Being the Editor of Niexter

So, have you got your copy of Niexter today?? Well, if you haven’t, which seems quite obvious, go grab one! Actually, I am the editor for this week’s edition of Niexter, so I do hope you can tell me how is this edition of Niexter on the overall.

This week’s issue is explained in brief in the Editor’s Diary that I wrote below:

This issue commemorates and celebrates the achievements of Alicia Loh, who at the age of 13, has published her own novel.


Though she suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, she remains strong, seeing the positive side to everything she experiences. She even maintains a blog to share her thoughts.


We have also featured words of encouragement and inspiration, and showcased prominent individuals who have achieved much despite being ridden with disabilities.


People like Alicia have risen above countless obstacles to achieve their dreams in life. To simply put it to perspective – Where there be a will, there be a way. Where there be no will, there be no way.

Working as an editor for this issue of Niexter has been a very enjoyable experience, and a hectic one too to a certain extent. I have Aunty Mary, the manager of the NIE Department, and Aunty Hazlina to thank for giving me this invaluable oppurtunity.

Not only that, but via me being given the chance to be the editor, I feel I have improved, however little, my sense of coordination and things like that. Moreover, I have learnt how to communicate with the group members and also in getting others to contribute their writing.

It was a last minute call-up for our group, but we were up to the task nonetheless. Usually, there would be two weeks or more to fully prepare, but we had our meeting on one fine Friday and almost everything was sent in by the following Monday.

I have to thank Radhika, who despite being an editor in her own entity, she helped me in finding my feet as she had the experience that I was lacking initially. And also Kelly and Susmita who make up the rest of the team. Let me not forget the graphic artists too, who have done a superb layout.

The best part of all of this is that I got to know Alicia Loh. Though I didn’t interview her, but just getting to know her personality has been a great source of inspiration. As you would already know, at the tender age of 13, she is the proud author of ‘The Last Chapter’, and her book is reviewed in this edition of Niexter too. With me being an aspiring writer, this only serves as a further source of motivation for me.

Besides Alicia, some research was done by a fellow Niexter, Elsheba, on prominent personalities who have beaten the odds to reach great heights in their lives. The three people that have been written on are Stevie Wonder, Marla Runyan and Helen Keller. I also did a short write up on Nor Umairah, a Malaysian girl who achieved amazing results despite having to write with her feet.

So, that is basically the gist of this edition of Niexter. To read more, just grab a copy of today’s NST and dig through for the Niexter pullout. Additionally, do look out for the issue due in the first week of March as it has got something to do with this issue. I’d rather not spill the beans here. So, do remember to grab that copy too!

Goals for the Year 2010

I have got a great feeling that 2010 will be my best year yet. OK - fine! I am only 16 years of age, but still, I feel it is good to set goals, goals of high standards and quality, so that your path to become a somebody in life can be fulfilled a tad more easily.

I am aware of the fact that it is 20 days into the new year, but there are another 344 days left to go, so don't think that I am late in setting my goals! I just want to have a concerted go at successfully accomplishing all these goals, although what I want to achieve may not entirely depend on me.

I hope to achieve notable success in an assortment of fields, but this year, my major goals are mostly centered around mainstream writing and blogging, and of course getting good grades for my major exam - the much dreaded SPM examinations!

Here, I have listed all my goals for the present 2010 year. The goals are broken down into three sub-categories, 3 stars, 4 stars and 5 stars. Goals that have been accomplished will appear in Orange. I will update this at the end of every month to serve as my checklist.

You may see some goals that may make you think I am an oblivious clown who builds castles in the air, but NO! Nothing is impossible. If I do not achieve some of the goals, I would be alright. Just that the more I can accomplish, the better I will feel. Haha, what a hypothesis.

3 *** Stars

> Continue writing in the New Straits Times pullout Niexter, a paper by junior journalists and be an editor of the paper too.

> Win my school's squash championships, the Kepong Open. Well, actually, I have to retain the title as I won it last year.

> Be a featured blogger in the Star newspaper pullout R.AGE and be featured on their website too.

> Join the Star's junior journalism program, called BRATs in a bid to widen my experience in the writing field.

> Join my school debating team and be on the podium in the district level at least.

4 **** Stars

> Write a feature article in the international-level Sikh community magazine, The Sikh Review.

> Be chosen as Nuffnang’s blogger of the month.

> Feature in the third season of Project Alpha, an online documentary on Malaysian bloggers.

> Write an opinion piece in the main New Straits Times paper as a columnist.

> Achieve Google Page Rank 4 for my blog.

> Obtain 100 marks for Additional Mathematics in the major exams.

5 ***** Stars

> Get my short story that I sent in for a review to be published in an anthology.

> Get enough nominations to be a finalist in the 2nd Nuffnang Blog Awards.

> Make it to the national level of the Spell It Right contest organized by NST.

> Be a finalist of the tentatively scheduled inaugural Young Entrepreneur Startup challenge for schoolchildren organized by Moneytree.

> Get an interview regarding my blog published in any of the major newspapers in the country.

> Obtain 10 straight A's in my SPM examinations.

My First Blogging Recognition

Just like how an average human being would feel, I always wanted myself to be featured in the newspapers – be it me writing an article or an article being written about me. Either way, by any of the two methods above, you will get recognition and stuff like that from the public.

The first one, writing an article, was settled last year November. I had my debut articles in the NST’s pullout Niexter, a pullout for teens by us teens. Since then, I have written consistently and I really love it.

That left the second option – that is being written about, yet to be completed. If you asked me a year ago if it was possible for me to be featured in any newspaper for that matter in the foreseeable future, my answer would have been an obvious NO.

But, somehow or another, I have been featured in the Star newspaper, and of all the worldly reasons, for my blog. The truth is I just started blogging just a little more than 2 months back. Being featured as a blogger in the Star newspaper’s R.AGE pullout and website is a great honour to me. It is, as I would say, a prelude, or rather a stepping stone to greater achievements in the near-future.

The column in R.AGE where bloggers are featured.

(Click for a better view)

As my blog is featured on R.AGE's website

How did I manage to do it? Come to think of it, it did not require much work. One day, I came upon Niki Cheong’s blog, and he happens to be one of those in charge of the R.AGE issue that is published every Wednesdays in StarTwo.

As I regularly visited his blog, I used to explore the other features too. And while surfing, I came across R.AGE. I am not a Star newspaper subscriber, so I didn’t know anything about it. From there, I visited R.AGE’s website, @ http://www.rage.com.my/ , and saw the featured bloggers column.

I thought why not give it a try eh? It would be cool to be featured in the papers. So I wrote in a brief e-mail, and not too long later, I got a reply from Niki stating I had successfully been chosen as this week’s featured blogger. He asked me to give a brief description of myself and what-not so that was about it.

This is my first blogging achievement, and I most definitely hope not my last. Additionally, I keep my fingers crossed I got featured on merit – not because of petty reasons such as nobody else sent in their blog for consideration. I mean, come on. That would be a far too lame reason to be featured!

Now that in two months I have got my first major mainstream recognition, I hope to keep this run going. It is my sincere hope that I get featured as Nuffnang’s blogger of the month sometime soon. I sent in my blog for consideration sometime back so I’ll just have to wait and see.

This recognition from R.AGE will come a long way in helping me to become an established blogger. I know it for a fact that if I can keep on writing productive reader-friendly stuff, the visitors will stream in, and together with that, bigger blog-related awards.

Till then, many thanks to Niki Cheong and those behind R.AGE for giving me this invaluable opportunity to get featured in the newspaper.