Back to Uni life.
There are two issues which I want to speak about.
One of the things we identified about MAHSA (apart from the lack of student events) is that we have some individual events from each department but not enough interaction between each discipline. We have been aware of the number of departmental activities which we at MAHSA will still support, but there is a need to build on something a bit more....
Something that will include everyone, not only for the dental or medical departments or just nursing etc. We need to get everybody from all departments interacting. This is much more important than many people will realise as once our students graduate, they will be thrust into hospitals and expected to work as part of an interdisciplinary team. Nurses, doctors, physiotherapist,medical imaging etc must all work together on an EQUAL basis for the benefit of the patient.
Secondly, the need for student activities in making well adjusted individuals. The idea of this instituition is to create well balanced individuals who are not only professionals in their respected medical field, but whom are also socially apt. As hard as some of the courses are at MAHSA; studying is not the be all and end all of university life. You need to be able to work hard at your studies and develop your extracurricular life too. Just take a look at Tan Sri Ismail Merican our esteemed pro-chancellor. Not only is he one of the most well respected medical specialists in his field, he was able to sing and participate at MAHSA idol. Datuk Hanifa himself is an avid Manchester United fan and will not miss a game; being a speedy right winger apparently in his younger student days.
University is not just about getting your academic education. It is about getting an education for life skills too. That is not something that might be apparent now when you are trying to go through a tough course but it is something that will become apparent when you enter the real world. Academics is important. But you need a balance.
Having said all that, MAHSA idol was our first step. We feel that music,dancing and sports is universal and that is what we are going to begin with. There is so much talent here that is not pronounced enough and MAHSA idol has shown that. I also see the enthusiasm from everyone and thats something to encourage.
Judging MAHSA idol was hard. I initially had the Simon Cowell mindset where I would go in and if they were terrible I would tell them so. This was my first time judging such a contest and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'm not particularly musically orientated myself but I gave my opinions based on a laymans perception. And I think despite trying for Simon Cowell I came off Paula Abdul and loved everyone.
The effort and heart they all had to get up on stage was not something I could criticise at all. Some were nervous but I would probably be worse than them if I was in their position. Some had raw talent and that was undeniable. The guitar players made me envious. I should have taken the guitar up but hey, its never too late. The support from their friends and coursemates was touching. The MCs were great. It was a team effort from all departments. Heck, I'm starting to sound like Paula Abdul again. But I'm not joking when I say I got home past 12pm last night and still had trouble sleeping. Awesome event. We need to capitalise on this and push for more.
MAHSA idol also served as a platform for us to identify talent/enthusiasm. We will be pushing for MAHSA Glee club so watch that space. That and MAHSA idol 2012. MAHSA Step Up is in the works too and I'd like to invite all those who might be able to help me teach street/hip hop/ k-pop/mixed dancing to get in contact with me at andrewhuan@mahsa.edu.my. Its something I did at university and its something I feel we could do here.
Once again to end this all off, we're trying to not only create an academic atmosphere but also a fun one where your studies are your priority, but your university life will help you in future too. From my personal standpoint, I do know that some people still have the traditional views of a university instituition, especially that of a medical profession but well..... I think times are changing. Work hard, play harder.
;-)
Watch this space.
Drew
P.s. I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to see the MAHSA bodybuilding society contest. I was a bit unsure when Prakash came to get approval from me about allowing the beachbody segments as well as I'm still not entirely sure about how receptive Malaysian culture is to that. But wow I was impressed by their organization and the committment from their members. It was a fun event to watch and my mind has been changed. I hope to see more proposals from them in future and we at Management will back them. Plus it was good to see our staff participating too; something I want to encourage within the MAHSA family.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Monday, 19 September 2011
Chelsea FC amongst other things.
Taking a break from writing about university life....
It's been a hectic few weeks what with Open days and Registration so lets talk a bit about sports.
Or specifically Chelsea.
Watching Chelsea get schooled by Man United last night was not particularly fun to watch, as was the Fernando Torres open goal miss. But such is life and hopefully that will spur the team on. I'm wondering whether the new coach Andre Villas-Boas will live up to the heights of the Mourinho era. Now that was an era.
Looking back in 2004, I'd just graduated fresh out of university. As a qualified professional, the world is at your feet. You're earning proper money now, after all those years of hard work and postings. So what did I buy with my first paycheck?
A Chelsea season ticket.
Not that I was a die hard fan but I wanted to see what supporting a premiership team was like. Since I lived in West London it was either Chelsea or Fulham. Chelsea was way more exciting at the time having just been taken over by the Russian so Chelsea it was. (Lets face it, there is a home game every 2 weeks, logistically travelling to the stadium could be tough what with 40,000 other people trying to get there too. Arsenal was on the other side of London and no way was i doing Manchester United at 3 hours one way; although there are some fans who do.)
To get a season ticket you had to apply online and wait to see if there were any seats available. The price was 750 pounds at the time, which isn't too bad if you look and see the prices are almost 1000 pounds nowadays.(they have to make a bit more money to pay for Torres at 50million quid)
The stadium itself is heavily patrolled with police presence thanks to the possibility of rioting and hooligans and the seats can be quite narrow and at an angle. (Think of the the MAHSA desk chairs you have, and they're like that). The facilities such as the toilets can be comparable to MAHSA canteen toilets (not complimentary) and the shops are way overpriced selling pies and drinks for about 6pounds a time. (which is why I 'makan' before I go in.) There is always a queue to get into the stadium so best to arrive an hour before kick-off.
But having said that the atmosphere inside the 40,000 capacity stadium is rocking. And with Mourinho in charge at his first season with Chelsea, the team hardly ever lost. In fact I don't think I ever saw a home game where they did. The British fans are passionate and more so when it comes to their team. The season ticket holder next to me even had a large Chelsea emblem tattooed on his chest.
There are some sections of fans that do go there on Saturday afternoons simply to yell abuse at the opposing away fans and vice versa. This can be quite amusing to watch if not rather X-rated and sometimes I wonder if they are there for the football at all. But then again the security was always tight and the stadiums were generally family friendly. You should however, NEVER EVER wear an away team jersey to the home supporters section. They will literally tear you to pieces. I'm not kidding the stewards will not let you in for your own safety. I saw youtube clips of a malaysian fan wearing a Man united jersey to the Liverpool game. I understand he was unawares but in the UK don't ever do that because the likelihood of retaliation from a mob is 9/10. Just one of those things.
That season was the first year Chelsea won the premiership title after 50 years. Along the way they took on Barcelona in a 4-2 match where Ronaldinho scored twice to put Barcelona on the verge of going through the champions league rounds, before John Terry scored the winner in the 70 something-th minute. That was the most electrifying game I've ever seen with Stamford Bridge raised to the rooftops. It was an amazing experience to say the least. That year Chelsea won 3-1 at Old Trafford. And I guess one cycle has come back with the reverse score of Man United 3-1 Chelsea yesterday.
Watching the last nights match from a roadside mamak store in Kota Damansara I do reminisce on my days at Stamford Bridge. It was a good experience but as I look around and see that watching the game on the big screen with Malaysian fans who are passionate (but not enough to actually start fights over it as in UK) is not a bad thing too. I've got my teh tarikh, its 30 degrees and at least here we can watch most of the premiership games. In UK they will only televise one game a weekend for fear that nobody will go to the stadiums to support if they televise all.
Anyways that's all I'm going to blog about tonight. I've stuck in some pictures from my trips to Stamford bridge as well as a few pictures of me being a horrendous Chelsea fan and getting football training tips from Andy Cole and Dennis Irwin at Old Carrington training ground but I've had enough stick for that already. (I won the trip to play at Man United Training Ground in a competition.) but yes I admit terrible Chelsea fan. The other pics are of me at Manchester city stadium with some friends. Good times with more to come. :-) Thanks for reading.
Drew
It's been a hectic few weeks what with Open days and Registration so lets talk a bit about sports.
Or specifically Chelsea.
Watching Chelsea get schooled by Man United last night was not particularly fun to watch, as was the Fernando Torres open goal miss. But such is life and hopefully that will spur the team on. I'm wondering whether the new coach Andre Villas-Boas will live up to the heights of the Mourinho era. Now that was an era.
Looking back in 2004, I'd just graduated fresh out of university. As a qualified professional, the world is at your feet. You're earning proper money now, after all those years of hard work and postings. So what did I buy with my first paycheck?
A Chelsea season ticket.
Not that I was a die hard fan but I wanted to see what supporting a premiership team was like. Since I lived in West London it was either Chelsea or Fulham. Chelsea was way more exciting at the time having just been taken over by the Russian so Chelsea it was. (Lets face it, there is a home game every 2 weeks, logistically travelling to the stadium could be tough what with 40,000 other people trying to get there too. Arsenal was on the other side of London and no way was i doing Manchester United at 3 hours one way; although there are some fans who do.)
To get a season ticket you had to apply online and wait to see if there were any seats available. The price was 750 pounds at the time, which isn't too bad if you look and see the prices are almost 1000 pounds nowadays.(they have to make a bit more money to pay for Torres at 50million quid)
The stadium itself is heavily patrolled with police presence thanks to the possibility of rioting and hooligans and the seats can be quite narrow and at an angle. (Think of the the MAHSA desk chairs you have, and they're like that). The facilities such as the toilets can be comparable to MAHSA canteen toilets (not complimentary) and the shops are way overpriced selling pies and drinks for about 6pounds a time. (which is why I 'makan' before I go in.) There is always a queue to get into the stadium so best to arrive an hour before kick-off.
But having said that the atmosphere inside the 40,000 capacity stadium is rocking. And with Mourinho in charge at his first season with Chelsea, the team hardly ever lost. In fact I don't think I ever saw a home game where they did. The British fans are passionate and more so when it comes to their team. The season ticket holder next to me even had a large Chelsea emblem tattooed on his chest.
There are some sections of fans that do go there on Saturday afternoons simply to yell abuse at the opposing away fans and vice versa. This can be quite amusing to watch if not rather X-rated and sometimes I wonder if they are there for the football at all. But then again the security was always tight and the stadiums were generally family friendly. You should however, NEVER EVER wear an away team jersey to the home supporters section. They will literally tear you to pieces. I'm not kidding the stewards will not let you in for your own safety. I saw youtube clips of a malaysian fan wearing a Man united jersey to the Liverpool game. I understand he was unawares but in the UK don't ever do that because the likelihood of retaliation from a mob is 9/10. Just one of those things.
That season was the first year Chelsea won the premiership title after 50 years. Along the way they took on Barcelona in a 4-2 match where Ronaldinho scored twice to put Barcelona on the verge of going through the champions league rounds, before John Terry scored the winner in the 70 something-th minute. That was the most electrifying game I've ever seen with Stamford Bridge raised to the rooftops. It was an amazing experience to say the least. That year Chelsea won 3-1 at Old Trafford. And I guess one cycle has come back with the reverse score of Man United 3-1 Chelsea yesterday.
Watching the last nights match from a roadside mamak store in Kota Damansara I do reminisce on my days at Stamford Bridge. It was a good experience but as I look around and see that watching the game on the big screen with Malaysian fans who are passionate (but not enough to actually start fights over it as in UK) is not a bad thing too. I've got my teh tarikh, its 30 degrees and at least here we can watch most of the premiership games. In UK they will only televise one game a weekend for fear that nobody will go to the stadiums to support if they televise all.
Anyways that's all I'm going to blog about tonight. I've stuck in some pictures from my trips to Stamford bridge as well as a few pictures of me being a horrendous Chelsea fan and getting football training tips from Andy Cole and Dennis Irwin at Old Carrington training ground but I've had enough stick for that already. (I won the trip to play at Man United Training Ground in a competition.) but yes I admit terrible Chelsea fan. The other pics are of me at Manchester city stadium with some friends. Good times with more to come. :-) Thanks for reading.
Drew
Saturday, 17 September 2011
MAHSA bloggers
Up until two weeks ago, I wasn't really sure what all this blogging business was about. I'm still getting to grips with how this blog works; as you can see from the simple nature of my own blog. However, I do see its potential for good within MAHSA and I intend to utilise that as much as I can. I'm seeing that there are quite a number of bloggers within our university too and having had such a successful MUCCLS Lantern event, they have written some very nice positive things. Its a good way for us at management to gauge how well we are working and I personally think this is the way forward.
I have spoken to Datuk Hanifa, our pro-chancellor of MAHSA regarding all of this and he has given his support. In a way for us to have more of these events and activities not only do I need student support by participation but writing articles such as Hilda's in http://jellybeanscollector.blogspot.com/ or KC's in http://mrckc.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-begin.html . If there are more MAHSA blogs please get in contact with me. The more blogs I have the more important this role of student activities becomes within MAHSA and I can use that to improve the lifestyle here. In fact Datuk Hanifa has agreed to start renovating the canteen once we finish the hostels; having seen a comment on this blog about the canteen ventilation. It will still take time but approval has been given from the main man.
There are a few more activities now in the pipeline, not least the MAHSA green campaign as well as MAHSA idol and a possible MUCCLS Halloween event. Body building led by Sandra Prakash has just been given approval for their fitness campaign.
MAHSA idol has been having a few hiccups at the moment simply because the main SRC members are away on postings but that does not mean it won't happen. The tentative date of Wed 28th Sept has been given at 8pm and the remaining SRC members will be doing their best.
The MAHSA green campaign is actually being spearheaded by Larry Lam and Beryl Lee from FIS. They've been very passionate about the environment and so are on a mission to turn MAHSA green. We'll try to facilitate this as much as we can.
Last if not least, the Halloween event on 31st Oct is still at the proposal stage with MUCCLS but I'm thinking pumpkins and costumes would be a start. I'm looking forward to a discussion with them.
Once again, if anybody else wants to carry out an event or start a society get in touch. Many thanks,
Andrew
I have spoken to Datuk Hanifa, our pro-chancellor of MAHSA regarding all of this and he has given his support. In a way for us to have more of these events and activities not only do I need student support by participation but writing articles such as Hilda's in http://jellybeanscollector.blogspot.com/ or KC's in http://mrckc.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-begin.html . If there are more MAHSA blogs please get in contact with me. The more blogs I have the more important this role of student activities becomes within MAHSA and I can use that to improve the lifestyle here. In fact Datuk Hanifa has agreed to start renovating the canteen once we finish the hostels; having seen a comment on this blog about the canteen ventilation. It will still take time but approval has been given from the main man.
There are a few more activities now in the pipeline, not least the MAHSA green campaign as well as MAHSA idol and a possible MUCCLS Halloween event. Body building led by Sandra Prakash has just been given approval for their fitness campaign.
MAHSA idol has been having a few hiccups at the moment simply because the main SRC members are away on postings but that does not mean it won't happen. The tentative date of Wed 28th Sept has been given at 8pm and the remaining SRC members will be doing their best.
The MAHSA green campaign is actually being spearheaded by Larry Lam and Beryl Lee from FIS. They've been very passionate about the environment and so are on a mission to turn MAHSA green. We'll try to facilitate this as much as we can.
Last if not least, the Halloween event on 31st Oct is still at the proposal stage with MUCCLS but I'm thinking pumpkins and costumes would be a start. I'm looking forward to a discussion with them.
Once again, if anybody else wants to carry out an event or start a society get in touch. Many thanks,
Andrew
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
University Life - differences between Brighton and MAHSA from my perspective
I thought it might be interesting to relate my experiences at the university of Brighton to that of the students here at MAHSA. There are some striking differences but also some interesting similarities and this blog is simply my opinions from what I observe.
I'll start from Orientation week/Freshers week (as they call it in the UK). The most striking difference is in the organization of events. The purpose of this week is to allow the students to settle in and intermingle with one another at the same time becoming more comfortable with their surroundings and teaching staff. Here at MAHSA I've had the opportunity to sit in on some of their drama and debate functions and orientation. Such classes and events are set up in order to integrate specific skills into our students.
Interestingly in the UK, Freshers week coincides for all universities around the country and it is basically one excuse to party and binge drink alcohol; fully endorsed by the university (there is a student bar on site). Alcohol is deeply entrenched within the UK culture so much that it has become a problem within their youth and in hindsight from my fresher's days I can see where some of the problem stems. But yes Freshers week there is one big party which as much fun as I had, I don't think it is the best way to run the first week of term.
Sports and societies within the UK universities are endorsed by the university and encouraged but ultimately it is still up to the students themselves to organize and participate. In that way MAHSA is no different from the Universities there. I have been in contact with members from the Indian Cultural Society, MAHSA Chinese Language society, Body building and Fitness Club, Silamban (Traditional stick fighting) club, Yoga and basketball clubs to name a few. Our Student Representative Club is getting stronger and we want to encourage this. Ultimately however, it is still down to the students themselves to organize and uphold these events. And yes there are always those students that moan and complain that there are no societys or functions for them to attend, and when we do organize they don't bother to turn up. But the majority as we saw at the Lantern festival on Monday; do.
Classes to me look the same as when I took them not so long ago, so I don't really see much difference between the way we hold classes here at MAHSA and Brighton. Actually if you look at it, the quality in certain UK instituitions is actually suffering due to a lack of funding by the governments. The introduction of full tuition fees at 9000 pounds a year was needed to stop the universities from 'dying a slow death' so to speak.
The food and state of the canteen is something I will readily admit to however. The Uk canteens were done beautifully and were a place for students to relax and study as well as dine. I know we are lacking in that department and in the next few months I will try my best to change that. I too would like not to smell of food when I exit the canteen and we at MAHSA will try to change things. (On a different note though, all that was ever available to me food wise was sandwiches/burgers and fish/chips. The diversity of food from nasi lemak to wan tan mee here is great).
The hostels are a bit of a state, although back in the UK my dormitories were not great either. However we do accept that change is needed and Block C 7,8,9 floors have already been repainted and floored. Unfortunately we can only work with a vacated floor so term time does slow our progress. (If the students were willing to shift for a maximum of two days we could arrange everything to be done but that can be a logistical nightmare unless a long holiday comes up).
Car parking used to be a big problem for me too at University. However I will admit there was still some student parking and I would need to get up early to ensure a spot. Or take public transport which is what most of my fellow students used to do. The only difference here is that our malaysian public transport is not as efficient as Uk and that gives our students a problem at the JUC campus. We have tried talking to UM to see if we might use some of their ample parking and that request from what I last heard is still transient. Our next move might be to purchase a site around the campus and make car parking; although with our plans for the new campus this might not be necessary.
Security back in Uk could be a problem at times. I actually feel it to be safer here than in Uk; where on a friday/saturday night there would always be trouble due to the binge drinking at the local night spots. The local rioting in and around London the last few months has highlighted this fact; but I guess once again it is something embedded within the culture.
Anyways this was just some of my views on student life between the countries, I'll have to still say I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Brighton; and university is where you make some of the best friends of your life. It's a great learning experience and you do graduate not only with a qualification, but also with a different mindset and way of thinking. Obviously I only see all that in hindsight now; but I would say whichever university you are in just have fun, study hard (work hard/play harder was always my motto) and cherish the experience.
Thanks for reading,
Drew
I'll start from Orientation week/Freshers week (as they call it in the UK). The most striking difference is in the organization of events. The purpose of this week is to allow the students to settle in and intermingle with one another at the same time becoming more comfortable with their surroundings and teaching staff. Here at MAHSA I've had the opportunity to sit in on some of their drama and debate functions and orientation. Such classes and events are set up in order to integrate specific skills into our students.
Interestingly in the UK, Freshers week coincides for all universities around the country and it is basically one excuse to party and binge drink alcohol; fully endorsed by the university (there is a student bar on site). Alcohol is deeply entrenched within the UK culture so much that it has become a problem within their youth and in hindsight from my fresher's days I can see where some of the problem stems. But yes Freshers week there is one big party which as much fun as I had, I don't think it is the best way to run the first week of term.
Sports and societies within the UK universities are endorsed by the university and encouraged but ultimately it is still up to the students themselves to organize and participate. In that way MAHSA is no different from the Universities there. I have been in contact with members from the Indian Cultural Society, MAHSA Chinese Language society, Body building and Fitness Club, Silamban (Traditional stick fighting) club, Yoga and basketball clubs to name a few. Our Student Representative Club is getting stronger and we want to encourage this. Ultimately however, it is still down to the students themselves to organize and uphold these events. And yes there are always those students that moan and complain that there are no societys or functions for them to attend, and when we do organize they don't bother to turn up. But the majority as we saw at the Lantern festival on Monday; do.
Classes to me look the same as when I took them not so long ago, so I don't really see much difference between the way we hold classes here at MAHSA and Brighton. Actually if you look at it, the quality in certain UK instituitions is actually suffering due to a lack of funding by the governments. The introduction of full tuition fees at 9000 pounds a year was needed to stop the universities from 'dying a slow death' so to speak.
The food and state of the canteen is something I will readily admit to however. The Uk canteens were done beautifully and were a place for students to relax and study as well as dine. I know we are lacking in that department and in the next few months I will try my best to change that. I too would like not to smell of food when I exit the canteen and we at MAHSA will try to change things. (On a different note though, all that was ever available to me food wise was sandwiches/burgers and fish/chips. The diversity of food from nasi lemak to wan tan mee here is great).
The hostels are a bit of a state, although back in the UK my dormitories were not great either. However we do accept that change is needed and Block C 7,8,9 floors have already been repainted and floored. Unfortunately we can only work with a vacated floor so term time does slow our progress. (If the students were willing to shift for a maximum of two days we could arrange everything to be done but that can be a logistical nightmare unless a long holiday comes up).
Car parking used to be a big problem for me too at University. However I will admit there was still some student parking and I would need to get up early to ensure a spot. Or take public transport which is what most of my fellow students used to do. The only difference here is that our malaysian public transport is not as efficient as Uk and that gives our students a problem at the JUC campus. We have tried talking to UM to see if we might use some of their ample parking and that request from what I last heard is still transient. Our next move might be to purchase a site around the campus and make car parking; although with our plans for the new campus this might not be necessary.
Security back in Uk could be a problem at times. I actually feel it to be safer here than in Uk; where on a friday/saturday night there would always be trouble due to the binge drinking at the local night spots. The local rioting in and around London the last few months has highlighted this fact; but I guess once again it is something embedded within the culture.
Anyways this was just some of my views on student life between the countries, I'll have to still say I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Brighton; and university is where you make some of the best friends of your life. It's a great learning experience and you do graduate not only with a qualification, but also with a different mindset and way of thinking. Obviously I only see all that in hindsight now; but I would say whichever university you are in just have fun, study hard (work hard/play harder was always my motto) and cherish the experience.
Thanks for reading,
Drew
Monday, 12 September 2011
MUCCLS Lantern event
Last night was the first Lantern festival / Bring your own mooncake party held at JUC basketball court. A few weeks ago the members of the MUCCLS along with Adrian Boon and Lee Yen Yao approached me asking to host an event for the 12th to celebrate the mid-autumn festival. I thought it would be a good way of bringing all our students together and as they were that enthusiastic, i would encourage that enthusiasm.
Given a few teething problems at the beginning, the night ended a great success with over 100 participants from all the MAHSA students. There was plenty of mooncake and the students all had a great time with the lanterns. I found the wish tags a nice touch, whereby the students would anonymously write their wishes on a coloured tag and place them high up by the lanterns. Interestingly most of them asked for peace, happiness and health; along with a few exam results thrown in. There were the odd few asking to marry rich husbands/wives or to marry their own coursemates....
Special thanks to Professor Menon our Deputy Vice Chancellor of Student affairs for attending the event and providing his support. If we are going to bring up the student affairs and extracurricular activities at MAHSA we will need as much support from everyone as we can; students being the most important.
In a way I was quite proud of the students running that society as I understand how difficult it is organizing everyone and making the event a success and there was alot of effort on their part. As this blog title is named, life is a learning curve and they would have been able to take something from hosting such an event. Not least Lee Yen yao for having to make an impromptu speech to the 100 plus students. I felt it would be a good chance for these future healthcare professionals to take charge and lead this event and I stood by and watched as he first shepherded the crowd and than made his announcements. He did a good job, given the circumstances but perhaps I should start teaching a bit of public speaking along with my interview technique classes. But there will be more events to come not only from the MUCCLS but the other societies around MAHSA and I look forward to facilitating these events within the university. Many thanks,
Drew
Given a few teething problems at the beginning, the night ended a great success with over 100 participants from all the MAHSA students. There was plenty of mooncake and the students all had a great time with the lanterns. I found the wish tags a nice touch, whereby the students would anonymously write their wishes on a coloured tag and place them high up by the lanterns. Interestingly most of them asked for peace, happiness and health; along with a few exam results thrown in. There were the odd few asking to marry rich husbands/wives or to marry their own coursemates....
Special thanks to Professor Menon our Deputy Vice Chancellor of Student affairs for attending the event and providing his support. If we are going to bring up the student affairs and extracurricular activities at MAHSA we will need as much support from everyone as we can; students being the most important.
In a way I was quite proud of the students running that society as I understand how difficult it is organizing everyone and making the event a success and there was alot of effort on their part. As this blog title is named, life is a learning curve and they would have been able to take something from hosting such an event. Not least Lee Yen yao for having to make an impromptu speech to the 100 plus students. I felt it would be a good chance for these future healthcare professionals to take charge and lead this event and I stood by and watched as he first shepherded the crowd and than made his announcements. He did a good job, given the circumstances but perhaps I should start teaching a bit of public speaking along with my interview technique classes. But there will be more events to come not only from the MUCCLS but the other societies around MAHSA and I look forward to facilitating these events within the university. Many thanks,
Drew
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Welcome
Hello and welcome to my blog. I thought it would be useful for all my friends and family back in London to see what I've been up to over here in sunny Malaysia as well as a diary of events following my job as Operations manager at MAHSA university.
It's been almost a year now since I moved from London out to KL and I'm still loving the great weather, food and malaysian culture. Malaysian driving is something I've gotten used to, as well as the chilled out atmosphere. (Chilled compared to London that is.)
Its been an amazing learning experience coming from a pharmacy background to a a university managerial role and I've found the experience hugely rewarding. Having the chance to work directly under the Managing Director and seeing firsthand how a large company; albeit an educational instituition runs has been a real eye opener to say the least.
It wasn't that long ago that I myself was a student at university and its very strange now that I find myself on the other end of the spectrum. It certainly puts things into perspective when you experience both sides of university life.
Anyways I'll be checking in on and off, and sharing my thoughts/experiences on the daily grind of running a university and once again thank you for reading.
Many thanks,
Drew
P.S the colour of the blog is to reflect the colour of the student rooms which we recently painted. I know the colour has had mixed reviews but this colour was deemed to be least easily vandalised. Plus I like the colour...
It's been almost a year now since I moved from London out to KL and I'm still loving the great weather, food and malaysian culture. Malaysian driving is something I've gotten used to, as well as the chilled out atmosphere. (Chilled compared to London that is.)
Its been an amazing learning experience coming from a pharmacy background to a a university managerial role and I've found the experience hugely rewarding. Having the chance to work directly under the Managing Director and seeing firsthand how a large company; albeit an educational instituition runs has been a real eye opener to say the least.
It wasn't that long ago that I myself was a student at university and its very strange now that I find myself on the other end of the spectrum. It certainly puts things into perspective when you experience both sides of university life.
Anyways I'll be checking in on and off, and sharing my thoughts/experiences on the daily grind of running a university and once again thank you for reading.
Many thanks,
Drew
P.S the colour of the blog is to reflect the colour of the student rooms which we recently painted. I know the colour has had mixed reviews but this colour was deemed to be least easily vandalised. Plus I like the colour...
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