How I became a Project Director (by accident)

How did I become a Project Director? By accident, honestly!

A diploma in civil engineering, then a degree. My grades weren't pretty. My family was going through problems at the time, and I spent a lot of time playing around too. That's the honest truth.

My first job was at KLIA. I called myself the "Engineer Jamban" (the toilet engineer). After that came Senior Engineer, Strategic O&M. Then Manager, Engineering Project Management. Senior Manager, VDM. Senior Manager, EBI. Head of Engineering. And finally, Project Director.

20 years. Not a straight line, yeah...

More than 20 interviews

Just to move up from Manager to Senior Manager, I went through more than 20 interviews. For one position alone, there were 12 rounds.

I heard all sorts of things. "Bibi, you're not qualified." "You don't have enough experience." "You're too young." "Your vision is too ambitious." "You're too grounded."

Ambitious and grounded. Both wrong, depending on who was interviewing.

The lowest point

Now imagine this. My background is civil engineering, and I wasn't that brilliant either. In the final year of my degree, I was even kicked out of UiTM. I failed structural engineering and got thrown out.

So imagine the lowest point. Kicked out of university. Kicked out by my family. Not a single sen to my name!

So how did I hold on long enough to become a Project Director? That's the next post: Grit, Guts & Gusto, explained.

First published in Bahasa Melayu on Threads (@gritgutsgusto), 27 October 2026. Translated into English.