ONCE...The obstacle in Our Path

Received this from a friend (one of the 5 stories that he sent). I chose this one as it brought smile to my face...made me realize about the opportunity (hikmah) behind the obstacles that I'm having now. Thank you God !

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!.

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition !

ONCE...office reform (3)

The presentation went well. My wife SMS "why felt so bad ?"...wonder how does she knows that i just posted ? Anyway, hope the project will turnout good next year.

Progress report! Not much that I can put it here and I realized why. I didn't get the progress report from TM. And for last week, only AD#2 sent the updated report on Friday. The rest..? Only on the 13th when I asked the TM to get everybody to send. From my notes, this week was spent on the pre-strategic meeting for technical dept. Lots of ideas, issues & concerns discussed, and few suggestions will be made on 29th (Strategic Planning). TM was given 3 hours slot as well as the BDM. MGS has kicked-off yesterday, all the developers have their assignment (except for Prg001).

Just now, Prg001 back in action! But to his surprise...the software that was working on that terminal last week, is no longer working ?!!! And unfortunately, he lost faith already (he's only 55% recover from the downturn). I think he will head back to his house (meet his wife) to regain and recollect the other 45% (hopefully!).

As I was just thinking that my plate is empty...then i realized...there's alot of things...and i'm hardly finding the time to finish it...have to get it over with during this holiday.

ONCE...disturbed :(

I really don't like the condition I'm having now...low, down, lazy, demotivated, dissappointed, frustrated, crazy, stupid, negative, unambitious...

Don't know how to express my feelings, where to express it, who to share to , when to release it, how to say about it, and worst ! how to deal with it?! how to handle it?! how to manage it?! how to cure it?! how to decide for it ?! how to decide on it ?! what to decide on it ?! who to help me ?! who would listen ?! is listening all i need ?! what do i need ?!!!

"Ya Allah, apakah makna ujian mu ini ? Apakah hikmah ujian mu ini ? Mengapa ku rasakan begitu berat cubaan Kau kali ini ya Allah ? Mengapakah simpang yg terbentang begitu sulit utk diputuskan ? Jalan manakah yg perlu aku pilih ? Atau apakah itu sahaja jalannya ? Berilah aku petunjuk ya Allah ! Berilah aku kekuatan untuk menghadapi ujianMu ini."

Atau apakah aku yg terlalu beremosi..? Whatever it is, i need to buckle-up fast ! Presentation in half an hour, I better...(how...?!!!!)

ONCE...office reform (2)

(Sigh) I've missed last week's progress report. Busy with the CBAS proposal. Since tomorrow is my next progress report, i'll post-it for 2 weeks instead.

Currently, gearing for the coming Strategic Planning. Supposed to be today, but postponed to 28th. But later my 'favourite devil advocates' has time-limit, and i'm not going to take any chance in allowing it to happen (huahuahua..!). So, postponed it to 29th ! During the Mgr's Pre-strategic Planning Meeting, i was given a slot (an hour). Thought just wanna do some exercise (mine would be end of day, at 5 pm)...u know the one like "Hands-up ! Hands-down ! Hands-up ! Hands-down !", till LC suggested i share the Branding strategy knowledge (the one that i attend early Dec). Guess, wanna include also the Hedgehog Concept from Good to Great, or the Flywheel and the Doom loop. Or perhaps, about Good to Great ?! Well, there's 7 days to go ! Let see how it goes...

ONCE...Leadership in Crisis Management

It's the first Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Lecture Series by UNITEN. It'll be an annual program but not necessarily Tun will be speaking. Just the series bares his name. Tun's lecture was very enlightening, resourceful and practical as it comes from his very own experiences especially in managing Financial Crisis 1997-98. Among the best part was, his "unpublished remarks" on the culprits (read: George Soros and COLB).

First, Tun defines that Leaders must:

   1. Have vast knowledge
   2. Able to think
   3. Able to calculate the risk on its own
   4. Able to decide

Tun also defines that "Leaders is someone who is able to decide on bitter path. If someone who claim the leadership position, but just follow the path set before, he is not a leader. He is a follower. Leaders must be able to decide, even if it is a bitter path." I tried to read between the line if he tried to mention someone..but then I take it as general.

During crisis, Tun explained that Leaders must:

   1. Able to identify the crisis - always examine the data, in detail to get the pattern so that able to predict or forecast any potential crisis coming. Studying the graph and charts !
   2. Study in detail about the crisis - why it happen ? who's behind it ? what is the impact currently ? what would be the impact later ? what are the options to solve it ? etc...In great detail !
   3. Use his/her knowledge and experiences to gauge each data to analyse and to decide on the best solution
   4. There is NO PERFECT DECISION ! Every decision made will have its pro's and con's. Whatever it is, decision has to be made ! Fast !!! Leaders can't wait for a perfect solution because there won't be any.

There's a question from the floor asking his experiences in "bad decision" as what he had shared with us are mostly (all actually) "good decision". Tun said "I regret saying I also make some bad decision" that made the hall full with laughter. Of course, we can't really recall our bad decision because when we analyse our own performance, normally the good results or decisions pop-up. "I'm a good person so I guess I'm doing okey". Tun continued with some people did claim his decision as "bad decision" for the mega-projects such as Penang Bridge, KLCC, Putrajaya and PLUS. For this "...maybe we are doing okey without Putrajaya. Without komuter we are okey, just that we don't travel. Tourist don't need to come here to strain their neck to see that tall building, we also don't need to strain our neck. But then, they do come here to strain their neck. Perhaps, we don't need North-South highway, so people don't go back for Raya and there will be less accident". Master or Sarcastism !!! And I've been referred to be one as well...and I'm no longer feel embarrased since I know Tun is the Master ! And again, Tun's remark got full laughter from the floor.

A guy asked Tun whether he could persuade Tun Tan Cheng Eu to speak on the event as he has been very quiet since his retirement. I would say I was fortunate because I was in Penang for MDC's Conference during MSC IAP Meeting. Saturday (10th Sept 2005) there was Penang Lecture Series and Tun Tan was speaking. He's already 82 (if I can remember correctly), so his introduction was quite long about Penang's past. Tun also mentioned that Tun Tan was the man that started the industrialization in Malaysia starting from Penang. The lecture was about Penang: Past, Present and Future (hope I'm right with the title, if not the lecture was about those). Guess what..? He's also have a great sense of sarcastic remarks. One questions about his views on tourism, "...we don't have to invest in tourism. We need to spend money to serve people." Tun Tan believes it is better to spend on high growth technology production or manufacturing. Again about his views on brain drain in Penang, "...we don't have to get those Penangites back here. Penangites serve the world ! (there are few CEOs in Silicon Valley from Penang, top-guns in high-tech industries as well). We have all the technologies like video conferencing, mobile communication, etc. we don't need them to be here. They can contribute from where they are. We just need to utilize or come-up with new technology to enable this." Very proud of Penangites and high-tech enthusiast I would say.

Tun mentioned that Tun Tan can still be approached but he prefers to lay low. He can be approached for consultancy and advice but not on lecturing or speaking like what Tun did today (standing for 2 hours). Which I agree with Tun. My friend who organized the Penang Lecture said "...it was not easy to convince Tun Tan to speak for that day." I thank God for that opportunity because otherwise I wouldn't know who is Tun Tan Cheng Eu.

And for today, I thank God again and I'm glad that I came. Because initially I was contemplating whether to go to the lecture or go to office and finish my work. And honey, this is the third time (as far as I can remember), that I'm glad that I came for the event/meeting. And as I can recall, the reason was always "MALAS! (lazy, complacent)" for don't know what reason. Never really thought thru about it.

As Tun & the VIPs made their way out, the crowd were hogging the lane, to shake hand with him or take pictures or just simply want to see him in-person. Also some asked for his autograph. It's very inspiring to see such great leader still healthy and strong so that he can share his knowledge and experiences for the benefits of this country. My eagerness level to see Tun's memoirs has tripled since then!

ONCE...office reform (1)

My first progress report... I've monitored the team according to the plan & schedule, checking with the PM on the progress and what not. I've also spread the news that we have put up the plan & schedule at the new Whiteboard (just newly hung there actually), so that everybody can see who's who, when and how the resources are being distributed. Another reason is for the team member themselves to see who has more assignments. That in one way, can be considered as performance indicator and bring the competition-to-perform-better environment among the team members.

Last week, I made them tidy-up the cubicles and the 2nd pantry because I want it to be the 2nd discussion area for the team (the board hangs there as well). And I'm glad that this environment made it easy for everybody to sit down (have a drink or lepak) and looking at the board! At one point I realized, "what is TM doing ? he's not in the resource graph at all ?!!" Then, I had a chat with him and these are the things that he need to do:

   1. Be prepared and updated with the project status all the time so that when I asked, the answer will come immediately rather than "I need to check with them first".
   2. Improve his delivery method. The request from Sales team for demo or feedback from customer or solution for customers' inquiries/project must be attended soonest possible. If there's no solution yet, inform them when can he get back with the solution. If request for demo, then get the exact requirements for the demo (when, where, what, etc.) and suggest whether we can accommodate immediately (we have it already) or require some time (for customization or prototype development).
   3. Internal system. Plan, design, implement and monitor internal system for Project, Product Development and Sales synchronization. This is to improve effectiveness and efficiency to increase productivity.
   4. Performance measurement mechanism and SOP on technical unit operations.

So, looking back at my decision, 1 and 3 as planned, but not yet for 2 and 4 together with TM. Looking at the team progress, just had discussion with TM at 9 pm, few changes were made:

   1. AD#1 to drop ePurS v2.0 till end of the year, concentrate in preparing the relevant documents for MGS, managing NL and AS.
   2. AD#2 to drop MPS and PRS, concentrate in preparing and submitting the relevant documents for IGM, managing PNK, planning and recommendation on MyI based on the feedback from customers.
   3. Dev#1 completed MyI (x+1 day), as NL have not kick-off yet (NL yet to confirm the kick-off date), so rope him in for MGS. Assg given on Thursday.
   4. Dev#2 yet to complete PNK (x+3 days). New dateline is today but still 1 report pending. Monday he should start on MGS already but seems like will need to push a bit. All IGM's dev put on-hold.
   5. Dev#3 started picking up on .NET, but will be re-assg for MGS on Monday. All IGM's dev on-hold.
   6. Prg001 has yet to complete BIS (x+5 days) as he was pushed to take-up his previous role (few proposals and meetings to attend to). AS re-engineering put on-hold for MGS.

I've told TM, based on the current situation, as much as possible try to not involving Prg001 for MGS. No doubt he is REQUIRED, but try to put him as the last resort. Looking at MGS that are depending on other project deliveries to get it's resources, I've told TM that given the flexi-hours, the condition is the JOB GETS DONE ! Meaning, if PNK supposed to be completed today and Monday will be new assg, he has to do whatever it takes (read: weekends) to complete it.

Today, Dev#1 is on leave, high-fever because of tired this morning can't wake-up (and that was told by AD#1 before Friday prayer). So, during my discussion just now with TM, I told him to call Dev#1. Ask about his condition, concern a bit, eventhough AD#1 has informed, but as TM he has to call him personally. So that we know whether the condition is severe or not, advice him accordingly, assist if he may require it. The information also needed so that we can plan accordingly for his assg next week rather than caught by surprise again (like today).

22nd Dec will be our Strategic Planning for 2006 (SP2006). I've asked TM to prepare the SOP, performance measurement and reports, recommendations and planning for 2006 for SP2006. I've told BDM also to prepare the market update and sales strategy for 2006 to meet RM 3mil target. TM was adviced to sit in the Sales preparation discussion for SP2006 before he do the Technical one. I will prepare some strategy for Branding, Sales & Technical for that as well...and I've requested to sit-in in their pre-SP2006 discussion.

This week has been a very active week for my brain. And it gets very active after midnight. Really excited with the new knowledge on Branding, IBM's technology and Java. But the strategic and provocative thinking that made me get my paper & pen at 1 am, really caught my wife by surprise.

Very excited to turnaround this company! I'm going to strive for both ME and Co's success coming 2006 !

ONCE...office reform (0)

After few days of thinking, strategizing and planning, I've decided to do the following in reforming my unit:

1. Work closely with TM to lead, guide and assist him on ways to better manage the team.
2. Me taking up the role of Chief Architect (just like Bill !)
3. Enforcing the new structure
4. Plan, decide, write and announce the SOP and Performance Indicator for everybody

Yesterday, I've briefed TM and then spend the rest of the day with every single team member on their assignments. At any one time, the AD member may only have ONE AD assignment. Thus, concentrated on one assignment in lesser time. They will also be managing projects, but PM is not a full-day job as other people will involve in implementing the project. The PM would need to make sure everybody is gearing towards delivering the task ON TIME, WITHIN BUDGET and does not EXCEED SCOPE. As for Dev, same thing; ONE development assignment at any ONE time.

So, these were the things decided yesterday:

1. AD#1 was released from the MGS development work so that she can concentrate on preparing the report, chasing the govt agency(s) approval, and to concentrate more on AS issues. She's also will be managing NL project. Her AD assg is ePurS v2.0 (which include site study and survey at AS & SBS) till end Dec.
2. AD#2 will continue on PNK, IGM and MyI projects. Her AD assg is IGM AES & Portal, followed with MPS and PRS till end Dec
3. Dev#1 on MyI and NL till mid Dec. New assg will be given after he complete the tasks.
4. Dev#2 on PNK then MGS till mid Dec. After that continue on IGM Portal Integration till end Dec.
5. Dev#3 on IGM AES and Portal till mid Dec. New assg will be given after he complete the tasks.
6. Prg001 on BIS and MGS till mid Dec. He also will be working on re-engineering AS's terminal before end of 2005.

The briefing went good even though initially there's some resistance from AD#1. She want to learn that new language, but...I guess the quote below could explain it better (I just can't find the author of this quote, I know I find it in one of my books, but then which page ?!! this quote is definitely NOT invented by me, so please...don't sue me)

I CARE MORE ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF MY PEOPLE THAN I DO MY FUTURE, BUT I CARE MORE ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION ACCOMPLISHING IT MISSION THAN EITHER ONE

One very important thing that I need to CONSISTENTLY do is to really enforce, guide and monitor them closely. Make sure i get the productivity and quality level that i want. Who else can I expect to do that isn't it ? One way to measure my performance (that I really enforce, guide and monitor closely) is from my weekly (if not daily) post on the progress. Assuming the whole world is watching the progress, I need to make sure that I won't screw up !

ONCE...aquaria@klcc (1)

THE KIDS

It's Sunday, and I'm taking my family to aquaria@klcc, the in-town aquarium right at the basement of KL Convention Center. Auny excited like anything..."Abi...there's Nemo !!! And there's Dowry !!!" Well, I must say, Disney did a very good job in promoting the Clown fish and the "Dowry" type of fish (sorry..forgot to get the actual fish name). The aquaria is such a great experiences ! I've been to New Orleans Waterworld, and now having all those marine creatures in here, in KL...is really really great ! I may post some pictures here when I've got my broadband access (aka "in the office") soon.

NO FLASH IN THE AQUARIA

I saw the signage at the entrance. But to my shocking, at the Amazonia world, it's flashes all over ?!!! Well, there's no signage inside the area to REMIND people about it. And further, i believe this people are thinking, "the fish seems ok with the flash..what's the harm ?". Because they do seem like not bothered with the flashes. Hope aquaria's management will put more signage inside the aquaria if it is really affecting the fishes. And we need to civilised our mindset as well.

Anyway, some tips though, if you want to go there, go there after lunch..around 3 onwards. We arrived around 12 noon, and the Q till the exit ! It took us about 30 minutes before we can enter the aquaria, and then it's too crowded. Especially when people stop to see all those tiny and colorful frogs, dead-leave-like frog, beatles, tarantulas and the like. Then, the Amazonia where the big Arapaima, turtles, errmm...basically all those big fishes are there lah! Then the tunnel, where you can see the same (forgot his name) Stingray that used to transport Nemo & friends to school...and they are like flying around like nobody's business. After watching them mostly on National Geographic, seing them alive is really exciting !

And as you go out (EXIT), guess what ? It's the SOUVENIR SHOP !!! Very good design and planning. And I had to buy one of the T-shirt because Nu'man leaked. Thus, can't use my 29 euro Hard Rock cafe Amsterdam shirt for prayer (jgn marah honey :) ...kalu kat oversea, musti sudah bili itu t-shirt aquaria kalu...ini malaysia punya, kena kasi leaking baru dpt satu..hehehe..). Then we took the Green-backdrop picture to be super-imposed with Monsters Inc (as Auny chose it!). Very nice I'm telling you !

MALAYSIAN HERO WITH HIS FAMILY

I didn't take his picture...I believe he wants to spend his quality time with his family. 6 daugthers, beautiful wife (sayang abg pun cantik jugak..lagi cantik apa ;) ) and a cap. I know that he asked the girl to blocked the angle from the guy behind that wanna shoot his family in action. One thing I know, he smiled to my wife..well..as she smiled first. Who you ask ? (Itu KL Menjerit punya hero la...)

ONCE...in the Office(2)

Can't stop thinking about what went wrong. Chat with my sweetheart at home, and friend the next morning. People get frustrated when they failed, right ? And I'm delegating my failures by blaming my staffs of not competetive enough, not aggressive enough and stuff. The fact is, most of them just taking orders. And do their best in their own field and scope. Expect more ?! Will frust again!

Thinking to revoke the scheme and flexibility given, but then...it is too soon to do that. It's just a month since the flexi-hours implemented, and 1 1/2 months (after take-out Raya holidays) after the new structure being put in place. Like it or not, may need to wait till end of the year. But will closely monitor ! 2006 must be different !!!

new scheme, new method, new strategy, new mood, new motivation and new spirits !!!

NEW may not be totally NEW...but it shall be the improvements of all the mistakes and discoveries (as Einstein put it). We can't be successful, if we didn't discover (motivating words for "failure"), if we didn't fall and rise again. And as success is a journey...I'm not stopping here as yet..!

I'll share the steps, the thinking, the discussion, the decisions and the results of my next moves. First, setting my mind: to turn around this company into a successful and profitable company. I believe I'm facing the same challenges as what Idris Jala will be facing next month (perhaps he start thinking already..and may have plan that just need to be executed come Dec 1).

Thanks to Sharry for introducing me to the blog world (and the new vlogging here)...and especially to my sweetheart, who are very enthusiastic to see my post. Really an encouragement...and made me think profusely..so that I'm not posting a junk. "Luv you honey :*"

ONCE...in the Office (1)

IT'S NOT MINE !

I was talking about the IT's NOT MINE mentality. Just now I found another classic example: the office's pantry ! It's full with all the mugs, spoons and plates. With water filling each and every space that it can contain. Will you have that in your own house ?! Of course NOT!

I'm guessing the thinking when they leave those stuff there.."aahh...we have makcik cleaner, she'll clean it up". And she's coming every 2 days, what happen before she came ? If any visitors (esp CLIENTS) come and we treat them lunch or dinner, and they wanna wash their hand and "euwww..! awful !".

..continue..."yeah..makcik cleaner not coming that often, but what the heck, it's the office (duh?!) nobody sleeps or stays here...it's only during office hours...and after all, it's not MY COMPANY!". errr..that reads "THE COMPANY DOESN'T BELONGS TO ME..I'M JUST WORKING HERE !". *sigh...*

WHAT WENT WRONG ?

"We've lost the other 2 tenders.", my partner informed me yesterday. The govt one, fair enough..lost it to the manufacturer. The club one, "we're the one that initiated the project with them. how come we lost it ?!". I'm clueless. The "ONE" big tender that we're eyeing after raya lost because we are using 256 kbps line while the one that got it is using 2 Mbps dedicated broadband (the story is definitely different if we are the one that has the 2 Mbps line). Then, these 2 tenders some more ? "What went wrong ?!".

Everybody is working hard or rather seems to work hard. I can see that they're running here and there. But then, looking at the facts, from their reports..it's clearly NOT ENOUGH ! Very little activities, not extensive and rigorous planning, no long-term and detail planning. Why other people can do it ? Why their people keep getting the deals ? Why can't we have high productivity and high quality results ? Being an employee, people said "The management/company need to provide condusive workplace, motivating environment, flexi-hours, freedom and spaces to be more creative in delivering,..." among others.

What shall we do when after all that are provided, the results doesn't materialize ?! My expectations wasn't met ?! I would LOVE it if I have the luvury to use Donald Trumph's favourite word! But, is that the solution ?! We might end up losing than benefiting from that. But why can't they think on their own on how to improve their work ? How to initiate, be proactive ? "Hmm...i'm think i'm idle, no new assignment yet...maybe i should ask the manager for new assignment..rather than just browsing the net about the local artiste or watching movies...i must earn every RM of my salary rightfully.." Can't we think like that ?

I was an employee once...(hmm...nice topic...), but I don't have that kind of mentality (by the time I'm thinking that I might start having that mentality, I'm here already :-) my own company !). Guess...shouldn't expect much...people are different...can't expect them to be like me, right ? (WHY WOULD I NEED TO CONSOLE MYSELF WITH THIS STATEMENT ?!!!) With that consolation statement...and people agree with it...we are not going to go far in whatever things we are doing.

Based on my readings,

Hardwork

Sacrifices

Pro-active

Preservarence

Desire to excel

are among the KEY elements that made the successful people, SUCCESSFUL !

"bukan senang nak senang bro..."

ONCE...good article

Never underestimate your client's complaint. No matter how...

This is a real story that happened between a customer of General Motors andits Customer-Care Executive . Pls read on.....A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

'This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....You see, everytime I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts justfine.

I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how sillyit sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?" The Pontiac President was understandably sceptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fineneighbourhood.

He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn'tstart. The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem.A nd toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavour. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavour, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavours were kept in the back ofthe store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to checkout the flavour. Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka- Time was now the problem - not the vanilla icecream!!!!

The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapour lock". It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavours allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapour lock to dissipate

Remember :Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution , with cool thinking. Don't just say it is "IMPOSSIBLE" without putting a sincere effort....Observe the word"IMPOSSIBLE" carefully.... Looking closer you will see, "I'M POSSIBLE"...What really matters is your attitude and your perception.

ONCE...World Toilet Day

19th November has been declared as the World Toilet Day! As reported last Saturday in NST we have to treat toilet with respect. No doubt our public toilets are dirty. Since it is World Toilet Day.. hey ! it's not only in Malaysia...the whole world have the same problems! And we have the World Toilet Organization to monitor, advice, educate and speak about best standards in Toilet Design, Cleanliness, Maintenance, Quality of Work and Sanitation Technologies. So, it's more than just "Respect to Toilets!".

Anyway, why our public toilets are so dirty ? Not condusive ? Low hygiene ? It's because IT IS NOT MINE !!! Obviously, our toilet at home, we'll make sure we flush after use, put up the toilet seat, decorated nicely, try not to wet the whole toilet, put rubbish (tissue or whatever..) in the dustbin, etc. But when we are at public toilets, we don't care one...throw the tissue and rubbish in the toilet bowl (because if it stucks there, that toilet that have the problem, the smell..and not MY toilet), don't bother to flush (next person will...nasib laa), squat on toilet that leave shoe-prints among others. For PLUS RnR's toilet is clean and comfortable because they have dedicated people to take care of the toilets (which is one of the objectives of WTO; professional restroom cleaners).

The IT'S NOT MINE mentality not only speaks itself at the toilet. We can see at public parks, public parkings, restaurants, trunk road/highways among others. People simple wind-down their window and throw a bag of junk-food waste, soft-drink cans out of their car. They must be thinking "don't u create a mess in my beautiful car...out u go!!!". Well, it's not my road. Another example, at RnR parking bay, as he about to continue his journey, he emptied his door container from all the receipts, sweets covers there and then. The dustbin is just 10 steps away ! Will he do it at his porch ?! I wish that I have the guts (authority better) to scold (if not punch his dumb, stupid, big head) him for doing that.

That also goes to our public/civil service servants...THIS IS NOT MY COMPANY ! I'M HERE TO GET MY SALARY ONLY ! WORK IS ALWAYS THERE ! To say solely the mentality lies in civil servants is not fair, because most employees have that mindset. Sadly for me...it does exist in my company as well...

ONCE...justice for Iman al-Hams ???

What the f*** ?! Very sad...i'm speechless...

- don't know what to say...
- don't what to think...
- don't know how to feel...
- don't know how to react...

- when will this be over ?
- when can we have peace in the world ?
- when can we not kill a human being ?
- when can we not kill innocent people ?

as of "Captain R", what more can we say...? the trial was in Israel... their court... their people... their soldiers... their lawyers... their judges... their sentiments... their thinking... their judgement... their justifications...

do we expect justice from them ?

ONCE...teachers on 5 working days

I read it in the newspaper that the teachers are asking for 5 working days. Same like all the other civil servants. Why they should work more, long hours, weekends while other civil servants are enjoying their weekends? Don't know where goes all the values to teach and guide our youngsters to be a good man/woman, strive for excellence, patriotic, high etique and stuffs. To some extend we can't blame them so much. Because my view is, most of them become teachers by force. They can't find any better job out there that could bring the RM they aiming for, so they go for teaching. This people may have not-so-good grades, or good grades but lack of confidence, communication skills, etc. So this are the kind of teachers we have (not all...but could be the majority of them now) currently.

They said they are willing to work 9 hours, just like the other civil servants. What make me wonder also is, should they enjoy the 2 months plus school holiday still ? What's next ?! The civil servants asking for the same amount of holidays ? Or our children have less holidays as school can't have those holidays anymore ? Or children still have holidays but not the teachers, just like our lecturers (who come to check-IN at 8 am, go back or do other things, then check-OUT at 5pm during semester break) ?

Well then, soon enough we will here again outcry of why our students' quality is worsening, our big Us are losing ranking, our children school bag are heavier, productivity level are not satisfactory, skilled workers and knowledge workers (especially) are declining, brain drain and other issues. As our PM pointed out, "First world infrastructure, Third world mentality"!

ONCE...PSFE2005

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ONCE...Raya without my Father

This is the 1st time we are celebrating Aidil Fitri without Ayah. What I don't quite understand is...why we don't miss him so much ? It was as if he'd left us for some time. But it's just 4 months ! I went to visit him on the Raya's eve...sedekah Yasin and doa. During 'beraya' session, only my sister cried. Maybe because during his funeral, everything was done in lightning speed. Even if I was in Jakarta that time, I'd surely not be able to see him for the last time. He don't want to be delayed. "Don't wait for anybody! Execute it as fast as possible." that was his request. And that was exactly, how we've done it.

"Semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat Allah sentiasa...Amin"

This year, I wanna go to most (if not all) my relatives' house. I told my wife, "we are going to jalan sakan this year :D"...surely she loves it! No doubt, people really excited that I came. Mak Andak really surprised that we came yesterday..."see, people do love to see you come to their house" told my wife. Ye le...I appreciate it better now. So, this weekend would be to her relatives and friends.

This weekend also need to spend some time at home. Need to cut the grass, clean the floor, decorate a bit, make it like a 'real' home again. Since her company's dinner that she thought would be this weekend actually is next month, guess we'll be spending more time at PA. Whoever wanna come, better call first la oh...otherwise, sorry no cure ler...

Funny !!! That day I have so many things to put in here...but then...gone with the wind...dunno why like that.

ONCE...car accident

yesterday morning about 8.11 am, after i paid toll at Seafield exit (ELITE) joining KESAS, i saw one old Merc stranding on the left. all his debris; bumpers, broken glasses are all over the road. seems like it had scratched along the divider (btw, this Turning is quite popular for people hitting the divider or spinning on the road when it's wet...i've seen few cases before).

everybody are trying to avoid the debris. as i'm turning towards KESAS, suddenly i saw the back of 1 tonne lorry (wodden back) coming close to me. my thinking at that time was it going to hit my windscreen and my chest! Thank God (Alhamdulillah!) it's somewhere down there on my left. as i pulled over, it's my signal and a hole in my bumper (one month old bumper). and actually, that lorry hit a kelisa. the Kelisa was quite bad; rear windscreen fall-off, right taillights are broken and a very unhappy Kakak. i sat there listening to their quarrel (the merc drove-off after 3 of us pulled over). then, i saw a brand new civic in the middle of the road facing against the flow. luckily, other vehicles are quite far...just that he need to wait quite a while before our "curteous" drivers gave way for him to leave safely.

about 5 minutes after that, one Kia Rio hit the divider like nobody's business (guess there's oil on the road that made it more slippery...i don't think she didn't turn there..but that's how it look like from where i'm standing) and immediately facing against the flow. most people managed to manuver safely except for one Waja that hit her head-on ! and unlucky for her, the Lori Tanah hit her back (but she's lucky that the lorry has slowdown already). a minute later, patrol car arrived to control the situation.

for me, i can't claim from the lorry (i'm at the back), and he don't need to claim anything as no damage on his side. so, slowly...i drove to my favourite workshop where towards the end-of-the-day estimated about RM1400 for all the damages. should have lodge the report and pay the tickets and make my insurance to pay but then...too late to complain already. anyway, need to look for options tomorrow. saw few workshops in glenmarie, hope can get better deal.

ONCE...coaching

Inspired by Rich Dad Poor Dad, I want to create a business system so that I don’t really have to work anymore. Financially free ! So, when I started as CTO, I wanted to create more 'ME'. Better 'ME's if possible. I’ve 3 staffs when we moved to TPM. As to create more ME, I guess the training should be the same as how I was trained. "You'll do everything !" From product specification, system design, coding, testing, progress reports, etc. I’ve made them the Product Owner, each one of them has their own product to be developed, nurtured and enhanced. It was based on the projects that we got. Regardless of their job titles, everybody has the chance to be a Project Manager. Project Manager that need to get customer requirements, prepare progress reports, customers acceptance documents, system design, programming, test plan, conduct training (is it too much to ask for..?) among others :-).

In 2004, I've got 2 additional staffs. Again, same method. Just that one guy (very talented, result-oriented and productive though) has bad attitude. Indirectly, I asked him to resign, which he did. The other one is fresh, but he got the harshest training and treatment (maybe because he’s my junior and younger than me). But I guess, that brings the best in him. No doubt that nobody can match his determination and dedication to work. Imagine this; went back to Tanjong Malim at 8pm, fetch the wife and kid and arrived at Cheras almost midnight. At 2am arrived at the office till next day ! Well, I didn't asked him to do that, but you know you have such a good people when they produce or dedicate their work like that.

In 2005, I've got another 3 people (it's 4-5 but they didn't last more than 3 months, one lady can only stand for one day!). Then again, same method. I saw some people are struggling with the method that I've implemented. But, in order to create more 'ME', I've to do it.

It’s very challenging to coach people. Tiring. Especially when the results doesn’t come as expected. Could it be that my expectation are too high ? Don’t I realized that people are different in nature ? I can’t expect everybody to think and behave like me ? All the time ? At this point in time, I’ve realized that my method is not working. My method was wrong…unfortunately it took me 3 years to realize it. But hey, no pain no gain eh ;-)

ONCE...Ramadhan datang lagi...

Ramadhan datang lagi...maka berduyun-duyun la umat Islam membanjiri masjid dan surau2 menjelang masuk Isya'...ramai yg tunggu sampai 10 lebih, tak kurang jugek yg sampai kul 9 je...(yg tak datang pun ramai jugak !) masing2 ingin mengejar barakah dan pahala ibadah sembahyang tarawih di bulan ini...bagus sgt la tu...

cumenya, kenapa tak boleh jadikan ianya amalan setiap waktu ? setiap hari ? setiap bulan ? setiap tahun ? kenapa Isya' dan tarawih sahaja ? kenapa ramadhan sahaja (ke 3/4 ramadhan je) ?

kerja tak penah habis, duit tak penah cukup, makan tak penah kenyang, jalan tak penah puas..?! tapi itulah, setakat bertanya dan berkira2...semangat utk ubahnye takde..kalu ada pun, takat tu je la...tahun depan keluar lagi soalan nie (kita tgk tahun depan, di bulan yg sama, page yang lebih kurang sama...ada tak soalan nie lagi...) agaknya bulan ramadhan ni utk timbus semua lubang2 yg kita buat sepanjang tahun gamaknya ye..?

apapun..harapnye, ramadhan tahun ini, akan lebih baik dari tahun lepas...dan semoga ianya berpanjangan...(Amin !)

ONCE...car problem

poor dear...tyre 'pecah' and no spare tyre in the car. waited for an hour before the insurance people arrived. hope everything goes well and she can go back safely.

talking about car problem, last month was the worst for me; road-tax & insurance renewal (RM772), hit gas cylinder (tong gas petronas tu..) on KL-Seremban highway..change front-bumper (RM140), engine oil tank broken (RM800), air-cond system (compressor, dryer, services, etc...) major services (RM1500, 3 yrs of NO air-cond maintenance) and coming headlight, bonnet latch and potentially timing-belt (aduss..) lucky i'm not paying :) ...my MC did ;)

but after all that, my 1.3 wira is as good as new...guess i just keep it for good!

ONCE...in the Office (0)

it's already late...first terawih tonight...yet i'm still here (in the office). flattered that my guys are still here...catching up on datelines ! last night, i've read "Perfect Phrases for Performance Reviews"...my eyes almost closed till i read the "Coaching" column. maannnn..!!! i've performed Unexpectedly and Need Improvement. no wonder there's big outcry recently...

well..being human, we can't escape from making mistakes right ? good thing that i realized and +ve moods kicking-in again...hikmah Ramadhan i guess...

i'm glad that i've all these good people (or rather the "right" people as Jim Collins said in Good to Great) with me...hope they're with me for long...

ONCE...

...it all started today...my first post ahaks :D