Saying goodbye to the crime desk

September 2013.

Barely two weeks since I joined the New Straits Times' general news desk, I was pulled to join the crime desk. This, was after I survived the deadly Genting Highland's bus crash, which took away 37 innocent lives.

First thought? Wow crime desk, so cool. I can do this.

But as a rookie, there was so much to learn. Took me a while before I find out that crime journalists would be more independent than general news journalists. All information are not spoon-fed, but will come either from your friends, seniors, or sources. Which I do not have at that time.

No, I can't do this.

For three months, I dreaded being a crime journo. I don't know what I was doing. I don't know where to get my stories (okay lah this one until now also sometimes don't know where to get), my leather bag lost its handle while I was covering a raid, and I just hate every single working days.

Fun Facts:

• Among my first assignments I covered as a crime journo was Michael Chong's assignment. It took me four bloody hours to write a simple story (lol simple story when I look at it now, at that time it was so hard).
• Among my first mistakes in crime was I assumed IPKKL was Bukit Aman. Kill me.
• Among the first observation was that crime journalists are closer to each other than their own peers from the same company. Why? Because we see that same faces during assignments, we hang out with that same faces FOR HOURS - smoking, vaping, gossiping, makan, minum, wasting time tepi longkang- during raids, while waiting for the forensics or that assignments where they invite us three hours too early. 

At first I thought I could not fit in, since they were so damn close to each other but overtime we grew closer. I finally get the hang of it, writing crime stories have become my...passion?

Yeah, I actually can do it, and I love it.

***
February 1, 2018
Fast forward about four years later, convergence came. I did not make it into the crime team.
I was transferred to the Current Affairs Desk (Weekend, Probe/Special Report) for our beloved newspaper. A bunch of young reporters were chosen, in hope to give this old man a new breath.

I am open to new challenges, I am willing to learn and be guided, but I sure as hell will miss my time doing crime reporting and of course, the people who has been so helpful and supportive.
(Yes, sure we will still meet at certain assignments but it wouldn't be the same! No lepaking tepi longkang anymore)

So...can I do this?

That night

It was Dec 18, I was on the 6pm shift. The day started with a murder, police shootout and a fallen 5 feet tree.

Then I received another information, on a murder at Cheras. While I was on the way, sources said it was actually an accident, not a murder and nobody was badly injured.

It was close to 1am, Dec 19, so I made up my mind to buy some porridge since I was on a mild flu, ordered a set of Double Cheese Burger for Abang since I know he was on night shift as well and I drove home.

At home I turned on the latest series of the Carrie Diaries and had the porridge while watching it.

Halfway through the porridge, I heard doorbells. Multiple times. I sighed, telling myself it must be Abang, forgetting to bring his keys again.

So I thought, I'll wait for him to call. Since I always told him to call instead of pressing the bell. Then I heard Ayah woke up and opened the door. I heard Abang's name, I heard Shafiqh and I heard Ayah asking the guy who he was.

That's it.

Then I heard crying.

I decided to go out, I saw the guy outside. I heard Ayah and Ibu in their room. I had no idea what to do. 

Then I went into their room and asked what was wrong. Ayah said Abang had an accident, when I asked how is he now. He cried and said Abang dah meninggal.

I refused to believe. I went out, met the guy and interrogate him. He gave me numbers to call. None of them, gave me the exact information except asking me to go to the scene.

While I was ready to go, I received a call from my night editor that night, Naj. He never called, but at that night he called to ask about the Cheras case. I explained I was  misinformed, and he asked me where I was. And that was it. He was the first person I broke the news to.

I drove my parents there, but I know it will be a bad move to bring them to the scene. Having to deal with these things all the time for my job, I know very well how an accident scene looked like. And I never want them to see it.

I drove slowly. Allah answered my prayers, Noh called and told Ayah to go straight to the hospital since the police has brought Abang there.

So we went straight there, straight to the forensic. Where I usually went to look for the family members of the deceased, to get some statements from them. Heh.

I saw the truck, I saw the black plastic still in it, I saw policemen. My parents went straight inside. I, looked for the IO.

The policemen pointed to some guy, and the guy gave me some basic information and pointed me to another guy in black. Bloody hell, the first guy was not the IO.

The IO was busy talking, so I just stayed where I was while my parents were consoling each other. It was just three of us at that time while Shen was on his way.

When they were going to hand in the body to the hospital, they needed one of the family members to be there. I went.

I saw him, my dearest brother. Laying there covered in blood, lifeless.

I swear at that time, I was sad but how God has made me so numb to go through the night when nobody else has arrived yet. 

After a while, the IO approached me. He said Ayah and Ibu was not in the right state to talk so he needed me.

We exchanged business cards. He found out I'm a crime journalist. I told him how funny it was that I had been covering death and accidents all this while and tonight (that night) it was my own brother's.

He said, you know what Hani, I faced similar situation before, I lost a younger sister in a crash when she was hit by a bus.

Then he changed subjects, relating to the incident. He asked me whether it was okay for him to show me the sketches of the scene. I said of course. He showed me the sketches, explained where Abang was and all.

*When he told me where he was, I know Abang was not supposed to be there since it was not a part of his job scope.

He then brought me into a discussion room, where he filled the details and photostated Abang's ic.

I smiled when I saw the ic's bad condition, since I know Abang wanted to change the ic but I guess his time is up.

The IO caught me smiling.

"Seriously Hani, you are too calm.
"And I meant it as a compliment," he said.

So I told him about the ic story and I said I had no choice but to forget my sadness for a while, at least until someone else is there for my parents.

Then I asked him how did his parents took it when his sister was taken away. He said they were calm but he was not.

I saw pain and anger in his eyes, then he told me the driver (he referred him as bastard) was put into two years of prison, and until now he still could not bring himself to visit the sister's grave.  

Since we had something in common, talking to him was a breeze, and I appreciated how he respected my request to not kacau my parents unless no one else can handle the matter.

Which was the post-mortem. I had no power on that, and I had to call Dad to get his signature. By that time Abang Izral's family and Mummy was already there.

After approaching Ayah, I broke down. I could no longer hold my tears.

It feels like God has took away the numbness, and I was able to feel again.

*Later I found out that Abang has dropped the workers there, and there was a fallen cone so he came out to help keeping the cone straight.

That's it. A help that claimed his life.

Dec 21
Aliff told me the news was aired on Ntv7. I texted Kak Ina, asking if she went to the scene of an accident at Sungai Buloh on Dec 19.

She said yes and sent two pictures of the body, then she asked me kenapa syg. I couldn't blame her for directly sending the pictures since we reporters only ask other people on some incidents to get story.

So I said Itu Abang saya, Kak. She said some prayers and told me if she knew it was my family members she would never publish it.

I told her it was okay, I understood the nature of this line. However I begged her to send me the full video of the scene, I wanted to know, I wanted to see him.

She did, she emailed me the video and she told me she had sent the information regarding the crash to night reporters but for some reasons, the information did not get through the usual whatsapp group.

Maybe it was a way of how God has protected me.

I was on duty at that night, if I had received the information through the csi group, and went to the scene.. I have no idea what would have happened.

For this, I blame myself, for thinking no reporters get the information and did not do anything on it, making his death a news material.

iBilik is launching @ Manila!

Woohoo! Right now, at this moment, the duty of the mankind in their attempt to travel is made easy especially with our favourite websites expanding itself over the years.

Remember iBilik? If previously I talk about its coverage in Penang and around Malaysia, now the website has made improvements as they had officially covered Manila as well. Famous for its food and a volcano located there, there is no doubt that it will attract tourist from around the world.

Thus, in order to find their accommodation in Manila, iBilik would be the easiest way for them. As usual, iBilik Manila uses the same layout as their former website. Other than that, it still maintain its categories making it easy for user to search based on what they wanted rather than tumbling over what they do not even want to see.

A highlight of this website is still on how it covers almost everything that the user wants to know. It includes maps, facilities and complete information on accommodation chosen. In addition, this is something I have not notice before so I believe that it is newly added to the website. It is the calendar showing the availability of the rooms. For example, as you can see: red would mark the date that the room has been booked while green symbolizes the availability of the room. Couldn’t it get any better?

Living in a global village, the world in indeed on our fingertips. Imagine, being in Malaysia and having to book an accommodation in Manila can be done with the help of the internet. Not only that, user friendly websites such as iBilik definitely makes things simpler. Currently, iBilik covers Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines but hopefully it will expand its wing and covers other region as well.

So, if you are planning to go to Philippine anytime soon do make your way to the iBilik website in order to simplify things up and find Manilla rooms at affordable price!

Hartanah di Penang

Since we are getting older maybe you guys mula fikir nak kumpul harta kan? If you are thinking about kumpul kereta then obviously itu keputusan yang salah sebab harga kereta turun dan tak naik-naik. So, pilihan yang bagus masih lagi untuk melabur duit dekat hartanah disebabkan harga yang menaik setiap tahun.

Jadi, bila korang dah decide untuk melabur dalam hartanah, be smart untuk pilih lokasi hartanah juga. Penting untuk anda tahu nilai hartanah yang akan anda beli dan potensi tempat. In this case, I akan pilih Penang since Penang semakin pesat maju dengan pembangunannya.

 Soooooo, as usual untuk memudahkan hidup anda I akan share satu lagi website dari Malaysia iaitu Propwall. Sekarang, anda tak perlu lagi pergi jauh untuk mencari hartanah di Penang. Klik pada link yang disediakan dan mula mencari hartanah yang anda mahu!

Seperti website lain yang I pernah share, Propwall sangat user-friendly. Contoh, bila anda mencari hartanah di bawah kawasan Penang, Propwall menyediakan pautan-pautan kawasan yang berada di dalam Penang seperti Bukit Jambul, Seberang Perai dan Georgetown. Selepas memilih kawasan yang anda suka, anda boleh pilih sama ada hartanah yang anda cari itu sama ada untuk dibeli atau hanya untuk disewa.

Dari situ anda boleh mula memilih berdasarkan keluasan rumah, jenis rumah seperti apartmen, teres dan sebagainya. Kondisi rumah juga boleh dilihat melalui gambar-gambar yang telah disediakan oleh tuan rumah di website Propwall. Selain itu, antara features yang I found it different dari website lain ialah setiap area yang anda click akan beri anda maklumat lengkap tentang kawasan itu termasuklah analisis bagi kawasan itu. Bagi sesetengah kawasan, ia disertakan juga dengan market trend kawasan tersebut.

There there, banyak maklumat yang anda boleh dapat tentang hartanah di Penang tanpa perlu pergi ke sana kan. Start dengan klik link di atas!

CariBilik is now known as iBilik

If you guys are aware, a few months back I have written about CariBilik website which I had used to search for affordable rooms during the holiday season right? There is no doubt that it had make my life easier. Anyway, recently the website had changed its name from Caribilik to iBilik. Well, I personally like the new name better since it sounded way better and things that started with “i” is always cooler. Think iphone, lol.

Since the website has a new name, I decide to look around the site to see if the website had been revamped or anything like that but to me, it is almost the same as before. For me, it is a good thing since the website is very user-friendly. Everything is organized, users could use the search engine for a faster and more accurate result while those who have all the time in the world (like myself) could go through the rooms one by one or based on the location that the rooms or houses in iBilik are grouped in.

When I was going through the site, the first thing that popped out my mind is this website is so gonna make Uitm students’ life easier. Imagine finding a house to rent and even housemates in a website which is specialized only for that purpose. Screw Mudah, try iBilik (when you are finding properties to rent, though). Just take a look at the screenshot below, I only need to type Uitm shah alam and get the result within minute. The next thing I have to do is ring up the tenant to see whether the room are still available.

So, Caribilik or iBilik, it makes your life way easier so visit the site now now now! Ooh and recently, iBilik goes social by creating their Tumblr account so go and follow them for updates!

Reaching the end.

Things happened, leaving me furious with some of the group-mates which doesn't seems to care and some who sent me a perfectly plagiarized report of his part. Yeah, I wonder how he did his individual assignments and still surviving this degree-hell.

Ohh did I tell you that I have interpersonal communication subject this semester? It is by far my favourite subject ever. If your course have an elective for this subject please choose interpersonal comm as one of your elective. It is very interesting, no kidding. Now that I have learned a whole lot of interpersonal communication, the processes, barriers and etc I am always embarrassed with myself when I failed to communicate (which happens all the time). Sometimes when I am in Melati and still wide awake at night I often read back my inbox and analyze the way I talk to people especially my beruang. Few weeks back yes whenever I found myself stupidly communicate I apologized to some people haha without telling them what I am sorry for and every day I'll try to improve the way I talk to people. I still can't help it that I'm rougher than the average girls though. Sorry guys.

Anywaaaaays, it is reaching the end. I have done nada Interpersonal Club's committee job, I need to prepare an event proposal for the academic bureau but that will be due early next semester so yes, I can write a sentence a day during the four months. Yay? True but since I was the vice secretary (is there such position?)  for the ad hoc committee for Inc annual sports day, I have to do the report. Not that I'm complaining but yes, when the secretary asked me to write the report she did use some words which I was a tad not comfortable with. Which is clearly a misunderstanding. That is why it is always better to have a verbal communication instead of the goddam text messaging service.

Orangensaft? (Orange juice lol) 

Can't wait for the semester break though I despise the four-months "vacation" which will obviously make me broke. I want to find a job, but this time I want a course related job like a public relation trainee or anything like that. At least I would establish connections and starts gaining experience. Doubt that I'll get anything like though, might end up jumping from one flea market to another with rainbow cakes and ClothEmpire stuffs or being a part time writer, still not attached with any company or even a promoter with fckg high pay compared to the other jobs above, enough to cover my expenses for the whole four month. I don't know, we'll see if my rezeki is towards course related job (which I want real bad), any other job I did before or even a new experience, I really don't mind.

I guess that's all for my random rambling session tonight. I'm just scared that in the future I won't be able to remember all this. So yeaah future Hun, when you're reading this. This is the night when you gt so stressed up doing your group's Citu's assignment. xx 

Cari kereta di Malaysia?

Kuala lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) telah berlangsung dari 3 Disember yang lepas sehingga hari ini jadi mesti ramai yang telah mengunjungi bangunan yang sesak tu kan? Bagi yang tidak sempat pergi ke KLIMS 2010, jangan risau jika anda masih boleh cari kereta di Malaysia dengan mudah. Jika dulu anda bersusah-payah beli surat khabar dan majalah kereta, sekarang anda boleh mencari kereta secara online sahaja!

            Terdapat banyak laman web online yang telah direka sejak akhir-akhir ini sama ada untuk menjual barang-barang terpakai, telefon bimbit dan juga kereta seperti mudah.my tetapi sekarang aku nak fokus kepada website yang menjual kereta sahaja. Yeah, sekarang semua tengah sibuk mencari kereta pertama kan bagi peringkat umur aku? Untuk jimat duit dan lebih environmental friendly, google Carsifu.my atau klik link di bawah untuk cari kereta pilihan anda.

           

Laman web kereta Carsifu.my ialah sebuah website yang berfungsi sebagai platform yang memudahkan pengguna-pengguna internet untuk mencari kereta sama ada mereka berada di negeri yang sama atau tidak. Terdapat banyak jenis kereta yang diiklankan di Carsifu.my dari kereta-kereta mewah seperti BMW, Volkswagen, dan Mercedes hingga kereta yang mampu dimiliki seperti Proton dan Perodua. Bagi setiap profil kereta yang diiklankan oleh pengguna website tersebut, terdapat maklumat-maklumat penting seperti deskripsi penting tentang kereta, spesifikasi, tahun dan maklumat penjual bagi memudahkan perhubungan.

Sehingga sekarang, terdapat 1494 buah kereta untuk dijual di Carsifu.my. Bagi anda yang masih mencari kereta, kenapa tidak melawati laman web kereta ini dan jimatkan masa dan tenaga anda sekarang!

What type of girl are you?

Materialistic vs. Romantic vs. Realistic

Where is the difference?

Well, materialistic obviously is about women (I talk from woman's perspective) who only cares about the bling or at least materials.... which is the complicated word for money. Materialistic women's dream are to find stupid rich guys and most of these women don't care if these stupid rich guys are married/single/teen/old/really old. They also don't care if these guys don't have that perfect hair/body/face. What they do care is how thick the guys' wallet is and how much they're willing to spend on women. Because guys who don't have the face/body/personality but have money tend to get desperate and don't care about how much money they spend for their women as long as they got them a woman.

Beautiful and sexy women, usually. For them, more money = more love. On dates, these women will never...repeat.. NEVER spend their money (obviously enough because their guys will pay for all the expenses including the women's shopping bags). This type of materialistic women are usually the popular ones. You usually can find this type when you see a standard-beautiful women with thick make-up and wearing full branded accessories and clothes. 

While romantic is for women who can only dream of a prince charming.

This type of women is the opposite of the materialistic one because romantic women are usually care about the personality of their guys. How sweet/nice/romantic the guys are. Unfortunately, this type of women is the ones who tend to get heart broken because they expect too much from their guys. Romantic women don't care how poor they will be if they marry their guys who's really sweet and nice and romantic but not that smart. What important for them is the love part. How much love the guys can give to them. On dates, same with the materialistic type, the romantic women expect that their dates will be paid by the guys, but they're rarely ask their guys to pay for their clothes. Maybe you heard stories about how rich women ended with a poor guy, well.. they are the examples of this type. You can find these women when you see women who stand by their guys' side even when the things get really tough since the beginning (ie. no decent house, no decent food) while the guys don't do anything about it. They are the ones who often say that "love is blind" or "love makes you stupid."


The last one is the realistic, which is the ones who don't agree with either materialistic women or romantic women. Because they know that money can't buy you happiness, but love can't give you food and the things you need. The realistic usually try to find decent smart guys with some money, not poor and not too rich (because the too-rich guys tend to choose the materialistic women). What they want in guys are their willing to work hard, to give some love (but not too much) and to balance things out. On dates, this type will also try to balance things. If their guys pay for movie, then dinner is on them and vice versa. They will be very upset if somehow these realistic women ended with materialistic guys because it's never a good match.

When realistic combine with romantic, they will stand by their guys side even if they know they're going to have a really tough life AS LONG AS they're sure that their guys will at least try to turn things up. If they realize then that their guys are as lazy as a donkey, they will leave them right that second.

In some special cases, you can find a woman who is usually a materialistic type now turns into romantic type. But it's really rare, that's why they covered it by saying "It's true love."

Seventeen, well and a half.

Hello, love.
It's your ubat writing. Remember how you used to say that I'm your ubat cos I cure whatever sakit you were having? I miss that.

While I was playing with Bulat just now, it kind of remind me of our hamster. Remember how we used to meet every day and bring them jalan-jalan around the tasik in Melaka campus? I miss that.

From meeting everyday to meeting each other only twice or thrice a month is hard. I need you, I miss you so much, I can't wait for you to continue your degree here with me. Thank you for dealing with my tantrums.

Happy seventeen months and a half, love.
:')

Sixteen

Dah lama kat draft, cuma baru teringat nak post. Tengok, kita busy shopping barang rumah on our sixteenth monthlyversary. :)