2015 1st Quarter Recap in Books

Final year final semester is always known for its hectic and stress. But I entered preparing for the worst with an armload of books as a shield. People are always surprised whenever they find me reading a book in the cafe or lounging around with a book in hand. They always ask me how do I find the time to read? It's simple really. 

"When you don't spend your time going out much, you have a LOT of free time"

LOL

Anyway, I've read some good books for this quarter year. Books will forever be my solace and place of hiding when reality gets a bit too much for me. The only way I've survived final year so far is through reading. Albeit, I have less time to read, but it is one of my de-stress routine before going to bed. 

Here are the books I've read so far in the last 3 months. I'll be reviewing some of my favourites, so if the book is in the picture but not reviewed...you know what it means. 

The Girl You Left Behind - I can honestly say Jojo Moyes is my go-to women fiction author. This book, like most of her other books had me hooked till the end. Moyes has a beautiful way of weaving history and the present that made readers time travel. And I swear that's the best kind of books. To show you how great I found this book, I finished this while I was SITTING FOR FINALS.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Matthew Green (Dicks) did such an amazing job in portraying difficult lives of autistic kids. And I loved how it was narrated from Max's imaginary friend, Budo. I've always enjoyed any kind of memoirs/novels surrounding autism. Similar books you might enjoy: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time & Reason I Jump.

Happiness of Pursuit - Now here's a book you might need if you're stuck in a dead-end job and want the courage to get out. I find this difficult to relate as the author was aiming for middle aged lads stuck in work offices. But I did gain great insight into how to create quests and customize them to my liking.

The Night Circus - THIS BOOK IS SO AMAZING. The perfect mix of magic and reality, which I love, that got me all wrapped up in the story and wishing I could visit a Victorian Circus this instant!

The Marriage Plot - Despite me giving this book only 3.5 stars on Goodreads, I actually enjoyed the literature point of view of Eugenides. His writings are very heart felt and I'm very looking forward to reading The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, which are so much better I heard. The Marriage Plot will have you nodding along and recounting your previous (or for me, ongoing) college experiences during that ambiguous moment in your life.

Yes Please - Amy Poehler is King. She is the epitome of the career woman I want to be. Funny, dramatic, ambivalent, sweet, a great mother to her kids, compassionate and driven. This is the perfect book to motivate yourself in loving what you do, and not giving a rat's ass of what people are saying about you.

Another month left before I can read anytime I want and not have my projects get in the way :D

So what books have you enjoyed so far?

Google Hangout Session 1: SPM Leavers 2014

I had the privilege to join this year's Projek Inpsirasi's initiative: GH Session 1 in helping post-SPM students select a course of study for university. It's an online live video conference where 9-10 panels answer questions asked by the audience. It's a pretty cool way to engage with the students on broader subjects in one sitting. Session 1 comprised of  Engineering, Biotechnology, Pure Science & Computer Science and I was invited to talk about chemical engineering and its prospects. 

Our GH coordinator: Syaza Azmi

The video can be seen here (as well as my awkward face -- this is my first time, don't judge!)

It's always nice to see the young generation getting more involved in carving their future. I know how tough it is for you guys to choose a course of study despite not knowing what exactly you want to study. 5 years ago, I was dead set of studying chemical engineering because I loved chemistry (urgh worst misconception about chemical engineering ever).  But Alhamdulillah 5 years later, I am almost done studying it and surprisingly I've enjoyed the course more than I expected. 

Anyway, I thought I would compile all the questions I answered last night and maybe answer some that we didn't have enough time to get to.

Hope this helps! 

Questions Answered: 

Answer: If your intention is becoming a Petroleum Engineer, then proceed directly to study Petroleum Engineering. But if you don't want to limit yourself, you can pretty much do whatever you want and learn EVERYTHING.

Answer: Generally? Yeah it takes a lot of critical thinking, understanding advanced physics, fluid mechanism, transport processes, operational and process conditions, and decision making. You should feel scared when taking it (this avoids any truancy on your part), but you should also believe in yourself. It's definitely challenging, and not for all people (I have seen some of my friends drop the course and switch to something else) but with proper strategies it's do-able.

Opinion: Personally, after enduring 4 years of studying engineering plus 8 months of industrial experience in Shell PD, I think this is true to a point. Specializing your degree limits your scope of work only after graduation (because you have zero work experience). But if you enter the right field and gain years of experience afterwards, the sky's the limit. 

The reason I like chemical engineering is more of a personal choice in having the versatility to enter whatever field I want (Oil & Gas, Food, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics, etc). You know, in case I get bored in one field, I can join another one. Haha..

Unanswered Questions: 

Answer: Well if for local PETRONAS scholars, yes the min CGPA is 2.75 to mantain your sponsorship. From what I've been told PG studies natural resources in the ocean to discover new areas of oil exploration & extraction. Once they find these potential reservoirs, Petroleum Engineers are responsible in getting the oil out from it.  But that is in layman's terms. For more details, Google! 

Amy: You know the funding could go to the geology department.

Sheldon: Oh no! Not the dirt people.

LOL, OK enough Big Bang Theory references (in case you didn't know what that joke was)

Answer: None kid, none. I suggest you take Industrial Chemistry or any divisions of chemistry if you still love the subject and want to work in the industry. I heard UTM has some good chemical programmes, and they're not just exclusive of engineering. 

Answer: Chemical Engineering is an art.

Instead of paint, you have chemicals with unique personalities and traits that can be transformed into products suitable for consumerism. Instead of a canvas, you have block diagrams and process instrumentation diagrams. Instead of a brush, you have process optimization softwares (iCon, HYSYS, MathLab, Phast Risk, etc)

In a nutshell, if we were to convert crude oil into the fuel we fill our gas tanks with, chemical engineers are involved in the design, planning, construction and operation of the refinery. And instead of just producing car fuel, we produce other products that are marketable. We turn simple chemical reactions found in labs, into large scale plants looming over people's heads and making companies rich. The technicalities of it include many aspects of physics, maths and a whole lot of brain crushing.

Hope this is brief enough ;) 

Answer: Senang? Nothing's easy in this world kid. If it was everyone would be doing it haha. You can check UTP's website but last I heard the requirements were a minimum C grade in Physic, Chemistry and Maths. 

Answer: Honestly, I like it. I come from a suburb and I've never been fond of the rush of the city. So UTP's alright for me. I'm not an aspiring hipster so I'm not a frequent at hipster cafes. But if you like 'em, I heard Ipoh has tons. 

UTP's basically in the middle of nowhere (Google: Tronoh, Perak) but lately it has been developed because of UTP and UiTM Sri Iskandar. So yeah, we have Billion, McD and Dominoes now, which is a huge improvement than when I came here 5 years ago (which only had KFC D:).

It's a great place to study because we're surrounded by forestry and the occasional visits from monkeys. 

Answer: There was one dude in the GH who studies Chem Eng in University of Manchester, UK. You can ask him for more info, but yeah generally Chemical Engineering programmes overseas are more detailed and comprehensive than in Malaysia. Here are top Chemical Engineering schools in the world. But coming from a local institution, I'm proud of the quality of education I was given. So, bear in mind, never underestimate local institutions, we have some great universities offering chemical engineering: UTP, UTM, USM, UniKL MICET, etc.

In the end, you're the one who's in charge of how the final product (read: you) is despite your location of study :) 

It's not hard if you like all of those subjects. You will find the course even more enjoyable too! And in terms of demand, think of it this way: as long as people need food, transportation fuel, and medicine, insyAllah there will be demands for the profession. Don't be choosy and always chase for experience regardless of area of specialization. The money will follow afterwards. 

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Anyway hope this helps! You can leave comments below if you have any more questions, I'd be more than happy to help you to learn more of this course. You can refer to the list of panels of last night's session here if you have more questions related to their fields of study. 

To SPM leavers, I wish you guys all the best in this new endeavor of your life. It is going to be challenging and difficult, at times you will feel like giving up. But always cleanse your intention (for muslims, your niat), to study for the sake of knowledge and passion. Science and technology can be a lucrative industry, but always remember the people who raised you and never forget your roots :)

You are the future generation, and we definitely need more engineers to direct our nation to a prosperous direction. So, research properly and choose wisely :D 

Oh before I forget, my one-liner advice from last night's session was: 

Your only competition is yourself...

:)

Malaysian Readers in a Pinhole

You know the first thing how someone would describe me? A reader.

And I'm proud of that. Not many Malaysians read consistently enough for them to be labelled as one. I once heard that the average Malaysian read 2 books as of 2005, and in 2014 the stats increased to 14 books. Here's the thing: 85% of Malaysians do read and our nation does have high literacy rates. Yet, did you know only 3% of that 85% read books? While the rest actually reads magazines, comics or newspapers. Albeit a reading material is still reading material, but I feel sad that books or novels don't get the attention they deserve.

There are many reasons why kids don't read books:

• Parent's influence
• Reading material
• The Reading-is-for-Scoring-Exams perception
• Expensive books (in which I once wrote tips on how to buy cheaper books here)
• Social media distraction

I'm always an advocate for youth reading, and when I started my Instagram-based book account (@BookLoves_) initially it wasn't for that purpose hahaha. I just wanted a medium to practise my photography skills and be a place where I can do book reviews or showcase some pretty book-related items. I was tired of having to answer my friends' "What books do you recommend?" questions individually, and wanted a collective medium to do just that. Some people have gave feedback saying they really enjoyed my reviews and it made them want to read it/ I didn't expect my account to have an impact on anyone to pick up a book. But I do hope my posts make you guys WANT to read and feel the exhilaration every time I finish a book. 

I read mostly because of the 'feels'. Each book makes you feel different things: remorse, disappointed, exuberant, smart well-informed, etc. So I hope you read because you feel about books the way I do, along with some of your own reasons :) 

As a way to interact with my friends and colleagues, I asked on FB what book(s) people have as their favourites. I've always loved it when people tell me about books they've read because they this gleam in their eyes that usually appears in readers with a favourite book. 

I was very excited when people started sharing their favourite books! Plus I got to know more about books I haven't heard of too. Surprisingly I've read some of these books too. Read anything familiar? 

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Around 22 people responded. We're not a big bunch. But from Instagram I do know of thousands of readers who are actively reading. If I can increase that number even by one, I think I've done my part in encouraging reading. 

Even if we comprise less than the 3% of Malaysian readers who read books, I'm glad I know many friends who are avid readers such as I. It's hard to continue the habit and I hope you never lose that momentum to pick up  a book and read. 

And here's a video about book lovers that we probably can relate to :D 

So, what's YOUR favourite books?