6 Things I Wished Someone Told Me When I First Started a Job

Fresh out of college, first foot in the workplace; here's what I wish I could go back in time to tell myself:

1. You will no longer have the luxury of having dinner with the whole family 
Work will take up time. If it ain't work, it's the commute to/from work. If you can't leave work on time once a week to have dinner with them, always make it a point to have ONE meal with your family per week. Sometimes I do early breakfast with mum, before work, and sometimes I make it a car ride with my sister. Face to face time with family is important. (I really do wonder how working moms and dads do it!)

2. Keep a hobby, and keep it going
So you're a grown up now. That doesn't mean you have to abandon your interests! You can be playing board games, making art, practicing judo, hiking in jungles and going to raves when you were a teen, and you can still do it (and should!) when you're a little older.
Fun activities which we enjoy doing keep us passionate and interested, helping us to recharge and refresh to take on the daily grind. Also, when you were younger, you probably had less money to spend on your hobbies. When you're older, you get to spend more on your hobbies. Rather than walking in Taman Rakyat, you can now, for example, spend a weekend in Taman Negara.

3. Set a financial goal for yourself
Some popular ones include: Being financially independent by 25. Having an emergency savings fund of 6 month's expenses/salary stashed away. Putting aside 10% of income each month into a savings account (this one is tougher than it seems).
The whole point is to NOT spend away your whole month's income within that year. It's easy to earn money but difficult to save, and failing to plan for your income is planning to fail with your finances.

4. Meet up with like-minded people
I would recommend hanging out, catching up and being in touch with people who are working/in the marketplace. They can be your colleagues, or your college mates, or a group of close friends. The whole purpose of meeting with these people regularly is not just for networking and socializing, it is also for your (and their) personal and career growth.
Just to share, when my group of girl friends and I meet up to catch up, we always end up talking about work! These meet ups are sanity checks for us, and sometimes we get advise and encouragement from each other - whether to stay on and preserver in our workplace, or have the courage to speak up to our boss for a well-deserved raise. Never mind that we're in vastly different industries -  one's in a bank, one's with a start up and one's with a retail/fashion company.

5. Start praying for a life partner
Or, if you are already seeing someone, start planning for the future seriously. Maybe a 5 year plan? Idk. But if you, like me, are single when you've just started working, now's a good time to start praying for one. The first time I heard this advise ("You have to start praying for a life partner, even now"), it was from someone who was just gonna get married, and I was like Whuuuuut when he said it, 'cos it was not my priority at that time and I thought that my special someone would just be walking into my life. BUT there is benefit in seeking God's guidance for this.
As you pray for your life partner to manifest qualities you seek for, be prepared also to be the person who will attract someone like that.

6. Stop hating on kids
If you, like many of the people my age, hate kids, it's time to grow out of that. You are looking at the future leaders of Malaysia and it's time to treat them that way. Instead of throwing a death stare at the noisy kid in the airplane, ask him or her what they think of the current economy situation of the country.
LOL jokes. But there are ways to treat children well, and that way is to treat them as you would have liked to be treated  by adults when you were their age. I find it works remarkably well when I speak to them with sense, taking their opinions seriously.

7. Speaking of kids...Don't lose your childlike wonder!
I cringed as I typed that out, but what I mean by this cliched line is to have the curiosity and wonder of a young person through the many phases of life. You'll always find something to love or learn.


That's all from me for this click baitey article, hope you read to the end! *Thanks Daryl for pointing out that this has 7 not 6 things >.<, title not amended*
What do you wish someone told you when you first started a job?

song selection May 2015

Putting some songs here in case I forget about them. Thanks N for introducing me to the first two! 

This song ^ is so 90s but was probably made in the past few years only. Space/psychedelic rock can only be found on BFM so you obvs know where I heard it from.

Ok, yang ini betul2 dari 90s. It doesn't remind me of anything in my childhood though...

How to Answer the Question "What Do You Really Want To Do?"

Today, I was posed the question I feared the most.

The question I fear even more than "How are you?".

The question that I pretend I didn't know the answer to.

The question was,

"What do you really want to do?"

This is similar to a question posed by LS last year, when I told her I was leaving the agency. "Start with the end in mind. Otherwise, you'll find that time will fly by you, and you didn't even get to decide for yourself what you really want."

I really do think this question should be a must-answer for all SPM students. And to receive their SPM cert, they have to answer it legibly, logically and also with no fear for the future. This would seriously help them set a goal for the future and help them to work towards achieving it! As TP would say, "If you don't set a goal for yourself, how would you ever know where or what to work towards?"

That brings me back to one of my ambitions when I was in school. Back then, I did not like [no H8 mate] the education system SO MUCH that told myself I would become an education reformer for Malaysia. I would think of the best method of learning for students, how to make school a more collaborative environment and how to ensure students learned holistically.WOW! I sure had some great ideas then.

Today, I think my dream (well it's not even a dream...just ONE of the many things I envision myself enjoying doing until my interest lasts) is to be a magazine writer. WHAT, A MAGAZINE WRITER? REALLY? NOT EVEN AN EDITOR, AISHA? Yeah.

I've seen the perks that magazine writers get, man. Sponsored fam trips overseas, fine dining, tailored travel experiences, sneak peeks to newest products, goodies and freebies, and even the occasional celeb sighting. So enviable! But of course sometimes writers also get sent to cover weird assignments in less than stellar conditions...but I think the satisfaction of getting a great article published would really push me through all that. Why not editor? Cos editors have to edit other people's writing. Heh.

The question posed is quite hard to answer because the possibilities are ENDLESS, but I realize that if I don't answer that question myself, other people will (yaya I know, you've probably seen that quote on 9Gag before). Someone also told me that before from their own personal experience, and another person posed that question to me earlier this year - and both are way more senior than me in age and life, so I think there is definite value in The Question.

I really do see the importance in asking and answering The Question for yourself every now and then. It's crazy and it's scary, but you have to do it. If your heart is in the right place, I believe God will be for you and with you, whatever your plan is. Correct anot, correct anot.

So, what do you really want to do?

8 Days to June

Here we are, tumbling into the end of May when MAY JUST BEGAN LIKE, YESTERDAY. Man, this time thing is making me rage panic for no reason. Next thing you know, I'll be sending little Hibiscus Sunshine to her first day of kindergarden!

News items that people were talking about this week/month:

Taylor Swift's Bad Blood Music Video
Tay Tay rounded her posse of unbelievably talented girlfriends to start a "war" with Selena Gomez. They include Lena Dunham, Ellie Goulding and Cindy Crawford.

David Letterman retires
My late father used to watch his shows late at night, when it was still showing on NTV7. Didn't really got the jokes as a kid but watched it anyway since I was up at night LOL.

Briefly:

• Jared Leto as the Joker
• MadMen ends its run with an iconic Coca-Cola ad
• GOT gets fans riled up with an episode

Nobody Wants to Take in the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Boats
It's not just an issue between which-country-should-take-in-the-migrants, it's also the longstanding issue Burma has with the Rohingyas - which must be resolved or addressed at a more serious level. As I read, so far, Indonesia and Malaysia have accepted the boat people in for shelter after almost a week of dangerous "human ping pong". Providing shelter for these migrants/immigrants is a HUMANITARIAN thing. It does not condone the act of human trafficking. Just felt like I had to put it out there because a lot of Malaysians wanted them to die in the sea.

No Change to the 6% GST on Pre-Paid Reloads

Pre-paid top up is a serious business in Malaysia. This issue affects the people where it hurts them, because pre-paid is generally used by the lower income segment/migrants.

After GST came into effect, a 6% charge was put on top of your top up (i.e. You pay RM10.60 when you purchase a RM10 top up). Understandably people were upset, as this is not a service thing, and telcos have generally absorbed the 6% tax prior to the implementation of GST.

After a flip flop, the govt. decided that a user will only be charged GST when they use the credit. So you pay RM10 for an RM10 top up, but if you use it, you only get around RM9 worth of credit. 

Yes, this is definitely one of the more "WTF" moments of the month. 

That's pretty much all my 12am braind can think of (I am a morning person). On a personal note, I had a really good Friday night leading up to Saturday night. It must be the people and the fellowship and God, just God, all around. 

6 must-know facts you never knew about your income tax!

(...because you never had to pay tax!)

Filed your tax returns? Good on you!

1. Even if your salary isn't taxable, you still have to get a LHDN account and submit your income yearly. 
- Don't have one?
- Go to your nearest LHDN to register, or sign up online! (It's like Facebook. You'll get a login [your NRIC] and a password. Keep this somewhere safe)
- Once you register, you'll get an income tax number. You'll want to pass this to your employer (Yes, even if you're earning peanuts) so they can do auto debit to LHDN each month once you're taxable.

2. Your EA form is your LYFE. 
- You will normally get this from your employer around March/April. If you don't get it you may go bug them for it.

3. Books, sports equipment, medicines, personal laptops 
- Keep receipts if you purchase any of the above and scan them (because some receipts fade over time). You will be able to file this for deduction.
- Personal laptop can only be claimed once in a few years (3 or 5, can't remember) but the amount is RM3,000.
- Petrol, toll, etc cannot be claimed. Neither can car service or repair work, nevermind the fact that more Malaysians drive than they read.

4. Love your KWSP, life and medical insurance payments and PRS plan (private retirement scheme)
- All these you will also be able to claim.
- I just filed these in but I'm not getting the 100% amount, not sure why, maybe that's how this works. Please proceed to file your documents for this and input in, if you have any of these.
- Your amount for KWSP will come from your EA form under "G"

5. 30 April
- This is the deadline. Well, I'm not 100% sure, but people keep telling me to file my tax before end of April.

6. PDF after "hantar"
- The weird thing about HASIL is everything is in BM. Back is "kembali". Enter is "hantar".
- Anyway the important thing here is the thing that happens after you hantar. There is a button at the bottom of the page that says something like "Muat turun dan cetak" so you click on that, because that's your proof of submission.
- A PDF will be downloaded into your computer and you can keep and file this for your reference.


This is by no means a complete guide to filing your income tax but I just wanted to share what I know to all my friends :D And also as my guide for next year's filing.

thoughts on leaving

Quitting my job was probably the hardest thing I've had to do in a long time. It was a major life decision I made on my own, at my own time. It wasn't an overnight decision though - the thoughts were in the backburner for more than a year, but I always managed to put it out with more work. There came a time when I had to face it upfront and be honest to myself. Not quite sure when, who, or how this happened, but it did.

I spent most of my young adulthood growing years in the agency (3 going into 4 years) and spent a lot of my waking hours at work, so the people I hung out with at work basically became an extension of myself. And to tear myself away from that - man, that was tough. And made tougher because I am very sentimental by nature and had no one to talk to about how tough it was. Not many understood and some chose to isolate themselves, which I of course being sentimental took it personally lah! (Looking back, the sucky ending really helped me to look forward to what was ahead)

The scary thing is, up till the day I left, I wasn't 100% sure that it was a smart move. Over time though, I found that those thoughts will soon chip itself off me - bit by bit - being replaced by better and more sensible thoughts and experiences. It's a bit like...a lizard...losing its tail...and growing a new one...or something. LOL

All said and done, I am very grateful for the many, many things I've learnt at my past workplace and was given the opportunity to get my hands on. Among others, it has brought me to explore Singapore in a myriad of ways unthinkable to the regular traveler, got me to research into iconic brands of the century, have a sampling of what goes on behind a luxury event and consumer event, put my hands on the social realm and split myself nine ways at times - pretty fun and unexpected, and above all, lots of teachable moments and people I could draw and learn from.

If anyone from the agency is reading this, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making my years at Brandthink great ones.

"I got bills, I gotta pay - so I work, work, work, everyday!"

Great songs to start the weekend. Hope you have a productive/restful one! 

This is a song to go with a Honda City ad. Watching the music video reminds me of how angry I get when people in front of me block the whole walkway and walk slowly xD

If Lunchmoney Lewis' anthem doesn't get you pumped to go to work every day, I don't know what will. HAHA. (Actually I know...it's a little more cash.)

Waaaah this song is like super throwback to my childhood, yo.