Hi, this is Captain Dex on board!! This page of mine is created to win the contest “Blog and Become A Pilot” and only for the eyes of those who think I can do it!!

What you all are about to see is the dream of my life and how it all began. Owh ya many will be thinking it’s all about more marching stories as I am a very active member in my uniform unit and also the top in marching. Well, they are so wrong. This is about my dream of becoming a commercial pilot.

It all began when I was in primary 6. Aunty Wai had been so generous that she made me an offer; a KL trip by flight in exchange for a minimum of 3As’ in my UPSR examinations. There it was, an opportunity of a lifetime. I can’t say that I didn’t put all my best efforts in keeping my side of the bargain, but by luck (and a little help from above), I managed to achieve my quota. So there I was, on the plane, for the very first time.

The first time I flew with AirAsia, I managed to get myself into the cockpit. Mind you, not everyone is given such a chance, so you could imagine my excitement of how eager I was to accomplish my aim. That very experience indeed, strengthened my determination to give my best, no matter what it took.

While in the cockpit, I told the captain of my ambition, and of how much research I had done on it. To my surprise, the captain decided to give me a lil’ pop quiz. And to HIS surprise, I managed to answer each and every one of it correctly. “Wow! You really did do your research,” said the captain. Those words of encouragement brought me great comfort, realizing that hard work truly does pay off.

My passion to fly grew even more when my late father told me his ambition was to become a pilot also, but sadly he was rejected due to his eyesight problem. This is my dream and also my dad’s dream and I hope I can also help to fulfill his dream while fulfilling mine too. Dad even taught me how to fly the plane in the Microsoft Flight Simulator. I could easily fly the plane and land the plane safely in the simulator now. No joke. Back to the point, I have been practicing to fly the plane everyday. Although it is the same route and same weather pattern that I’m flying, I’m not using the same aircraft.

I like to be different, out of the ordinary. I want to be myself. Piloting an airplane gives me a chance to experience the world from above and all the beauty beyond. This beauty can transform a person’s ideas about the world into ideas that the world is a big plane with many differences. It also helps to widen a person’s horizons and help them to look upon the world with an open mind. From the sky, the earth is tranquil, billowing carpet of magnificence, strengthening from horizon to horizon. The view a pilot has in life is different. It is a view from above!!

Why should I deserve 1 of the 10spots? I am physically active and also mentally stable. I was active in running and jumping event. With my active participation in sports, I am able to keep myself healthy at all times and able to carry out my job well as a future pilot and not fall sick easily.

The reason why I am mentally stable is because I have participated in a national level camp and learn about a lot of leadership values such as Problem Solving, Ethical Decision-Making, and many more. I am able to make ethical decision while being pressured by my trainers. I am able to make wise decision by taking care of the welfare of my members. As a future pilot or a captain, I must be able to make difficult decision at times, therefore I am well equipped with the ability to do so.

I understand to be a pilot I must be able to work well with others and have the teamwork spirit. I am someone who has been working well with others all along. Why do I say so? Well, I have been working with my team members in organizing camps, outing, and also some major functions. I am the type of leader who leads and also served my team members. I go with this philosophy “To Lead and To Serve”.

I have learnt quite an important lesson recently. As the leader if the school’s Boys’ Brigade drill team, I was responsible for ensuring that a well-prepared team for the National Foot Drill Competition in Sabah. During the preparation, my team members and I learnt the importance of cooperation, the sheer force of hard work and the rewards that come with it. We didn’t win, but the important thing was that we learnt that every achievement begins with a dream and a sense of camaraderie and esprit de corps certainly takes us a long way. We learnt to work, in the words of the great American author, Ernest Hemingway, “with grace under pressure.”

I am ready to be a pilot as I am the type of leader who is willing to take up the responsibility of the life of the passenger on board. I have learnt to be a great leader that is full of responsibility when I participated in my school uniform unit. I learnt a good many management skills from the uniform unit I joined. And it has made me even more confident of my passion is for flying. I’m sure that these management skills and responsibilities will play a vital role in my future job as a pilot.

On the other hand, I have a lot of knowledge such as First Aid, Swimming, Morse code, Phonetic alphabet and a lot more. This will be an advantage for me as I am able to handle any situation if a problem arises.

Most importantly I have the attitude to be a pilot. To be a pilot we must be very discipline and learn to care for others too. Because not just our life is in our hands but also the passengers life. As the saying goes, “Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude.”

If I am accepted into AirAsia, I am willing to give my 100% to serve the company and to bring the name of the company to greater heights.

It’s a big challenge for me to write this blog as I have never written any blog before. Initially I felt that it is impossible but there was once when I read about an article somewhere, it stated that Dato Seri Tony Fernandes always says, “Believe The Unbelievable, Dream The Impossible and Never Take ‘NO’ For An Answer”. That’s why above all I’ll never give up in pursuing my dream to be a pilot with AirAsia.

Therefore I hope the blog team and the panel of judges will consider my blog. I am also hoping that the panel of judges will give me a chance by extending an invitation for me to move forward towards my dream of becoming a pilot.

Let me end my blog by using the famed John Gillespie Magee’s poem.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

These words, so eloquently written by U.S.-born RAF Pilot John Gillespie Magee in his sonnet High Flight, express my feelings about flying.