There is nothing glamorous about getting pushed and shoved trying to get a quote or two. Not all are accommodating. While one journalist may return to the office after his assignment with a blockbuster of a story, the other may just come back with a three-paragraph filler.
And when one joins journalism, he gives up the right to be "a member of the public." One is expected to work throughout the public holidays and that it is not a "9 to 5" job.
Journalism offers me new experiences and challenges every day. That is one of the reasons why I stayed on in the field. To be a journalist, one needs to have a curious mind. To do this, he needs to ask questions. Journalism is not about taping whatever a person is saying and going back to the office to transcribe the tape and writing a story on it.
Writer's Digest editor John Brady, in his book "The Craft of Interviewing", said today's readers want more than bare facts. "He (the reader) wants to know why an event occured, what feelings it incited, how it might have been avoided. "Editors demand journalists who know more than just the card tricks of writing, who know how to probe their interviewees for the telling detail, the taut quote," he added.
An ex-colleague, who has since left the profession to start his own business, once offered this advice: "Do not be afraid to ask stupid questions...you may get good answers out of it."
Brady also said one does not need a college degree. He does not even need a degree of gregariousness. "You only need an abiding curiosity about people and, perhaps, a cautious faith about them," he added.
And in journalism, one does not stop learning. You learn new things every day. And you have to constantly update yourself with the goings-on not only on the local front but also the global scene.
Tore a meniscus tissues of the right knee during an inter-office friendly netball match in 1989. Had the torn tissue removed and was on medical leave and physiotherapy for three months.
Three-month stint at the United Nations in New York in 11993 under the United Nations Correspondents Association Ffellowship.
Interviewed Peru president Alberto Fujimori in Lima in conjunction with his visit to Malaysia in 1986.
Nearly missed a flight to Beijing in 1997 when I arrived at the Sultan Abdul Aziz International Airport at Subang 15 minutes before the aircraft departed.
Worked throughout the day and night during general elections.
Missed covering the Budget five times since 1984 -- in 1989 when I was hospitalised for the knee operation, in 1996 when I travelled to Peru and 1997 when covering the Asean Economic Ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur, 1998 when I was on the Wolfson Fellowship at Cambridge University in the UK and in 2000 when I had to travel to France on an Airbus assignment.
Travelled the most number of times in 1997 - Fukuoka, Japan (May); Manila in the Philippines (May and October); Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan (September); New York (September) and China (November).
Was promoted twice in 1994, first as a specialist writer on April 1 and then as Assistant News Editor on May 1.