PART4: DREAM COME TRUE

I start to send emails to the contact person that my lecturer from UMS gave me. From this person I get connected to the other person that I really admire a lot. During my bachelor degree I already start to admire his works since we use his research for our reference. We only know him by name but never get a chance to meet him. In our field, CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, he is really well-known. When he asked me to have a chit-chat with him in July 2005 I dare to apply off-day from our PK 1 from school just to go to Bintulu and met him up. I was vey excited because I was thinking this is my chance to do something that I really likes to do. I met him up and we had a chit-chat. I still remember before I leave his office I turn back and I told him this: “Mr. Rob, I want to tell you something, that I really admire you”. Hahahaha..sounds so funny but when I saw him that is the first thing that I want to tell him and I am very happy I have a chance to met him in real. After that chit-chat, they told me that they can not hire me because there were no vacancies for new staff. However, they considered of my interest to do research in their plantations area. It means that I will have a chance to pursue my study.

In November, Mr.Rob asked me to work for them as a Temporary Research Assistant by daily paid. I was very excited and can’t wait to go there and start working. This is really like “durian runtuh” for me because I didn’t know he will consider employing me even though it is only a Temporary RA. This is where I start and build up my knowledge, skills and lots of new things that I never experienced before. I really want to thank him because he gives me a chance to work with them. Until today, I always think that if he didn’t give me that opportunity maybe I will end up like my other friends. Helpless and lastly taken KPLI even though teaching is not their passion. However, there is always obstacles comes along the way. God gives me strength!

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PART 3: REAL WORKING SCENARIO

Photo: MSSM Zon Mukah in 2005 at Daro Stadium

An Insurance Agent was my first job that I get after finishing my study. It was because of recruitment that has been done by the insurance company during our career week and I am one of the participants in that program. I was qualified to become their agent after I passed through the questionnaire form. After my industrial training, I went back to KK and working full time as an insurance agent. I am not a competitive and aggressive or brave person. My experienced as an insurance agent really painful but teach me a lot of things. I faced different types of people everyday. Almost everyday I feel that is not a job for me. I didn’t put my heart in this kind of job. I failed to close any case and my unit sales manager pushes me very hard. She is very kind but in term of work she is very aggressive and strict. I only survive a few months in KK because cost of living is high and my commission is not enough to support me.

One day I got a phone call from home. My dad is sick. I have to go back because he is really sick. Therefore I decided to left Sabah and went back home. I love my parents very much and I don’t want to lost a chance to see them still alive healthy. My dad gets better after that and I tried to looking for a job in my own hometown. I was thinking not to work far from my family anymore. My parents are already very old and they are not that healthy anymore. My sister asks me to find a job in one of the supermarket in our hometown. I was hired as a MIS clerk with salary RM500 per month. At first I feel ashamed of myself because I am a graduated and yet working as a clerk. However, to search for a better job in Sibu is very challenging if we can not speak Chinese. Moreover, I am a fresh graduate and no working experienced. Tough job as well because almost everyday the lady from supermarket section yelled at me. I also don’t know why she is so fierce even though I only ask her to sign the Purchase Order. I only work there for five months and after that I quit.

I apply for a temporary teacher in a secondary school in one of the rural area. Actually I studied at that school for a month before I transfer to boarding school in Miri. I was accepted and start my teaching in Jan 2005. It was a horrible and terrible experienced as well. I love to teach those students but I don’t know how to control them in the class especially the naughty students. I have headache and become stress when I can not do anything to my students. The worst thing is I feel responsible for those examination classes but they just bullied me. I feel relief after a permanent teacher arrive in Oct 2005 and my service was terminated. Actually during my teaching period, I send over my application for pursuing study in wildlife ecology in UMS, KK. My interest is still very strong in something that related to nature and biodiversity. However, my ex-lecturer in UMS ask me to applied for UNIMAS and it is more relevant for me to carry out my field work in Sarawak because I am a Sarawakian. Since, he also didn’t have research grant to support my study. He gave me a contact person in UNIMAS. That is where the real story begins.

PART 2: GROWN UP

Photo: Conservation Biology Program -Class of 2000-

I went to a boarding school in Miri from 1994 until 1998. I didn’t remember so much but during my secondary school I am an athlete. I didn’t do well in my SPM. I only got C6 for my Biology. Science subject is very difficult for me. With my fair results in SPM I secured a place in Labuan Matriculation College and took Life Science course. My results in Biology for all three semester are not so good so I thought I will not have a chance to take any Biology related course in universities. However, I received an offer from UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH, KK for a course CONSERVATION BIOLOGY. I was confused when I get the offer because I don’t know what kind of study it will be. When I ask my brother’s opinion about accept the offer or just let go. He told me to reject the offer if I am not sure what it is all about. Then, I ask my best friend advice. She advice me to go and register for that course because if I didn’t go, I will never know what field of study it will be. I listen to my best friend advice and I went to UMS and register for that course.

I fell in love with this field of study and I really like when we doing field or lab work. My favorite subject was animal biodiversity, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, genetic conservation, and wildlife management. I still remember when we went to Danum Valley Field Centre in 2003 and I was really excited. It was the most memorable field trip I ever had during my course. I learn a lot of things during that trip but I can not cope with all the works because we were divided into groups and our task keep changing. It like rotating the task. This is because that field trip was combination of three course, animal biodiversity, botany, and microbiology (fungi). Therefore we have five different tasks which were small mammals trapping, ants pit fall, mosses, algae and water quality. That’s why I can not learn all the methods e.g. after group A finish set up small mammals traps, they will move to other task, checking pit fall traps. So, it will be rotating and all students will have experience handling the entire task under those subjects of study. However, it can not make we master any of the skills. We have limited time which is only four days.

I finish my study in 2004 after I completed my industrial training with Environmental Education Unit, Forest Research Centre Sandakan. I am a little bit frustrated when I am doing my industrial training because I didn’t learn much within those 10 weeks. It was end of the year and EEU didn’t have program for schools or locals. It was really frustrating and my 10 weeks just wasted like that. It was supposed to be the time for me to expose into the real working scenario.

I was graduated with Bachelor of Science with Honors in Sept 2004. I was happy that I can finish my study but the real war is just begun. Job hunting, a very challenging thing I have to do. There were hundreds or thousands of fresh graduates out there that jobless and am I will be one of them?

PART 1: MY CHILDHOOD

 

I was born in a small, tiny village where the populations are maybe around 250 people. In my family I have my dad, mum, three brothers and five sisters. During my childhood, I already love animals. However, the way I express is very mean. I just love to keep animals as my pets because for me they look very cute and for sure they can become tame. My sister once told me a story about myself with a young long-tailed macaque. My dad came back from work as a “Pembalak” at Kapit and brought back a juvenile of long-tailed macaque. I really love to play with that little creature until almost every day I slept with it and my parents become worried about me. They decided to separate me with my little friend and I am not sure what they did with it after that.

Actually almost all of my family members have this habit; keep wild animals as a pet. My eldest brother brings back home a sub-adult sun bear from Kapit and it was very aggressive. When my brother left it at home, we don’t know how to handle it because it was very fierce until one day when raining heavily we can not save it. It was dead in its cage because it was freezing. Pity sun bear. My third brother and two of my sisters love to keep birds as their pets such as spotted dove, pigeons and hill mynas. Even myself, I have had an imperial pigeon as my pet for seven years. I named it Fantagiro but my mum changed the name to Zorro. Then I tried to keep the common palm civet as my pet but it was escaped from the wire-cage on the next day. I named it Stinky because it really stinks.

Somehow, we are very cruel to the animals that disturb our paddy field, fruits orchard and sago palm plantations. My mum and sister always set up cage traps when our fruits are fruiting or when we plant our sago trees. At some point, my sister got almost about forty individuals of long-tailed macaque and the numbers just increased until my sister start to feel scared to set up traps anymore. When our durians, rambutans, langsat, dabai trees fruiting my mum will set a cage traps to traps squirrels and she got a lots of plantain squirrels. When I was a kid, I barbeque those squirrels and we eat the meat. I remember when our dog captured the pangolin and we eat the meat also. Hmmm..when I think back, I get used to eat wild meat before but now, I just can’t do it anymore. I love to see them alive and live happily in the forest.