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Hello, this is me!

Nur Imroatun Sholihat

Your friend in learning IT audit Digital transformation advocate a-pat-on-your-shoulder storyteller

About me

Hello

I'mNur Imroatun Sholihat

IT Auditor and Storyteller

So I heard you are curious about IT and/or auditing. I'm your go-to buddy in this exciting journey. My typical professional life consists of performing (and studying!) IT audit and leading the reporters of the award-winning magazine, Auditoria. Armed with a Master's in Digital Transformation from UNSW Sydney, I'm currently wearing multiple hats—ambassador at IIA Indonesia's Young Leader Community, mentor at ISACA Global, Head of Public Relations at MoF-Cybersecurity Community, and trainer at IIA Indonesia. You'll also find me sharing insights on my YouTube channel, speaking at seminars, and crafting content on LinkedIn. Let's connect and dive into the world of IT and auditing together!

experience

IT Auditor

2017-present

IT governance, cybersecurity, application--my daily struggle, seriously :D

Storyteller

2005-present

Writing keeps me sane :)

Content Creator

2020-present

Creating Youtube videos and LinkedIn posts, hopefully useful

IT Officer

2011-2015

performing IT services--sometimes about people forgot to plug their cords, sometimes serious incidents :p

Blog

#OzDiaries Part 6: Does It Make Sense to You?


One particular thing I couldn’t fail to notice with the way people in my university communicate is when they explain something, they are likely to conclude it with “Does it make sense to you?” instead of “Do you understand?”. Now imagine a good-looking young lecturer teaching you to do data visualization and he ends the lecture with, “Does it make sense to you?” while smiling. Nah, I don’t find the visuals on the PowerBI more interesting than the visual of the one explaining it. And yes, it does make sense. Oh pardon, what I meant, it doesn’t make sense. Could you please explain it again to me? I am not a diligent student but I don’t mind listening to your explanation for hours.

LoL. I am kidding. That’s just a random imagination of what could've happened if it is in a K-drama setting. Let’s go back to the topic before you start asking me how to join that “My Lecturer is Handsome” class. Certainly, I wouldn’t let you know :p

There were a lot of moments when people asked me this question to confirm whether what they convey is delivered to me. However, what made me have full consciousness about it was that recently I have had a quite technical course and the lecturer seemed to catch the confusion in the students’ faces. We all literally had blank expressions, clearly displaying our unhidden bewilderment. He being a patient lecturer himself smiled while saying, “does it make sense to you? I can repeat if it doesn’t,” with no signs of judgment in his eyes. YES PLEASE! This dumb student right here lost her sense because of your sweet smile the difficult material *I am back with that “my lecturer is handsome” joke *if any production house wants to adapt this story as a movie, please get Nicholas Saputra as the lecturer.

That question, while touching on the same thing, made me feel so different from “do you understand?” which I usually heard. Whilst “do you understand?” puts the emphasis on the ability of the listener to comprehend, “does it make sense to you?” emphasizes the communicator’s effectiveness in delivering the message. I found it as a more respectful approach to verify, which I appreciate highly. This subtle (yes, I told you I love subtlety) shift in wording is beautiful, isn’t it?


The phrase "Do you understand?" can sometimes come across as condescending--putting the explainer in a slightly higher position than the one receiving the explanation. It could also imply that the person speaking tests the interlocutor’s ability to grasp the message. Not that I dislike that phrase but now that I found a better way to express it, I think I will try to adopt the new one. “Does it make sense to you?” shows a desire to take responsibility for the effectiveness of the communication and indicates a willingness to ensure that the message has been received correctly. The small shift from “can you understand my message?” to “Can my message be understood?” has impacted me on how I should be more intentional with my choice of words.

I am (once again) surprised with how small attention to our wording might create a big difference. Choosing the right words can help us convey the message effectively and elicit the desired emotional impact. The choice of words also set the tone of our message which significantly affect how our message is received by others. For instance, those two phrases have similar meanings but evoke divergent emotions. I tend to be more open about my lack of understanding when “Does it make sense to you?” is asked of me. After attending that class, I realized that it is essential to be mindful of my wording because effective communication is not just about what we say, but how we say it. Therefore, I would love to be more intentional with my choice of words from now on so that I can be more effective in communicating. 

Now, the question is, should I be intentional about the gorgeous lecturer too? Okay, just ignore my crazy self. Hihi. I know this random imagination doesn't make sense. Does it make sense to you? :)

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Images credit: manfredsteger at Pixabay

#OzDiaries Part 5: Bookstore


Little girl, don’t become weak. Don’t live bearing all the sadness alone,” - Hopefully Sky, Jung Eunji

“Do you like it?” a friend asked, referring to visiting a bookstore that I mentioned as one of my wish list items in Sydney. It was a summer day in December when people flocked together in one of the biggest bookstores in the city.  


There was a slight pause before I nodded. The emotions overwhelmed me at that moment I saw a vast array of books and somebody's question brought all of my attention to my feelings toward them. Unknowingly tears dropped behind my mask. Immediately I turned away so nobody could see my reddened eyes.


In my university life, I witnessed first-hand how much privilege people could have. I noticed how easy things could be when you have a comfortable life and many options to pick from. Indeed, most of my fellow students come from affluent backgrounds. While this fact didn’t necessarily make me feel bad about my life, unconsciously my grateful level slightly decreased. It wasn’t at the level where it should be: I should be highly grateful for where I was at that time.


Until a day I visited a bookstore with my friends and my hands trembled while picked a book from the shelf. I instantly recalled my childhood memory of borrowing children’s magazines from my neighbor because my parents couldn’t afford the subscription fees. That little girl in my past wouldn’t believe it if I went back and told her, “You would be able to buy the expensive books you like somewhere very far away, without having to put them back after seeing the price labels. Therefore, don’t feel disheartened that you can’t buy ones now,”. She definitely would think I was lying just to console her heart. Growing up, that little girl's options were always limited because she was aware of her family’s financial situation. Things that might be ordinary for other people were luxuries for her. Until the moment she earned money by herself, she always held back her desire to buy books, especially expensive ones. Therefore, there is no way those comforting words seem close to reality. 


Now, far away from her hometown, she was unafraid to see the books’ prices anymore. She can touch a book without having to worry whether she can have it or not. At that exact moment, it was a crystal-clear realization of how far she had come. As she knew she couldn’t undermine the significant progress she had made, tears unstoppably rolled down. In the middle of a crowded bookstore, she really wanted to pat her shoulder and say, “you did well”. She made a big leap in life considering her starting point. If she measures her progress by her personal yardstick, she should never let her grateful level decrease. She should understand how much progress she has made when she uses her personal measure stick.

I wish I had a proper photo but there is only this selfie of me in that bookstore

In the middle of a packed bookstore, she felt sorry for herself for the moment when she was less grateful than she should be. In between bookshelves, a song that always made her both smile and weep suddenly rang in her ears:


“A life of no regrets--memories when being poor, I was happy,” 1


Hey little girl, I must say I'm not lying. I would like to also thank you for living your day happily even when you were poor. I would definitely not take your beautiful patience and attitude toward the difficulties for granted. I would cherish all the memories of you loving books dearly although you can't have them. It was a humbling reminder of how much I should be thankful for this life.


Look at you here and now. Don’t you think you would be even happier knowing that in the future, you can be in the middle of a busy bookstore in the heart of your dream city? 

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1Lyrics of Hopefully Sky by Jung Eunji

Image credit: Sabrina Bertazzo via citymonitor.ai


The Moon Is Beautiful, Isn’t It?



“I wish you a flight to the vast and bright sky.” - Missing You in The Wind, Hu Xia (Flight to You OST)

I know some of you might furrow your brows while thinking, “seriously she hasn’t moved on from ‘Flight to You’ yet?”. Hihihi. Please don’t judge me, bear with me, and don’t give up on me yet *I can hear you say: sis, you asked for too much :) *can you hear my dumb giggle? hihi. Recently, I found out the translation of the song I mentioned at the beginning of this post and realized that my heart felt warm when I figured out the track’s last lyrics, which are quoted above. I held my breath when the lyrics said, “I want to ask you whether your dream is within your reach now” but what made me lose it was the subsequent words, “I wish you a flight to the vast and bright sky”. I meant the level of subtlety it has got me thinking that any direct love confession for an aviation person couldn’t top this one.

Let me get you the background story. The “you” in this song is a passionate ‘flying-is-my-life’ female pilot he trained. Therefore, ‘I wish you a flight to the vast and bright sky’, both literally and figuratively, had the depth of the Pacific Ocean. He wished her ease in doing the thing she likes (for a pilot, flying to a bright sky indicates an easy-breezy supposed-to-be-safer trip) and also signified his hope about her sunshiny future (as a bright sky connotates peacefulness and happiness).

That brought me to a revelation: subtle expressions, both in words and acts, hold a dear place in my heart.

I know it sounds unconventional as straightforward expressions are considered more effective in communication. However, for me, finding an expression’s hidden meaning, sometimes wandering around extensive interpretation, is alluring. In several instances, I like when emotions, thoughts, and ideas are conveyed in a nuanced way even when denotative speaking is more understandable. Now when I think about it, my inclination toward subtlety might stem from 2 circumstances: my cultural background and my special liking for literature.

I grew up in a culture where people likely deliver their purpose in a vague way, closely accompanied by a grandfather who was enthusiastic about vague expressions in literature. At an early age, I learned wayang (puppet theatre play) and many classical Javanese dramas. In my teenage days, I meandered classical Indonesian literature pieces and continued with modern ones as I grew older. I was enchanted with the beauty of indirect expressions, both spoken and acted, approved by my cultural upbringing.

On the topic of the influence of culture on someone’s way of communication, I couldn’t help mentioning renowned Natsume Soseki’s poetic phrase “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”. Based on the explanation I found several years ago (read it here), at that time Soseki as an English teacher overheard his student translating “I love you” literally, which he believed rejected Japanese sensibility and was unfit for Japanese cultural context. Therefore, he pointed out that the expression should be translated to a more subtle, nuanced wording,

月が綺麗ですね (“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”).

For years, I couldn’t forget that phrase after uncovering its hidden meaning. Sometimes when I looked above and see the full moon (like tonight when I write this post), I nodded in agreement on why confirming whether the moon is beautiful implies that your heart belongs to someone you share the moon-viewing experience with. Not only that it is a more beautiful lexicon but also it allows deeper, more diverse, and more layered interpretations. Therefore, it offers the readers their own connections to and conclusions about the text. This creates a more immersive emotional experience, as the one hearing the expression more actively engages and participates in the process of understanding it.

The phrase above, for example, could be interpreted as, "actually the moon isn't that beautiful, you are,", “the moon is even prettier because a beautiful soul is by my side looking at the same sky object,”, “What I meant is you’re beautiful”, “What a pleasing night to be in love with someone,”, and so on. The readers can personally interpret it which enriches the meaning. The late Sapardi Djoko Damono, my favorite Indonesian poet, touched on this topic in his ASEAN Literary Festival 2016 interview:

Poetry is alive because there are various interpretations. If there is only one (interpretation), one-time reading then it's over,” (Sapardi Djoko Damono)

Based on my observation, I agreed with Sapardi’s argument that roundabout expression in poetry makes it more memorable and impactful. The reader needs to pay closer attention to every word and nuance, and is encouraged to have further thoughts and discussions, which lead to a long-lasting impact. After days of understanding the lyrics “I wish you a flight to the vast and bright sky”, the words lingered on my mind and probably will stay there for a long time just like “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”. Both made me hold my breath as my heart fluttered. I mean, you can sincerely pray for someone, you can generously praise the moon--but that person needs to figure out that what you mean is “I love you with all my heart”. That kind of expression is beautiful, isn't it?

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*I must applaud the people behind "Flight to You" OSTs as they crafted the lyrics to suit the character's personality. The indirect ways Gu Nanting shows his adoration for Cheng Xiao are even captured in the lyrics. He is definitely the kind of man who stares at you with deep endearment, saying "I wish you a safe flight" and "Your perfect flight is my biggest comfort" while hiding his feelings.

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image source: canva.com


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