Hi Everyone.

I just finished my contract at Marshall Cavendish two days ago. I had a fantastic time over there. I made many new friends and learnt so many new things. And now I'm seriously thinking about a career in educational publishing. The work is quite interesting and very engaging especially if you're working on a book about a subject that you love. Some of the work can get a bit boring sometimes but then, which job doesn't have that? Also enjoyed the many lunches I had with my newfound friends over there. It was really amazing!

University is going to start soon. It will be great going back to school again after more than 2 1/2 years! Mnay of my former colleagues kept joking about how many new brain cells I would have to develop to make up for the many brain cells that had died in the last 2 1/2 years. Ha. Ha. Ha. It's strange but I can't wait to take down notes again, start studying for an exam, do a piece of homework (or assignments as they call it in university), to go for lectures, to do a practical, so on and so forth.

With Aqa Maula's blessings, I got into the University Scholars' Programme. For the first time I've got into something that's associate with scholars. Haha. I'm quite proud of myself actually and very thankful to Aqa Maula for his dua mubarak which made it all possible. Also wanted to thank a friend who kept on urging me to join USP, telling me I have what it takes to be in the programme.

I want to be on every dean's list. I want to get a first class honours. I want to do well on every assignment. I want to be active in outside events. I want to go for exchange programmes. I want to start university!

Truly, over the years I have sometimes doubted that I would ever get this far. I doubted I could get into VS. I doubted that I could make it to a JC. I doubted that I could make it big in NYJC. I doubted that I could survive NS. I doubted I would eventually make it into university. Make no mistake about it.....it was no smooth journey.

However much I doubted myself, Aqa Maula was there for me. All I needed was to remember him and he would make all the troubles ebb away. He was never far away. he was always there. There may have even been times where I might have dissapointed him, but Aqa Maula remained there for me, as fathers and mothers are always there for their children. How can I ever repay my debt of gratitude to a Holy Father who never asks for anything in return? He who just gives and gives and gives? Maula

Everyone, I believe, goes through a test of faith sometimes. I know I'm going through one now. In certain aspects of my life, it has been difficult to follow the faith and many times, my faith itself becomes questionable. I know Aqa Maula will get me through these tests.

Life in NCDCC is going well. I feel that I'm really connecting with my cadets at my assigned unit, Monfort Secondary School. They're quite a cool bunch and it has been quite interesting and fun training them thus far. I had a heart-to-heart talk with them last Friday. I wanted them to know what my aims for them are and I really want them to achieve it. I could see after that, they were really trying to put in their best effort in the trainings. It was really heartening to see that. The CLTs are also turning out to be quite alright. Its really fun working with them too. I only hope they feel the same way about working with me.

Well, before I go off, let me leave you with a photo from my recent travels overseas. In this photo, I was standing in front of the majestic Mehrab in Jame-ul-anwar in Cairo, Egypt. Visiting this masjid is a lifetime dream come true.



Ok guys. Take care. And I'll blog again much sooner. I promise. Have fun people!

Cheers,
HoZe

Wow.....It seems that I've been away from this blog for more than two months now! Forgive me but I have been quite occupied these two months and hardly had the time or energy to update my blog. I'll try my best to slowly put everything down in the coming days, weeks, months....

So after my ORD (you can read all about it in my previous post), I went to malaysia for a few days to visit my sweetheart. After that I came back to Singapore and another week later, I left for India, Egypt and Yemen. I went to Mumbai and Surat in India, Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, Sanaa, Zebid, Ibb, Zi Jibla, Hutaib, Sharika, Shibam and a few other places whose name I cannot recall right now in Yemen.

Overall it was a great trip. I had the oppurtunity to experience so many different cultures and the things that they had to offer. More importantly, in fact, most importantly, I found some peace and solace and spiritual enlightenment in all the holy places that I've visited and learned more about. I'm more aware of my religion and faith. I have come to realise even more what true love for your fellow man means and what many people have done to preserve this love. What Duat Mutlaqeen have gone through over the years to ensure mumineen are always aware that they're loved by their Maula.

I think the most heart rendering and touching moments for me came in Cairo, Egypt when I visisted Ras-ul-Husain (AS) (Tomb of the Holy Head of Imam Husain) and the Tomb of his beloved sister, Maulatena Zainab. When I was standing in front of their Tombs, I just wept. I remembered that a few months ago, I was in front of Aqa Maula (TUS) who told us that Imam Husain (AS) made the ultimate sacrifice so that the sins of the faithful may be forgiven. He fulfilled the promise he made to Rasulullah (SAW) to be the salvation for mumineen everywhere. I remembered Maula doing the Zikr of Maulatena Zainab, how she went through so much pain and suffering to protect the progeny of Rasulullah and spread the story of Imam Husain (AS). And here I was so blessed to stand in their holy presence and remember them.

After I came back, I went to Malaysia for 3 days again and my fiance came back with me. We spent a wonderful week together in Singapore. More about that in another post.

I've started a temp job at Marshall cavendish International as an editorial assistant until uni starts in August. The contract is for a month. The job's been great so far.

See ya guys in my next post!

-HoZe-

Well, its over. Its finally over. The journey I started out on almost 2 and a half years ago has ended. My last day in NS ended on a happy note on tuesday afternoon as I left my posting for the last two years, the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery @ Central Fire Station.

I still remember entering NS in dec 2003 and going through BRTC and stuff. All the great times there.

It had been a good two years. I feel that I've made the fullest of my two years over at the gallery and really used all the oppurtunities that were presented to me effectively. I've managed to learn a lot and develop myself in many areas. I kinda also feel that I've contributed a lot to the gallery and the force and have managed to leave a kind of legacy over there.

And more importantly I've made many great friends. YewMing, Khairul, Terence, the guys at PAD, Frank, pk, aalok, Agil and so many others. Truly fantastic.

During the workplan seminar last week, I met LTC Subhas, my dept's director. he wished me well and gave me some advice on how to pursue studies at university.

On the last day, I decided to come to work super early. Come in early, change into my uniform and just have a look around the whole place before anybody else comes in. (I dunno why, but i'm like a super sentimental guy. A SNAG, if I say so myself) Then Encik Rosly and PK came in one after the other and we went for breakfast. After that went back to gallery and took pictures with everyone. haha. More importantly, i realised I still had a bit of stuff to hand over. So I sat down with my successor and handed everything over to him one by one. Encik then gave me the day off, which for some reason I was reluctant to. I decided to take one last group around the gallery. Then I decided to wait for Cpt Subandi to come by before I left. When Captain came, I told him I was already going off and he insisted to take us out for lunch despite some protest (not very strong though) from me. We went to Burger King. It was pretty cool. Came back, packed the rest of my stuff. Captain Subandi signed my clearance cert, I shook hands with him and handed him a letter I wrote. I find it difficult to say what I need to say when I'm leaving a place so I wrote a letter a few days earlier and passed it to him. After that I left the office and went to the counter where I said goodbye to Anthony and he gave me a nice little keychain. Then I said goodbye to Encik and left through the same door I first entered the CDHG by. And then it was all over.

A few glimpses of my NS life:

Bringing Kids around the CDHG


One of my major projects organising a web design competition for primary schools:



Another one of my projects conducting a course for volunteer guides



My colleagues




My Service Excellance Award given to me by Deputy Comissioner


My office....aka the "dark room"


I don't know why but I felt some sadness at leaving the place. Perhpas its because I had a lot of good memories from the place to take back with me. I was also kind of dissapointed with someone on my last day, but perhaps sometimes I expect too much, so never mind. Haha.


I would like to thank everyone who I worked with or made friends with during the last two years for making it a great two years. :)

So now onto the rest of my life. :)

And guys, if you read my blog, please be nice enough to leave a comment by clicking on the comment link below or leaving a message on the tag board. :P

Ok guys, have fun. And for the last time, Don't play with fire!

"A Long Long time ago in a Galaxy far far away...."

Last Wednesday, I really wanted to go and see the Star Wars exhibition at the Science Centre. It was going to close in the next few days and there was nothing going to stop me from seeing the exhibition! I needed to be one with the force.

I quickly called my buddy Kevin, whom I also know to be a Star Wars fan, (praying that he hasn't gone to see it already) and made arrangements to go and see the exhibition together.

What could I say? Meeting Kevin after almost 2 years was wonderful. It always is when old friends meet after such a long time.

Old memories aside, the force was beckoning us. We found our way (rather Kevin found the way) to the science Centre and we quickly got in. It was like amazing!See some shots below:






Then we went to this interesting section called the Jedi Gym. They had like these fantastic games testing your jedi powers. There was this game where two people will sit at opposing ends of the table and wear head bands with metal strips which can detect brainwaves. By relaxing, a participant can manipulate a ball placed in the middle of the table to move towards his opponent without any physical contact. Kevin and I played it and Kevin won all the time! He tried to console me but I have an inner feeling that he is actually a jedi in disguise.



And here's a picture of me with my very own pod racer!



After that we went into this theatrette where they showed various films highlighting the different aspects of making the Star wars movies. My three favourites were the ones on props, darth vader and kenobi. We could have been sitting there the whole day watching the stuff.

After that we departed to the nearest macedonalds where kev and I caught up on old times.

And definately, it was a day well spent!

May the force be with you!

-HoZe-

The last few days, for want of a better word, have been interesting. I wouldn't say I was particularly stressed, or particularly busy. You could, however, say that I was "occupied sufficiently". Sigh, doesn't the english language give you lots of ways to express yourself?

I have been thinking about a lot of things lately. What do I want to do in the future and stuff. And I don't know whether to be scared or excited. Because all that thinking led to only one answer. That I really still don't know what I want to do. I mean I know that I wanna get married and settle down and stuff. But career wise? I might want to be a teacher, join the SCDF, join a private sector life sciences firm or even just concentrate on making it on my own as a self-employed person.

And then there's all the other stuff I still really want to do like starting a world-peace society that will eventually broker deals for world peace, buy a bungalow on the swiss alps, study higher levels of Haqiqat (Islamic Studies) and so many other things that I can't possibly list here.

I realise that when we're young, we tend to dream a lot. We tend to have so many ambitions. And in our young naiviety, we feel that we can achieve all those dreams. As we grow older and become wiser to the world, we wonder whether we can actually achieve all those dreams.

The thing is, we can never stop dreaming. That would be disastrous. We should never stop working towards our ambitions. If we do, then when will we ever achieve them?

So people, keep draeming and keep working towards those dreams.

Today I did something amazing. It took a lot of courage and determination, but I finally did it. I finally conquered. I cleaned up all my notes, worksheets and stuff that I had not cleaned since my A-levels two years ago.

I took everything out and it was horrible. The papers were everywhere. They were closing in on me. Me and my sidekick teddybear were outnumbered but we fought valiantly. Below you can see my sidekick almost being overwhelmed.


In the end, victory was ours. To the winner went the spoils. The end result:


Yay.....I won.

HoZe

Wah......I tell you ah.....I'm really really tired now.

It's amazing how much you can push the body and how much further you can push your mind.

25 days to ORD! I really can't wait. Not that I'm not enjoying NS. Just that I want to resume my life again. Continue with my great life plan.

Right now, I'm like handing over more and more responsibilities in my NS workplace over to my juniors. My superiors no longer discuss with me long term projects or stuff. It's like I'm slowly phasing out. For the last two years, I've been like in the middle of everything and now its just seems weird stepping out already. Renewal is inevitable. I'll be stepping out soon, towards the rest of my life that is waiting for me and somebody else will be taking my place. I'll really miss working in the CDHG. I'm proud and glad to say that I've left a positive legacy over there. And even more than that, that I've learnt so much. Now, I'm looking forward to ORD and what lies ahead.

In the meantime, its the hot season, so please be careful where you throw your rubbish. Don't play with fire. :p

have fun.

HoZe

Hi everyone!

Well, the last few days were kinda exciting and I honestly wasn't bored for a minute. PK came over on Tuesday night and camped overnight at my place. We had been planning our trip to Pulau Ubin for a long time. I was going there actually to recce for an activity I will be conducting this coming weekend but we decided to also just bike around and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city life. Since PK lives quite far from Changi, he stayed over at my place.

We went together with Abbas and Rahmat. So we met at Changi Jetty and took a bumboat to Pulau Ubin. Here's a photo of us at the jetty. We were like tourists taking photos everywhere. haha.

PK was an expert on Pulau Ubin. Thanks to him, our recce was much more condusive and we managed to get quite a lot of good spots. Here's me and PK at Camp Resilience traying to figure everything out.

After that we wnet biking around the island. The island is quite hilly so it was one heck of an exercise. Needless to say, my bottom was all sore when I returned to work the next day. Haha.

Today I went for my PPCDL practical lesson. It was like so cool! Just amazing!

Got to go for kayak expedition tomorrow. It's gonna be fun. i know it!

Have fun guys.

Hoze

Welcome to my new blog. It's just been so long since I last blogged that I've now decided that I need a totally new look for my blog. Hopefully, with the new blogging environment, I shall be inspired to blog more frequent and not dissapoint the people who come here everyday just to find that the blog is not updated. I promise all of you, friends and readers that i shall blog more frequently from now on. At least once every three days for a start. :)

I went for a trip to Mumbai a few weeks ago. It wasn't for a holiday or anything. It was for spiritual cleansing. It was to see my Moula again. It was to feel his presence and his strength. It was to listen to his words of wisdom and hope. It was to know that no matter what problems I have, Aqa Moula will be there for me. He will be there to put his hand on my shoulder. He will be there to tell me, "My child, don't worry, I am here". For ten days I was drawn away from the world to immerse myself in the world of imaan and deen. I was spiritually cleansed and rejuvenated with hope. Seeing Moula draw his strength from Imam-uz-zaman made us even more aware of how every mumin draws his or her strength from Aqa Moula. And more importantly, Aqa Moula reminded us that Imam Husain (AS) went to Kerbala and sacrificed his life so that we may be cleansed of our sins. Aqa Moula told us about what cruelties were inflicted upon Imam Husain and His Family. How the enemy killed his sons. How the enemy desecrated his Holy Body. How his three-year old daughter was left weeping and calling out for her dear father. All this Imam Husain did for us.

For salvation one must take hold of someone’s hand. “O mumineen! I am the hand of Imam uz Zaman! I am his gulam! I am the Dai of Husain!” Sobs filled the hall and amid the chorus of “Maula Maula!” we witnessed a sight that will be etched in our hearts forever as our Dai stretched out his own hand and said, “O mumineen, take my hand!”

NCDCC is a whole new experience for me and I am learning so much from it. When I was placed in charge of the CLTs, I was genuinely worried. I had no experience as a senior officer and I wondered how it would all turned out. I tried to learn as much as possible on the job and I'm still learning. And I'm happy to say that many of my CLTs give me much-needed support which makes my job all the more easier. They're just great. They're even willing to go the extra mile in helping me out in stuff. My dear CLTs, you're great.

ORD is coming soon. Can't wait. Not that I'm not enjoying NS. Its just that I want to move on and now that I know the time to move on is coming, I am more eager to move forward with the next phase of my life.

My darling's birthday passed 2 days ago. Happy birthday sweetheart. Love you.

Have fun guys. And don't play with fire :)

-HoZe-