Sunday 16 June 2019

MBA UiTM : Second Semester Review

MKT750 : Marketing Management

  • Lecturer : Dr Carol
  • We need to produce a marketing plan at the end of the module. So the classes throughout the month were building up for the final presentation on the marketing plan.
  • I teamed up with N, Hazir and Zawan (as usual 😂). So easy to work with these bunch, Alhamdulillah. We did a piece on Farm Fresh and distributed a questionnaire to 168 respondents [Thank you to everyone who helped!]
  • I had such a great time designing the whole presentation deck (I doubt I can have this kind of creative freedom at my office)
  • Dr Carol said what we did is already final-thesis worthy. Wohoooo!!!




  • We also did case study presentations, article reviews and studied Shark Tank videos. Never thought I'll be the one to enjoy Marketing subject, but I did. For once! 😂




BRM681 : Business Research Method


  • Lecturer : Associate Professor Dr Abdul Rahman Bin Abdul Rahim
  • This class took a toll on my non-existent social life since Dr insisted to not combine the classes. Hence, we had classes on both Saturday (2-6) AND Sunday (9-1)
  • After the first class, we understood why. Hahahaha. It was super taxing!
  • Basically, this class is the introductory class for our thesis project
  • For EMBA students, the thesis timeline is as follows;
    • 2nd semester : Register for the Business Research Method subject where you'll learn the basics of a thesis, submit the research proposal (Chapter 1 - 3) for assessment and attend a 6-hour SPSS workshop. The research proposal may be used for the actual thesis or you can just take this opportunity to learn. The grade for this subject is either pass or fail. 
    • 3rd semester : Thesis preparation is to be carried out throughout the semester, as there is no dedicated subject for it. Milestones include identification of research topic, advisor and submission of the research proposal. 
    • 4th semester : And finally, the most crucial semester where the final report is to be submitted and the nerve-wracking ViVA itself. 
  • And oh! For MBA program at UiTM, the thesis must be applied research. You need to find one real-life company, with a real-life problem and try to solve it. A totally different concept from all the articles in journals 😅

  • Alhamdulillah, we just presented for 5 minutes with very minor comments from Dr Abdul Rahman and it's approved for submission! And trust me, it's very difficult to satisfy him 😂 some group took as long as 45 minutes!!
  • For Accounting students, I bet you felt like the topic is very easy. I felt the same way, too. Haha If it's up to me, my preferred topic would be 'The Relationship Between Financial Reporting Quality and Firm Performance in Khazanah Owned Companies' but that's not applied research. It's okay tho. Hoping we can bring forward this topic for the actual thesis later. 
  • The 6-hour SPSS session turned out to be super-duper helpful, too. We had the workshop with Dr Shereen Noranee.
  • Other than that, we had to do article critique, journal review and theoretical exam on research methodology



ECO740 : Economic Analysis
  • Lecturer : Dr Arlinah Abd Rashid
  • Our first experience of class during Ramadhan (tiring)
  • This was also the only calculation subject for the semester and ohhh I felt like my neurons are working again 😍
  • We were assessed through individual assignment, group assignments, case study and exams.




The result will be out on 9th August.
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Friday 14 June 2019

Recipe : Authentic Pad Krapow (Thai Basil Chicken)

By Mark Wiens


I’ve always commented on how bad the pad krapow is in Malaysia so here’s the authentic (and easy) way to do it!

So pad means fry and krapow refers to the krapow leaf which is a staple to the dish.
I always said, if you don’t have the krapow leaf, don’t bother making pad krapow.


But of course, many recipe substitutes krapow leaf with basil leaf etc
You can do that of course, but it won’t taste and smell as good.

For such an easy recipe, it is extremely frustrating that I can’t get a decent pad krapow in Malaysia (my best bet so far is the stall nearby Jaya One/UM).


Ingredients
  • Thinly sliced chicken breast / minced meat
  •  Krapow leaf (daun ruku/tulasi)
  • Garlic
  • Chilies
  • Oyster sauce
  • Light soy sauce
  • Dark soy sauce
  • Palm sugar/sugar


Of course, the most critical ingredient is the krapow leaf. Thankfully, it is famous among our local Indians. My mom bought the plant from Indian sellers at the market and grow them herself.

What I love most about the recipe is that it’s easy and like a true Asian, you can just main agak-agak the measurement and adjust the taste accordingly.


Steps
  • Pound the garlic and bird eye chilies in a mortar and pestle (more garlic will make the dish taste better). They don’t need to be super fine though.
  • Heat the wok (high heat works best) and add 2 tablespoon of oil
  • When the oil is hot, add the pounded garlic and chilies. Stir fry for about 30 seconds; not too long.

  • Once it became fragrant, add in the protein (chicken or meat) and stir continuously. If it became too dry, add in tiny splashes of water (not too much!)
  • Add 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, ½ teaspoon of light soy sauce, some sugar and a dash of dark soy sauce (sugar and dark soy sauce can be substituted with kicap manis) Do adjust the taste accordingly.
  • When the chicken are nearly cooked, add in a handful of krapow leaf (the more the better) then immediately turned the heat off. It only takes about 5 seconds for the leaf to cooked and it will wilt naturally. Cooked it too long and they will lose their distinct smell and taste.
  • Best served with fragrant rice and a sunny side up fried egg.

Toodles!
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Sunday 9 June 2019

Personality Test [Update]

It's amazing how one's personality changes over the years. 

I've wrote two posts on personality tests previously (Link here, here and here).

In 2013, I took the Adjusted DISC test during one of Yayasan Khazanah's event and in 2016 I took the Reasoning Ability Test during MyPAC's interview.

Upon joining my new company, I had the chance to sit for both of these tests and this post, really is just about comparing the test results from back in 2013/2016 with 2018.


DISC Profile


This test basically tries to identify the two most dominant behaviors of any individual. 


My previous dominant characteristics were Supportive and Cautious but now, it's Dominant and Cautious.

I found it amazing that my dominance score used to be 25 and it increased exponentially to 70. 
I guess I'm really turning into my mother, the most dominant female force I knew 😂
Now that I'm getting older, I notice I had less patience on trivial matters.

Not much of a surprise at the low score I got on I-inspiring. I don't talk much, I don't appreciate small talks and I'm far from spontaneous.





Reasoning Ability 
There are 5 elements of the test; logical reasoning, logical process, spatial reasoning, social context and numerical reasoning.

Reasoning ability is the process of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing and synthesizing information gathered from observation, experience or reflection. Reasoning ability is essential to many intellectual activities such as problem solving, learning on the fly and the agility to change. 

Above 80 : High
Below 20 : Low

Not much different there which is totally understandable as it does not ties much to personality but mostly, it correlates with intelligence.

I'm looking forward to sit for these test again in the future to see how much I develop / improve / change.
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Tuesday 4 June 2019

Recipe : Kuih Makmur


Not to be biased, but my mom made the best kuih makmur in the world 💖 Nothing even came close to the goodness of her melt-in-your-mouth, fragrant cookie. 

In the spirit of festivities, I'm gonna share the full recipe as well as the tips and tricks.




So these are the 6 ingredients; butter, wheat flour, peanuts, vegetable oil, powdered sugar and ghee. 

Measurement;
  • 500g of wheat flour
  • 500g of blended roasted peanuts
  • 2 tablespoon of ghee
  • 5 tablespoon of melted butter
  • 5 tablespoon of vegetable oil
  • Powdered sugar 

Step by Step
  1. Dry roast the peanuts on minimum heat until they turned brown (evenly) and fragrant. Make sure it is constantly stirred to avoid being burnt. [sangai kacang]
  2. Transfer the peanuts into a big bowl and rub them together to loosen up the skin; which by now should be crispy and easy to remove
  3. Pick and choose the clean peanuts (pro tip : dump them in a big tray and just blow the skin away 😎)
  4. Blend some of the peanuts until no chunks can be found (keep some for the filling)
  5. Dry roast the flour. This will ensure the cookie mix to be light and airy! 
  6. Now comes the easy part. Mix the blended peanuts with roasted flour
  7. Add the melted ghee and butter (too much ghee is a big no-no as it has a distinct smell)
  8. Mix the dough evenly
  9. Add in the vegetable oil. If the dough is too crumbly, add more vegetable oil as needed
  10. Roll the dough into marble size and insert a peanut in the center.
  11. Bake the cookies for 20mins at 180C (depends on your oven)
  12. Allow the cookie to cool for about 5 minutes and gently roll em in the powdered sugar.



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