Master of Mass Communication (Episode 1) : Mind Your Language @ UITM, Shah Alam.

So, this is it. Today on 21st December 2013, I went for the so-called “interview” for the Master of Mass Communication in Faculty of Communication & Media Studies, UITM. An interview for Master? Is that necessary? Yeah, I know right?! But perhaps they have their own reason for quality control? Irregardless, I had quite a mixed feeling about this particular experience!

Will this be my 2nd tertiary education after USM? Goodness knows!

Well, it began yesterday. I went to UITM to survey the Faculty before today’s session because knowing myself, I know it would be a MAJOR problem if I were to only search for the place on the day of the interview itself. So, went there for the first time ever because I have no business of going to UITM before and never know the location though I know it is in Shah Alam. So, by using the Waze, I reached UITM within 1 hour and half from Serendah. Now, the problem is to find the faculty! The signboards were not helpful as it didn’t really show directly to the place. So, I had been circling the hill-ish contour of UITM for like 8-9 times! At last, I tried to ask the Polis Bantuan or affectionately known as Pak Guard. I asked :

“Assalamualaikum Cik. Boleh saya tahu di mana Fakulti Komunikasi tak?”

With a harsh and quite roguish manner, the young black-bespectacled Pak Guard replied :

“Hah? Ape tu?? Nak pegi mana ni??”

I was quite shocked and appalled with the harsh reaction!!! I mean, perhaps he thought I am an undergraduate UITM student; hence thinking he could just playing bossy! I repeated the name of faculty. He didn’t register that.Finally he called a female Polis Bantuan or Mak Guard to settle. Now, this Mak Guard was a very approachable and professional. She seemed a bit older and she explained to me.

“Ya, adik nak pergi mana?”

“Puan, di mana Fakulti Komunikasi?”

“Fakulti ‘mass comm’?”

“A’a… ‘mass comm’!

Now, when the young Pak Guard heard this, he was like “ooohh…mass comm..cakap lah” – HELLO??? Don’t you know that the full name of “Mass Comm” is Mass Communication and the faculty is Fakulti Komunikasi??? Gosh, seriously! I was very fed-up with the younger Pak Guard. He seemed like below 23 years old-type. Anyway, the Mak Guard helped me and I thanked her and drove. Very nice of her.

Nevertheless, I still couldn’t find it! What do you expect? I NEVER been to UITM. So, I drove to the entrance and wanted to try my luck with another mature-looking Pak Guard.

“Assalamualaikum, Cik. Maaf, di mana Fakulti Komunikasi/Mass Comm”?

He was very approachable with the car before my ‘pink’ Myvi – I think that car was an import car; which was more luxurious than my mediocre local Myvi. The smile he wore with the person before me vanished as I asked him. I knew that he thought I am a UITM undergraduate/naive SPM holders  just by the look in his eyes. With stern tone, he said :

“Sebelah kanan”.

Now, the problem was that, I knew that I should take the right side of the junction. But like I said, I have been circling the hills for like more than a dozen times! So, I wanted to have more clarification that I asked :

“Errr, cik…! Perlu tak saya naik bukit tu keliling atas…..”

“DI SEBELAH KANAN!”

HE CUT MY QUESTION!!!!! – an intonation to signify that he didn’t have time to entertain my trivial question anymore. I was so appalled and very shocked by the attitude problems of these so-called Polis Bantuan!!! The name “Polis Bantuan” or “Help/Assisting Policemen” is just a useless label, I say!! I was very taken aback by that my mood was jeopardized.

Finally, after asking a few kind students who tried to show me directions, I managed to find the Faculty of Communication & Media Studies which by the way is located on a bit of a hill-ish location. Now, as a newbie, obviously I thought that the right thing to do will be to park my car at the faculty’s compound right??? I mean, that what we did in USM; at least not to park – we just wanted to have a look at the front part of the faculty’s building, right? So, I drove my car to enter the parking lot which was barred by a ticket/car bar.

At first, I thought there would be some automatic ticketing but then I realized that this must be a special parking place for staffs or lecturers with special cards only, not for students!! So, as I was about to reverse my car in that very limited space, a motorcyclist was behind me. With gungho typical mid-30s type and wearing black spectacles as well, he was waiting for my car to enter the parking lot. I waved to him to ask him to enter first because I had to reverse the car! By that time, it was already raining. He still didn’t move and didn’t understand what I was trying to say. Failed to get his attention, I began to reverse the car to get out quickly from this mess! He was angry that he began to rev up his motorbike’s engine!!!!!

Finally after revving up the engine (to show his anger), he sped off entered the parking lot, leaving me trying to reverse the car! Sigh. It would be much easier and lesser confrontation if he would just pass through my car first and let me reversed the car, isn’t it? These whole misadventures really had me getting bad “first impression” towards UITM, right from the Pak Guard to the staffs. I know it wasn’t fair but as a newcomer, I was appalled and shocked and that was negative first impressions. I was turned off and even deliberating whether I should attend the interview for tomorrow (today) or not.

Leaving the emotional bad “first impression”, I did attend the interview after all as UITM Faculty of Communication & Media Studies is known as one of Malaysian leading institutions in communication academic fields. So, I thought, why not? Went there and there were a lot of people – so happened that the faculty organized interviews for all three levels – the degree, the Masters and the PhDs, altogether on a very same day. For the Master candidates, we were segregated into 2 groups to be interviewed by separate panels. I was on No.13 for Panel 1 & been waiting for my number from 9.30 a.m. until 11.45 a.m.!!! Urghh! I was so hungry and sleepy as I couldn’t get dozed due to anxiety (always have that prior to important days). And guess what? The interview which was conducted in pair (I went in with No.14) was merely a 15 minutes-span!

It invited a few curiosities (which I thought not really a big deal) from other people/strangers that a Microbiology degree holder like me is interested in furthering into Master in Mass Communication. Seriously? Don’t you guys learn that people have Multiple Intelligence?

It was more on casual talk and why I choose to do Master in Mass Communication in UITM; and why from a Bachelor of Biological Science (Microbiology) degree, I am so interested in doing Mass Communication; how a profession of a teacher and ex-banker help me to build communication; and my forever passion to do Mass Communication instead of the ‘forced-by-parents’ Science, etc. But seriously, it was layback chat AND I am not surprised if I didn’t get because I didn’t get the vibe of me able to give any good impression to the panel. I don’t know; maybe I am the kind of person who prefer tete-a-tete where I can have the fullest attention of my panel and express my thoughts. Either way, I was just relieved that it was over and I was able to get back to SLEEP! Hahahaha!

Having a vastly different working experience from two different worlds also invited curiosities of these strangers as well. How a transition was made from a ‘glamorous’ and ‘exclusive’ banker/loan lender/Assistant Relationship Manager into a ‘low profile’ and ‘simple’ teacher? Well, doesn’t it made me a unique person with unique experience? (,”)

On whole, I wasn’t really putting high hope. I am relying on my another application of Corporate Communication in UPM. So far, I was informed that “all my supporting documents are being processed”. All in all, this is the first step for me to push my envelope; to get out from my comfort zone. It needs mental, physical and financial strengths. It is going to be a tough year 2o14 for me. But then again, if I don’t do it now, when?? I get inspired by a deep lyric in Siti Nurhaliza’s latest single called “Lebih Indah” :

 “Tiada yang mustahil di dunia. Segalanya mampu ditawan. Sejauh manakah kemahuan? Demi ke sana?!” – There is nothing impossible in this world. Everything can be achieved. To what extend you want to do it. In order to achieve it?!”