I will treat you to a meal later, that's how we plan to celebrate for you."

Dad: "Oh, okay. That sounds better."

Father's Day is INDEED commercialized. Toldja. Well, that's what I thought when my dad ended that conversation.

Later, in the restaurant.

Shin and Ern: "Pa... Happy father's day. Hope you like your dinner tonight."

Dad then stood up abruptly, but he's not heading to the washroom.

Shin and Ern (startled): "Pa, where are you going?"

Dad: "Mai dan la!" (translation: go to pay-lah)

Shin and Ern: "What?! No, sit down! We're paying tonight!"

Dad: "I just want to hear you girls wishing me "happy father's day", then I would happily pay for the bill..."

In the end we of course managed to force him to sit so that we can pay (there goes RM70/nana ju ringitto), but it just goes to prove that, Father's Day is not THAT commercialized after all.