DESPITE no one in her family speaking the language, a woman from Butterworth, Penang, was so passionate about learning Mandarin that she pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Linguistics at Universiti Malaya, reported Sin Chew Daily.
Haifa Afrina Zulkifli (pic left), the second of six siblings, first learned Mandarin when she attended a Chinese vernacular school at the age of seven.
Speaking recently at a Secondary School SPM Chinese Language Excellence Award, Haifa Afrina said she was happy at school because she had many friends.
According to her, knowing Mandarin gave her an edge when seeking jobs. She recalled a mobile phone shop owner who hired her immediately upon discovering she could speak Mandarin, as most of the shop’s customers were Chinese.
Moreover, when she was looking for an internship, a company hired her for a sales position, even though their advertisement specified they were looking for someone with a biology background.
Because of this, Haifa Afrina pursued this course for her degree.
She said she was able to come this far thanks to the support from her family. As her father was the sole breadwinner, he was only able to afford Mandarin tuition for three of his children at any one time.
As Haifa Afrina had the best scores in Mandarin, her parents paid for her tuition throughout primary and secondary schools.
“As someone who is not Chinese, this was not an easy path for me. And yet, I’ve managed to come this far.
“If I can do this, it is even more possible for all of you!” she said.
> A man in China quit his postgraduate studies to become a street vendor selling mashed potatoes in Sichuan, reported China Press.
Fei said he dropped his postgraduate degree in Public Health at Fudan University in February last year as he wanted to do something different.
After spending a year at home, Fei tapped his experience of selling lanterns, balloons and mobile phone cards to set up his mashed potato stall.
Documenting his journey on social media, Fei said on his first day, a long queue of mostly his followers gathered to support him.
His food sold out in less than an hour, netting a profit of 700 yuan (RM427).
The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
