Life in Motion: Praising Myself

I can never, repeat, never get bored with this sort of geographical appearance spanning three states. Panoramic horizon spanning the field of view, dotted with rust monoliths shaped over the years by wind erosion. Hardy green trunks growing out of parched ground; fighting to live - somewhat similar to my life.

"Tell us more about yourself", I was asked.

"Impress us. You have one minute", added another.

"I'm Julian and I'm as ordinary as anyone could be", I began, rather carefully. Softly at the beginning. "I love what I do and the reason I'm in it is purely for knowledge and to a lesser extent, to make life better".

It wasn't perfectly structured then but I'm sure it got across. I remembered saying, "I'm an introvert".

"Introvert", someone repeated.

"Let's begin", said the man on the left.

How was I going to praise myself? Whilst some can do it, I just can't. I just don't have qualities that will match the adjective people use when praising themselves. All I did was summing up myself with a word and I thought I'd do better.

But how am I going to tell them, civil servants, that I'm opinionated and critical of the present government? Or to take a shot at the education system? Would they be interested in how I weave my magic through words and wordplay? Would they care if I'm crazy with people I'm familiar with? How'd would they react to my sob stories regarding the monetary difficulties I'm going through? Would they sit up straight and leaned forward with glistening eyes if I tell them I love kids and decided to practice medicine pro bono?

And there I was in the room thinking how I'd tell them about me. Surely they wouldn't give a damn about what I do and the aforementioned things may well sweep a girl off her feet but not three men firmly glued to their seats, some weighing in excess of 70kg I may add.

My supervisor got a call from the panel of firmly-seated guys and the topic was introvertness. Good thing she said something like, "If you talk Science with him then he'll be the total opposite of introvert".

Nah, I can't help it. Maybe I'd do better next time but I can't bring myself to praise myself. I can't masuk bakul angkat sendiri (a Malay saying literally means getting into a basket and personally carry it).

Guess I won't pass a job interview *smile* but that one wasn't a job interview. It's a scholarship interview from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)

For the time being, I'll carry on. Forward. The sun is setting and a shadow is cast over the horizon and the monoliths appear bigger now, eeriely resembling a rock golem. The green trunks appear like sentinels on both sides of the road.

I just love where I am right now. The air's dry and the sky's almost clear. I start the engine and the radio crackled to life. Johnny Tillotson's Poetry in Motion had just begun. Ah, it'd be a heavenly journey, even if it's only for a few miles.

...Poetry in motion

Walkin' by my side

Her lovely locomotion

Keeps my eyes open wide...