To Ma ....from the heart with lots of love..........

Ma, insyaAllah Yana will make it if she is determined and works hard to become an Architect.

I have realised Ba's dream of becoming an Architect. I have worked hard for 29 years to be what I wanted to become since I was 6 years old. It will be 36 years, insyaAllah, upon retirement.

I have gone through many stressful moments throughout that 29 years but Allah has given me guidance and strength each time to weather all those challenges, and your support and love have made me stronger. Alhamdullilah, Allah has blessed me with so much rezeki. I am truly blessed. Syukur.

But I have many other creative talents too and I also have other dreams, and to someday open up a craft shop cum cafe cum bakery is another dream I hope to realize even after I have retired. Doing Event Management, MC-ing at functions is another. That talent I got from you.

Work is tough. Life is even tougher. I don’t want to have to be constantly under pressure even when I am 80 years old or even older, God willing, umur panjang, chasing datelines.

After working so hard all these years, I want to enjoy and take advantage of the other parts of my creative talents.

I hope that I have not disappointed you too much that I did not have plans to open up an Architectural firm. I think I did initially.

I had many dreams when I first started working, but, I guess I stuck to serving the Government when job markets started going bad during the recession. After that, I just got comfortable and happy with what I was doing.

Serving in the public sector gave me the opportunity to learn many things and form good connections I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to form if I was working in the private sector.

I had opportunities to get involved with projects that gave me opportunities to make ‘pahala’ when I was doing religious related projects. Those involved in the religious projects were also the same people who gave me spiritual strength and support as I go through tough challenges I felt I have never gone through before in my entire career. It was a blessing from Allah.

InsyaAllah, if di murahkan rezeki, and I get promoted, things will get even tougher as I climb the ‘corporate ladder’ as some people call it, but I hope that no matter what challenges comes my way, Allah will guide me and give me strength. I hope that your love and support combined with the rest of the family’s support and love, will make me an even stronger and wiser person to be a good leader.   

So, Ma, you have given me support and love to pursue my dream of becoming an Architect. I hope you will also give me support and love to pursue my other dreams too.

I will still the same Architect you and Ba wanted me to become many years ago, and although I still love designing to this day, and doing Project Managements, I am not sure whether going through constant stress chasing datelines will be good for my health when I am years older.

Thanks for coming to the Artisan Bazaar yesterday. It meant a lot to me to have your support.

I don’t intend to make this a full time job just yet. It is still very much a hobby and something I love and am passionate about. I am still very shy. I am testing the waters and learning the ropes, but it was a fun experience.  

I love you!