May - The Month of Weddings

With three weddings in May and also Teach For Malaysia (TFM) final stage interview, I had to say it was one of the most challenging months I had go through. It was worth it though! At the end of May, I was admitted to TFM which means I will have to attend an 8-week training at Port Dickson then start teaching from January 2015. From this point, I will not be able to take photos as much as I did before.

Just to quote what I wrote on my Facebook page on 2nd June 2014:

The last one year and a half has been terrific. I was able to work with awesome people, meet beautiful couples, and at the same time improve my photography skills. However, as I am not a full time photographer, I know that one day I would have to slow down and focus on my full time job. 

Last week, I have been admitted to Teach For Malaysia for 2015 Fellowship. The Pre-Service Program starts in October and I will start teaching in January 2015. Therefore, I am sorry to announce that I will not be taking photos for any events from July till end of November (I am free in December!). I will personally contact everyone who has made a booking with me by this week and refund all the booking payments.

From January 2015, I might be able to take photos on Sundays but most probably I could only work on only one event per month. Well since my placement is not decided yet, I can't guarantee anything. Thank you for all your tremendous support all these while. This page will still be updated with some random pictures from time to time:)

Let's take a look at some of the pictures from Hazim's, Rina's, and Raja Nadiah's wedding:

Thank you to these wonderful people who trusted me to be their photographer on their meaningful day. 

Quiz on Korea 2014: Malaysia Preliminary Round

This is more like another personal post. 

I stumbled upon the Quiz on Korea advertisement on Facebook but I wasn't sure whether I should give it a go or not until I saw the video of the 2012 and 2013 Global Final Round of Quiz on Korea. The show will be aired on KBS as a Chuseok Special Program in September. One of the grand prizes for the previous event was Hyundai i40 Tourer. That time, I knew I had to give a shot.

Before the final round in Malaysia where 10 participants went head to head against each other, about 40-50 people attended the first round quiz. We had to answer 45 questions in English and the remaining 5 questions in Korean. To me, the Korean section was the hardest of all. 

Then 10 people were selected for the final round in Malaysia. 300 points were allocated for self introduction, a 3-minute talent show, and interview by the judges. The remaining 600 points were for the quiz. 18 questions were in English and the rest were in Korean. The first prize winner gets a 10-day trip to South Korea and a chance to participate in the Global Final Round at KBS.

My self introduction and talent show went well. I did a simple 'talk show' about Busan accent, which I practiced just the night before. Thanks to Hansuk hyung who helped me with the hardest part of my script. Before the quiz, there was a 10-minute break after the interviews which I spent by going through my notes outside the hall. Then to calm myself down, I went back into the hall, met some of the embassy staffs and had some talk with them about random stuffs. I also asked them about my Busan accent and much to my relief, they said nothing was wrong with it. They are a very friendly bunch of people. Hope to see some of them in Seoul this August!

Haha that was how I calm myself down before the final quiz.

Finally it's quiz time! I don't know what happened but I got the first question wrong for sure. The question was about an ancient painting. They asked us about man who painted the famous artwork, which I got it totally wrong. 

Right after the quiz, there was another break before the final results were announced. I went to the back of the hall and took a breather. One of the staffs was standing next to me.

"It was very confusing... I think I got three wrongs. That's gonna make it hard to win this," I told the guy.

"Na'ah. You're gonna win it!" he said with a calm expression, but failed to convince me.

Then the lady who was in charge of counting our marks came to us. The guy asked her about my result and it seemed as if she was trying not to let something slip out of her mouth while shifting her gaze back and forth between the guy and I. 

"Now it's time for the final result announcement," said Mr. MC. 

The final few minutes of result announcement was hard to be explained in words. I was left to the point of hoping for nothing but the first prize after the fourth, third and second place went to other participants. Mr MC looked at me for a second before he proceeded with the result announcement for the first prize. 

"And the first prize goes to....."

He paused, trying to control his laugh after seeing our nervous faces. I knew I was definitely going to get the 10-day trip to South Korea and a shot at the Grand Prize....or nothing at all if the first place goes to someone else.

Then I heard my name. Zulhilmi Asyraf Zamri. I smiled but was still in doubt. Before I head to the stage, I had to look at MC's face again to make sure if he was not joking. Nope, he was serious.

500GB external hard disk was for the fourth place, Galaxy Camera for the third place, Note 3 for the runner-up, and for me a chance to make my country proud during the KBS Global Final Round of Quiz on Korea in Seoul, Korea in August 2014.

      

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me. To my family, Prof Choi Yoon Hwa and Prof Lee Eun Hye who taught me during my days in Buffalo, friends, noonas and hyungs in Korea, people at the embassy, those who took the pictures, and everyone who has helped me to learn the language and culture, thank you very much. Preparing for the Final Round in Malaysia was not easy and I believe the Global Final Round is going to be tougher. 

Before I left the hall, the guy said to me "Actually I already knew it..." LOL thank you for keeping it secret.
"When are you going?" asked the lady.
"August!"
"Seoul?"
"Yeah!"
"Let's meet!"
"OK!"

Hope to see them in Seoul! I'm not sure how tight my schedule is going to be over the ten days in Korea but I really hope I'll also get some time to hang out with my friends in Seoul.

Feel free to read the short report about the event here.