Belated Tribute to my daughter’s graduation day, 15th Aug 2008

Its about Naieemah's (aka Imang) historic moment aka graduation day during the 38th Convocation of USM on 15th August 2008. ( Surely imang kecik hati sebab mama tidak masukkan the story of her convocation day in my blog kan?) …it is not that I forget or never care about her, no, no no, never , its just a matter of time to write... So, dear Imang this is a belated tribute on your convocation aka graduation, 4 months ago. I know its quite late, but ‘late is better than never’. Hmmmm…..”Sorry”… ya Imang. That sorry reminds me of the caption from a love story,” Love means never having to say you are sorry”…. so to speak.

Anyway just to remind myself that I have to live each day with hope and courage sometimes blended with fear and anxious for what tomorrow brings. I love all my children unconditionally, despite all those hurdles and hecticness of life.... I hope my children will remember this and find that one of my great achievement in life is to ‘Love’ THEM unconditionally. On that momentious 15th August 2008, you my precious girl, Naieemah was conferred B.Sc in Aerospace Engineering by her Vice Chanselor. She is an Aerospace Engineer then.

I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you. I've been given the opportunity to watch you grow form an incredibly cute small child into a beautiful young woman. You have achieved so much in such a short time that it’s hard for me to keep track of it all. Only that day I realised you were just a short chubby-cheeked little girl and today you are graduating from USM with a prestigious aerospace opportunity.


Though it may seem to you that it’s taken forever to reach this point, it had happened all too quickly for me. I’ll admit here that it saddens me to see you start the rest of your life from now on, however it cannot compare to how happy and proud that I know that you are so well prepared and dedicated to your dreams. Never loose sight of those dreams and never compromise anything to reach them.

No matter what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future, always know that we (mama and papa) love you and will always be here for you. You have made us so proud and I know that you will continue to do so during your time in the future.

You have graduated from that prestigious university, and the major part of your life thus far will be over. Up until now, your father and I have guided you and protected you. We have held your hand while you learned to walk and walked beside you when you learned to run and run. We have watched while you tested your wings with the used WLR car of your (hmm….) own and a job.

As you step out into the world, and now you have a job and a career, Alhamdulillah.

There are things that I would like to tell you:

1. I would tell you to always pray and make doa for your success in the world and hereafter. Never forget Allah. Be reminded what I used to remember about the famous Mary Kay, the founder of one of the most successful direct selling corporate owvner (women ‘s clothing and accesories) in Amerika . More or less it goes like this: “My first commitment is to God, my family is the second and finally is my career”. If an American women can have that kind of attitude and thinking, what more of us the muslim women.

2. Always pay for yourself. Put as much money into savings as you can and leave it there until you have enough to live on for 6 months or so. You will never be sorry. Start your retirement fund early and don’t touch it. If you go to work for a company that matches your contributions, take advantage of it.

3. Be wary of credit cards. They are too easy to get and too hard to pay off. If you have to buy it on credit, you probably can’t afford it anyway and most likely don’t need it. If you use credit cards regularly, you will pay many times for the same item. Save buying on credit for two major purchases, a car and a house. If you have to use the credit card, use the Islamic one!

4. Invest your money in things that you understand. If you don’t understand it, then either educate yourself or find something you do understand. This understanding will help you decide when to invest, when to hold and when to sell.

5. Find and secure a job, doing something that you love to do. You spend most of your life at work, it helps to enjoy what you are doing. This may be a strange forum to say that while making a lot of money is great, doing something that you enjoy and are good at will bring you more satisfaction in the long run. So try to find a balance between being a starving artist and overstressed CEO.

6. Keep an emergency savings account or may be start putting some allocation in your Tabung Haji Account. Your Tabung Haji account have been there since you were a small girl for you many many years ago. It just need to be activated. Talking about emergency saving, this would be enough to support you for 6 months but it can be as little as RM500. The emergency funds purpose is to pay for emergencies. I know you are saying “duh, Mama” but you have to understand that an emergency is not for those cute shoes that you just have to have to go with your new dress. It is for things like the car broke down and you can’t get to work without it.

7. This CRUCIAL…When you find that special person, make sure that they are someone who will support and respect you. Hopefully, you will find someone with similar goals to yours, both financial and life goals. I have found that while love is grand if the support, respect and common goals aren’t there, love loses out at worst and at best your life will be a struggle. Always remember what TOK YEK used to ‘warn’ her daughters and the rest of the women, me and all your aunties in his ceramah,:” INGAT! SEMUA LELAKI ITU PENIPU DAN PEREMPUAN ITU BODOH” ……and the rest is history…..

You are smart enough to do anything you want to do, you just have to make up your mind that you are going to do it. Don’t let anyone beat you down. Don’t settle for second best, you deserve the best of the best. Be yourself.Never settle for the path of least resistance.Don't be afraid to be better than those around you.

I give you no words of wisdom, no clever andectodes from my own life.

Ohhhhh….hang on, there it is……. I will give you something that I found somewhere in my notebook and what gives me at least a little encouragement and I hope that it will help you as well on this most precious of days.To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last but not least, whatever you do, do it with all your heart. Ikhlaskan niat
And remember always that I love you and that you always have a place to come home to.
Love, Mama & Papa

Most of the pictures can be viewed in mama's flicr pages http://www.flickr.com/photos/24649224@N04