Lazy Pin Pin

me...

My real name is not Pin Pin (彬彬), or maybe i should say the name is only partially real. It's my pet name / nick name based on one of the words in my name. I'm a Malaysian Chinese female who was born in Feb 1975, which means that my zodiac sign is tiger instead of rabbit. I guess that's one of the reasons why i always give people the first impression of being fierce and unfriendly. Actually i'm quite a timid person who's afraid of cockroaches, spiders, roller coaster rides and bungy jumping.

My most distinct character : laziness.

my family...

I lost my dad to colon cancer when i was 15 years old. I'm now staying with my mom in Johor Bahru, Johor, the southern part of Malaysia. I have an elder brother who is two years older than me. He went to US more than 10 years ago and may never return to Malaysia. Therefore i always have this illusion that i'm the only child in the family and gotta be both a daughter and a son to my mom.

I love my mom despite her many flaws. Even though i don't say mushy things to her and sometimes may even scold her for things that i think she has done wrongly, in my heart, she is always one of the dearest persons to me in the world.

The thing my mom would want the most : Have my brother back by her side

my love life...

I'm in a steady relationship for almost 5 years (and still counting!) with a guy from Bukit Mertajam, Penang, the northern part of Malaysia. He is one year younger than me and we were colleagues in the previous job. We were seconded to Munich, Germany for training and the relationship blossomed from then. He is an IT professional in a big shipping line in Singapore and is staying in JB with my mom and me. So in a way, my mom got another son in absence of the real one who's far away in US.

Our pet names for each other : 贝 (short for 宝贝)

my education...

My 11 years of primary and secondary education was from Foon Yew (宽柔), a well-known Chinese school in Malaysia. It was 11 years instead of 12 because i studied only till Senior II in Foon Yew High School. In 1993, i left for Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to complete the last year of my high school education (known as Grade 13 or OAC in Canada) in Columbia International College. After that i attended University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton to complete my Bachelor degree in Business Administration (BBA).

I returned to Malaysia in 1996 and worked for several years. In 2003, i decided to have a change in career so i quit my job and spent all my savings in paying for my postgraduate education -- Master of Science in Information Studies (MSc) from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. I graduated the next year (2004) with no money and full of debts resulted from sustaining my full-time study. I gave up my initial plan of pursuing a PhD because, as much as i love gaining new knowledge, i don't think i have the will-power to go through another 4 or 5 years of studying.

The thing i dreaded the most about pursuing PhD : research, research and research

my career...

Since i returned from Canada, i've worked for almost 8 years in Malaysia and Singapore. I've worked for 6 companies of different industries and in different posts. Being both business and IT trained, i think of myself as the Jack of all trades but master of none.

I don't consider myself having a career because i'm now stuck in a job that pays decently but without any prospect. My current job essentially entails supporting the ERP system and any application problems that the users may encounter. The company i'm working with is a very famous listed company in Singapore that is at the brink of bankruptcy. It used to be the stock market darling but now it's under investigation due to alleged corruption. I can't leave because i'm contract-bound. So i'm really stuck, literally.

The career of my dream : a successful columnist like Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City

my friends...

I have a gang of good friends whom i've known for more than 16 years. They are just like brothers and sisters to me, even closer than my real brother whom i've not seen for 10 years. We've gone through a lot together and i hold the friendship dearly to my heart.

I know that the world changes and people change too. As we grow older, we would have more commitments and less time for friends, but i do sincerely hope that we can be friends as long as we live.

The most enjoyable time spent with my friends : Long chat at a mamak kopitiam

my interests...

Besides sleeping and laze around doing nothing, i do have other interests too. I enjoy reading, watching movies/TV and Web browsing. Writing and photography are also something that i've liked since high school, but the skills have become rusty since i started working. I think these two interests require more time and concentration, but those are exactly the things that i'm lacking of with my current lifestyle.

I'm also a Peanuts fan and have a Peanuts collection that could easily impress anyone who visits my home.

My favourite Peanuts character : Snoopy of course

my wishes...

I would have said that i wish for world peace but it would sound way too hypocritical. I'm an insignificant person with insignificant hopes for life. I just wish i could earn more, provide better living for my mom, be happy with my love ones and stay healthy. I'm just that boring... even my wishes are boring.

My not-so-boring wish : a trans-Europe backpacking trip

my love-hate relationship with Singapore...

I was born and brought up in Johor Bahru that is just across the straits from Singapore. Like many Malaysian, i also have relatives in Singapore -- some really close relatives. My mom has a brother and sister who are Singaporean and my maternal grandma stays with my Singaporean uncle. We celebrate Chinese New Year in Singapore every year at his house. Singapore is just like a second home to me.

However, Singaporean really gets on my nerves. Their kiasu-ness, lack of consideration for others, the denial of their Chinese root and perceived superiority over Malaysian are just some of the things i totally hate about them. A Singaporean friend of mine used to tell me that i'm earning Sing dollars so i shouldn't criticize Singaporean. So i guess i should just leave it as that.

My love-hate ratio towards Singapore : 70%-30%

my blogs...

I started a blog NOT because it's the in-thing now and as an IT professional, i should have one too. It was NOT because i wanna get famous (not that i have this ability) or get to know other bloggers to widen my social circle (i've passed the age of doing such thing). I started my own blog for a simple reason: I love writing and need an avenue to express myself.

When i was younger, i aspired to be a photojournalist so that i could do what i like for a living -- photography and writing. However, like the childhood dreams of many people, mine didn't come true because of the changes happened in life that led us to different path. Nevertheless, i still write; i used to write long emails to my friends and torture them with my rants. So i guess now i can have it in a blog and torture more people.

My blogs:
    Cogito Ergo Sum
    Being A Dog Is A Full Time Job (Photoblog under construction)