There is something quietly poetic about being born on 24 December. The world begins to slow down, the streets grow calmer, and even the sky seems to pause as if holding its breath before the year turns. For most people, it is simply Christmas Eve. For me, it has always been a checkpoint. A moment where celebration and reflection naturally meet.
This year, well… dia lain macam sedikit…
A Birthday That Arrives With a Question
For the first time in more than a decade, I am stepping into my birthday without the familiar rhythm of PRC and PETRONAS shaping my days. Twelve years is long enough for a workplace to become a second home, a second identity, even a second heartbeat. When that chapter closed, it was not just a career transition. It felt as though someone quietly rearranged the furniture of my life.
Yet a birthday on 24 December does not allow lingering for too long. It gently pushes you forward. It whispers, “A new year is coming. What will you do with it?”
Closing a Chapter Without Ending the Story
Leaving a place where you have grown, led, built, and collaborated is never simple. I still carry the echoes of migration projects, digitisation marathons, shared laughter, and the quiet satisfaction of watching systems mature. Those memories do not fade. They become part of an internal library, one I return to when I need clarity or courage.
At the same time, a career shift demands more honest questions:
- Who am I without the title
- What do I want to build next
- What kind of work feels meaningful now
And perhaps the most important question of all:
What version of myself do I want to bring into the next chapter
The Quiet Gift of Reinvention
This birthday does not feel like a celebration of age. It feels like a celebration of possibility.
I am reconnecting with parts of myself that were always present, but often placed on hold:
- The storyteller who finds meaning in nostalgia,
- The librarian who still believes deeply in the power of organised knowledge,
- The creative tinkerer who enjoys editing, experimenting, and refining ideas,
- The parent who wants to model resilience, curiosity, and digital wisdom, and
- The gamer who understands progression, patience, failure, and the joy of mastering systems
A career transition can feel like a loss, but it can also feel like a fresh start or a clearing. A rare space where new ideas finally have room to grow.
A Birthday Intention for the Year Ahead
If I am honest, I do not wish for a grand celebration this year. I wish for clarity. I wish for momentum. I wish to build something aligned with who I am now, not who I once felt obliged to be.
So this is my intention for the year ahead
To reinvent myself with purpose, weaving together my librarian roots, my technology instincts, and my creative voice into work that feels meaningful, human, and truly my own.
Perhaps that is the quiet magic of being born on 24 December.
As the world prepares for a new year, I am given space to prepare for a new version of myself.