We were all....

I hv to wake up at 6 to attend some talk in the main campus which lasts till 4. Ceramah Budaya Akademik.. Wow. How nice! How Grand! How fucked up! 1 out of 500 and i got lucky, why cant i get as lucky when im buying toto damnnit?

Anyway, dad visited 2 days ago and brought me out for dinner! Seafood at bukit tambun which was D.I.R.T. cheap! 3 pax ordered 9 dishes and it came out to about RM99? Hmmm, i had *takes long breath* scallop, prawns, oysters, fish, shellfish, small octopus, and 2 plates of noodles. It was the only edible chinese meal i had since coming here.
Dad did not come empty handed thankfully. The most important thing he brought me was my sci calc. Surviving 3 weeks in an ENGINEERING campus w/o a calc was smth! And since i asked for another pillow, he got me 1 too and my scout shoes and my mom gave me lots of snacks and sweets. No complains there!

On another note, some of u might've known that i was asked to give a speech last friday nite. I had 2 days to prepare my speech and the only help i got was "Talk bout anything, talk bout the orientation." Dont feel like eff-ing any1 at midnite that time so i just accepted it. Anyway if u're interested to find out what's in my speech then read on else u can click the x. =)



A very good evening to the Honourable Dean of Civil School Engineering, , Deputy Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Professor Madya Dr. Badrul Hisham Abu Bakar, Lecturers, School Staff, Facilitators, seniors and fellow students. I, David Yap as representative of the yr 1 students am greatly honoured to be given the chance to speak on this historic event.
Ladies and gentleman, the Greek Historian, Herodotus once said, “ It is better to have a stout heart always and face our share of evils than to be ever fearing of what might happen” It is with these words in mind that I selected Universiti Sains Malaysia and look where I’m standing today!
First and foremost, we would like to extend a foreword of thanks and gratitude to the Honourable Dean and Deputy Dean(s), Chaiperson(s) and Chiefs of various bodies for gracing this event with their presence and also to the facilitators whom without which the events of the past week will not have happened.
We were taught on the first night to not only listen but to the pay attention to the words spoken to us and the lesson that I present to u today is to not see and accept right away what people want you to see but to able to think and decipher the bigger picture.
Ladies and Gentleman, we were all born engineers! Since the moment we were born, we were already building bridges. The very first bridge we constructed was the bridge to our mother’s heart and what a marvellous piece of engineering it was as it can only strengthen and will never crumble! Soft skills ladies and gentleman, is crucial in our life. How so? Please spend a moment to ponder my next question; how is friendship and relationship formed or maintained and what is their importance? Let not then the bridges we construct be made of straws that might crumble under the weight of a brick, for of all worldly possessions, a friend is the most precious. Let those bridges be like the one we formed with our mothers and let us wield this skill when we build physical bridges in the future!
Nevertheless, we cannot spend all of our time on building bridges and this is where time management sets in. I am lousy in managing my time, especially when im sleeping. Oftentimes I’ll just off the alarm and go back to sleep. On the contrary, I think the rest of you are already very adept in managing your time but for the past week, I believe we all have further honed our skill. With academic classes in the morning and assignments to juggle on top of having to attend orientation which lasts till midnight, good time management skills is vital to ensure that we are able to juggle between responsibilities without any neglect or sacrifice of either except for those who skip classes or orientation then they wouldn’t hv done much polishing. ;)
Ladies and gentlemen, Sustainability! A concept formulated essentially to conserve the environment but actually acts to harmonise things between nature and mankind. And although it is imperative, it is IMHO that harmony between mankind is far more important. We owe our very existence to a group of people who worked together to overcome all odds stacked against them by Mother Nature to not only live but to thrive and prosper. In this modern day, we are constantly thrust into groups and teams and I do not have to look far for an example, this orientation itself has 10 different groups! If members of a group could not reach an understanding, they can not work together. Then how can the team prosper and aim to achieve success? Congruently, every team requires one sole leader for too many cooks spoil the broth. However, that is not to say that team members need to follow exactly as they are told, for the leader is never always right. Team members are required to be active and to be able to use their own judgements on every matter. It is necessary to follow but it is more important to be able to lead when necessary.
I believe that I have overstayed my invitation and might have started to be a bore. But before I get carried off this stage, allow me to speak for all year 1 students that we are truly proud to be a member of this family and we promise that we will strive to our very best to achieve excellence. For we are usm and usm is us! Thank you and enjoy the evening.


The lesson that i presented was what i got during SR. We scouts know the lesson as the pen =).