Giving back

"Charity is for those in need"

Any amount of money can never replace the feeling of joy when you know you are able to help and give a little back to those who need it most. Last Thursday, as part of the EY Womens Network I joined with other EY colleagues in helping out at the Breast Cancer Haven in Fulham for the day. The charity opened in the year 2000 from a lady called Sara Davenport whose nanny suffered from breast cancer and wanted to create an environment for those who are affected by breast cancer away from the environment of hospitals which can at times be stressful to cancer patients. As I arrived in the morning at the Haven, I was impressed by the layout of the place. I was expecting a run down building but instead I arrived to a bright airy reception. The day started out with an introduction to the place by the Corporate Fundraiser-Maxine. She is as enthusiastic as you would think a fundraiser should be... We were split into groups and I wanted to help out with the gardening but the slots were taken up quickly by other people. Instead, I volunteered to wash the walls on all the floors around the building....it sounds really mundane but by cleaning the place up gives it a new lease of life.... In the afternoon, my team went to the streets around Fulham sending mail out promoting on the programmes run at the Haven and leaflets outlining what the charity did. When we were washing the walls we visited each of the floors we were able to gain an insight on the facilities available at the Haven. The Haven is a drop-in centre and the building consists of rooms where treatments such as acupuncture or counselling sessions take place. There are also rooms where classes like yoga and makeup classes take place. Each room has a name such as Rose, Lavender etc..which all have a homely feel to it. This was a recurrent theme throughout the whole place. In the lower ground floor, there is a working kitchen where volunteers come to cook for visitors to the Haven and also the staff working there. The volunteers cook recipes catered for visitors with various needs and even sell products (mainly organic in nature) to visitors who are interested.

The Haven offers series of cooking programmes for those who are undergoing treatment or those who have recovered from breast cancer... The volunteers were kind enough to cook us lunch as well. Food plays an important part in someone's recovery from cancer treatment therefore the ingredients used are important. The Haven is one of a kind in London and have expanded in another two locations in the UK. However, opening and maintaining a Haven costs money-fundraising is key... This charity is a small organisation so Maxine explained that initially when the Haven was opened they had to rely on high profile organisations to raise money in a short time. For example , last year they held a function at the Natural History Museum attended by celebrities. The cost of the ticket would only cover running the event therefore the charity relies on people spending money during the night e.g. at the charity auctions. In one night, you could potentially raise at least GBP50k in one night. However, due to the high costs of running the event and times of recession it is not possible to hold such events on a regular basis as people are not willing to spend as much money.

Therefore the Haven needs to expand ther network and raise awareness of the existence of charity. I raised the question whether funding is shared amongst other cancer charities like Cancer Research UK. Unfortunately, funding is not allocated across other cancer charities so each charity is to thier own although they do work together. The Breast Cancer Haven are trying to work with private medical insurance companies in order to provide specialist services with patients under these companies who may need it. In principle , the NHS are suppose to be doing this but due to the intense pressure NHS are already under it is not possible for NHS to provide palliative care to all of their patients. It is not easy to raise money consistently for a cause you believe in but if people believe in what the organisation is doing and feel strongly about it..there is still hope.

Throughout the day, I saw some of the visitors attending the classes such as the yoga classes and you can see from their faces that the Haven does make a difference in their lives. If I won the lottery, I would love to quit my job and spend my time working for various voluntary organisations and actually making a real contribution to this world...in issues such as health and world poverty..

Well, I may not win the lottery anytime soon so in the meantime I am trying to do whatever I can within my means to help out with various organisations... My future intention would be to get involved with the VSO -Voluntary Services Organisation but this may be put on hold after I move back home for good.

A few weeks ago, I ran in the Race for Life charity run at Hyde Park with two of my friends. It was a great day and thoroughly enjoyable...Cancer has affected us in one way or another...I have seen family friends suffered with their loved ones and close friends who have lost loved ones through this disease...The Race for Life day was an event of raising awareness on the disease as well as recognising the lives that have been lost and also to those who have survived through the research in this disease which would only happen through the funds raised by people fighting for the cause.

When I was doing my A-levels I had originally wanted to study medicine and become a doctor. However, I didn't feel that I could face the emotional challenges I would face in training as a doctor.

As corny as this may sound to you, I have tried to be a person who would always try to help people in whatever I can with no strings attached. I would like to think whatever I do is out of sincerity. This can sometimes make me appear as someone who is 'weak' and 'can be taken for a ride' but if that's what people think only God knows what my sincere intentions are. I'd rather be that person than someone who is selfish and thinks of what would be best for them and them alone...

I believe charity can come in any types of form..even a smile is a charitable need. When someone is feeling down-a smile from a stranger can brighten someone's day... I hope those of you who read this article would reflect on whether you try to do a charitable deed however small you think it is. Whatever charitable deed it may be, the impact can be greater than what you think to the particular individual so keep doing it. If you are interested in finding out about the Haven it is on http://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk

Contributing to the community-are you?

In this journey called life, we all need someone to look up to as a role model especially those who are less privileged than us..

I believe that these people often need the support and encouragement in order to succeed.
This is why contributing back to the community in schemes such as mentoring is a worthwhile cause.

I am currently involved in the Business School Mentoring Scheme at my workplace. The scheme is in partnership with schools in the London borough. The school which I was allocated to had been performing badly in the last few years but through the mentoring scheme and dedication of the teachers results have improved tremendously.

The scheme is straightforward, each of us are allocated a mentee who would be in Yr10 or Yr 11 in preparation for sitting the GCSE exams.Once a week or once a fortnight we meet our mentee for an hr session to discuss any areas in their schoolwork which they would like assistance on.

My mentee is Sakina -an Afghanistani girl who moved with her family to the UK nearly a year ago. Before she came to the UK she had been moving between Afghanistan and Pakistan with the family. Sakina is one of the few girls who was lucky enough to receive education in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was able to learn English through after school activities like the English Club.
This has allowed her to come over to the UK and the education system here.

The purpose of the mentoring sessions are to provide guidance to the mentees in their schoolwork in areas such as Maths, English and Science. Before the scheme, the mentees generally are struggling with their grades so as mentors we try to help by providing tips on studying or ways in which they can improve their work.
The teachers also set up after school sessions to help these mentees and we try to encourage them to participate in these sessions.

From my perspective, it is a rewarding experience as when I meet my mentee she is often pleased to see me and both of us look forward to the session.
Sakina is a hardworker and I can see she wants to achieve big dreams...and I believe her family has a strong influence on her as both her parents are working hard to make something of their lives. Her dad runs a takeaway restaurant and her mom is in college learning English. Her family are lucky compared to the other Afghanistani families who do not have the same privilege.

Couple of weeks ago my office held a Mentor Celebration evening to recognise the achievements of the mentees. Both Sakina and I received our certificates and it was an enjoyable evening where I took Sakina around our office to see what our working place is like.

Mentoring is a rewarding experience and it's not just rewarding for the mentee but as a mentor myself you discover things about yourself and able to contribute back to the community..

It is definitely a worthwhile cause which I will continue to participate in...so if there is something which you enjoy doing-think of ways in which you can do it towards a worthwhile cause..

A fresh start...

After four and a half years I finally took the leap to leave HCW for new pastures... I had been thinking of leaving audit ever since I had completed my three years practical experience but the relaxed work environment and the friends I had made in my old firm held me back from leaving. However after a certain point in time I had to think about my future and my plans of where I wanted to be therefore I decided to take the leap to find a new job.

Changing jobs is always a risky business especially in the ever competitive global environment we find ourselves but alhamdulillah I will be starting a new adventure and new challenges... HCW has been fun especially the fellow trainees who some of them will be friends I will have for life...

I had my leaving drinks at the Patch Bar. Although I wasn't drinking it was a fun night! The Patch bar is a "bar come club" type place...and spacious downstairs so there is plenty of room for people to boogie the night away with a variety of music which can fit to everyone's taste.... :) I stayed to the end which is rare for me but I'm glad I stayed to the end ..Thanks Mr M and d rest of the HCW crew for looking after me and making sure I had a fun night... :P
Gonna miss y'all especially those up on the 5th floor...you know who u are...

HM The Queen visits the St Bride's House-front door of my office!

Snapshot of the Queen passing the walkway in front of my office :) she's so lovely!

Queen comes to Horwath-my office!

Yesterday everyone in the office got an email from our Chief Exec that the Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh will be attending St Bride's church for a service. Since the church is beside our office we were invited to show support for the Queen by greeting her at the entrance walkway after her service.

Throughout the day everyone acted cool as if they weren't that bothered the Queen was coming but when it came to 3pm everyone started looking outside the window to se if the Queen had arrived.

I brought my camera to capture this rare moment because it isn't everyday you get to see the Queen in person right? So everyone who was in the office went down to greet her...and she looked lovely in her cute blue dress suit and hat. The Queen being "the Queen" has a certain air of elegance about her.....

She was so lovely :)

Auditors

This made me laugh...... :p

Auditor
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia.
Auditor, noun: an accountant with a grudge.
Contents

1 Life Cycle of an Auditor


2 Evolution of Auditors


3 Characteristics of Auditors


4 Auditors and Reproduction


5 Becoming an Auditor

1 Life Cycle of an Auditor

Auditors are a species of nomadic mammals, who came to Earth from the planet Debitor in the
1960s. Auditors are paperivores, and hunt in packs, known as audit teams. Each audit team is part
of a bigger tribe. There is much tribal rivalry and situations are subject to change as large tribes
seek to exterminate one another, but at the time of going to press, the ruling tribe in the audit world
was PWC (Pricks with Calculators).
An audit team typically changes its hunting ground every couple of weeks. Hunting grounds
normally take the form of offices, but may also include factories, shops, schools and hyperspace.
Any place of work is a potential source of nourishment to the paper-hungry auditor. All audit teams
have a leader, who runs ahead of the pack in search of an audit trail. Should he find something
suspicious, for example a file that has not been organized in alphabetical order, he will begin baying
to attract the attention of the rest of the pack. Once the pack has a sniff of the scent, they are
released upon the unsuspecting company, and tear around the offices of the internal accounts
department, hunting out similar transgressions. When they find another offending item, they will let
out a characteristic whoop of delight, and fall upon the filing cabinet, tearing the paperwork to
shreds with their bare teeth in their eagerness to devour it.
Audit packs have their own dens, known as home offices. The pack visits the office on average
once a month, in order to refuel on stationery. Auditors can survive several days and nights without
water, sex or sunlight but are liable to fall seriously ill if deprived of paper clips and yellow post-its.
These, along with Tippex, are considered special delicacies. Tippex is particularly high in nutrients,
and swallowing a small bottle of correction fluid before breakfast is widely believed to have
beneficial effects on an auditor's digestive system.

2 Evolution of Auditors
Among laypeople there is a common perception that auditors and accountants are the same thing.
Until 4 January 1972, this may or may not have been true. Before this time accountants and auditors
had rested secure in the knowledge that debit was the side nearest the window. This is the first
commandment of auditing, as given by Journalus Creditus and is believed by all auditors with a
deep religious devotion. On this fateful day, however, Pricks with Calculators opened a brand
spanking new den in the centre of London. Due to a tragic misunderstanding with the architect, a
terrible mistake occurred; namely, that the building was constructed on a corner. The result was that
the office now had windows on two walls. The accounting world was thrown into a dark and
terrible confusion and a dreadful schism occurred. One group believed debit was the side nearest the
window overlooking the high street, whilst the other could not be shaken from the conviction that it
was the window overlooking the multistorey carpark. The matter was referred to an independent
government committee, who eventually ruled that it was indeed the high street facing window.
Those accountants who had believed in the multi-storey carpark were distraught and flew into a
violent frenzy with much wailing and shredding of papers. They felt so embittered that they vowed
never to perform any constructive book-keeping tasks again. Instead they swore to roam the earth in
search of other people’s book-keeping mistakes, in an attempt to dull the pain of their own
unforgivable error. Initially they were content just to detail the errors in Audit Reports. The
recession of the 1980s, however, meant times soon became lean and it was then that the custom of
consuming erroneous paperwork was born.

3 Characteristics of Auditors
Whilst auditors come in both genders, males outnumber females in a ratio of 2:1. There is a good
evolutional reason for this since the first thing a trainee auditor must master is the art of doubleentry.
It is customary for large tribes of auditors such as Pricks With Calculators to send their new
recruits on month-long residential courses to practice this useful skill. For obvious reasons of
practicality, only one female auditor is required for every two men.
In general, the best time to spot an auditor is during the so-called Audit Season which runs from
January to April. Auditors with their distinctive pin-stripe plumage will be present in large numbers
in all major offices, factories and places of work. If you think you have seen an auditor, approach
with caution. Avoid making eye contact, as this may be viewed as antagonistic. Should the auditor
begin to behave aggressively towards you, asking what proportion of your contingent liabilities you
consider probable, the best advice is to shout "Enron!" and run very fast in the opposite direction.
This will make the auditor in question shrivel up and die.

4 Auditors and Reproduction
Stocktaking is a strange version of foreplay peculiar to auditors. The audit pack will arrive at an
industrial site at 6am in the morning and demand to know how many widgets they have. The
auditors will then spend many happy hours counting the widgets and comparing their results to the
figures on the company stock system. The more unexpected discrepancies that they find, the more
sexually aroused they become. If at the end of the day they conclude that the company has been
overstating their widgets, they will spontaneously orgasm en masse and begin to practice their
double-entry by way of celebration. It doesn’t have to be widgets; it could be grains of sand. So
long as its something which there is absolutely no value in counting, it will do the trick.

5 Becoming an Auditor
In order to become an auditor, it is necessary to pass the initiation rites of the ICAEW. There is a
common misconception amongst laypeople that these initials stand for the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of England and Wales. In fact, they represent the Institute of Calculator Addicts and
Excel Worshippers. Trainee auditors spend many years at auditing colleges, where they study
diverse subjects including BF (Better Filing), BM (Being Miserable) and FR (Finding Romance). In
order to become officially qualified it is necessary to achieve a high pass in BF and BM combined
with a bad fail in FR.
If reading this article has made you feel you would like to become an auditor, you are advised to
seek immediate psychiatric help.
Retrieved from "http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Auditor"

Looking forward.........

Hey peeps,

Hope you all had a good week. This week has been another hectic week for me. I was at a charity audit this week for an organisation called British Limbless Ex Service Men Association(BLESMA).

The organisation provides aid to ex service men e.g. chiropody treatment or various other treatments and support they or their families might need. Members are mainly ex service men from WW2. I wonder if Malaysia have something similar set up back home?

I have always been interested in working in charities and I've had more exposure in seeing how charities are set up since I started work here. When I was at uni, all I wanted to do was get a good degree and get a good high flying job which earned enough money. But as I grew older our priorities change. After I qualify (eventually!) I want to try to avoid going to the obvious routes many people I know have gone into i.e. investment banking. It just doesn't interest me and I know I would be pretty crap at the job because I have no interest in stocks and shares.

This may sound corny and perhaps a naive view but I want to make a difference in the world. People see accountants as people who merely prepare accounts ..it's worse for us auditors cuz most people think we just A.U.D.I.T (i.e. All U Do Is Tick)

I want to use the skills that I have into something more useful (yes! us auditors do more than tick and bash y'know! :p ) I would love to gain experience working for Voluntary Service Organisation ( V.S.O). If you haven't heard of the organisation before, it's a charity organisation but different from any other organisation. It doesn't just provide aid but it looks for experienced professionals from all areas i.e. doctors, engineers, accountants, scientists etc. Basically you volunteer yourself and in return you can participate in various projects around the world where your expertise are needed.

For example if a village in India want to set up a clinic in one of the rural areas, but do not have sufficient resources like a management to build and run the clinic. An organisation like V.S.O could help e.g. volunteer members who are doctors who can train local people to become nurses and doctors. Volunteer members who are engineers can provide expertise in terms of the logistics in building the clinic itself. Volunteer members who are accountants can train the local people to teach them basic bookeeping and basic rules of management in running a clinic.

The best thing out of this organisation is everyone has a part to play and by passing our knowledge we can help people. Knowledge is something precious because people can learn from themselves and hence will be able to help themselves in the long term development.

I hope that I will be able to get involved in these types of projects.....at least it's an incentive for me to keep my head down and pass this last ever paper!!

If any of you are interested in finding out more about the organisation just click on the VSO link in my blog.

Flying on a jet plane....

Sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while.

These last few weeks have been hectic to say the least i.e. work, xmas parties and meeting up with my peeps.

I've been away in Colchester this week for work. Based on what my client told me Colchester is one of the oldest towns in UK and was built up by the Romans all those years ago.

Unfortunately due to job deadlines I didn't really have much time to tour around the town.

On our first night in Colchester my colleague and I went out for Christmas dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was one of those random nights.

First of all, my colleague and I got lost walking to the restaurant. I am really bad at directions except if I can remember landmark buildings. So if you ask me to read an orientation map...sorrylah there is a high probability I will get u lost! hehehe...

Eventually (after a lot of walking around going in circles).. we reached the restaurant and sat down for a Xmas dinner. Suddenly this waiter comes up to me and asked where I came from. I said I was Malaysian and it turned out the waiter was Malaysian too but he had not been back for 35 years!!!!! A rare coincidence to meet another fellow Malaysian in a small town like Colchester.

Throughout the night he would come up to our table for a little chat and we discovered a lot about this interesting guy. His dad was in the Air Force and later brought the whole family to settle down in UK 35 years ago. He attended school in the UK and left school to train as a waiter in one of the top hotels : Dorchester Hotel. He then continued to work in cruise liner ships and moved to Florida to work in the restaurants in Disneyland. He now owns a house in Florida and planned to settle there but had to come back to UK in order to send his son to college here due to some family problems. I asked him whether he would ever settle down in Malaysia again.

He said at this moment in time..the answer is no because he felt that he was Westernized and couldn't adjust back into the culture and life in Malaysia. I felt sad for him because he no longer feels Malaysia is his home anymore.

For me...my heart will always be in Malaysia and I consider it my home. It's strange because if I look back at my life ...12 years of my life has been in UK yet I still feel closer to life in Malaysia. Maybe it's because of the way I have been brought up. Despite all the negative things we often complain about Malaysia i.e. mentality of some people in Malaysia, the non existent work-life balance I feel more at ease settling into the culture and life in Malaysia than in UK. At this moment in time..I still see myself settling back home in maybe three or four year's time.

Who knows...only time will tell.

Anyways, this time tomorrow I will be flying off on a jet plane back home to KL to see my beloved ones for three weeks....So those of you in KL, insya-Allah we will meet up sooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trip to Torquay

The only thing I love about my job is the people I work with and the chance to travel to places I would probably never think of going to visit ( all expenses paid!). This week, I've been working in Torquay situated on the South West of England.
We were lucky with the weather as it was a warm and sunny week. ( amazing considering how unpredictable British weather is like! )

I went to Torquay with my work colleague Bev. We were pleasantly surprised to be there...it was like the British version of the " French Riviera ". After work, we decided to walk along the Torquay Harbour. The town was buzzing with people and it was nice walking along the harbour. There were old couples sitting by the dock watching the world go by, there were families with little kids running around eating their ice creams and there were young couples strolling along the harbour.

I would just love to have a place along the seaside...imagine waking up in the morning smelling the fresh breeze of the sea..........

Torquay was very hilly...our hotel was just a 15 min walk to the beach yet it felt like 30 min walk because we had to walk up a very steep hill every morning but we didn't complain. It was good exercise after the breakfast we had every morning!

Bev had to go back to London on Wed night but I had to stay on until the end of the week to finish off the work. I didn't mind though...

I took the train from Torquay which would pass through Exeter before going back up towards Reading.
The weather was great and the views from the train were fabulous. I took the opportunity to take a few snapshots from the train...

It was one of the best views of the coast I have ever seen.
As the train passed by, kids from the beach were waving at us and making sandcastles...I felt like jumping off and joining them...hehehe

It has been an amazing week...I would definitely love to go and discover more amazing places like this one.......

These are a couple of snapshots I managed to take whilst I was on the train. Sorry...it's a bit out of focus....the train was whizzing along as I was taking the pictures.










My fav pic from the train...:)