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."

Myths of Outsourcing

An interesting piece on IT outsourcing. This is something really close to everyone's hearts at the moment but as the author wrote, "The only constant in today's work environment is change." It's how you handle the change which really matters. Those who couldn't shape up might have to ship out.

Long Absence

 It sure has been quite a while since I wrote in this blog. Not sure why it was so, could it be because IE on my house computer screwed up or I was just plain lazy to write. Maybe I'm experiencing some sort of writer's block. Whatever it is, I've changed the look of the blog again, want to have a darker look on it. Just to recap some of thing that occured over the past month or so:

• Abah & Cu came over here a few days ago. It was the first time I met up with them since they got back from Mekkah. We haven't travelled down to KL for a month now.
• Awi got into an accident but she is okay. The motorcyclists she hit were not so lucky. Someone else was at fault but hopefully that person would've learnt her lesson and either she does something about her driving or better yet, hang up her license lah.
• Adiknor is confirmed to be pregnant after 3 month's of marriage. The newly weds must be in a hurry. Also they got their wedding pics inside the magazine, Nona.
• I'm settling down rather nicely in my new position. However, there are some unfinished business in terms of the management, hopefully the people at the top can clear things up quickly because us little people down here just want to carry on with our jobs. People who are dissatisfied should just put up with what's happening now and move on, for God's sake.
• Greece, lo and behold won the Euro 2004. As usual England had to bow out, yet again on penalties to Portugal, who went on to meet the Greeks in the final.

A lot more had happened but I just couldn't be bothered to rack my brains remembering all of them. Hopefully, I can safely say, I am back at blogging after rather long absence.  

Everything Changes But You.......NOT!!

This line from a song by Take That suddenly appears in my head when I was starting this blog entry. It just dawned on me that everything changes even you, by that I mean everyone and anyone. The past few weeks and days have all been about change, that's what life really is. Haziq just turned one year on 15 June 2004. I've suddenly been elevated to a higher responsibility position due to the departure of Am to Kuantan. It really is scary and daunting but my motto in life at the moment is to take things one day at a time. It is not an impossible task and equipped with the right tools and people, anyone can do this job. It's not like a PM's position, right? Nevertheless, similar perks would've been great.

There's a lot of work to be done and with Am away in Kuantan, the boss now wants us to fly on our own. And it really is a swim or sink situation. Challenges are abound but so far we've been able to handle them. Things like no office space, no PCs for the new people to work on. These can all be dealt with given time and resources. I just hope they can focus on the job and have the dedication to stay the path. I guess it is my job now to lead them. Funny how things turned out, eh?

With new people, there will be new challenges as well. I saw one example yesterday a situation concerning one of the new people. It really is kind of simple actually. A user called the IT office at 4 pm, which is the end of office hours on a Thursday here. The user is having some problems with his PC but his office is like so far away inside the plant. Of course the new guy who answered the phone wanted to go back and was relunctant to attend to that user's problem. The new guy cited that it's already at the end of office hours and basically gave the message to the user that it's too late, can we do this next week? To me, that's not a good response to the user. He must be thinking that we're providing crap services. The new guy should've tried to understand the user's problem and give other alternatives like logging in to another PC or inviting him to the IT office and do his work there and so on. Instead of closing one door, other doors need to be opened. That's what our job is, to provide service and assist the users. They don't want to listen about no connection, server problems or virus. They just want to do their jobs so it's our job to take up the problems. It's not an easy job but I guess I like the part about helping people which kind of draws me to it. It does get exasperating at moments but once I know I've helped a user in completing their work, I get a feeling of satistaction. I suppose best practices say there shouldn't be any problems in the first place but hey, we are in the real world and things do screw up.

So, mindset change is required and as I also have a lot to learn, the new people also need to catch up in terms of knowledge and culture.

My God! England is SO DAMN STUUUPID!!!

I can't believe those bunch of idiots. Already leading by one goal, got the chance to finish France off with that penalty and Becks couldn't get even that right. Down to the 90th minute, Zizou got a free kick and converted it. Shit lah. After that a cock up combination by 2 Liverpool players, one currently playing for it, the other is an ex. In the end, France got a penalty and Zizou effortlessly scored it. From facing defeat, they got a win. Call that class or what? England was too negative in the 2nd half and it serves them right, I suppose.

A Dream

"It is our dream & wish that you all move forward in your career in the new environment with CONFIDENCE. Pls take this as an opportunity to progress and continue learning. In this critical moments we hope you to keep spirit high, enjoy the challenges, be united, be focus and NEVER forget to PRAY to ALLAH to ensure what we do are with the BLESS from ALLAH."

I've never thought I'd be quoting my boss in this blog but this mail he sent to us yesterday really marked a new beginning for me at least. It is confirmed, Am will be transfered to MTBE to head iPerintis operations over there. I guess the boss had been mulling over this issue for weeks and yesterday he made the decision to push forward with it. The transfer was approved within a few hours and Am will be heading down south in I guess a couple of weeks, maybe less.

I guess it is good for Am to be in that new capacity but I will definitely feel a loss. Dah lah kat sini memang tak cukup orang and personally, I think we need as many experienced people as possible to keep this place intact or stabilised. But the management as decided and there's not much I can do or say to stop it. As the boss said, it's going to be challenging and Wan even remarked that I'll be the one facing the most challenges. Mostly new people will be coming on board in the next few weeks and there's a lot to be done to improve things over here. I suppose I have to be a good XO to the boss since I'm the most senior executive here after him. I don't covet any position just as long I can perform and do something I like. My passion still remains but it sure is daunting to take over Am's responsibilities because I've never been much exposed to the things he's doing now. So with him gone, I have to assume that role.

Whatever it is, I can only pray to Allah for strength, support from my family and friends and hopefully a lot of patience and resolve.

Great News!

I got some great news from my ex-boss regarding my performance last year. It sure is gratifying to know that your hardwork and effort is recognised by the company even though I am not part of anymore, per se. Nevertheless, it did strengthen my point in deciding to join my current company, as I know that this is my calling. Hehehehe, not really lah but at least I hope to do something I can be good at. So this decision is, Insyallah, the correct one.

It's kind of interesting observing different type of people who are affected by the current transformation process. Some just want to be rebellious, some accepted the fact that change is inevitable and chose to either remain in the same field or move on to something different. Whatever it is, the reaction that you express kind of shows the type of person you are. I suppose people like myself who opted to join have experienced it all. The looks people give, the whispers, the jokes, dry comments, dissatisfaction about this and that. Maybe I am too young to really bother about all this and in the end, just want to go to work, do something I enjoy, regardless how challenging it might be and go back home to my family. We can have an impact on things we have power on. Can I stop the sun from rising in the East? Can I avoid what is going to happen from the 1st of June? Some people just need to get off their high horses and reflect on how they themselves can contribute and not just criticise or 'berlagak bagus'.

People Management

"Lawa baju". "Merahnya!!". I've been getting these remarks from almost everybody when I walk around my old company. The new jacket colour is flaming red which can be seen from miles away. In the beginning I was quite self conscious to wear the new jacket but my friend Am just didn't seem to give a damn wearing it, so I'm now more comfortable wearing it everywhere. :)

It has been quite an experience to be thrown into an unfamiliar territory and to take up quite a major task, the biggest so far in my short working career. I see now that the most difficult is in managing people, not the technology or working culture. It is the people that we have to take care of. In my new working environment, I can see a lot of the people whom I'm interacting with are wary of our presence. Some are not sure how to deal with us, some are just downright cold as ice. Which is to be expected but not really what it should be. People should just be professional especially in handing over tasks and responsibilities. It's now we're the ones who are causing all these. It's the people up there, our bosses. If you don't like it, take it up with them not us, who just want to move forward and get on with our lives. You chose your path and I have chosen mine. We should just respect each other.

On this matter, I'm quite impressed with how Am has been dealing some 'difficult' people. He's just being happy-go-lucky, sometimes acting manja-like, but never showing discomfort or anger. We know that we're getting a not-so-good deal but our passion for the job and if we do things well, I'm sure will bear sweet fruits in the future. As been said before, the power of 3 will work wonders in this region. Whatever challenges lies ahead, we can overcome them if we use our heads and work together. Nothing is impossible, right? Regardless of the colour of the jacket we wear, what matters is what we do and produce. The rest is just cosmetics and makeup.

Still in the Office!!

I'm still in my new office (read: KIPC Data Centre) which is freezing cold. I'm just hanging around while the security system server is being configured. It crashed a few days, it's 4 GB hard disk space just couldn't cope with us being here. Hehehehehe. Actually, it's part of the handover process from the guy who is actually doing the work tonight.

I know Haziq will already be sleeping once I got home. I'll miss carrying him around the house like I usually do after coming home. So, I only got to spend a few minutes this morning with him and it kind of sucks that I couldn't spend more time. Hmmm, biasalah kot, being a father to have these sort of feelings. Hope Awi won't suddenly get jealous sudah lah. :)

It's almost 10 pm and I hope the work will complete soon so that I can go home, have dinner, watch some TV, sleep and wake up to play with Haziq tomorrow morning!!

Jalan-jalan di hari Sabtu

Awi and Haziq are flat tired now. Both of them went to bed early after a day trip to Kuala Terengganu. We met up with Abah, Mak, Adiknor and Razi this morning when they travelled by air to the state capital of Terengganu. Their main objective was really for Razi to be 'officially' introduced to all our family members in Terengganu. I also did this when I got married a couple of years ago but we went around, just the two of us.

Abah showed us the new house for my grandmother, Siti, which is currently being built. Quite a good location and not as big as the current house. There's some complication with the land on which the current house is located on as a result of it having a status of wakaf land. After that, we visited several relatives and we were on our way back at 5 pm, once Abah and Mak left for the airport.

The drive back shouldn't have taken more than 1.5 hours but the police force decided to do a road block, causing a long traffic jam, all for them to inspect everyone's driving license. What a waste of time and energy. Are they seriously going to catch criminals by doing such meaningless roadblocks?

Reached home before 8 pm, to find my auntie and uncle, Mak Chak & Ayah Nik to be at the house. They're on their way to KT from KL and since their son, Hadi is staying here, they decided to stopover. We had dinner at one of their relative's house and I am now back home, fresh after taking a bath and can't wait to go to bed. It's been a hot and tiring day. Can't wait for work tomorrow....

Culture Shock

I do believe that my cousin, his wife and friends are experiencing some culture shock after being in Kerteh for 2 days. All the adjectives have been said, quiet, relaxed, small, no big shops, nothing happens on Friday etc. Kesian lah jugak but that is the reality of living in Kerteh. I guess the place just grew on myself over the years. It did got me to think about the time when I just touched down in Kerteh. Just the two of us with Reza, my old housemate. We moved houses a couple of times before settling down in Panalex housing area. I guess, we took things in our stride and did manage to last until now. I do feel at home nowadays, but I still bitch about the long traveling hours. I'll try to reassure my cousin because things can only get better, right?

Trip to MTBE, Kuantan

For the second time in one week, I travelled with my boss, this time to MTBE, Kuantan which is another location which falls under the responsibility of my boss. At times, I do pity him because the new management had assigned him with quite a considerable heavy task. Looking after a huge area, encompassing about 10 companies which would have about 3000 thousand users. It's not an easy task and I do feel the uncertainty but I really want to see if all of us, a minority group, are able to pull this through. It's such a massive challenge and I don't regret the path that I had chosen. I suppose it gives me a chance to prove myself. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be handpicked to run a large corporation like Wahid (Telekom) and Che Khalib (TNB)? Hehehee, wishful thinking, I guess.

 

Anyway, the trip to MTBE wasn't as difficult I thought it's gonna be. We're supposed to collect data on the company's IT inventory but it turned out they've already done it. Somehow, someone lost the information and we had to dig it up again. Thankfully, the MTBE people were helpful enough and our main objective was achieved within a few minutes. We then proceeded to check out the data centres in the proximity. I have a feeling I'll be visiting those locations many times in the coming months!!

 

During the drive up and down, the boss and I talked on a variety of things. From the interesting (read: sex-filled) court cases to his old colleagues to how to strategise our approach in handling our new clients. He realised that he's no superman but I liked the way he's going to take things one at a time. I could sense his nervousness at taking up the big responsibility but I intend to give my best to ensure our success, as I'm sure Am and Wan will be doing so as well. I still remember the vision that our old setup had in EPEMSB, which is to be the best IT setup in the East Coast. I believe that vision still holds except that it is only left to a handful of us. Thay're many naysayers but I have moved on and it is time to look for the future and work our asses off.  

Testting Mail2Blogger

Blogger has updated their template and features so I've changed mine and this is just to test out its mail to blog option. It'll be easier after this...:)

Overdue Blogging

I just came back from KL, attending my new company's orientation program. Quite an interesting half day event. To me the highlights of the event were the opening remarks by the CEO and one of the founders of the company. They basically stressed the importance of teamwork, loyalty and wanting to be the best. I have to say that I was quite inspired after the session. There's a lot of effort, time and energy that needs to be put in after this. I think most of my colleagues in the East Coast region are ready and will plough on despite the new challenges coming our way.

All Modes of Transport

Yesterday, we made the journey from Bidor down to KL and then up again the East Coast to Kerteh. We drove down in the morning using Adiknor's car, went for lunch at my auntie's house in Kg Tunku, then back for a while to Bangsar, then took the train from KL Sentral to KLIA, flew to Kuantan and finally drove home on my trusty Honda. I would be lying if I say that it wasn't tiring but I suppose it beats driving any other day. Awi also felt the fatigue and we're not really looking forward to the traveling that we have to do again this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I love to be in KL but the journey can literally kill you. If not the road accident, the fatigue can really put you off balance for a few days. Especially for a mother like Awi, it is not easy to do all those. I hope we can rest for a few weeks after this because there'll be more events coming up in June pulak.

We went down to KL for a few functions. The main one being to attend Awi's best friend, Amy's wedding. They were housemates in Kerteh for four years before Awi got married. We were at the akad nikah on Friday night. It was kind of boring because Awi left me alone waiting outside while she went up to the bride's room with Haziq. There weren't many people who I know, in fact none. :) So the groom came and did all those akad nikah's stuff, took pictures, I'm sure some women must've cried and we proceeded to dinner, which was quite a delicious affair, masakan ala kampung dgn kerabu and sambal belacan.

The next morning, we had breakfast with the new couple on the street, Razi and Adiknor. My parents with Cu and Ucop went for a short holiday in Langkawi. It was a long weekend due to Labour Day, Maulidur-Rasul and Wesak Day happening on 3 consecutive days. The original plan was to have Kak Nik and Razif also but Razif got the fever, so it was just the 5 of us.

After breakfast, we then drove up to Bidor to visit Awi's parents. Usually the journey took max 2 hours but it took me almost 4 hours to get there, plus the stops I made to take a nap. Many cityfolks took the opportunity to balik kampung like we did so in resulted in a major highway jam. Only in Malaysia, I believe this could happen. A traffic jam along a highway!!

On Sunday, I drove up to Kuala Kangsar to visit my good friend and ex-housemate, Basheer. His wife, Sarah just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Fatima something. We both got married in the same year, 2002 and I haven't seen him since then because he then went to Japan to work. He's back in Malaysia now and I hope we can meet up more often after this.

So, all in all, it was quite an eventful weekend. Tomorrow, I will start work as an iPerintis staff. I do feel some sort of excitement and some unsureness but I hope to give the best I can in my new position. I foresee more responsibilities and challenges. However, it is good for my career and the most important thing to remember is that I chose this path so I must make sure that things will go well. It is within my powers to do so, with God's assistance of course.

PS: Do check out my photoblog. Got loads of pics there from the wedding and events over the weekend.

My Little Sister

I promised Adiknor that I'll write something about her in this blog once she got married. Well, she did so, last week. It was a rather elaborate ceremony I have to say but that's the modern Malay way of holding weddings, I suppose. Actually, to ask me personally, I thought she got married a bit young for today's standards but come to think again, why delay something which is encouraged by our religion and if she found her life partner this early, she'll be among the luckiest people in the world!! I know many who haven't still.

I gave a speech during the lunch event but I didn't touch too much with regards to Adiknor. The thank you portion was so damn long, thank to Abah. Adiknor is 4 years younger than me and I like to believe that we wre quite close while growing up. We quarell sometimes but I think I've hold on to the position of the big brother protecting litte sister quite well over the years. We shared quite a lot of secrets, I knew about her many 'peminat' and she read all my letters which I've kept while studying in the UK. She even pried into my very secretive diary when I was in Form 4. There was once during the Mask toy craze and she wanted this one toy car. We shared money and we bought the toy together. I can still remember those days and I hope she was damn happy to get that toy because if I recall correctly, she kept it only for a short while.

When she moved to a boarding school, I was at the verge of flying off to the UK to further my studies. However, still we kept in touch through mail, phone and eventually, email, irc and ICQ. See how the technology progressed as the years of my living abroad increases. I visited her at school and even provided free Science tuition whenever she's available. Till this day I'm not really sure whether she was excited about me coming for the tuition classes or the McDonalds value meals I brought along.

Throughout those years I really did enjoy helping her in any way I could. I was away most of the time, after studying abroad, coming here to work. So, whenever possible, I will do whatever I can. What is a big brother for anyway, right? It was a good brother-sister relationship and I do pray that in this new phase in her life she will be happy and contented.

Adiknor, you want advice? Well, as I said before, it's a multitude of factors but work hard and make the wedding enjoyable. Listen to Razi and make sure he listens to you as well. No more retiring to caves in the forests, okay? Work with one another and not for one person only. A marriage is a partnership and I do admit that sometimes I don't do as much as I'm supposed to but I'll try to improve, right Awi? :)

All in all, Adiknor and Razi, have a happy marriage, enjoy the rest and don't forget to visit us one of these days in Kerteh!!

Perkahwinan Yang Gemilang, Cemerlang & Terbilang

Last week, my little sister Adiknor got married. All three of us went back early to attend the Majlis Khatam Quran, a ceremony to mark the finishing of reading the whole Quran. There were quite a lot of things to do. The women prepared the decorations and the men did the arranging of tables, carpets and lifting stuff. The last wedding done at the house was two years ago, which was yours truly's.

The main event, which is the akad nikah was on Saturday which was basically when the groom comes over to the house to get an official permission from the bride's father. The father or wali said the akad followed by the groom's ijab and then once all the witnesses agreed what the groom said was correct, then the marriage is official. My sister is now officially married to my new brother-in-law, Razi. After that, there was the usual ceremonies like membatalkan air sembahyang, putting on wedding rings on each other's fingers and eating a feast. The whole kenduri lasted till about 4 pm and that was that. Quite a simple process but the preparations put into it was massive. That night there was a power breakdown along the whole street due to one house further down being struck by lightning. I'm just relieved that it didn't happen during the day like during Kak Nik's wedding. The only disasters which occurred were a light bulb exploding and a leaking aircond.

The next day was the really major event for Malay weddings nowadays, which is the feast at a large hall. Everyone was so excited and nerves were kind of short. You see, usually people in KL do these kind of feasts at night but my father wants it done during the day due to some reasons, which I sort of agree with. Anyway, for the past few weeks, myself and Awi have been racking our brains to prepare a montage to be shown during the lunch at the hall, right before food was taken out. I think we did quite a good job, largely thanks to Awi, because she got really good ideas on the wordings and flow of the presentation. If left to me, I think it won't be that interesting, funny and memorable.

As usual, I had to give a thank you speech to all that contributed to the wedding. I was so nervous about it despite it being my 3rd time now. Nevertheless, once on stage, it wasn't too bad. I guess I could speak in front of an audience and if more practice is done and the speech is better prepared, I would've rocked. :) All in all, the event ended well, Mak and Abah were happy, the bride and groom were happy and I was happy. One funny thing was that during my speech I said something to the effect, of praying that my sister's wedding will be "perkahwinan yang gemilang, cemerlang & terbilang." It was a joke and people laughed but there was this one guy in the audience who was so pissed off because he thought I wanted to campaign for UMNO or BN. Haiya, joke sikit2 pun tak boleh ke? Some people are so narrow minded.

There's still more events this weekend. Now on the groom's side. We will be travelling down again tomorrow. It's tiring but as part of a family, it is something that we need to do as we are staying far away from everyone else. Tak nak lah jadi kera sumbang pulak. :)

In The End, It Was Soo Simple

I made a decision yesterday to join the IT company which has made me an offer. Initially, I rejected the offer because I didn't think it was as good as the one which I am currently enjoying. I've even almost secured a position in another department. However, during a performance appraisal session with my section manager on Monday, it suddenly dawned on me that I truly am enjoying working as an IT professional and I know I am good at it. It's not about being overconfident or what but I realise that this is something that I want to do and do well in it. Of course, it is important to work in a secure company but in order to excel, I must have that one thing in myself, if not I'll just put in a mediocre performance. And that one thing is passion.

In the end, the way I made a decision was quite simple actually. I set aside all the external factors like compensation, benefits, job security and concentrated on what I myself can do or change. And the only thing I can control is how I go about doing things. I love what I am doing so why do I have to stop doing it even though it is in another company. I don't have to care what other people say because I'll be the one doing the job. I truly believe that if I do well, and my other colleagues do well too, there is no reason why the company cannot excel? In the end, it is up to yourself. So, after much thought and deliberation, I then decided that I will instead accept the offer and I've told my friends and the boss that I will be joining the company, instead. And to tell you the truth, I feel so light as though a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders. Actually, I am not really looking forward to join the new dept because I've been there before and the work environment was not something I think suits me.

The coming months will definitely be challenging but I'll take it one day at a time and put my best effort. The most important thing is for me to enjoy the work and cherish the challenge.

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. :(