Don't Tell My Momma

28 Days of Internship.. And I Skipped A Heartbeat

2010-02-27T09:25:00.001-08:00

Don’t tell my momma about my first affectionate affair – My affair with my internship work at PwC.

Gosh, it’s been a few history pages back since the last time I’ve updated on my internship. This shows to you guys that internship is not about fun and play in the corporate world, just that it thirst for interns to do a darn good job of doing work properly.

Just after relieving myself after the troubling tragedy of hearing Miow worked his butt off doing internship at Astro, at least he gets to see the infamous MyFM’s DJs at the right time. Way to go, Miow! Alliance Bank is coming up, so better get prepared =P

After 28 days of internship with PwC (Actually I barely can’t remember how long I worked, I’ve included weekends in it to inflate that obnoxious figure), I have learned a lot about the banking industry and the way things work around Affin Bank.

My senior, Kak Ahlam has been very helpful, and enormously patient for teaching us stuff that we never get to learn in college. Time is well spent learning about new stuff everyday rather than just vouching and casting the accounts for any errors.

The significant moment in my 28 days internship period was when I got this following phone call on my walkie-talkie (Do people still use that word?)

Mr. Big Boss: Hello? Are you Vincent? Hi, this is (Insert big boss name) and you are urgently needed in my office right now.

Me: Huh? How soon? What task am I suppose to do back at PwC?

Mr. Big Boss: Just bring your butt here and I will tell you the rest of the details. I see you sharp 2PM after lunch.

(During the call took place, it was the 12.30PM lunchtime. And he expect me to be there by 2PM. Holy carp, I was lucky that I took a quick bite and an even reliable train back to office straight from Affin Bank!)

The moment I reached the office, I was introduced to Mr Mark, the actual person who called me to come and see Mr. Big Boss. After only 1 minute of introduction, I was introduced to Ms. Secretary.

The first mistake I made was that I pretty much scared off Ms. Secretary by calling her Miss. I think I was too formal addressing other people in the firm. =_= Maybe I’m being too polite.

I was told to wait around until Mr. Big Boss finishes his meeting, and it was around 3PM. I fiddled around with my hand-phone, and I was reading a thin brochure on Amendments in the IFRS. It’s a weird time when I got interested reading stuff that I don’t even knew about at all.

Finally the meeting ended, and I entered in Mr. Big Boss’ room. He popped me a question which began as ‘So tell me about yourself.’ Whoa, I thought I was being interviewed here. The mere presence of him being right in front of me was overwhelming.

So going through the introductions, after which he popped another question. This is where I made my second mistake. When he asked me about ‘Do you know anything about ISLAMIC FINANCE?’ I told him I haven’t had the slightest idea about it since school and college never taught me this stuff at all. (dammit, I should have just lied and said I knew about Islamic Finance. I’m being really really too honest again).

Mr. Big Boss said ‘It’s alright not to know much about Islamic Finance, because here in Malaysia, Islamic Finance was thought to only so few students in Malaysia who chose to embrace it’. Somehow, I feel glad to hear that, and knowing that if I had lied, he would bombard me with questions that I’m unable to have the mental capacity to answer!

And then there IS a point why he popped the issue of Islamic Finance. He dropped an atomic bomb assignment on me – My task was to research on Islamic Finance for his presentation in London! Whoa, that came unexpected. Really unexpected.

Deadline is on last Tuesday, so I have to be really fast in researching materials for his presentation. Chop chop time is running short.

My heart is pounding with excitement. Or is it pounding with disbelieve? Or is it terribly shocked of knowing that I’m chosen to do something that I DON’T EVEN HAVE A CLUE ON WTH IS ISLAMIC FINANCE?

Perhaps this is an opportunity for me. Maybe if I do a good job done, I could impress Mr. Big Boss. Maybe I get a pay raise. Maybe I’d be promoted for a longer internship. (Woah, wrong thought there)

I learned too much I need to know about Islamic Financing within 3 days. I encountered words like Sukuk, Musyarakah, Mudharabah, Istisna and Hibah, and I begin to understand more about the growth of Islamic financing in Malaysia and within the non-Muslim continents.

During my research, I have discovered something remarkable. If Islamic financing is that lucrative and might be a solution to curb the global financial crisis plaguing our society? Maybe. Perhaps my research is aiming for optimistic results.

I actually finished with my research 1 day earlier than the given deadline. Unfortunately, Mr Big Boss has numerous meetings on last Monday. And furthermore, on the deadline day itself, Mr Big Boss went on a flight to Bangkok. For god’s sake, I need you to see what I have done for you!! T__T

***

By chance, maybe I’m seeing this assignment from the wrong perspective. I feel honoured as the one and only intern being assigned to such a gigantic task, and I am happy to see Mr Big Boss in person.

I should learn to see things in a greater light, and I must not complain on whatever responsibility I’m given. I’m willing to put in all my efforts to any task I do, and I ain’t gonna play cranky.

***

-Darnit, Dad’s checking my coin box again.-

Internship @ PwC

2010-02-09T08:26:00.001-08:00

Don’t tell my Momma… (although she nags everyday about this)

That I am now working as an intern for PriceWaterHouseCoopers, the accounting firm with the longest corporate name in the country with no spaces in between! (Let’s just say, to keep it short, we call it PwC)

This is the firm that I really wanted to work in as an auditor once I graduate from college. (And I don’t mean to say this just to woo my boss who is stalking my blog for some reason :<)

For these 4 months of semester break, I will just gonna kill off 2 months of my freedom as a vacation trainee for the firm and be doing meaningful stuff that are beneficial to my clients who are being audited by me! D:

(Now I’m being too sarcastic here. Beg your pardon.)

Now allow me to chronically arrange my thoughts and remember back my internship experiences. :<

My 1st day of Internship (2 Feb)

On the first day of internship, which I remember clearly that it took place on 2 Feb, 33 other interns and I attend an ice-breaking session, being lectured and reminded on the No Boot Policy, being taught not to wear skimpy outfits and spaghetti shoes, and ‘Learning to Drive’. I was disappointed that the driving was related to a manual on using our ‘second-hand laptop’ (My Lenovo T61 laptop doesn’t look second-hand, it looks like ten hands just molested my laptop).

The interesting thing was that out of 34 PwC interns, 32 are from TAR college including me. And out of 32 TAR college interns, 3 of us are Diploma students – including me. And our period was only for 2 months.

And I actually wished for a 4 month internship but was rejected by our dear Ms. Jamie, the HR big boss because Diploma interns weren’t meant for a longer internship period. That makes sense, because… we ARE DIPLOMA students anyway, not ACCA graduates. And I thank God, yes I thank God, because as I get on through audit, 2 months is really my maximum capacity for me! Another month extra and I’m close to breaking point.

A picture taken using Ms. Jamie’s handphone (still waiting for it in Facebook PwC fan page) and some hand-shakings, we went back home thinking how will we start off our first time ever being working adults on the next day.

My 2nd day of Internship (3 Feb)

This is the day when us 5 interns “The VDM-HL” (2 month internship period) got assigned to different clients, ~ala Donald Trump’s The Apprentice reality show.

The guy in pink, name’s Darren (Biiang) and the beige-sleeved shirt on the right, name’s Miow, and me chose to work for MSWG in KWSP building at KL. Low in a charming blue shirt was assigned to Affin Holdings Bhd, while Hisham who was reading the victory of Manchester United over Arsenal.. was assigned to Richets & Racketts in the Curve.

We took a taxi to our destination, not knowing that upon reaching our destination at KWSP, we discovered upon our horror that it’s the wrong KWSP building! Added to our dismay is the security guard stationed there, telling us there are 3 KWSP buildings in KL!

After a 15 minute walk getting lost in KL, we eventually took another taxi to MSWG. On our first day of work, and we got lost to the workplace!

Yes, I’m displaying their proud logo. The Watchdog group. Minority shareholders, don’t be scared, the watchdog’s got your back. =)

Anyway, we met Ivan and Francesca in the audit room. They’re our seniors, (holy crap, I initially thought Ivan was our client, I paid too much respect to him xD ) and they are probably the nicest people we ever meet in a workplace.

We were assigned simple vouching jobs, matching Payment Vouchers to supporting documents. Yes, it may sound boring, but Francesca told us one important point:

“The key to working as an auditor is to find excitement in doing boring stuff”.

I took that into heart, and I worked my butt off doing audit until we incurred Overtime (OT). For a meagre 30 minutes HaHa!

On that day, I felt guilty we took Francesca to The Weld’s food court. She deserved eating much better food with a much fatter price, but we forced her to eat cheap food! @_@ Oh my..

Oh I forgot to mention to you guys and girls.. Francesca is a pure Starbucks Green Tea Latte-holic. =P

3rd day of Internship (4 Feb)

Working as auditors for MSWG isn’t a job everyone can get happy at when they reach their workplace early in the morning on 9AM.

We were greeted by monster books of documents – payment vouchers, invoices, tax, you name it! It’s like watching a horror movie, without the popcorn.

We entertain ourselves by doing work. Yes, believe it, we did. Leaving us jobless makes us bored. Really bored. Up to the point when we felt like dozing off, but we just couldn’t because we must make a good impression as interns to Ivan and Francesca!

On this day, we ate at an expensive restaurant. The chicken chop marinated in lemongrass and chilli padi was awesome, although we talked amongst ourselves, if we keep on eating food like this, we will be broke very, very soon.

I have a guilty feeling when I spend too much money on food. I prefer eating cheaper food that tastes just as great. And not burn a deep hole in my wallet.

And also, this marks the day when we 3 friends & classmates were separated. Miow was assigned to audit Astro, while Biiang got off to 40’s Lease. I was stuck working at MSWG.

(*sniffs*) I gotta be alone doing audit all by myself. :<

Oh btw we work OT here for 1 hour before we ditch the audit room. Lolz DITCH THE AUDIT ROOM WOOHOO!

4th Day of Internship (5 Feb)

This is the day when I kinda feel awkward when I have to do audit without my 2 friends accompanying me. Why? Because I will be the only one to be so confused doing audit without sharing that confusion among ourselves! xD

But this is the day when I get to know more about Ivan and Francesca. We traded Facebook invitations and I let them know about my blog as well. =3

(And Miow must have been excited to see Francesca have added him too)

This was the final day I will be working with Ivan and Francesca in MSWG before I am assigned to Affin Bank just opposite of MSWG =3

But I didn’t end my last day at work in MSWG without leaving a few impressions. I celebrated birthday with two employees of MSWG who have nearly the same birthdays. We auditors got treated to Secret Recipe’s rich and creamy chocolate cake! And we even got extra helpings too. I was so happy on that day.

However, the mood was different in the audit room. The CEO was in office to settle any funky stuffs in the accounts for good. And what makes it difficult to verify the accounts was that the accountant had actually went to hospital to treat for just a sore eye! >__<

It was intense, but rewarding to be able to listen to the CEO and my manager, Winnie and Ivan discussing together things on account transactions that I barely know. Oops, wrong thing to say. I did know some things about accounting, heck what’s the reason I study accounting for anyway?

I left the audit room when the ‘heat was turned on’ and the ‘stress kicked in’. Just in the nick of time. Was home on nearly 10PM no thanks to endless streams of traffic jams.

OH GOD why are people so rude on the road???

5th Day of Internship (8 Feb)

A new Monday, and a new day working for a new client. Affin Bank was just opposite my ex-office, and I was working under two PwC seniors, Kak Ahlam and Winnie.

They are the two nicest and most patient girls I met. They are willing to guide me along the audit work and Kak Ahlam was very helpful in teaching me accounting stuff that I have never learnt back at college, and showed me how the company’s culture is like by looking at the accounts, and meeting a few employees.

Already before meeting with Kak Ahlam and Winnie, I came early to the audit room.

Like, really early. 40 minutes before 9AM. Blame my alarm-clock momma.

I met a nice aunty who happens to work at a legal firm on the upper floors above the Finance Department for Affin Bank. She never knew a single thing about audit, and what an auditor does. She thought that being an auditor must have been a really tedious, stressful job.

I agreed with what she said. Being an auditor isn’t just about checking the accounts and merely issue an unqualified audit report once everything’s done. It’s about getting to know the clients, working in hand with our team members, and finding excitement in the job that we are doing. An auditor, I said, is like a surgeon. A surgeon needs to save his patients and prevent himself from getting sued. An auditor also bears the same heavy responsibility on their shoulders by protecting the interest of the shareholders, check for any deviations in the client’s accounts and let them know about it, and hopefully, won’t get sued.

(Hopefully I won’t get sued as an intern while doing my job =S)

And I heard something from her that totally marks a deep impression inside me about auditing. She was apparently told that there were 2 auditors who died in office, 1 of which has a heart attack eventhough he was perfectly healthy.

It was like striking a bat on my head. That statement really stunned me. Are auditors really that stressful until they actually died?

I shrugged off that thought and I slapped my laptop for being too slow.

Looks like I never got the Monday Blues on that day after all.

6th Day of Internship (9 Feb)

The second day being an intern auditing Affin Bank, and I thought to myself, being an intern was truly rewarding because I get to experience working life at my young age of 19.

I get to be more independent, taking train to work, having breakfast at a coffee store all by myself, and taking a bus back home satisfied me. It’s because I do not have to be nagged by my momma when I was at home anyway.

It was so relaxing just not to listen to constant nagging from Momma. At least Dad will keep her company, and listen to her nagging. And if Dad was not there, my cat named Stubby will be nagged for running around chasing female cats around the house.

(Am I too evil on my Momma? =3 Don’t Tell my Momma, k?)

I worked OT until 7PM today, dealing with the clients’ accounts, working on final audit reports, and making sure everything has done right. When I added in my work done into the PwC’s LotusNotes program, my name was recorded into the program.

Oh Oh, crap, my work has been documented under my name. I hope I get everything right, if not my name will be known for all the wrong reasons >.<

Winnie told me on this day, Biiang will be coming back to work alongside me in Affin Bank. LOL and Biiang actually meant to not tell me about it to keep it as a surprise.

Too bad I broke that surprise =P

And I got a call from Miow at night when I just got back home. Lamenting about his team leader, and the team members putting on ‘Poker Faces’ during work.

I really thank God for giving me the nicest seniors I could have! =D

Cheesy Rice Biscuits~

2010-01-01T09:06:00.001-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma...

About these amazing, crunchy and cheesy rice biscuits I bought from 100 Yen shop! =D

(man I hate my handphone camera flash! = =")

Bogus Monks Turning More Bogus

2010-01-01T08:11:00.001-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma (but she knew)

Bogus monks are very rampant in Malaysia. These monks dot around eating areas, shopping areas, train stations, and just any other popular hotspots you can imagine.

They carry alms bowl and in it contains pieces of string armbands or any other pendants, claiming they give luck. And in return, the monks will ask for sympathetic donations from you in return.

The truth is, alms bowl such as the one on top is NOT for collecting money! These alms bowl were meant for the honest means of food donations such as rice. Moreover, monks are not supposed to ask for food donations unless they are permitted by the temple at certain times to go to the streets and ask ONLY for food, and they usually go in groups.

However, why is it that the public keep donating money to these bogus monks? Monks are just manipulating what humans are weak at - humans tend to be sympathetic. Same as beggars, by dressing up in patched robes, walking with their bare feet and putting on a depressed face, it's easy to convince honest people to donate to them.

The money they collect is not meant to fill their stomachs with food. They won't go back to temples to give away the donations they have collected. They will use the money to buy luxuries no monk at temples would even have the desire to. There is even a syndicate which hires these bogus monks to collect money. Hey, talk about being sinful.

I have seen a monk who, after he was done filling his bowl with money, stuffed his monk robes in his bag he was carrying in the public washrooms, when no one was looking. He came out with his Rolex watch on his left wrist, T-shirt and jeans, and a NY cap on his head.

I have seen a woman in her Mercedes car who was busy changing into her nun clothes in SS2, Petaling Jaya. The interesting part was that when I glanced at her, she was bald but she was wearing a coat or something. On top of the passenger seat next to her was a bag with all her disguise in it. Hey, I saw her up close without her noticing me at all!

I stood next to a monk in the KTM train a few months ago. We all know monks (or perhaps a bogus monk) should at least speak in Cantonese or Mandarin. He spoke to me in Malay! Wow.. a Muslim working as a part-time Buddhist! I put on a shocked face throughout the whole train journey.

Even on this day, January 1 2010, I was next to this monk in his full robes in a bookshop. He gave all his coins he collected in his alms bowl to buy a can of PowerRoot and a 20's pack of cigarettes.

Bogus monks are just turning more bogus.

Who Say Old Men Can’t Celebrate 2010?

2010-01-01T07:50:00.001-08:00

Don’t Tell My Momma… (Actually She Knew)

Remember back my post from yesterday, about my dad saying that new year celebrations are not suitable to be celebrated by old people, and that only young teenagers like us only celebrate the coming of the new year?

Wrong.

It’s so that my room has the best view of the fireworks from Genting Highlands, when 12.00 am stroked, my dad rushed (or burst) into my room, and gazed at my windows to see those beautiful, bright fireworks.

Heck, I asked him “I thought old dudes like you are not looking forward to celebrate the new year?” He told me, waiting for the new year is another thing. Watching the fireworks is the one he actually anticipates.

And then, he rushed outside the house to get a better glimpse of the fireworks from The Curve side.

It is true after all, new year celebrations just know no bounds, even my dad. =D

~*Happy New Year 2010*~

Happy New Year 2010!

2009-12-31T07:50:00.000-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma...

That I'm wishing you guys a Happy New Year 2010! D:

Geez, why do I keep this secret from my mum? Well, she (and my dad) said that old people don't celebrate countdown like us youngsters.

I guess they are just missing the fun! A celebration like this knows no bounds!

Or maybe I'm a bit drunkish after drinking 3 cans of Guiness Stout today =.=*

*-*

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. ~Author Unknown

New Year's Day is every man's birthday. ~Charles Lamb

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~Oprah Winfrey

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~Mark Twain

Each age has deemed the new-born year
The fittest time for festal cheer.
~Walter Scott

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account. ~Oscar Wilde

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. ~John Burroughs

It wouldn't be New Year's if I didn't have regrets. ~William Thomas

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling;
He who makes one is a fool.
~F.M. Knowles

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions. ~Joey Adams

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. ~Anaïs Nin

The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears. ~W.H. Auden

*-*

My Christmas Presents

2009-12-25T08:32:00.001-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma...

Last Wednesday, there was this Christmas Exchange we had among us college classmates. The rule is: One boy has to give to a girl, one girl has to give to a boy. Fair treatment right?

However, I received a big bag of presents from two girls! D: I was like so darn happy when I held the bag in my hands.

The first present is a really giant peg from Tze Vei. It’s not meant to hang clothes apparently, but pictures or notes.

The second present is actually a two-in-one package! They are really fragile to be honest. The smaller box in the package has a mug with a bear on it (How these girls know I like bears?) and the giant box along with it has a glass picture frame inside. I tried not to tremble my hands because they are not just fragile, they are precious gifts from girls to me! xD

Thanks to Siew See for making this a good Christmas for me. She actually gave big to me this year because the last year she gave me a XS size shirt! =_= I told her last time the shirt was so tight, I felt ‘naked’ in it, so it must have probably made her felt bad about it.

This Christmas morning, I woke up on 12pm. HAHA, what an awesome time to wake up! No alarm-clock mum and no homework rush.

I cheered up to a glass of Sugar Rush.

I watched a lily flower bloomed in my guppy pond.

I went online the whole day. Trying to crack Adobe Photoshop CS4 was an EPIC FAIL, so the comic pictures for my blog will have to wait a bit longer… =[

I caught up with friends on Messenger. And someone promised me to buy me extra presents for next year. Sweet promises like honey.

But what I hate most that ended my Christmas jolly mood:

Cursed exam timetable came out during Christmas!!

Heck, it ain’t FUNtastic to me! =.=

Merry Orangey Christmas!

2009-12-25T07:36:00.001-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma... (Or perhaps she knew)

In Malaysia, there aren’t any snow. It’s just blistering hot and thunderous rain storms all year long.

White Christmas sure would be beautiful, if it isn’t made artificially in China. By the way, snowstorms are just dangerous!

So wishing you a Merry Orangey Christmas! I wish oranges drop from the sky YAY!

Why oranges? Well I ain’t hoping any terroism or natural disasters to happen on 26th December every year. That would be terrible. = =

The Sweet Orange Blog

2009-12-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma...

I've branded my blog Orange! I've exported some widgets from my old blog because I feel like I'm still tied to my old blog a bit : <

I'm more used to Blogger's interface compared to Wordpress. Wordpress is just killing me! >.<

Private & Confidential

2009-12-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

Don't Tell My Momma...

That I have started a new blog without her! Although this wasn’t meant to be taken literally, I am seriously intending this blog to be kept private and confidential from my peeping mum. (>.<)

I wanted to have a blog as my own platform for voicing out what is kept in my heart for this such long period of time, and probably burbling out some nags about things in life, and me.

My last blog (www.vinniechow.blogspot.com) had been compromised its secrecy. Why? Apparently posting in political cum comedy comics didn’t seem to excite my mum who was stalking behind my computer chair. She isn’t reading her newspapers, she was minding what I’m typing on the computer! (@@)

Afraid that I’d soon be the next controversial RPK and become new friends with the police, she put me on her 24-hour alert radar. Well, not really 24 hours since she needs her 8 hours sleep at night. Therefore, it makes sense that I update my blog during that 8 hours of darkness.

Of course, being a human just like you, I am prone to sleepiness (and boredom) when I think up ideas for my blog. Sure, my old blog used to be a favourite comic haven between my readers, so I would hope that I will be able to continually post these photos in my new blog on 2 conditions:

1. When I read the newspaper

2. When college does not stress me out

Fingers crossed, things will be fine for me ^^

The next thing I need to conquer is… laziness. Just like you, I can be lazy. Really lazy until to the extent that I left my old blog feeling ‘windy’ for more than half a year. Ouch. Haven’t I been making sweet promises about updating my blog the past few months? Yes I did, and I didn’t fulfil them. I hate that. I wished shall be more faithful towards my blog (cross my fingers) because at the end of my last semester in college, I will have tonnes of free time to keep myself committed to this blog.

Heck, the next reason for opening this new blog because I have the incentive to do so. I’ve now got a new laptop, and a wireless, and my very own room to conduct my own personal business privately without my peeping mum knowing. It is now so convenient blogging now, compared to last time.

And ultimately, my most reason for this blog is to spit out all the emotion within myself, happy or discontent otherwise, about everything. It is hard to maintain a continuous communication between my parents. My dad is a silent, ‘ain’t interested in talking except for cars and machines’ type of person. My mum just calls me crazy or stupid when I say something serious.

Apparently, my parents aren’t good motivators. It is a battlefield everyday just to live as a single child. I always need to motivate myself, but the unfairness in just about anywhere I go just really sucks. Big time.

For now, my blog is my best companion, just like how a diary would be as my best friend.

So, I would like to ask you mates to don’t tell my momma about this. Of course, if you knew my momma in the first place! (=P)

Cheers and thanks for reading my first post! Now let’s get started!