Hi, I am Jia. I am known by different names such as, The Intern, The Malaysian, Subway and lastly Jia. The progressive changing of my nickname defined the stages from when I started as an intern in The Desert Rose House project to officially becoming a decathlete of the team. After the completion of my 12 week internship, a big question was approached, “Hey Jia, are you planning to stay?” I was puzzled as I really enjoy the learning experience.

However, what I didn’t know is that this is when the hard work would start. Endless nights of coffee to keep me awake, where days blended into nights and I enjoyed any instant hot food. Bear with me when I say it was tough, however through this process, I have been able to narrow down my future job scope. 

Some might argue “Is it worth the effort and time?” There isn’t a definite answer to that rhetorical question I believe. For an Undergraduate Civil Engineer, let me ask you a question. Did you learn to do a complete wind load calculation (from each direction) for residential housing compared between Australian Standard with American Standard? Or did you conduct a quantity and wastage analysis of the amount of floorboards with the amount of screws needed? The answer is clearly written in your mind. What I am trying to emphasize is by participating in this project, we carried out action that is new to the industry, and practitioners may disagree with. What we are trying to push in the housing industry is making the impossible, possible. People often say that architects and engineers struggle to work together. In this project, we make both ends meet.

In this project I carry the responsibility of two roles. I am not only a Structural Designer and Drafter for the Structural Team, I am also the official Photographer for the team. Many pictures for the official events are taken by me. I personally believe that because of the responsibility I bear, I will give my full effort which was well said by Elon Musk, “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in you favor.”