Chambering : The Next Chapter In My Life

 

Now that I have officially obtained my law degree, what’s next in line?

Chambering, that is! Law graduates are not automatically admitted to become a lawyer once they finished their studies. We must first undergo chambering or pupilage, which is a 9 months training stint under the supervision of a senior practicing lawyer.

I am very lucky indeed to have started my chambering period immediately after the endorsement of my degree, although that meant that I didn’t get any rest period in between my studies and my newly launched legal career. But that doesn’t really matter, because as other fresh graduates out there, I am excited to begin the next phase of my life – the working life!

Although chambering is not exactly to be considered wholly as ‘working’, since I am still in the state of learning and studying, but the change of environment is definitely a breath of fresh air for me. After years and years of classes, assignments, and exams, finally I got to try out all of the knowledge that I have learned into practice.

When I first scouted out for a place to do my chambering, the number one factor that I considered is the opportunity for me to explore the legal practicing world and learn as much as possible in a conducive environment. Not to mention, location is also one of the key factors because the further the workplace is, the more time will be wasted on travelling.

Alhamdulillah, to my delight, my firm is exactly that, a place where I can learn and apply my legal skills. It is located somewhere in Damansara, and the location is quite near, approximately 15 minutes from my home, (although I do have to admit the traffic jam during the peak hours is terrible!). The staffs there are also very friendly and willing to teach a newbie like me!

So far, I am enjoying this new chapter of  my life. If there are any challenges and tribulations, that would be a normal thing. After all, to become a good lawyer, I must be brave to overcome any challenges – because that is exactly the nature of our profession – settling problems! (Hey, this might be a good topic for my next blog entry!)

I won’t  go deep into what I do during my chambering, but along the way, I will share some of the life lessons that I’ve learned from my stint here, that can be related to other people as well, in general.

With that, I would like to wish everyone a blessed Awal Muharam. May the coming of this new year will be a beginning for a very successful future for you and me.

Amin!

Listening To The Body

There are a lot of things that I want to do in my life.

Experiencing new things, reading new books, travel to new places, involve in various activities, and the list goes on and on. The feeling of being a youth and being capable of doing so many things that could benefit myself and the society makes me wanna do everything all at once. Sometimes to the point of being greedy.

Here’s the thing. Being young and energetic is not forever. If I don’t live out the life while I can still do so, probably I will feel terrible missing out the things that I love to do. But then, all of this excitement makes me sometimes wonder, what exactly that I want make out of life. Certainly, from this stage, I can now appreciate to understand that we can’t get everything that we want.

Given to the fact that we only have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 30 days a month, and 365 days every year – it is essential for everything to be planned accordingly if we were to enjoy everything that life’s got to offer. As they say – live life to the fullest.

But one thing that we always forget is that our body is not a mechanical creature who can work and play without any rest. We are human beings that have emotional and psychological needs. Always listen to our body for any indication of what it is signaling to us.

If you are hungry, have a bite. If you are sleepy, go to sleep. Do not ever force our body to do anything more than it is capable of doing. The sole purpose is to have a balanced life both physically and mentally.

When we learn to listen to the needs of our body, and combined it with the aspirations of our mind, insyaAllah something great will come our way.

Azree Ariffin

A Long Holiday Ahead

I’m finished with the exams.

Phew, glad that has gone passed behind me. Now, I can spend my time doing other things, settling everything that I always wanted to do before, but never had the time or opportunity to finish it. With the guilt going on, it was like study, study, study (as if I really did a lot of it) and if I were doing anything else, it was like guilty all the way.

But now that I’ve already stepped onto the holiday period zone, it started to really bug me that this isn’t really another normal summer holiday. It is a super-duper long holiday that most people have only dreamt of having.

Yeah – infront of me, I have a massive 5-long-months of carefree vacation period. This is particularly so, because for some reason or another, The Higher Education Ministry decided to shift the next semester’s intake from July to September, which made the long holiday – being longer.

The last time I has such a really long holiday was during my post-SPM days, while waiting my turn to enter the university. But trust me, it was a dreadful wait. But more on that later. This time around, the holidays is almost up to half the year!

What to do? Where to go? Honestly I do not have a concrete answer for that. Although I do have some rough plans, I didn’t really think seriously about it up until now. So far, I am just settling down, packing up my stuff from the Mahallah, the whole stock or piles of things that I am taking forever to bring back home.

I guess I will just take a break this first few weeks, settling down, go for a holiday, and then start with the serious business that is – find a job! My mom has been nagging all the while – cari kerja, cari kerja! Haha, of course I will. Just that want to settle what ever need to be settled first.

Any ideas for me to spend this holiday season, effectively?

A Discussion On The Malay Special Position In Malaysia

This is an excerp of a Facebook disscussion on the matter above. I am publishing it so that the contents can be shared and analyzed by others. In no way, it is to intended to create any social controversy. This is a sensitive issue, hence, care should be taken. This discussion is aimed to make people understand more about the Special Position of the Malays in Malaysia, from an objective point of view.

 

Azree Ariffin Yup, benar. Tidak ada pihak yang mengatakan perkara demikian. Hairan perkara ini boleh jadi isu.

Azlin Ahmad So what's all this with Bumi and Malay rights ... obviously unIslamic, but those who benefit don't want to admit it ...

Azree Ariffin There is no such thing as Malay Rights. The constitution only provides the special position of the Malays/Bumiputras as the first settlers that build a sovereign government.
Putting it in a positive way, it is an implied way to protect Islam and it's interest as Malays should be Muslims as enshrined under the Federal Constitution. The stability of the Malays in Malaysia is the foundation of the Muslims' in this region.

Azlin Ahmad I follow the reasoning, but unfortunately those same rights are not extended to non Malay Muslims. It's quite sad to see the double standards. Don't want to create a controversy, but that's just the way things are.

Azree Ariffin That is truly a sad thing. But, as it seems, the definition of Malays in the Federal Constitution is rather loose to the extend that anyone can be considered as a Malay as long as they are a Muslim, habitually speaks Malay, and practice the Malay culture.
I guess I have no problem with 3 of the conditions. Speaks Malay; fine, every Malaysian must speak Malay. Practice Malay culture; this is still very vague. Even Malays don't practice it that much.
Probably if an example of the double standards can be adduced, we can analyze the root of the problem. For me, we can't change the law (well, not individually), but we can take a positive approach to it, for the betterment of our ummah.

Azlin Ahmad Well said, Azree. I have benefited from Bumi rights etc ... the policies have worked for me ... but I'm feeling quite guilty cos I don't agree with them on principle. Double standards at work again!

Azree Ariffin I agree. We do have benefited from the special position of the Malays. That is what has been fought by our forefathers to ensure their children's will get their deserved rights, as an exchange for citizenship granted to the non-Malays.
As I see it, granting citizenship to the Non-Malays is a very big sacrifice that is made by them, on the name of humanity. Why I'm naming it as a big "sacrifice", because eventually, it will effect the population of Muslims, and the status of Islam in Malaysia.
Not that I am complaining, we welcome our Non-Malay friends. They are once once our guess, and the we invite them to become apart of our family.
But, in defending the spirit of Islam in Malaysia, Malays do have a bigger interest in question. This is the only place we call home. This land is where the whole of our blood splash from. If we loose it, we can't go anywhere.
Plus, the Malays being a very generous and tolerant race; there are times that we become a little bit too tolerant. Giving all of the piece of the cake, until we forget to reserve some for our children. For me, the Special Positions is not a protection for the Malays, but against the Malays - from their social-logically culture.
Just some of my thoughts. :)

Azlin Ahmad I know. It's tough. Yes, tanah tumpah darah kita, our forefather fought to defend this country. But that was generations ago. The current generation of non Malays who have been born here don't have a choice, Malaysia is their only home. I agree, Malays are accommodating, pasal tu in many instances, memang sampai kena pijak kepala. When we speak to Chinese or Indians, we are the ones adopting their loghat, not the other way round!!! And I can't say I'm too impressed by the lack of effort made by the 2nd - 3rd generation to assimilate ... many of them think that BM is a second class language and have not even bothered to learn it properly.
I am also mindful at what happened to Singapore - Malays are now the 10% minority, and generally consigned to office boy and tea lady duties. I don't want that to happen in Malaysia, but we can't go the other extreme either. Defending Islam is a beautiful thing, because if applied correctly, Islam can ensure harmony between Muslims and non Muslims, whatever the race. But therein lies the problem. Islam=Melayu, it's hard to separate between the religion, the culture and the history. It's not just one issue, but so many.

Azree Ariffin There it is. This is not only a legal problem, but goes beyond that. It started out as a sociologically problem that then turned out to be somewhat political. There many layers of it if we were to study it thoroughly.
As what you said, yeah it is a general presumption in Malaysia that Islam = Melayu, which is obviously wrong. A Malay must be constitutionally Muslim, and a Muslim does not necessarily must be a Malay.
I also agree, that the attitude of the 2nd-3rd generation of Non-Malays doesn't help either. We haven't attain a successful assimilation of culture like what has been achieved in Indonesia or Thailand. Why does this happen? Why after 50 years of independence, some of our Non-Malay friends have yet to even speak in a proper Malay Language?
In my opinion, the major influence of this problem is due to our education system. Could you imagine, we have separated our children to different vernacular schools since they are young. Why should there be 3 different school streams, when we are living in 1 country? Couldn't we just set up one stream school, and teach everything including mother tongue languages under one roof? Again, who's demand is this? I bet you can answer that.
My point is that, we can withdraw the Special Position of Bumiputras, to provide similar opportunities for Malaysians of all races. But are we still ready for that, looking at our low percentage of assimilation and integration? How are we going to give equal rights if we among ourselves still do not know how to respect other people's culture and way of life. In fact, the 30% Bumiputras equities are not met yet.
In alternative, will the attempt to withdraw the rights be successful in the Parliament? It is there for a reason, either historically, or practically, whatever reason it maybe.
For me, the root of the problem is not the law (as yet), but the mindset of our people. We change that, and the law may follow suit. The question is; how do we do that?

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Choosing A Legal Attachment Venue

This entry is dedicated to Tqa, whom have posted me with a question.

She has read my blog entry entitled The Law Attachment Programme and requested to know more about how to apply for an attachment in a law firm. I assume that she is a law student too, but wasn’t sure what university she belongs too, as it was not stated clearly in her blog.

In answering the question, I will focus more on some tips in choosing a venue for doing the attachment, as opposed to the method of applying it. Every law school surely must have briefed that to their law students. Hence, I would kindly suggest anyone whom are going for an attachment programme to refer to their respective faculties, as it would involve some administrative matters and formalities.

I should put a disclaimer though, that this is purely extracted from my own personal experience, and it is meant only for sharing purposes. It might not be applicable now, due to the past procedures, but is hoped to be a guidance and to show an illustration of the programme.

As in IIUM’s case, the Law Attachment Programme (LAP) Unit is in charged to assist the students in matters pertaining their attachment. Usually, the application will be made through the Law Faculty whereby the student will submit their choices of venues, and the faculty will do the rest of the work.

However, there are some exceptional circumstances when the faculty will ask the student to personally contact the respective attachment institutions to facilitate the application process. This normally happens when the first choice venue application was rejected.

Hence, it is important for a student to carefully choose their attachment venues and be realistic on whether they will be selected or not. It is advisable if the student had made a prior effort to contact the institution to inquire whether they accept any attachment students or not. This is important because some places do not accept attachment students.

In determining a place to do an attachment, especially a legal attachment; a student should ask him or her selves what kind of experience that she would like to get out of the attachment. Does he or she wants to pursue a career in the chosen institution?  Or is the attachment is only an avenue for the student to experience a job that he won’t even consider to jump into during practice? All of this is important because it will effect how a student enjoys the experience during the 3 months stint.

Although you are entering a law attachment programme, it is not necessary for the choices to be limited to only legal firms & courts. There are an abundance of choices especially in the legal world that relates to what we learn in law school. You may apply to the police, military, government agencies, companies, non governmental organizations, customs, and a whole lot more. Just make sure the choice will benefit you in the long run.

Other factors that need to be considered is the place of the institution. If it is too far away, there is a big probability that it might burden you financially because you need to travel back and forth every weekday. Do take note that some institution does not pay their attachment students any salary. Hence, you need to fork out your own money for the travelling expenses.

In the end, it is up to you, how you want to make the fullest out of the attachment. Ask yourselves, consult the academic advisor, make some inquiries. Surely, that 3 months would be the best times of your 4 year degree programme.

Cheers!

Anticipating The Future

It’s been a while since the last time I updated this blog. In between both, there were a lot of things that happened in my life, although not really major, but is worthwhile to be blogged about. It’s not because I haven’t got the time, in fact, I have plenty of it.

It’s just that since the wireless internet connection in my hostel room got broken because of some problems, my access to the internet is not at ease anymore. Adding up, I’ve messed up with my internet setting that makes me unable to use the wireless service at other parts of the university.

Oh well, I guess that helps me to focus more on to my studies. NOT! Haha. Although the final examinations are just around the corner, I’m still searching for the right gear to start up my engine towards the examination mood.

It seems that in this final year of my studies, the emotion has been all mixed up. I’ve been thinking about the working life, and that makes me feel more and more eager to finish up my studies. Seriously, after 4 years of degree, plus the matriculation days and school, i’ve spent my whole entire life up to this date on formal education.

Yup, I know that life is an ongoing process of learning. But, at some point I would love to try something new. I want to use my knowledge to good use, in a practical way. By doing so, I’m eager to anticipate what the future got in store for me.

Better get this examination thing finished once and for all.

In the mean time, I don’t plan on updating this blog up until I finished the exams on the 12th of November. If I do, thats a bonus. Do expect some backdated entries after that, since there were few events that I would like to document and share with all of you.

Plus, a new look for the blog. I heard some people said that this blog uploads pretty slow. Hence, I’ll try to find a simple template design in order to maximize the uploading time. Watch out for it!

Till then, pray for my success!

Celebrating Malaysia Day

This year would mark its place in history, as 2010 witnesses the declaration of 16th of September to be announced as a public holiday – in conjunction with Malaysia Day. Since 1963, this date has passed year by year without the majority of the public being aware of its importance in the hidtory of this country.

Malaysia Day – is not just an ordinary day. It is the day that our country was formed from the separate entity of the Malay Peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore; all of the became one to be a united Malaysia. (Although later on Singapore quits from the Federation).

As the Indipendence Day has always been associated with the struggle of freedom againts the imperialists, I see Malaysia Day as a celebration of unity among the difference states and races living in our beloved nation.

This is the time that we should remind ourselves that although we are from such a diverse background of culture, all of us are united as a citizen of Malaysia; no matter what differences we have. This is the day that we should focus on finding the similarities and respecting the differences, as that is the essence of unification.

The incidents that happened recently, about the racial tension and crisis, is a truly sad thing. Respect has been decreasing. A lot of people are now saying things without considering the feelings and sensitivities of others.

Now that Malaysia Day has become a public holiday, we should use this opportunity to reflect to ourselves what kind of contribution we have given to the country. What should we do on this auspicious day?

Hopefully, Malaysia Day won’t pass by anymore without we not noticing it.

Selamat Hari Malaysia!

An Explaination of a Confusion

Presented below is a strip of a Facebook post by a non-Muslim friend of mine that shows he is commenting on the issue of religious ban of the MU jerseys in a malicious way. Do take note that this occured several months ago during the World Cup season was on its peak.

I have no intention whatsoever to humiliate or provoke anyone, but i just would like to stress on the decrease and lack of respect  among some people on the religious laws or principles being discussed. I noticed that some people can simply make sensitive remarks without thinking the feelings or reactions of others.

Making it worst, the statements made are wholly incorrect to begin with. To some extend, it shows the “uncleverness” of the maker of the statement, as it is made out of perception and pure misconception.

At the instance of reading the post, my mind was straight away considering on lodging a police report, but then I didn’t proceed with it because i truly believe that this was an honest mistake without any criminal intention.

I truly hope, we do not repeat this kind of mistake that can threaten the peace and harmony of our country. Be it Muslims or Non-Muslims, all of us must learn to respect each others’ rights.

Enclosed herewith is my personal reply to the maker of the statement on explaining tha clear misconceptions he had. And I’m glad he accepted it with an open heart. :)

Thank you for your respond.

To explain about this, we need to understand that the issue was raised from an Islamic point of view, for Muslims.

Now, I am not in a position of authority to explain about the issue from an in-deph analysis. But, what I could say is that this issue has been brought up by some Islamic scholars and was clearly replied by the Perak Mufti as follows:

"A fatwa on the matter is not necessary as it is clearly wrong for Muslims to wear shirts with devils and other unIslamic symbols because it is against the teachings of Islam."

You see, from my own humble opinion, being a Muslim does not only mean that we need to perform rituals or worships in a Mosque. It is an overall thing that relates to every single aspects of our life. From the time we were born, to our death, and beyond.

Hence, when we have a faith in a religion, it is only logical for us to act in a manner that reflect our faith and believe, including small things such as some icons on a shirt.

It has been mentioned in the Al-Quran, that we will be judged even on the smallest things in life. Here, it is important to understand that life has a purpose and we believe that god won't put any of it to waste.

Here's a simple analogy.

When you have a wife, do you love your wife? Off course, you do. Hence, you will make sure everything you do will not upset your wife's feeling. This includes wearing clothes given by another women.

Well, this maybe not a good analogy, but you get the picture, right?

Same goes to Muslims. If we do believe and have faith in God, we will make sure everything we do will not conflict with our love to God, even the most tiniest of things, such as a devil icon on a jersey.

We always think from the view of a human being. Sometimes, we need to also consider how does God view us from above. When dealing with religious matters, we must always consider the most important factor -God. And thats is the most basic foundation in any religion, for that matter.

In this juncture, I truly hope that we will respect not only other religions, but also the people holding authority in that religion (in this case, the Mufti). When giving negative comments about other religion's law, we are simultaneously questioning the foundation of truth of that religion - which is a very dangerous thing to do.

There are a lot of people out there whom are irrational when it comes to this sensitive issues - sometimes contradicting the teaching of their own religion themselves (these are the ones that we call the extremists).

However, healthy discussions are always welcomed. It is important that we maintain a good understanding of each other's believes. I hope my explaination have shed some light on your concerns.

Regards!

Handling Difficult People

I’ve had some encounters this week with some totally ignorant people that does not really care about what they say may hurt others. This kind of people really makes my day tense because of the unneccessary emotional energy that I wasted thinking about them.

Sometimes, there are instances that we will meet this kind of people. People whom are rude and having  serious problem with their attitude – but we can’t throw them out from our lives because we simply need to deal with them on professional matters.

It  hurts when we are trying really hard to be professional in the relationship, but it is distrupted by the unmatured actions or saying by them. It can also be in the form of ommitions whereby silent treatment or isolation is done in disguise.

Everytime I encounter these “difficult peoples”, I will always remind myself that it is their shame, not mine – for owning such a terrible attitude. Yeah, for me it is their weakness and it is my task to overcome their fake “ego”. As time goes by, hopefully they will eventually realise that their actions will sooner or latter be a liability for them – whether in their personal or professional lives.

EAP : Mid Term Test

I have just sat for EAP mid-term test. It amounted to 20 marks from the total assessment marks. Wasn’t really that tough, but it made me realised that the last time I’ve sat for an English exam paper was four years back in MMU Melaka. The EPT and MUET exam that I took during my matriculation days did not count because i did not undertook any classes to prepare for it.

The test asked us to write an argumentative essay  aroung 450 words with the topic – the society should be more responsible towards the problem of pregnant teenagers. Points are given out in the paper, but we can use our own arguments also. So far, not bad. I managed to answer within the time frame. Let’s just hope for the best and focus on writing my term paper.

Just a short entry for today. Enjoy your weekend, folks!

Library Research Skills Briefing

Just now I had a library research skills briefing for EAP class. It is to guide us to do our research for our term paper more effectively through proper research by using the facilities available in the library. Most of the things tought in the class, I have already known before such as the searching techiques in using search engines through keywords. But there were also new things that I learned such as using Google Scholar, Ebrary, and a few other online databases that are readily available through the library website.

It wasn’t really a big problem for me because I have already been trained to conduct legal research during my 1st year in the Legal Method class. Online databases such as Lexis Nexis has really helped me when I took Compulsory Moots to search for relevent cases and journals.

However, I am quite surprised that some of my classmates haven’t even register at the library which makes them unable to access the internet from the library and loan books, although they are already in their fourth year. It is sad to know that the facilities provided is not used to the fullest.  Hope they will register as soon as possible so that their research can be done properly.

Speaking about my term paper, I have already finalized my topic, which has been approved by the lecturer. I can’t disclose the topic yet, but it has something to do with Intellectual Property Law and International Law. The oral presentation will be done next week. Please do pray for my success!

Wassalam.

New Blog Template

As most of you has probably noticed, I have already changed the layout of my beloved blog from the normal and boring blogger default design to a template that I found through Btemplates.com. I did browse trough almost all of the selections of template, and it was a pretty tough decision for me to choose a template that really suits my needs, personality, and content.

There was no actual reason for me in changing the layout. There were no any special occasions that I want to commemorate. It’s just a sudden urge when I was browsing through the internet that i need to give my blog a little facelift. The passion of blogging that is possessing me lately has motivated me to come up with a different blog design.

I wanted a design that is simple, sophisticated, yet modern. The previous layout was actually okay for me because the width of the entry box gives an optical illusion in showing that the entry written is longer that it actual is. However, in this new layout, I need to write a little bit longer as it is wider and it doesn’t look good if the entries are short.

Nevertheless, I chose this layout because it is suitable with me. It is in it’s trial stage and I am still trying to modify it a little bit here and there. Renovation is in progress. We’ll see how long this template will last. Hopefully it will be easy to the eyes for the visitors.

In the course of changing the layout, I lost all of the blogs whom I am following in the blog list below. Hence, it would take time for me to collect back all the blog’s add. It would be lovely if you can leave a message here stating your blog url for me to track back the adds.

Do drop comments about the new layout. :)

Wassalam.

English For Academic Purposes

Last week, I was complaining  about how restless I am not able to register any subject this semester due to the limited number of classes available.

You see, the short semester is not compulsory to students in IIUM. It is optional and can be taken for students who wants to lessen their burden in the long semester or wants finish their study early by taking some subjects early.

As far as the Law Faculty is concerned, it is a policy not to offer a core subject during the short semester. Therefore, the law students will usually take up short semester to finish up their other required courses such as Bahasa Melayu, Islamic required courses, and also do their Law Attachment Programme (LAP) as I already did last year.

This time around, I intended to take short semester to finish up the subject of “English for Academic Purpose” which is a very on-demand subject every short semester particularly because the classes are limited and usually law students will wait until the final semester to take this subject.

In my case, I really need to take this subject this short semester. If not, I will be extending in the next year’s short semester. This is because my 2 long semesters ahead of me is already full and packed with my core subjects and it is simply impossible to fit in EAP.

Fortunately for me, I am glad to announce that I finally got a place in an EAP class after going to the English Department last Friday and making a sad face to the receptionist to help me add the subject. However at first, she said that it was quite impossible for her to add me because there’s a lot more final semester students whom haven’t been given the place. At that time, the English Department is having a meeting to open up another subject.

She asked me to check again online at 5pm to see whether I was accepted or not. I was actually not really convinced that I will be given a chance. Hence, I went back home.

However, when I checked online at 5.45 – I was surprised that EAP has been added in my course list. What a relief! Now I won’t be left in the dark anymore questioning my doings in this short semester.

I will start my class today at 2pm-4pm. It will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It is only a 6 hour per week subject. Hence, I’ll still have time off my hands. Going to aim to get no less than an A i this subject. Pray for me!

Wassalam!

Talking About Health

I will be 23 years old this August. That means that the early adulthood years are just about to begin. Well, it probably has begun already, but since I am still studying, the feeling of being an adult by having total control of my life and earning money has not been felt yet. Hence, I still do regard myself as a teenager at its ending years.

But that is not the point of this entry. The point is that at this stage of my life, it is time to seriously think about my health. Now that I'm heading towards my middle 20’s, it is crucial to take care of what I eat and how much I exercise. Long gone the carefree days of being a teenager when I can eat exactly whatever I want - such as having fast foods every day and drinking fizzy drinks endlessly.

Most probably I’m just over-worried here, but hey, when people around me had given comments about how much I gained weight this couple of years, it made me think what has gone wrong?

Yeah, now you know where this is heading, right? The weight issue. I know in this case, I need to be more particular about my health – by leading a healthy lifestyle, and not merely on my weight. But still at 23, if I don’t start worrying about it now, I might probably one day line up at the audition of “The Biggest Loser” show. Who knows?

As for now, I’m quite surprised because when I calculated my Body Mass Index recently, it was 25.7 – which is 0.7 above the borderline of being overweight. It’s official, I have just become a member of the overweight club. It is an increase from 22.0 BMI last two years.

Taking that into consideration, I need to do something. Not only for the sake of my outlook, but ultimately for my health. It is time to lead a healthy lifestyle. Time to cut down the fats and gain more muscle. :)

Wassalam!

The Typical Law Student

 

Since I’ve became a law student a few years ago, I noticed that there are certain characteristics that are distinct and unique to them. The opportunity to learn law is considered to be a very prestigious achievement because it is a professional course which promised a bright future in fields not only limited to the legal world.

Being a law graduate does not only open up the path to be a lawyer, judge, legal advisor, registrar and a court official. It also equips a person to be a successful businessmen, politician, and administrator.

With this in mind, people from outside the legal field always have this perception about law students and how stereotype they can be. Some of them might be true, while some are just a mere misunderstanding. Based on the feedback that I got from several of my friends and my own observation, here are some characteristics that a law student typically possess.

1. Loves to argue

A law student loves to argue. This is why most of them are in the debate team of their respective universities or colleges. The ability to argue or debate is essential for every law student because this is the skill that they will apply when they are in court. Not only that, there is no right or wrong answer in law. Everything depends on the ability to argue and convincing the other party to accept our points based on the authorities given.

2. They are arrogant

You might beg to differ on this point. But this is what people from other fields sometimes feel about law students. When they love to argue, there is a sudden urge or feeling to be better that everyone else. As the saying goes – no one is above the law. Law student have this feeling that they are more smarter or prestigious compared to others. Please take note that this does not apply to all law students. Only a few of them.

3. Bookworm

Books are a law student’s best friend. I mean, it should be! The passion for reading should be instilled in every law student because they are dealing with facts and authorizes that they can only know by reading a lot of books. Not to mention that most of the law students that I know, usually cite this reason for choosing law as a career : I love words more than numbers.

4. Socialized people

Every law student need to have a good communication skill. This is why most of them are good in socializing with other people. Again, not all of them. But although they are good in socializing, law students sometimes can have very little friend because they isolate themselves in the library almost every evening.

5. Outspoken

A law student needs to speak up. If they don’t speak-up, there is a big possibility that they are entering the wrong choice. They cannot be shy in addressing what they feel to be wrong and inappropriate. After all, as future lawyers, they will be the spokesperson for their client in the court of law. Hence, law students are known to be outspoken and talkative.

Please do take note, that the characteristics above are just a mere stereotype about what others usually thing about law students. It does not necessarily apply to all. Do you have any more characteristics that you want to add from you point of view? Or perhaps wants to differ form the above list? Feel free to jot down in the comment page. :)

Visit to DGIR Office

This visit to the Director General of Industrial Relations Office at the Human Resources Ministry in Putrajaya was actually a class trip for the subject "Industrial Relations Law" which I took last semester. However, due to time constraint, my batch last semester didn't have the opportunity to organize a class trip.

This semester, my lecturer Prof Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood had invited me and my bacth of IR class to join the present batch to the DGIR office. Only two of us were able to follow the trip.

It was a nice experience, although the trip was just about going there and listening to the briefings. It gave me a clearer picture about the role of the Industrial Relation Department in settling trade disputes. While listening to the briefing, we were served with nasi goreng and kuih. Just what we need with an early morning trip without prior breakfast. :)

By 12pm, the session ended and we gathered for a group photo and went back to IIUM soon after.

Inter-Mahallah Cultural & Debate Week 2010

The Inter-Mahallah Cultural & Debate Week is an annual program organized by the Mahallah Representatives Committees of all the Mahallat (colleges) in the International Islamic University Malaysia. It is aimed to promote cultural integration between the residents of the colleges to ensure unity and in the same time to search for hidden talents in the field of cultural and debate activities among the residents.

There were numerous activities held during the cultural fiesta between 4-9th of February 2010. Those includes competitions in - Cultural Performances, Poem Recitation, Singing, Nasyeed, and Debate in English, Malay, and Arabic. As you've already guessed, I took part in the poetry recitation competition.

This time, it is different because the poem should be either in English or Arabic. A quite odd thing, I should say; because having two different languages to be judged in a competition would be weird - in terms of its judging criteria.

Nevertheless, I entered the competition - representing Mahallah Ali bin Abi Talib. The competition was held at the Experimental Hall, IIUM.


I tried to induce a bit of Malay Literature into this competition, since it only allows poems in Arabic or English. Hence, I tried to search for poems that are originally written in Malay and translated into English. I flipped through the books at the libraries and found this poem : "Jambatan Emas Titian Waktu" by Zam Ismail. This piece was translated as "Bridges of Gold, Channels of Time".

Here is a part of it :

"My children, grandchildren, do remember

In times when you have all grown into adulthood

Five potential decades that are yet to come

Do not ever pawn the dignity of your language and race

You monstrously strip

Mountains, wild jungles, seas, and shores

Leaving us old folks at that time

Gaping speechless, with nothing

Bemoaning the history of the sorrow and sadness of

An independent nation

Yet each one still incarcerated and enslaved."

Quite a typical Malay poem, I should say. Discussing about the issue of independence and the survival of the nation. But that is one of my mission actually, to bring Malay poem to a higher level, for it to be understood by the international audience.

The panel of judges in this competition.

All in all, I have 2 suggestion to be made :

1. In the future, the organizers should separate the categories into its language. We can't compare between an English poem recitation and an Arabic poem recitation. It's different.
2. Introduce Malay poetry category. I know Malay Language is not a part of the university's medium language, but I bet it will attract a whole lot more people to participate. Trust me, there are a lot of gems to be found in this category.
3. Introduce Pantun competition in the Inter-Mahallah Week. It would be interesting to see fresh, new, and raw talents to unearthed. IIUM Poetry Club would be more than willing to co-operate on this matter.

... And now, I leave you with the video of my recitation of "Bridges of Gold, Channels of Time". Thanks Kak Teha for recording!

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