Hello everyone! It's been quite some time since I last wrote something here. It's not that I'm not interested or the Blog phenomena has lost its charm on me ... It's just that I've been freggin tired everyday after coming home from work. Look, I live in Selayang and work in Putrajaya. I have to wake up at 0540hrs every day to be in time for work. Mind you, I take the chartered bus to work. I finish work at 1700hrs and take the bus back home and the time is usually 1830hrs when I step foot into my home.
Well, I guess it's normal for each and everyone of us who commute on that same blue bus everyday. And to add to that, in the late afternoon or early evening when it's time to go back home, the scorching sun outside raises the temperature to about 35degrees probably. The bus can't take the heat too I guess as we are all baked and soaked in our sweat on our journey back to Selayang. It's awful.
Anyway, what I wanted to write about today is whether I think I'm doing the right thing working what I am working as now. I'm not bitching about the job and all. I mean the job's great and fantastic and your future is clear and the chances of promotion to a senior position in the government sector is quite high and people my age are really climbing up high. So, what's there to moan about.
Actually, I started as a Linguist after graduation. My first job took me to Ieper, Belgium and I clearly remember that date ... It was on the 11th of November 2000 when I arrived in Zaventem all gleaming and smiling excited about my new position. The journey to Ieper from Brussels Airport took almost an hour but every minute was worth it. Well, what did I do? I worked for a Speech Technology Company called Lernout and Hauspie and it was one of the biggest Belgian company that had branches worldwide. Sadly, it was bought over by ScanSoft USA but the job reamined the same. My daily routine was to create linguistic resources to be used for Text to Speech and Advanced Speech Recognition System in American and Asian accented English. Being the ONLY Malay guy there, I was really proud of the position I was holding and I was representing my country.
However, in 2003, I took a turn in my life. I decided to pack up and head back home. People do say that there's no place like home ... The reason I left Belgium was not due to the fact that I was home sick and all, it was just that my Mom had asked me to return and work at home. I adhered to her request as Mom's words are always blessings in disguise. So there I was on the plane bound for Amsterdam, Hong Kong and final destination ... Kuala Lumpur. I was finally back home.
So, what did I do when I got back. I worked as a Speech Therapist for a few months teaching Chinese students from China proper English and pronunciation. I also had to assist Libyan, Arab, Indonesian and Uzbek students as well. It was great fun and I knew I was happy. Then the offer to join the government service came and I was petrified. I didn't know what to do but I did know that I did not want to end up as a Speec Therapist all my life. A linguist? defintely!!! But not a Speech Therapist. I finally took the offer and here I am now, a civil servant still wondering whether I'm doing the right thing.
I have told people many times that I wouldn't say NO if ScanSoft approached me again and asked me to work with them, but will I go through the whole process again? Many of my frineds tell me that my body is here but my heart and soul is lost else where. That saddens me. I don't know what's the right thing now.
In the meantime, I am still employed and I love my job now. My job has taught me many new thing and brought me to places I've always dreamt of going. I also had the chance to experience my baby nephew grow up. Apparently, when I was in Belgium, I was foreign to him. Now he knows me well and I'm happy I got to watch him grow.
There you have it ... the story of my life. Am 30 and still comtemplating about my future. Have I gone nuts? Am I really crazy? I can't answer these questions but if anyone of you out there who happens to know me reads this, let me know what you think of me.
Cheers!!
