Exotic Start

The Animal Kingdom always fascinates me since I was young. Enthralled by these creatures, I always wished I was a cheetah when I was a toddler. Why imagine myself as a cheetah? Basically, a cheetah is known for its speed. Living in the arid plains of Africa, the cheetah faces tough competition from lions, tigers, leopards when hunting for prey-gazelles, wild buffalos . In this contexts, what gives the cheetah an extra edge is its ability to outrun its fellow competitors. The word which comes across one’s mind when mentioned about a cheetah is no doubt-speed! I guess being a USM student, adding as an architecture student, I ought to think ‘exotic’ to stand out from my fellow peers

Being accredited as an Apex University, Universiti Sains Malaysia(USM) has to now drive for excellence to outrun, outperform, outcast its fellow competitors locally including the prestigious University Malaya(UM) and in an international scale. This literally means that USM aims to be one of the top 100 universities in the eyes of the world. When I first heard that statement, I was shocked rooted to the ground. Immediately, my eyes went ‘terbeliak’. Honestly, who could imagine USM or in other sense a Malaysian production stand on par with the Ivy leagues –Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge. It was an almost impossible dream.its like..come on, HBP adanya ukur bahan kan? Ukur lah badan dan kemampuan sendiri dulu. Yet, at this moment, a glimmer of hope seemed to shed in my mind. I was reminded that of great accomplishments come from great idle dreams. Well, maybe Malaysia ‘memang boleh’? Maybe USM can survive the competition? Well, at this point, the world ‘maybe’ must be scrapped out of my mind, I must think positive and generate positivity. Thus, my present perception should go like this-USM is not just gonna make it in the list of top 100 universities globally, USM is also going to ‘rock’ and shine in the global arena. USM boleh! Yet, I have to say that I was impressed with something 1B mentioned today which was that USM is going to continue progress and move forward at all times despite all adversities and what other universities are doing. Totally concur with that, its better to focus on ourselves rather than plotting to outwit others.

Back to the point, being Apex is about excellence, acceleration, transformation. Let me keep this simple , being Apex, we ought to EAT(excel, accelerate, transform).
To excel, we ought to think smart, work smart. We are constantly reminded that being good is not enough being better is just passable and being the best is considered getting a grade A. wait a second, is USM aiming to produce A students? Well, nope. An A+ is what USM is looking for. USM is aiming for excellence. In ‘music language’ being a singer with good vocals and natural talent just does not make the mark. We want singers willing to learn to compose, act,-being an all rounder.

To accelerate, if it takes us 50 minutes to finish the marathon, well, guess what? That does not work here. That’s for a rabbit’s level. Here, think cheetah! Think extra speed, swift, agility. Think about leaping high and far to reach beyond our destination. As a cheetah, you ought to speed up or you will end up singing your own swan song and bid aur revoir to your future.

To transform, the best illustration is to think Transformers. Let me get this straight, its not about thinking Megan Fox ! its about evolution. Transforming from an old vehicle to a talking, high tech, huge, strong Autobot-Optimus Prime, Bumblebee. Its about being a snake, slithering and shedding off their old skin and being ready to accept newer, fresher ideas and to think out of the box. Competition pops up at all times, to move forward we have to metamorphose.

Heading for a great start, we have to have the right mentality or attitude. The next big step is the journey-the production. To begin with, we must first have the intention, the ‘niat’ , the hunger to succeed, the dream, the vision. After having an intention, we must act , start rocketing, propelling, gather information, plan and kick start . in the end of the journey, we would be able to bear the fruits of our labor and our final product will emerge.

Being a student of HBP, 3P is what everything is about. Its something like The power of three. Firstly, there is "People", "Principle" and "Place." In mostly everything we are involved in these 3 aspects co-exist.

Lets start with "People". No matter whatever we do, people come in and out of our lives whether we like it or not. People come and go in our daily mundane lives. Thus, we require the soft skills to enable us to communicate efficiently. To deal with people, we ought to be able to adapt to various personalities. Having the right people skills could bring you further than we expect.

"Principles" live in us. Each of us have to follow certain principles. Each of us have our own aesthetics and stand. By following this principles, our instincts would guide us through rough and choppy seas and gurantee us a pathway to glory. Having the right principles enable us to follow the game by the rules. People having their own set of mind or principles are deemed more firm, having stronger and appealing personality and presence.

There is a "Place" in everything we are involved with. there is somethere for everyoen at all times. The venue plays crucial importance as the location could either break or make you. For instance, a fishmonger definitely won't sell fish at a school. Thus, as an Apex student, finding the right location and venue can be a breaking point for success. As an architecture student finding the correct location for construction is also vital. Thus as an Apex student, good analytical skills are just a must.

The 3P's exist at all times anywhere. The trio co-exist harmoniously . All trio are dependent on one another to achieve definite success. As an illustration, for the recent World Cup, the people consists of the footballers, referees, spectators. Wheares the principles involved are the rules set bt FIFA while the place is no other than South Africa. If we make a shift to either one of these 3P, the entire picture would change. lets say, if we alter the people from megastar footballers to dancers. Would it still be considered a World Cup?in the language of architecture, we as architects exists as the people, the prinsip is the regulations set by LAM wheares the place is the location or our building designed! This clearly depicts that these 3 expects are strong criterias to success.

Aside from that, the Art of Acting exists in our lives daily at all times. Here, we are all actors. We all act and have our own roles. Among the crew of actors consists of the student, studio master, USM community, Penangites. In the success of a great production, strong collaberation is essential.In all rightful way, we are equally as glamorous as Brangelina.

Among the main speakers of the day was Wan Burhanuddin bin Wan Abidin who is one of the 15 studiomasters.


Basically, all i can sum up is that coming with the title Apex makes a difference. Being an Apex student, we ought to leap and accelerate. Speed is not an option here. Like a cheetah cub, we may be new to a complete new world in the beginning. Yet, we must grow fast and leap forward to infinity and beyond! Im just grateful to be a part of this great Apex , sustainable,green family!its a true blessing and i am confident that i'll metarmorphose in the end of the journey.