Where them girls at? (a continuation of GDG Forum)

Disclaimer:I am just going to write down what I know from my experiences and observations. I can't say for sure that it is the same every where else.

The education system in my country (in the 80s-90s) were designed to sort out kids early on into different paths that the adults thinks best suits the needs of the country, future demands (of the personal kind and the capitalist kind) and what the kids likes to do. Starting at Primary School, you'll go into various types of Secondary Schools (Berasrama Penuh, Harian, High Performing, etc), then you're further divided into Science or Social Science streams. Those who go into Science streams will end up becoming Technical Workers (Doctors, Scientists, Engineers, Accountants), while the Social Science will do Managerial, Literature, Arts.
It is something like a coin sorter or a similar version of the Magical Sorting Hat if I may say so.

The pave way towards our future careers are quite obvious and well designed (or maybe a more accurate word to describe it - carefully controlled) if the kids went to Science based school for their SPM level. Like me, at the time, I can only see TWO obvious choices for my future : to become an Engineer or a Doctor. Maybe I refuse to see other opportunities.

When I entered University (a 100% Engineering based university), the rate of boys-girls are almost equal, and probably more. I do notice that in lecture halls, 2/3 of the seats are filled with girls. I guess girls are given equal opportunity and freedom to choose engineering for their course. There weren't any tools of special kinds of gadgets designed to attract girls to pursue engineering. It is just based purely on the love of science; mainly physics, chemistry and maths. Ikhlas tak? lol.

So if 2/3 of the graduating Engineering class of the year were girls, then where are they now?

I do keep in touch with some of my friends once in a while and here's what I can gather:

1. They took Voluntary/Mandatory Separation scheme (or something similar)
If you happen to be an engineer in a private company, you'd know that business depends much on the world economy and the direction of the company is heading to. A lot of companies shrinks their workforce during recession or some went into a merger and have a surplus of manpower. So they give options to some people to leave (but not without ka-ching $$$). Some people took it, thinking it might help to launch their own business that they've dreamed of.

2. The business that they've dreamed of all their life.
Have you ever had that dream of running your own business, and raking it big money and feeling happy doing that day-in and day-out? That small cafe by the corner. The cake shop. The embroidery shop. Anything. Some of my friends decided to pursue their dreams of running a business. Bye Engineering.

3. Engineering job is too demanding
Again, this depends on the nature of the business. Oil and Gas engineers, some needs to go offshore for 2 weeks. Living in a male-dominated environment is challenging. Living away from your children for that long is even more so. Some R&D based engineering are so time constraint that they can't afford to have too many design issues. Which is totally unrealistic because there's bound to be issues. Solving each and every issue takes time. And time = money lost. To compensate for that, engineers need to work overtime to find a solution. Which again, takes them away from home and their family.

4. I rather do non-technical jobs
That pays me money at the end of the month AND give me a job that only requires me to be in the office between 9-5 and let me be with my family.

5. No passion for engineering work
You probably can teach a monkey to swim, but you can't make turn it into a fish. Sometimes when you go down the rabbit hole, you lose track of yourself. And when you realise that going down this road is tiring and every weekday you wake up with a dreadful thought in mind of the horrible things you will be facing at work. One day, you'll wake up and say to yourself that you have had enough of this. The next thing you know, you're typing out a resignation letter.

6. They followed their passion
Maybe they studied engineering because their parents wanted them to. But what they really, really like to do was singing or travelling or run an NGO. Anything but Engineering.

So, there's 6 reasons why I think some women leave engineering. I think the most important thing to highlight here is at this age, most of us will put family first before our career. And if the demands of the family is higher than that of work, normally the woman will make the necessary sacrifice and stay at home. I guess that just the culture here. I noticed a FB post that went viral about holding up to this semi-classical (mid 60-70s) idea about single income household where the dad is the breadwinner and mum stay at home. And the comments that it garnered were in the hundreds, shocking? When I went through the comments to get some POVs, all I can see was people tagging their spouses in the comment section and that's it, no elaboration or thoughts. I was quite disappointed about this one because no one discussed it. they all just wanted to stay at home, let the husband work and wait for God to provide them with provisions. Lepas tu bila tv3 keluarkan jadual kira2, nafkah isteri RM100 sebulan, ko meroyan. I think that was the wrong way to look at it.

The concept of women staying at home was quite popular in the era that I mentioned earlier. However prior to that, women still went out to do work alongside with men. They'd do field work, they went into the jungle to pick herbs and food, they do needle work, they do trading. Maybe aristocratic women are the ones who stayed at home. 

GDG Devfest @ Georgetown 2015

GDG is Google Developers Group and "devfest" is short for Developer's Festival (if I am not mistaken). Apparently it is GDG season and there was one happening last Saturday in Georgetown.


I was lucky to be invited by a friend of mine to this whole day event in Wisma Yeap Chor Ee. It is a beautifully restored British colonial building with dark wood flooring, white plaster walls and huge windows that reminds you of ballerina class, Steve Jobs' house when he first moved in and also from the classic movies.



Up to your imagination to fill up that beautiful space.

What's there? The main objective of the devfest was (in my layman talk) is to serve as a platform for software and apps developer to share their products and success stories. You can say, it is something like a TED-talk for geeks. Other things, well, there are the normal things related to Google's stuff and other tech gadgets. A robot that you use to teach kids programming, a self-made segway, Virtual Reality (VR) headsets with fun graphics to test, (man) shoes that adds 7 cm to your height (say what again?) and one that caught my attention; art projects that integrates electronics into it which I assume to get more girls to be interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).




I attended all the Main Hall lectures and skipped the code lab (didn't brought along my laptop) and one thing I noticed was that all of the talks were given by men, except for one; the very last talk, which was actually a forum set up to discuss about Challenges Women Face in Tech Industries.



One of the panel looks like The Big Show from WWE (now I'm going off tangent).

That was a good topic to talk about because apparently it was quite obvious that men out-numbered women in any tech events. I don't know why.. yesterday I hung out with three guys, made new friends where half a dozen of them are guys and only two ladies (!). So where them girls at?



A lot of thorns. Am I right or am I right?

I'll probably elaborate more on that topic on my next post.

Personal Safety Info

** thought of sharing this information with readers. Be safe.


NEWSPAPERS lying on the ROAD: Don't drive over it

Please forward this email to your family members and friends. Avoid driving over newspapers strewn on the road. It appears that this technique has arrived in Malaysia from Indonesia .

Life here is getting more like in Indonesia these days. This story which was circulated to me reminds me of the traps set in certain parts of Jakarta by robbers.. Some people had lost their lives over this. They drove into certain lonely roads in Jakarta to find pieces of wood with nails in them on the road. This caused their tyres to go flat. When they got out of their cars, they're set upon by robbers who would take everything they could...cars, wallets, anything valuable and sometimes their lives.

Avoid driving over newspapers strewn on the Road - a new trap set by Robbers. This incident happened some where in KL and forwarded to me by a friend.

This person was driving alone at night when he saw newspapers lying around in the middle of the road. Without giving it much thought, he drove pass the stack of papers. No one would expect to find heaps of rocks and stones beneath the papers!! Wanting to know the damage to his car, he stopped to check. The moment he got out of his car, he was robbed by a group of guys and lost his properties/belongings. Just imagine what would have happen if this had happened to a lady/woman...

So folks, please be careful, do not stop when you're driving alone at night no matter what happens! Avoid driving over the papers if you see newspapers lying on the road, this could be a new trick for the desperate fraternity out there...!

THE MALAYSIAN INSURANCE INSTITUTE (35445-H)
No. 5 Jalan Sri Semantan Satu
DamansaraHeights
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Telephone: 603-20944234


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chivalry is dead, is it not?

Last Sunday I went grocery shopping. While walking to the entrance door of the apartment's elevator room with a handful of heavy carrying bags, a man passed by me, opened the door, he entered and then left door to slam shut before me. I was just 5 paces away.

OK, maybe he didn't saw me.

After I managed to open the door myself, I stepped in and saw him walking into an opened elevator. As I was hurrying to the closing elevator, we managed to make eye contact and then the door closed right in front of my face. He didn't even stopped the elevator door from closing.

At that point of time, I am sure he did saw me. And at that point of time, I knew that chivalry is dead.

How sad =(
==============
What is it with men, or actually Malaysian men with being nice and gentlemanly towards damsels in distress that are not their girlfriends (or wife)? I wonder if they treat their significant other differently?

• It is maybe because I am not hot babelicious chick or model-esque enough to be assisted? (btw, have you seen the Rexona advert? If you don't have fair, clean shaven pits no guy is gonna help you with that flat tires of yours even if you ARE a hot babe).
• Are they scared that if they held the door open, their significant other will get jealous and they'll have to sleep outside that night?
• Are they worried that if they held the door opened for me, I will instantly fall head over heels for them? Let me tell you brother, it takes more than that lah. I'm not some floozy.

I know, I know... women has come a long way from being the wailing damsel in distress. Our foremothers fought for equality and rights. But it doesn't mean that we should be treated as men. Obviously on the physical strength side, we are the lesser gender. I admit that.

Even though sometimes, I might sound like a feminist, I do like to be offered with help or assistance once in a while (service that I don't have to pay for).

Talking about chivalry brings about some stories from the UK.

• My final year team mates, who were all guys insisted that they walked me to this printing place in Riveside because they knew that place was quite 'dodgy'. Kind of like protecting me lar.
• People held doors open to others behind them even if they are 10 feet away.
• Some Muslim guys -the kebab types, upon seeing that I am travelling alone, wanted to accompany me to my destination to make sure I get there safely. I politely declined because I think it will be very awkward.

Stories from work.

• My work sometimes requires me to move around large and heavy equipments. I normally could manage one, but if it's more it's quite a bother. I sat across from two burly and tall men. Sometimes I had to grunt, huff and puff loudly to make it obvious I needed a hand to lift the heavy stuff. Sometimes I had to call them out and ask if they would offer me their service to help.
• There's a guy, let's call him E. I think he's the sweetest and nicest guy at work. Whenever he saw me carrying something heavy, he will run towards me and helped. Even when I said I could manage. There was one time at a dinner event, I could not forget this, we had some big prawns during the main course, E who was sitting next to me offered to 'dissect' the prawns for me and separated the shells. He did this for the lady sitting next to him too. Mind you, he already has a wife and I believe is happily married. But the point is, ladies and gentleman, I think E is the most chivalrous man I've ever met in Malaysian soil. Bravo!
• So that's one, out of 10. Or maybe more... 100? 1000?

I am not asking you guys out there to be like E, but I am not stopping you guys either ;) It's just that it would be nice that once in a while someone goes out of his/her way to help others without expecting anything in return.

Come to think of it, I think I am more chivalrous than some of the men out there because I've held the door open to some of the men and they didn't even say 'Thank you'. Not even a squeak!

But that won't stop me from being polite to people. The effort continues on my part.

Based on last week experience,
I am convinced now that chivalry is almost dead. Please prove me wrong and I will stop whining.

Crossing paths

made a new friend during the long flight... It made the journey more interesting and less lonely. Nice to meet this person, and a really nice person indeed!

Normal blog post - Top Gear Philosophy

This is a normal blog post and not a meme. Just a thought that came to mind this morning.

I was thinking about Top Gear episode shown on tv last week. The challenge that week was Classic Car Rally. Jeremy, James and Richard had to acquire a classic car each by bidding. It was hilarious.



Then I was reminded of Dieya's Talkative Tuesday topic1 and topic2 regarding singletons, choosing a mate and marriage.

Is it too extreme for me to say that choosing a mate is like choosing a car?

What is your 'philosophy'?

• Is it like Richard Hammond's - "I'm doing it early like I always do in Yorkshire. Get the first one you can."

• Or are you like Jeremy Clarkson? - Play bidding with several cars, and finally decided on one he liked and had to fork out extra money for it?

• Or are you too choosy like James May that you let all the cars pass by until you are forced to bid for the last one even if you don't liked it. Is patience rewarded?

SHOES!

Today's entry is my response to Dieya's tag, which is about shoes. I humbly admit that my collection is quite dull and bland in comparison to hers. Well, shoes doesn't actually rank high in my list. Don't get me wrong, I like shoes, but I find it particularly hard to find a good soles mate (no pun intended :P) that I really like and am comfortable with. It will take me about 3 or more trips to the store (sometimes the same one) just to make up my mind.

But on good days, shopping for shoes is easier when there's a pair that really catches my eyes and sometimes I can hear those small tiny voices calling out to me, "Buy me, buy me... you have to buy me".

Here are some shoes that's in my collection.

This first one is a sandal, which I wear almost everyday to work. I wear this one because it's very practical and hassle free. I sometimes have run to meetings that's located in another building. It's easy for me to slip in on and take it off if I feel like sitting cross legged on the office chair and when I go to the surau.


On other days, this sports shoes is my second alternative. If I'm planning (or feeling) to go to gym after work (there's a gym at work!) I'd put this on when I leave the house. Easy, I don't have to take one extra shoe bag to work. At my workplace, sport shoes/ sneakers are the most popular shoes worn by young engineers here. It's all casual here, jeans and our orange/green M logo uniforms.



Well, although the workplace attire is casual, sometimes, when I feel all business like, I'd try to wear one of these two. The one on the right has come a long way with me... I used to wear this to lectures during my uni hey day. That's why it looked a little bit ratty, so worn out. Sentimental habis. There's a couple more business-like heels (black pair and white pair) that I wear for other occasions like for interviews (sshhh!), but I forgot where I left them.



Now, these ones are my favorites, but i seldom wear them. Only during weddings, raya, dinner at hotels that I chose to wear them. I'm still looking to expand my collection with green, white and yellow heels, but like I said it's hard to find the right one. But I'll keep my eyes open.

Back in college, we had this extra hours classes in the afternoon. During that time, the corridors are very quite, maybe because everybody was very sleepy after having had lunch. And then suddenly we could hear a 'Tap, tap, tap' sound of heels knocking on cement, first the sound was faint and it grew louder as the sound comes closer 'TAP, TAP, TAP'. Us students will be sniggering and quietly because we know that's the kerani approaching.

That was a story about what comes to my mind when I think about hard heeled shoes. Somehow I think it affects me because I'd get all self conscious when I can hear my heels tapping loudly to the floor. Haha, perasaan je kot.

Women Engineers

There was an Engineer's Week last month and earlier this month there was Women's Day (8 March). 50 years or so ago, these two things don't seem to fit each other. In the past, it is beyond imagination during that women are seen dabbling into the Engineering field where it was mainly dominated by men.

But now, thanks to the advent of technology and the feminism movement, Women and Engineering goes hand in hand together nowadays =)

I thank technology because it makes computer aided design and simulations possible. Therefore I can sit in an air-conditioned room doing simulations upon simulations without getting my hands greasy and grimy. I thank the feminist movement, our foremothers who fought for women's right and equality. Therefore I can get a good education and get a good job without worrying too much about gender bias. (i say 'too much' because it's still not 100% bias free).

However, it's still a man's world out there. For example, in my department, I think I can say that only 1/4 of the total engineers in the group are women. Does the same trends follow in other fields such as politics, law, business and management, big fancy restaurants and hotel kitchens? Where the girls at?