Photonovel: Interviews

20/1/20 - Interview with Mr. Hosam (Shawarma Vendor)

Audio Recording 1

This Monday my group members and I interviewed Mr. Hosam Mostofa. Mr Hosam is a Syrian who has been living in Malaysia since 2013 when he initially moved to complete his Masters. Our questions mainly revolved around him migrating to Malaysia and whether or not he faced any difficulties throughout that journey.

We learnt that he had not only moved her to finish his studies but he had moved to Malaysia along with his family. This made it slightly easier for him to move to a new country as he was with people he loves. Furthermore, we continued to discuss migration and asked if him and his family has ever faced discrimination throughout their seven years of living here; fortunately, they have never faced any sort of discrimination.

One of the major things that they had to adapt to Malaysia's tropical weather which was fairly difficult as they were used to living in a four season country. A question was asked regarding his career and if he had faced any hardships. Mr Hosam explained that he has always been in the food industry ever since he was twelve, helping out at his fathers eatery back at home. Despite being a Masters holder, it made sense for him to continue to be in the food industry as he already knew what to expect.

Our group and I did not really expect the outcome of this interview as we thought he could possibly have come across obstacles when migrating to Malaysia. It could also be that Mr. Hosam was a bit shy to open up to such a personal topic. Nevertheless we were grateful for him to spare some time for us to interview him.

22/1/20 - Interview with Ms. Vasanta (Block Z Admin)

Audio Recording 2

After our first interview we knew that we had to look for another person to interview as it was difficult for us to think of a story. Our group then decided to ask Ms. Vasanta if she would be up for an interview. As a group, we sat down and thought of questions to ask. We tried to not go for a topic but instead to ask questions about her past where some were more serious and others not. As someone much older, Ms. Vasanta has gone through many experiences.

Growing up in Teluk Intan, Ipoh, Ms Vasanta attened a convent school who was a prefect active in sports, and also participated in debates and musicals. As disciplined as she was, she had her rebellious phase as most children do; where her friends would skip class and even disrupt a teacher's class at a nearby school. Funny enough, when she started teaching at the same school her students did the same and skipped her class!

(1960s) She was never bullied in school but knew when to speak up for others. Ms. Vasanta mentioned that the nuns at her school taught them the importance of caring for others. She never faced any traumatic experiences in school as it was not very common back then to be bullied as everyone was friends with almost everyone. Additionally, she believes that if is child is humiliated, the same child will most likely bring that humiliation towards adult hood and will never forget about it.

Coming from a family of professionals, becoming a lawyer was at the top of her list. She thought of becoming an air stewardess but thought that she wasn't fit for the job. She then turned to her last option being education where she landed her first job as a teacher at the secondary school she attended (early 70s). Throughout her career she had faced discrimination for not only being a lady in the working field but as an honest outspoken lady where people would view her personality as an exertion of authority. She stated that it was 'always about work, not about the glory' (80s/90s).

A questioned asked was 'what are you most afraid of' where she mentions that something she has always been concerned about is mental health. There has been through situations where she had to intervene students who had almost 'lost it'. She continued to tell us her experiences with students she had helped which can be listened in the audio link above.

Lastly we had a few questions to close off our session. Ms. Vasanta says that if she were to go back in time to advise her 16 year-old self, she would tell her to keep on doing the same mistakes as you have to make them to learn. Additionally she would tell herself 'whatever you do, make sure you are safe (physically) and healthy'.

After her interview we came to the conclusion that we want to base off our photo-novel on mental health.