Quotable Quotes

"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be." (Charles "Tremendous" Jones)

This quote came just in time... Was a bit bitter these 2 days over some trivial incidents at work, and it caused quite a bit of unproductivity. As I think back now, I was a fool to lose focus of the bigger picture and felt slightly embarassed to have throw tantrums (even though subtly within the four walls of my room).

Alright, no time to lose....Hurry back to the drawing board to strategise and catch up on lost time.

Happy Father's Day

Sis is wondering what toy to buy for little b, coz she's trying to find a toy that's both "child-approve" and educational at the same time. Incidentally, Carmen got him a toy that I totally approve (2 thumbs up for being educational), but given a big "Nah..." by little b... You see, Carmen got him a "Human body" science set that comes with a real sethoscope and a human figurine with all the organs detachable for examination. Plus it comes with flash cards of question and answers about each body part, eg, "What creates the "lub-dub" sound that the heart makes?", "Apart from helping digestion, what is the other main function of the liver?, "How long does food stays in the stomach?", etc...I betcha didn't know those answers off hand, eh?

When I brought little b to choose his birthday gifts, did you know where I found him hanging around? The Bop-It shelf...!!! For those who have never seen a "Bop-It", it looks like this:

The Bob-It is meant for toddlers, to hone their motor skills, even though it is stated on the toy that it's for children aged 8 and above. Little b loves it because he has played with it before at a McDonald's party. And each time he plays with it at the toy store, I tell him that it’s kid’s stuff, to which he will cleverly retort, “I know, Mom, I just want to play here… not buy it!!!” He says it loudly, with all sincerity and innocence, and in front of other customers and shopkeepers… making it quite embarrassing because everyone will think that I taught the kid to play there and not buy....*^v^*

Talking about teaching, we went for a movie yesterday . And there was this kid, (umm, about 4-5 years old), sitting right behind little b. This little kid was a bit sick as we can hear him coughing away throughout the movie. And then, all of a sudden, he sneezed and coughed very hard (probably choked on his popcorn which he inserted through his nose)..... And with that sneeze, thousands and millions of his saliva droplets (probably with pheglm and do I need to mention germs) flew out from his sick mouth and nose, and conveniently dropping onto little b and myself!!!! It was so gross. It felt gross. Even thinking of it now makes me get goosebumps and my reflex automatically signals me to wipe my hair and arm again now.....

Bryan shouted “Yuks” and rub the back of his short hair in a vain attempt to clean himself of "cooties". My eyes took a quick dart to the back to catch a glimpse of the kid and his dad, and I noticed the parents just didn’t care and continued watching movie. So I took the cue from little b and fussed loudly, “Yer, so dirty! So much germs!!!” and started wiping little b and myself vigorously and frantically (on purpose). But the parents still didn’t care, especially the father.… just “buat tak tahu”. So I turned my head around to look at the parents, and the father pretended to be so engrossed in the movie that he did not to see me. I turned my body around to stare at the mother and I see her poking the husband to do something. I was aghast that the obnoxious father still didn’t care and continued watching the movie, without even caring to teach their son about hygiene and closing their mouth when coughing or sneezing. And one wonders how H1N1 spreads so fast in this country.

Only after I turn around to look at the mother again, did she manage a feeble “Sorry...” But still she didn’t reprimand the child and reinforce about hygiene. By that time, it was already too late, as the elapse time was already too long and the kid wouldn’t understand what he did wrong even if you scold him.

And best part is…the father still didn’t budge and was totally glued to the big screen, probably oogling at Mystic's figure. I guess he was just too engrossed in his Father’s day present (to watch X-men uninterrupted) to bother about anything else in the world. I wanted to shout at him “Happy Father’s day, I hope your son grows up to be a better father” …. But of course I didn’t…. coz I know better to care about other people's life.

Instead, I just turn around and told little b about the importance of hygiene and how yucky it would be if he was to sneeze like that kid… and just at that moment, a sneeze crept up into little b's nostrils.... and he covered it with 2 hands before he let go of a soft sneeze.

Bless you little b. Atta boy.... you made your Father's day happy just by being a good kid. :)

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.

Everybody gets a little lost sometimes...

Hmmm.... recently I got pleasant surprise call from my long time friend... A brilliant doctor, with a big heart. We were catching up and he was happy to learnt that i have move on to another company after being there for so long .... which led on to his curiousity to compare notes on how he is fairing among his peers. When I told him that I am earning only a little lesser than he does and he joked about how good it was to be in my position, where we dont need to spend so many years "studying" and still earn just as much...

Well, I reminded him that I don't get over time for all the hours I put in... (docs like him get to charge by the hours and earn quite a bit on overtime especially when on-calls).... And also reminded that he gave up being a specialist surgeon (the dough-generating profession) because chose life over money.... And also told him that we all are proud of him being a doctor because he's so self-less and is making the world a better place daily by just doing his daily job.

To which he agreed that he's one of the few good guys left out there... hahaha...

I hope I have somewhat helped to motivate him to reinforce that he has made the right decision to be a doctor all these while. Everybody gets a little lost or doubtful once in a while...on whether you have made a good decision, esp a decision that can impact your whole life or a good part of it..... and it's okay to discuss about it and find some supportive hands to nudge you back to your course of direction and push you along to reach your intented goal.

Just remember, that whether the decision is right or wrong, it was the best choice you made at the time of your decision. And whatever happens after that, is your effort to make that choice the best one that works for you. That itself will ensure the decision is always right... :)

Reflections

As I reflect on the past one year and my achievements, I find that I have indeed grown quite a plenty in such a short time. In just 6 months I manage to launch an innovative product to sell through the web, and I have 3 more products in the pipeline, with 1 already ready for launching. I have learnt to manage upwards, downwards, sideways, horizontally, vertically, diagonally,.... you name it, I've almost done it all. Perhaps I need 3D glasses to demonstrate the dimensions I've been thru ahahah... but I wont confuse you that much. To put it simpler, I have to manage up to the CEO level, and down to even the tea lady and guards, and have to deal with so many different types of customers, which spans from the highest level to the lowest level..., and also learnt to leverage on my peers strength and weaknesses... all these while taking care of and growing my own team. And then there's insource, outsource, hybrids of staff and equipment, thus rendering experience and decisions that can impact from just my notebook up to the nationwide WAN with our unique Active-Active data centre model. Of course, I have my shares of ups and downs, from lavish welcome lunches, appreciation dinners and team building karaoke session, to unwilling farewell buffets (our company culture dont encourage farewell celebrations so it's kept to a minimum). I also have the opportunity to tap into the purview of senior management and how they work especially on the running of a department, a division, a company and how an AGM is prepared and conducted. Also on how deals are negotiated, best practices incorporated into each process and how change management is implemented and controlled. While it may seem to many that we're a "one-leg kick" or master of all trades, but since most of us are handpicked from the best in the industry, many from multi national conglomerates, we came along with our best-practises and compliant processes to ensure the correct proceduce and processes are implemented and followed thru. We have seen the many pitfalls of processes not followed thru and how a simple breach or mistake of "convenience over procedure" can lead to huge financial lost and massive reworks and even lost of jobs. With our experience and background, we understand the meaning of "with great powers, comes great responsibilities". There's plenty of stories that I can tell, from just one year stint here, mainly because I clock in double the normal working hours. The culture have redefine the meaning of "working from home". I see a lot of "advertisement" in Facebook to encourage ppl to work from home and if you think "working from home" means less stress and less work, please re-examine your priorities and goals before you jump onto the bandwagon. People have asked me if all these are worthy since I am not paid a hell lot more for the time spent, but I tell them that it's not all about money when we work. It's about the passion to achieve your goal that will sustain your lifespan in the company. To have an inquisitive mind and the passion to learn to do things better and easier for all, to elevate others in order to elevate yourself, and to grow together with your company and career, .... that's some of the things that I have achieved or this company have given me the opportunity to achieve, which makes it all worthwile.... Of course, (in case my boss is reading this), having good (and higher) pay is definitely a bonus motivating factor... hahaha I hope with all my stories, I am able to inspire others, especially my family to be able to achieve a sense of passion in everything they do, to be able to sustain their morale to boost them to achieve thier goals.