This is like the gazillionth time that I (and many people) talk about career etc, I mean... will this ever end?
The new crop of management trainees
I look at the new batch of management trainees here, young, innocent, fresh out of college, energetic always with that huge grin on the face and a cheerful "Good Morning" everytime you see them at the hallway. I used to be one of them, and know I know exactly how people felt about us when we first joined. Just wait, maybe 1 year/1.5 year, and we will see if you can sport that cheerful nature and humongous smile again. If yes, fair enuf good for u, if not welcome to the club.
On leaving
Such a huge relief when I finalised my resignation from here. It is like a huge burden off my shoulders. When I went against basically everyone's opinion and joined here, people were almost shocked on why I did it. Had to deal with comments like "you selling ciggies or what", or one from my favourites was when I went to UK to conduct training, and someone asked me in serious tone "what u doing there, are u training people to smoke?". Me being a non-smoker, and strictly against it.... it made me feel like a total immoral person.
I am no engineer
I think most people have no idea what my job is. My Family at least have no idea. Some even think I am still an engineer. Even when I explained to them what I do, I dont think they understand. They have got this ciggie image in their head, and when trying to superimpose that with the image that I tried to portray of what I do, it does not make sense. My dream was to be an architect, but I am beyond that already. Dream to be an engineer in oil n gas..... over that as well.
SAP no more
SAP is such a lucrative industry, and I am leaving it so it does not make sense. People always say that the chance will come with patience. I think they are absolutely right but I'm leaving anyways. And on my new job.... I cant even explain what the job is in detail to other people. To be truthful, I am not quite sure myself. It is strange that I feel 100% that its the right thing to do when I am not even sure what my job scope will be.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
On karma, luck and sweat and blood
'My Name is Earl' is one of my favourite tv shows, it is quite funny I must say. I really like the whole concept behind it, the whole bad karma thing. I think its quite an original idea at least for the first season, before it started to get dare I say it old?
I am quite a believer in this karma thing myself. Not in such a way that people would start screaming syirik or khurafat like madmen, I believe. I just believe that you do good things and God, whichever that you worship, would make good things happen to you, just the same way with the whole karma concept.
Another topic related to karma is how 'lucky' a person is. For me, as cliched as it sounds, no one is born lucky to an extent ( if u are born a royalty you are definitely lucky I guess, unless, retarded or with other complications. If u are born Bradd Pitt but very low IQ, it is kind of lucky but unlucky so it cancels each other?). Luck is earned, and for me there are ways to get lucky: work hard and do good deeds.
If you see a guy getting a damn good new job, job scope matching all criteria that you would define a dream job has, at a world class MNC, and he was your slob colleague, 100% you will think that guy got it just by sheer luck. But then again, he had worked hard to make this happen, and that includes spamming countless companies with resumes and cover letters, or pretend to have thick face and make countless annoying phone calls to HR personnels all over the country to follow up on all his job applications.
Not forgetting doing so much research before interviews to gain as much knowledge and skill that he never had in the shortest time possible, in a manipulative attempt to oversell himself to prospective employers as one with all the required skills and experience for the dream job. Yes he was hired, but on the job, as work started piling in, things would start to get tricky as the defficiencies were exposed and he would feel helpless. And as the confirmation deadline was approaching, things would turn scary. This is when karma comes back to haunt him.
One thing in the news that caught my attention was one about a man who lost an envelope of money earned from tireless hours working at a restaurant in UK, bunch of money termed his sweat and blood. Ironically he lost it upon arriving at KLIA, when he flung his jacket over his shoulder and accidentally the envelope was dropped. In a magical turn of events, a couple found the envelope and manage to return the money to its rightful owner. Such stories give us so much hope at these times when KLites seem to be the most opportunistic, immoral people on earth.
However what I want to know is why the man with his sweat n blood in hand would be so careless to put the envelope in his jacket, and furthermore flung the jacket over his shoulder? Didn't he carry a briefcase or sling bag in which he can keep the money securely? If for some reason u have your sweat and blood in your jacket's open pocket, at least don't flung it as if nothing would come flying out of it.
I am quite a believer in this karma thing myself. Not in such a way that people would start screaming syirik or khurafat like madmen, I believe. I just believe that you do good things and God, whichever that you worship, would make good things happen to you, just the same way with the whole karma concept.
Another topic related to karma is how 'lucky' a person is. For me, as cliched as it sounds, no one is born lucky to an extent ( if u are born a royalty you are definitely lucky I guess, unless, retarded or with other complications. If u are born Bradd Pitt but very low IQ, it is kind of lucky but unlucky so it cancels each other?). Luck is earned, and for me there are ways to get lucky: work hard and do good deeds.
If you see a guy getting a damn good new job, job scope matching all criteria that you would define a dream job has, at a world class MNC, and he was your slob colleague, 100% you will think that guy got it just by sheer luck. But then again, he had worked hard to make this happen, and that includes spamming countless companies with resumes and cover letters, or pretend to have thick face and make countless annoying phone calls to HR personnels all over the country to follow up on all his job applications.
Not forgetting doing so much research before interviews to gain as much knowledge and skill that he never had in the shortest time possible, in a manipulative attempt to oversell himself to prospective employers as one with all the required skills and experience for the dream job. Yes he was hired, but on the job, as work started piling in, things would start to get tricky as the defficiencies were exposed and he would feel helpless. And as the confirmation deadline was approaching, things would turn scary. This is when karma comes back to haunt him.
One thing in the news that caught my attention was one about a man who lost an envelope of money earned from tireless hours working at a restaurant in UK, bunch of money termed his sweat and blood. Ironically he lost it upon arriving at KLIA, when he flung his jacket over his shoulder and accidentally the envelope was dropped. In a magical turn of events, a couple found the envelope and manage to return the money to its rightful owner. Such stories give us so much hope at these times when KLites seem to be the most opportunistic, immoral people on earth.
However what I want to know is why the man with his sweat n blood in hand would be so careless to put the envelope in his jacket, and furthermore flung the jacket over his shoulder? Didn't he carry a briefcase or sling bag in which he can keep the money securely? If for some reason u have your sweat and blood in your jacket's open pocket, at least don't flung it as if nothing would come flying out of it.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Smelling coffee early in the morning
The last Raya trip home further reminded me that I am turning into an old man and getting really out of sync with the 'younger generation' in general as well as my extended family. Raya is really the only time that we all (almost) can meet as a family nowadays. It used to be such a close-knit group, with get together or makan makan used to happen at least once a week or so, that was before kids started to grow up and starting moving to other cities in search of knowledge, money etc.
I love my hometown Kuching, it is such a nice city (for retirees....), but as long as it stays as pathetic as it is right now (the best cineplex there is like 15 years old with speaker bunyi pecah..... how can??), I dont blame other young people moving to other cities. I just dont understand, it is a common fact that Kuchingites are not that poor at all, and they always fly to KL for shopping or whatever (I see them here every school holiday....).... why dont anyone just invest there.... ie: GSC open cineplex in Kuching.... and then no need to fly to KL anymore??
back to family matters. My nephew was 7 months already, he has grown quite big and turned out to be one hyperactive baby. I have seen him being thrown into the air by his parents (hands-off!!)... on another occasion he was in the baby seat (the baby basket thing) and there he was swinging quite extremely with his father holding the handle..... and he had the loudest baby laugh that I have ever heard (macam org tua). I came to knew from my younger sister that these 'extreme' things happen quite often..... at some point I was not sure if these people knew what they were doing to the baby lol (but pretty sure no harm done).... but at least the baby had a lot of fun. One extreme baby indeed.
I also found that I do not know what is going on with my younger cousins. I see myself imitating those whom I regarded as 'silly old people' when I was young(my uncles and aunties)... everytime I went back I would ask the young ones what standard/form they are in.... or what course they are taking, when theyre graduating etc.... but by the next visit I would have forgotten all these and would start asking them all the same questions again....
Don't you find your self imitating those exact people that you thought had no idea what they were doing (eg your parents?)..... I have always thought I can be better parents than my mom and dad. Their parenting style to me at least was suitable only for the 60's, to me their skills were solely derived from their own childhood experience, and what they thought were the right thing to do as parents (this was in the 60's).... which I concluded as irrelevant when I was growing up (in the 90's). So now, I am supposed to know the right thing to do based on my childhood experience (90's)... but if I ever had a child... thats like at least 5 years from now, then by then what I perceived as the right thing to do to my children would be irrelevant????
I love my hometown Kuching, it is such a nice city (for retirees....), but as long as it stays as pathetic as it is right now (the best cineplex there is like 15 years old with speaker bunyi pecah..... how can??), I dont blame other young people moving to other cities. I just dont understand, it is a common fact that Kuchingites are not that poor at all, and they always fly to KL for shopping or whatever (I see them here every school holiday....).... why dont anyone just invest there.... ie: GSC open cineplex in Kuching.... and then no need to fly to KL anymore??
back to family matters. My nephew was 7 months already, he has grown quite big and turned out to be one hyperactive baby. I have seen him being thrown into the air by his parents (hands-off!!)... on another occasion he was in the baby seat (the baby basket thing) and there he was swinging quite extremely with his father holding the handle..... and he had the loudest baby laugh that I have ever heard (macam org tua). I came to knew from my younger sister that these 'extreme' things happen quite often..... at some point I was not sure if these people knew what they were doing to the baby lol (but pretty sure no harm done).... but at least the baby had a lot of fun. One extreme baby indeed.
I also found that I do not know what is going on with my younger cousins. I see myself imitating those whom I regarded as 'silly old people' when I was young(my uncles and aunties)... everytime I went back I would ask the young ones what standard/form they are in.... or what course they are taking, when theyre graduating etc.... but by the next visit I would have forgotten all these and would start asking them all the same questions again....
Don't you find your self imitating those exact people that you thought had no idea what they were doing (eg your parents?)..... I have always thought I can be better parents than my mom and dad. Their parenting style to me at least was suitable only for the 60's, to me their skills were solely derived from their own childhood experience, and what they thought were the right thing to do as parents (this was in the 60's).... which I concluded as irrelevant when I was growing up (in the 90's). So now, I am supposed to know the right thing to do based on my childhood experience (90's)... but if I ever had a child... thats like at least 5 years from now, then by then what I perceived as the right thing to do to my children would be irrelevant????
Friday, November 02, 2007
Post Aidilfitri
Still stuck in office having to listen to all those noises coming from the people drilling. Cant believe they are doing that while we are still working. Apparently they are taking out the gate-thing at the door, perhaps installing something more modern that produces less noise (I like the one at fitness first the Curve.... we also have that in our London hq..... very sleek)
I have finally made the final decision. Cant believe I will no longer have to deal with this shift thing again in 2 months. Shift work can go to hell hahahahaha.... It all started with a chat with an old friend..... who was also in the same line and basically same predicament. I didnt expect her to be so frank in expressing how she felt about work.... it made me analyse my situation more truthfully and I guess that I need not be in denial and accept the fact that I hate the f87678kin system and Im outta here lol. Forget the dream of getting 5 figure contract.... realistically how can u get there when you have hate deeper that Mariana trench of the true essence of the whole thing?
Cant help it, I just have to say how good radiohead's latest, In Rainbows, is. After listening like 20 times through, I had to switch on hitz.fm.... too much. Among my favourite tracks are Bodysnatchers, Arpeggi, Nude, Jigsaw falling into place, and the mother of all tracks, Reckoner.
I have finally made the final decision. Cant believe I will no longer have to deal with this shift thing again in 2 months. Shift work can go to hell hahahahaha.... It all started with a chat with an old friend..... who was also in the same line and basically same predicament. I didnt expect her to be so frank in expressing how she felt about work.... it made me analyse my situation more truthfully and I guess that I need not be in denial and accept the fact that I hate the f87678kin system and Im outta here lol. Forget the dream of getting 5 figure contract.... realistically how can u get there when you have hate deeper that Mariana trench of the true essence of the whole thing?
Cant help it, I just have to say how good radiohead's latest, In Rainbows, is. After listening like 20 times through, I had to switch on hitz.fm.... too much. Among my favourite tracks are Bodysnatchers, Arpeggi, Nude, Jigsaw falling into place, and the mother of all tracks, Reckoner.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
