Khazanah Global Scholarship Stage 2

Stage 2 was pretty normal compared to its predecessor, but still an interesting and beneficial event throughout. No strange gusts of wind, mysterious rumblings or ear-piercing bells. Well, maybe because we're now at a totally different place than before.

Stage 2 took place at PNB Darby Park, a 5-star hotel and apartment suite. Sweet, huh? Well, this building consists of a karaoke room, a swimming pool, a putting green, a gym and goodness knows what else. Those are what I saw on the elevator wall anyway.

Arriving there at 7.30am, I was happy to see that some of the other interviewees had arrived. With no other notion of what was about to happen except what we all read in a blog, (where they had an Amazing Race-esque session). Everyone was really excited and nervous, and we chatted for a while. Lots of people from ReCom, mainly Adrian, Resha, Joey, Dick, Fun and some others whom I have forgotten (sorry!).

At 8.30am, we were ushered into a hall (on level 4), where we were briefed on what was to come. We had already been divided into our groups (green, pink, blue, orange) and I found myself in the green team with Fun and several others I did not know at first.

2nd from left : Ness, Fun, Wee, Azri, me, Amanda and Anis

forgot the names of the guy and girl at the edges (sorry!)

When everybody had gathered in the hall, the programme administrator, Marie, told us that there would be two events, the group activity and the personal interview, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Since there are 4 groups, 2 groups did the group activity while the other 2 headed downstairs (level 3) for the personal interview.

My group was chosen for the group activity and all of us were pretty excited about it, and maybe about not having to do the interviews first. We thought it would be fun and less taxing than the other. Oh how wrong we were!

The group activity was divided into 2 sessions. During the first session, we had to make a Powerpoint presentation on Malaysia exporting ICT to the world (or something like that). The other group had something about health tourism. There was to be 4 slides, prepared in 45 minuted and presented in 5. After a discussion, we decded to do something on broadband connections and how Malaysia could help a third world country develop theirs.

Amanda (our de facto leader) decided that everyone should be given a chance to present, so we divided ourselves into groups according to the slides. I ended up at the last slide, and my line was something about how FDI's could help develop funds and expertise to increase the skills of the workforce in our country.

Everything went well until my turn, when I suddenly paused for a few seconds, lost for words. The panel of judges were staring and I was willing myself to say something and it all came rushing back so I babbled a single sentence before handing the spotlight to Amanda. She started, and was interrupted by the bell, which signified the end of our 5 minutes. Ouch. She was told to summarise in one sentence, which she did successfully, thank god.

We were then bombarded with questions, each and every one of us. Since Anis had commented earlier on Malaysia's political stability, one of the judges immediately asked her "How would you compare Malysia's stability to another country like... say, Israel?" Wow, hard one. She managed to answer somehow, good for her.

When the session was over, everyone was still a little shocked from the brutality of the questioning (it was like an interrogation) and we were given a bathroom break. When we returned, they handed each of us a paper. Mine went something like 'You're too reserved and slowed down the team. We regret to inform you that you have not been chosen for the delegation'. Pretty shocked then. Everyone received something similar, though the coments were different for each one of us. We all thought that it was over, that we were being sent home immediately.

Oddly, it turned out to be a decision we had to contest, this time with a written argument that had to be completed within 5 minutes. I quoted Julius Caesar 'I am no orator as Brutus is' (LOL) and explained that I was more of a writer than a speaker. When the 5 minutes was up, our papers were whisked away.

Time for session 2. This time, we had to choose an industry for MATRADE to get involved in and the reasons why. Written again, to be completed in 20 minutes. Being the idiot I am, I had no idea what industries were in Malaysia (we couldn't take ICT or health tourism since those topics were covered in the presentations). Without much facts on either the automotive or agricultural sectors, I settled on one that didn't even exist. The Literary Industry. The people in charge must be laughing their heads off when they read my paper.

 Then it was over. We were told to head up all the way to the 39th floor for lunch. That's where the cafetaria is located, and wow! The view was amazing up there!

The cars look like toys!

Well, after we got over the breathtaking view, there was still the lunch. Oh, and a 5-star-hotel lunch does not disappoint! Not going to spend too much time on food but since we had 2 hours to kill, I took the opportunity to try every single type of food available (except those that I can't eat). Azri remarked that I had worked up quite an appetite, which wasn't exactly true because I always eat like that, maybe a little more that time. :-P

Around 1.30pm, we headed down to level 3 for the interviews. Upon reaching, we were told that the interviews would only start at 2.30pm. Ok, so we settled down on a couple of sofas and couches there to wait. At 2, suddenly one of the doors in front of us opened and a lady appeared, calling one of us. She asked the girl if she was ready to be interviewed. LOL! She looked pretty surprised, but readily complied while the rest of us waited nervously.

There were four panels, and the 19 of us were divided equally between them. I was in panel 2, together with Dick, Ness and a guy whose name I forgot. Panel 2 seemed to take the longest time (a guy from the morning group came out of the room while we were sitting there) then Dick was called. He went in for an impossibly long time, before coming out and the other guy was called. After that it was my turn and I was pretty nevous and clammed-up when I entered.

The interviewer was a Malay lady (just one, I was surprised) and we started chatting about myself. She's really friendly and the whole process was really relaxing. It didn't feel like an interview at all. She hmmms and nods a lot, and also frequently repeats "Interesting..." to my responses. When I told her that I liekd reading, she remarked that she has thousands of books at home and recently acquired a Kindle. WOW! Wish I could be like that!

When it was over, I came out again, and waited for another 3 long hours before everyone finished with their interviews. The last to do so was Juanita, a girl from another group. While waiting, we chatted a lot on a variety of issues, including how to pick up girls, television shows, homosexuality and Barney. No idea where Barney came from though...

It was past 6 when we were told to go back to the 4th floor for the debriefing session (so 24-esque!) and some of us were asleep by then. Everyone was drained, both emotionally and physically, and wanted nothing better than to sink into a soft, warm bed and close our eyes.

Ness and Amanda, feeling really sleepy

Then we were allowed back in, and Marie concluded the session with a speech telling us not to crap our way through presentations and dig a deeper hole for ourselves to be buried in by the questioners. That's all I remembered, the rest of the details were pretty fuzzy in my mind. All I know was that by 6.30pm, we were finally allowed to go home, with tiny Khazanah notebooks as souvenirs. Everyone cheered up considerably, at the prospect of finally going home after such a long and arduous day!

Stage 2 complete!