Qabil Zahari
Dear Mom,
I hope you are not missing me too much back at home. I know how much you love pestering me
to drive you to shopping malls ever since I’ve got my driving license. But now, unfortunately, you only
have Dad to do it for you. But don’t fret Mom, I’ll be coming back home this summer and this time I’ll
drive you to every existing shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur because honestly, I am missing those times I
spent talking, laughing, and joking with you in the car. Reminiscing every moment made me realise how
I really treasure you in me.
These past 6 months in Newcastle had been unbelievable for me. Oh Mom, if I were to tell you
every single encounter I made every single day in the University, one letter won’t be enough I’d say. I am
glad that Dad had encouraged me to study here in the UK. It turned out to be better than I had imagined.
You know how fascinated I am towards science and meeting people, well my faculty is incredibly huge
and there are lots of people I am interacting with now. They even assigned me a personal tutor. He is
such a friendly person and I like talking to him. We usually discuss about my academics and sometimes
we talk about my future career. I know Mom, this is a serious matter but do not worry, I am in good
hands. Not to mention I also have a 3rd year mentor of my own. She consults my studies from time to
time, keeping me in the right track as a first year student. Apart from that, the laboratories here are
amazing. For the very first time, I learnt how to use machines. I won’t be only watching YouTube videos
anymore for centrifugation or spectrophotometry experiments. I am expected to handle more
sophisticated equipment later on according to my fellow seniors in 2nd and 3rd years. I can hardly wait!
Do you remember the last time you, Grandma and Aunt Da sent me a post with cooking recipes
and spices? I am happy to tell you that I can self-declare myself as a good cook now. I have made several
exquisite dishes for my friends, and they loved it. Can you believe that your pampered son now can
cook? You name it, dishes ranging from Eastern to Western cuisines. Amazing isn’t it. Now you can leave
dinner to big brother and me. Well, not all the time though. Do wait patiently for our return this
summer! I usually go to the markets in the City Centre to get my vegetables and fruits. They got a whole
variety of food and I do my groceries there every now and then. Some items can be pretty cheap,
especially when there are promotions and deals in big stores like ASDA, Tesco and Waitrose. There are
also lots of oriental food stores here in Newcastle as well! At first, I was quite surprised when I flipped
through a product and it was labelled ‘Made in Malaysia’, I bought it almost immediately. Not that I
really need it but I was just happy to see a part of my country is a part of another. There’s the bit of the
diversity I was looking for, no matter how small or insignificant it was but that somehow made me feel
more at home.
I have to tell you that there’s a family here whom I regard as my own. They live just blocks away
from where I am living in now so we usually bumped into one another either on the road or the metro.
They are a lovable family of 5. If they gladly include me in, it would actually be 6. Just by saying this you
can probably notice how close I am associating them with me. They are that important. I thank God for
bestowing upon me such great people in my life. I would love to tell you more about them but I believe
a letter alone would not be enough to describe the bond we forged even in just a few months. I’d rather
tell you in person when I get back. I’m sure you will come to love them too.
Qabil Zahari
The recent Easter holiday, I planned to visit big brother over in France but my friends and I
somehow ended up travelling up north to Scotland instead. We went all the way to Inverness via
Edinburgh, then down to Fort William and finally to Glasgow before returning back to Newcastle. We
rented a car because we prefer travelling on the road, enjoying the sceneries along the way. Scotland
was undeniably beautiful; the incomprehensible beauty of nature, the fine architecture of the buildings
in the cities and the vast sky scraping mountains. We stopped at every possible stopping point and took
numerous pictures with our fancy DSLRs. The view was indeed spectacular from every angle. It was
breath taking. I guess I am feeling what William Shakespeare felt in his play - ‘As You Like It ‘, where he
said, ‘I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it’-(Quote Act II, scene IV). A week after
returning to Newcastle, I took a ride on a cruise ship Mom! Guess where to? To Amsterdam! I am feeling
even luckier to study here. I used to think that I inherited Dad’s gene, because I travel whenever I get
the opportunity to do so just like he always does. The port of Tyne was big, not to mention the ships
there. I’ll tell you more of my 3 days 2 nights journey on the cruise next time. It requires its own story to
be written.
Mom, there’s a girl I like in my biomedical course. I’m at the brink of infatuation now. My
scientific friend told me scientifically that it is the rising surge of testosterone men usually experience at
my age. While I on the other hand, being more poetic and slightly less scientific feel that love is rather
irrational. It just happens when it wants to happen. Imagine in a lecture theatre consisting of 323
students, my eyes were fixed on only one person – mesmerised by her unparalleled beauty. By then I
figured Plato was right, ’Beauty is certainly a soft, smooth, and slippery thing, and therefore of a nature
which easily slips in and permeates our souls’. Fortunately for me though, the University lecturers were
so good in creating this ‘lecturing’ atmosphere, that I had no choice but to delve into their world of everevolving science and explore it with them. Physiology is and will always be my most favourite module
out of the three, Pharmacology being my personal least of favourites while Microbiology & Immunology
have been fairly interesting to me. Overall I love them all, no discrimination! Seminars are held quite
often to recap what we had learned in previous lectures. It helps sometimes for students like me who
usually needs to revise in a consistent manner otherwise I tend to forget what I had just learned. Well,
most of the time I will be revising in the medical school library. Every essential thing that I need is just
there. A café, computer clusters, and most importantly scientific journals and text books. But you can’t
compare it with the University’s main library. It has its own building. You have to come here and see for
yourself to believe how big it really is. Back to my initial point, my love story won’t distract me from my
studies, so no worries. For your information, I did quite well in my recent in-course tests. Just be glad
and happy that your son is living his life as a normal man here in a foreign land.
‘I doubted if I should ever come back,
I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less travelled by,
Qabil Zahari
And that has made all the difference.’
- Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Articulating these compelling emotions verbally to someone or writing it down on a piece of
paper just wouldn’t satisfy me. I have a dream. I want to do something that could create an impact on
someone’s life, something that could motivate other people. I want to let the world know how this
University has shaped me to become the person I am now. But ‘How to do it?’ was a question left
unanswered for several months. Not until Newcastle University once again gave me an opportunity to
fulfil this selfish dream of mine – through a film making competition ‘Through My Lens’. If I succeed in
winning this, it will be my greatest achievement yet since I’ve entered a University. So, after all those
hard work manifesting my feelings into reality, Mom, currently I am leading in this competition and
several parts of the world had already watched the film my friends and I made. My ‘Life-upon-Tyne’.
This is it. I am living my dream. I am portraying the life which I was and still so blessed with and sharing it
with the whole world. I am forever grateful to God for setting me in His plan. Thank you Mom, Dad. I
wouldn’t be experiencing what I am experiencing now without both of you playing such significant role
in my life and perhaps that has made all the difference. Well, looking forward to seeing you this summer.
Until then, take care.
Lots of love,
Qabil
P/S: Ask Dad to open the YouTube channel for you and have a look at my film. The title is Life-Upon-Tyne.
Hope you’ll enjoy it.