UTAR Alumni

NOVEMBER 2010

Steps of faith

Chin Pei Ling
Bachelor of Arts (HONS) English Language
Dean's List, May 2008 Trimester

I've always wanted to be a writer. From being penalised during my high school days for overwriting in my English and Bahasa Malaysia papers to writing triple the length required for my FYP (Final Year Project), there's no question that I was synonymous to writing.

But it took an internship in The Star and a UTAR lecturer to help me realise, perhaps - just perhaps -writing is not for me. At least not in the way I wished it to be; not as a day-job.

During my three years in UTAR, I wrote extensively for magazines and newspapers in between my assignments and final examinations. I also worked as an Intern Journalist in The Star during semester break, thinking that with my Diploma in Journalism from KTAR, this was the life I could envision myself living in the next many years. However, I found myself uninspired to write many a times when it was a day-job as opposed to the times when I had the liberty to choose the stories I wanted to write and the people I desired to interview. Those were the times when I wrote better. When Dr. Carmen, (the said UTAR lecturer, now Dean of FCI) my lecturer for Academic Writing hinted that I could proofread a text better than I write it, it was then I discovered that while writing was my love, it was not what I did best.

One vital point about internships that I would to share with students is, besides gaining experience, internships can help them to gauge how much they like a certain job before they embark on it permanently. For me, I found that writing as a day-job was not for me, and I didn't have to discover it the hard way.

After much prayer and thought, I decided to be an Editor rather than a Writer or a Journalist. Two weeks after my final paper, I received a call from Marshall Cavendish Malaysia offering an interview for the opening of English Editor. Most of the time, you would need to sit for a test in order to win an interview to be an Editor or Writer. I thought I was pretty nervous when I did the test, but they called a week later to offer me the job. I was thrilled yet worried at the same time for the distance I would have to travel to work each day (100 km). Prior to this job offer, I had declined several job offers and interviews which I felt were not something I would enjoy doing (ranging from writing on Feng Shui to Facebook-ing everyday!).

I started working two months after my final paper and felt very thankful for God's providence of a job within a month of my graduation. Four months passed now, I am still enjoying my job and I felt grateful for that. My bosses are wonderful and my colleagues are lovely. In a nutshell, my job is to proofread a book from its manuscript to completion (printing). It has been a challenging journey so far, but fun and exciting. The challenges include having to scout every single spot or wrinkle I can find in the manuscript from spelling, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic errors to checking the entire layout of the book. I don't have to design, but I am basically responsible for an entire book handed to me.

As for the reasons I chose this job, it's simple. I believe it was God's will, as I did not have any peace to say yes to the other job offers besides this one although the rest were nearer to my house. I wanted a job that would not disrupt my commitment to church meetings (weekends) and I think very few publishing houses actually meet this requirement, and God by His grace led me to one. Another reason is that I like the work culture. I like how everyone is very gentle and kind (they still are!). Projects come and go very swiftly but people work efficiently and still go home on time. I think that's very important because to me, God and my family are more important ? not climbing the career ladder.

As such, my future prospects remain something I surrender to God. I believe in doing my best in everything that I do regardless of the outcomes, and when I do, God will take care of the rest. I think my three years in UTAR was a testimony to this. There's no doubt that my motivation comes from God Himself.

Looking back, cliched as it may sound, I believe that my three years in UTAR have helped me tremendously at my workplace. Completing my studies was not the end of learning journey. I am still very much learning every day, learning new words and reading dictionary sometimes! Every day at work is like living a life in UTAR all over again, except that I am now my own teacher - with Mr. Paul's meticulousness, Dr. Carmen's determination and Mr. David's dedication ingrained deeply in me.

It is not just them of course, other lecturers like Ms. Yoges, Mr. Renu, Ms. Jane, Ms. Kemmy, Ms. Angie, Ms. Wee, Ms. Nadya, Dr. Toshiko and the like have been amazing educators who have made their marks in my life. My advice to those who are still studying is to never, ever give up at the seemingly heavy workload you may be carrying in UTAR. I've learnt that those cannot come close to what working life is, and UTAR was an excellent training ground which has refined me to be a fit worker for my company. So don't give up - and persevere, because if you don't, you won't make it to the working world. When you're working, you'll thank God for your lecturers.