tribute to Nelson

i do not miss nelson, but i hope that one day i will casually meet him, then to greet and thank him for everything he had taught me.

he taught me that it's ok to be scolded in front of everyone, to be scrutinized and to be laughed at. it's ok because people at higher ranking don't have time to think about the felings of others. it's ok because we learnt it the hard way. it's ok because someone is pointing out the mistakes that we made and not let us fall into the drain. 

he taught me that not all bosses are technically competent. sometimes, there are things that the bosses did not know and will accept whatever we say. but never to make assumptions or pull figures from air without any concrete explanations. better still is to have citations or references from  reliable sources. it's ok to assume because we do not know everything. and no one has ever written everything that is possible to know on earth. because each and everyday we will be encountering new things, new problems that need new solutions. in order to come up with new solution is to make assumptions on several things.

he taught me that most people are judgemental to the covers of books. impressions are important, make yourself look busy eventhough we may not at that time. make yourself smell good eventhough you have not taken a shower since forever. make yourself look articulate when explaining things eventhough you don't know everything. make yourself humble and prepare to ask opinions from others. someone who is smart on the outside may not be smart on the brain. but most people will perceive it that way if show yourself as being smart. you don't have to know everything to be smart but sufficient knowledge about general things are important. so read, all kind of things.

he taught me that shit happens and we just have to accept the fact we may not succeed all the time. shit happens but you shall not shit on others. be humble and be calm. 

he may not be the favorite among students, but he taught me well. 

economic recession

cyclical recession
1986, 1997 and 2008 - - - 2019

cyclical meaning that i will happen eventually after certain years. each recession happen for about a year of two and afterward the stocks will boom. it is a cycle. after the recession, business will grow again. so the best time to buy the stocks is during the lowest trough.

so i predict that the next recession will happen in 2019 during which the fuel price will go really up, very high because the sources are depleting. malaysia will be a net importer of oil and gas. inflation would be high as the prices of food and other things will increase due to high fuel cost. so business will slow down because people are saving for other important stuff. people prefer to stay and eat at home and thus restaurant will be empty.

hopefully by then the first nuclear in malaysia is ready to be commissioned so that we will not be scrambling for gas, LNG, coal or oil to generate electricity in our homes.

right here right now, i don't think that is happening, restaurant are still packed with crowds. that is why the government still denies that malaysia has yet been effected by the recession.

work

work makes a little time to spend for other things. my work can be really busy or too relax. but last week i was not busy but still have to go home late. it is not really because i want to stay back, but i had to. it is somehow fascinating to see how it takes four to six people working on just one presentation for several days. it happens all the time in my department, i wonder if the same thing happen elsewhere. so last week we had to finish several presentation to several parties, the CEO (2 presentations) and the ministry. it took the VP, the GM and other senior execs to finalize the presentations and I, being the lowest paid officer in the meeting room, i had to be the typist. but i did not care. i gained a lot and exposed to all sorts of stories in the industry. what makes it so long to finish the slides is that because these people like to discuss, gossip and make jokes in between. often times i could not join the laugh because i have no idea what they were talking about. for three days we were doing that i had to go home after dark. being there, i got to know more about the senior people in my division, how they are thinking, what are their dislikes and so on.

so at last finally, i had to print all the slides. once printed, it does not always mean that the job is done. it was printed yesterday because we were approaching weekend, and the VP would like to read over it in the weekend. luckily they were not thinking of continuing it during the weekends. so because the slides were pretty much all done and finalized, i had to print colored copies to the CEO. funny thing though is that i always assumed everything and takes thing easy. usually, whatever is for the CEO would be properly binded to become a book with hardcover so that it would make it as a good presentation to CEO. but because it was already late and dark yesterday, without thinking much I just stapled the slides once and gave it the VP. well i saw an alarming looks at her face for a second but then she went on saying about cost cutting measures due to the economic recession. the other senior execs were laughing and were backing up what she was saying. i was feeling a bit guilty at first and ready to accept any comment was also laughing at the remarks. COOL! i always know that it will be great working with this bunch. the senior execs were cool and not rigid about protocols.

so pay or salary is not always what motivates me to work. although the pay is not as high in other companies, it is not also the lowest. just nice in between. having high pay but awful working environment, i do not think i would be working there for long. when some people elsewhere are thinking about lay off due to economic recession, i was expecting a raise in a couple months. what is there to complaint? none.

even the traffic these days is easy due to school holidays. i have always been out from home 7.30 and arriving just before 8.

Nuclear for Malaysia

today i was finally convinced that Malaysia should go for nuclear for the sake of a sustainable future.

i used to be skeptical on why should we go for nuclear.

it is expensive and too complicated.

• too complicated meaning that we have to be very careful about the radioactive material.
  
• expensive because the construction of a nuclear plant would need a very comprehensive safety features in order to comply with international standards.
  
• expensive because only special material can be used to manufacture so many parts in the nuclear plant
  
• expensive because this is something very new and malaysia has to start from scratch
  
• too complicated because we do not have enough expertise in the area
  

indeed it is true that nuclear is expensive and complicated. so i ask why we need nuclear?

• malaysia need nuclear to generate electricity in the future. malaysia used to generate electrcity from oil. then oil is replaced by gas because oil is needed for other sectors such as transportation. and petronas need to make some money by exporting the oil. and anyway, malaysia will be net importer of oil in 5 or 6 years from now!
• gas is also running out. by 2019, petronas cannot guarantee a stable supply of gas for the power sector. part of gas has been processed as LNG and are committed for export to japan. since we lend so much money from japan, malaysia just cannot breach the contract of exporting LNG to japan.
• electrcity in malaysia is also being generated through coal. coal is supposed to replace gas when the supply of gas is limited. but malaysia imports all the coal from other countries. we know that china and india is also fighting for the supply of coal. the demand soared so fast that the price of coal is also moving up. 
• environmentally, coal is polluting the air that we breathe. without doubt we don't want anymore haze in KL or elsewhere in malaysia. thus we should not be using so much coal in our power plants. sooner or later, the international world may scrutinze our contribution to the pollution of the world and may be subjected to international sactions.
• what about the sun? solar panel and wind power? the source of energy from solar and wind is jsut not firm. it cannot provide base load power as such coal and gas can provide. indeed, we do not want to see unreliable source of electricity in the country. imagine no wind and no sun for a week. 
• if not nuclear, what option do we have to supply the electrcity being supply by gas and coal which constitute to about 90% of electricity generated today?
• another 10% is from hydro and other small projects (e.g biomass) and it is just not enough. 
• import power from sarawak? how much can we import lest the submarice cable from sarawak to peninsular malaysia fails. even if the cable is a success, peninsular cannot be relying on the interconnection alone. there must be backup from the local power generation.
• i began to wonder.. if not nuclear, what is going to replace the gas that is depleting. coal will be very hard to acquire in the future unless we are willing to pay a very high price. but i dislike coal because it pollutes the air.
• i wonder if we can create a new reliable source of energy.. as much as gas and coal is generating which could total up to over 15,000 MW!
• i ask, can we get the fuel to power up nuclear plant? uranium is still abundance. it can last up for at least 80 years or more once the technology advances. 30 tonnes of nuclear can generate about the same energy as 20 mil tonnes of coal in a year. and nuclear only need refueling every 18 months. that means that malaysia would have to import uranium only every two year. instead of coal which have to be delivered 2 or 3 tiimes a week!
• nuclear is not for now. but for the future. but the groundworks need to start now. because first timer need a lot to learn and will need approval from the world community as nuclear is a very sensistive issue.
• so if someone can provide a solution other than nuclear for the power generation in 20 years to come, we may need not to start with nuclear at all.
• i guess TNB has not find other solution than nuclear, that;s is why i think they are proposing it to the government.
• we should look for solutions that will cater us for many years to come and not just solution for few years.

so i believe that we need nuclear for the future and the government should start from now. 

Quantum Of Solace

Last night with Bond was fantastic and full with action. I had to squirm my eyes just because the explosions and glass shattering were so realistic that i only imagined that if I were to watch the Quantum of Solace in 3D (imax) I would be missing the whole actions because I would keep my eyes close most of the times.  

storyline is typical bond. bond would be chasing some bad guys only to unravel more evil plots. 2 hours. action packed with killings of the suspected bad guys because bond is just cold-hearted.

if you were to watch this movie, it is advisable to revise the story plot of the last bond movie: casino royale.

You Decide

Nov 4 every 4 years, America decides on the president of the glorious states of America.

Similarly, we have to make decisions each day. Few months ago when price of petrol shot up like crazy, we never thought that it would ever go down again, well, at least not at this level. Most people have decided during the high petrol price, to cut on traveling and thus one way or another hurts many other economies such as tourism, hotel business, airlines and commodities. One way or another, although some people said that the recession starts due to the credit crunch in the united states, i believe that somehow that the very high oil price have contributed to the slowness of the world economy. When people decided to use less petrol and carry out numerous activities to promote energy efficiency, the demand of oil starts to drop really badly. This is followed by the price of oil itself.

So people, we have decided to use less petrol, and now our decision have resulted in something that we have always wanted. So decide on something, and hope for the consequences!

I hope that we will continue to practice a very moderate use of petrol so that there will be no reason for the price to shoot up like crazy again.

Amidst the economic recession, several industries have managed to maintain business as usual or even continue making profits. They are the beer industries, tobacco companies and casinos. During times like this more people drink because they want to forget about the reality. More people smokes because they say they want to chill out. More people gamble because they believe and they feel that they will be lucky, hoping that they will be making easy money. and so i heard this morning, an advice given by someone in the business segment to buy on stocks from the three industries mentioned earlier. But are we not becoming the friends and families of evil by buying the stocks? You decide for yourself!

Petronas Salary (I envy)

I am happy for my friends who are working in Petronas. While every other companies is still negotiating their collective agreement (CA) to decide on the benefits and rights of the worker including salary, they have long enjoy their salary adjustment. Since fresh grads entering Petronas as an executive has to have a minimum salary of 3500, I believe my friends at Petronas is enjoying a rather high jump from 2500 starting salary before the management at Petronas approve the salary adjustment. As an oil and gas company, the workforce at Petronas is very desirable. Companies especially based in Middle East are waiting to grab their very opportunity to recruit the experienced employees of Petronas preferably after couple years of training provided by Petronas. I believe it is insane for the management to see that their workers are leaving the company to work at other places at an alarming rate, especially those with good skills. Therefore, they have offered several allowances for their workers. For example those working in the oilfield, or must I say working closely to find available gas field in the world, they are given an extra 1000 on top of their current salary. Other execs may enjoy less but htey still got some more pocket money on top of their basic salary. I believe it is the strategy of the management on retaining their existing workforce. Being a scholar of Petronas, my friend is bonded for ten years or else have to pay a huge amount of money just to breach the contract. Pity me, I wish I am a Petronas scholar. Currently, the management at petronas is still generous enough to give out loans to their employees so that they may buy house. 100% loan at the amount of the basic salary times 90. i hope the mangement of Petronas will ocntinue to do this in order to retain even more workers although it might hurt the company in the long run. In an attempt to reduce cost, my company has long ceased the benefit of giving loans to their employees. Instead, employess have to seek on their own, loans from banks or any financial institution and the company will only pay difference of interest rate that will otherwise give. Let say that the company used to give out interest of 4% for their workers to buy house. Thus with new regulation, the new worker will have to apply loan from bank, and the lowest which is given is 6%. Therefore, the difference of interest rate is 2%. Each month, after paying the installment of their loan, the workers will have to apply for the compny to reimburse the difference of 2% in the interest rate. Lots of paperworks and often times can be ver time consuming. I assume that the management aims for the workers to totally forget claiming for the reimbursement. I am not lucky I believe not being ble to enjoy 100% loan from my company to buy house. In this case, I would not beable to buy my dream house until i save enough money to coveer the downpayment and auxillary cost in buying the house. For the sake of my friends who is going to work in petronas, I hope that they will still be able to enjoy the full loan given by the company.

C H E A T E R !

I always feel cheated after paying for a meal in a restaurant. Especially, when looking at the expensive charges that they charged for a meal that I do not think deserve the charges they charged. Especially those restaurant preparing the so called western food. Yeah, I know that they served something from the west. It is western OK, but the price does not have to be converted based on the western currency. This is because I know, and they know that everyone knows that the ingredients that they used to make their meal are not imported from any country that they claimed the dish is from. Clear example is to charge a meal of hamburger with fries more than 10 ringgit! All we know that the cost of preparing the dish is less than 2 ringgit! why? because everything is not imported, it is bought locally. Logically, the price of the aforementioned dish is supposedly 4 ringgit, to account for the cost of labor and taxes including profit. but Malaysian is becoming more generous to the restaurants. All they say is that they are willing to pay more price to eat better food. Is it really a better food? Maybe or maybe not, you decide for yourself. Unlike Americans, in few days, they will be deciding on who will becoming the next president. So if Americans can decide to choose on what they want, we Malaysian can also decide to boycott those restaurants with impractical prices. hopefully if nobody goes to their restaurant, they will get the hint to lower the prices of their dishes.

Mistakes

Being human, we often make mistakes. 

But being human, we must understand that human make mistakes.

No human is angelic or God-like.

It's better to make mistakes, because we learn from mistakes.

I am lucky to have sub-ordinates as well as superiors that undertand this. 

That I am also a human being.

Being human, I also make mistakes.

But I must learn not to make the same mistakes more than once.

If I repeat the same mistakes, it is the time when people feel really pissed off and explode.

I will be very dissapointed if I repeat the same mistake.

So I learn to write my mistakes somewhere I can read and see.

Make a note or anything, so long as I will remember.

Remember remember that we always forget.

The puny little things in life that could have big impact afterwards.

So learn to remember!

Working Month: November

November comes. I realize that there would be no public holidays in November.

That means that I will be working the whole month! In fact, there are so many datelines due in November. 

Since the price of gasoline dropped, more cars are seen on the streets. I spent hours on the street trying to enjoy the weekend. There was no accident, no cars broke down or even people working on the street but it was just about the humongous amount of cars on the street. Too many cars on the street should not hinder the smoothness of the traffic because the streets are with 3 or 4 lanes. Then it must be because of the flaw in the design. There are exits and entries which is not efficient. At the MRR2, there are exit which is right after an entry. Dude! that is totally lame because it should be exit first then followed by entry. Come on planners, it is commmon sense. When cars are entering the highway at the exact point of cars exiting the highway it causes massive traffic jammed. It happens everyday especially during peak hours. 

At other point of MRR2, three-lane become two-lane and then three-lane. I believe it is just mere stupidity to do that because it causes bottleneck at the point when the three lanes becomes two lanes. MRR2 has helped to ease traffic in the city but the design is just sheer impractical at some places. ~Sigh.

If there is no any real need to drive my car, I won't just go driving during the weekend. Let them all waste their gas and suffer the congested road during the weekend. 

KL is becoming crowder and crowder each day.

The LRT/Komuter is too crowded during the peak hours. Often I have to wait for several trains to get in and reach my destination. Often people would just push their way in because everyone is in a hurry. Often it feels really stuffy inside the train because it is just too packed. In the evening, I often ran out of breah because everybody smells, really bad!

Similarly, so is the bus. Too crowded to just feel alive going to work.

Therefore, I have to drive every morning. Going through AKLEH, it feels much better. I would rather spend some more money so long as I feel the solace and serenity going to work and coming back home, may Allah forbids that it becomes too congested.