Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
The memories of childhood are mostly related to friends and school life. We mostly went to a religious school in the morning and a primary school in the afternoon. A Raleigh Chopper, my father's gift, was the main transportation to a religious school, 4 km from home.
At early dawn, I started my journey from Taman Sri Tebrau to the Police Quarters Depoh, passing through shops that slowly began their operation — serving regular customers working across the causeway. Many stray dogs were chasing us when we passed them. They were probably excited in the morning and chasing any passers-by. In other groups, a few dogs were waiting for us. I detoured and increased the speed. After reaching the school, I started to feel fresh from morning drowsiness. This story happens most mornings during school days.
We started the "Police and Thief" game before we entered the classroom. We ran as fast as we could or chased our opponents until we caught them and brought them into the "Prison." Our arena was a football field with sand and surrounded by many Christmas trees. The sand made us slippery, causing us to fall and have bruises on our knees. The chasing and running made us intrigued and temporarily forget about our homework and studying.
The best was when we were the "thieves"; we scrambled through the barrier and a few lost shirt buttons from the school uniform. The other boys and girls not involved with any game queued in lines. When the school bell rang, we stopped our game and entered our classes with sweating shirts and some sand on our bodies. Remembering all those experiences makes me grin alone, missing all those happy moments.
In the 1970s and 1980s, many of our family and friends studied overseas. Their stories motivated me to further my education abroad. In September 1992, I made it through and resumed my studies at a University in the "Windy City."
The most foreign place with different cultures, people, and mother tongues, 13-hour-time differences, and more than 24 hours of traveling hours by flight inclusive of transit.; The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 747 flew from Subang and transited to Taiwan, Honolulu, and arrived in Los Angeles. We disembarked and took an American Airlines flight for 4 hours to O'Hare Airport. Looking at the flight doors, we could see the aircraft passing through the barren land of the Grand Canyon. It reminds me of the famous television series in the 1970s, "The High Chapparal."
On arrival at O'Hare airport, we were expecting our seniors to pick us up, based on the briefing by the officials. Our senior (Malaysian students) had received news from the Malaysia Student Department Officer that two of us would be enrolled in the Falls. Everything went perfectly as planned. After moving out to the arrival hall, We met the person, Megat Anuar. He took us to his home in the Southern of the City.
Most Americans are passionate about sports. Many big cities have their professional teams. The sports are football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, and soccer. American football is a game where you can hold the ball using your hands, kick, run, and throw it to the receiver, who had earlier positioned himself behind the opponent's touchdown areas. Baseball demands a genuine love of the sport when you watch them. On average, the games take 3 hours of your time. In addition, the ball is small, and we can hardly see it when we watch it in the stadium. It is an attrition game. Football, the famous sport for the rest of the world, is called soccer.
The daily diet is French fries, Italian pizza, spaghetti, Burger King, or McDonald's. The drinks were hot brewed coffee and all the sodas. Coca-Cola is more popular compared to Pepsi. Muslim zabiha and halal food were very difficult to get during my stay in the USA; There were few options for us to have food while we were on or off the campuses. A few regular food shops were the Dunkin Donuts and the Fish and Chips under the Fullerton Train Station. In the school's cafeteria, I usually had a plate of Cheese Pizza, only the bread and the cheese. The total cost of having one meal was about five to six bucks.
The people's features are also different, with 50% of white men or women having blonde hair. Their eyes were colorful, ranging between green and blue, and a few were brownish; their noses were nicely sharp and triangle-shaped and looked from the side. This outlook makes their faces small and rounded; Blacks were different from the typical Africans; Their skins were darker, and they had white features too; Black drafts were the most outstanding guys; They walked on the campus with the same circle of friends; everyone might have noticed them, 6 feet height with the muscular bodies, and athleticism moves nobody can beat them while they were on the court; Giants of the "Blue Demons" basketball team, in the history of College Basketball, the team had gone two times until the last 4 NCCA Tournaments in the 1940s and 1970s.
While at home, my roommates and I were more focused on the NBA, watching the Bulls outperform all their nemeses. Neither my friends nor I were expecting to be fans of the Bulls team, which consisted of Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Grant, Paxon, Kukoc, Kerr, Cartwright, and their Head Coach, Johnson, winning the double three-peat NBA Championship from 1991 to 1993 and 1996 to 1998.
Adam, my closest American friend, was the same height as me, which made me believe that my height was average for an American. A few Koreans, Philipines, Thailand, and Chinese are on the campus; for each course of twenty people, two or three students are from Asia. The American Chinese have the best of both worlds: Mostly, their faces look Asia and have the character of the Americans; they inherited both qualities of genes: sharp like many Chinese and straightforward thinking like many Westerners.
Daniel, an American Chinese, whom I considered among the leading achievers in the class, was very sharp and fast on many projects and assignments. In almost all the subjects, he got A's. During my senior, I had fewer friends mixing around. My coursemates were part-time working students; They quickly left for home after class. Our class schedules were in the evening, and many working adults took their chances to pursue their education. I think it was an excellent culture to spend time studying when you were working.
At the end of the final weeks, I overstayed until midnight in the computer lab, finishing assignments or taking up the late night shift as a lab assistant; walking at midnight alone was horrifying when passing many drinkers and panhandlers. I was shocked and indecisive to react, especially to the requester. My eyes were always alerting to their peculiar acts. Observing the other passersby who ignored them, I responded like the others.
In college, we learned a variety of subjects, from the core subjects to all sorts of electives, such as appreciation of music, world history, comparison of religions, literature, and philosophy. The elective classes were always planned during the summer. The very kind teacher sometimes allowed an open-air class on the field. It is difficult to focus our mind on the subjects.
One of the most fantastic things I have ever experienced was living in a house by the lakeside. The lake was tremendous, as we were standing at the seaside. Every morning and evening, we enjoyed the view of the lake. When walking back from school, I walked with groups of people with the same destination; a few were jogging, some were breezing fast, and the eldest was slowly and steadily walking to the park.
During the winter, we gradually saw the lake becoming frozen and places covered by snow. Everywhere looks very white and feels chillingly cold. Any drop of water exposed to nature will become ice. One day during the blizzard, a postal worker in his 40s knocked on our door, giving us our bills. I felt humble looking at a dedicated man with his work. His face was so pale, and the water from his nose froze as stalactite above his thick mustache. He was so selfless. The weather was so hostile, yet he and other co-workers diligently served the public.
Summer is the most anticipated utopia of all seasons. Everybody smiles and admires the weather. Mostly all people wear straightforward covers after covering themselves with multiple clothes. Everyone seemed more energetic under the sun; running, bicycling, walking, and sunbathing. That is the most captivating natural happiness someone could have experienced living in four seasonal climates. The trees add to the beautifulness with greener leaves and colorful flowers. Various birds celebrate returning and hanging on to their favorite trees after some time. The squirrels traversed from branch to branch, and a few were biting the nuts. Head over their heels couples, advanced relationships with activities, and also in churches. Every creature lovingly witnessed and chimed in with the ingenuity of the signatures.
LIFE Inspiration
Steve Jobs once told his story on “Connecting the dots.” He believed that faith had taken him to where he was. However, he had only understood when he looked at them backward. After dropping out of college, he was in the dark, not knowing what would happen. So he just took his steps and moved on to what his heart believed was the right way. He attended a Calligraphy class and became fascinated by how he had beautifully crafted words. It was different from the sciences. Ten years later, he used the fonts he had learned when he wanted to design a Macintosh. Then he realized the dots started to connect.
Literature was the subject that fascinated me the most. It was a new understanding of our life. It is a reflective, imaginative, and creative written work on how the writer conveyed the messages and issues in the characters in the plots and chapters. Every word used has a meaning, more attractive than in the Sciences and Mathematics, where everything works with the laws and formulas. A similar experience was when Steve Jobs discovered calligraphy and invented the use of fonts in the Macintosh.
The 1990s was a period of economic growth. I was at the crossroads of whether to continue my studies or start working with a company. In the late 1990s, after considering many available options and conditions, I started working with a company, thinking that was it until I would happily retire.
After five decades, I ponder and explore unsolved questions that boggle me. The solution was to study the subject, read, and write them. Mark Zuckerberg said: “It's not enough to have that purpose yourself. You also have to create a sense of purpose for others”. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, at the age of 90, reminds us that our brain is like a muscle; if we don't use it, then it will become weak. We need to read, write, and argue to make it active.
Our lives are complex sometimes. Everyone only knows what will happen after we pursue our goals. Mark Zuckerberg said his main objective was to connect with his friends in the dormitory. He could never have imagined having a global significance in socializing the whole world. In a short period, it became the most popular social media website in the world.
Sometimes, we cannot plan our lives for everything. We must have trust in faith that moves us to destiny. Steve Jobs said, “Sometimes life hits you on the bricks. Don't lose faith. I am convinced that the only thing that made me go is that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you like to do.” It will push you to move forward.
Hamim Khalil
My Story
I was born in Johor Bahru, in 1971. I have been living and working in Johor Bahru, for three out of five decades. My early education was at Sekolah Kebangsaan Angkatan Tentera, JB, and SK TLDM. Lumut Perak. Then I continued my education in a boarding school in Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak, Seremban. After my SPM, I went to PPP/ITM and Depaul University Chicago, Illinois, USA, with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Computer Science.
I started my career, in 1995. at the University of Malaysia Sarawak as a Research Assistant for one year and a half. Since 1997, I am still working with Telekom Malaysia Berhad and its subsidiary GITN SDN Berhad. My experience is in LAN, MLAN, WAN, and equipment. While working, I completed my study for a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Nottingham Trent University, UK, in collaboration with Raffles College. During working, I also had an opportunity to work with the University Technology Mara and Telekom Multimedia College as a part-time tutor and lecturer.