Date: 17th March 2018 (Saturday)
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Venue: Brickfields Asia College, Petaling Jaya Campus ??Personal Development Workshop
??Empowerment Talk Show
??Ideas Pitching Platform
??Teamwork Challenge
If you have an entrepreneurship idea/startup to pitch this your chance because short-listed ideas will pitch in front of 3 big names in the industry!
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
We will be featuring the first ever Humans of Kuala Lumpur (HOKL) PhotoStory exhibition titled ‘Stories from Malaysia’, showcasing portraits of people in Malaysia, alongside their real, personal and intimate stories.
“Stories of Malaysia” features never before exhibited 35 photostories, showing unique, diverse Malaysians of various backgrounds and themes such as Malaysian unity, stories of the past, young cancer survivors, inspiring entrepreneurship and corporate stories, stories of survival, bullying, triumph, success, secrets, hurts and families.
Every weekend, a Meet & Greet session will be held to feature the people who we have interviewed surrounding a specific theme, as well as those from our most viral photostories. This is your chance to meet the people behind your favourite stories, hear their stories live and learn from them!
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on August 21st 2018)
“But to face the realization that the thing you’ve worked for your entire life might actually come to an end, it’s depressing…
It all started when I was twelve and out of boredom my family found this go-karting track in Sepang. I became hooked by it immediately and kept returning for more.
My dad enrolled me in a go-kart academy and in no time I was competing in my first local club go-kart race. Ever since then, I never looked back.
Before I started formula car racing, my weekdays were normal but on weekends I would be on trips to other countries like Macau, Thailand or the Philippines with the team to race competitively. I was leading a dual life and I felt like a superhero.
I entered my first formula car race when I was 17. It was the Asia Cup Series and I came out on top of some pretty big international names. I’ve stood on top of the podium having a Malaysian flag above my head, and that feeling is just priceless.
I thought I was set for something bigger after ranking the highest among Asians in my international formula car championship debut. I was even picked up by Porsche for a driver program, but things didn’t turn out as I expected.
I’ve taken leave from my formal education for 3 years now to pursue professional race car driving, but things are stagnating.
I haven’t been racing at all this year because I’ve reached a stage in my career where my family can’t afford it anymore. In this sport, money talks. This is worse as you progress higher. The people that gets the most practice are the ones who can afford it because they are really rich or well connected.
One day of practice will cost around USD 15,000, because one set of tyres is USD 1,000 and you can only use a set of tyres for 20 laps.
You actually get to see a performance disparity between the kids with money and the kids without (money). You’re part of the community where you see kids with private jets, they have their own islands, they have literally billions of dollars behind them, because their fathers are very wealthy businessmen.
If they are not very wealthy, they have parents who are politically important, very well connected and through that they’ll be able to get sponsorships. Unfortunately, even if you’re extremely talented but don’t have the money, you might not be able to make it.
People often overlook the other side of things and they just don’t understand how tough it is to follow your dreams and keep going.
There are moments on those sleepless nights when you would really think of just giving it all up. If it wasn’t for racing, I would be in university being a normal kid getting a degree and going through a normal cycle of life.
Instead, I chose to take this risk because I know if I don’t, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. It’s kind of bittersweet, because I would rather let it hurt me and have it beat me down than to end up saying ‘what if’. “
Editor’s note: The interview for this story was conducted in October 2016.
Photo and story by Mushamir Mustafa
Edited by Dao Hong, Amalina Davis and Yu Ping May
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
Photostory by Mushamir Mustafa
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on February 11th 2018)
Noni Sharif:
“For our first date, we went to the circus.
I was in Australia for six months before returning back to my job in Malaysia. We kept in touch through letters, but after a while we realized that it was difficult to be together. I was bonded to the Malaysian government, and he couldn’t get a job in Malaysia.
Four years down the road, I received a letter from him out of nowhere. Imagine my shock! Apparently he got sick and it changed his perspective on life. We exchanged letters for a few more months before he asked me to marry him. At this point, we still didn’t know how we’re going to be physically together, but we took a leap of faith.
We did long-distance marriage after Peter’s visa to Malaysia ran out. One evening, I got a call from a good friend telling me about a PhD scholarship to any Australian universities, offered by the Commonwealth government. This is your chance to be with your husband, he said. I stayed up all night filling in the scholarship application. Out of 2000 applicants, I was one of the two that got it.”
Peter Davis:
“That was the next four years settled, at least. I had a good job with CSIRO, the top Australian research organisation and was looking for any scientific jobs in Malaysia. But science was not a thing in Malaysia at that time. During those four years Noni was in Australia, I wrote letters to research facilities and universities in Malaysia, asking if they would hire me.
Universities required a minimum of a masters degree for any teaching position, so I enrolled myself in a part-time Masters degree. I spent four days working full-time, and one-day a week at the university for classes.
Weekends were spent catching up on studies. It all paid off when I got a teaching position at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) on a 2-year contract basis with possibility of renewal. That got around the difficult Malaysian immigration policies for foreigners.
I still needed to become a Permanent Resident (PR) of Malaysia. That way, even if my contract didn’t get renewed, I could continue living in Malaysia. Everyone I talked to about applying for Malaysian PR told me how difficult it was to get. You will be rejected for a minimum of 4 times before they even consider you, and that usually takes about 10 years. Somehow I got it at the first try in just a year and a half.
The thing is, when you’ve set your mind to something, the universe and people around you will help make it happen. We didn’t sit back and let fate take control. We kept on looking, if one thing failed, we were onto the next solution. We never gave up. Against all odds, we have been happily married and living in Malaysia for the past 30 years.”
Story and photo: By their daughter Amalina Davis
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on February 11th 2018)
“My son was two years old when the doctors diagnosed him as autistic. I had a feeling that something was not right when Dzarif was a bit slow to start walking and speaking compared to his sisters. Dzarif is now five years old and he teaches me something new every day.
There’s no dictionary or guideline on how to raise autistic kids. There’s no one size fits all.
Autistic kids are very sensitive to sensory stimulation such as sound, touch, smell or sights that seem normal to other people. When they experience a sensory overload, they will have a meltdown.
During Dzarif’s early stages, he refused to go to shopping malls because there are too many people. He wouldn’t even want to leave the car park and start flapping his arms like a bird because he’s overwhelmed.
I know of a 17 years old autistic boy who repeats his sentences twice. ‘I want to buy ice cream, I want to buy ice cream. Vanilla flavour, vanilla flavour.’
The ice cream seller would probably think he’s an ‘orang gila’, but that’s just how the boy releases his sensory overload.
Each autistic person has different ways of sensory release – some rock their body back and forth while speaking and some bite their fingers. It might be awkward for people who don’t understand autism, but that’s just how they are.
It is not about changing them and molding them to be ‘normal’, it’s about accepting them for who they are.
What’s normal anyway? You think normal is standard one, UPSR, PT3, SPM, get a job and get married. But there’s also people who never live through that track but still live as good human beings.
“What is one thing you wished the public knew about autism?”
People have often asked me, how they can support autism. Number one, they must understand and number two they must accept.
How? As simple as when you go to shopping malls and you see parents dealing with autistic children that are having a meltdown. Instead of staring, or worse, recording a video, you can just go to the parents, tap their shoulder and say ‘its okay, I understand.’
Dzarif sometimes has public meltdowns, the worst being in Langkawi airport.
Overwhelmed by the number of people, he started playing with a trolley to release his energy. He has always loved moving items.
But once we tried to return the trolley, he refused to let us. He immediately laid down in the middle of the floor of check-in queue and started rolling around.
Everyone was staring at us and started talking amongst themselves.
If only, someone would just tap my shoulder and say, ‘we understand.’
Dzulkaedah runs marathons to raise awareness on autism and fundraising for NASOM – National Autism Society of Malaysia. Last year he raised RM 38,000 after running the Berlin Marathon which was given to NASOM facilities around Malaysia, like Kedah, Kelantan, Penang and Selangor to subsidize underprivileged kids for their speech therapy programme.
He is now fundraising for the Autism Cafe project, a cafe that employs autistic youth. To contribute to this cause, please consider donating at https://www.simplygiving.com/dzul-run-ultra-for-acp
Story by Amalina Davis
Photo provided by Dzulkaedah
Photo/story edited by Mushamir Mustafa
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on April 1st 2018)
We will continue to bring you the real stories of the people of Malaysia – stories that are personal, intimate, deep, educational and inspiring. Because we believe that everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours?
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
“I’m a painter, and I love Salvador Dalí.”
Photostory by Mushamir Mustafa
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on April 20th 2018)
“I didn’t like it, but eventually it was the only thing I was great at. And people think tailoring is easy, but its not like mechanical engineering where skills only mattered – there’s an art to it, the way your stitches are woven into the fabric.”
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“Saya jadi tukang jahit sejak 16 tahun lagi. Ayah saya pun tukang jahit juga, dan dia suruh saya jadi tukang jahit. Mula-mula saya tak suka, tapi lama-lama itu je yang saya pandai buat. Orang selalu ingat menjahit ni senang, tapi ia bukan macam kejuruteraan mekanikal dimana hanya kemahiran yang diperlukan – tapi ada kesenian disebaliknya, seperti cara jahitan ditenun menjadi kain dan kemasannya.”
Seen at PPR Lembah Pantai
Photostory by Mushamir Mustafa
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(This post was first published on May 5th 2018)
Photostory by Mushamir Mustafa
Do you have a story? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/ht4HsvbxgSgcKS5h8
(This post was first published on May 29th 2018)
