It is not the end of this world

Specially dedicated to Aniss Shakirin.

Sekarang ni musim result Program Ijazah Luar Negara (PILN) keluar. Macam-macam reaksi. Sedih, gembira, frustrated, disappointed. Beberapa bulan sebelum tu, perasaan yang sama jugak wujud masa result SPM keluar. 

Aku dulu dapat 9A 1B (6A1, 3A2, 1B3). Asalnya, aku nak ambik biotechnology. Masa aku ushar-ushar requirements tu, memang aku target nak fly, selepas percubaan nak masuk UTP gagal. Panel interview buli aku, mana tak nye. Aku fikir, kalau aku nak engineering jugak, apply PILN dengan fizik 3B, memang awal-awal kena reject. Aku call orang tu orang ni, senior tu senior ni. Semua suruh aku ambik biotech. Diorang kata prospect biotech luas kat Malaysia. Senang dapat kerja.

Bila aku nak isi borang PILN tu, hampir-hampir aku nak send borang tu, then came someone. She said that "Tak payah la belajar kat oversea. Kat sana diskriminasi je. Susah tau," she said that to my mum, and my mum delivered it to me. Then my mum persuaded me to continue my study locally. Apa yang kelakar, these days, anak-anak dia seronok melompat-lompat belajar kat luar sana. Mana diskriminasi nye ye? Takkan diskriminasi tu applied on me only? 

So aku apply je PILN, engineering. Memang dah agak, aku tak dapat. Bagaikan menyumpit ke arah pokok, dah tau pokok tu takkan ada pape effect. Yela, slack fizik, sape nak ambik. Dahla nak engineering pulak tu. So impian aku nak fly ranap punah dek kerana seseorang, dek kerana kepercayaan mak aku yang sangat mendalam terhadap orang tu. 

Aku dapat IIUM untuk program UPU. Foundation in engineering. Nak tak nak, kena pergi. Matrik memang aku tak pandang. Susah. Seminggu sebelum aku masuk IIUM, aku dapat call daripada MARA. MARA panggil interview. Aku pun pergi la. Hari Jumaat. Masa interview tu, aku mati-mati ingat interview ni untuk program oversea. Tapi tak. Rupanya program dalam negara je, tapi universiti cawangan luar negara. Alhamdulillah la, oleh kerana aku punya interview group last sekali untuk hari tu, lepas solat Jumaat pulak tu, aku dapat. Asalnya aku nak tolak sebab aku ingatkan universiti ni biasa-biasa je. Rupanya, cawangan yang kat UK tu. Macam UiTM la. Cawangan Melaka, Cawangan Pulau Pinang. Universiti nya tetap sama - UiTM. Sijil, lecturer, semua daripada sana. Kualiti pembelajaran pun sama macam sana. Jadual kelas pun sama macam sana. Jadual exam pun sama macam sana. Belajar management, tak guna RM. Guna GBP. 

Belajar di mana-mana bukanlah pengukur seseorang tu pandai atau tak. Apa yang penting, minat dia terhadap apa yang dia nak ambik tu. Kalau belajar kat Alaska pun, minat tak minat, baik tak payah ye yeop. 

Sekarang ni, berlambak graduan lepasan universiti. Berlambak. Sana sini mesti jumpa. Masuk universiti dah jadi satu kewajipan, bukan lagi 'kepandaian'. Bukan macam dulu. Abah aku masuk UKM tahun 1981. Dalam Kampung Baru Batu 28, Muar, Johor tu, dia antara 2 ORANG yang dapat masuk universiti. Itu tahun 1981. Sekarang, 2011. 30 tahun dulu. Dunia dah berubah. 

Sekalipun kita belajar kat Brazil, kalau kita tak pandai nak bergaul dengan orang ramai, jangan harap nak dapat kerja. Itu ayat seseorang, aku dah lupa. 

Abah aku banyak kali nasihat aku, suruh improve communication skills. Banyak buku pasal communication skill yang dia beli kat rumah tu. Cuma aku je yang malas nak review. Banyak sangat. Abah aku cerita, ramai fresh graduate yang kerja kat PETRONAS tu kena buang, several months after they called for job with PETRONAS. Why? 1 sebab je. Failed communication skills. 

Aniss, if you feel disappointed, sad, frustrated, I feel more than you did - 3 years ago. I know what you have been feeling these days, but that is not something that will stops you. Rezeki awak bukan di luar, tapi di sini. Ingat tu je. Untuk masa ni, I know you will feel a little bit envied, jealous with your friends, but that's not permanent. Kalau seseorang tu dah bergelar 'doktor', orang takkan tambah pertanyaan tu kepada "Doktor graduate mana tu?". Tak. All doctors are subjected to ONE oath - The Hippocratic Oath. That's the uniqueness about this profession. 

Bila semua dah habis belajar nanti, semua dapat gelaran sama - doktor. Belajar la kat mana pun, gelaran tetap sama. Sadly there are no such title for engineers (except for Ir. Itu pun kena buat Ph.D, exam professional itu ini, baru boleh guna).

Fly tak fly, itu Allah bagi rezeki. Rezeki masing-masing, kita takkan tau. Jangan mudah putus asa. Ramai lagi orang yang senasib dengan awak. Yang teruk pun ada. Yang teruk, tapi nak jugak jadi doktor, lagi la. Terpaksa masuk matrik. Matrik tau-tau la macam mana belajar dia.

It's okay to fail, but it's not okay to quit.

_______________________________________

THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.