Preamble

 Hello, Everyone.

Maybe I will need to provide some background info for those who happen to drop by this blog of mine. To provide some sort of perspective of this journey of mine, and the information/ stories I share here.

I'm from Malaysia. A woman in her mid-40s with a husband and 3 primary-aged kids. I have been working in the Malaysian civil service for the past 18-odd years or so, holding multiple portfolios in multiple ministries.

Being in the service, as all civil servants who fulfills the criteria, I was eligible and successful in applying for the Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (Federal Training Grant), alhamdulillah. And to my surprise (although I shouldn't be since I applied for it 😝, but maybe it was from the shock of actually being successful after a few failed attempts!), my application to undertake my postgraduate overseas was approved. 

Syukur Alhamdulillah!

Please bear into mind, this wasn't my first time applying for it. (I think) This was like my... fourth time applying for it? Went for interviews twice (but failed, bummer), and the third time I applied, but wasn't able to attend the interview, due to work commitments.

So... fourth time's a charm!

I applied sometime in May or June 2021. Underwent the interview on August 5, 2021, and the results came out on October 16, 2021. Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA)(Public Service Department - PSD) had the briefing to all successful candidates on November 20, 2021. 

So all in all, the whole process took around 6 months, give or take.

That was the easy part (I think). Then came down to shortlisting the universities and countries I was interested in. Mind you, PSD requires their overseas candidates to select and list based on priority three (3) countries/ universities, and they would make the final decision.

So yeap. After much consideration, I listed 1) Australia, 2) UK and 3) New Zealand as my top 3 countries. And PSD ultimately agreed for Australia as my study destination.

I plan to move (temporarily) there with my husband and kids. Uprooting everyone and getting everything sorted in between is no joke, and an adventure on itself.

So there it is. Just some background or intro on the whole story behind this blog.

I (hope) to later on share the details on my preparations, applying for universities, visa, kids schooling, medical checkup, biometrics and other things that come along on the way.

I'm still in Malaysia as of this post. So Hopefully, once things progress more, will have things to share and update.

Till then, toodles~

Love,
Me~