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By Rachael Tang Yue Sin (Malaysia) 文:邓玥心(马来西亚) Every day at POPULAR has been fulfilling as I challenge myself to reach greater heights. 在大众的这四年，我每天都很充实，不断接受挑战，攀登高峰。 When talking to my area manager the other day, I realised that my memories of past work events have gone fuzzy. Therefore, I decided to write down every detail of my past four years in POPULAR. From Campus to Workplace Like many university graduates, I was hoping to find a job with a good pay and room for self-development. It was then that I came across POPULAR’s job advertisement. When I imagined myself working in POPULAR, I felt a sense of belonging. Several months later, I received a call from a Popular Malaysia’s Human Resources staff. The subsequent interview was the longest I had attended as I ended up chatting with Popular Malaysia’s Area Manager Yee Lai Lan for nearly two hours. I have always liked Chinese books and her knowledge of them amazed me. Thus I decided to start my career in the Chinese Department. Trying Out New Things I spent my first year in the Chinese Department of Popular Malaysia’s flagship store in Ipoh Parade. As Lai Lan trained me about Chinese books, and even taught me Chinese writing, I fell more in love with written Chinese. The next year, a vacancy in the Stationery Department opened up. At Lai Lan’s encouragement, I seized the opportunity to learn more about their retail operations. I returned to the Chinese Department to help from time to time and continued practising my Chinese writing. At the end of that year, renowned Taiwanese wellness expert, Oyoung Yin, was invited by POPULAR to a speaking tour in Malaysia and Ipoh was one of his stops. Lai Lan asked if I was interested to be the emcee and my enthusiasm to do something new overcame my apprehension. As it was my first time being an emcee, I ended stammering a fair bit. Another year went by before another opportunity came knocking – a vacancy in the POPULAR Ipoh AEON Station 18 outlet’s Chinese Department. My hard work had been noticed by the outlet’s senior manager and I picked up from where I had left off. Reaching New Heights BookFest@Malaysia has always fascinated me. Although I was only assigned to supervise the cashiers in that year’s event, I was very grateful for the opportunity to participate. Not long after, I was asked to lead the Chinese Department Support Team in Perak. Although I was relatively inexperienced, I accepted the promotion as I enjoy a good challenge. What followed was a demanding year of planning and preparation for the next BookFest@Malaysia. It was a steep learning curve, but I gave my best. I am very fortunate to have a group of colleagues who not only guide me during work but also constantly encourage me to keep going. 140 popularnews - 29