2008 has been a rather busy year for me mainly due to my decision to further my study at the Master’s level. For me, It was a good and timely decision as apart from getting immerised into the world of academics and research, I’ve opened up my horizon on a lot of things, thanks to the exposure I obtained from various conferences and conventions that i attended. Of course, there are some obstacles that I faced in 2008 but very minimal and I can say it’s been a splendid smooth year for me. So to make things simple, I have categorised some of my achievements according to the level of importance. Haha.

Major Achievements [5 Stars]

• Completed 70% of my research-based Master’s degree project (Officially started in Jan 2008, expected completion in August 2009)
• Published 5 conference papers (empirical and theoretical) and 1 journal publication. (Not bad for a novice researcher like me)
• Marked my presences in the field of Instructional Design, E-learning and Human Factors. I am very delighted for being able to meet with established academics in the field.
• Inspired the kids around my house at Desa Ilmu (Lorong 6) in learning English. Give off-school classes to them at a minimal charge (mainly to cover the photocopying cost, some kids are taught for FREE)  from Standard 2 to Form 2 and their results increased tremendously in less than 2 months, much to the delight of their parents. Sadly, I had to leave them after moving to a new house. Occasionally when i met their parents at the nearby supermarket, they couldn’t stop thanking me as their kids are keen to learn English now. And that’s priceless!

Important Achievements [4 Stars]

• Became a certified member of Malaysian Information Technology Society (MITS)
• Became a certified member of Malaysian Educational Technology Association (META)
• Donated a total of RM2,500 to various charitable and non-governmental organisations (which includes Malaysian Aids Council, Force of Nature Aid Foundation, Malaysian Red Crescent Society, Mercy Malaysia, Yayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia, World Youth Foundation, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, St John Ambulance of Malaysia). A small amount and i hope to increase that, year by year and of course participate in their events as often as i could.
• Saved a total of 4 stray cats at Desa Ilmu and 2 in my kampung (Tanah Merah). Hate cruelty on animals!

Satisfactory Achievements [3 Stars]

• My blog reached its 100,000 unique hits milestone in July 2008.
• Improved my programming knowledge and skills in Java, C++ and Visual Basics.

Ok-lah Achievements [2 Stars]

• Winner of Exabytes 7th anniversary Contest. Was among the 6 lucky winners (The first gets an iPod 8GB, the remaining 5 get an exclusive T-Shirt]

Not-so-Important Achievements [1 Star]

• Accepted and completed a few web projects, which include the UPM distance-learning website.

Well,  I do pray 2009 will be better despite all the negative effects of the global financial crisis. Financial apart, there are more important things that we need to look into. Global warming, poverty, non-stop political turmoil, etc. Just hope it won’t deter us from our goal and direction.

Hopefully, 2009 is going to be a bullish year!