Post-election blues

Many of my Malaysian brothers and sisters mourn the death of democracy today. The impossible truth of the incumbent government having all the 'resources' have been proven true.

Today, I voted. Being a first time voter, I spent the final night reading and watching videos of our politicians. Not having the time to read up on politics, I realised my lack of knowledge in it, or rather the lack of interest. All I know is, Malaysia can be a better place. As a fresh grad, I often look at my friends in the UK which jaw dropping expression whenever they purchase a new ride, a new house, or go on an expensive holidays.

Are we not equals? What is so different about what I am doing compared to them? And why are they making not twice, but up to five times more than I do? We studied together, they paid incredibly low fees, we all got equally good results, we got equally good offers, so what is the differentiator?

That their government, despite still being in recession has reaped in so much benefits post-war and oil era that Malaysia is not able to do?

Anyway, back to jumping around vessels tomorrow. 

My bus-setting lifestyle

I often wonder, how is the world so unfair? Basically, whoever that is the first to touch the monetary transaction will be rewarded the most, leaving little for the rest. This happens across industries and governments. It is always the financial-related people who gets the first cut.

In my opinion, this is certainly unfair and the highest reward should be given to the manufacturer, the team behind the products. Without any products, there will not be any monetary transactions. The oil traders, the financial analyst... how many times have you heard a scientist or engineer that makes more than bankers? I may be bias in this as I'm an engineer but the amount of work engineers put in, its properly blood and sweat whilst the pretty-boys strut their stuff in nice offices and designer suits.

The agricultural industry, one that is more important than anything else, is again, the least profitable. As sustainable as it may sound, it is a far cry from the oil and gas industry or the electronics industry.. nevermind the financial district that keeps their profit and allow the public to bail them when they are in trouble. Hence, you lose the best people to these less-important industries. Only 3 out of 10 top students in my uni became an engineer. You often wonder how would the world move forward without bright engineers.

Whilst the others are on jet-setting lifestyles, I am on a bus-setting lifestyle. Mainly for the commute between home and Kuantan on weekends, or the occasional Singapore trip to visit my friends. The past 3 months have been amazingly fun ! I have had so many trips to Sg and back to KL over weekends.

Besides jumping from one vessel to another and trying to out-muscle our fitters, I am trying to utilise my nights in Kuantan ! (checked-meeting new friends, doing more work. need to check-golf, cima, business plan...)

So little time, so much to do. 

The wandering eyes, or being too observant..

Malaysians are known to be attentive and observant - well, at least I think so.

I remember hearing many people commenting about Malaysians holidaying by the beach, our eyes wander and lock in on attractive and scantily clad ladies. You can view that as being too attracted, or being disrespectful depending on how you look at it.

My personal opinion is the latter: at the rate our eyes are going, it feels not just disrespectful, but often annoying. I had a recent encounter when I was out with 2 foreign friends of mine. Not only did we get stares, but followers @@!#!?

It felt like the locals have not seen any foreigners before, rightly so they've not but the stares were too annoying and I sincerely hope my guests were not offended by it. I was not too worried for myself, as I was constantly engaging in conversations with them.

Not too much we can do unless to change the mindset of the locals. And as long as foreigners are not too offended by us, they should continue to be our source of income - tourist.

When you heart does a flip

As i stroll slowly in Giant Kuantan... yes Kuantan, looking for mineral water to buy for the plant boys tomorrow. My funds were running low this month so maybe I should skip buying this for them although i haven't exactly spent them anything yet for helping out...

Anyway, now I owe them a big thank you because I saw a pair of attractive twin. They were of Ukraine background and they were absolutely gorgeous. More motivation to work now. 

Ethical Savings

Rule of the game: save for your company on your entitlements or enjoy it ?

As we undergo restructuring and cost savings across the board in many companies, one would think that it is helpful and ethical to save for your company. The savings I'm talking about is the employee entitlements. This will be in monetary form whether its savings on hotels, trips, flight tickets, etc.

Unlike the actual cost savings you help the company with that shows up in the p/l or better known as reflection on the bottom line; these cost savings gets a different stand altogether. The actual cost savings can be done with more effective management, better reliability an yields. What are your opinions on this?

I've had many experiences throughout my time as a student, a society contributor, a budding entrepreneur-wannabe and most recently as an employee. The fact is, the few hours you put in to try find the extra option of equal quality - well within your entitlement of course, may not be worth it. After all, your job description and handbook does not asks for you to save in your entitlements, rather, it asks for you to enjoy your privilege.

A simple example could be that, you were entitled for X trip but you chose Y route because its more cost effective but Y route is not the norm. Learning through the hard facts of life had me taken steps of precaution whenever dealing with these. It's in my nature to save for my benefactors, but was it worth it? Did they see it as a positive effort from your side? On the contrary, I've faced many sceptic eyes, been known as bossy, been told to just do my job etc. It hasn't gone down well for me. Not only are you not recognized for your effort to save cost for the company, you are labelled as the guy who gives us more work, try to rework the process and more negative remarks. It sums up our Asian upbringing: keep quiet and do your job.

Hence, I've summed up a conclusion in my own opinion and experiences, to only save in the form of business for the company, and NOT/NEVER on your entitlements. After all, you are entitled and the contributions you put in is a tradeoff for this. What are your thoughts? Save only when it is reflected on your p/l or save altogether whenever you can?