scare

recent quote

"Is ok to be scare, because being scare means that you actually have something to lose"

- GA4 EP10 -

cut out

I found this old newspaper cut out in a file full of newspaper cut outs while doing spring cleaning last weekend.

I remembered that I was greatly touched by the article, especially the photo, therefore cut it down for keeping until this very day.

I know that I am not a kind person, and will not always be a kind person, but I kept the article to remind myself to be kind as often as I can.

Kindness from many people out there is the only thing that makes the world/me filled with hope. Thank you! 

template

I created an email template for a specific issue for my friends at "ex-company" today, not that they requested me to do so, but I did it voluntary, probably a bit busy-body "p

Well, I think beside benefitting my friends, sharing it here in case you need one is not a bad idea as well. So, here you are, the template of the day =)

Hi "recipient name" ,

This is purely a friendly soft reminder for a better and more conducive working environment, nothing hostile or what so ever, and I hope that it is not taken in a negative way.

I am sitting a few cubicles not far from you, and I couldn't help not notice/hearing conversations that coming form your cubicle from time to time. At times, the volume level can be above medium and at worst case scenario, it can be quite uncomfortable up to the level of irritation and affecting me at work.

As we understand, "department name" is a big department with many people around us, and at times, what ever we do inevitably can affect the people around us. I hope by making you aware of this situation, you would understand how we actually felt, and take remedies gradually (not abruptly), because I do understand it would take times to adapt to a new situation.

For a simple example, probably you could take a walk-in discussion to a small meeting room or cafeteria if you feel that it would take a while.

Thank you for your attention.

regards,

"your name"

US Counterpart

Soft reminder: this post may be boring because it is about work

An email exchange with a friend this morning did give me a little thought/enlightenment about my past working experiences.

Having that thought, I think now is the best time to do a little reflections, about what I have learned from the past working environments, as well as my current attitude towards work, comparing the past and present once in a while, as part of rediscovering myself

Besides, within a month time, I will be celebrating my one-full-year-of-liberation-anniversary from previous pressure-cooker-ex-company, as well as one year anniversary here at my new work place, with lifestyle changes in a positive way for myself, and it is a all good things so far for me =)

For this post, I would like to share my thought about "US counterpart meetings".

When I was in my ex-company, the job requires frequent interaction with "US counterpart".

At that time, I was still naive, and blended into the already fixed culture, where we all ex-company employees in Malaysia have to wake up very early in the morning regularly for meeting at 6am/7am/8am/9am, and sometimes ridiculously at 4am/5am, just to have an overlap of a few hours to have meeting with the "US counterpart", where the "US counterpart" are still having their normal 9-5 office hour before they knock afterward.

To be partial, one hand cannot make a clap. So, on one side, some US counterparts take it for granted for ex-company employees in Malaysia to wake up early for meetings, while some ex-company employees in Malaysia (asian in general) likes to look up to 'kuai lo' (caucasian) as if perfect/holy/what-so-ever.

Well, the case in point is, ex-company employees have to accommodate/suck-up to the "US counterpart" most of the time sacrificing our sleeping time. And the pathetic part is, to some (not all) "US counterpart", we all are just 3rd world class labor who work like hell at low cost, yet ruin the market of normal "9-5 office hour".

But after working in another US company now, I observed the other way round, where the US counterparts do stayed back late or sacrifice their dinner time just to have a meeting with people here in Malaysia, and that is like already 10am or so over here in Malaysia.

The main point is, US or no US, they are just human like us, is just all about commitments. And the specific that I want to comment is, the ex-company culture has always been "corrupted", but yet majority employees there still got hypnotized into believing such culture. This is my opinion that I want to convey, and it is my pure opinion, got nothing to do with any other person's views or organization's view.

Just penning my thought, and you do the math yourself. If you agree, is about time to stand up for yourself, and do not treat norms/conventions as a habit/culture, because norms/conventions are the killers for all creativities/innovations. Quite a mouthful of words isn't it =) Well, until next posting about work & sharing.

spring cleaning

an excerption from a series...

(entree of the episode)

"Spring cleaning - a curious ritual.

It meant time to read ourself of things that we didn't need anymore.

The first step is reflection,

what's worth keeping,

what's lost it's value and can be given away.

For some, the choice is easy.

For others, much more difficult..."

(closing of the episode)

" Spring cleaning isn't about sorting through thing and getting rid of clutter,

is about taking stock of who you are,

and how other see you.

It's a chance to redefine yourself,

to change expectations,

and to remember that it's never too late to recapture who you were,

or to aim for who you want to be..."

life isn't fair, but it is still good

I got this from a forwarded email.

Think that it is very meaningful and wanting to share it out.

five frogs on a log

The question is...

"Five frogs were sitting on a log. Four decided to jump. Can you guess how many remain on the log?"

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Answer: Five frogs remained on the log

Why? because there is a difference between decision (decided) and taking action (to actually doing it)

Well, finally I have the chance to read the book "Building People: Sunday emails from a CEO" this weekend, but only able to finish the first 2 chapters as of now.

It is an interesting book, a compilation of emails from a CEO to his staff about his thoughts, his visions and some sharing of personal life stories that close to us. Interestingly, as I read the book/emails, it more sounded like a blog post from a CEO to his staff who are reading it, only that it is through email =)

"five frogs on a log" is actually another book by 2 writers from PriceWaterHouseCoopers, which the author of "Sunday emails from a CEO" read and share with his company's staffs.

One thing for sure, this "five frogs on a log" book is next in my bin list after I have finished reading "Sunday emails from a CEO"

Blogging aside, I think am started to hook up to literature reading "p

On the bright side, the book that I purchased or going to purchase are tax-exempted, hehehe

sunset storm

Taken last Friday.

It was a rare moment of beautiful sunset.

And thunderstorm ensued shortly after that (from the right side)

A very short beautiful moment in life.

googling

You never know what you going to get from googling. And while I am at it just now, googling brought me through a journey of other's life through cyberspace. Felt interesting and want to share it.

I started with the keyword "Nilai inti 3on3". Guess what? My blog post came out as the top result =) But of course I wont read my own post again "p

Then, I refine the keyword and googled "inti 3on3", returned me with some unfamiliar results. So, I click on this, and it bring me to a blogger post. One interesting sentence for takeaway from the blog
"not suprisingly, most of the team in semi finals are "niger", and i think in years to come, my college will turn into a african college." (no offence =)

Next, I click on another result here, and it bring me to a friendster page.

On the page, I pressed "CTRL + F" on the keyboard and search for "inti". Found that there is a comment by a friendster nick of "mCeGG".

I then browsed mCeGG photos, surprisingly, I recognized mCeGG as one of the organizer of the 3on3 game last Sunday. I was like OMG, couldnt believe myself to have stumbled upon mCeGG, although I dont really know her real name =) If I am not wrong, mCeGG is the chairman for the Charity 3on3.

There were 223 photos on mCeGG photos, and by the time I finished browsing through all of them, I was awed with a smile =)

YOUTH - I felt so old or I have grown out of proportion that I have forgotten what my youth once really felt like. Youth is what mCeGG having, and mCeGG having a great time, couldnt spot one with mCeGG frown face =) mCeGG is just 19, younger than my younger sis

FRIENDS - worked in a jap restaurant, went to PD, traveled, went shopping etc all surrounded with bunch of friends =)

HIP HOP - though mCeGG is a girl, found mCeGG's style is unique with some hip hop color. mCeGG likes to wear cap =)

CREATIVE - mCeGG likes to pose creativity as individual and in group, something like the one in an advert or in a movie scene. There are a bunch of photos took at the KLIA airport to prove that =) I am guessing mCeGG and friends were bored to death while transit to somewhere at KLIA. So, they decided to camwhoring around in the middle of the night there, damn funny looking at those photos =) there even some with mCeGG posing with the toilet bowl...

Well, there you have it. I spy on young kid through google to friendster to photos and blog about it which dont really mean anything except a smile on the face by absorb a little bit of other's happiness "p

You should try googling sometimes too, a BIG THUMBS UP recommendation =)

literature time

Well, not sure what really going on with me recently, because I went to buy a book and a mag at QB Borders after work yesterday, which I seldom do.


I bought this book below. I read about the book intro from The Sun paper last week and got hooked of getting one. I havent read it yet, but will take my time going through each and every of the pages. Will share with you my opinion after reading it.





Author : Leong, Liew Mun
Title : Building People Subtitle : Sunday Emails from a Ceo
Publisher : John Wiley , Sons Inc
Publication Date : Fri, Feb 15 2008
Pages : 292
ISBN : 04-7082-290-2


As for the mag, I bought an interior design mag which coincidently publishing the tips of getting start with house renovation.


Both literature total up to RM81.80. Well, I can deduct it when I file tax next year. Probably this is the only motivation for me this time to purchase some literature =)

FAQ (addendum1)

Disclaimer: all the contents in this post/blog are purely my sole opinion/speculation from hearsay and has nothing to do with any other person/entity or representing the view of any company/organization. The accuracy of the content is my pure interpretation at my best knowledge and should be used at your own risk & discretion.

(1) what is the contact for ex-employee to follow up on HR queries, including EA form status?

ex-employee support helpline: 604-253 2222; email: exemployeequery@intel.com; you are required to provide information for verification purpose.

FAQ

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small talk:
tempted to write this post before I am away over the weekend for logistic reason
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Disclaimer: all the contents in this post/blog are purely my sole opinion/speculation from hearsay and has nothing to do with any other person/entity or representing the view of any company/organization. The accuracy of the content is my pure interpretation at my best knowledge and should be used at your own risk & discretion.

To save me some effort of duplicating the content everytime my friends ask me, I decided to write an FAQ over here, hehehe...

I personally think that this FAQ is useful if you need it under some circumstances.
Who knows, it might come in handy after you received your focal and want to make further contemplating.

So, when is the best time other than now to document this. Here it goes for a brief initial revision. I will continue updating the post from time to time whenever I got newer items to add. You are free to drop me questions too. So, it will be a "living" post, and hope that you will find it a very useful FYI.

(1) SOP expiration after termination?
Stock Option Program offered and vested during your tenure in the company will only expire after 3 months from your official last day at the company.

(2) RSU expiration after termination?
Restricted Stock Unit offered and vested during your tenure in the company will only expire after 3 months from your official last day at the company.

(3) Does SPP expires after termination?
Stock purchased under the Stock Purchase Program during your tenure in the company wont expire. The stock is purchased using your own money, so they are yours. However, after 3 months from your official last day at the company, your corporate UBS account will seized to operate/expire. Therefore, you need to create a new personal brokerage account (with UBS or any other certified brokerage companies) and transfer them prior to the corporate UBS account expires so that you can further manage the SPP stocks.

(4) 2 months notice?
General guideline for resignation requires 2 months notice in the company. You can utilize your annual leaves or any other leaves to clear majority/all of the 2 months notice, but it all depends on the negotiation between you and your supervisor, because your supervisor has the autocratic right to approve/reject the leave application with reason. However, if you have a good proposal on responsibility transition and clearing the remaining task at your hand, your supervisor should have no choice but to approve this leave clearing. Be smart, stand firm on your view and there is always a channel (including escalation to supervisor's supervisor or HR) if your supervisor rejecting your proposal without any reasonable reason.

(5) EB & ECBP?
General tip is to put 30 June as your official last day at the company (but actual last day can be earlier using your leave to clear the 2 months notice), so that you are entitled to the EB and ECBP in June-July. You deserved the bonuses and you should not let it slip away. If your new company requesting you to report in earlier, try to communicate with them and delay the reporting date appropriately. You can tell them that you need this delay to complete your responsibility transition as well as clearing your tasks at hand. This will potray you as a person with integrity and responsibility.

(6) last day email notification?
If you need a template to write your "last day at the company" email, I have a dozen templates to spare :)

last lecture

a friend share this with me, and I am now sharing with you

~Randy Pausch~

"experience is what you get, when you dont get what you want"

sofa

Note: this is a backdated post, about 2 weeks back

furniture hunting aint no char koay teow business

you have this

• Rozel
• Lorenzo
• Kamay
• Mekio
• Rozzini
• Cellini
• Aussini

~~ inhale ~~

and some other furniture showrooms not as famous as above but mushroomed around a small small town called "Georgetown" :)

And the story begins with... On one fine Saturday, sparked by a Lorenzo sales advertisement on the newspaper, I dragged my lazy butt out for a sofa hunting. I was thinking it should be about time that I get myself started with the house design, and sofa is something that I think can be begin with.

Armed with an idea that sofa is actually something for people to sit on, I went hunting hunting "p

Start with Lorenzo, it was a 2 storeys building located just beside Dato' Keramat Rd. Over there, I instantly found the love of my life on the 2nd floor, where it hide itself at one small corner, only to let me see it's side view like.... this...

(to clarify, the price tag that you see on the right is not for this sofa ya)

I like L-shape sofa, especially the one that made of fabric because I can only afford that.

And boy, the I first sat on it, it felt soooooooo nice... that I almost fell asleep there... okok, I am exaggerating :)

One exact word to describe it - "cozy", and is the type that I like, and the L-shape can be changed from left to right, and as for price, is the cheapest sofa at Lorenzo.

But with self-discipline, I restrained. So, I chit chat with the promoter there for a while about the offer, exchanged contact and went out to other furniture shops around Georgetown.

After around 3hrs, I found no other L-shape fabric sofa as nice as the one at Lorenzo. Some sofa are not that soft, some design is not of my liking, some are too big that cant fit into the living room, some L-shape are at the wrong side of my living room and I cant adjust it, some are even more expensive by a few times (although really really nice) bla bla bla. So, I couldnt stop keep thinking back about the "one" at Lorenzo, damn...

So, I went back again since the offer seized the next day, and I dont want to travel again to Georgetown from Butterworth the next day.

I instantly deposited 30% of the sofa value with the promoter :) am very happy for the purchase, even until today, although this is the 2nd time I burnt a hole in the pocket within half a year *_* The first time I burnt a hole was purchasing a digicam end of last year during YES.

Many of you should be wondering how much does the sofa cost right? Well, it cost me RM2336, including transport fee.

I know I know, some of you may be shouting "WHAT!!! RM2.4K FOR THIS?"

I couldnt deny it is indeed expensive. But I really like it, it is really comfortable, and I appreciate the quality, and I dont want to regret it later for having to miss it.

Well, there you have it, a new hole in my pocket, and a cozy sofa for my "coming soon" living room :)

From that day's survey, I also found many ideas from Mekio, and while driving around, I also see some nice nice lighting showrooms. I didnt went into the lighting showrooms. Probably lighting will be my next hunting target.

If you have something to share about lighting, feel free to post your comment ya :) FYI, my humble place is just a 700-900sqf of condo. Comment away...

metaphor?

sometimes, what and the way how people said it to describe certain thing are very interesting, and is funny too :)

It is also telling when one hears a middle-class Chinese lady saying:.” “If there is no rocket (DAP) around, yue liang dai piao wo de xin (the moon (PAS) represents my heart)"
from theedgedaily "Malaysians break trend of voting for BN in mixed constituencies"

“There will be some panic selling. Some people will be irrational enough to dump the baby with the bath tub. If it becomes a crisis, there will be an opportunity,” he said.
from theedgedaily "Silver lining amidst election blues"

polling day

Yeah, this post came in quite late. I was eager to share the "tsunami" rather than the 1st time experience at the polling station earlier :)

I woke up early in the morning and went voting with my mum at 8am.

On the way, this is how my hometown market looks like, lots of roadside stalls. Sometimes, it felt good to be at home.

The scene outside the pooling station, very quiet and very few voters only early in the morning.

Was waiting for my mum to go in to vote. The "saluran 2" has the most voters queuing. It is known that each different "saluran" is for different age group, with "saluran 1" is the oldest age group.

There are only 3 "saluran" at the pooling station where I vote. I was "saluran 3"

a remarkable sight

March 6, 2008

By 8pm, it started to drizzled, I was hesitating whether to go or not.

After a while of flipping my mind, I decided to go at the end to the DAP talk held at Han Jiang school field.

After witnessing it with my own eye, I would say that I will be regreting it if I really missed it yesterday. It was indeed a remarkable sight to behold.

If BERSIH rally last year was a sea of 40,000 yellow marchers for a fair election, today at Han Jiang, you would see a stunning gathering of at least 50,000 Malaysian/Penangites, majority responded to the heed to wear red, which made it sea of red. The gathering is a sign that Malaysian had have enough, Penangites had have enough, all of them want to see change in the coming election, lets hope that it does change.

smses & calls barely got through, it was really grand.

And who said that opposition political ceramah (talk) is boring?

Famous blogger - Jeff Ooi (Jelutong Parliment candidate) make a shocking appearance with electric guitar performance. Instead of some would consider boring political speaches, Jeff Ooi sang songs in Mandarin, Malay, English & Hokkien to do all the talking. It is refreshing to see creativity being presented in the politic arena. I am amazed while entertained throughout the talk. awesome presentation.

Lets talk no more. Let the videos to the talking.

Then again, who said that opposition political talk is boring?
There's fireworks too.



Other speakers on that day - Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng (Bagan Parliment candidate, Ayer Putih state candidate), Dato Zahrain Mohamed Hashim (Bayan Baru Parliment candidate), guest PKR candidates, and many many other candidates gathered to show their unity.

I want to take more photos and videos, but my camera's battery run flat after a while... sadly couldnt capture more to be posted in this blog.

Lets rise to the call in the video below.

Because if you have had enough of the hanky panky business with the current coalition/government, it is time to change, time to vote for opposition, give them a chance to present themselve, a chance to balance the parliment composition, that is the way it should be. The fate of either opposition or coalition parties lies at your hand tomorrow at polling station.

As expected, none of the newspapers today make the yesterday DAP talk at Han Jiang a headline, as if nothing happen, while the Penang's Rifle Range Coalition gathering of 3000-5000 made headline YESTERDAY and even have full page coverage TODAY. You tell me, is this not double standard?

What you can see on the newspaper is Pak Lah resort to instill fear in the Chinese community (which is their last desperado move), warned that if opposition win big in Chinese community seats, Chinese will lost MCA for good in the coalition and will not have Chinese MCA representative/ministers anymore. Chinese plight will not be heard anymore. Isnt this an arrogant threat by someone in power to gain more power? It is time to deny it because those in power are extremely corrupted. As a Malaysian (not Chinese, not Malay, not Indian etc), do not fear and cast your vote wisely, and dont cast your vote because of fear. You are not alone if you dont fear.

Again, for the Coalition gathering at Rifle Range, you dont see even a policeman giving parking tickets for illegal parking, but you see them do so without mercy at Han Jiang yesterday, is this not double standard?

When Coalition gather, they can easily use the public venue (school hall, stadium, municipal council hall) for free, while opposition talk/gathering has to resort to private institution venue because they know for sure they will be played/rejected if they apply for the public venue.

People who gathered at Han Jiang yesterday are passionate enough to go out to show their support, many even donated as much as they can, ignoring the coalition "sweets" of free food, free popular artists performance, lucky draw etc when they have such talk in a bigger venue than Han Jiang. These are only some of the differences.

guitar class

It has been a while. A friend of my made this video clip. It is always nice to see someone do something true from the heart that touches people.

The clip is dedicated to Sensei CN, from the 2 passionate apprentice, for conducting the guitar class once everyweek for them , simply because they share the same interest.

coffee prince

~let the musics make your day~

pOllY...

GoODbyE...

OST...

Kim Peek

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pop quiz:
what is savant?
click here for the answer
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Today, while I was tracing back some "todolist" that I kept for myself, I found some links there about the name "Kim Peek". Patheticly, I forgotten how I got the name, or how I managed to get the links.

Curiously, I clicked on the links and found a link to a wiki page and a link to youtube, and started the journey of amazement.

I dont know how to say, to say that is he "disabled" or is he really "gifted",
to say that he is pity with the burden to have so many things in his mind, or to say that he is unique and brilliant person.
I am amazed how he has touched the life of so many... and he is still doing it.

I havent watched the movie "Rain Man", but I will soon :)

some sneak peek...

"I have so many things in me that you cant even guess them all"
"has one of the weirdest brain in the world"
"he has become a living google"
"only about 30hrs a day, 10days a week. That's what most parent with children disability feels like that"
"80yrs old father taking care of his 54yrs old son"
"photographic memory"


and you gotta watch these, please please spare some of your busy time...

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