New (Financial) Year!!

I guess all Finance people, at least in Petronas, celebrates their new year according to the financial year which starts from 1 April. I was April-fooled once today by Shai when he said he'll be getting married at the end of the year. Siot aje.

I'm still stuck at the office at 7 pm, supervising some job by the contractors. It's a bit tiresome but somebody needs to do it. I guess since I could be changing departments any day now, I should complete all my outstanding jobs asap. I don't want to think about the things to come because I'm not really sure what I'll be doing even though I've expressed my interest and long term career plans to my management.

My little sister, Adiknor will be getting married next week. Cepat jugak lah dia kahwin, she'll be 24 this December. But she found someone she wants to settle down with and since it is her wishes, so it is better for them to get married sooner rather than later. There'll be quite a number of functions to attend to and many baju melayus to change into. I even have to give a speech at the reception. I've got the things to say outlined, it's just a matter to go onto that podium and say it. Alah, don't want to think too much about it lah.

Haiya, bila lah diorang ni nak habis buat kerja? Bosan betul lah kena tunggu macam ni aje. :(

What Will Be, Will Be....

I don't intend to join in the masses of criticism of the recent general elections. Some parties have targeted their guns on the Election Commission, claiming that the election was rigged and so on and so forth. Rumours have been flying around about some people not satisfied with the result and wanted to create unrest. I suppose, there is a another perspective that people should consider. Put trust in Allah. He has planned for all this to happen even before there's Time or a universe. If there were really wrongdoings, then those who had wronged then they will receive the punishment in the hereafter.

Of course, Islam taught us to take action if we see something wrong but in this case, in order to respect the people's wishes, then just let things be as it is. Go back to the drawing board, learn about yourselves and where things went wrong. There is no entity which is perfect except Allah. Even the Prophet Muhammad encountered defeat and tribulation during his time, Uhud War being one example. But the Muslims at that time learnt their lessons and they went on to capture Mecca a few years after that.

I'm not saying that PAS is the worst thing to befell Malaysia but I do believe they are important to the development of Malaysia. I think they are the most misunderstood bunch of people in the country and rightly so, people are afraid of things they don't understand. Nevertheless, if I can say anything to their leaders now, I would say,"Accept the punches like a man, and learn ways to avoid new incoming ones". Look at the new PM as an example. He was put into cold storage once for a couple of years but he took it like a man. I'm sure he saw it as a test from Allah and just struggled on ahead. It is people like these who turned out to be great leaders. Those who suffered and knew the meaning of struggle. There is one such guy sitting inside a cell inside Sungai Buloh prison. I wonder if he would turn out to be among the great ones one day too.

BN obtaines resounding victory

Much has been said and written. In the end, it is up to the people to decide. And the majority has decided. BN is returned as the winning coalition and will form the national government and pending the recounting process that is currently going on, will also form all state governments. The Islamic party in Terengganu also lost and twice in 5 years, there is change of government in the state. I am confident Allah wants this to happen and so it did. There is no reason to deny or say bad things or speculate. I hope the government will work to provide the best for the people and we will all work together to make the nation a better place for us and our children.

At Last, A Decision Has Been Made.

I was in a kind of a limbo in the past few days. One day I wanted to accept the offer, the other moment, no lah, better to stay put. The next day, change my mind again. Today, the top man in the company making the offer came to Kerteh to, I guess, swing the vote for people to accept the offer. The response, at best I observed to be lukewarm. In our setup, Am, Wan and the boss, I am quite confident, will accept the offer. I wasn't very sure right to the end. I've already got an offer, which is not 100% guaranteed but I'm kind of confident of getting it. However, I do like the job I'm doing now even though I wasn't sure the career prospects with the experience I have obtained in the past two years or so. There are various reasons why I told my boss and my senior manager that I am going to reject the offer. Here are some which I can think of:

1. I'm worried that I'll be only good at general things and don't have the opportunity to obtain specific skills. The boss of the new company said that I'll be doing the same thing I'm doing now for at least another two years. Don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing now but I need to think of the future because the world is so competitive and I wasn't sure the new company can help me in becoming more prepared for the tough years ahead.

2. The offer and the people in that company are not so enticing to me. Maybe if the salary offered is higher, then it won't be so difficult to make a decision. However, in general the whole package is not so great that everyone is rushing to join the new company.

3. Sentimental reasons. I have been part of Petronas since I finished secondary school at 17 years old in 1993. I joined the 'half' batch which flew to the UK to do A-levels. We were known as batch BTU 9.5 because we started one term later than batch BTU 9. It was one of the greatest period of my life. We were like the centre of attention because we were among the youngest of the BTU. Looking at old pictures, I looked like a nerdish dweeb but nevertheless, I had so much fun back then. And it was all under the Petronas banner. So, even though I've only worked only almost 5 years, I've been with the company more than 10 years. Of course, people will say that in today's age there's not such thing as loyalty to one company but upon presented with an opportunity to resign from this one company, I am not quite ready to do yet.

I don't know what Am and Wan thinks about my decision. I am sad by how things have turned out. The past two years were the most enjoyable in my career so far. To start anew and learn things again is quite a daunting task but I know I can do it. I have enough self belief in myself to say that I can perform well in the new position. I suppose if I just wanted to maintain the good old gang of ICM, I would have joined the new company but there's no guarantee that the setup will remain for long. Any of us could be transfered somewhere else after a few years. I'm not getting any younger and I need to find my niche soon. I thought it is with IT. As it turns out, it is not and hence, I need to make a move again. I pray it will be a correct one.

The Chicken Pox Boys

Haziq got chicken pox!! Guess who was the culprit who gave it to him? :) No prizes for the correct guess. Anyway, look on the bright side. At least he got it while he's small and won't really be scarred for life like your yours truly.

I started work proper today and of course the order of the day is the iPerintis issue. I have a really big decision to make in the next few days. For me, it's really whether the soft issue (job satisfaction, passion) versus hard issue (benefits, compensation). By far, the company, I'm working in at the moment gives better renumeration than the one making the offer. Today I also received confirmation of a department who is willing to absorb me should I reject the offer. Haiya, it's so difficult lah to make a decision. I suppose I'm one of those 'lalang' on this matter.

Yeah! My article got published.

You know my blog entry yesterday, titled People Power. Well, I sent it to my favourite online newspaper, Malaysiakini.com and it was published under the Letter section. They changed the title to make it more interesting, "Deny BN two-thirds majority and let them ‘work for us’". It's been a while since this sort of thing happened, the last time it was only during my university days.

People Power!

It is kind of pathetic that our only way of participating in the democratic process is by casting one teeny weeny vote. From this vote, the contestant with the majority votes, even by one vote, will get to be the representative either at the state or Parliament. It's a simple process and we've been doing it regularly every 5 years or so since we obtained independence.

I guess we're doing quite well for a nation of 47 years. But there's always this niggling thought at the back of my mind, "Could we have done better?"Could there be less corruption at all levels of our society? Must two prime ministers who came into power during my lifetime begin their administration talking about corruption and clean administration? Did it mean nothing was done by the former PM that the latter one had to start all over? Could crime be reduced instead of we're getting all these weird acts of crime being done?

I'm sure people will tell me, instead of pissing about it from the outside, join the party and do something about it. Yeah right, the image of a guy in the Sungai Buloh prison came to mind. Better just to shut up and put up.

There is another way but it requires for most common people like me to conspire in the general election and return more opposition candidates in the Parliament. No need to let them win any states, just put more of them in the Dewan Rakyat. Better still, deny the symbolic 2/3 majority that the ruling party covets so much. There's no constitutional significant at all for one party to obtain 2/3 majority. You only need a simple majority to form a government anyway. It's just a symbol to show that so many people support it and they would have 5 years to do anything they want.

Wouldn't it be great if the 2/3 majority is denied? The ruling party would realise that even though many people voted for them, a considerable amount also voted for the other party. It would say to itself, "Hmmm, we cannot just do as we like anymore. We must govern better, give better service, be a cleaner administration. We need to show to the other voters that voted to other side that we will be better so that in 5 years time, they will vote us back."

The problem with this country is that, when the ruling party loses a state like the one I'm working in now, Terengganu, it doesn't try to show that it is a better party. Instead it punishes the voters by taking away the bulk of the funds for the state and give them to the ruling party politicians for them to disseminate to the people. The people would like that, who wouldn't like free money right? But in the long run, it will have a bad effect. Say you have RM1000. You give RM100 to 10 families. I think most of them would go off to buy food or spend a day in Kuantan. What if you invest that money in buying books for your children? They will get knowledge and can use that knowledge to improve their lives later on. Are families responsible enough to go out and buy books for their children? No, that's why we need a responsible government which will arrange all these for us. Build schools, train better teachers, get more police force on the streets to thwart of criminals and improve public amenities. Right now the so-called 'wang ehsan' goes through the ruling party politicians first without any proper monitoring or accounting done and it is up to them to disseminate the money to whomever they like. Who dares to deny that those politicians won't take some of that money and channel them into their own pockets? In the end the voters lose out, the people lose out. And one parting thought, if I am one of those politicians, would I work hard to ensure the ruling party win in the coming election in the state? I won't because the wang ehsan might not be there for my taking anymore. So might as well lose but at least I'll still have money to bring home at the end of the day.

Flag War!!

After being cooped in the house for the last 4 days or so, I went out with Awi and Haziq this morning to buy breakfast. I was kind of surprised to see the changing landscape along Kerteh town. It has started for a few weeks already and with the general election (GE) coming up, it is expected in this part of the nation. I am referring of course to the flag war. The whole highway is lined up with flags of the three main parties fighting for seats in this Malay heartland, the ruling party at federal level, BN, ruling party in the Terengganu state, PAS and the considerably new party of 5 years, Keadilan. It's kind of exciting and I can't wait for nominations day when the campaign season will begin. It's only 8 days but I don't really care because I can't wait to vote. More on this in later entry.

In addition to flags, some of the parties have used slogans to get across their messages. For instance,

3 Langkah Untuk Pembangunan di Terengganu:
1) Undilah Barisan Nasional
2) Undilah Barisan Nasional
3) Undilah Barisan Nasional.

A few are quite personal as well like saying this one party befriends the devil, swears, lies and does all the 7 Deadly Sins. Personally, I want a more matured debate between all parties. Be rid of all the rhetoric and present issues that matters to the voters. Issues like education, healthcare, corruption, abuse of power, rising crime, infrastructure like better roads and clean water. Do I expect to see them in this GE? Well, looking at the slogans along the streets, I don't expect there to be much. Our politicians don't think us voters are matured enough yet. We still have a long way to go. In the developed countries like the States and UK, you can see that the politicians don't treat the voters like small children. I remember in the UK, all parties including the opposition parties are allowed to airtime on TV and radio to state their manifestos. They could take up page ads in the mainstream newspapers to tell what they plan to do should they win. Representatives from different parties can slug it out in an open forum on the TV debating on a particular issue.

What about us? I don't know if this will happen or not in the near future but it is something which will benefit the country and its people. No emotions, no rhetoric, just plain old school type debate on issues.

And the Excitement Level Goes Up a Notch

MGG Pillai, you're proven wrong again. You said the general election won't be held on the same day as the F1 race. Well, the SPR said to hell with the F1 and decides that Malaysia will go out to vote on that very date, which is in 16 days time, 21st of March. I'm a bit excited this time because it's going to be the first time I'll be voting. I'm registered in Pantai Dalam parliament constituency in Kuala Lumpur so I plan to be there on the morning of 21st March. On the contrary, Awi is registered here in Kerteh so it's quite a situation we're in but we're both adamant to be responsible citizens and cast our votes. So, we'll think of something.

I'm not really keen to reveal my political affiliation but most of friends would know anyway. I was one of the idealistic people born out of the 1998 Anwar Ibrahim episode. I even went to see the man a few days before he was arrested in Bukit Damansara. I've been to a few of Kak Wan's Hari Raya open houses whenever I had the opportunity. I'd readily admit to anyone that my political hero is the Parti Keadilan's Youth Leader, Ezam Md Noor. There was also this one hilarious experience I had with Cu which I don't want to share here for fear of being scolded by Mak. Hehehehe, whatever it is we rocked the house that night, right Cu?

Please don't rush out to admonish me as being ungrateful and so on. I know how the system works and I've had the opportunity to see governments change in the UK without so much of a tremor. I know the country is working fine as it is under the current party but I believe we can be a better country with a stronger opposition inside Parliament and state assemblies. We want a better check and balance on the government. One of the cancer attacking our country now is corruption and it can destroy the country if not put into check. I hope one day the ACA will be independent and seen to be independent by making it report directly to Parliament.

There are so many things I would want which I hope can be achieved if we have a stronger opposition. However, I do know the reality and I'm sure the same parties will return to power except for some changes in seats. It's going to be interesting to see the results coming in on that Sunday night. Can't wait for it to come. :)

2nd Day of Chicken Pox Attack

It is only Day 2 of my chicken pox illness and I'm already almost dead with boredom. Not to mention the ticklish sensation I'm feeling all over my body, especially on the back and face. The pox has appeared in the scores if not hundreds overnight. I know I have a fever but it doesn't feel like the normal feverish cold. I feel tired and sort of 'lenguh' all over. Am brought back my notebook and even though I have the PPA form to fill out, I am just not in the mood to do much about it. Overall, it sure sucks to be sick and I can't wait for this thing to blow over.

One the worst thing about having a highly contaigous illness is that you cannot get too close to other people who don't have it yet. So, it's been about 2 days and half now since I get to hold Haziq in my arms and play with him. People say the virus takes time to develop in your body, perhaps a few weeks, so theoretically, I got the chicken pox virus from someone a few weeks ago. So, Awi & Haziq are most likely to have the virus inside them already. Well, better take some precautions I suppose. Pity the young boy since he just recovered from fever and a bad cough.

Awi also has been wonderful. It's not easy to take care of a baby and at the same time someone who's down with something contagious. I mean, I can't just take care of Haziq while she's in the bathroom or praying. I can just look from afar and make sure Haziq does not play with something dangerous or fall of the bed. I don't know how she does it but then I've come to realise, mothers are one kind of people.

So, off to bed now. Still not feeling on top of the world. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

Down with Chicken Pox!!

Can you believe it? I have the chicken pox. I've always known that I haven't contracted this illness since small even though I do remember Mak telling me to hang out around Adiknor & Cu when they were down with chicken pox, many years ago. Somehow, my immune system was so strong at that time, the chicken pox virus didn't have a chance against my antibodies. Hehehe, I never learnt Biology so if the terminology is wrong, cut me some slack okay?

So, I'm off work for the whole week. Really am praying that this chicken pox will blow over by next Monday. You see, we all received an email from the HR manager of the company that wants to take over the IT operations of my current company. They will be handing over the offer letter on the 8th March, which is next Monday. I really want to have a look at the offer because it's hard to make an informed decision about something major as this.

Don't want to dwell to much on that for now. Instead of speculating, lets just wait and see. It's only a few days wait anyway. In the meantime, I have to suffer these pox tickling my body all over. And people say, it's going to get worse. And the situation gets even worse because Awi also hasn't contracted chicken pox before. I do pray that she won't get it yet, if not for sure Haziq will be down with it as well. There goes my plans for the next two weeks or so. Anyway, we just pray and hope for the best, I suppose.

Are We Coming To The End of The Road?

Yet again today, the boss told us that the offer letter will be delayed. It was supposed to be sometime this week, or so everyone speculated that it will be on the 25th of February. However, that will not be happening as well. It doesn't look good for the company who is going to 'take over' the IT operations. Believe me, the easiest thing they're doing so far is to finalise the takeover. The hard part is actually in running the show once they finalised the deal. Man, it's not easy to run an IT shop. It's about meeting customers' requirements and we had to deliver them nevertheless. Sometimes, we feel like we're slaves, never really being appreciated for our efforts. But I've learnt to notice that some people do appreciate and it is for what these people showed, I am willing to go the extra mile while doing my job.

Maybe to some people (like my boss), it ain't over till the fat lady sings. But we need to look forward and see what opportunities will be coming our way. We should see this as an opportunity to consider our next course of action. Maybe it's time for a career change. To some people, the change will be good if they join the new company as they'll be able to develop further their skills. As for me, the judgement is still open on this one. It's been playing inside my head hundreds of times during the long weekend we just had. Do I want to move to KL quickly? Or should I do something that will be better for my career in the long run? Do I have the necessary skills to be competitive? It's not an easy decision to make. Actually, I told Awi, this is even more difficult to decide than the time when I decided to marry her. :)

I've been spending a lot of time at the plant in recent days, supervising the network upgrade project. It's tiring but I do enjoy myself even though Awi wasn't so happy when I came back at 4 in the morning. I kind of like working with the contractors assigned to this project. Even though they have some problems with being punctual but I like their attitude. It's good to see those traits in people and I'm sure they'll go far if they keep that up.

Haziq hasn't been well also since last week. It started with fever and now he's having running nose and coughing. And since he's grown a bit too, it's more difficult to give him medicine and milk when he's 'meradang'. But Awi handles these incidents very competently...must be mother's instincts and skills, I suppose. Do pray that he'll get better in the next few days.

Change is Good For You

Haziq turns 8 months today. A lot has happened since that Sunday evening at Pantai Medical Centre. Anyway, he's really a bundle of joy now, ever smiling showing off his 4 growing teeth. He's also getting more active by the day. I'm sure he'll be crawling all over the house in no time at all!!

These past few days, the only thing that people from my profession inside the company are anticipating is the offer letter. Rumours keep changing by the day and the details seemed to vary on a daily basis. Seriously speaking, I'm getting a bit tired of waiting and just want to get the whole deal in front of me so that it'll be easier for me to make a decision. I suppose it's a bit frustrating because I can't do much about my future in this matter, even though I so much just want to take things into my hands!!

I gave to Ucop a book on "Who Moved My Cheese for Teens?" recently which talks about handling changes in our lives. In a nustshell, all of us will undergo some sort of change in our lives. Moving to a new house, changing jobs, getting married, having children even getting a new boss. We need to be able to manage these changes well in order to make something of our lives. If we resist change, then we will just be left behind. But, one thing I notice is that the older you are, the less receptive you are to changes. That's just the life order, I suppose.

As for me, I intend to take any changes coming my way positively. Either way or path I choose, i still need to handle the change. Either it being a new company or a new place to work at. I just wish it's for me choose sooner rather than later.

Flurry of Activities

Time really just flies by doesn't it? It's already early February. Where the hell did January go? Never really noticed it passing by. Anyway, since coming back to Kerteh on Tuesday, I've been busy as a bee. I encountered a really gross experience on Wednesday. I was preparing to bring out Awi's car for her to go to work and also to put Haziq into his car seat. To my disgust and horror, I saw a dead cat on the floor of the front passenger seat. Euuggh, it was soooo disgusting, with maggots, millions of them, I'm telling you. I almost cried when I saw it. Not because I pitied the cat. Noooo, I was angry at that stupid cat. Can't really recall when it quietly went into the car and I suppose died after being in there for 5 days. I almost cried because I knew then, that I had to remove and wash the car of all those disgusting stuff. Man, I know I can stand certain horrendous things but this one really takes the cake.

I called in to the office saying I'll be a bit late, that I had some problem with the 'car'. After sending Awi and Haziq, I drove back to the house and relunctantly changed into old clothes and mentally prepare myself for what I'll be going through. I kept thinking to one of the Fear Factor episodes which featured maggots and my knees went weak. The smell was so unbearable, took a deep breath and looked on how I was supposed to tackle this problem. First try was unsuccessful. I couldn't pull myself together. At the third try, only then I followed Nike's advice to Just Do It. I wore plastic bags around my hands and then collected the dead cat and put inside a garbage bag. Don't think it's still over. Nooo, there are the maggots to take care off. Man, I believe I can cry thinking back to what I had to endure. Never in my life I want to go through that experience again. Suffice to say and and to not delve into too much details of my sufferings, I decided to change the whole car carpet and properly clean the insides of the car.

I still wonder when that cat got into the car. Must be the night before when I was packing and preparing for the drive down to KL for the Aidiladha break. I do feel a bit sorry for the creature but not when I recall the horror I had to endure.

Okay lah enough of that story. I do still feel traumatised. The other day, I actually jumped when I saw a cat sitting beside me. Never done that before.....

Refreshing Weekend in KL

Just arrived in Kerteh after pushing off from Bangsar at around 10 am. Stopped over at Awi's best friend's (Nor & Zack) house in Sri Gombak before continuing with our journey. As usual, throughout the whole time driving, I kept asking myself when in the world will we stop doing all these traveling back and fro from the East Coast. I suppose we could just go back to Bangsar or Bidor not as usual as we are doing now, saving our energy and time, but it's not something we are willing to sacrifice, I suppose. In the meantime, we just have to endure the back pain, Haziq's throwing his tantrum (it will get worse when he's older) and spend 6 hours on the road every so often. :(

Nevertheless, we had a good time during the Aidiadha weekend, well I know I did. by right, we should be spending this Hari Raya at Bidor but Awi's parents are in Kangar, looking after Awi's sister's children. Since, it's kind of a long drive to Kangar, everyone agreed to spend raya elsewhere. Never mind, we'll be going to Bidor to meet up with Nyah & Abang Ngah when they come back from performing the Haj.

As usual, I just love spending time around the house. The renovated kitchen is complete, though I forgot to take any pictures of it. Went for prayers as usual at Masjid Bangsar. Came back and ate breakfast before proceeding to other places. To me the highlight of the Hari Raya was the BBQ dinner. The guys (Cu, Razif, Razi and myself) cooked beef, lamb chops, prawns and squid. Cu and Ucop loved the barbequed squid but I enjoyed the beef and prawns very much. I'm sure everyone ate till their stomach was full. I know I did!!! I just loved the feeling of togetherness as a family, hearing Abah talking about his life as a student in the UK while sipping hot coffee. Such a nice feeling and didn't want it to end but of course, all good things must come to an end.

We also went to see Adik (Awi's younger sister) in Serdang. She couldn't get a ticket to join her parents in Perlis and ended up staying alone in KL as all her flatmates have gone home to their respective kampungs.

On the last night in KL, us three brothers went to the DVD shop to find some more good films. Following that we lepak in Bangsar Coffee Bean and guess who did we meet? Khalil Yaakob, the Information Minister. I guess, some of ministers are kind of cool, as long as they prefer Coffee Bean to Starbucks!!

Anyway, it's back to work tomorrow and I must have a zillion things to do. Hope the boss won't hassle me too much.

Working late....

Here I am, in the office at 10:09 at night. I'm supervising some cabling job which is part of the network upgrade project I'm incharge of. I like this project even though it's such a lot of work and hassle. I wish I can just spend more time concentrating on this project but other tasks need to be taken care of as well. Wan Norimah just came up with this KPI Tracking system for us all and I have some 20 incomplete tasks. Hehehe, talk about being ineffective. Well, it's good to see all those tasks listed. Makes you more 'bersemangat' to complete them as soon as possible. But in my line of work, I don't think it is possible to complete all tasks. Attend one meeting and you have about 5 tasks to be done. What if you attend 2 or 3 per day like today? More and more tasks to be completed. Anyway, no use complaining about it. Just need to put your nose down and keep to it.

I don't really like to work late like this. Don't get to spend enough time with Haziq today, only a couple of hours after work, before coming here. Managed to get him to sleep, though. :) Still got the touch in me hands....hehehe.

Long Relaxing Weekend

Today is the third and final day of the Chinese New Year long weekend. We didn't go anywhere far since we'll be driving to KL next weekend for the Hari Raya Haji, which by the way is another long weekend. I took the opportunity yesterday (Friday) to catch up with work at the office. Spent the whole day rectifying problems related to the new attendance system. There's still some teething problems which, contrary to what the boss hopes and wants, will always be present because of the way the system is designed. Nevertheless, the visit by Shahrina earlier of the week, helped a lot in teaching me how to solve some of those problems so hopefully, life won't be so bad after this. So, thanks a lot Shahrina even though you ran into some problems like getting lost in KT!!

The West Wing DVD I ordered also arrived earlier this week, all 22 eposides from season 1. I've watched 15 episodes in less than a week and I hate to tell you again and again, The West Wing series is one of the best thing shown on TV. I don't care it has US propaganda or Jewish sentiments. It's a story about people with power and how they handle the power. My favourite character is Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) the deputy chief of staff. I like the one where he bungled up a press conference when he accidentally confirmed the president has a secret plan to control inflation. Brilliant scriptwriting, just brilliant.

I also came upon another realisation of my current situation. I believe I would still be here, working in Kerteh, for at least another two years. Me and Awi talked it out and it just dawned on me that I need to make some concessions on my part as well. Nothing is concrete so far but based on the information in hand, it is likely that I'm going to stay put for a few more years here.

Am I in the most misunderstood profession?

A friend of mine at work asked me a very interesting question today. He asked me,"What is it exactly that you guys do in your department?" The 'guys' is referring to me, Wan and Am. I was quite dumbfounded and lost for words because I just couldn't believe that such a question can be posed to me. I would think people would already see what is being contributed by this small department that I joined in mid-2002 and do not have to ask such a question. Are we so unknown to the rest of the company that they need to ask? I mean, they can check the Intranet if they want to know what we do. I guess I felt all weird about it because I've been pissing about how busy I am this whole day and I suppose to some people, I was just doing nothing meaningful to the company. Here I am, coming again to work at night, so that I can get away from people bugging the whole day, and for what?

Just for records sake, here's a summary of what I've been up to today in chronological order:
1. Get work permit for the network upgrade work at the Admin Building.
2. Security told me there was a power trip at the plant gate and the security system needs to be logged in. Went all the way there only to find they've already started up the system themselves.
3. Tested the equipment to replace the faulty micro repeater at the Ethylene VAX system.
4. Continued with resolving the many missing data problem inside e-punchcard system.
5. Boss called me into a meeting with Telekom to discuss on the discounted calls issue. Still no decision. The Telekom guy kept continuing on how we need to support Tellekom since it's 70% owned by the government. I just want to shout to him, "Be more competitive lah. Dah lah Jaring pun nak takeover. How to be excellent and preferred if you just want to be monopoly?"
6. Inspected the materials arrived at on-site for the network upgrade project.
7. Continued with downloading data for the attendance system throughout lunch hour.
8. Walked to EMSB Control Room to try out the replacement micro repeater. Didn't work, by the way. :)

Basically, that's all and in between, I called up SSM for the extended security system project, assisted in the new MSD Manager to resolve his Notes Mail problem and received more work from the boss such as on educating users on how to use projectors. It's no Prime Minister's job but it's what I do.

Lesson of the day: What people do or go through in a day should not be questioned as though one doesn't do enough work. It's all about perception. I used to be on the other side of the wall but I believe everyone has their part to play. The most difficult thing to do is changing people's mindset and outlook. Great men had failed doing so.

Should We Care?

I got a call from my closest cousin, Fawaz who's studying medicine in the UK. He calls me quite frequently since he said that it's really cheap to call from there, apparently it only cost 1 pence (about 6 cents) per minute. The call took about 40 minutes, so it costs about RM2.40. Remarkable isn't it? I pay more than that for a one minute call on on my handphone.

Anyway, we got talking on various things, basically keeping up with stuffs and on mutual friends. We got around to talking about politics and what the new PM, Pak Lah as we commonly call him is doing. I believe so far he's been saying the right things such as wanting to make the civil service more efficient and cleaning out corruption from government. I have to say that it's a humongous task but if he can do it, then I'll be rooting for him all the way. I've always believed in those things, my opinions on Malaysia is more in sync with what people in the opposition parties have been harping. I don't totally agree with what they fight for but I've always had an idealistic view on what Malaysia should be like. Must be all those 'reformasi' events in 1998/99 and a historical afternoon this one September in 1998.

The one thing that stuck in my mind was when we were talking about corruption and I was saying Pak Lah should go after the big fish who's accepting or giving bribes. My cousin said, why should we care about corruption, it's everywhere, even in the UK and US. So, why the need to do much about it? I don't agree at all with him. To me corruption is the root of the bad things in the society. Corruption caused for the police force to be ineffective when they don't dare to go after the so-called big shots in society. It also resulted in government being inefficient when those civil servants will only do things after receiving money or kickbacks. It also caused for projects to be quoted at a higher price when in fact it could be done at a lower price if the correct bidding/tendering procedures are in place and enforced. Fawaz said, all these do not affect us personally but I believe we will only get to taste the bitterness after a few years. When investors stopped pouring money in Malaysia because we're not very good at solving crime or because judges are not held in high regard or because we are just too damn inefficient.

I hope Pak Lah will put words into actions, for the sake of Malaysia and for myself and future generations.

Touching Message

A follow up from my previous entry. Awi forwarded my blog entry to Abah who then replied her mail. It's quite touching, I have to say...coming from Abah.

Awi's email to Abah
Assalamualaikum Abah,

I just want to congratulate you on your award last night. Alhamdulillah.

Terharu baca tulisan Hafiz dalam blog dia pagi ni, teringat nak share dgn
Abah,
just want you to know that your son is really proud of you.

Abah & Mak...you are his utmost priority.

Wish Haziq will grown up to be just like him:)

Wassalam,
Awi

Abah's reply to Awi's mail

Awi - thanks for your message . I was informed only on
Saturday and it has been a well-kept secret by everybody and photos
including family photos were sent without my knowledge . To me it
was a small matter because i have never expected any awards for
my 27years of service to the Board bbecause I felt that whatever I
have achieved over the years are due to me being a QS. therefore I
must give back to the profession .
Syukur Alhamdulillah , I shall send the citation later . Tell Hafiz , we
never never never forget that he ,yourself and Haziq as being part of the
family .God Bless You all .
I am rushing home to catch the flight to KB at 3. pm. TQ for looking
after Cu .
Wassalam
Abah

Hehehe, not feeling sad anymore......