For as long as kita masih bernyawa, we will still be able to see a Jan 1st. Sorang senior aku masa kat college nampaknya missed the boat when he passed away due to cancer. Makin ramai juga dengar sekarang ni orang meninggal dunia kerana cancer.
But is that the topic I wanna write. Aku pun tak tahu hehehe.
Anyway, yes pada ramai orang tentu tahun baru ada significant bagi mereka. Ada orang tuggu ketibaan tahun baru becoz they want to party. Ada orang nak tengok bunga api. Ntah lah. Of late, aku meet new year just like another day aje. Keje sendiri ni bukan macam makan gaji. Ada yang looking forward untuk naik pangkat and naik gaji. Bekerja sendiri macam aku ni hari-hari kene pikir and bererak macam besok tu new year. Macam mana nak mitigate problems dengan isu-isu nak lock customers, macam mana nak manage new skills, macam mana nak incorporate technologies or anything that could give my service ada value added so that aku tak kesah sangat dengan price war yang competitors cuba nak apply in he industry.
I don’t really care actually. Aku selalu give my best to my customers and many return because they like what they are getting. Tak macam competitors yang tak mature, they think konon-konon la dorang tu lagi best. Well, you price your service at price of peanuts and no wonder lah your clients were serve by monkeys hehehe. Aku memang lah boleh compete but I do not want to give my clients half cook service. Siapa yang rasa aku caj mahal, tak pa la. Aku beri premium service. No one can do what I have offered.
Diam tak diam, aku track balek, rupanya ramai jugak client aku ni dari overseas. Arab ada, mat and minah salleh ada, india ada, cina ada, dari Singapore pun ada. Walaupun tempat aku di lokasi yang orang panggil tempat jin bertendang, sampai jugak dorang ni. Bila masuk center aku, tak la nampak macam spa, tapi cukup selesa and very comfortable. First inpression penting when someone comes for a therapy. Kepala yang tak kusut will create a willing client ready to be serviced. If they are not in the right frame of mind, aku nak buat kerja pun susah and the treatment pun payah nak capai objective.
Entering 2012 macam hari-hari biasa yang aku lalui. I am selling hope. I am not a healer coz I ain’t got that healing power. So far so good lah. Every month ada new client yang datang. Ada jugak yang datang sekali lepas tu tak datang dah. But I know most of them are very busy people, businessmen kebanyakkannya. Company executives yang sepanjangan meeting jer (pasal tu la aku tak suka jawatan aku dulu hahahaha).
Macam semua orang jugak, aku harap 2012 ni, Allah akan beri aku rezeki yang murah lah, Amin. Aku pun terasa jugak nak pegi holiday. Kalau anak aku jadi commercial pilot, mana aku nak cekau duit pegi jalan-jalan. Tiket murah yang dia boleh dapatkan pun ntah-ntah tak mampu aku bayar hehehe. Aku pun nak kumpul duit untuk hantar my daughter pegi belajar kat overseas kalau resul dia baik. Nak tunggu scholarship aku mana kenal orang besar-besar. Kalau kenal pun, takat aku kenal diorang tapi dorang akan buat-buat tak kenal aku bila tiba masa nak mintak tolong. Nak kasi masuk IPTA aku rasa tak nak lah. Kualiti IPTA dah merosot giler. Aku pernah supervise ramai budak buat MBA kat IPTA and aku rasa tak sama macam masa aku buat MBA dulu. Tapi aku punya MBA dari UK la. Ada satu tesis MBA yang pernah aku tengok, kalau masa aku dulu memang professor tu campak je kat muka aku. Cis budak yang suruh aku tolong type tesis dia sampai hari ni tak bayar aku. Dah jadi lecturer pun. Kaki songlap. Pompuan pulak tu. Hampes!
Ok lah. 2012 is another year to venture and I hope I could make good of the time, knowledge and experience I had. Tak lupa juga I will keep on to sharpen the saw so that I am in the position to put value and maintain my service at a premium. I ray to Allah to help me. Amin.
Happy new year to all of you who spent time reading this.
Terlalu banyak kita dengar perbahasan atau soksek-soksek mengenai perkara di atas. Kadang-kadang terasa jelek mendengarnya. Suatu perkara yang sangat kecil untuk disensasikan. Lebih buruk apabila ia menjadi bahan berpolitik. Identiti rakyat Malaysia sememangnya seorang yang boleh berbahasa Melayu dengan baik. Seorang Melayu yang dilahirkan dalam keluarga Melayu tidak mahu tidak akan menggunakan bahasa yang digunakan di rumah. Walaupun ada kalangan yang suka berbicara menggunakan bahasa Inggeris.
Kepada orang berketurunan Cina dan India atau Sikh akan mengamalkan penggunaan bahasa ibunda mereka tetapi sangat ramai diantara mereka fasih berbahasa Melayu kerana mereka akur bahawa bahasa Melayu adalah satu bahasa yang mereka akan sentiasa dengar atau baca kerana rata-rata bahasa Melayu banyak digunakan di pelbagai bentuk media. Ketika di luar negara, orang Malaysia lazimnya lebih suka berkomunikasi sesama mereka menggunakan bahasa Melayu dan ada yang mengikut dialek negeri dari bahasa Inggeris kerana ia merupakan suatu kelebihan kepada mereka. Pernah juga beberapa kali ketika di Amerika, rakan-rakan di sana mencemburui kita kerana sekurang-kurangnya boleh berbahasa Melayu selain dari bahasa Inggeris.
Bahasa Inggeris tidak dapat tidak adalah satu bahasa di mana terlalu banyak ilmu dan informasi yang ditulis menggunakannya. Suka atau tidak kita mesti terima hakikat ini. Malahan jika direnung, di India contohnya, bahasa Inggeris digunapakai untuk menjual ilmu ayurveda dan yoga mereka. Tidak kurang juga perkara yang sama dilakukan oleh orang-orang Cina dalam memperkasakan ilmu mereka. Ketika di Iran, saya dapati generasi muda berebut-rebut ingin belajar bahasa Inggeris ini walaupun mereka sangat gah dengan bahasa Farsi mereka. Mereka sanggup membeli apa saja bahan bacaan walaupun cetakan tahun 60an asal mereka dapat mempelajari bahasa itu. Dengan kebangkitan dunia maya yang tidak bersempadan, begitu banyak ilmu dan informasi yang ditulis dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Mempelajari dan mahir dalam bahasa Inggeris tidak sekali bermakna kita mengagungkan Inggeris. Ia hanyalah merupakan sesuatu ilmu yang sangat praktikal untuk kemajuan kita sendiri. Suatu waktu dulu kita ketahui bahawa antara sebab pelabur asing berminat membangun perusahaan mereka di Malaysia adalah disebabkan oleh kebolehan pekerja kita memahami bahasa Inggeris. Singapura sendiri merupakan negara yang sangat maju kerana sistem pelajaran mereka yang menggunakan bahasa Inggeris. Rata-rata rakyat Singapura tidak kira apa peringkat pekerjaan mereka sangat fasih berbahasa Inggeris. Lihat sahaja pemain bolasepak mereka, begitu selesa berkomunikasi dalam bahasa itu. Kita lihat saja lah bahasa muzik. Walaupun rata-rata ia adalah bahasa Itali, tetapi ia banyak diajar dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Apakah kita akan kehilangan identiti jika kita lebih fasih berbahasa Inggeris dari bahasa ibunda kita sendiri? Ia sangat terpulang kepada individu. Dalam keluarga saya walaupun arwah abah selalu menekan penggunaan bahasa Inggeris tetapi di rumah kami akan berkomunikasi menggunakan bahasa Melayu. Apa yang nyata, kebolehan berbahasa Inggeris memudahkan kami mendapat kerja di syarikat-syarikat bertaraf antarabangsa yang lazimnya membayar gaji dengan lebih lumayan. Kenaikan pangkat juga adalah lebih mudah jika ketua jabatan mahu orang yang boleh berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggeris. Banyak kali juga orang yang berkebolehan berbahasa Inggeris lebih mendapat perhatian untuk mendapat tawaran pekerjaan berbanding dengan yang tidak mampu berbahasa Inggeris walaupun mempunyai kelulusan yang tinggi. Pernah juga beberapa kali ketika saya menemuduga pekerja saya dapati ramai yang berkelulusan dari universiti tempatan tidak pandai berbahasa Inggeris walaupun mereka mempunyai ijazah yang baik kelulusannya.
Saya lihat kadangkala penggiat bahasa dan budaya sangat lokek atau ego mempertahan bahasa Melayu walaupun rata-rata mereka tahu bahawa bahasa Inggeris itu sangat penting untuk menimba ilmu, memperoleh pekerjaan yang baik mahupun memperdagang ilmu dan kemahiran. Mereka juga berkata bahawa banyak buku diterjemah kedalam bahasa Melayu. Tahukan kita, buku-buku ilmu yang ditulis dalam bahasa Inggeris sering diperbaiki dan ditambah nilai ilmunya. Jika kita tidak prihatin atau menanti jilid baru itu diterjemah kita akan ketinggalan.
Orang politik juga dilihat tidak bertanggung jawab menggunakan isu remeh ini untuk menjadi popular. Yang rugi pastinya rakyat keseluruhannya yang diperjudikan masa depan mereka dengan arahan flip-flop orang yang berpolitik. Kita adalah negara kerdil yang bergantung kepada ilmu untuk maju. Kita juga negara kerdil yang bertumpu kepada kebolehan mengekspot barangan, kebolehan dan ilmu untuk membawa masuk aliran wang asing kedalam negara kita. Kalau kita tidak pandai berbahasa Inggeris, boleh kah kita dapat menikmati kejayaan itu. Dan bila pelabur luar datang kesini, mereka mempunyai banyak alasan untuk membawa orang mereka menjawat jawatan tinggi dengan alasan pekerja Malaysia tidak mampu berbahasa Inggeris untuk menjawab apa sahaja kehendak pemegang saham mereka yang pastinya majority bangsa mereka. Oleh itu perkara-perkara mikro sebegini harus diteliti sedalam-dalamnya sebelum membuat ketentuan yang kononnya bijaksana.
Marilah kita semua membuka mata dan minda supaya impian kita untuk mencapai taraf sebagai negara maju dapat disempurnakan. Kita perlu memperkasa ilmu dan kebolehan kita dengan cepat dan efektif untuk terus kedepan. Jiran-jiran kita yang mana kos buruhnya jauh lebih murah dan masih banyak sumber ekonomi asli mereka melihat kelebihan ini dan mengambil inisiatif memperbaiki penawaran buruh murah mereka dengan pendekatan strategik ini. Jika kita leka dan “syok sendiri”, barangkali kita sendiri akan berputih mata.
Generasi akan datang pasti akan menyalahi generasi terdahulu mereka kerana gagal melihat jauh. Apakah kita mahu gah dengan tepuk dada tanya selera? Ia tentunya bukan itu yang kita mahu. Objektif yang hendak dicapai di masa hadapan mesti dimulakan sekarang. Berhentilah bersengketa dengan perkara yang membolehkan kita hidup melata. Cukuplah menjadi katak yang hanya bising didalam tempurungnya sendiri.
It was a shock to note that our MSL is categorized as a grade D league. It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow but that should motivate the national football administrator to think hard to move forward.
Although it was said that there should be at least 18 teams in the league, it must be 18 quality teams that is managed properly. It does not matter if politicians want to run the teams as long as they know what good management practice are. It has been umpteen years that teams in MSL claimed that they are professional bodies but except for a few, many were ruined by bad administrators. The worst were always about players not paid salaries or allowances although it is known that all teams were given grants by FAM.
State teams for example could co brand with private companies and let the private companies help manage the available funds that were budgeted for the year. Match bonuses or incentives should come from profits made from the business. Not from those not budgeted for.
Private companies are generally very good in marketing and this will obviously help teams raise funds through “selling” the team.
In attracting crowds plus intent to help development of the players, teams should look at big names that has past their prime as these names would attract die hard fans that see then as legends. For example, Robbie Fowler who has great followers would definitely attract Liverpool fans of today and the past to come and support him and his team. This marketing strategy would even attract fans from all over the world that still follows Robbie Fowler. Professional players from top flight soccer league in Europe are still good for MSL even if they are 36 years old. After all, MSL is not as grueling or physical as that in Europe. But of course all these players should pass medical using Europe professional league standards before teams sign the likes of him.
Why do we want to sign in cheap players whose name were no where known. Even if they are good, they will only attract fans from teams they have sign. These unknown players may be bigger in size but with quality that top flight teams in the world would just pass looking at them. Where is Keita Manju of Perak who said to have made it in the Major Soccer League in the US? If we take unknown players that could not even get into their national team, we will only rob our own players from clocking hours of play. When we chose those players for the national team and we did badly, we blame the foreigners that played in our league. Isn’t this new?
In retrospect, our national team has developed to become stronger because our younger players now have more playing time when foreigners were barred from playing in our league. Our southern neighbor for example, did not do well in the SEA Games when they were represented by neutralized “imported” players. Even with those players playing for their national teams, they can’t even match teams from the Far East or that from the Middle East.
I am of the opinion that MSL should think of how it could attract real professional teams from anywhere in the world. Even if we have to play the reserve teams from BPL, it will be nice to have them here. Big name players recuperating from injuries or fringe players that need more playing time can use MSL as getting their fitness back. It is also a platform for our players to showcase their skills to their scouts. This sound impossible but if we think hard, probably 4 or 5 teams or at least teams owned by our tycoons like QPR and Cardiff could play in our league. With this available, the industry could become bigger. Not only the opportunities are opened to players, but also physiotherapist, medical teams, caterers and the likes. From these, obviously the set up required by the greater teams from BPL will give us first hand experience in learning from them as it will be obvious that they will want to employ Malaysians to be part of their set up to save cost. This is what we are looking for as it not only helps to develop our sports but the backroom as well. The presence of the greater teams will obviously motivate our local team to set their team to be at least on par with them. Then we would see good players around the region or even the whole world wanting to play in MSL.
Perhaps, MSL need a major shake up to make it exciting, competitive and profitable. It could be a major renovation that will shape the future of our number one sports in Malaysia. Otherwise, we will become what we had before, unsure of what we are doing. The impossible is nothing!
Tetiba je terbayang sukan sepaktakraw yang kini semakin mudah diganyang. Barangkali dalam sukan SEA akan datang di Myanmar, dengan Filipina pun boleh kalah kot.
Aku tak la terel main sukan ni. Takat main petang-petang je kat sekolah dulu. Tapi masa tu zaman Adnan Saidin. Libas kuda pun tak de lagi. Kini mau pengsan jugak kalau main pasal sukan ni dah menjadi bertambah sukar untuk bermain. Macammana pun kalau selalu main tentu ok jugak lah.
Dalam tahun ni aku tengok dua acara sepak takraw. Masa Piala Dunia hari tu Malaysia kalah final dengan Thailang dengan sungguh mudah. Lepas tu manager dia ke kot kata, Malaysia kalah sebab gugup dengan riuh rendah penonton yang menyokong. Aik! Dengan penyokong Malaysia sendiri pun gugup jugak ke. Susah ni.
Lepas tu baru-baru ni masa SEA Games, tewas dengan Indon. Pun mula2 pegawai tu cakap pemain gugup dengan keriuhan penyokong Indon. Hmm..nampaknya lain kali main je la dalam kelambu. Jangan panggil orang tengok.
Lepas tu sekali lagi aku tengok ada pegawai tu kata pemain kita pemain baru, tak ada pengalaman. Senang je dia bagi alasan. Alasan-alasan macam ni bukan alasan baru untuk pegawai-pegawai yang mentadbir sukan-sukan di Malaysia ni. Cakap orang politik lah katakan. Habis kuat, pemain disalahkan dan digugurkan, pegawai tetap gah bercakap pasal pembangunan yang aku dah muak nak dengar. Ikut ler macam Guus Hiddink, Turkey tak layah qualify Euro, secara gentleman dia mengundurkan diri. Ni tidak, asyik muka pegawai tu je. Pas tu mintak funds dari kerajaan konon nak bangunkan sukan tu. Bila sampai waktu, gagal. Salahkan coach, salahkan pemain, salahkan MSN, kerajaan dan sebagainyalah kerana tak nak beri sokongan. Dorang(pegawai sukan) tak pernah salah.
Heran juga ye, rasanya MSN dah lama ada, sekolah sukan pun dah lama ada tapi banyak juga sukan-sukan di takuk lama. Sepak takraw bukan di takuk lama, tapi dan perudum dah pun. Malu lah.
Yang menghairankan bila kononnya pemain gugup, sepak takraw tak pernah ke mintak pakar saikologi MSN tolong. Fasiliti sukan kat Malaysia kan kononnya dah bertaraf dunia!
Kalau kita nak salahkan tak ramai orang nak main atau belajar main sukan ini di kampung-kampung mahupun di bandar, memang lojik la. Sukan yang ketinggalan, selalu kalah dan tak dapat perhatian memang sapa pun tak ingin ceburi. So siapa yang patut bertanggung jawab. Kerajaan jugak? MSN jugak? Aku rasa pegawai yang dapat duit mengembangkan sukan ini lah yang patut jawab. MSN mesti ada benchmark untuk audit sukan ini. Sekarang ni jangan lah banyak bercakap nak buat itu dan ini. Buat aje pasal orang ramai boleh tengok hangpa buat tu berhasil atau tidak. Dah banyak dah pun kita dengar, tapi satu hasil pun tarak. Malu la sikit ok!
Macam biasa bila datang Ramadhan, macam-macamlah rasa nak makan. Kalau berkunjung ke bazar Ramadhan, banyak juga juadah yang jarang didapati, ada dijual. Aku kalau nampak kuih badak berendam mesti kecur tengok. Begitu juga kuih gula melaka. Tak leh lawan mak aku punya. Wangi pandan, lembut dan gula melaka yang melts in the mouth atau kadang2 terpancut keluar. Perghhh sedapnya…
Tadi baru jer habis 1 hari kita berpuasa. Aku tak tau nak makan apa. Tanya baby dia kata tak kisah. Whatever will do for me. Since dia suka makan pasta, aku pun decided to cook carbonara. La ni nak buat senang je. Beli je sauce dia n campur la apa nak.
So this is how I do it.
Pasta or spaghetti boil al dente.
Chunk of yellow onion.
A wee bit of garlic if you like.
A bit of parsley.
1 tomato seeded.
Mince chicken.
Chicken stock.
Button mushrooms.
When all are ready; heat pan, masukkan garlic, then onion. Jangan sampai onion layu, masukkan buttom mushroom, chicken stock and the mince chicken. Stir fry until mince chicken turn brown. Lepas tu tuang aje carbonara sauce yg boleh dibeli di supermarket tu. Add half a cup of water. Kalau suka bergravy boh la air lebih. Lepas tu masukkan pasta atau spaghetti yang telah direbus al dente tadi and sebatikan dengan gravy. Last sekali seasoned to ur taste and taburlah parsley. Dah siap dah. It is a very light iftar meal and not that heavy for the tummy on the first day of iftar in Ramadhan. Nak pegi terawih pun tak de la malas.
Esok tak tau lah nak makan apa. Aku rasa macam nak buat dalcha ayam je makan dengan ikan goreng panas2. Hmm…mesti yummy.
Anyhow, to all readers, Salam Ramadhan kareem. Semuga rezeki anda semua berlipat ganda dan jangan lupa untuk membayar zakat fitrah.
After many years, we won the SEA Games soccer gold. It then followed by the AFF Cup. We see players with glimpse of intelligence. We started to see some taller players in our squad. Our set pieces are some what great as conversion rates has improved tremendously. Nevertheless, the last few games were quite disappointing to watch. Despite learning that our team has been together for quite sometime, there doesn’t seem to play like they have known each other. Astray passes, losing balls easily and our play makers only excel in some flashes of time. Despite moves have been rehearsed zillion of times, still passing of the ball accurately needs to be perfected. Speed needs to be sharpened as we always need to get to the ball first. We also need one or two creative players in the team who will play a free role roaming the field and difficult to mark.
We would have easily won the games with Singapore. The three goals we scored in Jalan Besar were flashes of a great team play. The three goals we scored against Liverpool told us that we could score goals. We let five easy goals because it looks like we still have the mentality of being afraid of seeing big size strikers. I heard Arsene Wenger said that our defense defended well when they played us but we lack creativity in the middle of the park. But hats off to the team who tried very hard. But hard work is sometimes not the answer to become champions. Perhaps we need to have a good look at how the Japanese women could win the world cup despite their size and lack of height. Never mind if it is even a women team but their philosophy is something that we should picked up.
Messi in not very tall and so is maradona or carlos tevez. Even Aguero is not that tall. We need to unearth this type of players and let them play a free role in the team who is harder to mark. I think Norsharul Idlan will be good at it coz he is quite sleek and cheeky and very fast too when he is injury free. He got good football brain.
Norhafiz zamani Misbah should play as the defense maestro as he has glimpses of what Soh Chin Aun had. A fighter like S Subramaniam is indeed useful when facing fast and aggressive strikers. Our midfield lost easy balls most of the times and if they got one, they sent inaccurate passes. When we are running with the ball, we lack covers and the strikers are not running away from their markers.
I think our boys can play football if we change the culture of our football. If the Latin Americans are so famous with their samba style, perhaps we could now learn the precise moves of our Zapin dance. Just look at the Zapin footwork and body twitching moves.
With great support from the government, great facilities that we have, good money that can come about to sponsor the sport, we should try to find a partner in the greater footballing nations and becomes their JV partner and send our youngsters to their academy on a long term basis. We could even invest in the lower division clubs where the shares are cheaper and get our players have a taste of playing more soccer with bigger size and faster players. Nearer to home, Japan is somewhat the best choice to have our players sent for football education as this country has indeed have their players in numbers playing their trades in Europe. Japan indeed plays the same style that we played. For physicality, speed and endurance, the Koreans are simply a superb place. We now need to send different players to different play grounds. All we need are experience. We are not far in term of skills. But we are very far apart in experience.
Nonetheless, kudos to our team despite bowing out of the World Cup qualifier. We are proud of you as we are still the team that plays with our own breed of players. Lets us now bring together our thoughts and support to our Olympic team. I am sure there are more fire in them after the World Cup exit. I am sure many of them playing in the senior team is very much part of the Olympic team. The coach now need to welcome anyone that can strengthen the squad. If some overage players could play for the team, then they should be chosen to reinforce the squad strength. I bet players like norhafiz zamani, safee sali, norsharul idlan, and safiq rahim may be useful to the squad if they are eligible to play. I hope to see this team swell in the qualifiers en route the London Olympic.
I used to be a paranoid. Whatever bad things that happened to me, i thought the world was planning to do fail me. I sat down and gave a good thought about it and i today have learnt to become an inverse paranoid. Now whatever things that I could not achieved was a blessing in disguise. A good example was a trip to NY cancelled not long ago. I was planning like hell and have saved enough money to have my family and I spent our vacation in NY. Then came the World Trade Centre crashing and all plans were cancelled. It was an opportunity loss to me and my family as we have longed for a life in NY. It will be a good 2 weeks vacation!
Little that I knew that the savings made became the money well spent on the renovation for the new house I just bought. I did not borrow a single sen to pay my contractors. From there on, I came to compromise on every little things or scenario that opposes my plan. When I quit my lucrative consulting business to start a therapy center, I got a lot of negative feedbacks. I turned them into positive opportunities and i got it right most of the times. For example, the location of my center that were located in an unpopular area turn out to be a plus point for me as my rental is cheaper. With lower cost I am able to throw in lots of sweetener to bring customers to me. My pricing stategy is second to none and my services are truly holistic. I focused more time on one single customer and at the end of the day, they were all happy to return for the next therapy session. My strategy locks them. Less time and money to spend on promotion as good service helps me get new customers by referrals.
I have even shared my philosophy with my clients, and started to inculcate it into their life. A patient that came to see me carrying with him a 30 year old injury felt “cure” after my therapy and share of philosophy. He left my center feeling better physically and emotionally.
I met an under achieving college drop out who was good at playing guitar. I have asked him to turn to music by attending formal music lessons, and today he is sittng for his eighth grade. He is now earning a good 4 figure income just teaching kids to play guitar on part time basis.
I taught a janitor to learn foot reflexology and today she could get at least RM 500 more a month by providing foot reflexology therapy in her neighbourhood during weekends.
You would wanna try this. Sometimes it is hard but if you are upbeat and focused with what you want to achieve, you will not fail.
I came to understand the word CHOICE better when I first started to read economics. Yes! It is about making decisions to have things from limited supply or sometimes oversupply with the scarce resources you have. Understanding this makes economics a breeze to learn and during college days, passed exams.
Ever since I was a kid, I was always mesmerized with people who can make something or making things happened. Mak is good in a lot of things. She could cook a lot of recipes and is good at tailoring. She made quite a bit raising the family coffers by selling her cookies as well as her sewing skills. She made decisions all the time and was in control of her very own little business.
I grew up always thinking that one day I want to own something and have total control about anything I want to do. But I was lazy in school. In my primary school, everything seems to be so easy. I was always in the top 5 in exams. Getting into secondary school at a boarding school changed me. No more daily supervision of whether I study or not from my parents. I started to become lazy. I just have to pass the term exams and I don’t really care whether I got 100 or 90s as long as I don’t flunk in any of the subjects. I was never near even the top 10. But I have always strategized my moves. Wanting to be in the science stream after my Lower School Certificate (they call it PMR today), I focused on those subjects that will put me there. I really don’t know why I choose to be in the science stream. I never wanted to become a doctor, engineer or actuaries. What the heck! I chose to be there and I must do the best I could. I hated maths and chemistry. (But I love it today!)
So yada yada yada, I finished high school, went to college studying a course I never asked for. Half way through, I quit college to start a career. I could work in a bank but I thought I wanted to learn something and groom myself into someone. I chose to work in an audit firm although the salary is nothing to shout about. For good 3 years, my lunch was only egg sandwich which I made myself everyday. I was always first at the office and will be the last one to leave. There are many instances that I choose to sleep at client’s office then going back to my hotel, when I have outstation assignments.
After 2 years, the partner of the firm entrusted me to become a team leader. I wasn’t a ACCA nor ICMA graduate (now CACA and CIMA) or have a degree in accounting. My team member was and all of them thought I was graduates like them! Never mind, I taught them all the arts of auditing and all of them graduated from my “school” and became excellent auditors and accountants.
While doing auditing, my desire to make something, produce something and own something strengthens. Owners of companies made tons of money by doing that. After my audit job, I went to sharpen my accounting skills by joining a manufacturing set up. I learnt all the trades from it! Next, I moved to a trading company learning the trades in selling and buying things. I decided to attend night classes to finish my formal education. It was tiring but I don’t really care. I was in my mid 20s when I joined that company, apparently associated with the famed Mr. Quek Leng Chan. Surprisingly I was elected part of the company’s management team. This gave me the opportunity to meet the successful little man but with very huge business empire. This makes me even more determined to make it on my own but I wasn’t ready yet at that time.
I always cherished working in the golden triangle of KL. I like the looks, the offices, the style of executives, and the chic of course. I was offered a sales job with one reputable international Oil and Gas Company but I turn it down. KFC offered me a management trainee job but I did not take it up coz the shift job clashes with my night classes. I then saw a big job classified by a newly set up company right smack in KL city. I applied, went for the first interview and the interviewer said the job was mine. After 1 month, I heard nothing from them. I called the HR and they asked me to come for another interview. I met the interviewer, an accountant and was impressed with me. He said, “The job is yours”. I waited for another month but heard nothing from them. Then I saw another classified from the same company. I called the HR and told them of the interviews I went through earlier. I asked them that I am interested to become KL branch manager. To my surprise, just one day after the classified, all jobs were actually filled up! Oh I knew no one in the company or have contacts with people who know the people in the company. The HR asked me if I am interested to take up a job in Melaka. My job is to set up the branch office there. I obliged. They finally issued me the appointment letter. On the day I reported duty, all those who interviewed me suddenly wants me to join them in their department. I was laughing out loud at their faces. They gave me empty promises before, so how in the world will I trust them! Apparently, those people who took up that “job” told me that they were brothers of so and so who knows the then General Manager. OK. Fair enough. I get mine after all. No point bitching about it eh!
For 3 months, as I was busy commuting from KL-Melaka-KL, one fine day, I was called by the company’s corporate planner and he ordered the HR to transfer me as soon as possible to his corporate planning department. He must have like what I did or he did a back ground check on me. Anyway, it was an appropriate move I thought.
Corporate Planning opens up a new dimension to me. I became very capable looking at things from the bird eye view. I have to translate what the owner wants into strategies after analyzing the granular aspects of the business, and then pushed them down the throat to every business systems in the organization and forced them to deliver. A lot of managers call me nuts! I told them the big boss said, “deliver or ship out!”. I like my job!
After 8 good years, I decided to step up. I wanted more challenge. I applied for the investment analysis job with the company. This gives opportunity for me to move about from one country to another. One subsidiary to another. I am going international. I was given a free hand to whip and rip the company’s investments. I redevelop business and proposed closure on lame ducks. But I have never lay off people. I retrain them and transferred them to other departments or subsidiaries.
In so doing, I decided to pursue my MBA to sharpen my management skills and knowledge. I enrolled into one, but found out that it was too educational. I quit after 1 semester and joined a UK based MBA program. I have to sit for a good 5 hours exam online with UK before they accepted me in. Classes then, were held in KL. A small class comprises the senior managers from conglomerates like Motorola, MAS, Colgate, directors of public listed company etc. I was the youngest but not the dumbest! This was the toughest test. I am married at that time and with kids. Time was precious. I was living in my suitcases managing many investment prtfolios. I have to manage a family. Help bring up my children. When I am back in town, I have to catch up with studies, assignments and presentations as well as my family. I can only study after my kids went to bed. Sometimes I spent my nights at the office alone until the wee hours of the morning. Tough but I made it through! To repay my family’s sacrifices they made of my time, I decided to take them to NY after my graduation in Amsterdam. The plan was shelved because of the September 11 fiasco! I never attended the postponed graduation ceremony held in Oxford University as I was in the royal kingdom of Cambodia.
All these raise my confidence to pursue my dreams. The company offered VSS and I gave no second thought taking it although the company disapproves my application. After some plea, I got my wish. 1 day after I left office, a group of owners from a consulting set up offered me a partnership. They wanted to give me 30%. I thought why not. Little that I knew, one of the firm’s partner was using me for his glory. I helped them staged an IPO for our client. I became a choice consultant for MSC status application. We even got customers from overseas. We went from nought to our first million in revenue. I was short changed. A partner became very greedy with the wealth. Revenue raised from business that was supposed to be distributed equally was not practiced as such. I was frustrated. I quietly left and set up my own consulting firm with my financial analyst. We did ok because of the quality we delivered to customers.
After a while, I got bored doing consulting business. The last straw was when some customers whom we did some massive jobs, conned us. Jobs delivered but there was no money for us. Because of these jobs we have actually stop dong MSC status application which actually our bread winner. The two big jobs became mere whiner. We became very tired chasing for our dues. I got fed up but found space to heal my frustrations learning holistic healings.
One day, I woke up in the morning; I decided to become a full time holistic therapist. I got myself certified as a massage therapist as well a cupping therapist. I learn essential oil blending and blended my own therapy oil. I am very happy now. I have a shack of my own (but still rented lah). I make my own decisions. I own a business no one can share and it is cash! Yabadabadoooo…
It is hard being a parent. Harder if you have many children.
When we grew up, we depended so much on our parents. My wife told me that the baby in her tummy were kicking hard as if they want something. During her first pregnancy, I observe that she likes to eat coffee beans. The second one, I always saw her had uncooked rice full in her pockets and she ate them like peanuts hehehe. I have never asked her why for as long as she don’t ask me to look for something weird. Perhaps, the baby inside orders her that, I don’t really know becoz i trust it is the mum n baby inside communicating with each other.
Babies when they came out o the world are rather bossy. They normally gets what they wanted. Who would bear a baby’s cry? More often than not we find it as a nuisance especially in the middle of the nite. Sometimes after we attended them giving them what they want, they seems like teasing us with little chuckles.
The next thing we wanted is for the to grow up fast so that they can become independent. However the older they become, the harder it gets. After they have started walking and running, things becomes more rowdy. You have to keep an eye on them all the times. They ere in curiosity state that they wanted to try everything. Their self learning process started.
They started to become parrots and try as much to behave to characters they like whether they see it from the TV or the home family mini theater system, which apparently became their own actually. Many like to become the heroes and a few chose to become the villains.
Some parents would start to nurture their children to become doctors or engineers or accountants, much to their dismay. If they told you that they wanted to become a tol operator, you will be feeling very upset. Little that you know that they actually meant they like people giving them money just to pass through that little hut.
Children becomes teenagers and many would turn to their peers for advice than their parents who are busy trying to build a successful life or career. To keep them at bay, some parents resort to giving allowances that matches the salary of a clerk.
Unlike during the 60′s, 70′s and early 80′s, children today were brought up by a maid or two. Parents were only the custodians. For those who couldn’t afford one, they will have them sent to a day care centers or full time nannies. All for the best of the child to have them taken care of.
Some children will appreciate what their parents did and there are a few who thought that they were ignored. No parents would ignore their children except for those irresponsible souls that dare to ditch their new born babies in a dumpster.
All children must realize that no parents in sound mind would wanna see their children to grow and becomes a failure. Every parents will pray the best for them and do all they could to make them successful and most importantly happy. Some were blessed with wealthy parents and some are rather unfortunate because their parents are not well to do.
Many children appreciates what has become of them from their parents but some will blame their parents for all their shortfalls. I trust the later is misrepresenting their parents. Tell me if there are parents who are not proud of their children if their children has achieved something, big or small. Some parents are good in showering praises and a few are not used to do that and rather do it privately in their heart.
As children, we must not misrepresent our parents. They love us all the same. We would not be what we are today if they don’t love us. We would be left malnutrition even when we were born. We might have always neglect the struggles our parents would endure to brought us up. I trust only a few of us really care about that. Many of us thought that our parents is responsible for us and must work hard to make us happy. Some really don’t care whether their parents are happy or otherwise.
I trust it is never too late for us to pay back all their sufferings and endearments. If our parents were long gone, all we could offer is our prayers to them. Alfatihah to my late dad.
