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I had a discussion with my tutor last Tuesday. I was planning to show her my designs but since I was sick all weekend I could just show her the sketches in my idea log instead of printouts. I still had flu that day and I told her how much I wished I could stay in bed all day instead of coming to Uni.

My tutor just recovered from flu (it seem that everybody has flu these days) so she could easily identify with the struggle I had with forcing my mind to work when my body was asking me to slow down. She asked me to get see a doctor to get medical leave and then asked for extension from the lecturer. I was quite reluctant to do that, even though I was a little bit behind my schedule, I felt that I could finish my assignment on time.

So after the discussion, I went back to the office to continue my work. After half an hour or so the tutor poked her head in my office and asked whether I’ve seen the lecturer for extension. At that time I realized that it is better for me to stop pushing myself. I thought maybe if I get some rest I could start fresh and finish my work faster.

So I get my MC and explained to the lecturer my situation. I told him that I would try to submit on time. I rested all day Wednesday, spending hours in front of the TV and I ate a lot.

Anyway, thank God, I managed to submit my assignment this afternoon without the need of extension. And I feel much better now. Ok three more weeks of lecture to go and three more projects and one final report to do. This is quite a stressful time for the students. Hope this semester will end well…

I’m sick with cold. I’m tired and wish that I could just sleep all day. But I can’t. I have a lot of work to do. This makes me feel so angry. Why do I have to be sick now? The changing of the weather is just sucks. When the sun began to set early, I just got so depressed and couldn’t sleep at night. Now as temperature drops and the sky is all grey and gloomy I got this terrible cold. My friends said that I’d pushed myself to the limit and I should rest. But I can’t afford to rest now. Not now…

My housemate’s dad, Mr. Y, came all the way from the Middle East to visit his son. He’s a friendly man, educated in the UK, and has very high respect for Dr Mahathir. We get along pretty well and I like to listen to his opinions.

When he arrived, our kitchen was in a terrible mess. I was just fed up with cleaning up other people’s mess, and since I spend less and less time at home due to my automata project, I just don’t care anymore. But I felt quite ashamed to have my guest living in a mess; so one night after everybody went to sleep I cleaned up the kitchen. The next morning, while my housemates and I were sitting in the living room, Mr Y went downstairs to the kitchen and he exclaimed, ‘ Ah…abHan, you are the one who bring light into the house!” At first I had no idea what he was talking about, but then he continued, “I know you cleaned the kitchen last night. I bet you’re the only one who makes sure the house is clean,” Then he started to tell stories about his housemates when he was studying abroad.

And one night, when I came home at about 9, Mr Y. was sweeping the floor. I was surprised and said, “ What are you doing? You are our guest you shouldn’t be sweeping.” “No, no it’s ok. You are my guest tonight. I cooked dinner, sit down and eat.” He served me beriyani rice with chicken, and Lebanese bread with dhal. The dhal taste so good and lowered my craving for roti canai a bit. While we were talking after I had my dinner, my housemates started their practical jokes upstairs and made loud thumping sounds on the floor as if they were wrestling. Mr Y was surprised, “Are they fighting?” “ No, they’re just joking, they’re always like that” He was displeased, “ I hope they don’t disturb you.” “No...” I lied but I felt relieved that he noticed.

I noticed he bought sugar and filled our jar, which was empty for almost two weeks, because I was busy and the other just don’t care. In my embarrassment I said, “You bought sugar…I am so busy nowadays and always forgot to buy” He said, “ It’s ok, it’s only sugar, I know you are the one who makes sure the house has all the essential stuff,” It is true and I’m glad that he said that. Then he talked about his housemates while he was studying in the UK again.

Well, it was good that he came. He scolded his son for singing so loud in the morning. He reminded him that other people may be still sleeping and we are not living in a jungle. He saved me the trouble of telling my housemates about their responsibilities when living in a shared house. I hate to tell my housemates what to do, because I think that they’ are adult and they should be proactive, and moreover, I’m not their brother or dad to boss them around. Above all, I will always remember his words, “… you are the one who bring light into the house!” which I guessed he formed the phrase in Arabic in his head first before translating and speaking it in English since it is unusual to hear people made such a poetic exclamation.

Certain group of people are concerned that the new generation of Malays who have the special rights all their life and never see the struggle their forefather to achieve independence will become a generation of ‘softies’ who can’t appreciate the luxury that they reap from the effort of the previous generation.

But I don’t see that is the case when I see how the students here complained. For one of our assignments we are required to print two A2 size posters. The plotter in the studio was broken. The assignment was due on a Tuesday, but Monday that week is a public holiday, which means the students had to complete their work by Friday because only a few professional printers are open on weekends and public holidays. Lecturers had suggested several places where we can print our poster.

Of course the price is very dear. But in our program we are not required to buy textbooks. Compared to students in other programs, we are the only one that has to spend the least. I don’t think we should complain about the price. There are ways to reduce the spending on the poster. One of the requirements for the posters is to make them aesthetically pleasing. Black and white is cheaper to print but that doesn’t mean the posters won’t look good.

So the students complained and complained. They complained about the plotter being broken, so the lecturers said that they could print on two A3s and stick them on an A2. Then they complained that the printer got blocked because so many people send printing job over the network since everybody printed in the last minute. And they complained about professional printers were closed on weekends and public holidays. Of course, the price that professional printers charged was also something to whine about.

The lecturers here are mostly from architectural background. And one of them told us while she was studying she used to have to print up to A0 posters and nobody complained. I won’t write about how the lecturers handle the situation in the end, because we have agreed not to hear ‘voices about this in the corridor’. And I can’t just go and tell the whole world ;p

I wonder why sometimes I heard students complained when they have to use the Mac. For goodness sake we have Mac dual processor G5 here. I would die to use the machine. I guess people don’t always know what they have…