theme - khazanah foundation ( yayasan khazanah ) · 2015-11-02 · theme quotes to live by 011 1...

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1 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6 June, 2015 QUOTE : Dear Scholars, There are a few instances in my life that have been the result of my take on a very simple quote or slogan made famous by an international brand Nike. Yes, you must have guessed it right, it’s ‘Just Do It’. To me, these three words are punchy, powerful as they are also arduous and addled. Punchy – those forceful and impactful moment when I said yes and decided to run for Half-Marathon and suffered some bruises and muscle pulls, which left me with some permanent horrid- looking black and bruised toenails. Never a runner before, I completed the run feeling on top of the world and had a great story to share with my son hoping that he would soon donning his running gear and run along with me. That, I call ‘Hope’. Powerful – the day I took up the challenge to be in a mission with UNDP and travelled alone to 5 sub-Saharan countries under one of their capacity building initiatives. It was THE loneliest trip I had ever made and true enough, much was learnt from it. From getting sick and hospitalized at Accra for dehydration, to surviving one of the harrowing road trips in Lilongwe, experiencing heart-wrenching moments dealing with the underprivileged in Addis Ababa and to feeling blessed and thankful for having met individuals with warm hearts and pleasant disposition in Harare and Nairobi that had made the journey a memorable and life-changing experience for me. Africa, which I used to have an adverse imagery of, now forms a grand and unparalleled impression. This is ‘Inspirational’. Arduous & addled – the time when I was 10 years old and shouted as hard as I could calling out my younger brother’s name as I carelessly let go of his hand in a busy Chow Kit Road market just because I wanted to catch the glimpse of live catfish in a big grey tub. Being a shy, tight-lipped kid, the overwhelming feeling of guilt, shocked and terror just got me out to just do it and drop the reticent demeanour that used to build within me. And this is what I claim as ‘Strength’. Sometimes words depict just mere meanings but at times, they could be as just as strong and compelling. They could be quotes, slogans or sayings. But, what’s important is how you interpret them as those words are guaranteed to challenge the way you think and perhaps change the way you live. Truly, Intan Intan Zalila Mohd Yusof Emilia Maizura Harun Azlina Jaffar TEAM EDITORS: © Copyright 2015 Yayasan Khazanah. Contact Privacy Terms Source: http://www.quotationof.com/word.html Source: http://www.businessinsider.in/7-People-Who-Were-Born-To-Inspire/ THEME Quotes to Live By FROM THE EDITORS-IN-CHIEFS DESK 1 During my A-Level studies, I remember putting up posters and A4 sheets containing motivational words of wisdom on the walls in my room. I thought it would be a great idea since some of my friends did the same with their rooms. I’m glad to say that they have been quite helpful to me throughout A-Levels. I remember the days when I had no motivation to do any work. I remember the days when I felt like the world was conspiring against me. I remember the days when all I wanted to do was to give up. I remember looking up at these posters, and being reminded that everything I’ve done so far is worth much more than anything bad that has ever happened to me, and that I should continue striving even when I felt despair. Because let’s face it, who doesn’t have hard moments and bad days? It’s just a matter of being reminded about the amazing things you have and how there’s so much in life to fight for. For me, quotes have been a big help. POWER OF QUOTES 2 Amzar Muzani Bin Ma'arof Natural Sciences Tripos (BA and Msci) University of Cam- bridge

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Page 1: THEME - Khazanah Foundation ( Yayasan Khazanah ) · 2015-11-02 · THEME Quotes to Live By 011 1 FROM THE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF’S DESK P During my A-Level studies, I remember putting

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VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6 June, 2015

QUOTE :

Dear Scholars, There are a few instances in my life that have been the result of my take on a very simple quote or slogan made famous by an international brand Nike. Yes, you must have guessed it right, it’s ‘Just Do It’. To me, these three words are punchy, powerful as they are also arduous and addled. Punchy – those forceful and impactful moment when I said yes and decided to run for Half-Marathon and suffered some bruises and muscle pulls, which left me with some permanent horrid- looking black and bruised toenails. Never a runner before, I completed the run feeling on top of the world and had a great story to share with my son hoping that he would soon donning his running gear and run along with me. That, I call ‘Hope’. Powerful – the day I took up the challenge to be in a mission with UNDP and travelled alone to 5 sub-Saharan countries under one of their capacity building initiatives. It was THE loneliest trip I had ever made and true enough, much was learnt from it. From getting sick and hospitalized at Accra for dehydration, to surviving one of the harrowing road trips in Lilongwe, experiencing heart-wrenching moments dealing with the underprivileged in Addis Ababa and to feeling blessed and thankful for having met individuals with warm hearts and pleasant disposition in Harare and Nairobi that had made the journey a memorable and life-changing experience for me. Africa, which I used to have an adverse imagery of, now forms a grand and unparalleled impression. This is ‘Inspirational’. Arduous & addled – the time when I was 10 years old and shouted as hard as I could calling out my younger brother’s name as I carelessly let go of his hand in a busy Chow Kit Road market just because I wanted to catch the glimpse of live catfish in a big grey tub. Being a shy, tight-lipped kid, the overwhelming feeling of guilt, shocked and terror just got me out to just do it and drop the reticent demeanour that used to build within me. And this is what I claim as ‘Strength’. Sometimes words depict just mere meanings but at times, they could be as just as strong and compelling. They could be quotes, slogans or sayings. But, what’s important is how you interpret them as those words are guaranteed to challenge the way you think and perhaps change the way you live. Truly, Intan

Intan Zalila Mohd Yusof

Emilia Maizura Harun

Azlina Jaffar

TEAM EDITORS:

© Copyright 2015 Yayasan Khazanah. Contact Privacy Terms

Source: http://www.quotationof.com/word.html

Source: http://www.businessinsider.in/7-People-Who-Were-Born-To-Inspire/

THEME

Quotes to Live By

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FROM THE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF’S DESK 1

During my A-Level studies, I remember putting up posters and A4 sheets containing motivational words of wisdom on the walls in my room. I thought it would be a great idea since some of my friends did the same with their rooms. I’m glad to say that they have been quite helpful to me throughout A-Levels. I remember the days when I had no motivation to do any work. I remember the days when I felt like the world was conspiring against me. I remember the days when all I wanted to do was to give up. I remember looking up at these posters, and being reminded that everything I’ve done so far is worth much more than anything bad that has ever happened to me, and that I should continue striving even when I felt despair. Because let’s face it, who doesn’t have hard moments and bad days? It’s just a matter of being reminded about the amazing things you have and how there’s so much in life to fight for. For me, quotes have been a big help.

POWER OF QUOTES 2

Amzar Muzani Bin Ma'arof Natural Sciences Tripos (BA and Msci) University of Cam-bridge

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Being a student, a lot of hard work and effort are required to succeed. There were days during my academic life where all I did was just lied on bed, doing nothing, wasting time as I had no energy to even pull a book out of my shelf and browse through. I would leave my CV un-touched on my desk for days, sitting idle and incomplete. I just didn’t have the motivation. So I looked at some quotes. Although they were not necessarily related to any sort of academic pursuit, they helped to motivate me. Helped to keep me going. Even this quote from the movie Rocky Balboa pushed me to do more: “The world is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it isn’t about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” (Let’s admit it! Rocky is really an inspirational movie). Inspirational quotes would always give me that little bit of energy to convince myself that I can do this! I can get this done! There were also times when I neglected my responsibilities as a leader for clubs / societies. Whenever I have these kinds of days, I would look at a poem by Rudyard J. Kipling entitled “If” (a bit too long to qualify as a quote or to even include in this article but it was on my wall and in-spired me a lot!). I would be reminded of the virtues a leader should have, strive to improve myself and become better at whatever role I had. Whenever I face failures, I would always look at this quote by Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Another one would be: “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve; the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. These has helped me to realise that the most important thing is not the outcome but my effort. It is my intent to see improvement and to see through improvement without worrying so much on the outcome.

These and many other powerful quotes have survived through the generations. Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela. Leaders of their people. Strong-willed icons who have experienced great difficulties and obtained immense wisdom from the challenges they have faced. Their struggles make their quotes more meaningful as they were also honest people, with a good cause in which they put their lives into. These people epitomised a lot of good qualities such as intelligence, compassion, perseverance and leader-ship. Their values resonate throughout generations of people, all striv-ing to make the world a better place to live in. And their words have done so as well. They have survived the test of time due to how strong-ly people feel about quotes.

So, never underestimate the power of a good quote. People generally need affirmation of their beliefs or values in life from time to time so that they are constantly aware of their situation and make the neces-sary changes towards improvement. Quotes are definitely a good way to do this. My advice for those who want to improve themselves would be to spend some times filling their diaries with positive quotes or putting up moti-vational posters on their walls. Just a little quote a day can serve as a power-ful reminder for us to be-come a better person and achieve more.

“Reading quotes is good, remembering the words is even better; but among all that, applying and prac-ticing it are the best.” We read well-written quotes almost everyday, everywhere, in every hour of our life. Thanks, not only to the books, but also to the social media. Almost everyday, our friends post nice quotes on Facebook. Some share it to express their feelings while others might share it with the intention to brighten up someone else’s day. It is so true that inspirational quotes bring out the positive vibes, and hence that’s the reason why most of us read and collect those quotes I have one particular quote that has been my favor-ite since I found it 3 years back. I couldn’t recall the original source of the quote since I found it while watching a drama. However, it goes something like this: “All human beings are born equal. Why some people have more wealth than others is because the wealth is actually taken from someone else’s shares and given to you. Simply because you can manage it better. Hence, your wealth is not entirely yours. Therefore, if someday you are blessed with better wealth, please keep in mind that you should share some portion of it with those in need because there is someone else’s share in every-thing that you own.” The quote above doesn’t only make me feel good, but it also reminds me to be grateful. Without realizing it, we actually have a lot of things that the rest of the population regard as luxury. Having a home to sleep at, being able to eat 3 meals in a day, and pursuing a higher education are some of the privileges we often forget to appreciate because we think those are necessities – unaware the fact that there are some people out there who have none of that at all. During Ramadhan, I got a chance to participate in some volunteering activities where I prepared and helped to distribute food for iftar and Sahur, as well as clothes for Raya to those in need around the Klang Valley vicinity. The experience itself was truly an eye-opener. While distributing the items, I managed to observe the condition of the com-munity around me. As I was walking in the middle of the night, I felt really cold because I forgot to bring my jacket along with me. Then I realised that there are numerous people out there who spend the night sleeping on the street with nothing other than their clothes, everyday. I also felt hungry be-cause I skipped my sahur meals while fasting during Ramadhan. Yet, there are some people out there who do not even know whether they could get something to eat the next day. This incident is what I saw in KL, but I believe that these things are also happening in the other part of the world, and it’s our social-responsibility to work hand in hand to address the issue and many other problems that are happening in our society. As of now, I might only be able to do that much to release their hard-ships with the capability that I have. However, I feel that I should learn more and make the maximum use of the resources available within my reach to improve myself. The quotes, as well as the situations I have encountered, makes me want to be the best that I can be; not only for the sake of me and family, but also to solve the problems and improve the welfare of the community around me. The quotes above may not inspire you the moment you read it, but someday you will feel that it does make sense and get you reminded when you come across the situation. Till then, I hope you will stay moti-vated to live the best of your life.

QUOTES TO LIVE BY 3

Ana Ululiyatul Al-Bab Bachelor of Busi-ness Administration (Finance with Multi-media) Multimedia Univer-

sity (Cyberjaya)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.in/7-People-Who-Were-Born-To-Inspire/

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“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great” -- JD Rockefeller

This is a quote that I live by.

Three years ago, I was facing a dilemma. I have been offered to study in a boarding school. Initially, I was dithering on whether if I should accept the offer or not.

Being a human, we are inherently risk-averse, we are afraid of threats, that sometimes are non-existent. We are afraid of failure, afraid of people’s perception, afraid of being unconven-tional. For me, it’s the fear of stepping outside my comfortable world with my tight-knit friends. I was so preoccupied with what I might lose, to the extent that I overlooked what exploring into uncharted territories might offer me for my life.

It wasn’t until I found this quote, that I changed my mindset. I became more open-minded, I realised that great things come with great price; more than often, this means forsaking good things in order to accom-plish great feat.

I begin to accept, and to some extent, embrace having my comfort rug snatched away from me. This led to my decision to accept the offer to study in a boarding school.

And indeed, cliché as it might sound, the experience of the period when I studied in the boarding school in one of the best experience I had ever had. Instead of losing friends, I gained new friends – friends that I would have never known had I choose not to study in the board-ing school.

At a risk of sounding like a Nike spokesperson, I realised that some-times “just do it” is the right response to our doubts. And that’s what exactly I did when I embraced abrupt changes to my life. And the quote became the quote for me to live by.

Believe it or not, upholding to the quote has managed to bring me some unexpected benefits as well. Life often steers us through all sorts of unwelcomed, unwanted, and downright unexpected phases, often pushing us into uncharted territory. What the quote does is that it equips me with the ability to embrace changes. This adaptability has helped me a lot in my life, without it, life would have been different for me.

So that’s all for the quote that I live by. What’s yours?

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!” ~If, by Rudyard Kipling~ Hobbies are a funny thing. They keep people interested and motivated with their lives. If any-thing, hobbies are a good way to pass time, especially when we are bored and truly unoccu-pied. I conquer each day through running. Running is not just a hobby for me; running has become my way of life, my identi-ty, and my medicine to soothe frayed nerves and keep a sound health. I try to make some time each day for running despite my packed schedule, no matter how short the period. is Running was neither something that I had as a talent nor as an interest in my childhood and teenage years. In fact, I picked up running quite late, at the age of 26. Prior to my running days I would look at joggers passing by and wonder, “Why would runners subject themselves to such pain?” It started off as a compulsion. The urge to start running was strong throughout the year 2011, but I procrastinated for a while and finally took my first step in March of 2012. I was initially discouraged by some assumptions I had about myself: I was not a runner, I was overweight, I was tired from all my laboratory work at school, and I had a cholesterol problem to boot. One day I managed to push aside all my precon-ceived notions about running, and made a decision to take a slow, slow jog around my housing area. The hardest step to take is always the first step. I still remember the day I started running: I could not finish a 400m lap. I gave up after about 300m, but strangely, I told myself, “Don’t worry, you can try again tomorrow”. Each day thereafter was a celebration of how many laps I completed during my runs. I could run 15 continuous laps, albeit at a slow pace, within two months. I joined my first 10km race in November 2012, and manage to complete the run successfully in one hour and seven minutes. I currently train for the half and full marathon, and I also compete in middle distance races. However, my earlier running days were filled with mindless and un-structured running. As with every discipline, the more time you spend on a subject, the more you will learn on how to make the best of it, while saving time and energy. I now follow a training schedule that pushes me to work hard in order to maximise my gains, while allowing me enough rest time to pursue my studies and prepare me for my next training session. Glory is a tangible aspect of my hobby at the moment, but what always keeps me going is the sense of personal satisfaction and achievement I feel each time I take a step out of my room to run. Besides, other notable achievements of my hobby include 10kg weight loss, the complete elimination of my cholesterol problem and better sleeping patterns at night. I usually use my running sessions to brain-storm ideas for my research. In short, running has helped to improve every facet of my life, and I have no regrets picking up this “painful” hobby. I have both high and low points in my training and also in competitions. When I feel low, I always think of the first day I started running, to re-mind myself of my roots. This thought has never failed to bring a smile on my face every time. If I can run, anybody can run. All you have to do is to start.

A MINUTE VERSUS 60 SECONDS 5 THE QUOTE THAT I LIVE BY 4

Edward Chai Chuan Jun Year 12, Marlborough College Malaysia

Ranjetta a/p Poo-bathy, PhD in Biotechnology, Universiti Sains Malay-sia

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Do_It

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Photos: The author competing in the 3000m event at the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Annual Sports Games 2015 (left), and in the Penang Urban Aquathlon (right), in May 2015. She obtained second placing in both events.

TEENAGE BOY CONQUERS THE KAPAS-MARANG INTERNATIONAL SWIMATHON On April 12, 2015, I swam 6.5km from Pulau Kapas to Marang, Terengganu. Was I mad? Some people would have thought I was. During the swim, I thought I was too. It was about three months ago when I signed up for the Kapas-Marang International Swimathon 2015, under my school’s Triathlon Team. When I told my parents what I had done, they gave me a strange look. I thought they would go berserk and ground me from all co-curricular activities from then on. Instead, I think I heard them say, “Food, he’ll need proper food …” Then reality hit me: TRAINING. For the swimathon, our swim coaches and teachers, Shaheran Mohd Yusuf and Farah Azwani Kamarul-zaman, made sure we covered at least 1.5km every day in the 300m pool. And that was just for the first few weeks.

After a month, we started swimming 2km every day. A few weeks nearing the event, we had to do 3km a day within 1.5 hours. The training was grueling; the sun was still scorching in the afternoons, and doing multiple laps in that plain 300m pool wasn’t

actually what I would call fun. But it had to be done.

I also had to change my diet. Goodbye to the boarding school staple of instant noodles and hello to muesli bars, vegetables, lean meat and good carbs. Luckily, carbonated drinks were never on my menu while growing up, so leaving them out was not an issue. My favourite hot and spicy asam pedas and otak-otak were also scrapped. It was hard adapting to this change, but “no pain, no gain”. Another challenge was keeping up with my academics. Being in Form 2 is not too stressful, but since I am in Kolej Yayasan Saad (in Malac-ca) on a full Yayasan Khazanah scholarship, I have to maintain a cer-tain number of A’s in every test and exam, and this is a very serious

commitment. So I had to plan my schedule carefully, to ensure that my training did not disrupt my stud-ies. Sometimes, after training, I just wanted to jump into bed and sleep straight to the next morning, but I didn’t have that luxury; prep study sessions were compulsory from 8-

10pm, and homework and revisions had to be done. In addition, some-times, there are other co-curricular activities. My daily wake up call was at 5.30am, and on weekends, I had to do laundry and chores. A few weeks into training, my Tri Team participated in a triathlon work-shop organised by the Tadonamo group at Putrajaya Lake; it intro-duced me to open water (OW) swimming. The swim wasn’t bad but the water was rather icky! I endured it as I knew how essential the experi-ence was. The day of reckoning soon came. At 5.30am on April 12, we headed off to Pulau Kapas by boat from Marang. After we arrived, we had a light breakfast and took our necessary supplements. The event was going to start at 8am sharp. This was my first time in such a big event. My heart was beating so fast, my legs were shaking, and I felt like there were not only butterflies but dragonflies, bees and wasps in my tummy! But my friends, teammates, coaches and parents were all there and I could-n’t have asked for greater support. I also remembered what my grand-father said: pray and ask God to give you courage and keep you safe. I also experienced cramping. When it first hit me, I was seriously scared. Then, I remembered mommy’s reminder: if you feel any cramp-ing, don’t panic, turn onto your back, float, relax, keep your legs straight, flex your feet upwards and paddle slowly with just your hands, this will relieve your cramps. Open water swimming might sound scary, but the organisers were really big on safety. There were safety marshals on kayaks all along the swim route. They could swiftly fish anyone in trouble out of the water. After hours of swimming and swallowing large amounts of salt water, I finally saw the finish line! So, I hurriedly swam on, but I just wasn’t reaching the end. The currents were too strong. I changed from free-style to breaststroke, trying very hard to maintain a straight line towards my goal. Thankfully, I began to get closer, and finally, I finished!

SCHOLARS’ ACTIVITIES 6

Edward Chai Chuan Jun Year 12, Marlborough College Malaysia

Esfahan bin Rostam Zulkhairi Form 2, Kolej Yayasan Saad

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The feeling was amazing! Although the taste in my mouth wasn’t! I knew my parents were waiting for me at the finish line, I saw ayah (dad) taking my photo, mummy waiting to hug me, my coach clocking my time and my friends (who had finished earlier) there to cheer for me.

As I crossed the finish line, I was given a T-shirt, cold drinks, and of course, my medal! All those months of training had paid off to earn me this moment of sheer jubilation.

Note: This article was featured on page 14 and 15 of Adventure section in Star2 of 13th June 2015. Well done, Esfahan! Certainly a great swim-mer and writer!

CHAMBER OCHESTRA TRIP PERFORMANCE TOUR TO JAPAN “Music brings people together, no matter where you are from.” If you guys out there never heard of the KYS Chamber Orchestra before, let me brief you about it first. The KYS Chamber Orchestra consists of selected musicians who are the crème de la crème of the school’s orchestra. The musi-cians are chosen from the best of the best in the school. It began its first tour to Kuching, Sarawak in 2012. The success of the performance opened new doors for the KYS Chamber Orchestra with two opportunities to perform for the students of Vajiravudh College, Bangkok, Thailand in 2013 and 2014. This year, the KYS Chamber Orchestra has been given the wonderful opportunity to spread their love of music, beyond borders, to the land of the rising sun, Japan.

From the 13th till the 18th of June 2015, I, Muhammad Dalil Amin Bin Shobri along with Ahmad Shazwan Bin Abdul Hamid (YK scholar) were selected to join the Kolej Yayasan Saad Chamber Orchestra performance tour to Yokohama Science Frontier High School (YSFH), Japan. We, along with 28 orchestra members con-sists of selected musicians from the KYS were accompanied by our two music teachers, Miss Adrin Teo and Mr Ng Kim Suai and also a staff member, Mr Zaharin Bin Sidek. We were very proud to have the opportunity to represent the school as well as our nation, Malaysia to be able to perform abroad and gain new experience

alongside. This would not be possible if it was not because of the kind-ness and generosity from the people of the Yayasan Khazanah (“YK”) Management, who were willing to support us on this once of a life time experience as well as sponsoring us for the tour.

We departed from KYS at 6 pm and after a 2-hour journey, arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and checked in. Our flight departed at 11 pm and touched down at Narita International Air-port at 7.30 am. There, we were greeted by a local guide who brought us for a Tokyo city tour. We visited wonderful places such as The To-kyo Sky Tree which is the tallest tower in the world, the Imperial Pal-ace, the National Diet Building, Yamashita Park and Yokohoma China-town. After that, we had our first lunch in Tokyo.

After lunch, we checked into Jal City Kannai Ho-tel,Yokohama where we freshened up after a long, tiring day. After a filling din-ner, we went to Chinatown for a short shopping stop before heading back to the hotel to rest for the night. On the 15th of June, after having breakfast at our hotel, we quickly got on our bus to Yokohama Science Frontier High School which was about 1 hour away from our hotel. We were eager to start our rehearsals and as soon as we arrived, we quickly unloaded our instruments and were guided to the hall by a few teach-ers from YSFH.

After months of hard work and countless hours of practice, it was time for some hard earned rest. The experience did not stop there. We then went sightseeing at Mt. Fuji and shopping at Ginza where we thoroughly astounded by a 14-storey Yamaha store where we bought various equip-ment and scores for fu-

ture use. We were also given the opportunity to visit Tokyo Disneyland where everyone released their inner child. On the last night, before our flight back to Malaysia, we decided to spend the night packing to avoid any unwanted mishaps. We retired early that night as we had to leave for Narita International Airport by 6:30am the following day to catch our flight back home. We reached KLIA at 4:45pm and immedi-ately headed back to KYS after retrieving our luggage.

It was truly an experience like no other. Shazwan and I fully used this privilege that Yayasan Khazanah has given to learn more about their culture and the daily life in Japan. To me, Japanese are very sensitive

people. Hence, we had to be careful with the things we say. Japanese are also very hardworking in their every-day life which explains how their technology is far more modern than ours back home. Even their high schools have complete infrastruc-tures and advanced learning made to fulfill whatever the student needs to gain knowledge and excellence. For instance, at Yokohama Science Frontier High School, the students prefer to spend their time doing something beneficial unlike some of our generation of teenagers in our country these days. They take clean-liness very seriously. That explains why Japan is very clean.

Most of them cannot speak good English as they are very loyal to their emperor and their country. We, as Malaysians should take them as a very good example to fulfill our target and bring up our nation to its utmost success. All in all It was truly a memorable experience for the KYS Chamber Orchestra and for us. It is hoped that the relationship between KYS and YSFH and also Malaysia and Japan will continue to eternally bloom for the rest of the years to come.

Muhammad Dalil Amin Bin Shobri, Form 5, Kolej Yayasan Saad

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UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA THREE MINUTE THESIS 2015 COMPETITION

University of Malaya Three Minute Thesis (UM3MT) 2015 Competition is a communication competition designed for postgraduate students to explain their theses in language that is compre-hensible for a non-specialist audience within 3 minutes. Within three minutes, participants are required to describe and explain their research aims, findings and significance to the audience. It is a great platform for outstanding researchers to exercise their presentation and communication skills while sharing a concise summary of their research using only one PowerPoint slide.

For Faculty Engineering, the competition was held on 27th May 2015. Fadi was the winner and the prize was RM 500 + trophy + certificate.

Congratulations Fadi! Keep up the good work!

Our heartiest congratulations to the following scholars on their graduation:

Aliah Hazmah Hawari, DPhil in Plant Sciences from Oxford University.

Effizal Faiz Zulkifly (left) and Nurazeyan Khalis Binti Mohd Khalis (right) on earning MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Glob-al Leadership)

Suthen Thomas Paradatheth (Master in Public Policy, Harvard Univer-sity) (on the left) and Ziad Hafiz Bin Abd Razak (Master in Public Ad-ministration Edward S. Mason Program, Harvard University) (on the right).

Source: http://www.imgion.com/img/graduation/

Fadi M. R. Albatsh Form 5, Dphil in Electrical Engi-neering Universiti Malaya

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10th June — On boarding Session with our new family members. Wel-come onboard boys and girls!

13th June — UWC Send-off Programme. All the best!

16th June — Our Maiden Teh Tarik Session with The Yayasan Khaza-nah Scholarship Alumni Association (“YKSAA”) members. Thanks for joining guys! Hope to see more of you in the sessions.

23rd June — On boarding Session with those who missed the earlier session.

HAPPENINGS 7

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THE MID YEAR REVIEW How time flies. We have now reached the midpoint of 2015. It is al-ways important, whether it is in your personal or professional life, to take stock on the progress of all the resolutions that you had set out to achieve at the beginning of the year.

Late last year, I wrote about two resolutions to consider for 2015 in your professional life. Here they are – one from the past and the other from the current CEO of Malaysia Airlines.

1. Embrace The Language of Business

“When you are brought into a problem, you should first ask what’s wrong with the profit-and-loss statement. It’s crucially important to frame the problem in the context of the P&L rather than something nebulous, like culture, the structure, the processes and all these other things. You must anchor everything on the profit and loss. I’m boringly consistent on that point”.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala Former CEO of Malaysia Airlines The McKinsey Quarterly November 2008

I believe what Dato’ Sri Idris Jala was trying to say was that it is quite impossible to understand business if you do not understand its lan-guage. This does not mean that you should start enrolling in night clas-ses to learn about double entry accounting and all that stuff about deb-its and credits.

However, you should be able to interpret financial statements and make the linkages between the numbers with the operations of your business. While you are at it, educate your employees on how their actions (and in-actions) impact the financials. The revolutionary philos-ophy behind this is contained in a bestselling book called ‘The Great Game of Business’. (Add that to your books to read collection for the second half of 2015.)

2. Practise MBWA

“At the beginning of a business turnaround, I am down on the shop floor first thing in the morning, talking to people. They know the most about how bad the situation is – and they discover it faster too. They are also more reliable about telling you the truth than those in the boardroom. In fact, I think spending a lot of time on the shop floor is important for any kind of leader.”

Christoph Mueller CEO, Malaysia Airlines Judge Business School, University of Cambridge October 2014

Do not limit the practice only at the beginning of a business turnaround, make it a must do at every opportunity. At HP, where I used to work, we call it Managing by Wandering Around (MBWA). Get the unadulter-ated version of the real health your business by engaging with your employees on the ground instead of just relying on information present-ed to you in spreadsheets and slides by your lieutenants.

There seems to be so much uncertainty in the global economy moving forward. If you have not embarked on any of the above resolutions, do

not procrastinate. It should start you on a path of having a better grip of your work and business.

Have a great second half to the year.

Sekar Shanmugam, Managing Consultant, The Business GRID.

GLOBAL

-Rose Asyiqah binti Mohd Hamdan

-Valerie Ngow Yingli

-Toh Marn Yee

-Tan Cheng Wen

-Muhammad Nashrun Bin Norkamarul Zaman

-Amir Raslan Bin Nor Hisham

-Nurul Ezzaty Binti Hasbullah

-Nurul Fatin Aqilah Bt Ibrahim

-Mohd Noor Ilham Mohamed Ramli

-Tan Hai Jie

-Ng Eu Gin

-June Mary Rubis

-Yue Jin Oh

WATAN

-Mohd Zulfadhli Rosli

-Ruevan Jude Ratnesh

-Yolande Lai Li Ching

-Adibah Amira Binti Nazarudin

-Mohammad Syazwi Bin Mohd Rafaee

-Moo Deqing

ALUMNI’S CORNER 8

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ASIA

-Muhammad Yuskahar Muharram

-Fadi M. R. Albatsh

BESTARI

-Fatimah Azzahrah binti Ab Hamid

-Najmi Aidil bin Mohamad Nasir

-Muhammad Zakwan bin Razali

-Nurul Aqilah Azahari

-Edward Chai Chuan Jun

YK

-Norhidayah Aslah

-Azlina Jaffar

YK STAFF CHILDHOOD PHOTO: GUESS WHO???

Guess whose childhood photo is this! The first to email us with the correct answer is the winner!

A nice gift awaits the lucky winner…

Previous Issue answer: Emilia Maizura Harun

Congrats to the lucky winners i.e. Kristian Surya Dinata,

Mohammad Aqel and Firzanah Ahmad Firdaus

The YK team would like to wish all our Muslim scholars and

their family the blessings of Eid'il Fitr and may Allah (SWT)

accept our fast and ibadah and answer all our prayers.

May this Eid bring us joy, peace and taqwa and be blessed with all Allah's rahmah upon all humanity around the World. Ameen.

Taqabbal Allahu Minna Wa Minkum (May Allah accept it from you and us).