-- About the Author --

Hi! I’m Amalia Sanusi, a 23 years old Business Information Systems student of Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e) in the Netherlands. I am currently pursuing Masters degree which will hopefully be completed in 2 years.

I have so many nicknames. My family calls me Lia, my Indonesian friends call me Amel or Mellie, and my friends in Australia call me Amalia, Malia, or Mali. I’m not making my name up; my friends are those who call me those names. So I’m always a bit confused when I’m about to introduce myself to other people… :D Hence, Amel + Mellie = amellie hehehe.

Family Background.

I’m an Indonesian who spends most of her life in other countries. Since I was brought into the world, I’m exposed to the mixture of Indonesian and Arabic cultures, as well as Islamic values that my parents taught me. I was born in Egypt, a land of Pharaoh, where both of my parents studied at Al-Azhar University and lived there for about 11 years. Then we suddenly moved to the KSA just before the first Gulf War began and settled in Jeddah ever since. I have a sister and a brother. I’m the oldest. My father, mom, sis, and bro still live in Jeddah. Sometimes I can’t believe that my family has lived in Jeddah for 20 years! That’s soo long! My parents have actually lived abroad since 30 years ago! Phew.

Education.

From 1990 to 2000, I studied at Sekolah Indonesia Jeddah (SIJ) which is an Indonesian school run by our embassy. After 10 years studying at the same school, I decided that it was time to find a new environment. So then I (finally) went to Jakarta. It was a quite challenging year for me, knowing that it was the first time I lived far away from my family. I chose MADANiA Senior High Boarding School for my High School years. A lot of people think that Boarding School is scary, boring, and has many rules. But I personally think my 3 years life spent in the Boarding School was the most joyful and beautiful moment in my life! I was graduated from MADANiA in 2003. I then came to Australia to continue my undergraduate study in Information Technology at the University of Queensland. I lived in Brisbane, Australia for almost 4 years until the end of 2007. I am particularly very grateful to have the opportunity to study abroad.

Information Technology.

I remember I was introduced to the IT world when my dad bought a computer for the first time. I was about 8 or 9 years old and I had no idea how to run a computer, let alone my English language skill. But I was curious, I wanted to know more about it, and that big machine seems so cool to me. I did try to run it, but it wasn’t user-friendly at all, cause it was still MS-DOS. My dad scolded me once because I clicked on everything without knowing what it did (I didn’t understand a single thing about English, except the word ‘OK’). My interest in IT grew very fast after my dad bought and installed a modem for our computer! My first website was built when I was 13 years old. It was hosted in Geocities (with a very looooongggg address, remember?). Since then, I always found myself comfortable sitting in front of the computer for hours.

I’ve never felt regret in choosing IT as my Uni major. In fact, I’m so happy and excited about it. Being in a “guy’s world” is challenging, yet I always want to prove that women can do much better than guys!!! (I’m so competitive when it comes to this LOL). Up until now, I’ve learnt C, Java, PHP, C++, .NET, and C#. I have a special interest in web technologies, including AJAX. Those stuffs are just so fun to learn.

My World & I.

I’m known to be (very) independent. I don’t like to rely on other people too much, even to my parents. I even love to go shopping alone because I need my own “special” time to enjoy the very best moment. I’m also careless, insensitive, and I don’t like confrontation :D (but I’ve been trying so hard to change this). I love socialising and meet different people from different cultures. Studying and living in Australia changed my life forever.

I love reading books, particularly biographies and non-fictions. Inspiring true-story books about Arabic culture, women’s adventure, public figures, and modern history are those which interest me. Princess and A Million Little Pieces are currently my favourites. Because of the unbelivably high book price in Australia, I prefer to buy books in Singapore during my transit time, Ebay, or borrow them from Brisbane City Council Library.

My family, particularly my mom and sis, see me as a very stingy person when it comes to spending money for clothes and entertainment. I admit that I am. I don’t like buying branded and expensive clothes, because I know that clothes do not last long. I’d prefer go to markets or hunt for 50-70% discount shops. You can say I’m stingy, but I’d spend A LOT of money when it comes to electronics, computer related stuffs, and books! And in the case of electronics and computers, I’d prefer a branded one for sure :). Ever since I got Ebay and Paypal accounts, I’ve been struggling to keep my hands away from clicking that “BID NOW” button!!! I’m serious!