Friday, February 27, 2009

Kudos to Zubedy

I came across this really good article written by Anas Zubedy which I think rings true to most of us living in Malaysia... this was taken from his blog:

Dear Malaysian Politicians,

Please stop the power chase, call for a truce and focus on the economy.

I do not claim to speak on behalf of all Malaysians, but I have strong convictions that many share my sentiments. Our concern today is not who rules the country or heads the state governments but the looming bad economy.

Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat leads, it is meaningless if Malaysians have no job to go to, no money to pay rent and no means to put food on the table.

I am a business owner, like other business owners and managers of corporations I have a responsibility to ensure people under my care and payroll continue to have jobs and a decent income to take home. We work hard and willing to go the extra mile to make sure our nation not only survive this crisis but come out stronger and wiser. We need your help.Let me explain. I am in the business of Training, Development and Consultancy and have 20 people in my team.

Saedah is 42. She keeps the office clean and helps organise the training rooms. She has four children and her husband is unemployed. She was first hired on a part time basis, because she is very hard working and has a great attitude, we offered her a full time job to help provide a stable income for her family. Even then, when her third child started school this year, it was a struggle for her to buy new school uniforms and other necessities. Saedah lives on a ‘kais bulan, makan bulan’ basis, so, if she is jobless, her tap runs dry.

Samsuri is 27 years old. He lives with his sister and her family in a low cost government flat in Sunway. He does our despatch, helps with various clerical works and occasionally acts as a driver. During the first week at zubedy, we learned that he not only did not have money to buy new clothes and shoes for work, he had no money for lunch. Like Saedah, if he has no job, his tap runs dry too.

Alicia in Client Servicing turns 26 this year. She lives with her dad who is 71 years old and retired. Her mom passed away when she was little. Alicia is a hard-working team member, has a gentle caring outlook and fun to be with. (We like to poke fun at her as she blushes easily). Last May her dad went through a major operation, thank God he has recovered well. Alicia needs a job, both for herself and her dad.

Sudesh, 38, is one of our facilitators. When his father passed away last year, he moved back and lives with his mother in Seremban. He shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban daily, leaving home sometimes as early as 4 in the morning and returning late at night. He is no stranger to hard work and sacrifice, he knows what he needs to do to survive and to care for his mother, but he too needs a job.

Like fellow Malaysians, every one of us in zubedy needs employment, those that live from hand to mouth like Saedah and Samsuri and others like Alicia and Sudesh with family to care for. We Malaysians need the Malaysian economy to be strong. We need you, our leaders, to work hard and to work together to make our economy viable.

So this is my plea.

Pakatan Rakyat, please stop your attempts to take over the federal government and persuade BN’s lawmakers to join you. Stop all legal proceedings, no more 916 and let go, just let go. The nation can wait till the next general elections if they want change. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and gracious and give you their support in the next elections.

Barisan Nasional, please stop any attempts to take over PR states and win over PR’s lawmakers. You have proven your point with Perak. The nation can wait for the next general elections if they want your party. Focus all your talent, energy and hard work in steering the country out of an economic downturn. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and smart and give you their support in the next elections.

BN and PR! Call for a truce. Get together and compromise. Someone has to give in. Or has hate consumed your heart till it blinds you? You can do it. You have enough intelligent people between you. I am sure you can find solutions. Take the nation to heart. That is why you are in politics in the first place.

Focus on the people.

Focus on the economy.

Anas Zubedy

Managing DirectorZubedy (M) Sdn Bhd

Monday, February 16, 2009

Valentine Day 2009

The day started yucky... :( I had exams.. and to make things worse... it was Business Finance... I was miserable... To top that off...I slept at 5am and got woken up by my MD at 7... isk isk isk... Thankfully it wasnt as bad as I had expected... It is all now is God's hands...

And I was off for my dinner... Reservations was made and the lasagne was recommended...

This was where went...

SassoRosso... an italian restaurant tucked away in KL... cant quite remember the road name...

The dinner date... Suyin....

We ordered the mixed platter of antipasti, a wild mushroom risotto, a lasagne and a side order of sauteed mushroonms... unfortunately due to the inavailability of a proper camera and a phone that can either not flash or flash all out plus white plates and table cloth... the picture of the food were not at all appetizing... so lets skip it...

Food was actually quite good... unfortunately the highly recommended lasagne was my only complain.. haha!! perhaps not to my taste... but the risotto was particularly nice!!! Definitely a place to come again just to try the other stuff on the menu... :)

All in all a great ending to a not so great start of the day....

Happy Valentine's Day...

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Coming Full Circle...

I spent the entire day today researching on engine oil... what are the different properties... what makes them different.. why are certain oils not suitable for certain engines... all in all I was trying to understand the effects of not using the recommended engine oil and whether it would be detrimental? In my case, I found that it was.. coz the grade was too far off....

Anyhow, while I was doing this I realised how far I have come in my knowledge of vehicles...
Flashback 8 years ago...

It was in 2001... This was the year I got my first car... my daddy got me a second hand Honda Civic which was just a year older than me for my 20th birthday... I was the happiest kid on the block.. :D

Unfortunately, my car has a little problem of black oil leakage... so one fine day, when I checked, the black oil level was extremely low.. I decided I needed to top up... Off me and Elaine went to the Petronas nearby and this was what transpired..

Elaine (E) : I want to buy black oil...
Petronas Guy (P) : You mean engine oil?
E : No, I mean black oil..
P : Miss, there is no such thing..
E : Err... issit? Hmm...
P : Miss, I think what you need is engine oil..
E : Hmm.. err... okay, what colour is the oil?
P : Green
E : No, I need BLACK oil...
P : Miss, you need this..
E : Ohkay (full of doubt...)
*Elaine bought it anyway and brought to my car to top up*
E : The guy says this is what we need...
Me (A) : Ohkay..
*opens the bottle's seal...*
A : Elaine...!!! Why is it green?
E : The guy say this is the correct colour..
A : But I need black oil wor...
E : The guy say this is what we need...
A : Sure or not? (face full of doubt)
*Calls Ming (M)...*
A : Ming, my car needs black oil... but the guy at the Petronas gave me engine oil..
M : Correct ar..
A : Is it suppose to be green? I want black oil wor..
M : (laughs) Yes it is green.. and sometimes yellow...
A : But I wanted black oil wor..
M : It only turns blacks once it is in the engine..
A : Oh? Is it? So I put in ar..
M : Yes yes..
A : U sure ar...
M : Yes yes..
*so I poured it in and nothing went wrong to my relief*

Thinking bout this whole scene made me laugh out loud.. how ignorant I was... such a Bimbo.. haha!! I must have been an idiot then... and to think now I tinker with trucks everyday... even telling ppl what parts they required... hahah!!

I have truly come full circle....

Monday, February 2, 2009

Joke of the Day...

This happened to me last week and I found it so hilarious...

One fine day at work, I was in the office working and I got a call from home... Ai May called me and said "Aichin! You wearing wrong shoe.. you wearing my shoe..."(We have similar shoes)
I looked down and said "You sure?" She kept insisting and asked me to look at the heel... It's new.. so I did... Hmmm... looks new... and the shoe did seem less worned out as I previously remember.. so perhaps she was right.. So I said Ok Ok... Asked her to wear mine for the day..

So at nite, we went to dinner together and after dinner I started staring at her shoes.. they do not look like anything of mine.. Kinda ugly and flat which is not really how I like my shoes..Then I told her "Ai May, those are not my boots la..." but she kept insisting I was wearing hers... coz of the new heels... She said she just got them done...

Then *lightbulb moment*.... I asked..."when did you fix it?" and she told me the day after she got back to Malaysia... hmm...*another lightbulb moment*... "Are you sure you wore the right shoes to the cobbler?" Without a pause she say the shoes were from her car so it couldnt have possibly been mine unless I swapped it in Singapore which I didnt of course since I didnt wear it to Singapore... One final test question.. "Are you sure you didnt come into the house first with the shoes?"

Upon her face was the looked of enlightenment that has dawned over her... she went "Oooh... No wonder it felt so high.. .I was wondering why I buy such high shoes... then no wonder it was a bit unsteady to walk in (I tend to wear the outer edges more than the inner)... Hmmm... but I got it repaired wor.. and even got the guy to polish it (Now I know why it looked less worned in the offfice!)..." She was pouting and looking at my mum... hahaha!! that was just the funniest look.. She looked incredilous that she had mistaken my shoe for hers and actually got it all fixed up and polish...

I just looked at her and grinned... "Thank you Ai May!!! :D" hahaa!!! I got my shoes fixed and polished for free just coz my sis was blur enough to notice all the differences in the shoes and still think it was hers... Muahahaha!!! :D Farnie!!!