When Nina Speaks

The Hurricane

~~To the Lily in Me,~~

~~I write for the Lily in Me.~~

~~Yours Truly~~.

I've moved on a loong way since i last wrote. Many has change, for the past 1 year to be exact. I will be a year older this coming 29th and yet im very much am still clueless and confuse of what to expect in the near future.

my family got bigger and blessed with my sisters lil beautiful baby name Natalia Khadijah, born 23rd December last year. she is now, 4 months old and geesh she can really scream.

I've moved on with a new journey career wise in Warner Music Malaysia. im not entirely proud of it yet as i am still struggling to adapt to the whole music industry. i have been dreaming of working in the music industry since i was a in high school.. never thought it'll be tough and horrifying hectic.there, i am the Senior Executive for Promo/Marketing international repertoire mainly handling print medias.

When its Warner Music - Deftones

When its Warner Music - Bruno Mars

many asked and wondered why the change from being a media to servicing a media, simply because I am still willing to climb up a ladder in what i wanted to do. to eventually spread my wings in the marketing part? i must say perks being in a media was wonderful. my experience there in Mtoday was an experience i'll never forget in my whole freaking life however at a certain point i realized that being in the comfort zone too long wont help especially for my own personal development. its a challenge here in Warner Music and im struggling but i believe that it'll soon be alright.
I am proud to actually say that i am a degree student now too! under University of Derby, currently im in a part time degree course for marketing :)

Many MANY changed from the last time i wrote, with who i am with now, or surrounded by, im more or less moving on with my life from a certain mistake that i made in this short period of time.. i am remakably happy certain things got ugly, but i very much hoep its all for a better cause, i really do very much hope its true..

"When Nina Speaks ... Let her breathe"

Sincerely yours
Nina

Nina Kamalia - My life off Course

Interview with Malaysian Today during my last day. thank you all for believing, supporting and shaping me up to be what i am now .. purely youthful in heart.

"Great Things Are Only If You Try" By Yeevone Ong

Only turning 25 this year, Azrina ‘Nina’ Kamalia Azhar is in the prime of her career. Born on the April 29, the bubbly youth is on her way to a bigger stage in an international entertainment industry. And she gives all the credit to her time working with Malaysian Today for the past two years.

Nina had always been dedicated to the Public Relations. Her first job was no less than that. She was a PR Coordinator for Best Western Premiere Seri Pacific Hotel before moving on in a bank which she found was not her cup of tea. She received a supportive nudge from her General Manager then, suggesting that she moved on to bigger things in a different field. Thus began her hunt to her next move.

“I went on Job street and found Malaysian Today’s advertisement for a PR/Marcomm Executive and submitted my resume.” They called her up later and everything else was history

Nina was primarily in charge of media partnerships. She would meet up with media representatives and tie them up with the company, making sure all parties were happy with the trade – page (s) in Malaysian Today in exchange for sponsorships and support from media partners. That was no easy task. She had to improvise and negotiate the demands of the company’s policies and the media partners to meet the targets she had on the job while constantly juggling deadlines.

However, no struggle is uneventful. “I was a very shy person “, Nina said with the light-heartedness she exudes the moment we shook hands. She recalled her first few days with Malaysian Today, remembering how reserved and uncomfortable she was and how she had wanted to give up because she thought she could not blend in. but she weathered through the tough times and ended up loving her job to its core.

Nina gushed at how much she enjoyed her work. She appreciated how the company had given her the liberty to do whatever she thought was fit for the company. But most of all, she loved the perks that came with the job.

“I am going to miss getting to go for press conferences, events and concerts, which happens to be the best part of the job.” She said with a full grin. She had not only had the chance to meet but interview local and international artistes. Nothing better delights a music lover that the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry.

And that is another thing that Nina prides herself with when it came to working in Malaysian Today. Most of the other publications tend to be more selective when sending their team members to cover certain events. Concerts and press conferences were almost always attended by writers only.

“Malaysian Today is cosy enough to let you dip your hands in every angle of the company. Nina said. She had had the opportunity to help with the editorial, sales, and design departments besides handling her work. “This way you get to build a fuller understanding of not only the company but the industry as a whole,” she added in respond to how she felt her time with Malaysian Today had prepared her for a climb up a taller ladder in a bigger company.

Nina was not born with the PR skills that she now have. It was through her courage to try and perseverance that she rose to excel in something that she was initially discouraged to try.

Her extraordinary character should truly be an inspiration especially to those who are just about to step out of the academic world. “You can’t be too choosy with your first jobs. Even if you don’t do well, you’re still young, you can move on.” Or it could end up to be one of the greatest experiences of your life, like how it did for Nina.

Busy bee on a weekend deal :)

It was a crazy ass weekend! Although Public holiday started on Friday, i had to rush out to check out the highly anticipated YOUTH '10 event at PWTC held 28th - 30th May.

Amazing how thausands of youth would choose to turn up and waste their weekend to celebrate the so called "as mentioned by Shabery - May the month of Youth!" during the opening ceremony, the stunning Dato Siti Nurhaliza presented her speech in Bahasa so poise and pleasant. she is so a "datin" now! Not to mention seeing Joel being super busy with all the VIP's supporting this big event!

Friday night was crazy as I went to The Palace. the place was kinda cool but kinda need a bit of refurnishing as the set up was ol skool with high tables and chairs! they had this huge as stage lighted up with checkers lights makes me feel like Lady Gaga dancing the night through!

Came Saturday and alas it was a jam packed day too. After listing down all the "What to do plan" for Saturday, and it hit me that geeesh! im so gonna be extra TIRED this week. Started off with the extension of YOUTH 10 from Friday. Me and Malaysian Today's newest writer Kelvin, had an interview with Paul Moss. He was surprisingly friendly ... not how would i really expect him to be after loads of pain in the ass comments of his in One in a Million and Malaysian Idol Simon cowel wannabe judging role. Nah! not the next Simon Cowell in person peeps! :)

The day continued with Malaysian Today's Publisher, Jessie Soon tying the knot at Mandarin Oriental. Me and the whole MToday peeps dressed in beutiful dresses and sharp suits! :) the night ended with my friend Bay, house warming at Villa Puteri together with Ameera, dan, Atil and Puteri ... great chillout with fun games and crappy talks too (bay likes macha!)

Sunday was freakishly hot and 2 of our Malaysian Today Syokshock Band, An honest mistake and Dzena Stalker were invited to perform as one of the featured band in Youth '10. and yes my last day of the weekend was still at pwtc :)

Really looking forward for this weekend as it it as gonna be a great month ahead. i hope... Next jam packed weekend to look forward to is definitely gonna be URBANSCAPES YO!

Now ... Im Learning YOU

" And if you dont mind can you tell me all your hopes & dreams? and anything that you believe in?"

I cant remember the last time my sis and I went out and had dinner together.

While I was comfortably on my bed with my FRIENDS season 8 on, my bro in law called to ask a favor to pick my sister from her Jazzercise and yea ... still stands with her goal of loosing weight :) I decided to drag her for a nice Kuey Teow Goreng nearby and ruined her diet! mission was a success as she cant resist my hot plate of delicious kuey teow! LOL .. but we ended staying there talking non stop about everything. I must admit I did enjoy the company and a lil bit of Kutuk sessions with her. It has been awhile and it was a great time :)

Kak Jija : Hmm this is so gonna go straight to my *ss!

Funny how conversations could bond a deep relation with others. Not only it brings you new companion, it also mend the broken once and sparks a great adventure between 2 people or more!

Today was also a day filled with connecting new people from a glass of guava juice in an event to a sudden plan of dinner with certain friends that I might never ever thought of sipping ice coffee and eating dinner with.

Early morninng today I went to Lot 10, Teeq @ the rooftop next to the oh so hyped rootz club for Rexona Launch. There I was seated with Stanley, Dir. of sales for Campus Plus and Fawwaz from TV3. I have this habit of having moods either to mingle or not? to talk and stay or just grab the damn door gift and blah when attending launches. Today, I stayed and spoke to all the Edelman PR reps, Rexona Brand manager and the abovementioned men who were seated with me during the event! It felt good as if my task was done being seen in the event by this people and also able to interact with them in business manner. i guess ...!

Ok mama i wont disturb you for toiletries this month

I Got a Feeling (College Humor)

A friend shared this on facebook. Thought i needed a new tune for 'I got a feeling'. coz that jack-shit the've been playing on radio is now bo-oring!

Boots & Fish Net Socks and ooh the Colored Beards and Leather Jackets!

We were informed/adviced to be at Mist by 6:30pm (expecting huge crwd at VIMA they say). Reached there at 7pm and had to stand till like 8:30pm till the damn show starts.

Thank you Hisham :)

This is my first VIMA and I was actually looking forward to see whats the big fuss! For months we've been updated with oo.. who's on board.. who's sponsoring the highly anticipated Voize independant Music Award and hell .. everyone was there. Girls with boots and fish net stockings and boys with colored beards and leather jackets swamped Mist.

Look look who we found.. Mr Dinesh from I-amtv

Am not sure if I am in liberty to say how it really was, but to hell with that .. you're reading through WhenNinaSpeaks so eat this!

* There were an incident during Siva's Opening Speech when he accidentally/actually tossed something to the crowd and it headed towards a table and hit a glass with red wine and it splashes on a girls top ( keep in mind.. it was a white top)

*Opening act was by Kraft (cute but kept saying what the fuck on stage) / Vandall / Young Stunna and some other bands was okla.. was expecting something else bigger!

Kraft - opening act

* Instead of looping all the partners logo on the screen, VIMA should actually show the nominees or at least the winners Name/Group on the screen so that it could help all writers to spell it right on print or e-medias man! Nak tweet pun takut salah spelling.

* The trophy was kept in a box! its a damn award show! take that shiny glass trophy out of the damn box !

*to tell you the truth i didnt recognize most of the so called indie bands who won the awards. never heard of em'. what indie when you have Melissa indot winning everything not to mention mainstream Altimet and Joe Flizzow?? you should give it to SSK or Jin Hackman at least. upcoming what!

Joe Flizzow Y'all!

*NO ska bands!!!!! or reggae or a decent acoustic performance

* Whats the deal with the new finger sign for 1Malaysia?? or Malaysia Boleh or... hhmm whatever!

* We did saw familiar faces brought up from Syokshock and we were proud to see them crashing the stage. But then again, the organizers should learn to call the name of the person presenting the awards instead of a representative from Malaysian Today can ar??! a lil acknowlegement supporting the so called 'Indie' college acts would be good though..

An Honest Mistake and special appearance by Rosevelt

Our own rockstar, KIRU presenting the best college act!

As the night flee its way to Monday morning I just left for i know that i wont be missing anything good.

Honestly, I think and suggest THE REAL indie awards should be organized by XFM. They have the real indie bands or group in line, the real crowd!, the real understanding in appreciating and awarding such upcoming performers!!!! Get Up guys and do something! everyone is now trying to hit the indie button but when it gets too commercial and starts looking like a whole marketing gimmick!... tsk tsk tsk Shame!

"Oh well probably you wore a Kurt Cobain Shirt to act like what you're not. You look like a clown to me darl!*burp*"

Nina, Ju an & Hisham

Kiru, Ju an & Lee John

Kiru, Nina & Ju An

My Months Supply of Listerine!

Nina @ Listerine National Healthy Mouth Rally, Sunway Hotel earlier today! wo hoo!

Mtoday Gets a Heads Up for 2010

So Hisham (Mtoday Editor) pulled us all in the meeting room to brief on the 2010 Feng Shui Extravagant attended by him earlier today!

So Tiger year sucks and average means no extra wealth! damn those bonuses!

A lil Brief for 2010 < As far as i can remember la... Mtoday Staff please correct me if its wrong!>

* It doesnt really look like its gonna be a good year.

* To be calm in any situations as crappy situations might occur and test your anger

* To be extra careful when walking, driving, or doing anything la because there might be a possiblity of high crime rates around.

*Bad year to change jobs

* Mentioned something about avoiding the South West in any positions such as your room, your office cubicle for a better energy / environment

*Good year for Horse, Rabbit and Snake

* Bad year for Monkey and Sheep

* The rest would be and ok / average stage

*To wear more blue and pearls as accessories for good vibe

Thats all i remebered :) not to encourage all to believe in it but then again whats wrong with a lil heads up ey?

For Indie and Beyond: I-amtv

The first time I read about I-amtv was in Junkonline when they wrote if it was possible for this lil company to reach their goals; Broadcasting Malaysian indie bands to the region. You see, I am a huge indie+commercial+rock+slow rock+a lil bit of slipknot-y+a lil bit of gun & roses+a pinch of mellow aqualung+whole lot of muse+the fray ... (the list would be threading this post so i'm gonna stop here)fan. So when there is an assignment at work such as looking for a possible partnership for Malaysian Today's SYOKSHOCK Student Night, my priority to google, would definitely be the word 'indie' :) and the result brought me to http://www.i-amtv.com/

Call me lame, but to me, just like those who are creative, talented in other regions such as Indonesia deserves to be highlighted as the remarkable indie creatizens and talents. And I am talking about anything or anyone as long as its not binded with any contract or managed by a manager.

Anyway, I managed to write my first short piece in the paper last year and am delighted to share it with those who didnt ran for the paper in your colleges, grabbed it from the LRT station or have no fingers to like type http://www.malaysiantoday.com.my/

Finally, Truly , Indie

By Nina Kamalia Azhar

Now, Indie bands can really pursue their careers and promote their music without having to be committed to anyone hoping to cash in or ride on their potential. The true Indie spirit can finally be unleashed.

Independent music bands in the country may be just getting the break they have been hoping for – a company that will help put their music videos together and promote them as well without tying them up; I-amtv is an Irish based company with Malaysian partners, established in 2007. And how does this platform function? I-amtv business development director of Independent Asian Music TV, Abdul Karim Norazit says the company records live performances of bands. These recordings eventually become part of I-amtv’s programme for telecast over the chosen media/platform.

I-amtv also gives the participating bands a music video of their performance at no cost, as part of their contribution back to the music industry. Currently, I-amtv has tied up with channel partner ‘Go!Channel’ in the Philippines' which has started broadcasting them over mobile TV. They have also tied up with ABS-CBN which has allocated a one-hour slot for the showcase of Asian indie music & happenings.

Over the last two years since its establishment, these guys have been working hard to build up their content coming from all over Asia. Besides music videos and live concerts and interviews, I-amtv also features extreme sports.

LATEST UPDATE : I-amtv is looking for a VJ to come on board to travel around hosting the videos shot in Gigs / Concerts around the region. So what you waiting for peeps! simply log onto www.i-amtv.com for more info.