1. Why/How did you choose your field?
Since young, I have always loved art and have been fascinated with all elements of design. For me, design communicates a message and a tone that I have an emotional connection with. I constantly pay a lot of attention to understanding how the visual message communicates and its importance in achieving its intended purpose. Knowing my interest, my Dad bought me a book titled “Introduction to Architecture” by Francis D.K. Ching. It was the first formal book that introduced me to the world of architecture and I was hooked ever since. Architecture to me is the understanding of spatial relationships and representation of culture that define the built environment. How every structural design has its way of invoking a myriad of emotions, through creativity and passion, creating comfort contributing significantly to society’s quality of life. The boundaries and opportunities seem limitless hence always fascinated me and bubbled my curiosity in the field.
I thought about how art moves people, it forces them to think and feel a certain way. This is something I wanted to achieve through structural building design by having profound effects on the occupants of a building or place. Designing a good architectural structure adapted to the environment and purpose of the space will allow people to have a more mindful connection with others and the activities they are engaged in comfortably. Knowledge in this field is essential, but so are emotions and senses to allow people to truly connect with where they are. The happier and more secure people are, the greater the efficiency and productivity of the people. This leads to a more confident and positive workforce and income generated nation. Sometimes, the happiness of the people is all it takes for a country to progress because they are the fulcrum of a country’s success. The way architecture can do this only fortified my resolve on wanting to study this course.
As an architect who is also an environmentalist, I would also have the social responsibility of constantly being well informed and keeping abreast of environmental research to design spaces that leave the smallest carbon footprint possible. Maintaining global environmental sustainability will be one of my prime objectives in designing for the people. Particularly in line with the 17 Sustainability Goals. With technology advancements, more eco-friendly development methods, and techniques can be used to engineer buildings that are energy and cost-efficient, beautiful and less environmentally impactful. This is essential especially in a country like Malaysia that is rich in natural resources, to ensure its continuity even with the rise of modernisation. I want to study how I can reduce the impact of human intervention on the environment using my flair and passion for design.
I am also a rather sentimental person, and just like how I keep scrapbooks of all the events that happen in my life, I look at architecture as a way to chronologically document developments in society and the country’s economical standing because those factors indirectly influence how a structure is built. For instance, the materials, techniques used etc. are all based on the time and economy of a nation. Architecture can inversely also have an influence on the socio-economic development of the people in a particular area because constant exposure to these different cultures in the form of physical architecture will lead more people to embrace it and eventually encompass diversity. An architect would also be responsible to allow the iteration of culture through heritage buildings. The cultures displayed demonstrate the unity among our people, especially to foreigners as a first impression. This only proves the importance of architecture as more than an aesthetic but a national identity. To be someone who is able to inculcate that value of diversity and at the same time preserve historical structures to remind us of what once was is something I dream of doing. My mind has always been and will always be set on this career path. To me architecture is more than a career but a way of life. Knowing that I will someday be able to give back to the people and environment is a thought that I will always hold on to and remember when that day really does come.
2. Why/How did you choose your scholarship, what was the application experience like?
I first came across the YSD Excellence scholarship when my sister was a panel speaker during a YSD webinar initiative on Womens’ Day. There, she met friends who told her about the scholarship and all the experiences they gained through it. As I had just finished my SPM exams that month, she implored me to do some research on it and apply. I did some research and when I saw architecture as one of the offered courses, I immediately started preparing my application. I looked at several scholarships however, YSD was so far the only one that offered my course. ( You can probably tell how excited I was! ). I sent in the documents they needed for the first stage of application, such as Identification card copies, SPM forecast results and FORM 4/5 transcripts in March.
By the first week of April I was happy to receive an email informing me that I had been selected to proceed to the second round of selection, the Online Ability Test. In the test, we were given 45 minutes to complete a series on general and numerical ability questions, which I personally found quite challenging. The test took place in early April. When I heard no response for a while, I was a little disappointed thinking I did not make it through to the next round. However, it was a pleasant surprised when I received the email inviting me to stage 3 of the selection process in June.
The third stage was a very new and introspective experience for me, where we had both individual and group presentations. The whole of stage 3 or “ Online Assessment Centre “ went on for about 4 hours, where they first gave us instructions on what we needed to do for the first assessment. The first part was the individual presentation. The friendly coordinators showed us a case study document containing our question and we were given 15 minutes to analyse all the information, do slides and present our ideas in a private zoom session with the assessor. I was very nervous, but once I started presenting, the welcoming smile and nods of the assessor made my ideas flow naturally. After the presentation, a few questions were asked and then it was off to part 2 of the Online assessment centre.
Part 2 was the group presentation sector of the evening, where we were divided into groups of 4 or 5 and similarly, shown a document to analyse and work solutions for. The gist of this part was to mainly see how you pose your ideas and at the same time show your leadership qualities and inclusiveness through group discussions. We were then asked to present our findings and how we plan to solve them as a group effort and we may have been competing for the same spot on the scholarship, but by the end of the day all of us had made some new friends. From this session alone I learned so much about time-management, leadership and friendship.
Now, for the final part of the scholarship selection process. The final interview. I received the email telling me I was shortlisted just a week later, telling me a couple of things they wanted me to read on before coming to the interview. I spent three weeks preparing until the day of the final interview, where I had the honour of meeting the CEO of Yayasan Sime Darby herself, Dr. Hjh. Yatela Zainal Abidin. I was of course very nervous at first, but everyone at the interview, including the head of HR was very nice and friendly. They asked genuine questions about myself and we even had a couple of laughs. By the end of the interview, I actually had fun and was grateful for the experience regardless of whether I made it through or not.
Less than a week later, I got the email telling me I made it through all the stages! The whole process was definitely a very rewarding one, and the friends I made from it along with the amazing coordinators made the whole process a rather enjoyable one. Within those three months of selection processes I honed a lot of my leadership, presentation and most of my soft-skills, which to me is invaluable. I am now a proud YSD scholar, and with the Scholar Development Programme that YSD carries out, they continue to build their scholars to help them excel in all areas.
3. Your vision/ambition with your education/career journey
During my educational journey I aspire to achieve two things. To be better academically and to try everything. In Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar we are given the opportunity to try so many new things, from wall-climbing to kayaking and I want to seize the opportunity to take a chance and try whatever I can. I love new experiences and this would be perfect for me to broaden my horizon. Academically, I strive to always try my best and do my best. I have become much more self-disciplined in terms of my studies after living in a boarding school. This only helped me work forward towards my aspirations to be a high-achieving and well-rounded individual.
As for my career, I aspire to achieve everything that made me want to study architecture in the first place. To influence people and their productivity positively, to be an environmental advocate through design and to promote cultural heritage as well as diversity. With the knowledge I will gain from my scholarship experience, there is no doubt I will be on the right track to becoming the person I want to be and give back to society in the way I have always dreamed. To make the world more progressive, environmentally conscious and appreciative of culture
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