Tribute to My Sis-in-Law

http://www.taafonline.org/ba_about.html

 

This morning, the doctor informed my third brother that there is little hope for recovery for my sis-in-law. She's suffering from Multiple Aneurysm, and some of the sacs have ruptured. For more info, I attach here a very good medical journal for patients with this disease. Very rare, and we are still wondring the real logical reason behind its landing in my sis-in-law's head.

 

Kak Midah is a strong lady. She left her job due to this particular medical reason. She was supposed to relax at home, enjoying free money socso had provided, but she refused to sit still. What she did was venturing into the business of bakery and kebab poultry meat. As expected, being an entrepreneur must have taken a toll on her health. Need to think about the business strategy, marketing plan, operational efficiency, rising raw materials, labor turnover, etc etc. There are a whole lot of challenges if you wish to become an entrepreneur, and that's why only 1 out of 10 new start-ups makes it successfully in business. Perhaps due to hypertension since too much thinking and too much lack of sleeping.

 

Kak Midah has been lying there receving treatment for the past 2 months in HSA. It started about 3 weeks after hari raya aidil fitri and until now, there have been 5 series of operations done - major and minor. The major one was done after she had fallen unconscious that nite, and that's when the doctor discovered that some of the sacs have ruptured. It's too late if they have ruptured. The chance of survival is low, and if survive, must be with certain predictable malfunctions.

 

Ya Allah, inilah ujian Mu untuk kami. Jadikanlah family abangku redha dgn ketentuanMu.

 

Sesungguhnya setiap yg hidup pasti akan mati. Hanya rahmat dariMu yg kami harapkan.  

Climbing that Ladder Fast

How To Rise Fast At Work: A True Story

Avril David, 12.21.09, 06:00 PM EST

The wise moves that outpaced a wily and ambitious colleague.

This is a true story about two acquaintances of mine. One knew instinctively exactly how to get ahead in the workplace. The other thought he knew--and was dead wrong. Most of us would probably behave pretty much the way the latter did. I believe their experiences hold lessons for all of us.

The first of them, the successful one, I'll call Mark. Mark got a degree in finance from New York University's Stern School of Business in the spring of 2006 and landed a job as an analyst at a small investment firm in New York. Given the cutthroat atmosphere of his business school classes, Mark was fairly certain that his first foray into the working world of finance would be a high intensity, high-competition experience.

Though his organization was small, he realized that to rise within the ranks he would have to find some way to differentiate himself among his peers. He figured there were two traditional ways he could try to do so. He could strive to perform his tasks faster and better than his peers and hope to be recognized for doing a better job, or he could schmooze his way to the top by identifying the most important people in the organization and trying to win their favor.

However, he wasn't a self-promoter by nature, and he also wasn't sure he could outpace other people at the kind of work in Excel spreadsheets he'd be doing. He decided that before deciding which course to take, he'd need to learn all he could about the company he was working for.

From day one, Mark asked people questions about what they were working on, who they were working with and how they got their work done. It didn't matter if a person was junior or senior, administrative assistant or lead investor. He simply wanted to know what he could about what they did and the organization he was working for.

Once he had a clear sense of all of the moving parts within the company, he began to see ways its operations could be improved. Making those improvements lay outside his job description, but he believed it made sense to fix what he could easily fix, drawing on the understanding he was gathering of how the people in the organization operated.

At first the improvements Mark made were far from glamorous. In fact his peers derided him for wasting his time on actions they said would never increase his bonus. He began ordering lunch for the investment group's weekly meeting and making sure office supplies were ordered on time and in the right quantities. It was obvious he didn't mind pitching in where help was needed, and his supervisors began to notice his work ethic. They saw him making sure that people got the tools that they needed to do their jobs efficiently. And they saw everyone benefiting.

Without being a natural networker and without competing, Mark had begun networking organically. People appreciated what he did because it wasn't based on self-promotion and because it genuinely helped them.

Eventually, as Mark learned more about the needs of the organization, he realized that some of the changes that needed to be made would be easier if new tools and skills were used to complete certain tasks. Not one to let down the team, he began teaching himself new Excel functions and other software programs in the evenings. Soon he was an expert at Excel, the go-to person in his investment group and responsible for getting his peers up to speed on new techniques. In effect he was managing.

As one of very few people at the company who fully understood both internal administrative needs and external investor requirements, he began to be included in strategic meetings regarding compliance, new software and the streamlining of processes to make the organization as a whole more effective. And so a non-self-promoting, non-competing newbie found himself managing and training his peers. He was exceeding performance expectations for his role with the newly acquired skills and expertise and was being recognized as a strategic thinker and leader within the organization. He was promoted to senior analyst by the end of his first year and received a bonus 50% bigger than any of his peers got.

Mark achieved all this by seeking to know and assist the organization as a whole rather than by directly competing to promote himself at the expense of others. He helped everyone do their jobs better and thereby became a natural facilitator, expert and, finally, leader.

Meanwhile, Mark's co-worker Ted--whose name I have also changed--took a different, more traditional path. He worked like a maniac to try to show that he was better than Mark and all the other analysts.

When he started, he wasn't sure how talented the other analysts were, but he figured that if he stayed in the office later and spent less time on unimportant things like eating lunch, he would probably be able to do a better job than at least most of them. He kept an eye on what they worked on (except for that dunce Mark, who wasted time ordering lunches) and made sure to take note of how he could make a case for taking over some of their work.

He networked aggressively. He dropped in to see members of senior management in their offices to express his eagerness to take on more work. He made sure to mention tasks he had already completed and to let them know of relevant courses he had taken in college that likely qualified him for added responsibility.

Ted didn't know--or care--what anyone outside the investment team did. The senior managers were the people to impress, and his fellow analysts were the people to keep ahead of. He sometimes had a hard time getting the administrative team's help in closing trades, but he didn't let that stop him. In fact, he'd often mention his disappointment with administrative staffers at his interruptions--er, meetings--with senior managers.

By the time bonus season rolled around, Ted felt sure he'd be the first analyst promoted. After all, he was the fastest at what he did and had the closest relationships with senior managers. To his shock and disappointment, he was passed over for that first promotion. He received a bonus, but he got no more than most of the other analysts. What had happened? Had they somehow managed to be just as fast as him?

What Ted had failed to realize was that everyone hired as an analyst was talented and bright. They all got their jobs done, and they all did them very well. Sure, working harder and faster got him noticed, but only for doing more of the same.

Although Ted was learning to do his job more speedily, he wasn't learning to do anything else. At no point was he facilitating, managing or leading--activities that could recommend him for advancement. More important, he had been asking his managers for more responsibility rather than taking on responsibilities organically and showing that he could handle them.

In the classroom his approach would have worked well. Instead of interrupting management, he would have been regularly visiting professors during office hours. His focus on his assigned tasks above all else would have made him a star student with the best grades in the class. Mission accomplished.

At work, on the other hand, Ted was still a top performer at what he did, but he was a hamster on a wheel trying to stay ahead of all the other bright and capable employees. Even worse, he was always worried about new competition. He was caught in an unending cycle of stress.

Let's examine what Mark did right that set him apart from Ted--and from everyone else starting out at the company.

1. Understanding how things work. His first move when he began his job was to learn as much as he could about the organization he was working for. He was driven more by curiosity and a desire to comprehend what he had gotten himself into than by ambition to outperform his peers. As a result, he quickly got to know people and their roles, without conveying any sense that he was just trying to promote himself.

2. Knowing what everyone does and how they do it. By asking questions about others rather than selling himself, Mark came to know more about the organization than some members of senior management. As a result, he became a go-to person for figuring out the best ways to get things done.

Note: When you're not comfortable speaking with a higher-up you don't really know, a simple e-mail can do the trick. Introduce yourself and let the person know that you're new and trying to get a full grasp of the organization, and you'd just like a quick sentence or two about what each person does. This is likely to work best at small to medium-size organizations. At larger organizations, the company Intranet can often help you get a handle on things, though how they work on paper and how they work in practice can sometimes be very different. At the smallest organizations, simple observation is often enough for learning who does what and how.

3. Learning where gaps exist and conveying to others how to fill them. No one else in Mark's peer group took the time to learn much about the company beyond their own responsibilities. They were too busy competing (and in some cases schmoozing). Mark, having a sense of how everyone got their jobs done, he was able to make recommendations at meetings based on observations that he alone had been able to come up with. He wasn't psychic; he was just paying attention.

4. Identifying solutions to organizational problems and making quick fixes. Being privy to how things actually worked, Mark was able to identify problems and propose solutions. Most people had no idea that the problems even were problems. They were too busy within their own roles to notice. Mark's ability to propose solutions gave him an edge as a strategic thinker as he made quick, easy changes that were obvious to him as an observer but often not so obvious to those lost in their specific duties.

5. Being unafraid of unglamorous work, and pitching in where help is needed. Mark's path to success began with humbly ordering lunches. But that gave him a chance to spend a few minutes each week getting a sense of everyone's schedules and making conversation. Sure, remarks by his co-workers made him fear at first that he'd get pigeon-holed as the lunch guy, but his purposeful weekly access to senior management gave him a moment to mention any thoughts he had on the latest financial news. And anyway, ordering lunches was just one of many items on Mark's problem-solving agenda. It took only a few minutes, so it didn't keep him from his other work; it was easy to eventually delegate to someone else (making him look like more of a manager); and it established him as down-to-earth and thoughtful as well as bright, making him well-liked at all levels.

6. Identifying linkages, for himself and others. One benefit of knowing the inner workings of an organization is that you can see how the parts interact. Once you see that, you're equipped to facilitate interactions across functions and groups--and you've got an important tool of a strategizer and leader, who has to absorb the whole picture in a situation before he can make effective and appropriate decisions. Furthermore, understanding the linkages that affect your job function makes you more productive and effective without actually working any harder.

The somewhat accidental approach Mark took to his job is hardly the only way to achieve career advancement, but it does give the lie to the assumption that the best or only way ahead is the one most of us have pursued ever since the first grade.

Avril David is an energy and environment analyst for Project Performance Corporation, a global management consulting firm, and a freelance writer on topics related to careers, energy, climate policy and green business.

Hidup Mestilah Rukun

Musim kenduri kahwin telah tiba. Banyak sungguh aku dan mak aku dapat jemputan, sampaikan Husna pun dah naik bosan - "Asyik makan kat rumah orang kahwin jer...". Tapi itulah kan, antara hak seorang muslim ke atas seorang muslim yg lain, ialah memenuhi jemputan. Maknanya kalau takde aral melintang, wajib kita tunaikan.

 

Ada satu jemputan di Taman Rinting hari Sabtu tu, ketika kita org sedang makan, pasukan kompang pun tiba. Bebudak lelaki belasan tahun ni main kompang sikit punye semangat. Macam nak pecah kompang tu dia ketuk. Cuaca hujan pulak, so diorang main kompang tu dalam khemah, dekat je dgn tempat duduk kita org ni. So segala face expression bebudak ni begitu jelas di pandangan mata. Banyak jugak lagu diorang main, antaranya lagi Injit2 Semut dan lagu Saloma yg amat evergreen tu. Aku usik Husna, "Husna, cuba lepas ni suruh diorang main lagu "Potong"?" Husna senyum jer, malulah pulak nak buat lagu permintaan.

 

Semalam pulak, sebab cuaca hujan, perkara yg sama berlaku. Orang main kompang dalam khemah. Kesian betul lah. Aku syukur sangat masa majlis kahwin aku 7 tahun dulu, aku siap doa dan tanam lada with bawang on top, cucuk kat lidi tau, itu petua org lama tak nak bagi hujan. Alhamdullillah walaupun tarikhnya 27 Disember, hari tak hujan. Tapi semalam, masya Allah, lebat giler, lama pulak tu. Kesian sesapa yg buat majlis kahwin lepas tu hujan pulak. Mcm lagu Alanis Morissette tu - "It's like raiiiiiiinnnnn on your wedding day....". Ironic betul.

 

Lagi ironic kalau kita dengar lirik lagu Saloma yg evergreen tu.

 

Selamat Pengantin Baru

Selamat berbahgia

Selamat ke anak cucu

Selamat sejahtera

 

Hidup mestilah rukun

Sabar paling perlu

Cinta setiap hari

Senyum mesti selalu

Oh..oh...oh...

 

Selamat Pengantin Baru

Selamat berbahgia

Selamat ke anak cucu

Selamat sejahtera

 

Paling best part yg chorus tu. Aku rasa that pretty much sums up what we need to do to stay married. Senyum jer kalau dengar lagu ni orang mainkan kat majlis kahwin ye, sambil reflecting on your own marriage journey. As for me, semalam genaplah 7 tahun aku dah kahwin. Kalau dalam product life cycle, it has reached the peak already, means the product needs some re-branding or re-packaging to attract more sales, to avoid the sales from going down. Well, kata orang marriage needs constant re-juvenation, tak mcm product life cycle. Tapi aku rasa mcm sama je. No matter what, we need constant re-juv, but these re-juv packages need a hell lot of money, I bet you. Meanwhile, kalau ada tergigit lidah tu, Sabar paling perlu......Cinta setiap hari.....Senyum mesti selalu...oh..oh..oh...

As Sober as Two Judges?

Cop to nude cyclists in New Zealand: Wear helmets

from The Star, 23rd Dec. 2009

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP): Police picked up two naked men on a late night bike ride in a New Zealand town but let them off with a warning: put on helmets.

"They were wanting to experience total freedom," said Senior Constable Cathy Duder, who stopped the pair about 10pm on a recent night in the beach resort town of Whangamata.

She told them: "You may experience total confinement. You should head home and get helmets."

The duo turned tail and headed directly back to their house, Duder told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

She said she did not see them again during her shift, and it was not known if they donned helmets and resumed their ride.

Public nudity can attract a charge of offensive behavior in New Zealand, but Duder said she cut the two men a break.

"It was dark and there was no one else around. They were jovial young men who had not intended to cause offense," she said.

She described the two as "happy young men in their mid-20s ... they appeared to be as sober as two judges."

The Dec. 7 encounter, which has only just come to light, probably signaled the start of what Duder described as summer hijinks in Whangamata, a popular surfing and holiday getaway where partying is common during Christmas and New Year season. 

Pangkor Re-visited

This escape happened roughly a year ago. I just wanted to share my feelings that as if it just happened moments ago. I could still hear the ferry's engine running, the sound of the birds along the coast, could still smell the fresh air, the ikan bilis, udang kering and all sorts of ikan kering, sotong bakar (yummy!), could still feel the warmth and gentle sea breeze and above all, I think I need another vacation. Haha...if only the resources are not that limited. Dream on.

 

When the tsunami happened in 2004, I was at a hotel room in Melaka, with Husna barely a year old, just the day after we took her to the A Famosa Safari. Everytime nearing end of December since then, tv stations would keep on playing that footage on tsunami, and everytime they're on, I would always remember me sitting in that hotel room and listening to the unclear channels alternately between CNN and Channel News Asia, trying to decipher what actually had happened. And from that moments on, I would remember that a few major events are supposed to happen in December:

1. Anniversary and remembrance of the tsunami victims.

2. I am supposed to go on vacation, some place, somewhere (because this year is NO vacation, I feel a little bit awkward actually). Like something missing.

3. That wedding anniversary is ON.

4. Husna's birthday is coming - 2nd January. So, have to start planning since she'd always remind us that her birthday is indeed forthcoming. Don't ever try to appear as if you've forgotten it.

 

Oh, this reminds me that I've not registered Husna for school yet - Standard 1. We're in a dilemma, to send her to a private Islamic school or just simply a normal school close to home.

 

I think I still need that vacation.

Kekasih Awal dan Akhir

Wah, after I've got to know that we can have blog entry via email, my mind has been spinning on and on and on. There are just so many things I like to put on record. Akmal already commented that my blog entries are too many. Dude, I just had to let it out OK.

 

Last 2 weeks, I was invited for a Long Service Award dinner, held at Puteri Pacific Hotel. This was to commemorate the anniversary and present award to those who have served the company for a very long time - 20 years, 25 years and 30 years. This year is special since we have 1 staff who had been working for my company for a whopping 35 years. He started off as an Office Boy in 1973, worked his way through the company and now is serving as a Purchaser in Procurement Department. 35 years - he said he stayed because the company is his family. Love your company as much as you love your family. I wonder if such mindset ever come across any of the Gen-Y today.

 

I thought I was invited since my boss was one of the award recipients. He had served for 25 years and will retire soon according to schedule laaa. At the dinner table, I was seated together with invited guests like me - Puan K and Mr. S from T&C Department - besides the award recipients and their spouse . These 2 people sort of became my accomplice throughout the nite - scanning, commenting, gossipping, etc.

 

The deejay was that funny skinny guy who appeared on some of RTM 1 programs, looked like Mamak a bit. I heard we paid him around RM5k for that 1.5 hours stint. I had no idea who else or what other interesting details were to happen on that night. The moment he announced that the artist for the night was very special, I thought that it would be "just another artist", like previously they had Noraniza Idris, Mas Idayu and the likes (suam suam kuku type laaaa). Since the award is meant for old timers, we can't possibly have any of the AF or Mentor artists, can we? The moment came when he announced "Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, penyanyi ini sesiapa yang mendengar suaranya, yang tidur pasti terjaga, yang terjaga pasti terbangun....saya persembahkan.....JAMAL ABDILLAH". I seriously thought that he was joking. I was expecting that some joker somewhere would impersonate Jamal, just as all those jokers who like to copycat Michael Jackson.

 

I have known Jamal since I was young. Come on, he was the Bintang RTM winner in 1978? 79? I knew his songs since my childhood days, teenage days, college days and until now, even though he has his fair share of ups and downs, he is one of those evergreen artists. That's to my standard laaa. I equate him to the likes of Syarifah Aini, nobody else can beat that kind of voice. His golden voice and evergreen songs, no singer in Malaysia can beat that. Mawi? Not even tip of the iceberg.

 

Suddenly, there he was. Jamal Abdillah, singing the hip song - Yaaa Rabbbbbi - man...Puan K was so excited. Mrs Lee at the other side of the table also did not blink her eyes a bit. Cameramen and people with handphones all were busy flashing their camera at him. Even the chef left behind the pots and pans and woks and came out from the kitchen to listen first hand and have eye-to-eye experience appreciating his voice, dance when it's the fast beat songs and dream when it's the melancholic tunes.

 

That night Jamal sang a few songs - Azura, Penghujung Rindu, Aku Penghibur, and his very final song - Kekasih Awal dan Akhir. He would sing non-stop, not even once interaction with the audience. Actually the impatient audience was expecting some kind of verbal interaction with him, but he just continued on. Exactly like listening to the radio, until one time, Puan K and I bet that he was just miming. We were wrong when he sang Azura, we found out that he couldn't reach that highest note. Then it was obvious. It was Jamal's actual voice. Wow...what a truly golden voice, truly an anugerah for him.

 

Since he was singing all the time, we realized that there's no way we could take picture with him. Sometimes he would scheme through table by table, that's when the audience took the chance to quickly snap pictures with him. Very difficult. Realizing that time was running short, we didn't expect him to come to our table, which was among the last table at the back. He gave a chance to a few people to sing some of the songs, while people rushing to take pix at the same time. Imagine the little bit of chaos there. Until he reached a table next to ours, Puan K was so damn excited and told me "Jom lah, jomlah, kita amik gambo dgn dia", while taking and rubbing my hands. Man, to calm her down, I volnteered to accompany her to raise from our table and practically chased Jamal Abdillah. First he was  at the table at the end, then he wanted to move to the other end. Our table was in the middle, he could not see me coming from behind. I needed to chase him, he passed by because he could not see us. Knowing that the window was short and the moment was right, I just grabbed his elbow and stopped him from moving. I just had to do it. It appeared as if I forced him to stop and take pix with us. Macam ganas la pulak makcik ni. Finally, Jamal Abdillah was in my arms. Hahaha....

 

To seal the night of remembrance, I got myself a CD of Jamal, Raja Pop, murah - RM19.90 jer, got 16 songs.

 

Last week, I got a call from CCD people - "Wah,wah,wah - cayalah, salute sama akak sebab grab Jamal...hebat gitu..." Apparently they reviewed the video for that night, and had all the moments captured. I would really like to see it.

 

This is Jamal, King of Pop for Malaysia. This is like Michael Jackson for the Americans. I know, his personality maybe not up to standard, but his talent is truly amazing. It's once in a lifetime chance to have a moment with him, no matter how short. I think it's worth it, RM30k for 5 songs.

 

I'm not sure if HR would invite me again for next year award.

Green Car Admirer

Semalam, dalam aku terkocoh-kocoh nak cepat pegi meeting sebab dah lambat, ada seorang worker ni panggil aku macam ada perkara urgent yang amat. Umur pakcik ni dalam lingkungan 50-an, nampak masih segak dan smart orangnya. Aku nak cepat meluru ke arah kereta, dia pulak nak stop aku nak tanya something yg mmg nampak mcm urgent giler lah. Rupa-rupanya:

 

Admirer: Kereta awak tu berapa ribu?

 

Aku yg terkezut: RMXX,000. Minat ke? Dah boleh lah...dah nak pencenkan....

 

Admirer: Ini kereta latest trend ni. Tinggal orang rumah dgn saya je, nak lah cari kereta baru sikit..

 

Aku yg dah cool sikit: OKlah tu....(sambil buat2 senyum dan nak blah cepat sebab I'd better be in the meeting room earlier than my boss).

 

Aku rasa pakcik ni dah lama giler dok peratikan kereta aku. Nampak gaya mcm dia dah lama sangat tunggu peluang nak tanya aku soalan cepu emas ni. Gelodak jiwanya yang meronta untuk menanya soalan ni begitu terserlah di wajahnya.

 

Beli je lah pakcik...although on the other hand, aku rasa better lah dia invest duit EPF dia tu. Kang nanti tergolong pulak dalam kumpulan mereka yg telah berjaya menghabiskan duit simpanan EPF dalam masa 3 tahun selepas bersara. Lepas tu camne nak survive...tapi kang membebel byk2 kat pakcik, mcm kesian lah pulak...

Crikey Escape Down Under - Part 3 - Great Ocean Road Day Tour - first take

This entry is long overdue. The whole Melbourne experience was way back in May, but the excitement and fresh air are still lingering as if it just happened yesterday. Before I had gone there, I asked a few friends who studied in Australia on which places of interest should I visit in the land down under. Apparently, there are a whole of lot of places need to be visited. Compliment to that, the internet also provides innumerable reviews, pictures and experience of other travelers, which really put me in a predicament. Time was short and the money is way too limited. In fact, the visit to the Melbourne Visitor Center confirmed and further enhance my predicament. There are simply too many exciting places to be visited in Australia, particularly in Victoria, the state where Melbourne is the capital city.

 

We had two days for rambu ramba and there were 3 options - Great Ocean Road (a scenic tour), Philip Island (a wild life experience) or lazying around Melbourne town. Out of 3 people, finally Mr. X and me chose the first 2 activities. We had to forgo the scheming around town kind of experience. This was because we had a brief tour around town using the town hop on hop off bus. What a loss, but we still needed to choose. Perhaps next time.

 

During the journey, here were the activities:

 

Bell's Beach - visit to the surfer's paradise, among the very famous spot in Australia for surfers, where Patrick Swayze and Keanu rode the waves in one of the movies (forgot the title laaa). The toilet was very nicely painted, featuring the native's art. Toilet pun cantik ramai org amik gambo....we should really try that in Malaysia. What do you think?

 

Reserves on natural rock formation along the road - stopped by at a lighthouse, picnic beach, breakfast, lunch all overseeing such a breathtaking view of the ocean.

 

Rainforest walk - Otway rainforest, tall trees, with shrubs, should be a tropical kind of forest, but so nice. Very unlike our jungle.

 

Koala Center - besides seeing them in nature, also got parrots and ducks in the wild. They'd come to you when you offer that special food. Very tame.

 

Twelve Apostles - natural landslide and limestone phenomena along the coast, ciptaan Yang Maha Hebat.

 

London Bridge, Lord Arch Gorge and the Wreck - among the unique names given to some of the stops along the way, correspond to their shapes, histories and phenomena. 

 

I truly had a great time along this journey. We shared a mini bus with 2 Americans, 2 Dutch, 1 Korean lady, 2 Japanese and 6 other Malaysian visitors. The tour guide was awesome

Superb Wedding Gifts

I presented this to my nephew as a wedding gift. The wife was surprised. Hey, you two learn about the things and I got my income tax rebate ok, win-win.

Testing of Writing via email

This is a test.

I've scrambled into Akmal's email donkey months ago about how to do blogging via email.

After this we can try to go for mobile, once I got my i-phone yeah...

Series of Frustrations

Gambar satu accident di hiway Pasir Gudang, waktu lunch. Camne kete Myvi Hitam tu boleh terpusing dan terperuk kat bawah lori....samada dia terbang dari jalan sebelah, atau lori sudah hentam sangat kuat dari belakang dan telah berjaya memusingkan kereta tersebut.

Aku frust sebab nak cepat, tapi jalan jam. Lepas tu teringin pulak nak rakam gambo ni, sebab accident mcm ni is very typical on this stretch. Dah ramai betul mangsa korban kat this stretch. We call this stretch tempat kelapa bakar - sebab dulu ada org jual kelapa bakar petang2 kat area jalan Masai Lama tu. It's actually a very hilly road and stright. Maybe sebab org frust the stretch before tu selalu jam, so bila sampai sini ramai lepas tensen tekan pedal minyak. Inilah contoh padahnya.

Aku pun frust sebab aku ada banyak sgt cerita nak tulis tapi sejak company aku block blogspot, aku tensen....nak carik masa buat kat laptop, sgtlah susahnya.

Aku frust jugak sebab semalam ada mende yg aku rasa aku tak dpt buat dgn baik. Semalam aku pegi satu career assessment. Dia nak menguji aku ni layak naik pangkat ke tak. Kalau naik, setakat mana aku boleh naik. Ujian dia punye lah payah. Nak berlakon mcm tak boleh, sebab dia assess thru ko punye respon email, respon to a distress phone call, unhappy customer, lepas tu kena present business plan pulak. Semua dalam masa a few hours. Pengsan makcik. Lelama makcik jadik - que sera sera - what ever will be will be, the future not us to see, que sera sera. Good luck lah aku nak dapat result dia bulan depan.

Aku frust jugak sebab adik ipar aku buat majlis kahwin hari sabtu kedua, maknanya makcik kena amik cuti, padahal cuti tinggal 1 hari....lepas ni aku dah tak boleh cuti lah...adik ipar aku punye isteri baru rupanya 3 tahun lebih tua dari aku...dahsyat sungguh adik ipar aku.


Enoughla kan about the frustrations...on the other hand, I'm quite happy that my long lost friend managed to contact me back after all the years. Thanks to Facebook!

Oh My Gosh, It's December Already!

Again, I’ve got so many stories to share, but so little time available to pen them down.

Housing Re-finance – Yang Mana Satu, Pilihan Kalbu?

Remember that Aziz had asked us to re-finance both of our houses? Since the other house is just about to get the key, we went first for the current house. We visited all 5 banks as recommended by Aziz. This is when I learnt to shop around for banking products. I’ve always hated to do shopping of this kind, since it’s quite complex and tricky. But in this case, I’ve no choice, it has to be done. Well, at least it is part of lessons in life. I did some research on the net – mainly from Bank Negara, all the commercial banks and a few tips here and there on housing loan. It’s amazing when your house can be considered as collateral for other bigger projects. What exactly is the project can only be known when we see Aziz in the next appointment. Aziz specifically mentioned to research these 5 banks and their products, but with same qualification – must be in 1 account number. Here goes my tales from visiting 5 banks.
1. Ambank – Homelink - rates quite good, but account number cannot be one number for both housing loan and the current account. When asked, standard answer – IT system, housing loan must be different code in IT system than current account. What the customer wishes is secondary, my IT system rocks.
2. Public Bank – rates not competitive at all. On top of that, also needs 2 account numbers. Same disqualification applies.
3. CIMB – rates are competitive, close contender to HSBC. My second option. I think since the new CEO took over, that brother of that somebody, I was told that he emulated HSBC's model. So far I'd say the products are quite similar, only the customer service has got to be improved. Products quality is quite there already, people's attitude nonetheless is very far.
4. EON Bank – imagine this – we went to the bank, was told that the Loan Officer was attending a course in JB. The other Loan Officer on duty was not familiar with the housing loan product, so not able to provide good advice. She asked us to come again on other days. Forget it. Camne lah korang ni nak jadik world class banks…aiyooo…
5. HSBC – the best so far. Actually I visited this bank first, told the Officer of my intention, and purposely told her that I’d like to shop around first. She willingly allowed me to do that. I guess more or less, they already know that they can offer the best rate.

After much deliberation, we agreed to go for HSBC Home Smart. The link to current account makes it that we can settle our loan faster and we can use the available funds for other meaningful uses. That’s the flexibility. Maybe for some people this is old product, but for us, the fact that the housing loan can also serve as collateral for other ventures is new. That’s how naïve we were, hence now can consider that we have improved. One house down, another house to go.

Tupperware Ventures – A Climb Up the Mountain

My oh my…I couldn’t believe myself, that I got too caught up in this business. Somehow it gets me going everyday, how to further enhance and strengthen my footing in this business. Past lessons and memories from defunct Omegatrend venture kept on rewinding and playing on my mind. Actually after I quit from Omegatrend, sometimes it haunted me why I didn’t do certain things while I was still inside the business. The kind of thoughts that you know, if I were to do certain things, the results might have been different. To avoid from that feelings to haunt me in future, I make sure I’ll do things in this Tupperware business, so that later on I won’t regret – insya Allah. At least I’ve tried. If it works, it is meant to be. If it’s not working, perhaps I should diversify my tactics. Trying is the most challenging. To get ourselves to try and do things need major guts. The fear that I will fail, will always be there. Now I have to tell myself, think of the success, not the failure. It’s the same energy, channel it right.

Yesterday I tried a new tactic. I gave away old catalogs to a few targeted houses, with a leaflet bearing our names. I chose the houses with advanced renovations features, or basically home owners who do not mind spending some money to make their houses stand out in the row. While putting it in the mailbox, at 1 house, a few people was sitting and talking at the front door. So I gave my salam, in the hope that the owner would come out to greet me. The previous house owner was like that. She chatted with me for a good 10 minutes. It’s like getting to know-thy-neighbor kind of activity. Surprisingly, this Mercedes-clad house was awful. One voice shouted – “Tak nak dik”. I was smiling. I just said “I letak dalam mailbox ye”. Wow, imagine my feeling. I was smiling all the way home. Well, at least I know how the feeling is when people shoo away those sales agents at the front gate. How many times I’ve done that to them, now I know how they feel laaaa… quite humiliating self-depreciating experience actually. But it’s not that bad. I take it that it’s part and parcel of building a business. This is how Sosilawaty and Azlina Che Daud started their business too. They sold their cosmetics from house to house. Look at them now, the new moguls in the cosmetic industries, to the envy of many. They are really my idols. Many successful people do not just be at the top, they work from the bottom. Not many people are as lucky as Paris Hilton, or SM Nasamuddin, or Ivanka Trump. I prefer to read success stories from people who work their bottom up. The climbing must be their most exciting and exhilarating experience of their life. Their sharing on life at the top must be an iceberg only. The crux will always be on how exciting their journey to reach the peak.

It’s a long way to go for this business. I’m building it slowly. I’ve yet to find the right partner though. I need to find out what exactly is the barrier. Jes told me the next incentive trip is to Switzerland. Man, I cannot resist the temptation. Keep the spirit going, baby.

This song has definitely kept me going:

The Climb

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming but
There's a voice inside my head sayin,
You'll never reach it,
Every step I'm taking,
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking but
I Got to keep trying
Got to keep my head held high
There's always going to be another mountain
I'm always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I'm gonna to have to lose,
Ain't about how fast I get there,
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb
The struggles I'm facing,
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes they knock me down but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm going to remember most yeah
Just got to keep going
And I,I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on, cause
There's always going to be another mountain
I'm always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I'm gonna to have to lose,
Ain't about how fast I get there,
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb
Keep the faith
Keep your faith
Whoa a oh oh

Life Partner - All My Life, I Pray for Someone Like You

I read the Utusan’s interview with TNB President/Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh published on Sunday. Among other things, he said that his life is below ordinary, and that he had to work hard to be where he is today. That TNB’s electricity emergency response plan can never be compared with Singapore, in terms of response time in times of failure. That the stupid song condemning TNB reflects the stupidity of the blog/song writer, so he need not respond to such brainless provocation. But one thing stood out - he said that his wife has been his strong supporter all his life. He more or less accolades his wife to his success in life. Awww….this is the second time I read an interview with senior level executives who acknowledge their wife’s contribution to his success in career and life. The other one was from Idris Jala. Hey, it works both ways. Dato’ Azlina from that D Navechee empire also gave recognition to her husband for supporting her and together build the business to where it is today.

As a child, we used to praise our parents and teachers for our success. As an adult, who deserve to receive such acknowledgement for our success – besides our life partner? Sometimes when you hear actors/actresses uttered their winning speech at the Academy Award or Music Award, they’d say their tribute to their directors, fellow actors, songwriters, mentors, and usually, only at the end, they’d say their tribute to their family members or spouse. Moral of the story – just as what our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said – “The best muslim among you is those who are kindest to their family members”.

Love your partner, they love you back and give you heaven. Hurt your partner, they remember it all their life, may or may not forgive you, and definitely your life will be in living hell, sooner or later.

So, watch out what you do. Your partner can truly sense, even though they may not say it.

For rich and for poor, till death do us part. This cliche may not be true in the case of harta sepencarian. Well, I just learnt it from Public Mutual Wasiat course yesterday. In the case of harta sepencarian, either one can claim up to maximum of 50% only. If I like you, I can write in my wasiat to give you all, subject to agreement by other heirs. On the flip side, if I don't like you, I may write 0%, that means you can only have my portion after you fight your case in court. Other than that, rest with the faraid law, you will only get 1/4 of my estate, since we have children.

Learning about wasiat is such an interesting topic. Above all, write one today, as it is sunat muakkad - sunat yang sangat dituntut. If feeling lost, I am a certified agent to help you. I won't draft for you, the lawyer will. I will only facilitate, at such a peanut fee. Man, this one an entry on its own.

Till next time.

Doc Husna

On 15th Nov. 2009, at Dewan Taman Johor Jaya, Husna was again the Best Student for J5 from Nuri Sri Putri. Mama and ayah were equally as excited as Husna.


Husna was waiting for the turn. The gentleman in the white shirt is a specialist doctor from Hospital Sultanah Aminah, JB. I guess Nuri management wanted his aura to be transmitted to this group of best students. Mama wished for the same, or even better.

Husna while receiving the trophy. This is her third collection. Bravo Husna!

Husna with her two teachers - Teacher Au and a new teacher, sorry lupa lah nama uuu...

This pix was taken because I was deeply disappointed with the attitude and mentality of Malaysian citizens as a whole. Monkey see monkey do. What do you think will happen to the state of cleanliness in our country in 2020? These are the very population who will inherit all our mentality and attitude. I wonder how else we can change our level of thinking and put cleanliness as basic and common sense.

Sometimes Husna asked, why mama he didn't throw the litter in the litter bin? (while referring to a grown up littering all over the place. So mama answered - "Maybe he left his brain at home".

May Allah continues to give us all His blessings, rahmah, mawaddah, sakinah to our family and to our fellow Malaysians - please, kebersihan adalah sebahagian daripada iman. Let's just remind each other always.

Dorai Yang Memboroikan

The Evil Nemesis - Sup Doraisamy

Masa aku nak check in hotel, aku ada mintak dekat budak cashier tu bagi akak floor non-smoking ye. Lepas tu akak nak katil yg queen bed, tak mau yg 2 single beds tu. Budak tu senyum jer. Finally bile semua dah settle, budak tu pun kata, "Wah akak, semua permintaan akak saya dah ikut. Bila nak belanja saya makan? Saya nak sup Dorai".

Wah, bukan main lagi permintaan kau ni ye. Aku hadiahkan sekuntum senyuman yg manis saja. Cukup lah tu dik. Kan ke memang keje ko kena layan hotel guest.

Inilah kali kedua aku dengar perkataan Sup Dorai. Alkisah dulu kawan aku yg ex-reporter pun pernah cerita yg kalau nak lepak malam2 buta tu, makanlah Sup Dorai, sure segar abis. Punye lah popular sup ni ye kat KL.

So, aku pun ajak le member makan kat Dorai ni. Sup ni gerai dia terletak dekat Jalan Doraisamy, dekat2 area Kompleks Wilayah. Tapi sebab tempat duduk selalu penuh, gerai2 sekitar termasuk restoren pun boleh amik order from this gerai. Punye lah powerful.

Rasa pulak - lemak dan amat pedasssssssssssssssss....aku order Dorai lembu. Memula member kata mana ada lembu, suruh aku order kambing. Alamak, sorry. Gua tak berapa nak telan kalau kambing lah. Nasib baik ada Dorai lembu. Sup ni tersangatlah banyak lemak. Memang lah kaw-kaw punye kadar kolesterol dan lemak tak tepu. Bila dah masuk tekak, ketebalan lemak akan tersisa di anak tekak dan kerongkong.

So finally, aku dah rasa sup Dorai. Maybe pada orang yg kaki makan, this would be among the best sumptuos meal for you. But for those who are health-conscious, forget it man...you'll ended up having to jog, cycle, swim or run miles and miles to burn all those calories. Seminggu lari pun belum tentu semua lemak dah diproses. Itulah penangannya.

Can't Touch This

Satu pagi di radio IKIM, tajuk perbincangan ialah – Wajarkah duit EPF digunakan untuk menunaikan Fardhu Haji. Aku memang tak setuju. Aku dail nombor IKIM tapi line jam. Hampir 80% pendengar setuju, antara alasan mereka:
1. Eh, itu duit kami, biarlah kami pakai sementara masih hidup.
2. Invest kat Public Mutual boleh, apsal utk pegi haji tak boleh?
3. Sementara masih muda dan bertenaga, inilah masa sesuai nak pegi haji. Bila dah tua, ramai yg dah tak larat.
4. Siapakah kerajaan (EPF to b exact) untuk melarang kami dari menggunakan hak kami?
5. Dan banyak lagi alasan2 budus lain.

Antara 20% response yg sama pendapat dgn aku kata:
1. Please check your fact right. EPF is formed for a special purpose – to protect members by having savings to upkeep their life after retirement. This can never be changed. Bravo Pakcik!
2. Kalau nak pegi haji, simpan lah duit kat Tabung Haji. Apa kejadah ko nak pakai duit EPF? Betulllllll….

Sebenarnya aku sedih dengan keadaan ni. Kebanyakan orang kita nak senang dengan mudah. Nak usaha lebih sikit malas. Nak pegi haji nak pakai duit EPF. Katalah kan, pihak Najib dan Rosmah dah tak tahan kena pressure, depa luluskan usul tu. Kang korang tengok, tak lama lagi ada pulak usul nak pakai duit EPF untuk beli tanah, beli kereta, belanja kahwin sendiri, belanja kahwin anak, cucu, cicit, renovate rumah, beli ladang, beli ternakan, dan yg sewaktu dgnnya. Weiiiii….kalau nak buat mende tu semua, kumpul lah duit sendiri beb….mana ada short cut.

Kesian Pengarah EPF. Time and again, he has to defend EPF’s stand for why it is formed. I guess their Public Relation can have a set of pre-prepared letters ready, to counter all those proposals to use the money while the depositors are still working. Aku rasa dalam setahun, adalah 3-4 kali their PR have to reply to budus request from people to withdraw the money for whatever budus use.

If you want something, you have to work for it. If you get it for free, it will only do damage for you. No more than that. Mungkin ramai orang kita beranggapan yg anak2 mereka akan tanggung mereka bila mereka pencen kelak. Hello…tengoklah diri kita sendiri. Berapa banyak duit sebulan yg kita bagi kat mak n ayah kita? Korang ingat cukup ker? Itu pun nasi ayam now masih cost RM4-4.50. Nanti Zaman anak2 kita, nasi ayam dah RM10++ you…masa tu sapa nak tanggung kita? Sendiri mahu tanggung maaaa…mana nak carik duit? Kalau duit EPF semua dah abis, kalau badan tak berapa sihat utk sambung kerja, kalau duit simpanan semua dah licin…..ke mana hala tuju kita……

Yang ramai nak pakai duit EPF ni pulak ialah kaum hawa, sedangkan jangka hayat pompuan kan ke lebih lama berbanding lelaki (75 vs. 65). Lama tu, lagi 10 tahun lebih nak survive tu beb...sapa pulak nak tanggung...suruh invest tak nak pulak.....tak paham aku lah...

November Rain

It's already mid of November 2009, so much stories and memoirs to tell, but so little time. Life has been so hectic lately. About the unit trust, about the Tupperware business, about the housing refinance, about the maid going back at the end of this month, about the search for new agent to get a new maid, about the withdrawal of EPF to lessen the housing loan, about so many other things!

But all is not to agonize for. Hey, I am officially a Director in Tupperware business. That's quite a big milestone. To be a director you need to have at least 14 people and sales of not less than RM4k every month. This is something new and exciting. I have to do this business quietly though, as long as my upline in unit trust does not know, I'm in good hands. If she were to find out, habislah...."I ask you for a very long time to do unit trust full time, why you go and do other business"...haiyak.....prevention is better than cure. It's just that I've found the business very exciting. That's all.

For the last 2 weeks, I've been spending time in KL, doing some ****** last minute assignment. Imagine, going back at 9pm everyday, with 2 nites at 12.30 am and the last nite, at 4.30am! Goodness!!! If this is to continue, I'll soon burn out man...working late really means that you're inefficient. I believe that we can only be effective up to 8 pm the most. Beyond that, your thinking and energy level would be shooting down the drain every second. But some people just don't believe in that principle. Work and continue working, whatever it takes, doesn't matter how excruciatingly starving we were, and beyond 9pm, all that we could think off was how fluffy the mattress and pillows were at the hotel. But then again, when you are "kulikutif", how can you challenge the "executive". This is what it takes to makan gaji laaaa....

If you makan gaji, it's very difficult to achieve financial freedom. Just read what Kiyosaki said in his Cashflow Quadrant. We are taxed the most. Every RM1 that I earn, I have to pay back RM0.30 to the government. If I get a bonus of RM10k, that's a good RM3k to Najib and his gang. Now, what does he do with my money? Well, at the very least, I would expect that the promise to have the PG hiway widened to 3 lanes will materialize. It has been 3 Rancangan Malaysia duration, but what had happened man? I would also expect that the Putra LRT to have longer coach and more frequent schedule. At least 1 train every 5 minutes. I hope all these wishful thinking could be realized by Rosmah, if not the husband.

KL life is expensive. Nasi Briyani is at RM7, while in JB you can still get it at RM4. Nasi goreng kerabu is at RM6, in JB still at RM4. If I were to work in KL, I guess I have to tighten my tummy a bit. Walk far, take the public transport. It is a good quality life you can have in KL, but you know, as they say it, there's no place like home. I remember when I talked to Sarah, the ATK consultant, about how America invaded Iraq, that this showed how America did not respect the sovereignty of a nation, and this also means that America can just invade any country. The hell with sovereignty and respect. She agreed with me. She even added a few more comments condemning her country. But at the end, she did say, "No matter how fucked up the leader was, I still love my country, there's no place like home". Couldn't agree more.

Hmmm...HR had assigned me 2 mentees to be mentored. I missed the Mentor-Mentee relationship building session last Thursday, because of the ****** work in KL. Heard that it will be in my KPI to ensure that at least I meet them and direct them to the right direction in their career life. You know what kind of advise I will give? Among them, join MLM, or do side business. This is how you develop your selling skills, indirectly boosting your self confidence, helping you to plan, teaching you how to guide and lead people, and many more endless skill building and skill enhancing programs which you can never learn if you only work 8-5 everyday. Thank God that I have the chance to such opportunity. Then if HR ask them what have you learned from your mentor, the 2 boys would answer something like this - She ask us to do MLM. Well, better still if they become my downline and also buy unit trust from me. Hahaha....
Killing 2 birds with 1 stone eh....

Many more stories mories to come....

X6 dan Aku

Early last week, at 2.09am.

SMS from Kak Lin of Aziz CfP.

“Appointment CMS dgn En Aziz pada Jumaat 9 Oct 2009 7 pm di Putrajaya. Sila confirm. Jika cancel tiada date baru dapat dijanjikan”.

Dang, we’ve been waiting for the appointment since July. 3 months have lapsed, means no savings since Aziz specifically mentioned not to do any savings until the next appointment was to be secured. I was edgy. 3 months with no savings means opportunity lost for quite a sum. I need to grab this appointment, even though I only have 2.5 days left of annual leave, besides it’s only been October. I need to save my annual leave for the next 2 months, but Aziz’s appointment is like a much shinier golden chance. Well, need to sacrifice 0.5 days, means have to leave JB at half day noon Friday, nite time to come back since 10th Oct. is a second Saturday (working day). Entah bila lah company aku ni nak buat 5-day week….So, I replied the SMS – "OK, confirm Friday 7pm 9th October 2009".

1pm 9th Oct. 2009 – departed to Putrajaya.

We were thinking of what to tell Aziz and what not to tell Aziz. The last appointment we had with him was in April in JB, he screwed us like nobody’s business. All was because we did not follow his plan. I remember he said, “Kalau dah pandai sangat, buat sendirilah. Buat apa jumpa I”. Memang bisa yang amat. All the four letter words were uttered, until he had to go out from the room to cool himself. We were cool allright. We had come with good intention. From that moment on, we told ourselves, follow this plan if we want to succeed and make a change to our financial life.

Aziz’s consultation with the clients is by phases:
1. Pre-phase – attend his talk. The schedule and venue normally will be published in his website – ww.azizcfpx.com. Aziz used to have this talk all over Malaysia, but lately due to his health, he constricted it to Putrajaya and a few other major cities only.
2. Phase 1 – appointment no. 1 – Consultation.
This is when we explained to him all our assets, liabilities and aspirations. Tell him whether you’re on the CCRIS or CTOS list, insya Allah he will try to sort out the program for you. He would tell how much OD value to take and what credit card you need to supplement to ease the cash flow.
3. Phase 2 – appointment no. 2 – OD (Overdraft).
He would see whether you’ve done all the steps he’d asked you to do in appointment 1. In our case, he had asked us to re-finance the house, which I did not do due to stupid reason – I didn’t want to pay the penalty. And 1 major boohoo – we bought 2 cars. Tambah hutang. He was damned pissed. Memang patut kena screw kot. Here he will teach how the monthly cash flow will be like by using the OD as a platform and how to use the credit cards as supplements.
4. Phase 3 – appointment no. 3,4&5 – CMS (Cash Management System).
This is to see whether you have achieved the savings target, reduce debts and whatever plan that you may have.

5pm – arrived at Aziz’s Putrajaya office.

It was locked. Called and SMS Kak Lin, was told that they would come to the office around 7pm only. We decided to hang around that Presinct Diplomatic. Dropped by at the Putrajaya Visitor Center but the condition was so much to be desired. Imagine this:

Mr. X : Encik, tumpang Tanya, kat mana surau atau masjid terdekat kat area sini?
Security on Duty behind the counter (while packing up his bags) : Kat sini takdelah. Ada satu surau dalam café. Pegilah cari. Kami dah nak balik ni.

Apa punye servis daaaa….takut sangat aku nak tanya lelebih, nanti balik lewat bini marah kot….nama jer Visitor Center. Man, we are very far, maybe 20 years behind, to be a developed nation. Since the grand masjid of Putrajaya was very far from that precinct, we ended up fooling around at Alamanda.

6.30pm – waited for Aziz outside his office.

Suddenly around 7.10pm – this nice car passed by and was parked in front of us. Fuiyoooo… BMW X6 you….red color. See pix. Isn’t it nice?

The last time we saw him, he was driving a 5-series only. Man, this shows just how much he has made in such a short time (our later talk revealed that he had tripled his net worth in the last 3 years). Hmmm…

The Oct. 9th was our CMS session no. 1, means for appointment no.3. We were scared all right. First we need to assess how much we had done based on his checklist. OK, all were done. Then he asked about all the credit cards balance – to see whether we had used the cards as per the intended purpose or we had screwed up again by buying things not in his list. Nasib baik OK. Then he asked about savings, so this one was also fine. Phewww….bottom line – he was happy with our performance so far.

For next appointment, he wanted to see us to re-finance the houses. He told us nowadays there are many banks which can give better rates and thus, faster for us to settle all our housing loans debts. This will be our priority now.

8.30pm – left Putrajaya and headed back to JB.

Esok keje lah….tensen gua…actually aku ada jugak berangan kot2 nak tido kat Marriot Putrajaya ke, any other good hotels kat situ, but Mr.X was clever to navigate me back to where we belong - in the office tomorrow morning, dude.

Aziz shared some inspirational stories again. I don’t know about you, but any story about how to make money abundantly and spend it like nobody’s business is really inspirational to me. Among the most fascinating ones:

1. Aziz bought a RM1.5m bungalow in Presinct 10, Putrajaya, after Putrajaya Holdings couldn’t sell it for RM2m. Means he got RM0.5 mi discount for the house. He wanted us to follow the same concept. Find a house which is sold at below market value, buy it, stay there and then sell for much higher price. Now he owns 7 houses.

2. Aziz just bought 2 LV bags for his wife and daughter. Each costs RM9k. He even offered his daughter for the special edition LV for RM22k, but she refused. He said, “Imagine, pegi shopping without being worried of how much to spend? Sekali pegi shopping mesti habis RM20-30k”. Huhu…

3. Aziz asked Kak Lin to replace her Kembara driven to market everyday. He wanted to buy her a CRV, but she kept on declining. “Pegi pasar je lah”. But he kept on insisting. Until Kak Lin said, “OK, I want a CLK, 2 doors will be fine”. Then Aziz said OK.

4. He also shared why the rich are getting richer. Just like what Robert Kiyosaki wrote, there are just so many opportunities to get richer, but only opened to the rich. Unless you’re on that league, you can’t grab the opportunity. That’s why we must join the league.

5. Jangan lupa buat kebajikan, you’ll get it back in quadruple. Especially if you do good deeds to your family members. Aziz has some Standing Instruction done to help his nieces and nephews whose father had died. Noble action indeed.

Now I feel like I can’t wait to get on with the program, to see him for CMS 2,3,4,5 and so on. But bear with his time. Patience is the key.

Aziz likes to quote in his responses in forum – bukan senang nak senang. Remember that AJIT greatest challenge are – NAFSU, MASA DAN PERASAAN TAMAK. As long as you can control these 3 elements, insya Allah you’ll succeed.

Damn, the X6 was really an inspiration. I checked the tag - RM680,000.

Ikhlaskah itu?

Minggu lepas pelakon terkenal Umie Aida telah bertunang dengan lelaki pilihannya seorang Datuk. Dalam berita kata hadiah pernikahan dari pihak lelaki ialah apartment mewah di Mont Kiara bernilai RM3 juta. Rumah itulah yang dia buat majlis pertunangannya. Bila ditanya kenapa Umie memilih duda anak dua tersebut yang syarikatnya pernah menerbitkan buku 50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tak Boleh Jadi PM, Umie menjawab, “Kerana dia ikhlas dalam berkawan dengan saya”.

Ikhlaskah itu?

Kekadang bila gaduh dengan pasangan kita, ada jugak syaitan berbisik dan hati kita berkata, “Laki aku ni kalaulah lebih prihatin, penyayang, berkarisma, suka buat duit macam aku, kan ke best”..ada saja kekurangan pada suami yang kekadang buat kita wish - kalaulah….jadinya, cinta dan pengorbanan aku selama ni kiranya terhapus pahala kalau aku sebut mende mcm tu kan…

Ikhlaskah itu?

Bagaimana untuk kita ertikan perkataan ikhlas ni. Kalau kat surat, kita biasa tulis – Ikhlas Daripada, atau Yang Ikhlas, ini dalam kes surat cinta zaman dulu la kan…maknanya si penulis benar2 menulis dari hatinya yang tulus ikhlas. Ye ke?

Bila orang kata “Saya ikhlas berkawan dengan awak”, maknanya kalau aku ni masih bujang, boleh lah dia segera berjumpa orang tua aku dan masuk meminang. Boleh juga bermaksud, saya berkenan dekat awak kerana sifat mulia yang awak miliki, bukan kerana harta awak, atau condo awak, atau saham dan ladang2 yang awak ada. Saya akan terima awak seadanya. Maknanya saya akan fokus kepada kebaikan yang awak miliki, dan abaikan segala kekurangan, kerana saya faham saya juga ada kekurangan, dalam dunia ini tiada orang yang sempurna.

Tapi bila sudah hidup bersama, kekadang timbul juga persoalan. Kenapalah si dia ni tak berani buat keputusan macam ex aku dulu? Kalaulah dia ni ada sifat sekian-sekian, kan ke lagi best…this twist of feelings, if gone uncontrolled, can be detrimental to the relationship. Sebab aku sure si pasangan pun may have the same wish. Kalaulah bini aku jadik lebih relax, tak berapa serius, kalaulah bini aku ni pandai crack jokes macam orang tu, kalaulah bini aku ni pandai nyanyi suara sedap dan pandai main alat muzik, sure hidup aku lebih ceria, kalaulah….wah, giler banyak kekurangan sang bini ek. So, cinta si suami selama ini, ikhlas ke tak?

Sebab tu Dr. Fadzilah Kamsah pernah beri petua, kalau nak hidup bahagia dengan pasangan, sentiasa ingatkan segala kebaikan dan kelebihan yang ada pada dirinya. Jangan lah dok fikir and focus pada kekurangan yang dia ada. Syaitan pun mulalah masuk jarum bila kita terlalai seketika. Nampak macam kacang putih kan? But the battle can go unnoticed, as long as we can drive ourselves back to the right path, insya Allah everything will be fine. Semuanya akan dihitung di akhirat kelak.

Ini ada satu lagu yang pada zaman bebudak dulu, aku suka jugak dengar. Tapi aku rasa lirik dia lagik buat kita confuse. Apakah makna Ikhlas.:

Bila bila kiranya diriku perlu
Hari yang murung
Terdengar nada yang riang ria
Sekali suara meyakinkan jiwa
Kaku langkah mengaguminya
Kaku menerimanya
Selagi bahuku
Memikul bebannya
Selagi hayatku
Merasa siksa
Selama senyuman
Menjadi senyumku
Ku bawa wajahmu
Walau diriku jauh…

Langsung...kekadang rasa macam satu jihad juga, untuk mengikhlaskan hati untuk membuat kebaikan dengan orang, lebih2 lagi orang yang pernah menyakitkan hati kita, melukakan perasaan kita, mengutuk kita, mengumpat kita, etc. Satu jihad tu. Satu perjuangan.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Di suatu malam bulan lepas, room mate lama aku di college telah menghantar SMS.



Zai's SMS : Let's take a walk down memory lane. Ko ingat tak dulu ko ada minat sorang budak tu, aku rasa nama dia keluar surat khabar.



Oleh kerana SMS tu aku baca dah lewat malam, esoknya aku terus call Zai.



Memang betul lah ini kisah a short walk down memory lane. Masa aku baru2 kat IU dulu, adalah dalam 40+ budak Melayu kat situ. Separuh budak PPP/ITM and separuh budak ATU (American Top University). Bebudak ATU ni belajar English kat u aku, supposedly for 1 year, before they were to be located to top schools in the US e.g. Yale, Harvard, MIT, Brown, etc. Mr. X ni pun a product of the ATU program, that's why he ended up at Minnesota Twin Cities, among the very good school for engineering la..anyways, bebudak ATU ni aku nampak enjoy semacam. Ialah kan, dapat sponsor from good companies such as Esso, Shell, Petronas and also JPA. Diorang ni pegi US direct after SPM. Bertuah badan.



Dalam reramai budak ATU kat u aku ni, aku dulu ada lah minat kat sorang mamat ni. He was tall, fair and ada iras2 Acis (Hasridz Mushridz Hashim) ok, now jadik Sheila Majid punye. Apa yg aku buat dulu, aku hantar email, dia balas, and aku ada gak amik gambar dgn dia masa gathering raya. Caling-calling kekadang ada jugaklah. Since dia pun orang JB, so kita rasa mcm senang nak get along. He was like 2 years younger ok, but heck with age, it's the compatibility that matters. Ayah dia keje government, pernah datang ke US for some work and singgah ke u aku ni nak ziarah anak dia. Masa tu lah mak aku amik kesempatan kirim baju kurung n food kat aku. Aku ingat lagi, masa ayah dia datang ke rumah masa hantar segala tok nenek yg mak aku kirim, aku masak nasi lemak you..huhu...suka betul ayah dia dapat makan nasi lemak tu...



But our frienship did not go far. One thing had happened which made me totally lost my respect to him, and he knew it. He was sorry and that was it. Aku pun belajar kalau nak minat orang, kena tengok perangai jugak. Biasalah, jiwa remaja kan..So, since the "minat" was off, kitaorg akan jumpa bila ada gathering, atau bila time raya, he and his friends would pay a visit to our apartment. Everyone of my room mate knows about this story. And they all semua tahu aku minat untuk saja suka2lah, nothing serious. That was it.



Then I got to know that he continued his study at Purdue. I never know what has happened to him since then, until I got Zai's SMS.



Owh, what had happened to you man? Did you finish your study and go airwol, or did you not finish your study and ashame to get home? Or did you finish your study and did not contact Petronas to register your study completion? Man, how I wish that you complete your study. Kesian dekat your parents. They had such high hopes on you man...



Bila nama dah keluar paper ni, maknanya orang dah tak dapat carilah kan. Where on earth can you be?



There goes another gem.

There goes all the taxpayer's money to sponsor you man (duit Petronas tu duit rakyat Malaysia jugak tu).



Pulanglah. Bayar lah balik duit Petronas tu beb...banyak tu, at least RM250,000.

One of A Kind

Trivia:
Pure Kedahan (even though slang has slowly gone after 10 years living in JB?).
Proud father of 2, intensively trying to add heirs.
Friendly, has big vision and LOVES TO MAKE LOTS OF MONEY.


I first met this gentleman when I had some business to do in Marine Repair division. He was bubbly when describing his job scope and always has ideas on how we can do it better. Because of this, I had proposed for him to apply for our special project (which was supposed to be "special") and he did just that. Luck was on his side when he was interviewed and accepted by our then boss.

Then begun his journey into a totally new world. The world was no longer loud, instead it was peaceful. He got to work with consultants who of course, would talk diplomatically instead of using fowl languages which was his “meal” when he was in Marine Repair. He got to meet scores of new friends whom I believe are still in contact with him until today. Even though he appears to be a man with fewer words in formal setting, he has always been cheerful with friends in casual settings.

I feel that I have to pay a tribute to this gentleman for several reasons:

He introduced me to the famous Malaysian CFP – Abdul Aziz Ibrahim. Thanks to him we are now practicing the AJIT module and have managed to reduce our debts and increase our savings.

He preached about passive income and introduced me to the wonderful world of business via Tupperware brand products. Well, actually I just signed up as member for the past 1 year under her wife’s line of business in Tupperware. Little did I expect that the upline is a very charismatic and go-getter woman named Jessica, who owns an outlet of Tupperware in Taman Molek. When I managed to get 2 members in, I realized that hey, this is a good business to do. Why not I try to do it and see how fast can it grow.

He is a consistent motivator on further study, for life.

He promotes richness via investment in numerous means – shares, real estates, gold, you name it. I think he has his hands and wealth in almost every avenue to get yourself richer.

He has almost always shared tips on the latest "lubang" to make more money.

Hey man, thanks a zillion. Hanya Jauhari yang mengenal Manikam.

The "Wayang" Experience and More

Many people have commented that my children are gaining weight like "superfast". This maybe due to my kind mother who always ensure that they are well fed. One very distinct trait about my mother is that she will always ensure that people in the house and guests for that matter, are well fed - breakfast, lunch, afternoon meal, and dinner. Maybe because of that, my children are accumulating body fats day by day. Since I can't stop them from eating, as an alternative, I have to make sure that they stay active to burn all those calories gained. Stay active they do!

Currently Husna is wearing clothes meant for girls aged 9-10 while Huda for girls aged 6-7. If it's 7-8 for Husna, the length maybe allright but the tummy diameter can't fit.  Same goes for Huda. Now the little brother is following suit. I have to get him clothes for boys aged 2-3 whereas he's only 1.5 years. I don't mind the height, but I'm damn worried about the body fat. 

Last 2 weeks, we managed to bring both girls to watch Ice Age 3 at Jusco Tebrau cinema. They were focused in the beginning and the middle part. Towards the end, Huda had lost her concentration and decided to doze off. Husna was very attentive. Ice Age 3 was a fun movie to watch. At first we did think about watching Harry Potter, but forget it. It maybe far too high level, beyond reach of the children.

Sometimes Husna pronounced some English words the Malaysian way. Since the teacher is an Indian lady, she pronounced the word "Van" as "Wan". I tried to correct Husna's pronunciation, but she said that's how the teacher said it, so it must be correct. There are other words as well, I can't remember them, but I really cannot tolerate when she started to say "Lah" or "ah" at the end of her sentence. Everytime she says it, I would say, please speak proper English. Tell your teacher that. The teachers are spoiling the childern!!! In a battle between mom and teachers, teachers always win. Hence, I have to go and tell the teacher to speak proper English. That won't be nice, isn't it? I've told them off once not to give candies as incentive when the students are well bahaved. After I called the school and stated my preference that my children are not taking sweet candies, then only they switched to giving stickers. Stickers are good. They don't harm the teeth. I'm sure the school teachers don't like me that much.

Talking about Nuri, parents have to fork out RM1400++ at the beginning of the year. Husna is going to be at J6 next year while Huda is going to enrol for J4. Huda has to go to school, if not she'll be conquering the tv watching Disney Playhouse or Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network all day long. We want her to develop her social skills as well. So that's 2 children - RM3000. Education is expensive.

Huda's major challenge right now is to pronounce the words containing the letter S. She would utter "Tesco" as "Tehco", "Smile" as "Mile", and "Jusco" as "Jahco". She has always  be the subject of fun when it comes to getting her to pronounce words with S in it. But that is not a big deal to me. But unfortunately, her teacher at Vital Years thought otherwise. The teacher called me up and said Huda couldn't move to the next level because she can't pronounce words with letter S in it very well. I said I am very well aware of the problem. But it's not such a big deal. I said you can't punish her for that. Nevertheless, we decided to stop sending Huda to Vital Years because we think she is more suited for centers which enhance the development of the left brain. Maybe e-nopi when she's a little bit bigger. E-nopi charges RM200++ also. Ouch! Can education come a little bit cheaper?

I am lucky that Mr.X supports the idea of getting early education in life. I was moved when I read a newspaper about a Chinese couple who managed to produce 13 doctors in the family sometime ago. They sold off their land and estate to give way for their children's education. I solute their principle in providing good education for their children. I dream that I can do the same. Only education can change one's life. Infact in Islam, we are purpoted to continuously learn. Hadith Nabi - "Belajarlah kamu walaupun sampai ke negeri China" and one more about "Belajarlah kamu dari buaian ke liang lahad" means that WAJIB for us to continuously learn and gain new knowledge persistently in life.

I hope and pray that all those education we provide and all those experience we give them, will make them better individuals to strengthen the ummah. AMIN.

Beginning of a New Episode

After numerous comments I've made, finally, here they are. Sweet isn't it? Finally we got to see how petite Shireen is, but the fact that she carries the title "Doctor" makes her presence to carry lots of load.

I got this picture from a friend, Nurihan. The funny thing was that she forwarded the email containing 5 pix of the wedding to several ladies who attended the same course with her last week. She tried to create some suspense when she purposely hinted that she had gone out with Norman before, saying how short Norman was. That was when we created strings of jokes about her going out with Norman. Did she really go out with him? Was she an artist before? From which company? Maestro Talent? Or did she just bump into him somewhere near Setiawangsa where Norman's office is? Or did Norman came to EON Bank to make some loans and met her (she used to work in that bank but in Tiram!). Those were among the jokes.

Finally she couldn't take it. She admitted that she met Norman doing shopping at Jakarta, as part of his preparation for the wedding. Ahhhh...finally, the cat is out of the bag. She did say though, Norman doesn't like "pompuan gedik", but rather prefers woman who are smart, matured and independent.

Well, the type of partner you wish to spend the rest of your life with, or rather termed as "lelaki impian" or "wanita pilihan", actually mirrors your character. Someone who is ambitious and cannot settle for less like Norman, prefers woman like the traits I mentioned. But I guess not many men are like this. Maybe less than 10%. Let's face the fact. Majority men would settle for less. Less brain, less clothes, less food, less children (if to marry a widow lah). This brings to a story.

I got to know a 29-year old childless female lawyer whom just been divorced and would like to re-marry. She has lots of men in queue, including the married ones. In choosing her new partner, she went for a married man who used to say this to her, "Saya nak menyelamatkan awak". Waaliauuuu...safe from what?? If the man has a pure intention to safe the ummah, he could always go to widows who have 2,3,4,5,6 or 7 children. That's when the word "selamat" is appropriately applicable. 29-year old female lass earning more than RM10k a month doesn't need to be saved! Are you rescuing her or rather rescue now, drown her later?

Alamak, today banyak mengomel la pulak...as you can see, I've not written for quite a while. Very long time. There are loads and loads of stories and grievances, but save some space and time for you to read huh?

Anyway, let's pray that Abang Norman's marriage be blessed by Allah, and let it endure the tribulations that they may face in future. AMIN.

Abang Norman - welcome to the wonderful world of marriage, where only the fittest can survive.

Memoirs of 12 Years

What - Today, 12 years ago, Mr. X had made a commitment. 

Where - We were sitting at the staircase, talking casually, at one of my friend's apartment, in Bloomington, Indiana.

How - maybe because he was tired of being lonely. Feeling lonely could be a killer, especially when family members were thousands of miles away and communication channels were not as sophisticated as what we have today. Best bud would be the answer. Someone to share your ups and downs. Someone to talk to when you feel like talking without any specific subject matter. Someone to laugh together and cry together.

Outcome - I have become Mr. X's best bud since 27th July 1997. How time really flies.