Weekend during Ramadhan

Time moves so fast…unnoticed! Really!! I just realize it today after viewing my calendar. What to say, today is already 12^th of Ramadhan and raya is just less than three weeks more to go. Ohh, I really hate to think about raya; not because I have to spend a lot for the kiddos' ang pau but the traffic flowing out from KL will be so terrible and nightmare. Experienced it last year and years before. Stranded in the middle of the North-South Expressway; somewhere in Tapah I think. Stop it! I really hate to recall those bad experiences I encountered. They really haunted me….

Yesterday as usual, I went for outing in One Utama for movie before heading to Standard Chartered Tower for my workout session. I didn't plan to buy anything but since I got 40 bucks vouchers from Nike, I just used them all to buy another tee; look nice and I just spent less than 50 bucks for such a nice Nike tee. Thanks to Sportsland. Well, I have another 50 bucks vouchers from Studio R. Let see what I can get with that amount. J

Felt a bit tired during my workout time; maybe due to dehydration but it couldn't stop me from enjoying my sweet workout time!! Well, just to mention here that I assume my workout rountines as usual during this holy Ramadhan and I feel more enthusiastic doing so. Fasting month is not meant to freeze all the routines and activities we normally do in other months. Ramadhan, conceptually can be defined as a school (madrasah) that educates (tarbiyyah) us to be better persons. Its true and I always belive that we should become stronger, more enthusiastic and highly spirit during this holy month but unfortunately, majority of Malays (always referred as Muslims in Malaysia although it's not 100% true) have different definition on this holy month. It's the month to spend more and waste money and other resources. It's the month that weaken us thus we have to sleep and rest more. I don't think this is the spirit and objective of fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan. Definitely, it's totally wrong!! Watch out, dude! I'm giving tazkirah here. J

Back to the main topic. After my two-hour workout session, went to the night market in TTDI. Too many things there especially varieties of foods and colourful delicacies and made me feel a bit stimulated. Anyway, I didn't back home empty handed but with a few small bags/containers of look-good foods (I couldn't taste them what!!). Whatever it is, I still missed my "kanji". Very very much……

Hey, I make a comeback again!!

Damn it!!! It has been so long from the last posting…what a lazy me!! Not even a single line posting; wake up…wake up. Not to say I was so busy in the last couple of months but I would regard this as "laziness syndrome" and I am affected. Maybe I was overdosed by certain elements; something related to hedonistic culture maybe. I have to admit that I missed blogging so much but something seemed like tied me up from doing so. Nah! Just another excuse to put the blame on others. Well, this is what we always do rite?? Or prefer to do. Okay, enough is enough and I admit my weakness for being inconsistent on blogging and abandoned my 'baby' this long. What a great lost to me as many events took place in the last few months and I lost the chance to record any. Those memorable and unforgetful events just passed without a single acknowledgement in this blog.

Maybe some of you wonder what encouraged me to make another comeback this time. I resist to stop blogging at least for the time being until I get the mood back but as wise people said, once you keep on waiting and hoping for the mood, you are waiting for nothing. Whatelse can I do if people around me especially my colleagues are so passionate with their blogs. Last time as I could remember (my memory is getting bad these days!), only me and my senior in this blogging world. But now, it seems like mushrooms after a rainy season where everyone starts to blog. Not to name any but I can see colours around me. U name it!! Pink, blue, yellow, green are everywhere. Pink especially; seems like pinky waves invade my office as I can see pink everywhere. Anyway, when we pray, we ask from The Almighty to bless us with "pink of health". So, don't you agree that pink is everywhere?

I got so many things to mention here but my excitement, enthusiastic and eagerness made me forgot everything. What a weak memory again! I still need time to get back the pace and momentum as last time. Yeah, I need to continue blogging if I want to keep my standard of English. Else, the same thing will happen to me as what had happened to my French last time; saying "au revoir" without my own notice. A great loss to myself and the government who spent a substantial amount of money for me to learn the language.

Finally from bottom of my heart, I would like to take this opportunity though it might be a bit late to wish all my Muslim brothers and sisters, Happy fasting month of Ramadhan. May this Ramadhan brings us Rahmah (mercy of God), Maghfirah (forgiveness of God) and Najah (salvation) respectively. Insya Allah.

Nice body; health comes first!

I think I become more health conscious now. Yeah, it's true and I think I'm taking a good move by controlling my diet. It works anyway!

After two months working hard in the gym plus having controlled proper meals, I can feel the difference now. Last time, my was line was measured at 32.5 inches approximately but now it's only measured at 31 inches. An achievement and a good result to me personally. As a reward for the hard works, a nice brand new Levi's jeans is now belongs to me! Look good is not for showing off purposes but it builds and boost the level of confidence in us. The most important is in whatever we do, we should at the first place satisfy ourselves and fulfil our needs and then only come other parties to be considered.

These few months made me feel so great. I managed to tone up my body (at least I got the basic shape), increase my stamina tremendously and most important I look better especially on my tummy size. Aha, it;s true cos last time I felt that I sort of carry a three months premature fetus but now it seems like I just got abortion with a slimmer tummy. It is yet to achieve my goal but I can say I'm on the right track.

The most effective way to loss weight is by controlling the amount of calories we consume in a day. How to know how much calories that our body needs?? The article said the simplest way is by multiplying our mass (weight) with 12 and the weight measurement should be in lbs. Let say for my case, my weight is 68 kg = 150 lbs x 12 = 1800 (the measurement is in joules I think). So, in order to control my diet, I need to ensure that the calories I consume is not exceed 1800 (joules). This can only be done by having a good plan; distribute the calories equally with number of times you want to eat.

My diet planning is quite simple. Breakfast is a must no matter what but never go for heavy and unnecessary/unhealthy breakfast like nasi lemak and other high LDL cholesterol foods. When it comes to lunch, I'll certainly go for rice but the portion is small. Green vegetables should be included in bigger portion plus a meat; better chicken or fish. Together with that, plain water is required. When it comes to dinner, I'm quite choosy and rice is never in my list. Normally, if I'm alone 'capati' with juice will be my meal. A slice of capati is enough as we do not require more energy at nite. Yeah, nite is only the time for us to rest and let the body replenish energy. Unless you are married, the you might need more energy at nite!! hahaha For my case, there is no need for that though it's a Friday nite. :p No offence arr!!

Through my reading also, I discovered that those who consume slimming pills or other supplementaries without doing exercises (burning fats naturally) or in other words better described as abnormal and extreme technique is highly exposed to many diseases and side effects. Doctors said that though these people have slimmer and nice bodies, but the fats are still inside cos they never burn the fats. That is why the doctors said that those who are slim and have nice bodies still suffer the heart diseases and other illness which normally related to the fat guys. The problem is, the fats are still there and never been burnt. The appearance is nice but the danger are still there. No matter what our goals are, we still should do regular exercises to burn fats naturally despite from taking other supplementaries.

From my point of view as a conservative guy, I am still strongly believed in natural process as there is no shortcuts for doing so. It is just some mediums to speed up and boost the normal processes. It is your choice to achieve your goals but there are things that need to be considered along the way of making the decision. Once the decision has been made, it is hard to turn it back!!

Think carefully, decide wisely and act smartly!

Watch out, I’m back!!

Today, May 17 is a brand new day to me. I don't know why but it's kinda strange feeling in me today; more energetic compared to the same day in calendar last month. It's really a different mood once I woke up and get off from my bed. Whatever it is, I feel so happy and thankful to The Almighty God for giving me the chance to breathe in this beautiful world.

Many things had happened to me in the last one month and those things made me to understand myself better. I'd say the last 30 days were the hardest time in my life for the last few years. Maybe I should make flashbacks to remind myself and record all the major events and incidents I encountered in the past 30 days. April 16 was the day I hardly forget so far. The day when I got my first major accident in my life. It was like a nightmare as me, myself still figure out how could I be at the accident spot that nite as that area wasn't my normal route back to my Kajang home. Maybe it was a destiny and a big lesson for me not to forget myself and where I come from. Thanks to all my friends and colleagues for your moral supports. May God blesses each and everyone of you.

Starting from the day after, I used to adjust myself to a new life; life without a car. To me, it was just like my old days when I rode my bike before I own a car. Luckily, I used to it as I moved around with bike before but it became a challenge as the bike was not moving at all for the past eight months after I purchased the car. Again, I believe that in our lifecycle, there are ups and downs, which we never know when will it happens. After all, it's a cycle and that is the rule and nature of a cycle.

The incident taught me of being more careful and love myself more than the things I own because I can at anytime (provided I got enough money) buy anything I wish to but not my own life. We never know when is our turn to complete our cycle and get back to our creator but the main point is to enjoy every moment in our life. Enjoy here can be interpreted in many ways but I'd prefer to say we fulfil each and every moment in our life by doing the right things.

It's not complete if I don't mention how I moved around without a car. Yeah, I rode a bike but when I was in KL I used to travel by Rapid KL bus and other public transports like Putra LRT, KTM commuter and KL Monorail. Kinda funny cos I always said that the publis transports especially the public bus is not reliable. Now I know that once you pay RM 2 for the inter-city bus, you can use it as many times you want for the same route. Honestly, the last time I used public bus in KL was the time when I studied in a boarding school in Jalan Yaacob Latiff (formerly known as Jalan Tenteram). That time, they called it as Intrakota, owned by DRB-HICOM under the late Tan Sri Yahya Ahmad.

Well, it has been a very long time I never update my blog and I think if I don't do it today then my blog will be another useless garbage in this virtual world. I got many articles that I wrote half way but I saved them in my folder. Unfortunately, I don't think I will publish them as most of them are obsolete and might be not relevant too in the current context especially all my movie reviews. I watched a lot of movies in the past 30 days and the latest was Next. Aha, one thing quite funny happened to me was the Spiderman mania. I had to queue in Mid Valley at 10.00 am in a very long queue just to survive two tickets for 5.30 pm show and just the third row from the screen. What the heck!

I got many things to do in my list now and the list grows longer and longer. Definitely, my blog is one of the main things in the list. Yeah, The Chronicles of Cacamarba Part II is on the way to be published. Watch out guys, I'm back!!!

Rule 7: Understand that wealth is a consequence, not a reward

Many things happened to me these few days. Got good and bad things but at the same time, got also in my term I called as "unpleasant things". Just by their nature; unpleasant! Whatever it is, i'm not going to let these things or problems affecting my plan. No way! I have no choice but to makesure that the masterplan I designed before will turn to be as desired.

Bought a nice book last few weeks from MPH but until now, I still can't finish it. Sigh. The problem is, I'm not only doing the normal reading process but for every sub-topics I'll do an analysis based on my knowledge. Doing the analysis requires me to think a lot and this will take longer time to completely reading the whole book. It's totally different than reading fiction novels or magazines. I just need to browse through and read at glance.

This book is entitled The Rules of Wealth by Richard Templar, the international bestselling author of The rules of Life. There are 100 rules covered in this book and divided into five chapters: Thinking Wealthy, Getting Wealthy, Get Even Wealthier, Staying Wealthy and Sharing Your Wealth. Honestly until now, I just managed to cover until Rule 7. I think I'm too slow and even slower than a snail.

Last nite when I read the Rule 7, I was so excited and already made up my mind to share this nice thought with all my blog viewers. In his 'Rule 7: Understand that wealth is a consequence, not a reward', Richard Templar came out with a nice thought and concept about making money. Below is the excerpt from the book:

"If you work hard at making money, you stand a better chance of becoming rich. You have to accept that money is a payment given to you for clever thinking and hard work. The harder and smarter you work, the more you will earn. You don't get given the money by a committee who examine whether you deserve it or not, whether you have been good enough or not. It is a direct consequence."

There are two key points here; clever thinking and hard work. By applying these two approaches in our life, I can guarantee that we will achieve all our dreams. Let us start now; stop dreaming, shift the gear to the future and stay focused. May all our dreams come true! Amen.

Four-part of Apology Approach

Just to share about this practical approach on apology. The next time you make a mistake, apologise by this four-part apology approach. It is used to "look beyond the actual incident to the consequences made by the choice of behaviour."

It is a way to take a responsibility of the action rather then put the blame on the other person. By saying those consequences and choosing a different behaviour, "everyone remains thoughtful and supportive rather than angry and resentful".

Acknowledge

Take responsibility for your actions and behaviours by using "I" statements. For example, say,
" I acknowledge I received your email and you reminded me about this and I ignored"

Apologise
Acknowledge the "cost" of your behaviour to others. If you are unaware of the "cost", ask. For example, say,
"I apologise and I realise that you might be hurt when I scolded and yelled at you in front of public".

Make It Right
Deal with the consequences of behaviour and ask the other person what you can do to make it right. For example, say,
"What can I do to make it right? Should I admit that I always think that I'm the only one on earth who is right in everything? Or should I admit that I always blame my staffs when something goes wrong and claim it is my work when it goes right?"

Recommit
Make a commitment to appropriate behaviour and commit not to having the same behaviour again. For example, say,
"I agree to check and verify first before I blame you." Or "I agree to change my stupid, arrogant and annoying behaviors that make everyone angry and hate me".

It is good to make an apology for every mistake we commit. I hope and pray hard that the "disgusting ugly monstrous woman/man" who claims to know everything in the world can at least once in his/her lifetime practices this four-part apology approach. Let the time witnesses the miracle!

My Monday Thought

It has been quite sometimes I didn't update my blog. There are many reasons behind that such as long holidays in my hometown and attended a workshop in PD. Really feel so lazy to start working today, after a long break. Whatever it is, work is still work and have to carry out the obligations and duties no matter what. Sigh.

When I woke up this morning and after I had a phone conversation with a friend, I really felt of taking emergency leave today, something I rarely do and I'm against it actually. Emergency means a sudden event that needs immediate action and in my point of view, it is something crucial and can't be avoided. But people always tend to misuse the term by making their own interpretation on EL; for their own benefits obviously. Well, I'm at work and in front of my PC now. No issue of EL anymore.

After a long break, I had to attend a regular meeting this morning. A slightly different than the previous meetings cos we have a new agenda in the list; public speaking. Starting from today's meeting, each and every one of us has to give a public speaking for about 5 to 10 minutes each; free topics. It's a good idea to have such thing as this will build and boost the level of confidence among the staffs. My colleague talked about some useful tips for interview but maybe due to her nervousness, she couldn't finish it well. Anyway, it was a good start and can be improved.

Actually, my mind was thinking about something else when the chairperson called my name and asked my comments on the speech. At first, I was stunned and surprised but just act cool as if nothing happen and started to give my comments. Honestly, it was my genuine and sincere comments in general about public speaking. To me, the most important that need to take into account when we are asked to deliver a speech is to choose the right topic; topics that we are comfortable to talk about. It has to be something familiar to us and we don't have to follow the script; line by line. Yeah, it's a good point here! Giving a speech is totally different than reading a full script. We can memorize the script but once it lost, we have no idea where to start and continue. Nevertheless, public speaking is a speech that shares our ideas, views, thoughts or opinions without any restrictions. It's a very good platform to share our ideas with others. I have more tips on public speaking but I don't think of listing out everything in this posting; maybe in the next.

Now, I can absolutely agree with my friend who said Monday is always the most hatred day among all days in a week. However, on the other hand I'd say that today is a special and meaningful day as someone is back in town after a long holiday. J

An Annoying Call

While enjoying reading my new book on the shelf; "The Everything Personal Finance Book" (a gift), I received a phone call from a lady who claimed that she made the call from Celebrity something (Celebrity Card I guess). I tried to reconfirm with her about her company cos I was thinking that she called from Celebrity Fitness (who knows!). From the moment I answered the call, I smelled something fishy especially the way she spoke and introduced herself. It sounded very unprofessional and unethical from someone who claimed to make the call from a private company. If you always or ever receive any calls from corporate sectors, you know how polite they are while communicating to you as you can feel warm and nice to talk to. I'd personally encourage this lady to join my communication class cos I do cover the topic of 'Using the telephone/Telephone Etiquette'. Please ask my students (a private uni in KJ) or much better if she got time to join my class on Business Communication (I cover almost everything!)

This uneducated lady with non standard Bahasa Melayu command started the conversation by asking me whether I'm currently using any credit cards. I answered yes for that question. Then, she asked me from which banks my cards are issued? Excited with the question, I answered confidently that I have cards from all banks that operating in Malaysia; local and international bank. She didn't satisfy with me and asked me again the same question. Again, I gave the same answer but added that I have cards from all banks in Malaysia except Al-Rajhi Bank, the biggest Islamic banking from Saudi Arabia. Honestly, I don't think the lady ever heard about Al-Rajhi Bank. So pity for her! Read more please before making any calls!!

Then, she asked me whether I ever received any such calls before and promptly I answered; "Yes and all the calls really annoyed me!" So satisfied! Shame on her and all irresponsible operators who try to cheat innocent people like me. She got so angry with my answer and replied to me that I should terminate my phone line if I don't feel of answering her call. Well, I'm a consumer and I have my rights!! Who are you to ask me doing so?? Seriously, I feel so annoyed and her call was the second I received this week. I really can't understand how they manage to get our numbers and I do hope that all the mobile operators in Malaysia (only three) take immediate and prompt action against those who misuse the technology.

After few minutes nagging, she put a stop and hung off the phone. Seriously, I felt pissed off but too pity cos she is a Malay lady who supposed to be more polite and well-mannered. Maybe this is the new way to communicate in the 21^st Century…maybe. Let us ponder.

Micromanagement

Chinese New Year is coming soon; just in four days from now, all the Chinese worldwide will celebrate their New Year. So, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Tionghua friends "Happy New Year", "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Xin Nien Kuai Le". Not to forget, I also would like to wish my friend (ex-housemate during my uni years), MTG "Happy Birthday" as today is his birthday. Just coincidentally happen that his birthday falls on Valentine's Day.

Forget about the Valentine's. I just recalled back the discussion between me and few of my friends regarding the micromanagement during our coffee break. One of my friends told us during the meeting that his CEO in his speech to the staffs mentioned clearly about micromanagement. He mentioned that he and his management team will not micromanage the organization as this will lead to disaster. He mentioned clearly that everyone should play their roles and the managers shouldn't in their position to micromanage their subordinates. Micromanage here means go into details and sort of intervene in every move that needs to be made every day.

He added that all the managers should give some space to their subordinates as everyone needs breathing room. He ended the speech by saying that, "Nothing kills the spirit of your subordinates quicker than a boss standing over every move that needs to be made".

In order for us to understand better about this micromanagement, let me gives some quickie and simple explanation. The word micro by definition means too close for comfort. In a business term, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of their employees. Normally, macro-managers will give general instructions on smaller tasks while supervising larger concerns but micro-managers in contrast monitors, assess and intervene in every steps involved. This can be related to the term commonly used by Malays as "Gila Kuasa" (in can be right or wrong depends on the context).

Another friend of mine shared her views on this micromanagement. She told us that her boss is practicing this micromanagement concept in their organization. The boss (a guy) is controlling everything until the extent that everyone feels hard to breath and gets fed-up with their routine works. Everyone feels de-motivate, no mood to work and this definitely leads to poor performance of the organization. They feel threatened, unwanted and less appreciated when every move they take has to go through the manager. It seems like the manager has no trust in them and they have no rights to say though the manager claimed that he is open to opinions/views. My friend added that the office environment is no longer as merrier as before. No more happy faces, no more proactive moves, no more enthusiastic working styles and many other no more thingy to be listed. They just work for the sake of working and earning monthly salary.

In one case scenario to prove about her annoying micromanage manager, my friend said that during the preparation for a farewell party (her VP was promoted as a Senior VP and relocated to the Asia Pacific HQ in Australia), her boss monitored and controlled every single items such as type of foods, decoration styles, seating arrangement and even the font of the invitation cards. We couldn't imagine how suffer she is and other colleagues of her. While enjoying our hot coffee, we agreed and made our conclusion that micromanagement can lead to disaster and a manager should be a person who is well respected for their leadership qualities and one who gets consensus among his/her subordinates.

Gong Zou Yu Kuai

Now, I can put a smile whenever I feel of blogging from my office. Last time, I couldn't do much except saving all my postings as drafts in my hard disk. This was happened due to the network policy and certain restrictions implemented in my office environment.

I just discovered a new way of publishing my posting; using Microsoft Office 2007. It's cool, man!!! I never think of publishing my posting straight away from Word as my normal practice is saving everything in Word and transfer it in blog editor. Now, I can cut short the steps and make my life easier. What to do, no turning back for me anymore once I started my ramblings here. Since then, I get attached already. J

Well, I should take this opportunity to openly thank my colleague (senior is the best word) for sharing and giving me this idea. Her idea is to publish through OneNote; another product of Microsoft. She's a hardcore fan of Bill Gates' team. No jokes, it's true! Anyway, thanks again for opening the door for me.

Before I forget, just to share with you that Bill Gates is no longer the CEO for Microsoft and he's now a full time philanthropist; managing his own foundation. What a nice for the richest man on earth now.

Hmm, let me think where to start. Okay, just to share my diary yesterday. I was attending a meeting until 7.00 pm and considered late to me (my definition of late changes after getting a new boss). Last time, I don't mind to work late and I really mean it! 8.00 pm or even 10.00 pm never considered as late to me but the definition is no longer exist and was taken out from my dictionary of life. Now, late for me is when I have to leave the office after 6.00 pm. I'm still giving myself half an hour to settle down any backlogs or anything that I should complete on that day and that's it. Thirty minutes is more than enough and I'm too generous for that. I have to be stingy and calculative. Yeah, I'm very calculative now!

In many books I have read before (i.e Rule of Work and many others), all suggested and agreed that the leadership is the de-facto that motivate or de-motivate all the members in any organization. Oh, before I get more forgetful, let me share with you excerpt of an article sent by one of my colleagues entitled "Why Employees Leave Organizations? By Mr. Azim Premji, CEO of Wipro". In that article, he mentioned clearly on this:

"If you are losing good people, look to their boss. Boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he/she is the reason why people leave. When people leave, they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition."

One ever said, "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him/her into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job".

So, what say you? I have nothing much to comment but for sure I'll say "Yes, definitely and I'm totally agree with that!"

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone "Gong Zou Yu Kuai!"

The Boomerang Philosophy

In my previous posting, I did mention about the rule of karma. I stated clearly that whatever you did to others will go back to you. Besides the karma, I mentioned another principle called the wheel philosophy. The concepts of both are almost the same and the morale is, don't be cruel to others.

What I want to share in this posting is something related to the above mentioned philosophies. It is in my term, I called it as The Boomerang Philosophy. Before we get to understand about this rule, let us have a snapshot and overview on what boomerang is. With a brief understanding on what a boomerang is, it will be much easier for me to discuss on the philosophy behind this traditional 'device'.

Okay, let us start now. I don't want to waste time here cos I got lots more to discuss in this posting. A boomerang is a simple wooden implement used for various purposes like hunting, religious and recreational activities. It is synonym to Australia, the world famous "country of the boomerang". However, the origin is still not clear cos almost the similar but in other forms are also found amongst peoples of Africa, Europe and Egypt. The Australian Aborigines have used boomerangs for many thousands of years. The name of the boomerang itself comes from the Indigenous Australian Turuwal tribe of aborigines who lived south of Sydney, Australia.

How the boomerang works? A boomerang is an aerofoil (shape of a wing or blade or sail as seen in cross section); air travels faster over one surface of an aerofoil than the other, as the air is accelerated. Traditionally, boomerang is in a flat shape. When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift. Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line. When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point or called 'return gracefully to the thrower'. What a nice if you can capture the meaning behind all these!! Or you have the same idea as what is in my mind… J

Never mind if you don't. I will try my best to give a thorough understanding on this Philosophy of Boomerang. Please bear in mind that the paragraph above is the most important cos I will give my explanation based on that. The whole idea of this philosophy is summarized as below:

A boomerang is an aerofoil; air travels faster over one surface of an aerofoil than the other, as the air is accelerated.

He/she can talk a lot, dominate, say whatever feels so, do whatever wish to because he/she is in power. Nobody can object and all the subordinates have to listen and do whatever been directed. The helm is theirs. Because they are in power and have the authority to do whatever they wish to, they feel arrogant and blaming their subordinates if anything bad happen but when the thing is doing well, they will claim that it is their work; giving credits, appraisals to themselves with no shame. All the blames go to others and all the credits go to them. This is what they believe. Please be reminded that The Almighty God is just and fair to everyone!

Traditionally, it is in a flat shape

This means that he/she is closed minded, narrow and very much self-centric person. The flat shape means he/she cannot accept others' opinions/views/comments/arguments/justifications and always think that others are wrong and only he/she is correct in everything! He/she is obsolete; uncle or auntie type with old school of thought that is no longer acceptable in today's community. In easy way, he/she has nothing; flat. Talk with no substance or better regards as "talk cock!"

When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift

When he/she keeps on crediting and praising oneself in front of others, this makes them become arrogant and extremely over confident. In Malay culture it is called as "angkat bakul sendiri" (lift your own basket). When he/she feels great and over confident, he/she will simply look down at others and at the same time downgrade them or even worse, insulting and embarrass them. They will try their best to show off and portray themselves as 'Mister or Madam Knows Everything'. Stupid!

Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line

Because of the non-stop talking nonsense and praising themselves, he/she is seen as someone who cannot be trusted. His/her talk is regarded as rubbish; no substance and no credibility. People make fun of them and laugh at the same time instead of giving their respect. A straight line is always been regarded as a trustworthy and straight-forward person whereby a curve in contrast is someone who cannot be trusted and always make things complicated. This kind of people always go beyond their territory and assume that they are the one who should lead and do others' job but ironically at the same time, they always mention to others not to do something across the border or beyond the territory. So ironic!

When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point

So, as the result of their own behavior, whatever they do, their talks, actions that really annoy others will by God's will return back to them. They pay back whatever they ought to. The boomerang will return perfectly and gracefully to its own thrower. And during that time, everyone will laugh at them or at least put cynical smiles to their stupidity. This kind of person deserves such behavior, so that they know that people feel so disgusting and their presence is very unwelcomed and annoyed. Another thing, they are the most hypocrite people who are still alive on this earth. With their hypocrisy and pretentious attitude made them look so ugly and they themselves are too confident until cannot sense that everybody around them is actually realized their unwelcomed behaviors.

Well, I think now you are very clear with my idea and the whole concept of Boomerang Philosophy based on my descriptions and thorough explanation above. Or at least you know how the boomerang works and relates it in our life. I am not saying that boomerang is bad but please be careful if you are practicing this boomerang philosophy. It can easily and silently kills you with no mercy. Don't ever play with fire!

Finally, before I wrap up this posting, please bear in mind that boomerang once been thrown will return gracefully to its thrower and remember of the Boomerang Quotes below:

"Remember, you are the target!" a traditional warning to beginning hurlers.

Consumer Rights

Yesterday, I went to my gym for another workout session. Reached there around 6.00 pm but couldn’t get any space to park my car; ended up driving around for three times until I get the desired parking space. I felt like doing ‘tawaf’ ; one of the Haj and Umrah pillar but in a modern context. Yeah, I was driving but for tawaf, you have to walk around the Kaabah for seven times. Last time, I never encountered any parking problem as I was on bike.

While walking towards the entrance, I saw Rizal, the sales guy of Cali and asked him about my membership upgrade. Just to share the overview about the membership. Currently I hold a gold membership, which is one club membership. Since I chose SC Tower club, I am not entitle for other clubs like Mid Valley. Since my one-year term is going to end this month, I was thinking of upgrading it to the Platinum membership, which giving me access to all clubs and branches of Cali. The benefit is much better but my idea is, I want to have a better monthly fee as other friends of mine are enjoying now. Can you imagine, I have to pay almost RM 150 per month for one club whereby other friends of mine enjoying Platinum membership with monthly fee of only +-RM130. Wow, what a surprise!! As a consumer, I felt cheated and demanded them to give me the same price as my friends.

Last time, I had an argument session with former GM of SC Branch, Julian and he introduced me with another tricky plan called Infiniti. Rizal, the sales guy strongly didn’t encourage me to join that plan. Now Julian is in Mid Valley branch and the new GM for SC is Helen; a nice lady. I had another minor argument session with her last week after been approached by another sales guy with another tricky plan. :p Why I said tricky…let me explain. When the guy approached me, he told that I can upgrade my membership to platinum and my monthly fee is just RM 95. Wow, so impressive!! But, I have to sign up in advance for 3 years. Means, I have to pay for three years; RM 95 x 36 = +-RM 3420 Nonsense!! I complaint to Helen, the new GM and surprisingly she told me that the plan is her idea. Creative marketing as she claimed. Sigh.

So, when I was with Rizal yesterday, Helen saw us and she came and joined us. Out of my expectation, she could still remember my name and called me with the name. I was stunned cos we just met for once. I think maybe because of my strong characteristic and the way I argued with her and others there made her to remember my name. Maybe I made their work harder. Hehe Well, I just practice my right as a consumer.

At least I was happy yesterday after signing for my membership termination. Both Rizal and Helen asked me to do so as this is the best option for me at the moment. Once my membership is terminated, I can apply as a new bird and enjoy a better deal. Thanks for their creative thinking!! :p

I was about to put a full stop for this article but a call from another sales person stopped me from doing so. This had nothing to do with my gym membership. This young lady I supposed called me and said I was chosen as a lucky person to enjoy some privileges under the Visit Malaysia Year campaign. The modus operandi is very simple. She asked me few questions on my credit cards to confirm that I am using it. Luckily, I read about this and mentioned to her that I am not interested. She then hung up the phone with no words. So rude!!

As for the conclusion, I strongly encourage each and every one of us to practice our rights as consumers. The choice is with us and as consumers, we have the buying power. We can always say no to them.

Old Sweet Time

I am so happy today after publishing my posting on Assyura. The article was done since Tuesday but I couldn't publish it due to the network problem. I really don't know what happen but I take it as a challenge for me to write more and more. What I need to now is to write offline in notepad and then transfer it to my blog. This is the most effective way that I can think of at this moment. I just want to keep the pace, momentum and consistency in blogging.

Okay, enough. Let me start with something else. Yesterday I went to my fitness centre for workout after for quite some times I do not go there. I have to admit that this is related to the momentum and consistency that I mentioned above. Maybe I got my problem to manage my time or maybe I was so lazy for past few weeks. Because of that, I got a big tummy now (this is what I feel) and I think that is a clear warning message to me to do something and get back in shape. I have to say that I really missed the time when I go for jogging twice a day in "Taman Rimba" everyday; once in the early morning and another one in the afternoon, around 6.00 pm. It is a nice place to jog as it is surrounded by Royal Golf Course, State Administration Office, Palace of State's Prince (DYMM Raja Muda) etc. I just put it very general so that it is not obvious where I jogged last time. Never mind, it is not a big deal though!

I enjoyed doing workout yesterday; made me recalled the moment when I rode my bike everyday from office to SC Tower just to maintain my fitness level. My friends said I am crazy for that; riding a bike for about 30 km+ just for workout. Because of that also I knew an Indian guy who is working at the convenient shop there. That Indian guy is very nice to me and we are friends already. I don't have any problem to read all the magazines and newspapers there and he always offered me to take back any magazines I prefer and return back to him the next day. How nice he is although we do not know each other very well and furthermore he is not the same race as me. Luckily, both of us are not racists. :)

I just realized yesterday that I did not go to my gym for quite sometimes already. The indicator is very simple; the development project next to SC Tower. The last time I went there, the progress of the project only on the ground works; piling etc but yesterday I was so surprised to see how fast the construction is. Yea, such a big project in a strategic location; golden triangle of KL with a lot of money been invested, for sure they are really serious about it. If it is another public project by the authority, I don't think the progress is the same though both projects: private and public start on the same day.

This is what we call efficiency and transparency. For private sector, efficiency and transparency transpired by the progress of the work and it speaks on its own whereby the same terminologies in public sector are indicated by rhetorical speeches and empty promises. Well, I shouldn't elaborate more on this topic. My Tionghua friend always uses the phrase "sweet talk" to describe about this rhetorical speeches and empty promises. I have nothing to say but to agree with him. :)

The Power of Reading

Apart from giving my personal review on movies I watched, I do hope to share about nice books I ever read before. Just to share as I always believe that life means nothing if we don't share with others. To me, sharing is vital, important and a key factor to success in the future. We can no longer keep the information exclusively for us without sharing with others. The concept of sharing information is not only applied during our study years but it is a concept that relevant forever.

Well, what I want to share here is about reading. Since I was young, my parents encouraged me to read a lot and they always bought me storybooks for me to read. With this, I did not have chance to go out and wasting my time. What to do as both of my parents are in the education line though they are now no longer in the service. It is not a matter of what your parents do for living but how they see the future. In my case, I am quite lucky because my parents at least educate me about the good side of reading and at the same time prepared the reading materials.

Take English as the subject to discuss here. When the government introduced teaching Science and Mathematics in English in our education system, everyone commented that this move will kill the future of Malay students and they keep on arguing whether this move can be achieved or not. But what they missed out is the question of how to achieve instead of other arguments. What made me so sad is not about the arguments but those people who argue. Forget about it, as this is not my focusing point. I am far away from my initial intention for this posting.

Everyone now talks about the power of having information in hand and whether we agree or not, most of the reading materials (major source of information) are written in English; the lingua franca. Instead of wasting efforts to translate those materials in our mother tongue, it is better to improve and master the language; English. I do not agree that by mastering English and using the language in our daily life will turn us to be less patriotic. Bahasa Melayu is still has its pride, dignity and sovereignty as long as we still preserve it.

One way to master this lingua franca is by reading more in the language. Everything starts from zero but the longer we postpone to take the move, the longer we will be left behind. So, I would strongly encourage myself and anyone who read this article to read more in English. We can start by reading something light and something we have interest in. For example, reading magazines on entertainment, sports, cooking etc. or even the daily newspaper. It is better for us to start with something small rather than nothing. We can join as many courses as we want and spend a lot of money for that but if we do not read and try to improve it, we will never master the language.

Bear in mind that information is the critical success factor in this millennium and the source of information mostly comes from English. So, better take a step forward by making reading as our habit rather than keep on waiting to see people passing by us and leave us behind as incompetent persons.

Law of Nature

Back to my previous posting with the title of Sirih Pulang ke Gagang, I mentioned about few good things that had happened to me. One of those is about my outstation trip to Alor Star but unfortunately that supposed to be a good news, turned as a nightmare to me.

Honestly, I felt like my happiness was taken away from me in a very unethical manner by an irresponsible person whom I reserved to mention here. Anyhow, I am going to give some analysis on human characteristics and behaviors from my spectrum point of view through observations in my daily life. I was expecting that something might happen but not the way and how it was taken away from me.

I always believe in the law of karma; whatever u did to someone will goes back to you. It is just a matter of time and how it is going to happen. Now it happened to me because I am weak; not in position to fight back and nothing compared to the other party. Yeah, now you are in power, you have the authority and you can do whatever you feel want to do to your subordinates but the question is...how long will it lasts?? Doesn't the karma law mentions this to you? Or you never aware about this?

Let me put this in a very simple way so that everyone of us well understood and never go against the karma. History never lies and always tells the truth. History also will prove that whatever you have done to others, you will pay back in return. Bear with me with my simple philosophy on life. Life is like a wheel. How wheel works portrays how our lives are. Wheel is round in shape and each and every one of us has the position on the wheel. We might be on top of the wheel; the highest position one can reach but we are not ever after be on the top of it as wheel by its' nature is moving and keeps on moving. Unless the wheel is no longer functioning, then only we are where we are forever. We might also be at the lowest point on the wheel and that is not our position forever. Time will change and history will witness the changes.

One can claim that history is the past and no longer relevant in the current context but whether we realize or not, history will teach us how to move forward so that we will not taking the same step as those in the past. Look around and open up your mind. Don't go too far. Just take the simple example. In any organization, everyone will respect the leader; obey the instructions, do whatever been asked to and other thing in showing the respect. Once the leader left the organization, the respect will get faded and people from time to time will forget and give their respect to the new one. Leaders come and leaders go; nobody stays forever except The Almighty. This is the process; everyone will get through it and nobody can avoid it no matter how hard they try.

I can be in the lowest position now and you are on the top of it but please bear in mind that nothing is fixed forever as this is what wheel philosophy said. May the wheel keeps on moving, changing us from one position to another until we get to our destiny. Let the karma finishes the job and does the rest. History will prove and time will be the witness.

Sirih Pulang ke Gagang

Back to the first day of Hijr calendar, few good things had happened to me out of my expectation. This might resulted from the barakah of Awal Muharam or just happened coincidentally. Whatever it is, I am grateful for that. This might be a good start for me this year and boosted my enthusiasm spirit to work hard in achieving all my dreams and targets for this year.

Firstly, I got a phone call from a friend whom I met coincidentally in AnCasa Resort AllSuites PD last year during my survey for department's team building program. He asked me whether I am interested to be a speaker for his event. Undoubtedly, I agreed to his invitation, as this will allow me to earn some extra pocket money. Later, I received the official letter from the organizer. I was like in a cloud nine for the entire day though a bit disappointment in me, which resulted from the ban of blogspot.

While driving back from office, I received another phone call from my colleague (different department) and he asked me whether I am interested to go outstation to Alor Star for a week. Wah, what a nice invitation!! Another good news for me and definitely I answered yes to his invitation though I need to wait for official letter and approval from my boss. That is another issue. Outstation in Alor Star means a lot to me. I can stay at home (it is my hometown), visit my parents and spend time with them. I planned to go back last week but could not make it due to some reasons. So, this is the best chance for me else I have to wait for the CNY to go back. My mum is not feeling well especially after 'the accident' and the doctor said she is having a bronchitis problem despite of high blood pressure and few other illnesses. Apart from that, I can see the condition of our house after the accident.

Anyway, I am looking forward for the coming days especially my outstation trip in Alor Star. It is not just a normal outstation but it will be a very meaningful ones as Malay proverb said as "Sirih Pulang ke Gagang".

Is Blogging a Sin?

It has been few days I do not publish any posting after the first. People might think that I am a type of guy who is not serious in doing things; in Malay we called it as "hangat-hangat tahi ayam". It can be true and it can also be the opposite way. Let me just share with you what was happened to me in the last few days or to be more exact on the first day I start blogging; Muharram 1, 1428H.

I was so eager on that day to have my own blog after quite some times being a passionate reader to others. Published my first posting around 11 am and saved another post as a draft. Just thinking of publishing it after I came back from my Friday prayer. I thought it would be more meaningful to me to do so. :) I never tell anyone about my blog but I informed one of my colleagues about this and asked her to be the first to view mine; my pre-launching. I did mentioned to her that I am going to launch my blog soon and she told me that I should have sort of celebration for that; the exact word is "makan-makan" (can be considered if I get the sponsor :p)

With the spirit I had after my prayer, I came back to my office with the holy intention of publishing my second posting and writing another. Unfortunately, when I typed the URL of my blog, the annoying Corporate Guardian page appeared and clearly stated that the site was blocked due to the 'low mentality' reason; chatting. Blog is considered as chatting!! Doesn't it sounds stupid?? I took immediate action by asking for clarification from my senior (new boss actually) about this and firmly informed her that blogging is nothing than writing your own diary virtually. She agreed with me and mentioned that she is a blogger too. I felt a bit relief when she told me that she will look into the policy about this and it gave me a little hope that everything will be back to normal soon. Honestly, it is just a very little hope and I am expecting the result; blogging will remains prohibited!

At the mean time, what I can do is just to pray to The Almighty hoping that people with pre-historic mentality will open up their minds and realize that they are in the 21st Century and no longer in the era of dinosaur; Before Century. I do pray that with the spirit of New Year in Hijr calendar, everything will better; at least back to normal.

May today be better than yesterday.