And NOW, that my Blog has been revamped, I am entitled to say a few words.
How have I been? Okay i suppose, U know, being in a long distance relationship and being in Kota Bahru are very taxing for me. My flying progress has been slow, only 75 hours in 25 months. I hope I finish fast, though, ultimately its all gonna be in God's hands when and where i finish. That doesn't mean that I won't do my best of course, but I'm certain that in God's eyes, I'm on track, no matter how woefully late i believe myself to be. I believe that in everything we do, trust the Lord, but at the same time, we're called to fight the battles that we can fight, and if we can't, if our strength is not enough, then we look up at our Heavenly Father and wait for his intervention.
As Christians, we're often put in many difficult situations. Sometimes we're called to do things against our better judgment and convictions. Let me share one of my experiences. In flying, we're often called to do our best, because our lives and the lives of so many others depends on our skills. However, there are certain short sighted groups of people who often sacrifice the quality of their skills for speed.
In my experience flying here, sometimes we're asked to falsify the hours that we fly. For example, a person may only fly 1 hour, but many would enter 1.5 hours so that they will graduate faster. This practice is not only condoned by the school management, but it is also encouraged by certain parties who pressure cadets to falsify their flown hours in return for more sorties. Cadets that do not do this, are often left behind in terms of hours and not only that, the allocation of sorties to these cadets is stunted by the operations crews, because in their eyes:-
1) these cadets do not wish to expedite their own graduation
2) they will have to allocate you more sorties for you to finish, whereas your more "agreeable" peers will take much much less time to finish, with less sortie allocation. This means less work for the operations crew, and less of YOU to tie up the aircraft.
The problem is, being a pilot is a hands on thing, and not only THAT, we're pressured to cheat ourselves AND our parents by doing this. We, as pilots, need the hands on experience to learn how to fly properly. Doing this is not only ILLEGAL, but it impairs our ability to fly an aircraft safely. Sure, there are still the tests u say, but one can pass those tests even with just a few hours. As a future captain, I feel that i owe it to my passengers to be the best pilot i can be, and that means gaining valuable hands-on experience. Only minimal requirements are needed to pass those tests and frankly, we should be all that we can be, not just be content to make the minimal requirements.I'm sure many would disagree with me on this but to further prove that this is a wasteful and overall WRONG way of doing things, its about RM500 per-hour to fly solo. With an instructor its almost RM1000 (all of this is said to the best of my understanding of the rates here).
To my Christian brothers and sisters, when the world tries to push u into a corner, make a stand. My outspoken outbursts regarding this issue has made me quite the unpopular person in my batch. Many would say that this is the "reality" or "culture" here, therefore, one should just go with the flow. Friends, we MAKE "reality". Culture comes from people. If you want change, then it is up to you to make a stand, however small, to effect that change. We can't just go on being like the rest of the world for ignorance or convenience sake. Christians aren't like that. We're called to be different, to stand up against oppression and to stand up for what we know is right. Don't be discouraged if people hate you. Jesus says that no slave is greater than his master, and because they hated him (blameless and sinless) they will hate you as well. Trust in the Lord for you protection and deliverance.
To any other pilots reading this, we owe it to our profession and to our passengers to uphold the highest standards of honesty and professionalism in our industry. To those short-sighted individuals who can only see into the next 6 months, think again. One day your lack of skill and experience will be brought into the light for all to see. Remember, ultimately, REAL lives are on the line and there is NO ROOM for ERROR. Pray then, that you will never be called upon to use the skills that you were supposed to have learned here at school in an emergency.
Another thing, let me again congratulate my Christian brothers who have stood up against their batch during the recent exams. I know that a few of you have been asked to help them cheat and "anchor" the batch. For those of you who do not know what "anchor" means, u can always PM me or MSN me and I will tell you. Its far too disgusting to write here. Congratulations on a job well done following your convictions and not giving in to peer pressure.
Many a time, we're called to be different from the rest of the world. Being beacons of light isn't easy when the world only wants darkness. We're called to stand firm, and look to the Lord for deliverance.
Prayer requests:
Please pray that God protects me for the remainder of my training, and that I will get a good job when i graduate. For those of you who are wondering, I'm aiming for MAS first, then Firefly then MASWINGS. Last is Airasia, but in reality, I'll take anything I can get. Also, please pray for my family, that God'll protect them and use them greatly to further His Kingdom. If anyone needs me to pray for them, list it in the comments and I'll gladly pray for you. :)
God Bless you all.
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