New Phone

Alas, I made the decision to change my phone. The Treo 600 I've been using since last November hasn't really performed up to mark. It kept starting up on its own after being knocked around a bit, it's just so sensitive. I guess it is true that PDA doesn't make good handphones and vice versa. Also the unit is a bit bulky but I've endured the hardship because I really like the idea of having a phone and PDA functions together in one unit. Beats carrying 2 items all over anytime. However, the time has arrived for me to make the change. I've paid the deposit for a new phone but since it hasn't arrived at the shop yet, I'd better not make any announcement, in case something happens between now and tomorrow.

Bring On the Competition Maa!!

An article that came out in a local daily, written by a well known individual was brought to my attention at the end of last week. It was another commentary on the Petronas IT outsourcing issue. His article was on two factors that weaken the Malays, the first due to a has-been politician expressing his intention to contest as a candidate for the party presidency and the second was because of the outsourcing. It's quite a farfetched theory, in my humble opinion but do have a read on the excerpts below and my comments which followed it.

Berita hangat di pelbagai akhbar pada 10 Julai itu ialah tentang hasrat Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah menawarkan diri untuk dicalonkan bertanding merebut jawatan Presiden UMNO dalam perhimpunan agung tahunan parti itu bulan September nanti. Surat pembaca yang tersiar di Utusan Malaysia pada 6 Julai itu adalah tentang penswastaan perkhidmatan teknologi maklumat (IT) di syarikat gergasi Petronas.
Manakala kesilapan Petronas menswastakan perkhidmatan IT-nya itu pula bukan sahaja akan `membazirkan' bakat dan sumber tenaga manusia Melayu di satu bidang yang sangat penting dan kritikal, malah lebih merunsingkan daripada itu ialah kita (Petronas dan negara) berhadapan dengan satu risiko kebocoran rahsia penting kepada warganegara asing.

Sebelum penswastaan itu dilaksanakan, perkhidmatan IT Petronas diselenggarakan oleh lebih 500 orang pakar IT yang sebahagian besarnya terdiri daripada tenaga-tenaga muda Melayu yang mahir dalam bidang tersebut.
Sebahagian besar daripada mereka, malah mungkin seluruhnya, memiliki kepakaran tersebut dengan bantuan biasiswa Petronas sebaik sahaja mereka berjaya dengan cemerlang dalam peperiksaan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). Ertinya Petronas telah melaburkan satu modal besar untuk memberikan pendidikan kepada mereka menjadi pakar IT.
Apabila perkhidmatan IT Petronas itu diswastakan kepada satu syarikat yang baru dibentuk, tidak sampai sepertiga daripada pakar-pakar IT Melayu yang seramai lebih 500 orang itu menyertai syarikat tersebut.
Sebahagian besar ingin kekal menjadi kakitangan sepenuh masa Petronas dan oleh kerana terpaksa melalui satu proses mendapatkan kemahiran semula iaitu proses memperoleh kemahiran baru di luar bidang IT.
Manakala syarikat baru dengan kekuatan tenaga pakar sepertiga daripada yang diperlukan untuk meneruskan perkhidmatan IT untuk Petronas itu, terpaksa mengimport tenaga luar, terutama dari India.
Dengan demikian satu komponen yang sangat penting dan sangat kritikal untuk operasi Petronas itu sekarang terdedah kepada orang asing yang bukan sahaja bukan Melayu malah juga bukan Malaysia.
Sekali gus ini bukan sahaja merugikan Melayu malah menakutkan Malaysia. Tidakkah mungkin kita berbalik ke pangkal jalan? Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO dan ahli-ahli Parlimen Melayu patut meneliti perkara ini lebih lanjut. Semoga yang tertitik tidak akan tertumpah.

The main points he made on the outsourcing issue were:

1. Malays are losing out because what used to be a Malay dominated field in Petronas, will now be given to foreigners party, specifically from India
2. A critical operation to the country, (Petronas being a national oil company) will be 'exposed' to foreign powers and influence
3. the author suggested that UMNO Youth and Malay Members of Parliament will take up this issue and fight for the so-called weak Malays

My comments:
The points in the article is so backwards and not suitable with this age of globalisation. Malays as a race don't need protection, we need to be competitive and the ability to stand tall with the rest of the world. If we just want to be protected and not allow competition to arrive on our shores, then I'm really afraid for our future children and countrymen. Being one of the person that joined the new company, I am quite insulted, as I'm sure my other colleagues, by what the author wrote. We joined the new setup because we want to be better IT professionals and to do what we love and know best. Simple as that. We knew of the risks leaving a larger and more establised company but I guess the spirit of being pioneers kind of appeals to us. It doesn't matter who work for the company, be it Indians or Africans or even the Eskimos. What we need to do is learn from them and espouse to be as good or better than them. Foreign workers are a norm in many of our larger companies. They've been there even before the IT outsourcing issue was raised a couple of years ago. I suppose someone told the author about this issue but not the whole story. Being someone with credentials his writing would carry weight I suppose among the highly emotional group, but economic sense would just prevail, I hope. I believe the new UMNO Youth Deputy leader will not be caught into such issues. If not, then I don't know where this country is heading to.

I would like to share what another local writer wrote in Personal Money. Azizi Ali wrote under his article Spare Change,
"Competition will ensure that you remain on your toes, get better, innovate, reduce your cost, be creative, be resourceful and grow. And that's how you grow big, strong and rock the world. So, remove the barriers and let the fight begin. No one owes us anything."