Working issue

Everyone should has a job, not just for financial sake, but you do need that spiritually, to recognise how much structure, affirmation and sense of purpose paid work supplies, and a feeling of competence and security.

As far as I am concerned, employment statistics are fairly slippery. In my own circles, I know of people who would not be counted among the ‘unemployed’ statistically but are certainly without work, or without work much earlier than they would have wished. I have acquaintances around who are not working in their profession of study, (perhaps this apply to most people), or those who simply idling their time without doing anything in their life. The latter do survive, they are just naturally resilient enough and thanks to their strong family who pick up financial slack for them.

As for myself, apart from the research degree I am currently working on, I have been working as academic tutor in UNSW for several 2nd-4th year undergraduate courses as well as master by coursework courses in my field upon graduation.

My areas of tutoring involve:

Engineering Mechanics
Linear Systems and Control
Engineering Design
Numerical Methods
Aviation Technologies
Computational Engineering
Computational Fluid Dynamics



Achievement up to date, I am head tutor for Numerical Methods in which the enrolment is more than 200 students. To be frank, I do enjoy the experience of teaching in tutorial class alongside with the lucrative pays. I find it as soft landing, so different to the head scratching research works.
Less juice in the brain is required.

My UTMKL mates as well as UNSW mates…

More than half of them secured their jobs in Singapore and leading comfortable life now. Salute to them. And those who are still spending hours each day trawling the net for opportunities in Singapore, keep up your hopes, creativity and tenacity and I sincerely wish you all the best!

Singapore sound like heaven for them in this context, in the sense that working in Malaysia brings you nowhere. Similar to me who currently residing in Australia, my ultimate settling benevolent land would be US. I firmly believe I can achieve much more in US with the unlimited resources there. The gateway to there? Nothing else but my PhD along with my tantamount research experience.

For this reason, as well as out of common thoughtfulness, give priority to activities that lift you spirits and connect you to the world, look at your potential from outside the square. I firmly believe the best don’t usually succeed, but the better knowing what he/she can improve from may outweigh the best. Wherever we are on the work continuum, we need to think with some energy and resourcefulness.

Found this assessment in my old drive the other day, here goes my online Cognitive Ability Test for Coles position application back in 2007.



It is flattering to find myself categorised in the top 4%. But guess problem solving skills are not really required there.