Turning a New Leaf

I guess I should begin with Assalamualaikum to all...

Wow, it has been a while since the last time I 'blogged'. I started blogging back when I was managing the initial team in SEV. I had a wonderful and amazing team back then. Everyone was so energetic and spirited but then, as time passed, the spirit faded and I guess my spirit to blog also diminished.

My 'blogging days' began when one of my ex staff Redza, who is now a successful entrepreneur showed me his blog on his hobby, which were on cars. It was then I realised that if I can get everyone in my tam to start blogging, then everyone could improve their writing skills and in turn develop confidence, which to be franked it did (to most of them). Anyway, Redza left the team mid 2009 to start his own business (which we all supported). Well, I guess when he left, the spirit I innitially had on blogging faded away ....

Anyway, let bygons be bygons. Now, I have a greater reason to restart blogging and maybe facebooking... which is my kids.

I recently taught my eldest son about blogging. He is a bit shy and less confident in stating his opinons compared to his cousin, so I thought maybe via blogging, he can start expressing himself in writing. And what more of an encouragement then if I were to start blogging as well. Maybe no one will read it, but that does not matter, it's a practice to me. I have a dream to write at least a book before I die...Writing is never easy. And it is a nightmare, for those without any practice.

Many things has changed as time fly by. I guess, with time we get wiser. Many people will have their new year resolutions or 'azam tahun baru' by this time. Mmmmm you know what, I think we all should. So, one of mine is to be a better Muslim, son, husband, father and person. There is a saying by an ulama', a Muslim must make sure that tomorrow but be better that yesterday.... I totally agree! Well, that's my 2 cents on the matter... what's yours???

Experiences Makes What You Are Today

I had a flash in memory lane yesterday. I had a chat with an old friend named Megat who is now working in Qatar. He was my housemate back during my uni years in Melbourne Australia. He took a month leave from his busy life in Qatar (he is an engineer with an oil and gas company there) just to participate in voting in the recent General elections apart from getting aback with his friends here.

I forgot how the conversation started but along the line, we started talking about the various ‘odd’ part-time jobs we did back then during our 3-4 years stay in Australia. You see, for most of us JPA students, the monthly allowance was just enough to pay rent, food and other essential needs. To save for leisure, well… lets just say, we stocked up on ‘Maggi’. So, we worked to earn some extra cash.

In Australia, as students, our visas permit us to work a max of 20 hrs a week. So I started my first job in the university's café as a cleaner. Then after, I did a lot of other ‘odd’ jobs to survive. It ranges from a few days to 2-3 months. I delivered pizza, worked in a bakery, became a kitchen hand in an Asian restaurant, a cleaner at a shopping mall, picking fruits and vegetables, statistic analyst, administrative clerk at the Post Office, factory cleaner and painter, taxi driver, research assistant and a tutor. But the longest job I did was as a train cleaner. It supported my leisure and traveling needs for 2 years.

Cleaning trains was easy money and the job was fun. I clock in at 11.30 pm and finishes at 1 am everyday. I sometimes cycle 30 minutes to work or take a 10 minutes drive. That was my life then. It pays more than what JPA gave me. During holidays or times when I felt too tired to go to work, I will have my house mates join me. They get half of the day’s pay. So, Megat was amongst the frequent volunteers. I know he did not really need the money (he was a Petronas scholar) but he enjoys helping out a friend. I can never forget how many times he was there for me…..

In my opinion the experiences I went through in the jobs I did matured me to some extend. I learned the concept of humility, to appreciate others less fortunate, to really value ‘money’ and of course independencies. I know everyone has their own experiences to tell, I just wanted to share one of mine.

Hey that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

Election Is In The Air

I am not going to campaign or anything here, just wanted to say 'Happy Mengundi' to everyone. In this 12th General Election of Malaysia, I hope more of its citizents will embrace and perform their rights and obligations to VOTE.

I was really dissapointed when I got to know that two of my sisters will not be voting as they did not regiseter as a voter. I think if you are already 18 (an ADULT), you should be MATURE enough to know how important is the Elections. I hope all SEVians are registered voters and come out to vote tommorow. Who you choose to be your YBs are your discretions however, please think it hard as it will affect our future.

This will be my second time voting. In the 1999 elections, I was in Australia and thus could not vote. Back then I did not really know that you can vote at the emabssy. If I did know, I would surely cut class and travelled to Canberra (the embassy is located at the capital of Australia 800 km away from where I studied) to performed my duties. In the 2004 elections, I went proudly to affix my 'X' on the little piece of paper that shaped the country for the last 4 years. Now, I am really anxcious to do the same tommorrow.

This time, I will not give my 2 cents as I have realised (past experience) ..... sometimes differences in political views can cause cracks in relationships. Yes, I have lost friends due to politics, some families became distanced due to political stands and so on (you know what I mean). Anyway.... due to that, I will reserve my comments....

Flat World???

I have finally completed the book I was reading since 2-3 weeks ago (I told you guys before, I am a SLOW reader). As interesting the title of the book may sound, in my humble opinion, it’s too lengthy, wordy and if you are familiar with the author, Thomas L Friedman you would agree with me. Then again, he won the Pulitzer prize a 3 times for his work ... and this book was a best-seller quiet some time... Yes (for those who can guess), the book is titled ‘The World Is Flat’.
In brief, the book is about globalization and its affects to change. Friedman recounts a journey to Bangalore, India, when he realized globalization has changed core economic concepts. He suggests the world is "flat" in the sense that globalization has leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries. Friedman recounts many examples of companies based in India and China that, by providing labor from typists and call center operators to accountants and computer programmers, have become integral parts of complex global supply chains for such companies as Dell, AOL, and Microsoft.
Friedman described 10 forces that flattened the world…. (actually, just refer to Ija’s blog on this).
So, what does this mean??? To me, if we continue to operate as we have previously and refuse to accept change, well in my opinion, we will definitely be left behind. Tg Farith has kept on mentioning about innovation and change (refer to Tg Farith's blog ). I guess, to get to the top and to stay on top (refer to Shariff's blog), to need to seriously thinking about innovation and explore new opportunities.

Anyway, we have no real idea how the 21st century's history will unfold, but this terrifically stimulating book will certainly inspire readers to start thinking it all through.

Hey, that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

Once a SKALIAN Always a SKALIAN

I have to say, I do feel a bit tired lately (the PM even works harder than I do, and he never complaints about being tired...mmmm). I have been traveling these few weeks and recently visited Johor Bharu for an MOU signing with Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PNS). We are collaborating with them to become a franchisor and develop more franchisees.

The MOU signing on Saturday went well. Tg Farith came from SKALI to exchange the MOU documents with Tuan Syed Kamarulzaman (MD) and witnessed by Dato Musa (SKU MECD) and Dato Hashim (TKSU).

To cut the story short, we were in JB from Friday and left Sunday morning. On the way back we stopped by Skudai to visit an ex-SKALIAN, Maryam. She joined SEV initially as a trainee. I interviewed her during a Careers Expo in UIA back in 2006. During the interview, I can see that this girl was different from her peers. She showed determination and pro-activeness. Anyway, a few weeks after, we offered her a trainee position in SEV. Back then SEV had only 3 staff: me, Aida and Shamsul, so we needed some help, thus we hired Maryam and Diana. Subsequent to the trainee position, we offered her a full time position, but I guess due to the ‘instability’ of SEV financial position back then… might have contributed to her to consider other opportunities. So did Diana. I have no heart feelings towards them. I was rather happy to have had the chance to work with good team players such as them.

She informed us that she is happy working in Johor (I think more because her fiancé is there – they are getting married this May) but she did not deny having a fun and enjoyable time working in SKALI. One day, who knows, she might re-joined us. She has made some indications that she wants to be the SPIKE@Johor coordinator… mmm we’ll see. Anyway, we left after having a small brunch.

Somehow I think most SKALIANs enjoy working in SKALI. Its friendly environment, flexible management policies etc is what has attracted those who left to rejoined us back. You don't have to look far, we have one in SEV. I have been working in 4 companies, and I can confirm SKALI is the BEST. In my opinion, we will excel better if we are working in an environment that we enjoy.
Hey that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

Buying My Dream House

I want to share with all of you some thoughts on property purchase. For the past few months, my wife and I have been actively searching for a suitable landed property to purchase. I think everybody has a dream to own their own house. Same with me….

I think over the last few months, we have considered around 10 options and we have finally narrowed it to 1 particular house. But it is rather expensive, I should say… well, now, all I have to do is do my ‘solat Istikharah’ and make a decision. Then, to get a financier that will lend me some money….

Anyway, these are a few factors that I look into when buying a property (not in any particular order):

1. Price of the house
2. Cost of borrowing
   Ø Islamic (fixed) vs conventional
   Ø Which bank or financier
   Ø What interest rate
3. Location (neighborhood, amenities)
   Ø I prefer a secure mature neighborhood with readily amenities (public transportation, school, shops, parks etc)
   Ø Of course, I prefer it to be close to where my wife and I work. I want to be around 15-20 minutes away from the office.
4. Neighbors
   Ø Need to know your neighbors. Having friendly neighbors is crucial.
5. Size (build up, number of rooms, toilets)
   Ø To me, having a big house is for the future. I want my kids to have their own room. And I plan to have at least 5 kids!
6. The condition of the house
   Ø If buying a house from a previous owner, then I need to see the condition.
   Ø Get to know also why they are selling. There could be something wrong with the property.
7. Design and ambiance
   Ø I like the modern design and material used. It really makes a big difference. Go and look at the new developments, the ambiance is really2 ….. can’t really describe it in words.. of course, you need to invest in ID as well lah..
8. The status of its development
   Ø What percentage of construction??? The closer it is to completion, the less risky it is on going abandoned.
9. The Developer
   Ø Having strong and credible credentials is important. New developers will carry some significant risks… you need to do some homework here.
10. The anticipated future value
    Ø All property appreciates over time. But how fast is the appreciation? If you look at the property in Ukay Perdana. A house that was RM 500K last 2 years are selling for RM 1 million now…. mmm
11. Freehold vs leasehold

The longer you wait to buy your dream house/condo/apt:

The higher the COST,
The higher the HEIGHT (condos, apts),
The further the DISTANCE from KL,
The smaller the SIZE,
The bigger the HEADACHE becomes…

My opinion, we should all plan carefully our finances so that we will all be able to own at least a property that we will leave behind as our legacy to our children…. Learn the concept of ‘calculated risk’ and ‘investment’. Don’t treat buying a house as a ‘cost’ but an investment.

Hey that’s my 2 cents on the issue, what’s yours???

'Orang Kaya Bertaqwa'

I want to do something different this time,
I know I’m not that creative, I will not lie,
I am no poet but I think I can rhyme,
I’m not that good, but I will surely try….

I started reading a new book yesterday,
At least 1 in a month is a target I set,
This time I chose a book in Malay,
Malay is important too, let’s not forget.



The book was recommended by my wife,
A book she read the week before,
She loved the way the author described ‘life’,
The book inspired her and was never a bore.

Chef Rusly Abdullah wrote the book,
He titled it “Orang Kaya bertaqwa”,
Don’t be fooled, it’s not about how to cook,
But his journey to see his teacher in Tanah Jawa.

He described his teacher’s teachings,
A Billionaire himself who's humble and wise,
Full of faith and God’s blessings,
He made it BIG to no surprise.

In short, what the author wants to say,
If you want to be rich, be a pious one,
We will all leave this earth one day,
Lets make sure we bring along Iman.

Should you want me to tell the whole story,
Or ask me to give a summary,
I can't and I won't, I am sorry,
Buy and read the book... nothing is free!!!

I honestly believe in everything we do,
Bring Allah and Iman with you,
Hey, that’s my 2 cents on the issue,
So, what say you???