Thursday, February 26, 2009

Happy Birthday, Kak Uda!



The lady of the house, my lovely Kak Uda. Happy birthday, sayang. Nurul Atikah Athirah - very kind and helpful, loves by many. That is you. We already celebrated her birthday together with Kakak's in U-Bowl last Saturday. Today is officially her birthday. Our lives change when she born. From a gloomy 1999, very bad recession, I was unemployed for 2 years, she came to bring in lights for us. Born today in 2000 (26 March 2000), second girl to the siblings, suddenly our lives change. From a total difficulty, to having some breathing room, to having bigger space to move. Nicked as DeDe, very huggable and oh... so many cute things about her. A very big fan of Hannah Montana! Bang Ngah kata, DeDe is the most characteristically suitable to take over my business when she grows up.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

To be URBAN?

Speaks and writes (read: blogging) in English, no matter how broken your English is, you are licensed to curse and use all types of 4 letter words without feeling guilty! That does not include the modified cursing words (darn, shoot, F you, etc). Just browse through any blog which uses English partly, brokenly, as a whole, intermittently or even one liner. If you cannot find any of the words, I will cut my finger nail short! Listen to our children converse. They use bad words freely. Words like stupid, darn, damn, bullshit, shit, whatde is like their breathing in and out.

When I was in Secondary 5, I remember a boy was held up in a DC (detention class) by Mr. Surjit Singh (my English language teacher) for saying 'damn' to him. It was a serious matter then, and it should also be now. We try to be more American than the Americans by imitating their culture, allowing such words to be in our platter. But why imitate the bad ones? To be URBAN?

Ada satu malam tu (cakap melayu pulak lah), I was at 7 Eleven Taman Tun. (I have to mention TAMAN TUN because orang kat situ memang berlagak konon-konon they are more civilised than other people residing in other area. Peeeerah!) Ada sorang 30 something mother, colored hair, pakai fit tee with pyjamas bottom, talking to her about 3 y.o son, inside the 7E, in a B# Major Scale (try play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star using that scale! Sounds horror, high pitch tapi ala-ala malu gitu) and in English! Anak dia selamba aja jawab dalam bahasa Melayu, (that proved that their language at home is Bahasa Melayu, kids tak pandai bohong) tapi she is trying very hard to impress to other people (by talking in B# Major Scale) that she is 'just like other Taman Tun residents', converse in English like-water-one, walaupun intonasinya sangat lah kelakar. Ahh... pllease lah! I am already 44 years old and wise enough to understand not only English language, but also body language and tone language. Apa masalahnya kalau cakap Bahasa Melayu? Oh, that makes you less Taman Tun than other Taman Tun-ers? However, not to discourage. Boleh lah converse in English (I mean broken Manglish) tapi DO NOT TRY TOO HARD! WHEN YOU TRY TOO HARD, JADI KELAKAR DAN SANGATLAH MENJENGKELKAN! And that lady, I know she is from Sungai Penchala.

By the way, English is NOT our mother tongue. Malaysian speaks and writes Bahasa Melayu. Shame on you if you cannot speak the language correctly.

Kalau nak jadi URBAN pun, janganlah sampai kelakar. Kalau dah kelakar macam tu, apa barang?

Friday, February 20, 2009

Bitten by the travel bug

I have been very positive about this from the beginning. There's always opportunities in every crisis. Amir-Husiners, lets grab what we can!

February 19, 2009 Thursday

Carolyn Hong finds out why some M'sians are still holidaying this recession. IN KUALA LUMPUR, BUFFETED by endless political crises and dreary economic news, some Malaysians are seeing holidays as a much-needed respite despite having to tighten the belt.

Hard times or no, both Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia have both reported a sharp spike in bookings during their travel promotions this month. This comes amidst a stream of gloomy news as government data shows manufacturing sales sinking 21 per cent in December from a year earlier, exports down 15 per cent, and imports sliding 23 per cent.

Malaysia Airlines, which held a 10-day sale, said its online bookings tripled. It said the response has been "overwhelming" although it did not provide the exact number of sales. The top five destinations are Sydney, Melbourne, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. AirAsia, which held a 500,000 free seats promotion, said it sold 279,000 seats on last Tuesday alone, its highest ever in a single day. About 40 per cent of these came from the promotion.

Times may be hard, but some travelers say they need the holiday to keep sane. A political aide, who does not want to be named (for obvious reasons!) said he recently booked a trip to two-week trip to New Zealand in May because "I need a break from the crazy politics of this country." "I need to get away, somewhere, anywere, it doesn't matter," he said. He felt that it would be money well spent, especially as fares are cheaper than last year.

The competition between Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia has driven prices down, while fuel surcharges have also been scrapped or lowered as global oil prices plunged. "It seems like a bargain to fly nowadays so it is very tempting to go on holidays all the time," said executive Ms Sarah Hussin, 32, who is going to Australia soon, and London in a few months. This is besides the short weekend hops to nearby destinations. Travelling with her husband and young daughter, she said she hasn't really been affected by the economy, and felt that she should travel while she could. "I may regret it later but I think I can still afford to treat myself for now," she said.

The travel bug is still biting, it seems.

Copyright Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

My friend from Delhi, Ruchi.

This quote is from Ruchi, a friend from New Delhi.

"Not all battle are meant to be fought and not all points are meant to be proven. Some things in life are just meant to be."

Thanks Ruchi.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, Kakak!

Its Friday the 13th and it's Kakak's birthday. Happy Birthday, Kak. Similar to other birthdays in the family, we celebrate Kakak's birthday just among us - 8 of us, and Eight is Enough. Just the normal thing - a cake, singing crazy birthday songs, making fun of each other and taking family picture.



No present, no invitees. We don't do that. If it happened someone come to our house during that time, then we might have guess. If not, its just us. We just love being us. Tengoklah video kat bawah masa nyanyi birthday song untuk Kakak.



As I said, no present for the birthday boy/girl. I regularly give presents to my children, doesn't matter what day it was. But she got her's. Not from anyone of us, but from herself. That make it more special and valuable. She got an award from the school in the school's Anugrah Pelajar Cemerlang today.


Kakak is my first child born outside Perlis, 4th in the family. The name is a combination of my name and the mother's name - Amirah. I know my wife loves this name very much, she even wrote that name as her's in her namecard EVEN before we got married. My first daughter before she got another 2 younger sisters. A very caring kakak, she takes care of the sisters especially on the education side. A very well respected kakak among the siblings (even by the elder brothers). Quick and smart, active and sporting.

She is now a teenager. My daughter is a teenager now. I pray she can take care of herself, I know she would. This morning, I attended the award ceremony, very proud to see her walk on stage to receive her award. Tears drooling when I took picture of her. She holds the record in the family - 4 consecutive years walking on stage during Hari Anugrah Pelajar Cemerlang. She almost did it all by herself. After the ceremony, there is makan-makan. I just don't feel like eating (I seldom take early breakfast, so it's too early for me) so I waited outside the school compound. Few minutes later, she came and pulled me inside. She said "Jom lah Pa kita minum. Tak best lah takda Papa. Orang lain semua ada Papa, kakak aja tak da. Jom lah!" Don't worry, my princess. I am always your Papa and Papa will always be there for you. I love you, kangkung!

And tonight, Kak Uda will be going for her first Scout Camping. It's gonna be the first night ever we would not have DeDe with us. Have fun, darling.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Kesian Minsha.

Scenario:
1. I lost the credit card in Mumbai sometime back in February 2008
2. Reported it immediately from Mumbai, the call back home to the credit card centre cost me RM180 (talking time is 2 minute, the rest is for waiting time)
3. Transferred all outstanding balance of about RM430 to another card from the same bank.
4. Now, the lost card is reported, instruct to cancel the card (since I have transferred all outstanding to another card) and don't want replacement when the bank offered.
5. Fine and well from February 2008. No credit worry. No Credit Card Statement in the mailbox.
6. In October, bank call said I have RM4,800 outstanding balance. I explained that I have canceled the card in February. Explanation 'seemed' to be understood.
7. In December, legal department of the bank called. Saying I have an outstanding amount of RM9,000 to be settled. I re-explain about the situation, that I have canceled the card in February, I haven't heard anything about the account until October, contesting why the bank honor unauthorised charges and seeking their help to fax me what are the things I 'spent' on! The officer promised to call me back in 30 minutes, but never heard of him again.
8. Friday 6 February 2009, 11:30am : ring ring goes my handphone

Me: Hello

She: Amiruddin, saya Minsha dari legal department HLB. Awak tak bayar dah RM9,000 ni. Akaun awak dah tertunggak lama. Kalau awak tak bayar sebelum Selasa depan, akaun awak saya akan pass ke collection agency dan legal action akan start.

Me: (Cilaka gampang punya budak. Kurang hajar. Tak reti bahasa. Dahlah main terjah aja, panggil pun Amiruddin aja. If my name is Lim Chong Sia, will she call me Lim on the first instance or will she address me as Mr. Lim? Ba*i betul) Boleh tak you tolong check dulu akaun saya dan trace all the report yang saya dah buat. Saya dah report lost dah card ni, Februari 2008 lagi. Statement pun saya tak pernah dapat dah. Benda ni saya dah cakap kat officer you yang call saya haritu. Lagipun, kan all your call in is being recorded. Boleh tak you check dulu your fact sebelum terjah I macam tu?

She: Tapi Amiruddin, akaun awak dah tertunggak. Kalau awak tak mampu bayar semua, awak bayar lah RM280 dulu.

Me: (she is challenging me, challenging my pride, she got my weakest point..da*n) Bukan masalah mampu tak mampu. Masalahnya, I have disputed the account on the first occassion. Then again, you people did not act anything on it that the account was again being charged in November. Bla...Bla...Bla... Lain kali kalau nak cakap, get your facts right. You from legal department?

She: Yes

Me; You keja kat situ jadi klak (clerk) ke, manager ke, atau lawyer kat situ?

She: Saya officer.

Me: Then ask your Manager to speak to me! Itupun kalau his IQ is more than 110.

She: Tapi En. Amiruddin, akaun ni dah nak keluar surat saman. En. Amiruddin kena settlekan cepat.

Me; (hmmm... now you call me En. Amiruddin!)

The rest is just between the bank and I. Minsha, (dan yang seangkatan dengannya) lain kali cakap baik sikit. Kita orang Melayu, kaya dengan budi bahasa. dan kita orang Melayu, kaya juga dengan kata keji. You can find me the extreme of those twos. Awak berbudi bahasa dengan saya, saya sepuluh kali berbudi bahasa dengan awak. Awak berkata keji, saya sepuluh kali lagi keji. Jadi, berhati-hati! Kesian kat awak, kena free-free aja dengan saya.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Kiss My A**!

I have many things already included in my Vibrational Bubble. One of it is a program called Man And Mercy Unfold (M.A.M.U) Yeah... I lost it today because of some untruthful demeanor. I am not going to cry even though I know it shouldn't happened that way. The truth will prevail. I got to be positive in life. I am an avid follower of Law of Attraction. The LOA does not care whether I am remembering, pretending, celebrating, playing, creating, complaining or worrying. It simply responds to what's in my Vibrational Bubble. I take time to appreciate anything that happened in my life because appreciation and gratitude helps to offer strong, positive vibrations. Its the feeling that's attached to it - that is important. I have sooooo many da*n good things that already included in my VB, and I am appreciating every each of them. The LOA responds to how I feel about what I say and how I feel about what I think. Negative thoughts is TOTALLY out of my way. Those who try to implant those negative things, by pouring negative feeling into my life (including hacking into my M.A.M.U), KISS MY A**! And if you do that just because you feel lonely and got nothing to do, GET A DOG! I am what I want to be (and give my M.A.M.U back!)

Tralala lali laley! Suwa suwey kemoning...Istimewa Rajaaaa! Woooooooooooo hoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Kitorang makan orang!

I have many friends – close and not so close. My approach in friendship is very simple. I do unto others as I want others do unto me. It is a simple concept of balancing. For every debit, there must be a credit, if not your Balance Sheet won’t get balance. That is not only an accounting equation thought to me by Autar Singh, it is very much applicable to our normal life, especially when friendship is concern. However, the ‘do unto others’ concept shall also be read as ‘do unto others as others do unto you’. Then, the equation is in a full cycle. I cannot be an apologetic much all the time. I will stand to my own pride (doesn’t matter I am right or wrong) most of the time. I am hard-headed person.  I can afford to take ‘wouldn’t care less’ approach if I want to. I am also a rebellious type whom will do the unthinkable to shoot back. It hurts a lot, cuts both ways. (Sometimes, I am the one who was cut deepest). Those who are not so good is being eliminated along the process. Emmm... I am also being eliminated from their list! Its fair and square. I guess, that is why I only have good friends.

Kitorang tak kacau orang, tapi kalau orang kacau kitorang, kitorang makan orang! - Usop Sontorian

p/s today, I eliminated 64 (out of 1023) numbers (and names) from my Nokia’s phone book as part of housekeeping process. 

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Happy Birthday, Long!

Today is Long's birthday. He wanted a coffee cake, and coffee cake I will buy. Happy birthday Long. Papa hope you will be successful in whatever future endeavor you undertake. I recall the day you were born 17 years ago, I was on cloud nine. It was the happiest moment. Remember everytime when Papa goes to the office, you will give me leaves or sticks or whatever within your reach, for me to take with me, because you said, "Papa ingat Jen". I never forget. In fact, from the day you were born until today, you and your brothers and sisters are my reasons for being. Remember those nights before sleep, you will be rubbing my shoulder. You just simply cute and adorable. Remember we played A Ayam, A Atas, A Arnab, and I will play a looser sometime? Remember moments when we played horse, I can still hear your laughter while riding on my back. Remember your first day in Kindergarten, I will be sitting outside the whole day for a week? Now you are 17. Not long before you will be independent. It is a long journey to go. But just remember, I will always be there for you. Papa love you.

What a relief!

Finally I conveyed my new organisation structure to my first liners! Hesitated but what a relief!

Finally I agreed to the new Group Restructuring! Sad but what a relief!

Finally I fired ONLY one staff! Felt bad but what a relief!

Finally I approved the increment! Wooohooo, they deserve it!

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

To all kaki menempek!

I don’t like traveling on Air Asia. The service is bad, very bad. But that doesn’t mean I will hate the CEO of Air Asia – Tony Fernandez. Or put it the other way around. I can hate Tony Fernandez but if the service of Air Asia is good, I would not hesitate to fly on it. It is two different things altogether. Tony, from my point of view is a very and pure entrepreneur. He change the conventional way of doing business to a more out-of-the-box kind of thing. The hoo-haahs about him and Air Asia lately is more political in nature rather than commercial. Which businessman on earth wouldn’t want to make as much profit possible? Bring in the social responsibility ‘rhetoric’, but the bottom line is still to make money – for the shareholders, for the staff and for themselves! Kalau tak untung, don’t talk about social responsibility. It is an open market, especially with the offerings of low cost traveling by Air Asia, the choice is with the consumers. How Tony Fernandez and his team maneuver Air Asia, that is their creativity. The risk is theirs. The repercussions are theirs. People say, he got his way through back door. People say he is a crony to some political figure. People say he is a puppet to some foreign investor. So many ‘people say’s about him. But, guys, he is a businessman! Ask yourself, if you have that opportunity, wouldn't you want to grab it? And tell me, how many people who know big people, but a total failure when come to business? I know a lot. I have few friends who called themselves ‘6 Budak Jahanam’ who claimed that they play big role in determining the top political party leadership. They claimed they know this Menteri and that Menteri. These people claimed, they not only know those Menteris, but close to them. I believe what they say. They have those Menteris handphone numbers in their phone book. They have ‘sms’es sent by those Menteris in their inbox, calling by names. I travel with them and the Menteris quiet often. But when come to Hari Raya, they will flock into my office, showing their tak malu face, asking for duit raya. When new year come, when school is about to start, they will flock again into my office, showing their muka tak malu, asking for help ‘sebab anak nak masuk sekolah’. Their business hancur. Dapat kontrak Kelas F, total sub kat orang lain. Sometimes, they didn't even know where their project site is. And these people yang mengutuk sangat kat Tony Fernandez. Ini semua pasal jealous lah! Fine, there are things that Tony does seems to be crooked, but hey, he is trying his luck! Kalau dia tak cuba, dia tak tahu. The problem with you people is that, you all tak nak mencuba, harap duit jatuh dari cucur atap. Knowing big people doesn't mean you can be successful. Kenal menteri tak ada makna kalau kita tak ada kekuatan sendiri. Kaki menempek. Upah dengar 25%! Grow up boys, so that you can think!

Monday, February 02, 2009

I know what I did during CNY.

Economy slowdown has shown its face. Let it be... let it be... The slower it gets, the deeper it goes, the more opportunity to come. I am planning for a major restructure of my organisation. By this I hope to capture as much as I can market share in my business. And also to operate at the most effective and efficient level. So, during CNY holiday, I took the opportunity to think and plan. Amir-Husiners.... be aware! Non performers, moonlighters, should be scared... real scare! And some people will be enjoying promotion! We will play it hard this time!

I also took CNY holiday (school break for 10 days) to be with my children. Memang best giler. Dah lama tak lepak dengan anak-anak. I use to see them playing Rockband 2, look interesting but never had a chance to join. So, CNY holiday is the time. Baru mereka tahu siapa Papa mereka! Ex-Rocker 80an. Rock kapak. :-). I scored 97% on drum Expert Level and 232 longest streak for Livin' on the Prayer - Bon Jovi. (tak kisahlah walaupun level of difficulties drum tu cuma 0, but still...it is on expert level!) So, it was jamming session everyday from 9 - 11 pm. (err... sometimes until 2 in the morning. errrr... sometime starting from 3 pm. err... ok..ok... most of the time!) To those yang ada Rockband 2, search our team - 32LRK2 - online. Long usually on guitar (I'll beat you on perfect solo next time!), Ngah like a pro on drum, Teh singing and drum, Kakak singing, drum and bass, Kak Uda on drum (should see her drumming - she makes it look so simple), Anek singing and me - Papa Rock - on drum! Wooohoooo!

Another thing, every night during CNY, my youngest daughter, Anek, sleep with me! Wooohooo! Eventhough she regularly sleeps with me, but she already slept when I came home. I can smell her nice fruity smell hair. I can play with her silky soft hands. I can pat-pat on her back before she gets to sleep. I can tell her favourite bedtime stories - Intan. He he. (After this, Intan will go blind, lepas tu kan....)

Tapi, Ngah and Long tak sihat during CNY. At the same time, their tuition classes going on as usual. Kak Uda pulak kena demam campak, after kakak had it a week before. So, banyak program yang dah dibuat terpaksa cancel. (Nak duduk kampong lama-lama. Nak pegi Melaka for holiday. Etc etc)

January is over. My new hair look starts to get noticed. Fadzli influence me to keep this style. Abg Mamu said I lost my 'macho'ness. He he. My son said I look like a "Pak Cik pakai kain pelikat, datang batuk-batuk, nak join jamming". My daughters like it. Ibrahim (my barber) has come back after his long 2 months holiday. He has his first touch to my hair yesterday, trimming the unnecessaries. But most importantly, I feel good with myself. Below is my new look (after get trimmed by Ibrahim yesterday) My niece, Ene, is getting married soon. Keazaman berlipat kali ganda nak simpan rambut lain sikit masa wedding. He he.