Well, not quite.. yet :P But there’s still hope!

Remember that hoo-hah about the best job in the world? You guys should know — I received lots and lots of forwarded e-mails about it. Basically it was a nifty move by Tourism Queensland to boost their, uh tourism. They are looking for an island caretaker to promote their islands through a blog; if I remember correctly there are some conservation stuff to be promoted as well. Location = Great Barrier Reef’s Hamilton Island. Duration of position = 6 months. Salary = $150,000.

The money’s not really the point. I mean, give me food, shelter and a broadband connection, I’d quit my job and head over there to drink myself silly while basking in the sunshine, surrounded by soft sands and gentle waves care for the islands. But alas! I’m one of the millions who read such forwarded e-mails, daydream about it for a bit then snap back to reality without having done so much as flick my hair to try to get the job.

Besides, no bikini in the world would flatter my… uh, figure ;)

But a lot of people did apply. Jackie Miao from Sabah made a video, submitted it and voila! out of the 34,000+ applicants, she was the SOLE MALAYSIAN who was shortlisted to be in the Top 50! This alone is more inspirational than the longest poh piah or kuih kapit.

At the moment, Jackie’s position on the Wild Card Leaderboard is #26. What’s that? Let me explain…

• Tourism Queensland will shortlist another 10 candidates out of the 50
• An #11 will also be chosen, based on the number of votes received via their website
• All 11 chosen applicants will travel to the island for an interview, at which point the ball is in their court

A couple of people e-mailed me asking if I could publicise this on my blog. Sure thing; I mean, I hardly think I’d make a dent to the number of votes, but sure I’d love to spread the word. Besides, though I don’t personally know Jackie, I kind of want to see the headlines in the papers as per my blog post title.

Here’s how you can help out a fellow Malaysian:

• Go to www.islandreefjob.com/jackie
• Enter your e-mail address to vote for Jackie
• A confirmation e-mail will be sent to your Inbox. Click on the confirmation link to make your vote count
• Go to the same URL after 24 hours to vote again ;)

The Wild Card voting ends on 24th March, 2009. That’s about 5 or 6 votes per person until then. Please help :) You can also keep up with Jackie’s progress at her blog here.

Good luck Jackie!