I think it’s time for me to update some stuff. Not for anyone specifically, but for myself. To release it.

It will be a year in a few days since I decided to part ways with INVOKE after nearly a decade. And in those one year, a lot has happened. A lot to some extent, but really, it’s not that much.

Dah jadi open secret sebenarnya bila aku keluar dari INVOKE, aku nak “menghilang”. Ada sebahagian dalam diri aku ni, for so long, dah rasa penat. Cuma, kadang-kadang aku sendiri pun tak tahu apa yang aku penatkan sangat tu. Probably, the mental was finally at its peak and it’s exhausted its energy.

Tapi bila aku pergi jumpa psychiatrist in June 2025, aku finally faham kenapa. Tak faham fully lagi, masih cuba memahami, tapi aku dah mula dapat clarity. And working to be better.

Awal tahun ni, dalam bulan Januari bila aku dah habiskan notice dua bulan, aku tak ada jalan yang clear sangat waktu tu. Probably the best thing to do is to focus on my own projects. Dan itulah apa yang aku buat. Projek-projek sendiri.

Bulan Februari 2025, parents aku minta resume untuk join Gading Marine. Yeap, it was my parents. Abah aku Managing Director Gading Marine dan mak aku is one of the Board Members. Kahkah. Benda yang sebenarnya aku tak berapa suka sangat untuk buat – guna cable. Tapi aku tak fokus dekat situ. Aku fokus dekat apa yang Gading Marine buat which is shipbuilding. Yeap, abah aku background marine engineering, so projek-projek vessel yang diorang buat ni memang kerja abah aku. Tapi, aku tak fully well-verse in the industry. Satu, memang sebab aku bukan background engineering, apatah lagi marine engineering dan dua, abah aku memang bukan jenis suka cerita sangat kerja-kerja dia. Pernahlah sekali aku pergi yard dekat tempat kerja lama dia, ambil gambar nak launch bot masuk air.

So, I took the job and look at it as a sabbatical from what I normally do. And at the same time, nak belajar dan fahamkan jugalah apa dia sebenarnya shipbuilding ni.

And it was superbly interesting.

The craftsmanship, dedication of the people who really want to do a great job is something yang aku respect gila.

Dan aku suka buat benda yang aku buat untuk Gading Marine. As much as their quality of work is at par or even beyond the international standards, their creative, design and online presence does not reflect that. Jadi masa aku masuk, aku masuk dengan personal mission untuk turnaround their creative collaterals. Tapi itulah, aku datang dari dunia berbeza dan dunia diorang pun berbeza. Kadang-kadang memang boleh je dua dunia berbeza cari titik persamaan bila bertemu dan kadang-kadang, benda tu memang takkan terjadi.

But it’s OK, that is just how life is.  

So after nine months, I’ve decided to part ways to focus and get back on track with my own career as a Creative Director.

Cerita tu, tunggulah bila aku dah start dekat tempat kerja baru 1 Disember nanti. I’m excited to get crazy again.

Peace.