AlwaysWoW! For a Great Great WoW in Life

Moving on-- Farewell to a Blog

2005-01-06T21:01:00.000+08:00

Let's move on to http://www.alwayswow.com. Is AlwaysWoW becoming more serious? I don't know but may be a new platform deserves a more serious approach? Actually, I don't think so. AlwaysWoW means to have fun in doing things, looking at things differently as well, challenging old thinking and including and learning new ones.

But serious: I had fun at http://www.Blogger.com. Naively, I opened the account back in January 2002 – so now, I am a three year member of Blogger.

I did so because at that time, I opened a lot of accounts in the Internet, most of them for free. The account wasn't used for a long time, but one day in June 2003, I sat down to write something about a great restaurant that I visisted with my family, which employed really boring waiters and waitresses.

Writing words without thinking much (has it changed at all, since?). Innocent as I was, it didn't work straight away in the very first beginning. Since my thinking was such that I thought Blogger knows all, they will also know my challenges and come back to me without I asking them. That was my thinking, and of course, nobody came to help me. But normally they responded when I faced a problem or challenge. Sometimes they helped me straigthen out my blog again - thanks, guys!!

It took a while before I wrote more frequently, and well, my interest in customer experience shaped my thinking and how this blog developed. It took a very long time for me to also start manipulating the template, and to integrate a visitor counter for example, or Haloscan – recently I already changed my old profile to the current one. I did so once, and hey, it messed up my blog so badly that I didn’t change anything for a long time. The nice piece, however is that I learnt or re-learnt a bit of HTML. I am sometimes sitting with books and study and change and test and retest. Awesome. But I digress.

Sometimes in beginning of this year, I discovered Petaling Street and naturally, I wasn't able to post things first.

Thanks to Aizuddin, who helped me in the beginning by explaining how to post posts I was able to post. From that time onwards, I wrote more entries. But from the beginning I planned to have an upgraded service. Blogger always replied to my respective inquiries that such service is planned, but it never came. Over time, I discovered other, great blogs in the US and elsewhere and realized that I want my own upgraded blog more and more. I started by registering alwayswow as domain in May 2004, not too late since about a week later, someone reserved the .net version.

All I all, I wrote 223 entries in the Blogspot post – and according to my profile, this makes a total of 66,442 words. On average, I posted one article per week, but than, my blog was dormant for a long time. And oi – I just discovered that since I have a profile on my blogspot 391 visitors looked at it – and this is one that has only be recently made available.

Now, again, it is time to move over – here we come alwayswow.com. I have to apologise to those that link to me but would like to ask them to change their links to this new location and follow me to my new experience.

Continued at alwayswow.com.

Strong quake strikes off Indonesia's coast?

2005-01-06T13:06:00.000+08:00

Another one? I just found this in the China Post.

It says:

"A 5.6-magnitude earthquake has hit near the site of last week's tsunami-inducing quake off Indonesia's coast, the Hong Kong Observatory said Thursday.

The latest tremor, recorded Wednesday night, was centered about 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of Banda Aceh, the capital of the Indonesian province hit hard Dec. 26 by a 9.0-magnitude quake and resulting tsunami, the observatory said.

It wasn't immediately clear if there were any casualties from Wednesday's earthquake."

Bush donates US$10K in Tsunami Aid

2005-01-06T08:59:00.000+08:00

Donating is fine. It is known that Americans like to donate a lot of money. I believe that this is okay, since they are living in the richest country in the world, and I appreciate it.

I also believe that it is important that corporations and politicians open their wallet and donate whatever they can. Goodness, in the end, this is for their own sake - if the countries affected by the Tsunami overcome the crisis quickly and the population starts having a living again - in hotels, hawkers, souvenir shops - business will profit as well.

There is an article in Yahoo that celebrates Bush for donating US$10,000. Great - thank you. It will help, no doubt about it.

But than there is this one little piece in the setting that makes my stomach feel sour:

"Scott McClellan, White House press secretary, told reporters traveling with Bush to Illinois that the president — himself a multimillionaire — has written checks to several organizations listed on a Web site set up to direct Americans to various reputable charities collecting private contributions for tsunami relief."

Thank you, Mr. President, for your generosity. US$10,000 might be a lot for many people, but considering your pocket, I believe a larger amount would have been nice. Well, may be it is coming, after a further assessment by the President. Remember, the US only pledged US$35 million in the beginning, only to quickly increase the sum tenfold after being criticised by the international community.

Comment:

I was criticised that I criticise the President for giving so little from his big pocket. Aizuddin says: "What disturbs me is that the size of individual and organizational (corporate) donations in aid for the victims of the tsunami have become an issue. So-and-so has not done enough. So-and-so has done so much. My donation is bigger than yours. My donation is more worthy."

That is true - my comment sounds like a non-WoW. But such is life. I believe that sometimes, it is okay to give a lot of money, and that money can move mountains. President Bush is a leader and leaders set examples. He could have shown that despite all the negative criticism that is thrown at him, he is able to open up and give a lot of what he can give. He could have set some records straigth. But first was the case that the UN had to criticise the US for the small amount of donations, before financial assistance started to flow. And now, secondly, the President stays behind. I wrote before in another entry, that some get it, some don't. You chose which one President Bush is.

Fine, Mama

2005-01-05T15:19:00.000+08:00

Latest since Allan Pease and Barbara Pease published their book "Why Men Lie and Women Cry" do people know that men's communication structure differs dramatically from women's. Well, many people knew it before but they got it confirmed scientifically.

My boy doesn't differ too mcuh from this - only that he is able to ask lots and lots of questions. So, on Monday, when he sits in the car with my wife, he starts to ask her:

"Mama, how are you."

My wife responds.

"Mama, what did you do."

My wife responds. And he keeps talking but after a while he gets quiet. Than he says.

"Mama, you haven't ask me, how was school today!"

My wife asks: "And, how was school today?"

My kid responds: "Fine."

My wife asks: "What did you learn?"

My kid responds: "I don't know. I forgot already."

Tables and desks remain empty

2005-01-04T17:23:00.000+08:00

I mentioned it two days ago that there will be the realisation that desks or tables remain empty, when school is starting. That kids in schools that were in holiday with their parents are dead or that employees won't return.

It is happening.

"We know whole families are missing from this school, children from this school are missing," she said. "We know we will have empty desks in classrooms next week, and we want to make sure we have the support in place. All over Bromma it is the same, you can feel people's pain, everyone is affected. Children are clinging to their parents, and mothers, myself included, are holding their children very close to them these days."

This is a very emotional article reporting about the situation in Sweden, from where many holidayers came to have fun in Asia.

After the Tsunami - What can be done next?

2005-01-04T14:43:00.000+08:00

Sham has a great post over at JoyJuiceWizard and it raises the question, what to do next. We donated, some have helped, for better or worse.

The governments around the world try their best, but food alone, clothes and so on might not be enough. There are people that need more to get over the crisis.

Professional life have been destroyed in the form of hotels, resorts, or fishing utilities. In the wake, there are those that were employed by those facilities, resulting in an economic multiplier effect.
Kids, but also adults are traumatised by the event. Imagine, you have been close to the waves or even in them. Fighting for your life. Seeing your kids or parents swept away.

I believe those are the victims that need to get back on their feet:

What about consulting services to get them the assistance to get moving again?
What about cheap bank loans with very little or no interest rates, with a longer repayment period? I actually just read that Thai banks do provide that.
Where are the psychologist that talk to children and adults alike to get the over the trauma?
Where are the construction companies that offer to rebuild houses for free, at a speedy service, or at least for a lowered sum?
Where are the white good and the brown good companies that offer goods for free to the victims? It doesn't need to be the largest TV screen or the most modern aircondition set, but something, something - hey, a stove would be nice or a microwave
Where are the mega markets, supermarkets, food traders that offer rice supply for the next 1, 2, 3 months, dependent on some criteria?
Where are the schools that don't require fee payments for the children of the victims?
Where are the clothing stores that provide school uniforms for free?
Where are the telcos that install telephone lines for free or provide free service for a certain time?
Where are the mobile communications providers that give away handsets for free? I heard that Thai cellular companies do something in this area - anybody has comments?
Atiza commented that there is no electricity in many of the affected areas. Stupid me. But let's say, we could start with some generators to be donated. Hello Tenaga Nasional, hello IPP. A chance for promotion and marketing!!

There is so much more to say to this - any company can do something. Step forward, I say!!

I read in The Nation (Thailand), December 29, 2004 edition that "Banks and private companies have donated hundreds of millions of baht as well as goods and services ranging from water and food to free telephone calls to help victims of the tsunami that battered Thailands southwestern coast." Sounds like a good start

I somehow have the feeling that it is only the people who provide their means - and that we are still waiting for the manufacturers to get moving.

Talk about the power of the blogs

2005-01-03T16:14:00.000+08:00

Church of the Customer has this very interesting write-up about a blogger who went to become a book author after a publisher stumpled upon her blog.

WoW!

Some get it, some just don't

2005-01-03T15:11:00.000+08:00

Call me emotional, call me anything or flame me if you want.

But while it appears that more and more nations get together to help out in the ongoing effort to clear up the damage of the Tsunami and to help those that struggle to get their life back to a somewhat normal or livable basis, others just keep doing what they did before - not realising that they fall more and more out of step with the so-called "world community."

On the one hand, we will have a summit (whatever good that is for) on the Tsunami: Asia Prepares for Tsunami Summit; Thailand Wants Warning System

And than we have news such as this: "Suicide Bombing Kills at Least 23"

or this:

Egypt demands Israel pullback to 2000 lines

or this

Despite pullback pledges, Israel rolls tanks into Gaza

Back to school

2005-01-02T21:05:00.000+08:00

My kid will be in Standard 2 from tomorrow onwards. That means, my time of getting up a bit later is over. It is back to 5.45 AM, the yawning, the challenge of getting my kid ready, the dread to be on the road for one endless hour before I be in my office.

I don't like it!!! But I will have my fun. Listening to the radio, singing songs, exchanging ideas with my wife and kid, "cursing" other drivers.

But what I realised is the following scenario. There were many people that went on leave over Christmas. They might have been to places where the Tsunami hit, but nobody in their office knows. Imagine the scenario that they are expected back and their desk remains empty. It will happen and it is scary!

One week after the Tsunami - are we moving on?

2005-01-02T20:48:00.000+08:00

It's about a week since the Tsunami struck many countries in Asia. The first shock is over, the emotions that we first felt are slowly subsiding. Instead of people running away from the water, we see the destruction of the areas and observe and comment how people try to get on their feet again.

We sigh a relief that the first helicopters are landing, that emergency food supply is somewhat secured and that the world is donating a lot.

The newspapers and the media will report another week about the Tsunami, and than, other news will start to take over the frontpages of the papers, the ongoing reports from CNN, our Malaysian TV and BBC will be replace by hourly reports in the news and even here, the description will be shorter and shorter.

But it is not over yet. Please don't forget that there are hundreds of thousands of people that will still face the consequences of the Tsunami. Diseases are eminent. There are those whose livelihood has been destroyed, may be forever. Children will still be without parents, and parents in many areas will have lost their jobs, families have been decimated.

It is easy to move on - tomorrow, holidays are over for many, school is starting in Malaysia, and it is easy to forget. But please keep on donating. Please remember the victims. Unicef still needs donations and I believe they are not the only ones.

Thanks Peter!

2005-01-02T17:06:00.000+08:00

Found help already, thanks to Peter.

But man, Movable Type is a toughy!!

I am totally 150% frustrated with Movable Types

2005-01-02T15:13:00.000+08:00

I nearly give up. I want to move to a different service - Movable Type - but somehow, everything is now messed up. Is there anybody out there who is able to help me with it? I really would appreciate some help!!

Thanks so much.

Service - the little things that make a difference

2005-01-01T16:25:00.000+08:00

Recently, this blog focusses on services provided in hotels. Actually, it started off by comparing two hotels in Kuala Lumpur that look the same, and which are located side by side.

Following this was the situation, in which a receptionist in the Pangkor Island Beach Resort Hotel called my sister-in-law "stupid woman", when the she put down the telephone receiver, but was still audible.

Instead of going to Pangkor, we drove up to Cameron Highlands (yeah, yeah, I know, I made a spelling mistake earlier - thanks for telling me).

The hotel we booked was the Equatorial. They provided a different experience altogether.

We drove up the mountains and weren't quite sure of the way. My wife called the hotel and they explained the details to her. The receptionist said good-bye in a special way: "You take care and have a nice day!"

The hotel is divided into two sections. One section contains the main building, while the other contains apartments that can be rented. However, they smelled - probably haven't been occupied for a while - we were suppose to say there for a night and than move to the main building. So, up we went to the reception to ask for a different room.

There was no problem in getting two rooms, for my sister-in-law's and my family. What was nice is that the magnetic strip card (sorry, I don't know the right word for it), was set to function in both room, as if there was only one room.

We still moved to different rooms the next day - both rooms were connected to each other. Again, the rooms were connected.

Small things, naturally - but it is the small things that make the difference. Hotels are in the business of renting rooms to people. This is the entry ticket to running their business. Based on their target group (is there such thing, still?), hotels target different types of travellers - think of budget hotels to the most luxiourous hotels.

The rest is what makes up the experience for the traveller - the little things, as I mention. Those that make your place stand out from the rest. It is so easy to entice or thrill your customer, isn't it?

Chomel and Kentum

2005-01-01T13:29:00.000+08:00

A long time back, there was a cat called Grey. When he died, in late 2003 (we put him to sleep) he was about 18 years old. All his life he lived in the house together with members of my family. He ruled the house and he ruled his area. He came in by climbing up the bars at the kitchen windows and squeezing through a small open gap on top of the window.

He was a beautiful cat, but in the end, without teeth and lower control of his body movements he was sometimes badly hurt by rivals.

However, he made his mark. Our area is full of his descendants. Some that look like him and some that only resemble his original beauty.

My kid and my niece have adopted three kittens - well, by now, they are a bit bigger than kittens already. The little ones love the cats, and well, the cats love them - especially the food that the kids give them.

It is great for kids to be in together with animals to learn to take care. My kid wants a cat on his own, and may be, some day, I will get him one. But not in the condominium, I am staying in, not, as long as all the plants that he is suppose to taking care of die sooner or later. But may be, one day!!

Here is to Chomel and Kentum.

Happy New Year 2005

2005-01-01T10:40:00.000+08:00

Official celebrations were cancelled in Malaysia. I am not sure if there were any in Indonesia or Thailand or anywhere else, where the Tsunami hit - I doubt it.

I want to wish my family, my friends, and the readers of this blog -those that come here regular, those that just pop by today, those that came here after the catastrophy and those that were here earlier (gosh, what a lengthy writing), - a happy and successful year 2005.

Yesterday evening, I sent a lot of SMS to friends and colleagues (both frequently the same). I wasn't even sure in the beginning if this was appropriate. It is not a happy start to a new year. Let's hope it will get better soon.

The combined efforts of the nations to battle the crisis is a good sign. I heard yesterday that in Sri Lanka, long term foes, the Tamil Tigers and the government, cooperate closely. I heard that in Aceh in Indonesia, there is no sign of rivalry between the rebels and the government. Let's just hope that working together in this catastrophy makes foes realise that the guy working beside you is a human. Just like you and me. With family, children, beliefs and hope.

Inquiry at Pangkor Island Beach Resort Hotel

2004-12-31T13:29:00.000+08:00

Last week, I wrote about two hotels in Kuala Lumpur, the Meridien and The Hilton.

The pictures showed that both look very much the same and the question was, what makes them different from each other. The basic situation is the same, I thought. Training to their employees is provised and customer feedback is checked. The question was, what makes someone pick one hotel over the other - and presumably, it is the attitude of the customer service staff.

And true enough - they make a difference. Let me tell you a little story that happened before the Tsunami.

Our family (the whole family) planned a getaway to the hotel between Christmas and New Year, and the story.

We planned to go to Pangkor Island at wanted to book rooms in the Pangkor Island Beach Resort Hotel, the former Pan Pacific. My brother-in called and wanted to book a room called Ocean View, but was told by their receptionist that this room is not available.

My sister-in-law, the same afternoon, asked for the same room and suddenly was told that the room is still available. There is nothing wrong with this, since someone might have just cancelled the room.

So, in order to get the family in for one holiday she booked 5 rooms at once. The hotel should be happy to get such a large number of room reservations at once.

Later that day, she went to see her travel agent. Here, she picked up a brochure outlining a promotional campaign of the hotel, promising much lower prices than we were charged during the original booking.

Getting curious, she called the hotel anonymously to find out about the promotion. She talked to a receptionist called "Suzy". This Suzy told her that the campaign was over already.

My sister-in-law said that this is okay. So far so good - but when she start putting down the receiver, she heard the receptionist saying "so stupid, this woman." For no reason.

Employees can surely make a difference..

Another point to make here is that the travel agent, of course, shouldn't have left the brochure on the shelves, outlining the promotional campaign.

We also called the same hotel to ask for about the weather situation after the Tsunami struck. During that call, we referred to the governmental announcement asking people to stay away from beaches. They said that their place is safe, that tourists would still arrive by ferry, and that they couldn't refund the advance payment done. How would a great customer experience end? With a lot of apologies, informing the hotel guest that the area is safe and that there is nothing to worry about. But, to increase the surprise and generate potentially a word-of-mouth promotion, they should have offered a refund. May be with some deduction, but still. This was and still is a difficult situation. There is the so-called Act of God in policies and companies like to reinforce this in times of trouble. The hotel could have acted generously, just to show that they care.

We didn't cancel the room - and, according to an online information, we have to pay the whole (of course). I wonder if they left the room vacant, always expecting us. A great hotel would have called to find out where the guests whereabouts is.

It is a beautiful hotel with a great location - but employees and their attitude surely make a difference - to the better or to the worse! A simple remark can damage the perception of a hotel, and damage the brand. If it exists in the online world, it is damaged forever.

I am going to send this link to them.

Aerial Picture of Tsunami

2004-12-31T13:18:00.000+08:00

There are plenty of pictures around about the Tsunami already, however, why not posting one more. This one was sent to me by Andy Tan last Wednesday - thanks Andy. I haven't posted it earlier since I just came back from my holiday yesterday.

It shows the power of nature.

Brand Malaysia mentioning AlwaysWoW!

2004-12-31T11:28:00.000+08:00

Mack, over at Brand Malaysia wrote a very nice, and funny piece about this German blogger. And he got it right. I like Laksa, be it Penang Laksa or the one made by my mum-in-law.

I love Teh Tarik and how this came about is a different story to be told another day.

Let me expand on what Mack said. My basic intention of blogging is to blog about everything that I like and that I don't like. I am a critical guy, but hopefully seen as constructive. This part comes from my German heritage, and it is in me thanks to my parents.

Okay - some words about Germans - and sorry, if I am offending someone, please see this as a VERY general description. Well, I believe Germans have a tendency to see things critical, and very often, see the world way too pessimistic. May be I should say they see things negatively critical. In my opinion, this has something to do with their historical background that reaches way beyond Hitler's Third Reich. I have to say this to avoid being misunderstood - I believe that Germany's paranoia let to the rise of Hitler.

But I am detailed oriented, just like other Germans. Numbers drive me - colleagues in my office say that anything I say is supported by data and facts. I guess they are true, but hopefully, this is not boring.

I don't see myself as boring. People tell me that I am very different from the Germans they know to which I reply, that I was expelled from German because I am laughing and smiling too often. Germans are pretty serious people.

So yeah - that is also the motto of this blog - Make Your Life A WoW:

Don't do boring things - those things that are boring to you might be exciting to others. Like, not everybody loves numbers.
If you have to do something that is not too exciting, try the hardest to make it a great thing (is this a contradiction?). Try to find the gem in there that excites you. Be the greatest in what you have to do;
Don't take yourself too serious. Have a smile readywhen things turn sour. Be open to change course;
Be respectful - Show the same respect to a 5 year old, to a 90 year old, to a receptionist or to a CEO. They are all humans and have a role to play in life. And they have to say something;
Be compassionate and helpful. Don't ignore the bad things in life. Like the Tsunami catastrophy, I try to do my share and donate, and help, and inform, and post pictures. When I watch TV, read the newspapers or personal events on blogs, I am struggling with emotions. Or, just think about the service you deliver today to a customer - try to do your best. Just provide the best customer service your company has ever given. Go out of your way to help.
Show patience and be tolerant to mistakes and failures. Something I am struggling with and that my kid teaches me. I learnt that if he doesn't understand one way of explanation, it is not necessarily his mistake or fault. May be I have to find a different way to explain things to him. Or, that he keeps asking and asking and asking and asking - I think it is great. I have to overcome my sleepy head and respond to his questions. And well, if it is late and he actually should sleep, I have to tell him that there is more time the next day to ask more questions. In one of the presentations by Tom Peters is a slide that states - Punish mediocre success. Celebrate great failures. How true!
Be honest and integer - It is tough sometimes, to find the way to do things right. It is easy to just do things, even so they might be wrong. I have learnt that I have to listen to my feelings. If I don't feel okay doing something, I believe I should not do them.
Be a CEO of your life. In anything you do, you have the power to change, to enhance, to enrich. or to destroy. It is your life. Live it to the fullest. Find opportunities to make things better, if you face challenges. Enjoy those challenges.
Find positive things that blow you away. Living a Wow also means to find those things that enrich life. That give the energy to get going and keep going. To make me get up at 6.00 AM every morning (okay, not the weekends)
Be passionate. People ask me what they should study, what job they should take. Hey - do what you like to do. If you find the one thing in life that really, really drives you, something that makes you really, really happy, do it. If you are alone in the field or if there are 100,000 others - your passion for this one thing will make you stand out, and will make you successful. Just do it, as Nike said. There are enough people that do things they don't like for reasons that sound odd and worn like old socks.
Learn, share knowledge but unlearn. Why not? It is great to learn new things and even better if you share those with others. They might just know the things you need to know to move on. But just like life changes, knowledge needs to evolve. Since the world appears to move faster today, there is a lot that we need to learn new everyday. We cannot hold on to old rules, regulations and requirements. There is a constant need to try something new and to forget what we learnt yesterday.
Be yourself. Don't imitate anybody. Find your own self. And live it

There is plenty more to say, but this is the basic motto for a Great WoW in Life.

Tom Peters mentioning Tsunami

2004-12-30T21:05:00.000+08:00

There are many, many management gurus.

There are many, many blogs around the world that are read by many, many people.

Sadly, there are, so far, only a few, who mention the Tsunami in their blogs.

Tom Peters is one - but he also understands Asia quite a bit.

Joi Ito (so no management guru) is another one - but he lives in Japan.

But where are all the other bloggers - those that have a huge following and could boost the donations? May be I am unfair, am I?

Just coming in: New Tsunamis possible. Warnings issued

2004-12-30T20:54:00.000+08:00

Yahoo reports that

"Tens of thousands of residents fled coasts in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand after warnings of possible new tsunamis Thursday, and pilots in Indonesia dropped food to cliff-rimmed villages yet to be visited by outsiders four days after the disaster."

Let's pray that this is wrong alert or that the people are prepared!

Bloggers without borders launched

2004-12-30T20:31:00.000+08:00

Joi Ito writes that Bloggers without Borders was just launched.

Jonas writes about the Tsunami:

"Tsunami Outreach

We have found our compassion in this one. Yet, one thing remains and is badly needed, says a friend of mine who just arrived in Sri Lanka and will be contributing what he learned in eight years in Uniform. People. Not the odd-job bystander, not the “activist”, and certainly not the journalist. What is needed most, today, are qualified specialists. Demolitions experts to safely destroy dangerous structures, Doctors, guys and gals who know how to handle a syringe or a gun. The latter is needed more and more as the looting increases and food and medical supplies are being raided by black marketers.

He suggests I throw my visitors behind this and start a list. A “hall of fame” of companies willing to give their employees a few weeks off to come help. One to list companies willing to priority interview returnees who have been fired for taking the big step of personal sacrifice for a common good.

We have those lists for soldiers. We need it for volunteers. What do you think?

Update: We have a number of people pledging frequent flyer miles, small donations, and some part of their income. If you are truly interested in going, have something to contribute, and want more info, I am setting up the site as we speak."

AlwaysWoW in The Star

2004-12-30T19:05:00.000+08:00

The Star (Malaysia) mentioned my blog this morning and they referred to this posting. While I am happy that they have mentioned it, it is clear that some of the writing had been taken out. Just for those who visit the blog following the article.

It helped, however, the readership of this blog. The numbers kept already growing after Jeff Ooi mentioned my blog. Thanks Jeff. It didn't help, however, that this blog entry wasn't necessarily the smartest one that I posted and pinged to Petaling Street in my life as a blogger.

The sad piece is that the inflow of spam in my Yahoo Account increased dramatically as well.

Three thoughts about the earthquake

2004-12-28T13:29:00.000+08:00

We planned to go to Pangkor Island. But considering the potential of a second tremor, a second tsunami, we decided to reschedule. Now it is Cameroon Highlands. It is sad - really, for the victims of the earthquake. The damages that the earthquake caused. The economic ruin that some families face.

But what amazes me all the time when I hear about catastrophies is the manner, people come together to help. They just get closer to each other, isn't it? Calls for assistance are responded to, donations are initiated. There is no thinking of war, or killing, of religion and who is right and who is wrong.

Why isn't it possible that we live together in harmony and help each other every day? Why is it that only in danger, we come together as one?

Earthquake or vibrations in Kuala Lumpur?

2004-12-26T11:28:00.000+08:00

Was there an earthquake this morning in Malaysia or in Indonesia with the vibrations hitting Kuala Lumpur?

It was about 9.00 o'clock this morning, when the iron bars on my window started to vibrate. I thought that this is weird, since the aircon is not that strong, of course, to move those bars. But they kept shattering.

I just ignored it.

About 30 minutes later, my sister in law called me from her apartment building in Taman Desa. She said her building shook. She first thought that she was dizzy, but then, she saw picture frames moving, and realised that her building was shaking.

She went down, together with other inhabitants. Police was also there, and ask inhabitants to evacuate the building.

Anybody knows something more?

Okay - here is a picture from Yahoo.

It must have been a pretty bad eathquake - Yahoo reports that up to 3,000 people died, and that waves even hit Sri Lanka, and India:

"Sri Lanka's prime minister said 1,500 people were killed in that country. Officials in India reported 1,000 dead. More than 400 were reported killed in Indonesia, 120 in Thailand and 15 in Malaysia."

Santa Claus brought the Playstation

2004-12-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Those who follow the blog will remember that my kid wished for a Playstation. Well, thanks to a lot of comments, and e-mails, and telephone calls (thanks Ash), Santa Claus actually brought a unit and put it under the Christmas tree.

There is nothing better than to see the beaming eyes of a kid who is happy. He played a lot today, and he was good at it. I was testing some of the games earlier, and I had problems in moving my finger fast enough or even getting a handle on what is required. Especially with Spiderman - I constantly crashed on the pavement - I did not quickly enough realise what buttons to press, duh!

Now, my kid loves Spiderman too, and so he played it a long time today - no problems at all. Well, okay, he faces some challenges in getting to the action on time to save the world. He likes to move here, swing there, and crawl over there - he had a lot of fun jumping onto the roof of the cars and let them carry him through town.

Nevermind - but what I want to say is that kids comprehend so much more of technology than we "elderly people" do. I recently read somewhere (don't find the link anymore) that companies in Europe still have problems in getting 3G to take off. The author of the article concluded that those challenges boil down to two issues: Firstly, the prices for MMS and 3G are still to high (may be so in europe, I don't know in Asia), and that the operator should hire some teenagers to figure out what is cool at 3G. 3G is more than sending pictures to your friends.

The point that I want to make is that even my kid seem to be ahead of me in some games (not all - I beat him in the car race). Sure, I catch up, and it might take a bit longer, but it is the same issue. Corporations need to have young people in their management team, or on their board. If older people decide what is good for young people, and what products young people like, it sure will fail. Now take a look at the Annual Reports of big corporations in Malaysia and you get a feeling that something needs to change.

One more cute point to this post that became more serious than I thought - when I brought my kid to bed he said with a sigh: "I like to play Playstation. It sure was nice of Santa Claus to bring me one."

A&W

2004-12-25T22:53:00.000+08:00

I am thinking about A&W - and Mack finally gave the last push to publish those thoughts. A&W always was the little guy after McDonalds and Burger King. All that I heard of as being good was their Root Beer and their - ... I forgot the name of that thing with the sausage in the middle and the sauce on top (so much for awareness) - I still like their Root Beer.

I remember the old A&W at Subang Airport and, sorry to say, the bad customer service there and the dirty surrounding of the outlet.

They have changed over the last couple of months and upgraded the premises - this was actually promised in an article in the New Straits Times in 2002 (!) where they say that " KUB Malaysia Bhd is embarking on an aggressive marketing campaign to revitalise the A&W fast food chain in a move to increase its market share of the fast-food sector by the end of the year." I am not sure if it happened but the attitude of their employees improved. Just go to the outlet at Amcorp Mall, and the moment you open the door, about four people greet you and want to take your order. The same thing is happening in their nice outlet in Alamanda Mall.

Still, and sorry to say so - the outlets have changed, the attitude of the employees might have changed, but the food still "sucks". My opinion. But no doubt - people visit the outlets and interestingly, it is an older clientel that can be seen. In the outlet at Amcorp Mall, many people seem to actually conduct meetings. I am not sure what kind of meetings, but it seems serious. Which I think is interesting. It throws up the question, what kind of market position A&W is aspiring to, how it wants to be seen, and what it thinks of its brand. I really, really wonder, if their corporate strategies include all of this, or if they try to cater to the youth segment only - and I think that in the morning, you will find many "youngsters" in the outlets (sorry the language).

And hey - look at the picture above - people are lining up, while one counter is not manned (the guy is cleaning the counter?). What impression is this giving?

Their webpage is still outdated - they talk of about 23 outlets in Malaysia as of July 2003, which is a couple of months behind us, I believe. The newest news that can be found is also from 2003. I wonder if someone in A&W is aware that they have a webpage.

It actually shows that corporate webpages are still very often seen as corporate broadcasting board - initially, touting a company's achievements. The Internet is frequently not integrated as communications tool into the corporate communications strategy. Many companies see it as part of the job of a web developer to update and maintain a webpage, and soon, it gets forgotten, and is quickly outdated. Only when companies realise that the web is different and not something to simply replicate a corporate brochure will a webpage be successful. Blogging, in fact, is even revolutionising this point of view and putting much greater strain on corporate communications. The communications department and the web developer need to work hand in hand to develop an integrated strategy that positions the company where it wants to be positioned.

Well, a rambling post, but well, that is what a blog is for, sometimes - to let rambling thoughts out.

PS: The pictures are copied from their website, without permission.

Merry Xmas to all of you

2004-12-25T22:42:00.000+08:00

I totally forgot to wish all of you a Merry Christmas - too much food (what's new?), too many presents (not for me!!), too many (no, not at all) visitors that kept me and my family busy. Keep up the comenting, reading, criticising - constructively or not, and don't forget:

Have a great life, make it a WoW

Hotels

2004-12-25T21:58:00.000+08:00

Here you have them - two hotels, side by side. The Meridien and The Hilton. Both standing tall, with impressive architecture.

Both are 5 Star Hotels. Service is top fit, really. And so are the prices - you probably pay a lot for great service and great food.

I also believe that both do a great job in their aim to satisfy customers. This is probably tracked with feedback forms, market research, focus group discussions, and mystery shoopers - people who walk in disguised as guests, but in fact, are researchers.

From time to time, you will find an advertisement in the newspapers, or promotion that is being pushed by travel agents that work with the individual hotel. In this time, one hotel might have a slight edge over the other, for a short while, before the other is doing something similar. But it won't be a lasting gain - those little effects are not differentiating.

So what makes the two hotels different? Why, if I have the money, would I choose the Hilton over the Meridien, or the Meridien over the Hilton? What would be the response if a PA arranges a travel iternery and has to chose between the Hilton and Meridien?

Is it word-of-mouth and that more people talk about the Hilton?

Having great employees will hep the individual hotel to make a difference, I would suggest, but than, they are trained, in both hotels to conform to their values, and cultures.

May be the employees are in alignment with the brand and the value proposition that Hilton and Meridien represents.

Is it the corporate reputation? May be one hotel is more known than the other hotel? May be ones salespeople are more effective (hey - but I don't like it when they call me on the phone to sell me some strange membership). May be they have different operating models, as I discussed with a friend yesterday evening. May be the Meridien doesn't want to have a full house, but works with higher margins, than the Hilton? Although that doesn't make sense, since hotels are build to be occupied, not vacant.

So what makes you chose one hotel over the other?

It is annoying that ....

2004-12-24T13:20:00.000+08:00

How annoying is it that:

You call a company, and the answering machine kicks in to tell you that all the operators are busy at the moment, and that you should key in the extension number. This doesn’t happen only once, but ALL the time, making it either a very, very busy company or simply unbelievable,
You call a company and, since the person you want to talk to is busy, she or he actually asks YOU to call back in five minutes. This is not your first call to the company, you are not looking for a job, and you are not a telemarketer.
You call a company and you are constantly told that the person you want to speak to is not around, in a meeting, is on the phone or just stepped out. You ask, when is an appropriate time to speak to them and call at the time given, once again. Again, you find out that the person is not around, in a meeting, just stepped out or on the phone. You leave your name, and contact details, never to hear from them again;
You call a company, and than, while on hold, a tape recorder plays the same music again and again. It is made worse when it is a tape recorder that praises the company’s high achievement, their products or their service level – and when finally, you get the connection, you get excuses as mentioned in the point before;
It can also happen that anytime, someone connects you, the line breaks down. This is annoying as well
It is annoying that you have to give all your details to the receptionist. She transfers you to the PA of the person you want to speak to and than …. she ask the same things again – what is your name, where are you calling from and so on. The receptionist never passes the information on. It actually happened to me (in Indonesia), that I was transferred to 4 different people until finally, someone told me that there is no such person working in the company
It is annoying that there are still companies that ask you to write a letter if you just want to talk to someone for a short while to discuss a pertinent matter.
It is annoying that companies lose your letter, and you have to refax the letter and again and again and again – to fail in what you wanted to achieve
It is annoying that companies don’t have the courtesy to reply to a letter. Some do reply, after a year or longer, so – but does this make it better?
It is annoying to realize that there are companies that employ people as receptionists, PA or even higher up the management level, that haven’t heard of courtesy, manners and politeness. Are they employed to make you feel unwelcome?

But it is great to find exceptions to all those points above

Thank you to all of you

The jilted bride

2004-12-22T13:20:00.000+08:00

Nobody is blogging about this new thing? About this Kedah soccer player that cancelled his wedding in the last second via SMS?

Okay, let me try to formulate what I think. I am on no one's side, and I believe that how this is conducted is no WoW for anyone involved.

I think what the guy did was bad, really. I mean, come on, sending an SMS to cancel your wedding, or to break up with your bride? That is worse than picking up the phone and tell her "sorry Darling, cannot see you anymore, found someone else." Or, "sorry, cannot tahan, no wedding lah."

It is cowardly, but well, some people misuse technology for such thing.

But hey - I think it is a private thing. Between the two - why all the news coverage? Is there nothing else that is happening in Malaysia that is more newsworthy? Okay, he is a soccer player may be a good one, may be a bad one. I don't know. Is it like a David Beckham drama, only now in Malaysia, and his affair with whoever? What is in it for the girl?

Sure, she is embarrassed and wounded. But suing this guy? Is this a copy from what you see in American soap operas? Dallas or Denver (1980s - oh my God) comes to my mind. Isn't it better to get over with it? She is still young, right? Honestly, would it have been better to get married and than, have a divorce after a day, week, month or year? The guy appears as if he is not very mature. He is scared of what is going on in his life. In the time, he behaves like an elephant in a porcelain shop, clearly. I am not defending the guy, but is it really the right way to say - "he embarrassed the nation, his team, we don't extend his contract, and destroy another life in the process?" Too much harm done already.

Let them work it out - and actually, may be the girl gets a contract on the way for TV, as newsreader or actress.

The long tail - a story worth reading

2004-12-20T23:02:00.000+08:00

You need to read this story. Really. To fully understand the tremendous impact the Internet has. On music, on books, on anything. To understand the power of comments and recommendations. To understand the limitations of the current world. To get an understanding of the beginning revolution that we are facing. This revolution that is just beginning and came into being through the Internet. But also, that through the power of sharing, something can be created that is better than what any individual can do alone.

The Long Tail - I read the story first in Wired Magazine:

" In 1988, a British mountain climber named Joe Simpson wrote a book called Touching the Void, a harrowing account of near death in the Peruvian Andes. It got good reviews but, only a modest success, it was soon forgotten. Then, a decade later, a strange thing happened. Jon Krakauer wrote Into Thin Air, another book about a mountain-climbing tragedy, which became a publishing sensation. Suddenly Touching the Void started to sell again.
Random House rushed out a new edition to keep up with demand. Booksellers began to promote it next to their Into Thin Air displays, and sales rose further. A revised paperback edition, which came out in January, spent 14 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. That same month, IFC Films released a docudrama of the story to critical acclaim. Now Touching the Void outsells Into Thin Air more than two to one.

What happened? In short, Amazon.com recommendations. The online bookseller's software noted patterns in buying behavior and suggested that readers who liked Into Thin Air would also like Touching the Void. People took the suggestion, agreed wholeheartedly, wrote rhapsodic reviews. More sales, more algorithm-fueled recommendations, and the positive feedback loop kicked in." (Kim - this is not an Amazon Story, okay!!)

Now, The Long Tail is out as a manifest in ChangeThis. It tells the story how an online retailer, such as Amazon, Rhapsody, Netflix and others can hold so many more documents, books, movies and music compared to traditional retailers and, the amazingly, that people don't only buy music that they know, but they get carried away into areas they would never experience without recommendations.

And it shows that the Pareto rule, this famous 80/20 rule (80% of your business is derived from 20% of your customers) might not necessarily be valid anymore. It asks the question: "What percentage of the top 10,000 titles in any one online media store (Netflix, Amazon etc.) will rent or sell at least once a months?" Most people guess 20%, - due to the Pareto Thinking. but this is wrong - The answer here is 99%!!!! "There is a demand for nearly every one of those 10,000 tracks."

How, will you ask? Recommendations, that bring you from the top of the chart (say Britney Spears down the tail to similar genres). Beautiful

I wrote about ChangeThis here and here before and I love the project. So log in and read the other manifests to see the speed of change and get your hands on really good knowledge.

Mr Kee and Mr Teyu of KL Credit Sdn Bhd

2004-12-20T22:01:00.000+08:00

Their card says "Adalah anda kekurangan Wang Tunai? Syarikat kami pakar mengurus pinjaman yang cepat dan mudah untuk menyelesaikan masalah anda!"

Not sure what it all says on their business cards but it probably states that if I am in need of money, they are there to help me. I understand the piece about "no problem, and cheap" - yeah right, until I cannot pay up anymore.

The loansharks are back. I think the waves around them calmed down - there weren't that many news articles about them recently. They must have suffered - the card, that was pinned to the windowscreen of my car still has a calendar for 2004 (its tough to get a clear picture with a cameraphone). Or, may be, they try to get rid of old stock.

Or, they saw Sharkstale in the movies and thought, it is an appropriate time to relaunch and rebrand their business. Pickyback on Walt Disney's success.

Banks profiting from service charges

2004-12-20T18:34:00.000+08:00

Ha - you thought I talk about Maybank, right?

Nope, Maybank in Malaysia, for a while at least, retreats from its charges that the bank wanted to impose on its customers for the usage of Maybank's Internet Banking website - I wrote something about it before.

Let me try this again whole thought again:

The process is as follows: You log in from your computer (if you are at home), that you have paid (hopefully). You have also paid your monthly subscription fee to your chosen Internet Service Provider (as long as you don't log in from your company, you should have paid something to an ISP).

You maintain an account with Maybank, and the bank planned to charge you that you can access your account via their website.

Okay, in the meantime, they retreated from this idea - Bank Negara, the National Bank of Malaysia, plus, hopefully, a lot of pressure from the consumers, forced them to get back to the table and think through their idea again. What is good, I think

Now, everybody, who works for Maybank, please stop reading here.

It actually appears that Maybank or Malaysia is not the only country where banks profit from the growing trend to log on and use their service.

It is also happening in Korea. There, banks also have quite a profitable year - banks in Korea are expected to post record-high incomes from banking fees this year. No protest in Korea. But one guy Kim Woo-jin who is a researcher at the Korea Institute of Finance, said that even though a raise in fees was inevitable to keep banks in profit, it represented a disservice to customers. The banks should prepare an alternative plan to minimize customers' loss."

I am happy to live in Malaysia - I don't have an Internet account where the fees could get increased, but once banks become comfortable in increasing fees, they will find all kind of ways to increase fees for services that you haven't thought about.

I am coming from Germany, and let me tell you, there are lots of ways for different institutions to increase some service fee, and some service fee there. And the tendency to increase fees accelerated with each year the country headed towards crisis and higher unemployment. Wonder, if there are some clouds in Malaysia's economic heaven that I haven't seen yet?

A sign at a Waffle shop

2004-12-19T21:34:00.000+08:00

I visited Alamanda Mall in Putrajaya, once again and boy (or girl), it is getting crowded there. The problem is that there are two entries to different parking lots, but only one is known to the public. And since there is the habit of following the car in front of you, one parking lot - the one know, of course - is packed up to the top, while the other one is totally empty.

Anyway, in the foodcourt is the Waffle Shop and in front of the cashier, there is this very interesting sign.

Judge for yourself. It is the little things that make you different.

Pity, it is so small and the guys and girls behind the counter don't market it. A foodcourt is the ultimate competitive environment. One stall after the next screams for your attention. You have a variety of food, that you can endulge in - just what your taste is like. Mine, today, was for Western Food. At first. But what happened? I stood there, and about three - what? let's call them attendants - behind the counter. Two of them totally ignored me, for about one minute, while the third one at the cashier took care of the one person in front of me.

I am nagging, I know, but there should be some kind of an acknowledgement of one customer - I think.

After she, the cashier girl, finished with the lady in front of me, she attended to me. I ordered my food, and guess what. She ask if I could wait 20 minutes. Business is good, and well, at least she had the couresy to inform me about the time. But I wonder, how much business was lost, besides mine, since I walked away and ate a waffle.

Do something about the attitude. I believe that some of them are the ones leasing the stall and that they have an interest in getting business. It might be THE investment of a lifetime for them and how do they look or operate the stall? As if there would be endless time. As if there are enough customers and one can afford to lose a nagging German. That, well, if you cannot wait, eat somewhere else attitude. Do something with your employees - let them be friendly - it is so simple. While it is more than having a smile policy, a smile is at least a start.

Like the sign at the Waffle shop. They could do so much out of it. Sell the sign, have some fun with it. Forget the receipt, every now and than, and make a big, public affair out of the free food. Now that would be the Free Price that attracts attention, and might even create a buzz, if handled correctly, spontaneously, and with the consumer in mind.

What I liked in 2004 - and didn't

2004-12-18T18:53:00.000+08:00

It is more or less a habit that I write down what I like at a year in the end of a year - its positive and its negative sides.

This is the beginning of the list, but I might add on over the next couple of days or so.

What I liked

I love life and live it to the fullest. There is still a Great WoW in Life
I keep bonding with my kid - and I am still amazed about the things that a "small one" is doing
I am amazed about my wife's knowledge that she gains so quickly when she really entrenches herself in a new hobby. I could outline a lot of what she learnt over the past 12 months, but she has now great knowledge about insurance, tax law, property law, Yoka and so on and so on
Met a hellova great people over blogger - thanks to all of you guys that I communicate with and that I met during different situations
Met a helluva great people via other opportunities - such as training seminars, conferences, and "interest" clubs, so to speak
A great outlook for 2005
Reading a lot of great books, with the best book of 2004 being Re-Imagine by Tom Peters (nah, there are others, but this is a different entry)
Developed blogger skills and with that, also learnt a bit of HTML (I learnt it earlier, but forgot everything)
I registered a company and foresee great opportunities and fun in 2005 (may be? may be not)
Develop new skills around new business opportunities and have really fun around that
Upgraded my car - cannot say that my new car is new, since I switched my old car with a newer one from my brother-in-law
I am still tremendously curious
I am still passionate about things that drive me
I discover that I still can change. This is getting tougher when you get older, since we "elderly" become more complacent (and I hate it!)
The two conferences where I had great fun and from which different things evolve that still keep growing
My Mum turns 80 this year. My sister and I gave her a hotair balloon trip for her birthday to fulfill her childhood dream
My niece found a job after completion of school - which is pretty tough in German with an unemployment rate of 11%
Some headhunters called me - but since I have a great job that involves a lot of reading and some more, I stayed with my current employer
There are a great many great people employed in my company and the feeling is like being with a family
The Internet - how could I forget this!! This is the greatest invention of all times (really?)
Great books (didn't I write this already?)
Great discussions with great people
An invitation to participate in the establishment of an association (cannot say more in the moment, but that WoWs me)

What I didn't like

My job is not that challenging anymore. I need more stretch targets (but than, isn't that up to me?
I am getting older (but than, may be also wiser and have more opportunities?)
I am still impatient and I cannot stand it at all
There are still only 24 hours in a day
Why do I have to get up so early to bring my kid to school !! (and how does he manage to keep his energy level so high, despite getting up early?)
My boss is pretty cynical sometimes
I am still angry at stupid drivers that cut in and think their time is more worth than mind
My boy is growing bigger and we have our first generation gaps
I haven't been on a business trip for more than a day. Singapore was the only destination that I had this year. I like travelling!!!
Bush won the election
There are way too many wars in the world and as usual, kids and women are the ones suffering
I saw the video on the beheading of one of the hostages and I have to say that this was one of the most shocking, cruesome and disgusting experiences that I can recall!
Malaysians still throw rubbish all over the place. I love this country - I always say that I never saw a country that destroys its beauty that fast and I am sad about it
My Mum turned 80 this year and she didn't manage to visit us for health reasons. But she still travels a lot in Europe (needed to make an appointment when I visisted her in 2003 and I am not kidding).
I couldn't go to Germany since the exchange rate to the Euro is so damn high (I think 1 Euro is about RM 4.90 in the moment - who can afford to go to Europe?)
My Nephew in Germany is pretty sick
I haven't written anything in the positive list that I liked in my company in 2004, besides the two conferences - this looks serious for someone who works more than his fair share of the day!!!!!! I need to think about this serious (Okay - I wrote something in point 17)
That it is 2005 already. I remember how I sat on the veranda in 2000 and waited for the famous glitches that never came
I am still messy - my desks - office and at home - look like a nuclear war took place

I am happy that there are more things that WoWed me than that turned me off.

Hello 2005 - here I come

Chocolade for RM123

2004-12-18T14:03:00.000+08:00

My boss had a Family Day last week, and well, low thinking as I am, I first got a nicely designed box of chocolate, made in China. And WoW, did my wife give me the heat. She said that this is chocolate manufacturer that is known by no one. She assumed that the taste of the chocolate inside would be horrible. She was right with that - how come women are always right? . We tasted the chocolate later and I think, it ended up in the garbage bin shortly afterwards. I first tried to put on a brave face stating, yeah, that it tastes nice, but than, well, I couldn't eat more than two or three of the pieces.

Okay - her opinion was that a present reflects who you are - the image that you project - and how much you value the person that you give the present to. So she said we need a nice looking package with extremely well-tasting content.

The picture below shows the chocolate package that we bought in the chocolate shop in Megamall - I think its name is something with Belgium in it. It looked very nice, very professionally made. I just hope that my boss keeps the package, since the box alone costed around RM25.

But yeah, my wife is right. A present reflects on you and as such, the creation and the management of an image still is important for a product manufacturer and service provider. Even today. The design of the box is beautiful, and I believe the content - Belgium chocolate!! - will be great.

But the story also reminds me of the campaign for National Service in Malaysia. I heard an advertisement on the radio recently which praised the situation in the camps. How beautiful they are, and how important NS is. That it is great that participants can meet so many different people from differen races. But open the newspapers and read the section "Letters to the Editors". How did one describe it today in a letter to The Star?

Security - the camp is still under construction and foreign workers are all around
Communication - there are only five phones available to all participants
Cantine smell - he wrote that even a toilet would smell better than the canteen in the camp

Clearly, those organising the National Service want to promote a picture of fun, and learning. But, again, what perception is created when the experience is bad? Its a similar situation, isn't it? Managing your image and aligning your image with the reality and the perception is crucial for the success.

To come back to the story with the chocolate - the Chinese manufacturer had a chance to persuade my wife that his product is great - it already had a great design. I bought the box, and my wife tasted it. But the lasting impression is that Chinese chocolate is not necessarily something that I am going to buy again. So well, first impressions count as well.

Some more things to know

2004-12-17T08:38:00.000+08:00

I had a list taken from Seth's blog yesterday published in mine. His had a total of 30 items and I want to add on some more, related to the Asian context. Add on if you want - what do you think is important?

31. The need to learn Bahasa Melayu.
32. Don't forget to learn Mandarin or any other Chinese dialect as long as it is also commonly used in China - thus, it could also be Cantonese
33. I mentioned earlier, that we need to rollodex
34. Never forget to have fun
35. Be sensitive to those you have dealings with - have respect for their gender, religion, attitude and opinion
36. Learn and apply what you have learnt.
37. Be openminded
38. Learn to unlearn
39. Play and see the world through the eyes of a seven year old

Sham added in this one:

40. To always see yourself in the mirror and evaluate do you like what you see? If you don't, make an effort to change it. If you do, improve it.
41. To learn to not be afraid to ask question, even those that might hurt you. You never know what you can learn.
42. Computer... Tea, Earl Grey, hot." — Jean-Luc Picard

Anything else that is there to know?

The top 1,000 things to know, and than some more

2004-12-16T15:03:00.000+08:00

Now, finally, I know what to teach my kid before he is 13 year old. Thanks Seth. This is a helpful list. There are even some items, I still have to learn, like number 20 on the list: "Understanding the biographies of 500 important historical figures and 200 fictional ones."

But here is the original list taken from his blog:

1. How to type.
2. How to speak in front of a group.
3. How to write clear prose that other people actually want to read.
4. How to manage a project.
5. The most important lessons from American history.
6. What the world's religions have in common.
7. Evolution.8. Formal logic.9. The 15,000 most common English words.
10. Conversational Spanish.
11. How to handle big changes, with grace.
12. How to run a small business.
13. Basic chemistry.
14. Not arithmetic, but algebra.
15. A little geometry, a little calculus.
16. The most important lessons from ten other world cultures and their history.
17. Speed reading with comprehension.
18. How to sell.
19. Pick one: how to paint, write a poem, compose a song or juggle really well.
20. Understanding the biographies of 500 important historical figures and 200 fictional ones.
21. Basic understanding of electricity.
22. How to drive a nail, drive a screw, cut a board, build a box.
23. How to drive a car in the winter, how to pull a car out of a skid.
24. How to ask for help.
25. How to read a table and a chart
26. How to read the media for spin and for insight
27. The importance of doing things for other people.(yes, this one among others is mostly a parenting job, but yes, it can be taught)
28. How to work really really hard, sometimes on things that aren't fun.
29. What it's like to be in jail.
30. How to create an internal dialogue that makes you happy.

This is Seth's list.

And thereare an additional 10 items that we also need to be good at.

21. Basic understanding of electricity.
22. How to drive a nail, drive a screw, cut a board, build a box.
23. How to drive a car in the winter, how to pull a car out of a skid.
24. How to ask for help.
25. How to read a table and a chart
26. How to read the media for spin and for insight
27. The importance of doing things for other people.(yes, this one among others is mostly a parenting job, but yes, it can be taught)
28. How to work really really hard, sometimes on things that aren't fun.
29. What it's like to be in jail.3
0. How to create an internal dialogue that makes you happy.

What is missing? How to network, maintaining a good Rollodex (I don't even know how to write this correctly) and having fun in everything you do. Like, an Always WoW for a Great Great Life, right?

So, when are the schools in Malaysia or Asia changing their school curriculums?

Popcorn tin - what a design!

2004-12-14T20:55:00.000+08:00

Is this tin full of popcorn? Or is it a toy? It is both, it is huge and it is beautiful.

It is a can full of different popcorn bags - popcorn with cheese taste, with caramel, and with butter taste.

Look at the view from the aisle!

It stands out from the crowd. It wants to be seen, it is made to be seen. Where do you put it? In the toy department or in the food department? And that is the great part of it – because the retailer will put it where it can be seen.

The best? The tin is beautiful and colourful – a great design. It will cheer up kids heart – damn it, it cheers up mine. This is what I call “stand out from the crowd.” It could have been another boring bag of popcorn.

Be nice at Petaling Street (stupid title)

2004-12-13T22:43:00.000+08:00

What kind of series do I run here? Don't know - just posted something about Friendly Gestures, now I write about Being Nice at Petaling Street.

I am not sure if I do a good deed here - I believe that blogging in Malaysia is great and that there are talented bloggers out there. I know that we all are proud of our blogs - at least sometimes - and that we want to develop it into something that is great. Nevermind that now.

So in conversations with friends and clients and acquaitances, I mention Petaling Street and the great bloggers that post at Petaling Street.

I had a great meeting today and an even better diner, but this aside. The guy I am talking about is the CEO of an IT company and we had a conversation about the dire need for great employees. He said that there are plenty employees that he has offered a job, but they decline the offer in the last minute. Others don't show up at all.

He told the story of an employee who had signed the contract, but who called up to decline the job a day before the the official start.

This employee mentioned, as reason for the cancellation that the job scope might be too high for him, might require too much, and he wouldn't have it yet. My friend wasn't happy, of course - finding a good employee is not cheap. It takes up his time, time, that he could spend with clients, or with employees that already work with him. He said that this is a sad case, because of course he would take care of the employees and that they grow according to their capabilities and that they have the time to stretch themselves.

So I said that he should take a look at Petaling Street and that there are a lot of bloggers out there that have the talent to succeed in the IT world. I mean it. The other guys that were with us tonight actually encouraged him to take a look - so post something nice, okay!!.

However, if you are interested, and just looking for a job I am more than happy to forward your blog link to him.

Friendly gestures

2004-12-13T22:33:00.000+08:00

Is it sad to blog about something nice and friendly? Is it so unusual already that I thought it was nice?

I went to MPH last week, and when I had paid and slowly moved away, the girl at the cashier called me back. I was so entrenched in my thoughts that I didn't hear her, or react to anything, until a younger guy in the queue actually called on me, and stopped me. What happened? I forgot my change. I had paid with RM100, and forgot to pocket my change. So I walked back and collected it, and, going back again, thanked the younger guy.

He grinned and said, "is okay and have a nice evening". I do the same, sometimes, but it blew me away that someone can actually be that friendly. Is this normal? Am I unnormal to always see the things that don't work so nicely? I know this is a boring entry, but I thought it is worthwhile.

Ugly women get less aid

2004-12-12T11:37:00.000+08:00

That was a headline in yesterday's The Star.

It is sad that there are still so many people around us with some really "%£$*^ attitudes. Especially when one realises that women have all the characteristics to become better employees or entrepreneurs in the 21st century than men:

More creativity
More emotions
More thinking outside the box
Teamwork, less competitive
And there is much more

Men might only see that once they are left behind far, far behind!

Is this advertisement reflecting the Malaysian culture?

2004-12-12T01:03:00.000+08:00

Before I forget it - I am carrying this ad from LG with me, advertising for their handphone series. LG is a leading conglomerate in S-Korea, and they actually produce some rocking things. They are coming but I saw this print-ad last week on Wednesday (Dec 8) in The Star and I didn't like it and I don't think - hope - it reflects Malaysian culture.

I don't have a softcopy of the ad, so please let me describe it.

The picture in the advertisement depicted a family driving in a car. Two adults - I assume they are the parents and their three kids - I assume they are their kids. And all are using their handphone. The father, at the stirring wheel, uses bluethooth, with the handphone laying on the dashboard (doesn't he know that the phone will fly like a rocket, in case of an accident?). The mother is sitting on the passenger seat, also encrossed in a conversation. The daughter as well, both using the phone without the hands-free - isn't is said to be better to use a handsfree?

Both boys play on their mobile phones - yeah, boys don't like to talk on the phone that long.

But, what I don't like is that there is no indication of a conversation within the family. It is like, I am with you, but actually, I am somewhere else. Sad, if the Asian culture is like that, nowadays. Is this really Asia?

Conversations with God

2004-12-11T23:35:00.000+08:00

I love my kid. More than anything in the world. Those of you who read this will know what I am talking about. It is about mutual learning - I learn from my kid to have patience, and he learns a thing or two about life. At least I hope that although I think that this will change once he gets older - and when he tells me to stay away from his parties, and doesn't invite me anymore or appreciates when I come along.

Anyway, he is seven now, and his brain really starts to work. Questioning everything and trying to build his own insights.

One thing that he is worried about is death. He is worried that one of his parents dies, so we - my wife and I tell him that he should pray to God. When he is worried about me dying, I also tell him that I have to live healthily - going to the gym, for example (I will never be able to stop after that), eat vegetables (the thing parents do to tell their kids to eat the green stuff on the plate).

Recently my wife told my kid, once again, that he should pray to God and ask him to let his parents live long.

My kid was quiet for a short while - what rarely happens. Than he asks - "But when there are so many people asking for things, how can God hear me?" My wife reaffirmed him that God is listening, but what a question!!

I think the question comes from the fear of being alone - of not knowing what will happen after one dies, or what will happen to him. So I explained to him that there will also be someone to take care of him, but it is such a emotionally moving topic. He is frequently crying than, and it takes some time to console him. It is a phase, I know, but it shows how hard kids can take it, and deep and far they actually can think.

Member value at Fitness First - 1.94%

2004-12-11T01:32:00.000+08:00

I gotta talk about Fitness First again. It is not that I don't think that they don't do a good deed for people like me, no, I think a Gym Center is worthwhile and important. Why do I criticise them than, now, I think the third time?

May be because I didn't work out for a long time, started again today, and felt like all the efforts that I made over the last two or three years are gone and I start from zero - that is how much I huffed and puffed. But than I saw this and I had to take a picture with my cameraphone.

It is bad quality so let me tell you what is there. It tells you that you get an organiser for 2005 if you refer two new members to Fitness First. The organiser is worth RM 70 and that is a picture of it.

And here are my thoughts.

This is not a promotion this is a joke. Why? Because firstly, for RM 70, you won't get a beautiful one. I think - nevermind. But you get a cheaper one if you just look around. I don't even want to start saying, who is using those organiser but that might be unfair or arrogant.

But think about the conditions - you have to refer two new members to get such thing. Let's say, each member pays about RM 150 monthly, what makes RM3,600 together, right? What is the share that you get back from Fitness First for this? 1.94%. That's it and that is a ridiculous promotional gift. That is a major rip-off of members good-will, really! It takes time to get two people to join - and than only gets a return of such meagre value? May be that is how they value their customers, considering that there are so many complaints in the blogger sphere.

Pictures from Putrajaya

2004-12-11T01:07:00.000+08:00

No, not really. But some that show the "daunting character" of Putrajaya. My opinion. There are others, of course. My wife thinks Putrajaya is beautiful - and the majority of the bloggers commented said so - while I think it is partially scary, daunting, mesmerising.

The buildings and the whole style make me feel insignificant, are buildings of power that project power. My impression. What is yours?

Streets in Putrajaya are still pretty empty

Massive buildings. This is the one that houses immigration

Empty aisles in the buildings

Success at immigration - and the difference between a spousepass and a work permit

2004-12-10T23:50:00.000+08:00

I did my last round to immigration yesterday - and again, we - my wife and I - lost our way. This time actually on the highway leading to the administrative center in Putrajaya. We wanted to be smart and that is often a mistake.

The signboard on the highway showed that to go to Section 2, where the immigration is, we would have to go straight. However, the road was blocked, so in order to go to immigration, you currently have to go up the flyover, turn right on the traffic light and than, sooner or later, you will reach the department.

Now, since we were smart, we thought we go up to the highway but instead of turning right, we went straigth - the road that is closed due to construction, but it looked okay to us. Only that it didn't lead us anywhere. After about 5 kilometers, we decided to turn back - it took us another 2 kilometers to find a U-Turn opportunity and to head straight back.

However, on the way back to that said flyover, we made another mistake and turned left too early. The road we travelled on was amazing. What we saw from the distance looked like a beautiful slope that leads along a hill. But as closer we came, as more did we realise that this road - a highway under construction - didn't lead us anywhere - was in fact a deadend. The hill that we saw was straight across the highway. I wonder how it is at night. If you are unfortunate (and as smart as we were), you travel too fast and hit the hill, straight away.

Well, in the end, we found our department. We started to greet to the various officers, that were there during our first trips, but apparently, it is not allowed to wave back in a sign of recognition. Or to smile, for that matter. I got my passport, and was out of immigration in less than 30 minutes. What was a speed record and I was happy.

Since I have a spousepass, I have to renew the permit in May next year. What that means is that the whole renewal process starts again in February.

My questions:
Now - a work permit is valid for two years, while a spouse pass is valid for one year. Why? As a so-called expatriate, you are suppose to transfer the knowledge of what you do to a Malaysian. This is estimated to take 2 years. If you want a renewal of a work permit, you need to show that your job scope widened.

How is that with a spouse pass? Why is it only valid for one year? Is it that as a foreign husband or wife, the knowledge that you carry can be transmitted in one year? What about the upgrade? Valid questions, right?

Hit by a prayers mat

2004-12-10T16:43:00.000+08:00

At 1.15 PMI was in the car with my colleagues and we drove along Jalan Maroof, coming back from lunch.

Traffic was heavy around the Bangsar mosque area, the usual double lane parking, and the dense after-lunch-hour traffic.

There was this elderly guy, waving his prayers mat, indicating that he wants to cross the road to attend to the prayers. We couldn’t stop, so suddenly, since there were cars behind us. We didn't even realise what he was up to - trying to cross the road to run to the mosque. What did he do? He took the mat, and slammed it on the side of the car.

Nothing happened, of course, just a pretty loud thud. But what impression did he give us? If something would have happened – we stop and some other car crashes into us, it would have been us who are at fault, and he would have disappeared. And, being a religious man, one should be on time, and not do some violent act, as minor as this was. There were four of us in the car. The Mat Salleh (yours truly), two Chinese and one Malay).

We understood, after we realized that he wanted to go to the prayers. But what if the car behind us didn’t understand? I just don’t know what goes on in people’s head, sometimes.

My accent and HP shop in Megamall

2004-12-10T10:51:00.000+08:00

I went to the HP shop in Megamall’s IT City yesterday. First, to check for the PS2 that I plan to get for my kid for Christmas, but also, I started to browse around for a new IPaq. I want one that allows me to write a blog entry anywhere I am. I am not sure if I want to buy one now, but checking is always good.

While I was standing outside the HP shop called Micro House, the sales guy came out from the inside to check out what I want. As usual, I responded that I am just browsing, but than remembered the discussion in Malaysia a couple of weeks back about a possible tax that will be imposed on PDAs.

So I asked the guy in my typical German accent if VAT has already been imposed. He looked at me, looking somewhat startled and said: “No Sir, not yet, but I am also waiting for it to come.”
I thought, that doesn’t make much sense – a sales guy waiting for a tax?

I realized, he thought I was talking about a new PDA model. But how sincere is that? He just responded as if he knew what I was talking about - if he doesn't understand what I am saying he could ask. A lot of people do that, you know. My trust in him dropped by 10 points.

So I said “No, I am not talking about a new model. There was the discussion in Malaysia to impose this tax, this VAT on PDAs. My question is, has it already been introduced or not?”

He said “no, not yet, but HP has already been informed that they have to include the tax into the prices by January. Now, we are selling all that is there with the prices before the VAT.”

His first response caused my trust in him to skydive but than, may be he really tried to make sense of what I was saying. Or was he trying to pull off a sales from me?

Thanks to the guys and gals behind Petalingstreet

2004-12-10T10:19:00.000+08:00

Thank you to the guys and girls behind Petalingstreet!!

I think they deserve a huge Thank You. They make it possible that we can ping our postings, and that traffic rises at our weblogs.

Through their work, I am able to connect to other bloggers in Malaysia, and I am able to get to know other blogs as well. Over the last couple of weeks and months, I had a lot of fun and met great people through them. And I think I am not the only one who feels this way!

And now, that Petalingstreet was down for a while, I realized that those guys and girls worked a lot in the background to make it happen – to correct whatever happened.
So yeah – you deserve a big, big Thanks!!

You really WoW our life!

Santa Claus and the PlayStation

2004-12-09T13:27:00.000+08:00

The other day, I wrote about my kid's belief in Santa Claus and that he wrote a long wishlist. Well, last weekend, one of his buddies from school visited him and he brought his PlayStation, fo that they could play it in our apartment.

Now, my kid is all excited - he added PlayStation to the list. He always wanted it, but this since he goes to school and all his friends have one station, he is now more kee than ever to buy one. Since I like to play as well and since I see this as a good way to connect to my kid some more, I think I am going out tonight and buy one.

I don't have too much time to travel around and check out every place possible so my question is actually, if any Blogger in Kuala Lumpur knows and recommends a shop with trustworthy and enthusiastic employees that sells PlayStations and where I could get some more insights into the How-To's ? Any comment is welcome.

Top 24 of 2004 from AlwaysWoW

2004-12-08T21:56:00.000+08:00

Jon made me aware of this entry at A Penny For and I think it is a fantastic way of looking back. So, here is my compilation of my Top 24 blog entries that I like.

Feel free to prepare your own Top 24 and send it to Todd at Send the entry link at " top24@apennyfor.com".

1.) Ready for the next round: AlwaysWoW! against Immigration

2.) Peanuts and television ads

3.) The Greatest Race on Earth and what has it got to do with banks

4.) Bankrupting my kid

5.) Words can make a difference

6.) Help me, I am in the wrong segment

7.) Advertising in a sardine tin

8.) Marketing lessons from Cha-Cha Clown

9.) Are Blogger artists or: Life is about Interactivity

10.) Before applying, check out the blogs

11.) Speaking assignments and stagefright

12.) Famous and going to be rich

13.) Birthday parties

14.) Learning Bahasa Melayu - a long and rambling blog entry

15.) Bonding with my kid

16.) Customer Centric versus Company-Centric or Outside-In versus Inside-Out

17.) Spam - Or, we live in reverse mode

18.) Networking, rollodex and having fun

19.) Your personal Annual Report - Your Resume

20.) Online registrations, online surveys - I am pissed off

21.) Spiderman - Its hard to be a hero

22.) Management lessons from Euro 2004 - Part 7

23.) Mobile phones – I am with you but I am not really there

24.) Closing a sale

Of Germans and Canadians in Putrajaya

2004-12-08T13:37:00.000+08:00

Now, since Jordan wrote something about my accent, well, I have to react quickly, and tell my side of the story.

We started to write to each other irregularly a couple of months back but never managed to meet up. So he read my entry into this blog about my journey to Immigration yesterday and quick as he is, contacted me to finally meet up, once our official activities are behind us. We agreed to meet in the mall there

Putrajaya is confusing. I had some problems to get to Alamanda Mall from immigration. Circling around the round-about at the mosque, chasing some of the tourists that wanted to take pictures of it. I think the road signage is confusing, but well, it is a new city and needs time to develop - as mentioned in last Saturday's Business News of The Star. I found it and we, my wife and I, bought some cookies from Famous A.... (always get that name wrong - it is similar to the German word of backsite, so I don't want to write the wrong staff here. Talk about marketing, branding and name searching for a company), while waiting for Jordan.

He must have been totally lost, and well, it took some time, and three telephone calls, to get the message that he arrived. He looked starved and lost, even in the mall (remember his post about the weddings and how he gets lost - Jordan, I see similarities here) - so we thought that something fast is needed.

However we got along pretty well in A&W (time to write something about them as well). Which shows that he is a great teacher, since he could actually understand me - at least he looked like he did. Those who meet me for the first time might have some trouble understanding me from the beginning. Germans never get rid of their accent - not in a million years. Don't know where it comes from, but it really is interesting to know that a German is immidiately recognised as a German, the moment they try to speak German.

Interestingly, a friend from The Edge thought I am from Jamaica, the first time he met me. I really don't see the similarity.

I am happy I could understand Jordan. I mean, Malaysia is a great place to meet people from many different countries, and there are those that I will never understand. Their accent is just too much. There were Australians that spoke a dialect - I got bored (and they probably with me) by constantly asking "What?", "Can you repeat?" and so on. Luckily I have the ability to somewhat sense when a "is it" or a "oh yeah" or something like a "unbelievable" is required in a conversation. I learnt this when I drove taxi during my student times in Germany - talk to somebody drunke or to those that haven't spoken to anyone for three months, and you know what I mean.

Other accents that are unbearable are Scottish, Irish, or from Eastern Europe. There are some Chinese that try to imitate British accents, and well, I sometimes don't get it. Not a cent.

But I think that this is the beauty of language. We have "S-English", "M-English", G-English" and so on - tell me more - , so yeah, while we have problems understanding each other, it is something that evolves. And may be the people in immigration just want me back to hear it all again. May be they understand me finally!! May be that is the reason why my company hired me? They just couldn't get it and now I stuck with them? Wah - I don't know. So may be my accent is something that brings me forward, makes me unique and interesting. Lol. Something to live by. Anyone daring to take the challenge to talk to me?

Immigration Round 2 - Let's call it a draw

2004-12-07T22:17:00.000+08:00

Okay, freshly shaved, nice clothes and all - I was ready to drive to Putrajaya this morning. I arrived on time, together with my wife.

First action - my mistake. At counter one, the one counter where someone gives you your appropriate waiting number, I said the wrong thing. I mentioned transfer of permit from one passport to another - not spousepass. So, I got to line up at the wrong counter. My clever wife assumed that we were wrong, and lucky us, we only waited for about 5 minutes when our number was called - and it was the wrong number.

Nevermind, off I went to counter 1 again, and got my a number to line up at my favourite counter, the one with the woman that caused me to crawl up the wall last week. It was about 9.15 AM and she wasn't sitting at her counter yet. She only arrived about 5 minutes later, but I was lucky, actually, I did not have to wait long, when my number was called.

Heart pumping, I moved up to the counter - all smiling (actually, I am lying here). My wife with me. Oh - there is someone new, the one from last week is the other counter. Hope rises!! The new one also looks friendlier.

I gave her the letter from my company, the one, that states that I am working with them. Pass her the photocopies of my old and new passport - looking at her expectingly. She looks at the papers and says that this is a letter in English. I nearly faint. There are five lines on the letter - just confirming that I work with my company, since when, and asking them to transfer my permit from the old to the new passport. She passes the letter on to the colleague. Ah - to the one from last week. This one just says that the letter has to be in Bahasa. And that, by the way, the letter needs to be addressed to Immigration Department. We ask why that is so and I say that I don't want to waste another day, that I am here to work and all. She just says that if I don't agree I should go to her boss - that sounds familiar. Must be her line, since this is the same thing I heard last week.

So yeah, we go off, to her boss. Waiting, once again. I nearly made another mistake - or, actually, I made one. See, we had this bag with us - a book for my wife to read and a book for me to read, to pass the waiting time (Honestly, I didn't read much, since they were faster this morning). When we arrived at the counter of the boss, I put the bag onto the counter and forgot that the heavy books were in there. Boom - it crashed on the counter, and it sounded like a very angry guy just put down a bag very angrily. That would have been a bad impression and my wife really gave me one of those look - "behave, don't show your temper!" How true!!

Nothing happened, luckily, and the officers just went about their work and my papers were passed to the "boss".

It took time. We sit down. And wait. Now, suddenly, I hear my name calling from the spousepass counter. Of we went, and yeah - there is something for us. There was great development. I get my some new papers, and the lady explains that have to go to pay first and that than I have to photocopy the paper that I received (It looked like a receipt) before submitting all together - the new paper, and so to the appropriate counter. So we do. We pay first. That meant that we had to wait first again - I think we even got a new number. And than, we walk off to the photocopy shop, which is suppose to be in the next building, around the corner and a bit down the road, and in the building, in a cafeteria.

We walk on the road. Alone. Left a high wall, right the street and another building. This must be the one, but there is no one to ask. Oh - there, finally, is a security guard, but he doesn't know anything about a photocopy shop and says that the cafeteria is closed. We cannot believe it and look through the building. Yeah - it took a while but we found the cafeteria - it is closed and the building appears not to be occupied yet.

So we walk down again, find a lady, and ask her. She sent us to the right place, which was not just around the corner, but a bit down the road. Okay and there is the cafeteria, and there is the photocopy shop. A4 copies - 20 cents each. Expensive. One guy copying, about 8 people waiting but the guy is quite okay. All is done in 10 minutes and back we walk to immigration.

At the counter where we have to submit our papers, my wife talks. The guy is okay, quite friendly, but apparently, I made the early mistake that I didn't transfer the work permit the moment I received a new passport from the German embassy. I would have got a visa called something like "Journey Performed" - something that needs to be done now. So he said that I should come back on Thursday - very early, so that both can be done immediately. The new stamp in the passport with this Journey Performed thing.

Oh, and I will learn if my application to transfer my permit from the old passport to the new passport has been approved. So all I did was actually applying that this is happening. Results not guaranteed? I don't know. Next round - Thursday morning. Thank you. This all took me three hours - but I had the chance to meet Jordan in Alamanda Mall in Putrajaya.

Hardee's Monsterburger creates uproar

2004-12-07T13:42:00.000+08:00

I wrote about it here and asumed that it would create an uproar.

Well, word-of-mouth and going against the trend is something worthwhile, differentiating and exciting.

"People have just had to try the Monster. All of it. The CEO says: ""I don't think any of us anticipated anything like the media uproar we've seen." And: ""You can certainly say it exceeded all my expectations."

Nice - which company stands out from the crowd in Malaysia?

Ready for the next round: AlwaysWoW! against Immigration

2004-12-06T17:35:00.000+08:00

After I lost my first round with immigration last week, I am all hyped up for the next round tomorrow.

I have a copy of my passports, and a nicely written letter from my company. I will go to bed early (really??), train my smile tomorrow morning in front of the mirrow, wear a fresh shirt (nearly said underwear, but than, why would they be interested in that), and will drive off to Putrajaya, once again.

Let's see, if round two is going to be my round!!!

White doves in Thailand

2004-12-06T16:03:00.000+08:00

"Millions of paper birds fell from the sky today giving the people of southern Thailand a brief respite from the violence that has plagued their lives over the past year."

This is the first line in the related New Straits Times article followed, further down by the statement that "Each crane carried a wish for peace to return to Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, where on-going violence has claimed over 500 lives."

I am not 100% sure if I like it or how I see the impact of it. But all in all, it is a statement. May be it is a weak one, but it is something that stands out from the crowd. It is different from all the speeches and the wishes by politicians and religions leaders. Those haven't shown any effect. The killing still went on. Will paper-cranes change something? May be not, but it is a start. I remember the time when there were chains of people holding hands with each other to demonstrate for freedom and against the newly installed cruise missiles in Germany - this was way back in the 1980. Or the people marches with candles at night. It didn't change things at once, but it made a mark. Slowly. May be not at the "grown-ups" but the kids asked questions, why this was done by those people.

So may be, yeah, may be this is the first step to change. And if it fails, it was worth the initiative.
Or do I see this totally wrong?

Question about Trojan Horse

2004-12-06T08:53:00.000+08:00

I am running Windows XP on my computer at home - and have created different accounts (those with Windows, know what I am talking about) - one for me, one for my wife, and one for my kid.

I am pretty careful what I am downloading, and which places to go to. In addition, I have three anti-spyware programs running, plus subscribe Norton Commander and there is another free software that provides firewall services (I forgot the name, but it is highly recommended by services, such as Download.com). About once a week, I am running those programs to get rid of the possible nasties on my computer - if there are any, but also of cookies etc.

However, yesterday, I was in quite for a shock. While my account was free of anything, besides some cookies, my kid's account had a Trojan Horse - he is sevn years old, and he doesn't access the computer alone - so he didn't download anything.

My question to those experts amongst the Malaysian bloggers is:

- How can it be that my kid's account has a Trojan Horse, when my account didn't even indicate such nasty

- More important: Would you recommend that I change all my passwords?

Your comments are appreciated!!

Santa Claus is coming to town

2004-12-05T10:41:00.000+08:00

It is interesting how this evolves - might kid, who is now seven years old, still believes in Santa Claus. I am not sure when to break the news that this is just an old story, deriving from Germany (Santa Claus existed - a long long time back, as a guy who always brought presents to kids - that is one version of how the story evolved in reality) but that there is no Santa Claus that comes riding on a sled. That it is his Papa who is bringing the presents.

One time, a couple of years back, my kid actually went to one Santa Claus in Megamall and thanked him for the presents. What we do is that we ask him into another room and than quickly put the presents into the room, followed by some noise. Than, running out of the room comes my kid in the hope to finally see Santa Claus, of course to no avail.

This year, my kid scribbled his wishlist on a piece of paper - it is a long list, full of things about The Incredibles, Superman and Spiderman. One day I could let the list disappear and say that Santa Claus picked it up. But is this good? Well, as there is nothing better that the joy in the eyes of a kid, i think I am going to enjoy it another year.

Any blogger who is playing Santa Claus?

Copyright and evolving knowledge

2004-12-04T14:05:00.000+08:00

I don't mind when someone copies what I am writing here. If someone takes a piece here and there when he or she likes it. It is a bit of knowledge that I am providing here, based on experience. If someone takes a piece and it changes the way he or she thinks or acts, and if he or she passes it on, that is fine by me. It is great it this someone is attributing the writing to me, but if not, well, what can I do.

I don't like copyrights too much. We all copy things here and things there and try to adjust it to our life. If we copy too much, it is called plagiarism. In the corporate world, it has the gentle word benchmarking and is seen as an appropriate methodology to learn from other organisations (so not everybody understands it). If I am doing this as an individual, than someone is called mentor. Only if I take something from a book or a document is it called copyright infringement.

The New Yorker recently had a story about a Broadway play about serial killers and their behaviour and apparently, the person that produced the play took a lot from a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is quite renowned in the "industry" and apparently, the producer of the Broadway quoted her extensively without any attribution. When she realised what had happened, she was shocked, of course and she felt as if a piece has been taken from her

The New Yorker brings another short example about called "Doris Kearns Goodwin was found to have lifted passages from several other historians, she was asked to resign from the board of the Pulitzer Prize committee."

Malcolm Gladwell, a great author, however, takes a different look at copyright issues in this sense and he brings a lot of examples from the music world. I copy some of the easier comparisons below, when Gladwell visits a friend and they talk about music:

"He played “Angel,” by the reggae singer Shaggy, and then “The Joker,” by the Steve Miller Band, and told me to listen very carefully to the similarity in bass lines. He played Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and then Muddy Waters’s “You Need Love,” to show the extent to which Led Zeppelin had mined the blues for inspiration. He played “Twice My Age,” by Shabba Ranks and Krystal, and then the saccharine seventies pop standard “Seasons in the Sun,” until I could hear the echoes of the second song in the first. He played “Last Christmas,” by Wham!, followed by Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” to explain why Manilow might have been startled when he first heard that song, and then “Joanna,” by Kool and the Gang, because, in a different way, “Last Christmas” was an homage to Kool and the Gang as well. “That sound you hear in Nirvana,” my friend said at one point, “that soft and then loud, kind of exploding thing, a lot of that was inspired by the Pixies. Yet Kurt Cobain”—Nirvana’s lead singer and songwriter—“was such a genius that he managed to make it his own. And ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’?”—here he was referring to perhaps the best-known Nirvana song. “That’s Boston’s ‘More Than a Feeling.’” He began to hum the riff of the Boston hit, and said, “The first time I heard ‘Teen Spirit,’ I said, ‘That guitar lick is from “More Than a Feeling.”’ But it was different—it was urgent and brilliant and new.”He played another CD. It was Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” a huge hit from the nineteen-seventies. The chorus has a distinctive, catchy hook—the kind of tune that millions of Americans probably hummed in the shower the year it came out. Then he put on “Taj Mahal,” by the Brazilian artist Jorge Ben Jor, which was recorded several years before the Rod Stewart song. In his twenties, my friend was a d.j. at various downtown clubs, and at some point he’d become interested in world music. “I caught it back then,” he said. A small, sly smile spread across his face. The opening bars of “Taj Mahal” were very South American, a world away from what we had just listened to. And then I heard it. It was so obvious and unambiguous that I laughed out loud; virtually note for note, it was the hook from “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.” It was possible that Rod Stewart had independently come up with that riff, because resemblance is not proof of influence. It was also possible that he’d been in Brazil, listened to some local music, and liked what he heard."

He also quotes Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig who argues in his new book “Free Culture”:

"In ordinary language, to call a copyright a “property” right is a bit misleading, for the property of copyright is an odd kind of property. . . . I understand what I am taking when I take the picnic table you put in your backyard. I am taking a thing, the picnic table, and after I take it, you don’t have it. But what am I taking when I take the good idea you had to put a picnic table in the backyard—by, for example, going to Sears, buying a table, and putting it in my backyard? What is the thing that I am taking then? The point is not just about the thingness of picnic tables versus ideas, though that is an important difference. The point instead is that in the ordinary case—indeed, in practically every case except for a narrow range of exceptions—ideas released to the world are free. I don’t take anything from you when I copy the way you dress—though I might seem weird if I do it every day. . . . Instead, as Thomas Jefferson said (and this is especially true when I copy the way someone dresses), “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.”

He comes to the conclusion that these patterns of influence of music —cribbing, tweaking, transforming—were at the very heart of the creative process and that without this, we might not have a lot of music and changes in music. Hey, ChangeThis is based on this. Seth is saying that as long as something is good, it will grow in importance, while if something is bad, it will decline.

A friend recently send this quotation from a friend to me: 'We all ought to start sharing knowledge if we are serious about being immortal'.

What does this mean? That ideas live. That only if you share will you grow. Will you have a heritage. So yeah, that is a great sentence. so I am happy, honestly, if you take something from me. It shows me that I had to give something that what I said, wrote, and how I lived was worthwhile for someone to copy. But there is one restriction: You can never be me. Try to tweak it to your life. And make it a Great WoW.

Some thoughts about online banking and Maybank's charges

2004-12-04T11:21:00.000+08:00

Online banking is cheap for banks. There are numbers floating around that put the cost per transaction at very low levels:

A banking transaction involving a teller averages US$1.07.
A telephone transaction costs US 54¢.
A transaction made through an ATM costs US 27¢.
Banking with a PC software program costs US 1.5¢.
An Internet-based transaction only costs one cent.

Online banking does not replace normal banking service, but changes normal banking service by forcing those employees to provide higher value It allows the remaining employees in a bank to focus on what they should be doing anyway - customer service. Servicing those that enter their premises in a way that allows them to charge more money.

Online banking also allows a bank to enter and concentrate on business segments where the margins are higher, such as private banking, investment banking and so on.

With online banking, a bank would still be able to focus on its traditional clientel, the smaller guys on the road - those that have a savings account, and are happy to conduct online .

But online banking also requires a different mindset in a bank. It allows a bank to still serve customers that it cannot reach with a branch alone. It is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. I once read an article where someone was quoted as proposing to run an online bank from 8 AM to 5 PM - normal business hours. This was a story from the the beginning of the discussions about online banking. the grand-daddy of online banking, Egg in the UK, recognised the challenges. Set up by Prudential, its early CEO perceived customer service as the differentiating factor between the online bank and the traditional bank. And he said that good customer service is something like a dance between its customers and the bank. To instill this discipline into its employees, he brought in dance instructors to train the sales team. Someone who wanted to be hired had to do a dance during the interview - imagine the kind of mindset you get.

Online banking is a challenge for a bank - a Malaysian bank competes with a bank in the US with a bank in Korea with a bank in Australia - how many customers are served in Malaysia that origin overseas? E-banking and great service with their ATM machines is one of the reasons why the foreign banks in Malaysia can compete so nicely - they have a wider influence that exceed the branches - they can serve customers in Johor, Kuching, wherever. All because of online banking. You can actually ask the question how many customers did we serve in the US- take this as a measurement.

Failure is not possible - how damaging would it be if the servers are down and someone from the US cannot log in. Online banking thus requires high security and stability.

Malaysia is competing to become an islamic finance center - Islamic banking currently accounts for 10% of the financial system and is forecast to achieve at least 20% market share by 2010. There is a lot of money floating around in the Middle East that is a bit reluctant to invest in the US due to the current situation. If a bank is able to tap this growth it will clearly become the market leader.

Mobile banking will become the norm - in Korea, the number of banking transactions conducted via mobile phones rose 100.9 percent from the second to the third quarter 2004 - 8 million transactions were made!

Maybank is going to impose charges on those that use online banking. I am not sure about their intention, but I believe that someone looked at the potential growth, took a calculator and said, WoW, if we can tap this growth and this potential, we will have very, very happy shareholders and stakeholders!

It is difficult or, better, troublesome for a customer to change all the banking details once you have established an identity. That is one of the reasons why it is so easy to impose charges. It is inconvenient to tell all those that transfer money to an account that you are going to change your account. Or to change all those nitty-griddy details - the charges for your mobile phone, fixed line, electricity etc. - that is why companies like to give you the 30-days free trial. Once you tried something, it is more difficult to change, again. Maybank had its free internet accounts for even a longer time, so more customers are locked in.

Is this customer friendly? Nope - not a single minute. There are surely better ways to support a balance sheet! If you are interested, sign the online petition against the imposed charges by Maybank.

Will they read it? I don't think so - I think Maybank doesn't understand the online world too much and I doubt that they are interested in changing their position.

Mission Immigration

2004-12-02T21:14:00.000+08:00

I did it - I really wanted to be friendly, polite, successful. Especially successful. I had to go to immigration because when I came back from Singapore, I was told at the border that it is not possible to have a valid work permit in an expired passport and carrying along a passport that is valid but without a work permit, but a remark that the work permit is in the expired one ( a one, a two, a three - can you follow?). That I would need to transfer my work permit from the expired passport to the new passport. Border control in Johor gave me two weeks to do so.

Good citizen that I am, I told my firm that today is the day when this mission will be accomplished. I took the chance to have a great breakfast with my kid - having Roti Canai - and than to drive off to Damansara. My wife accompanied me to immigration to give me psychological assistance. I arrived at the building, telling myself loudly, that this is a great day, the sun is shining, I am friendly, and will be very successful. Positive vibes all around me, so to speak.

I don't like the building. It is cramped and dirty. I was there only 5 minutes, since information told us that work permits have been transferred to Putrajaya. Great. One hour drive.

Okay - the highway was free and it is a nice ride. The lady in Damansara gave us the address in Putrajaya - or, the Presint (or whatever) and the building name. Problem is only that everything looks pretty much the same in Putrajaya. Big, huge, daunting. Powerful, full of power. Made me feel really, really small and insignificant, but this is what architecture can do to you.

We arrived, the room was full, but only 15 people in front of us. Out comes my PDA, I play some games, and be happy. As I said, positive vibes. After about an hour, my number comes up - pretty fast, hm?

There is someone in front of me, and the lady behind the counter looks pissed. Grouchy, unhappy, cynical, pissed. When she turned to me, after 15 seconds, and cutting the other guy short, I knew I had to be charming, and friendly. I smiled, said Good Morning, and asked for the transfer of my work permit to my new passport.

She took a quick look at it and said, I need a letter from my company, and to copy my old and my new passport. My face fall flat. I said, that the work permit is only 6 months old. That I had a letter, when I applied for it. She just repeated the message, not even looking at me, but scribbling down the items that I need to bring. I ask her if she would be really be sure. She snapped that I could check with her supervisor, if I want (btw, she said the same to the guy before me). I ask her, where I would find him and what his name was and after she told me, I went to the counter. The guy was suppose to sit a bit away from the counter, about 3 meters away.

The counter was empty. We waited, my wife and I. Moving up and down, trying to get his attention. He was on the phone, staring at the computer. Put down the phone, still looking at the computer. Really intensely working. No looking up. Some files fall down, and he picked them up. Not even one look to the counter. I move left and right, hoping, that my movement will catch his attention. It doesn't. My wife went to the neighbouring counter on the right to ask the guy there for help. All she gets is the response that if Encik is finished with his work, he will attend to us. Nice, friendly. Service with a smile.

We wait. I play music on the counter. No reaction from our Encik. My wife went to the counter on the left to check with the guy there. He just turns around, and shouts at our guy. Oh - now he comes. He explains to my wife and to me that they need the letter, because they have to make sure that the one applying for the transfer is really still working with the company. Nothing against me, not me, of course. He said this, really.

So I have to do this. Nice. Need to stay away from the office another half a day. Very productive. My mood wasn't good anymore, after that.

Begging in Malaysia

2004-12-01T10:11:00.000+08:00

This posting might provoke some attention, but may be it also changes a mindset here and there. The New Straits Times run this article yesterday asking for heavier punishments for beggars. Apparently they found beggars who had money hidden or pretended to have some impediment that would prevent them from “real work”. They stated that the number of beggars increased to 1,439 last year from 1,008 in 2002. Foreign beggars had also increased to 1,265 last year compared to 973 the year before.

Statistics showed the number of child beggars, especially girls, had increased substantially. Last year, there were 143 child beggars, including 60 girls. In 2002, 33 of 84 were girls.

By the way and before I start – the numbers don’t really make sense. If you add the number of foreign beggars (1,265) and the child beggars (143), you arrive at 1,408 in total. The total number given is 1,439 – so does this mean there are only 31 Malaysian beggars? But may be I get the numbers wrong, or the newspaper didn’t provide all the numbers. Whatever. I don’t want to play a statistical game. Well, one more thing with regard to this – if the number is accurate, the total number of beggars is very, very small.

Radio 4 yesterday evening had quite some emotional appeal – asking what to do with beggars. Some rough answers came about and I didn’t like it at all.

I guess, first of all, there are two types of beggars – you have the ones that are organized in a mafia-kind of setting, and those that are forced into begging since there is no other solution.

I believe in the organized version of begging, the beggars are mutilated to erect pity so that people give money. You can see heart-wrenching mutilation. I don’t think that those guys chose their profession (there are professional beggar caste in Sri Lanka) – and I believe that if they are aligned with a mafia, they are the lowest on the ladder. They might even be beaten up, if they don’t bring money. I am not saying that you have to give money but I am just throwing some light on the issue.

And there are beggars that really beg out of economic reality. Hey – you read the appeals in the New Straits Times for assistance for surgery? Or the many chain mail e-mails that go around, asking for money because a family encounters hardship? Isn’t this begging as well, just a bit more formal? How many people run in this economy to stay ahead of poverty, and run fast, just to stumble and need assistance, since they cannot cope anymore? I believe that it takes a lot for people to stand up and say, “please, community, give me some money, I lost my way.” A whole lot. I am coming from Germany where the government gives a lot of social aid to people – deserving or sometimes undeserving. But there are a lot of old people who live below the poverty line and who would have every right to get social assistance – but suffer in silence, because they are too proud to ask for help.

Malaysia has no social assistance provided by the government (as far as I know), but they have very close family connections that have been lost a long in Germany. These families serve as a social net. If there is no family to help, or the rest of the family is also not well-off, what to do? What if those people have to beg? They need help, from the society, or the government or any entity in some form. Otherwise, they slip down further and end up in a situation of violence and poverty, and their children will have no chance to ever get out of it – or only with a lot of help, luck, and money.

Can you imagine going around from place to place and ask for money? Or, if you are lucky, you are able to get some few products, books or toys or whatever, and walk from restaurant to coffee shop and back and ask people to buy your product. How many of you act nicely? Most are annoyed, wave their hand. Don’t even give a smile and say, sorry, don’t want, cannot. It works wonders, really. Try it! If they still don’t give up, you can still be annoyed, but try it at least the very first time. But how far is this step away from begging?

Malaysia is a prosperous country and blessed with a lot of people who are very, very generous. This is clearly visible from the donations that people make to those who appeal through the newspapers. But the challenge is that a prosperous country, a country that stands out, attracts people from countries that are not well off. In Europe, there is a lot of immigration from Africa, and the Eastern countries. Why? Because someone made money, somehow, may be a long time back, or didn’t make money. But he (let’s say it is a he) came and worked for a while. He will go back and say that Germany (or Malaysia) is a great country, where money can be made easily. Even if he didn’t make much. Or lost. But he cannot say that he didn’t win anything, since he would lose face. But anything that he made might be way more than would be possible to make in his own country.

It is paradise for them, living in their own country in poverty. Word than spreads. And gets changed. Stories are exaggerated. More people are attracted to the country and make the move to Wonderland. To Malaysia. Where the money grows on the trees. This is the impression they have. I have heard the stories in Africa about Wonderland Europe. People watch TV, watch BayWatch and believe that this is how life is lived. They don’t know better! Really.
This is the price of prosperity, people.

What to do with the professional beggars? I think, the ones you see are the real victims. They need help. The kids might have been kidnapped and forced into begging. The older ones have been mutilated to get pity. I believe it is important to help. Here, the government could help. The objective would be to get those behind the frontline as well. Which is a daunting task. But if those beggars cannot beg anymore, they will do something else – will be forced to do something else – which might mean robberies, burglaries, drug trade or something like this.

It is easy to say – do away with them. But solutions are needed. Begging is a result of economic prosperity and comes in different forms. Organised begging and involuntary begging. And different solutions are needed –some harder, some with some more compassion.

Back to work, finally

2004-11-29T15:31:00.000+08:00

This was a nice, nice break, actually.

First, there was my longer Hari Raya break that lasted about 1.5 weeks. Than, two days of work, followed by three days of travelling on a cruise with my company. Okay, the latter was a lot of work, and meetings and discussions and all that, but still, it was away from the office.

As I mentioned earlier, I got a bit sick when I came back, but really, it was more exhaustion than sickness. I mean, we had a Karaoke session on the ship until past 3.00 AM in the morning with a lot of beers and even more songs. And when I start to sing, no one can stop me. Hehe. With only 4 hours of sleep and another round of meetings on Friday morning followed by a long trip home via Johor - naturally, any body is tired and so was mine. Subsequently, I fall asleep early on Saturday evening at my sister-in-laws place. I think it was about 8.00 PM. Didn't have diner, and only woke up to drive back to our condominium. Brought my kid to bed - which was tough, because he was awake and I am still tired, but I managed with being a bit pushy - watched Jay Leno - and went back to bed to have another long round of sleep.

Today is thus my first day back at work and hey- have I been famous. So many e-mails to respond to, so many things to write. I am not quite sure yet, if I am in the mood to push hard and work hard, well, I did already. Need to clean up that inbox. What I cannot stand is the mess on my table. I am sitting in a cubicle, all of us do, and there is not enough space to accommodate so much paper on the table and all the reports and so. So one of these days, have to clean up, seriously, to get my table clean for about one week, before it starts piling up again. This is called the circle of life, isn't it?

Line management on a cruise

2004-11-28T13:48:00.000+08:00

It is always annoying to wait in line somewhere for something. In fact, it seems, that half of our life is spend waiting for something in line. Waiting for the taxi, waiting in cinemas to start with the movie, waiting in the line of McDonalds or KFC, waiting in line in departments that your number is being called and so on - you will know plenty of more stories.

Hardly anything in this is fun - mostly, it is dreadful. I am constantly thinking of how companies could create a better customer experience when they would just be able to manage waiting lines better. In fact, this is one reason why Starbucks in the US became so successful. They transformed the "waiting in line for your coffee" into an experience. It is not that bad to wait in line at Starbucks anymore.

I mentioned already in one of my recent entries about conferences how much better a conference organiser could connect to the audience while they have to wait for a speaker to turn up. Or for the room to fill. Ever since that conference I was thinking about it. I looked at the lines that formed at FitnessFirst, when one of their training sessions start and people cue up to get "the permission to participate".

I had a great experience in Singapore. My firm organised a tour with Star Cruises for our offsite meeting. Yeah - I was on a cruise, my first - but than, while I had swim trunks with me, and slippers and shorts, I didn't wear any of those since we were busy trashing out ideas for the firm to go forward.

Disembarking from the ship could have been a nightmare. It was a nightmare entering the ship with about 1,000 or more people trying to get into it. Now, at the departure, there were four gates which were manned that did a last check on the passenger, if everything is in order before disembarking. The room where we were waiting is a theater.

Three long columns with rows and rows of seats to be filled up. People could have sat down anywhere but it didn't happen. People could have get restless, since the wait was long. The ship had to anchor first and safely, before disembarking could begin. All of this took more than 30 minutes.

What did Star Cruise do? They had an entertainer organising the sitting and the conversation with the audience during the wait. No, not somebody who swings ropes but somebody called Ricky who just talked to the audience, and entertained or involved them.

It was simple but efficient - he went through all the countries and asked the audience if there was anyone there from that country. He changed this sometimes, when he didn't remember any country - like for "O", he couldn't recall any name in the beginning. So he said "Osaka ---- country in Japan". Smiled to the 3 or 4 Japanese in the audience. He talked about Russia and that he loves their tennis star ... (I don't know the name). He said that he likes it because her skirt is so high during the tournaments and he can see lots of her legs. Cheap jokes, brought well.

He even managed to get us off the boat well. He just kept talking, while he organised the way the rows along the columns were let down to the exit.

It is difficult to describe all of this in detail. But it was clear that he knew what he was doing. He was spontaneous - some of the jokes will be repeated every time, but some where new, since the situation changed - this was clear.

But here was a company that was able to connect with the customer in a situation that could be bad or dreadful. This was a company that works on operational efficiency, in the usual business sense. This means their employees are able to board, serve and entertain 1,000 passengers in an extremely efficient way - you didn't see the operations in the background, but things were done and there was no reason to complain. And they were able to entertain customers, when required, in critical situations, in addition to connecting with them. This was a great experience and gives me hope that the experience economy can be a reality in Asia.

Crossing over to Malaysia and now I am sick

2004-11-27T18:07:00.000+08:00

I came back from Singapore yesterday - we had to take a coach from Copithorn Hotel in Singapore to cross through the border to Malaysia and take to flight from Johor Airport. This was decided by my company due to financial considerations.

The problem is that I have two passports - well, only one, of course. But the old one contains my work permit for Malaysia, and the new one contains a remark that there is a work permit in the other passport. Normally, I never have problems when I travel from and to KLIA, but I am always expecting trouble when I am entering Malaysia from Johor, or Perlis.

Now, it happened. The officer at immigration called his supervisor, and she gave me a two weeks visa. I discussed with her but she was pretty stern! Now I need to transfer my work permit from the old to the new passport. I am not sure if I like to go to immigration - the overall perception in Malaysia about the department is not high enough. I hope I don't have problems or long delays. It is such a waste of time, to sit in a department and wait. I rather work - hey - that is what I am paid for.

I felt yesterday already that I would get sick - just have the feeling in my bones. My body aches and I am just not in a good mood. Normally a sign that I get sick and what I normally do is to go to bed very early with Vitamin C in my blood and some Panadol. It also happens when I am totally overworked and my body screams for a rest that I was not willing to give earlier. But this time, it really is a flu - a lot of my friends and colleagues are coming down with it and I know that it is a nasty bug.

What I am angry is that I cannot go and finally meet my blogger "buddy" Jordan, who has got an open house today.

More stories about Singapore to follow.

We will always have problems

2004-11-26T23:42:00.000+08:00

That is great, isn't it? How will you as a company attract customers, if someone tells them even before they get in contact with you, that you as a company have problems?

Either I am incredible tired and misunderstand the whole story or Prime Minister John Howard did just that - he told the public that Telstra, the leading telecommunications company in Australia which is slated for privatisation:

"I don't think you will ever eliminate all problems with service delivery by Telstra whether it is owned 50 per cent by the government or owned 100 per cent by the public. No company will be 100 per cent perfect."

Agree - no company will be 100% perfect. Markets move and change is constant - when you are trying to make yourself perfect, you are probably out of the market and innovated away by faster and more agile competitors - failure is also a constant.

But hey - what message do you give your customers already? "Sorry, okay - we know we are bad, but please, give us your business anyway?"

May be I don't understand but as far as I understand business, this is not the way a winner is winning.

Bankrupting my kid

2004-11-23T16:14:00.000+08:00

I am not sure if this is a nice headline, but well, over the last couple of days, I played a lot of games with my kid.

Some card games, even Black Jack - without money involved, of course. But it helps him to learn to add up numbers - and this quickly, so this has some value, of course.

I also taught him another card game, which is similar to UNO, but with the "normal" cards. Everybody gets about 7 cards from the pile. If you place a "7", the next player has to take two cards. If he or she puts another "7", he wouldn't have to take two cards, but the next player would have to take two and so on.

If you put an "eight", the next player skips a round. With a "9", the sequence is reversed. Put a "J" and you can wish the next card calour and hope that the color is still there if it is your enxt turn. If you have one card left you ahve to shout "Mau", and if you forget it, you ahve to take a card as penalty (when one other player sees it). If you finish all the cards, you are Mau Mau. Sorry - it is a German card game.

Than, we played "The Game of Life". My kid won quite frequently. He bought "Monopoly" with his Raya money and well, it helps him to understand money and to calculate. Robert Kiyosaki is calling. We want to teach him another lesson.

I wonder if my parents were thinking the same when I was a kid. That they were trying to teach me something everytime we played. Or is it just that we do this today, since the general societal pressure is also coming onto us? Not sure, and also not sure, if this is always nice. Why not playing something for the sake of playing and don't have a "hidden" agenda behind it?

I bankrupt my kid on Sunday. Well, I helped him and his niece quite a lot, but than, he got into debt, came out again and than took one of the cards where he has to go back three steps. Before that, he avoided my streets, but now, with this card, he was thrown back - onto my hotel. The results? He cried - I don't want to be bankrupt - but I have no money anymore.

Parents - hm? Don't know. I hope he still has fun playing it, and I didn't cause permanent damage to his behaviour - that from now on, he is risk averse.

Singapore on Wednesday

2004-11-23T08:49:00.000+08:00

My company is planning an offsite meeting and that means that I have to go to Singapore from tomorrow onwards. I won't be able to blog on Thursday and Friday (only late, Friday night, may be), so well, a short relief from my addiction to blog.

However, if someone is of you bloggers from Malaysia is in Singapore or if one of the Singaporean readers from Singapore would like to meet me over coffee in the afternoon, I would be honoured. Honestly.

Send me an e-mail if interested.

Lufthansa in Germany - Standing out from the crowd

2004-11-22T17:42:00.000+08:00

Lufthansa is trying to stand out from the crowd, just like others that go against the trend.

The European market, just like any other market, is flooded with low-cost airliners and frequently, established airliners try to cope by lowering their own cost structure and prices. Often, they fail. It is difficult to change your business model from something like a high-flyer to suddenly a lowcost carrier. A different mindset, a different culture, different values. It is nothing that you can achieve over night, most companies will never be able to.

You cannot teach employees to smile. There is a story about Southwest Airlines and the request for passengers to keep their seatbelt fastened when seated. Most airliners just announce the recommendation via their intercom - the story goes that one Southwest Airline Stewardess approached a passenger who sat on his chair with an unfastened seatbelt with the words: "Ooops, your seatbelt is broken into two pieces." Not funny? Well, may be, but different. Or to have stewards sing on board or when pilots tell jokes. A company that does this consistently will attract a certain followership - not the Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, but those, who can cope with it.

Lufthansa is going against the trend - they are upgrading their service. "It believes that well-heeled people will pay for a chauffeur to park their cars, valets to carry suitcases, for a massage and dinner followed by a cigar in luxurious surroundings before boarding," is written in the article. Or:"This week it unveiled a spanking new luxury terminal for first-class passengers, which resembles more a five-star hotel than a soulless functional airport. From Dec. 1, top-paying customers can sit down to a cordon-bleu dinner, choose between 50 of the world's best whiskies at the bar, smoke a cigar in a special lounge or simply freshen up in marble bathrooms before boarding their flight.
There are no crowds, no queuing and no jostling, just 1,800 square meters (19,000 square feet) of luxury amenities at the disposal of about 350 passengers a day."

It might just work, you know. It won't attract me - I simply won't be able to afford it, and my employer will also say no to it, but others might go for it. Yeah, the Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, may be.

Stupid employees

2004-11-21T11:41:00.000+08:00

I went to an open house last Friday and overheard a conversation between a marketing communications person working in a hotel and person who has some dealings with this hotel on behalf of his company. Lets call the Communications Person A and the other one B.

Apparently some employees in the hotel messed up something earlier and the two talked about it. A apologised profoundly, more than once, which is okay. She said that she is very sorry about this. The part that I didn't like at all was when she said that it was the fault of her stupid employees who didn't behave correctly. In front of a customer!! She mentioned stupid a couple of times.

It is my opinion that mess ups are normal, and a way of life. Hey - we all mess up - and if we won't fail, life would be boring. Failure is development. We have to accept it. Gosh, if we get scolded or punished every time we do something wrong, we would be discouraged to do anything new. Look at babies - they try and try and try - they fail constantly. If we scold them, they would keep crawling on the floor. They wouldn't dare to get up and may be, we would never have walked on two legs. The first person to walk on two legs would have been killed by his or her tribe - don't do it, you cannot walk on two legs, never do that again - bam bam bam - dead!!

Babies are happy when you encourage them. The most happiest "creatures" on earth, so to say. Nothing beats the smile of a kid that has accomplished something.

Someone in this hotel hired the employees, can it be that those "Stupid Employees" were hired by the same department, the same person may be that hired you as well? What makes you better than?

She said that those employees had already been replaced, but this doesn't make it better. May be an "accident by recruitment". Still. I don't like when people complain about others. Imagine, I complain to some person called 1 about someone else called 2. How trustworthy am I? Isn't it possible that I complain to the other person 2 about you, number 1, as well, once I meet him or her? What kind of climate do I create? I climate of mistrust, of biching, so to speak.

Don't get tangled up in my thoughts, but I think it is really really bad and not integer, neither from the person nor does it speak well about the hotel - which is not very known anyway - could this be a result?

Direct marketing - one more

2004-11-20T13:40:00.000+08:00

Okay - may be this is a boring entry, or may be it will give input to other entries - I don't know, but well, this blog is also a collection of stories for me.

I flipped through a magazine called BusinessToday yesterday and found this article about this one company. Apparently, they first collect data for 12 months, than mine those data for their clients following the Pareto principle that states that 20% of what effects 80% of your results. In this case 20% of the customers result in 80% of the revenues (they wrote 20-25%). A common principle, successfully used in the business world.

What I didn't like too much was the way the CEO addressed the consumers in their campaign:

"After analysing the data further we blast these potentials with direct marketing and cross selling efforts."

Those who follow my blog know that I believe words can make a difference in a company and instill the ambition amongst employees to go beyond what is required.

And with regard to this, I am not sure if I want to be blasted with direct marketing efforts. Honestly, I hope that they haven't found me in their database. And I rather prefer to be cross-sold by great experiences such as those that I frequently have with my Teh Tarik guy.

Peanuts and television ads

2004-11-20T09:18:00.000+08:00

Okay - I mentioned it various times before that I like to be up North with my in-laws. What is amazing is the number of hours in the day that the television in playing. Frequently, the TV is playing Malaysian channels, but oftentimes, we flip to other channels for a short while and back again.

But who is actually watching television? During the daytime, frequently the "youngsters" only - they watch Cartoon or Disney Channel, while in the evening, the adults gather around it to watch movies on local channels, or sometimes HBO or other movie channels.

However, if there are visitor (and there are a lot), the TV is switched to a local station in the daytime as well, but we sit at the table a bit further away to talk. Some sit on the sofas around the TV to still watch TV, or talk to other people that also sit on the sofa.

During Hari Raya, a lot of times, we played those stations that broadcasted Hari Raya music. Sorry for the detailed description of how the house looks like.

What I wanted to say is that the sheer amount of advertisement played on local TV stations is amazing - and the number of interruptions that we have to endure. It really is no fun.

I think in a 90 minute movie, there are about 30 minutes of commercial breaks. I don't watch local stations too often, and haven't realised this in such a detail. I watch movie channels, which don't have advertisements. Other channels that I usually watch are Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, or BBC, CNBC or CNN - they have commercial breaks but not that many.

Those interruptions in the local channels are really upsetting. The book that I brought along to read contains a nice, but somehow ironical exercise to show the uselessness of advertisements. It says the following:

"Sit down and watch an hour and a half of commercial television with a small bag of peanuts. Take as the basic premise that any good piece of communication has to be at least relevant and distinctive. Count the number the number of ads that fulfill this single basic premise and mark each one with a peanut on the arm of your chair. Eat the other peanuts - It might be depressing but at least you don't go hungry."

I think I would have ate tons of peanuts while I was in Perlis. It is of course a matter of defining distinctive or relevant, and each viewer has a different definition. But there was hardly any ad that would have been distinctive and relevant to me - try it yourself!

But hey - I liked the Petronas ad - and I liked the passage when the guy at the piano turned around and said that it is not necessary that everytime someone needs to die in Petronas ads. But while it is entertaining and distinctive, it is not relevant.

A Harvard Business Review article, back in 2002, wrote the following:

"Copernicus (a research company) researched 340 commercials shown in prime time and identified a differentiating brand message--that is, a clear positioning--in only 7% of those ads."

And yeah, this is how I feel - sorry about this commercial thinking of mine, but what has to be said has been said. Lol.

Against the trend - look at this monster burger

2004-11-17T18:19:00.000+08:00

There is this huge debate ongoing in the US about health and obesity and the relation between companies such as McDonalds and Wendy or Burger King or just too much food.

There are plenty of statistics around to show that Americans are obese. Fastfood joints go for health after coming increasingly under attack. They reduce the sizes of their burgers, and offer salads. Basically, they are screaming that they are not that bad and that they want to be seen as healthy. But, again, they will look the same in the end and there is no way, a consumer is changing the mind of how they see the companies.

One company is standing up against the trend and thus, stands out from the crowd: It is Hardees Restaurant - they now offer a Monster Thickburger with 1,420 calories and 107 gram of fat. Totally unhealthy - but they claim it is not a burger "for tree-huggers but one for young, hungry guys who want a really big, delicious, juicy, decadent burger. I hope our competitors keep promoting those healthy products, and we will keep promoting our big, juicy delicious burgers."

One can say what he/ she wants - they surely stand out from the crowd - I am not saying that this is good, but that it is a way to stand out from the crowd - you got to see the picture of the burger.

Going home tomorrow

2004-11-16T16:38:00.000+08:00

Okay - my holiday is nearly over. Tomorrow afternoon, we will embark on the journey back to Kuala Lumpur. I hope that traffic will be easy, but guess, it is. I am also looking forward to seeing those watch towers that I missed the first time around when we came here before Hari Raya.

I actually just realised today that I was hardly out, besides at those days when we went to visit other houses.

Normally, I like to sit in front of the house, on the porch and just enjoy the sun and the garden. This time I was hardly there. I sat inside, read my books, talked to others, watched television, slept, ate, played pillow battles or cards with my kid or didn't do anything much.

It was just too hot to go out. Just sitting outside for a while caused sweating. Too hot, way too hot.

The greatest eater on Earth

2004-11-16T11:19:00.000+08:00

Argh - I don't think I want to do this for a living. A 26 year old Japanese (who is slender, weighting 60 kilos), vowed to eat 69 hamburgers in eight minutes - no mentioning if it is Ramli Burger, Bic Mac, Cheeseburger or Chicken Burger.

He is the undefeated champion in hot-dog eating competitions as well and plans the "line-extension into burger competitions" (my editions). Other eating records: he holds "records for eating cow brains -- eight kilos (17.7 pounds) in 15 minutes -- and traditional Japanese rice balls at nine kilos (20 pounds) in half an hour."

And, what's more, he is doing this fulltime - and took home US$10,000 in a recent competition.

Well, I surely can think of better ways to earn a living. That's not a WoW for me.

Atlantis discovered?

2004-11-15T23:19:00.000+08:00

Jess's blog made me aware of it. But close to Cybrus? So boring, actually. I always thought it is in the middle of the Atlantic, far away.

What would this mean to me? Is this a WoW? Well, it could be since it opens up the space for a lot of new discoveries and learning and all.

But, it would also mean the end of imagination, and riddles and an end to another dream from the childhood - who didn't start to dream about Atlantas when you heard it first in your life? Anyone here knows the song by Donovan - Atlantis? Beautiful. It is a very, very old song, but it is great and tells the story of Atlantis and its great discoveries, and when the priests of Atlantis learnt that their island is doomed, they send all their ships away to tell the world about their disaster. Nice song.

But, may be, now, new imaginative stories begin to take form?

So much food

2004-11-14T19:29:00.000+08:00

I am going to the gym to lose food. Running on the treadmill, sweating along. Trying to get better, hoping, to keep my body in shape and fit. Always thinking about future health and how some exercise keeps one young. I do this in Fitness First although I am not too excited about them.

I am trying to reduce the amount of food I eat over lunch or diner. There is just so much food and if I would always eat what I get, I would be doubling my size. I am waking up the stairs in the office building - just two floors - to stay healthy. I listen to the new advertisement about Sehat that is played in the radio every morning, and I don't like it too much but what to do - they play it while I drive and I like to listen to station (do you know which advertisement I mean? - nevermind, if not).

Food is the unifying connection between all Malaysians . There is Indian culture, Malay culture, Chinese culture and some real healthy mix of all in between. What ties them all together is the love for food. Go to any stall, and you find a healthy mixture of all ethnic groups frequenting (as long as it is halal, of course).

There are plenty of festivals in Malaysia - I only know of one country where they have more festivals and that is Sri Lanka. I read that a governmental officer could have about 180 days off in a year - they even have a holiday declared when their team wins in Cricket. But I love what Malaysia has to offer in terms of holidays - Islamic holidays, Chinese and Indian ones, and those that apply to all groups - like the Independence Day Celebrations.

Hari Raya (similar to Chinese New Year, I think), means visiting other houses and families. Relatives and close friends. Today is Hari Raya and now, that it is 7.30 PM, I am stuffed. I am absolutely, incredibly staffed. I cannot eat anymore. While it is nice (most of the time) to visit people's house and meet new people, you are always invited to eat. Malay food like Ketupat, Nasi Himpit, the famous Laksa, Hari Raya Cookies, Chocolade Cakes and so on. In each house. I think we visited may be ten, but I lost track. And that is just the first day of Hari Raya. I had the strange feeling that every time, we entered the car, it sank a bit deeper down. We all ate and ate and ate.

So here I go. I lost 3.5 kilos over the last couple of weeks and months. But I don't dare to get onto any scale in the near future.

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir dan Batin

2004-11-13T16:56:00.000+08:00

My apologies to all of those that I have offended with my writing.

Tomorrow is Hari Raya, and I can smell the food in the kitchen - Perlis Laksa. I fall in love with my mum-in-law's Laksa the first time I tasted it. It is fantastic, and still one of the best in the country (my very personal opinion, since no one is able to contradict it). But be aware the Laksa in Little Penang in Megamall is a great competitor, hehe.

I will keep writing and writing and writing until the next Hari Raya. And those of you, who read what I write, and like or dislike what I write, please feel free to submit feedback. Even criticise - I appreciate constructive criticism but accept everythingand will see everything as feedback.

Have fun over the next couple of days - celebrate and simply make it a WoW, okay?

For those outside Malaysia:
(Hari Raya is celebrating the end of the fasting month or Ramadan in Malaysia (or elsewhere where Muslims live. Maaf Zahir and Batin is asking for forgiveness)

Please correct me if I am wrong, okay?

Citibank - they don't want to have my business

2004-11-13T13:29:00.000+08:00

It is really interesting. One time, I am seen as a rich Mat Salleh who will definitely not purchase something in some Second Hand Bookshop.

Than, again, I am the Mat Salleh, who is not worthwhile to make business with. I went to Citibank recently to refinance my mortgage. I have a housing loan with HSBC and while I like HSBC and their treatment (serious!), their interest is just too high, especially now, when Bank Lending Rates (BLR) are so low.

So off I went with all the papers required and applied for a refinancing loan with Citibank. There shouldn't be a problem, was my thinking. I have a job and earn regular income, I have my employment pass, I am in Malaysia for a very long time, am married to a Malaysian - so show the roots that are required.

But than, I was waiting and waiting for the call of the credit assistant. It didn't come and well, so I called, and was told that my application has been rejected. Citibank in Malaysia and Singapore doesn't allow refinancing of loans for foreigners - is it because I could run away? Where is the risk, do I ask? If I really run away they would have the access to the condominium! Gosh, the moment I have a mortgage on my condominium, it basically belongs to the bank!

What a joke is that? But at least, the Citibank assistant provided me with a contact in Standard Chartered Bank. Talk about loyalty and service.

A story about Yo-Yo

2004-11-11T19:54:00.000+08:00

There is a cartoon on TV - it must be either on Disney Channel or Cartoon Channel, but it must have something to do with Yo-Yo. You know, those little rollers that run up and down on a string. They are around for ages and were probably dead for a long time. I played with one when I was a kid. Simple games - up and down, and may be we were able to do a loop.

Now they are in again and they are way advanced over what I knew before. In every corner of Malaysia (dare I say so), kids are playing Yo-Yo and not only kids - adults as well.

There are "normal or basic" Yo-Yos, "intermediate", "advanced" and "brilliant". There might be more categories. Each group allows more tricks with the Yo-Yo, but as more advanced the Yo-Yo, as higher the price. There is "Walk The Dog", "Escalator", "Rock The Baby", "Skipper" and more. My kid recently bought a second one, after he spoilt his first and I saw that there are even videos explaining the different ways of how to "work a Yo-Yo". My kid is pretty good at it, while I just manage to do the tricks that I could already do with the old, old Yo-Yos.

Will it be lasting? Not sure. It might be a one-day fly, just like "Heelies" were three month back - or how was this written again? Healy or what? My kid was crazy about those as well.

The introduction of those products and how they take-off and come down again might be the result of the drive for instant gratification of consumers. Companies need now to constantly innovate, re-imagine their products, reinvent their companies, launch more products that appeal to consumers. The window for companies to reap of profits becomes smaller. They need to prototype, and launch, sometimes without major testing (okay, I don't mean medical or pharmaceutical products). Your market might be taken away by your competitor when you do the normal cycle of product launches, which involves endless planning and market research and advertising campaigns and marketing plans.

Fail forward fast might just be what is required. Microsoft might be a company that might play the game best - there are a lot of unsatisfied users of Microsoft products out there, which is a reason for the rise of Linux. But one thing for sure - Microsoft launches a product and while the company fails the first time around - remember the first handheld with Windows CE and how loooong it took to load on the first PDA and when nobody thought they would be a serious competition for Palm - but they keep coming back and back and back, until the system works. They constantly fail but constantly improve. Not necessarily with inspiring products, but this is not what I am talking about (don't tell Bill Gates). And even Microsoft doesn't get it often - think about the talking paper clip called Clippy and how it annoys MS users.

Is there anything to this posting -probably not much? I just want to show that products come and go faster and faster and that continuous success is no longer possible.

Traffic jams but I slept well

2004-11-11T10:38:00.000+08:00

I just received an SMS from a friend who is on her way to Penang. Stop and go traffic - half way through to Penang only, and already three hours on the road.

I had a long, long sleep and this is relaxing. Went to bed past 1 AM in the morning, and only got up past 9.00 AM. You know what this means, but well, I am relaxed, reading online news, and I am happy that I am here already and don't stuck in the traffic.

No real program ahead. This is always the case when I am in Perlis. I bring books and read a lot, talk to my relatives, watch a lot TV, sit in the garden and may be get some tan (or turn red).

It is quiet here - and this becomes too quiet in about 7 days, when it is time to go back to Kuala Lumpur.

Once again: Happy Deepavali

The first afternoon in the Kampung

2004-11-10T20:10:00.000+08:00

I like to be in Perlis. It is a nice place and quiet. Time to hang out with some nice people. However, I always always always regret that I am so @#%@$ tight up in my normal life back in Kuala Lumpur that I don't have the time (take the time?) to really learn Bahasa Malaysia or Melayu (the national language).

Okay - I can understand what goes on - besides the time I get everything wrong, and I misunderstand totally to the great fun of everybody. And, what's more, Perlis Bahasa really sounds like Thai to me, as if I could speak Thai. It just sounds like it. But I wrote about learning Bahasa before and yeah, I will, once again, promise to me that I will learn it next year. I really will - big promise.

The first afternoon was easy - we went to my brother-in-law's house, and I simply fall asleep. Slept solid for two hours. Was really necessary. Account it to the exhaustion from the last couple of weeks in the office, and the long ride back here.

Than, watching Shark's Tale. I liked the movie, but somehow, it is weaker than Nemo or so. Don't know, may be I was still sleepy. Okay, it is about being different and being accepted by friends and family. About accepting who you are. At least that is my interpretation.

Playing with the little ones was also fun. Some chasing, some tickling, and the famous JoJo, what is so common all around us currently. So yeah, I have fun. Even with the few firecrackers that burst outside, in view of the celebration coming.

Reached Kampung

2004-11-10T14:36:00.000+08:00

We just arrived in Perlis, after a five hour (and a bit) drive. And see, what I am doing? Posting - cannot believe it, but I brought the computer along.

We drove off at 7.30 AM in the morning - ninety minutes after our planned departure. That is normal - we also plan to leave earlier than we manage.

There were no traffic jams, none of the promised watch towers that look out for traffic offenders. But there were none - well, only two cars raced by - speeding like mad. Headlights on, and flashing about 500 meters away from my car already. They zoomed by and I already drove the required 110 km.

There were no speed controls either, despite a mail that circulated around in Kuala Lumpur, stating the locations of the speed controls. My wife was sitting in the car, studying the print-out, stated that she wouldn't know any of the locations outside of Kuala Lumpur. Promptly, she fall asleep.

So I taught my kid about speed and kilometers - one kilometer is 1,000 meters (just in case, some of you want to know), and how long we would need to reach. He kept asking, since he looked forward to his little friends in Kampung Perlis.

Okay - and the visiting is getting started. I have to log off now, to visit my brother-in-law. Happy working in Kuala Lumpur, and Happy Deepavali

Popular Bookstore and its computer system

2004-11-09T21:20:00.000+08:00

Remember, last week, I wrote the story about Amcorp Mall and my search for a book in Popular Bookstore.

After not finding the book in the bookshelves, I went to one of the sales assistants for, well, assistance.

I could recall the name of the author and the title of his second book, called The Pirate Inside, which I currently read. However, I wanted to have his first book and couldn't recall that title at that time (Its called Eating the Big Fish).

Now, Popular's computer system didn't throw up any title by the author, so I asked her if she could find the first book, when I would give her the title of the second book. It is not possible, she responded.

Apparently, their database makes it possible to find books by an author, and by specific titles. However, if the different books are placed at different locations in the store, it is not possible for the store assistant to find the book. My question is, why not? I mean, a cross reference should be possible, right? I am not a total expert or would not even call me knowledgeable about computer database (besides MS Access), but what I do know is that they lost a sale! Is this just this Popular bookstore, or is this happening in different locations as well?

More bookshelves at home

2004-11-09T08:58:00.000+08:00

It was time.

We bought so many books and they were all over the place in our house. It started to look messy and the cozy feeling of being surrounding by books slowly left - the problems and challenges a news junkie feels.

So my wife and I went on a shopping binge over the last two weeks. All in all, we bought four big bookshelves from Carrefour. Okay, I know, I wrote earlier that I don't like Carrefour, because I think and still believe that Carrefour doesn't trust their customers. And I still stand to the point and "sneak into their entrance" with my plasic bags since I don't want to make the fuss. I still wait for the time the catch me and ask me to seal my bags - which I would refuse, as mentioned. My wife is also worried about the moment, because she knows I am prepared. I won't let it out at the guards, but would ask for management straight away.

They are selling pretty good bookshelves for about RM 125 - we bought four of them. Can you believe it? Those are big ones, and while we started off buying two first, we quickly decided to buy two more. The first set was occupied way too quickly with files and books.

Anyway, my study at home feels great. Packed with bookshelves, the computer in the middle and a sofa to hang out on. I will buy a small table, because I take notes when I read and currently, it is too uncomfortable. But I will run into the next problem soon, if we keep buying at the rate we do. It is not necessarily that I read all the books, but it is also the feeling of collecting them. May be I am a book collector.

The scary part of benchmarking

2004-11-08T15:10:00.000+08:00

There is an interview in the Bangkok Post (registration via BugMeNot) with Indraneel Roy, Southeast Asia managing director for Hewitt Associates.

In this interview he states the following:

"Every piece of research tells us that the era we are living in is all about execution. For instance, over the past several months, we have been engaged by a number of banks. Four countries, four banks. They all have the same strategy. But the difference between winners and losers is execution."

I absolutely agree with him that execution is what separates the winners from the losers.

The scary part is the line that strategies look similar - or are the same. Strategies shouldn't look similar, even if the company is in different countries. But they look more and more similar not only between the banks mentioned here, but across many, many organisations. And why?

Because many companies look at each other and say, "hey - you do this very well, let me just copy this. And this. And this one as well."

What happens next is that companies look the same, feel the same, have the same people, and the same products - basically look the same. No inventiveness anymore, and don't talk to me about innovativeness.

Benchmarking is important, no doubt about this, but it needs to take into consideration so much more - culture, uniqueness of the organisation and companies need to develop their own differentiation, their own strategies, their own face, so to speak.

So please - it would be great to step back and say - let's be different. And just stop benchmarking the usual way for a while.

Balik kampung and standing out from the crowd

2004-11-07T18:21:00.000+08:00

On Wednesday, we will balik kampung (for those non-Malay speaker, this means return home, or going home). It is the annual trip back to Perlis for Hari Raya (for those outside Malaysia - it means the celebration at the end of the Islamic fasting month or Ramadan). I promised my father-in-law that, wherever we are (we = my wife, I and my kid), we will return to Perlis for Hari Raya.

I am always sticking out there, the white man or Mat Salleh. Kids look at me - when I am in the garden, playing with my kid and others, and they happen to bicycle along the road and see me, they turn around and look, look, look. I am always worried that they might accidentally end up in the drain or in the middle of the on-coming traffic, due to their lack of concentration and curiosity.

Hari Raya is kind of fun. I say kind of, because, again, I am the only white guy around. Everybody knows me and my name, but since there are so many, many visitors, I have the feeling there are hundreds of them and I might not be wrong in this assumption. I tend to forget their names. Especially, since I see many of them only once in a year. Kind of embarrassing, actually.

I also feel strange to go to the mosque. I mean, I am the only white guy, and we - my in-laws and I - tend to sit in the front row. Exposed to everybody. And may be it is me and my uncertainty and perception, but I have the feeling, that everybody looks at me. Positively, of course, and full of curiosity.

I like Perlis. It is fun to be away from the hectic in Kuala Lumpur. Where we are staying is a bit away from Kangar as well. It is the time, where I can relax - besides during Hari Raya, when it is absolutely chaotic. A lot of sleep, reading, and spending time with my kid - when he has time for me, that is. I bring my computer this time so I can satisfy my addiction to blogging.

So well, two more days to go and than I am off. Off work, and finally, some holiday. No more tired looking. Anyone of you bloggers in Perlis as well?

Hairstyles for men

2004-11-07T17:35:00.000+08:00

I went to my hairdresser today, something, I have delayed for a couple of weeks now. Okay, but since I cut my hair quite short, when I cut it, it still isn't too long, so actually quite okay.

Its been a long time since I waited for a longer time for my turn, and, looking at me in the mirror - gosh, I look so tired, and in need of the upcoming holidays - I realised that I haven't changed my hairstyle for a long time.

Anyone who has read the book "Why Men Lie and Women Cry" by Allan and Barbara Pease will probably remember their statement somewhere in the book that men don't change their hairstyle anymore, once they reach a certain age - couldn't find the right page in my book, so I don't know the age given anymore. According to the Pease's men keep the same hairstyle until the end of time, so to speak.

Okay, I am wearing pretty short hair since about five or six years, and once the hair start to crop up over my ears, I get the itchy feeling that I need a haircut. When I was younger I had long hair, coloured parts of my hair in blue or black, sometimes orange. Those were the times in Germany, when I was younger, it was in, it was funky and I was in the mids of everything.

Now, in the so-called corporate world in Asia, it is more difficult to change my hairstyle - but may be I am wrong. I had a great mentor when I worked in a market research agency in Indonesia, who always had an orange hair strain, despite being about 50 at that time. Its his personal style. He still has it.

Women have it easier, I believe. They can straighten their hair, colour it, keep it long, shorten it, have a perm or whatever. Even when they get older. Okay not all do, and my mum in Germany also has the same hairstyle since I can think of it. The only thing that changes is the perm before festivals, like Christmas or so.

Male movie actors also change their hairstyle - compare Tom Cruise's hairstyle in "The Last Samurai" with "Mission Impossible" - okay, they might do it for their movies, but this is their corporate world.

Comparing their professional life with mine, I wonder what would happen if the corporate clients of the company I am working with would see me in a different hairstyle. But then, male actors also earn a lot more money than I do, and are differently branded, so can demand that people understand their style. And they also change according to the needs of an upcoming assignment.

I remember hairdresser "shops" in Africa - I travelled and worked a bit in West Africa. A lot of times, African hairdressers put something like a billboard advertising their haircut services on the roadside, in front of their shop. On the billboard, you see different styles possible for haircuts. You see the "police style", the "punk style", the "fashionable style" and so on - I don't get it all, and the only real one that I remember is the "police style". The rest I just made up for illustrative purposes. But it is fun to remember - I have the respective photos in Germany, otherwise I would upload it.

But I digress!

I may have to live with the hairstyle that I do have now. Sometimes wear the hair shorter (when my kid calls me botak man), sometimes a bit longer. Or is there any alternative?

Putting his best foot forward

2004-11-06T16:54:00.000+08:00

BusinessWeek cover story is about "China's Power Brands". The piece I like best is the one that describes Liangzi, a nationwide chain of foot-massage shops.

Its founder, 34-year-old founder Zhu Guofan opened his first store in 1997 when he "noticed the popularity of the local foot masseuses, who worked in rundown shops, and decided to offer an upscale version of the service. After founding his first shop in February, 1997, he was bowled over by its instant popularity."

Today, Zhu has 430 shops - two-thirds his own, with the rest franchised.

Do you know what is the greatest piece at the story? He doesn't advertise, and despite this made it to the best known new brand in China. His secret to success? Word of Mouth, according to Zhu who says:

"We have almost never used television or newspaper advertising -- it hasn't been necessary. The way we build our brand is through word of mouth. Satisfied customers tell their friends."

He build his company around the apparent need of his customers or clients - and they came. Isn't it a great story?

Some cases of company centric thinking

2004-11-05T14:16:00.000+08:00

Okay - these are cases from Australia, but at least it shows us here Malaysia that we are not alone with our challenges to get a better treatment as a customer.

How often is it that a company has lots of statements in the Annual Report, or on their webpage cherishing the customer, praising their customer focus and even posting raving reviews of customers (which might not always be true - how often do you call up those companies to trace back someone who provided this feedback?) Companies simply don't realise how troublesome this is for consumers - their product is spoiled, they need a replacement - subsequently, they need to invest time or they have to live with inconvenience. This in turn might require them to take leave or come to work later, or spend weekends on things that hasn't been caused by them. It is tough for consumers to "proof" that they are innocent (guilty until proven innocent), that they behaved correctly and that the company product simply went haywire.

This happens - companies cannot believe or accept that their product breaks down shortly after purchase or during warranty periods. They make it difficult for consumers to get replacements, while it is easier for companies to organise service and replace what has been broken. It is easy for companies, actually. Employees in companies are also customers - they should be able to see the world through a consumer's eye. It is more difficult to see the world from the perspective of a company.

I specifically like the first story with the overheated computer and when the company replied that the lady must have left "left (the laptop) it in a car, in the sun, in a cupboard, near the oven or near a heater'."

Is this a buzz? Carwash in Thailand

2004-11-04T17:41:00.000+08:00

The Nation (Thailand) writes:

"As Singapore’s Performance Motors (Thailand) tries to gain a bigger foothold in Thailand’s BMW market, it is starting a new free car-wash campaign. Starting this week, anybody who drives a BMW, no matter which of Bangkok’s five dealers they bought their luxury car from, can get their car washed for free on Sundays. The company hopes the campaign will build better relationships with existing and potential customers and bring it more business in the future. It is the first of many events the company is planning to attract would-be BMW buyers in Bangkok’s competitive car market."

It is certain to attract attention. A person working for the company is saying that they borrowed the free car wash idea from a Southern California Mercedes Benz dealer. He said the company sold 600 new cars a month thanks to the campaign.

So yeah, why not - it is different, it is attractive, it doesn't exclude those who bought their car elsewhere, what is important, and it is something worth talking about. What do you think?

KFC - Number Three

2004-11-03T22:15:00.000+08:00

Okay - in the beginning of this week, I posted about an experience with KFC in Megamall. I wasn't really happy that I couldn't change the menu the slightest bit. For me, that apparently was a lot at that point of time, while the changes seemed little from my perspective, for KFC. I am still of the opinion that customer experience is often handicapped by some stupid corporate policies, however - nothing will change my opinion about this.

The entry, however, received some stronger feedback and critics about my behaviour - basically, I came over as a bit arrogant in my behaviour during the "sales process". This critics is okay to me - critics are feedback that is constructive and it made me think - if you want a first hand write-up, click here.

I allowed myself to send the links to KFC (somehow, I need to get some corporates to read blogs and learn about the power of blogs as well!). They visited the blog and gave me the following response:

"I read with keen interest the comments by CFK NEKCIHC and your keen observation that they were pretty good remarks. Given that I represent KFC, I am so inclined to jump up and say, ‘Yes, its exactly what I would have replied to your dining experience at one of our outlets, albeit a less than pleasant one’. Having said that let me firstly apologise for the unpleasantness that you experienced in your visit to our outlet at Megamall, and if I may, take a moment to expound some thoughts further.

The ‘rationale’ for the responses that you got as outlined by CFK is so apt that I couldn’t help but thinking that there are indeed kind souls out there who tend to be forgiving and understanding. But I guess the acceptance stops there. Yes, we know we are a fast food outlet and if we are to cater to everyone’s whims and fancies it will indeed cause long queues. Yes, also to the fact that we tend to train our staff to regiment themselves to delivering service based on strict guidelines because indeed most, if not all our outlets are under a computer linked inventory control systems that require strict variance controls. And yes, it will certainly create headaches for any front counter staff if they are required to try and convert equivalent prices of different items in a set menu, much more when they are not trained to handle such situations.

Notwithstanding, we have over some period now tried to move pass the excuse of ‘Operational efficiencies’, to do exactly what you and many customers have come to expect from big service organization as ourselves. It’s becoming a necessity for many companies and we are not excluded, to differentiate ourselves competitively by delivering more than what’s expected by customers and to an extent within the bounds of reason and flexibility, to listen and respond to the voice of the consumer. As rightly u put it, as a “normal” customer you are not expected to know the orientation of the company and any “less than expected” experience would certainly leave a bad aftertaste and drive a bad perception of the company.

Hence, we admittedly still have some work to do to ensure that the mindset of customer mania is one that is alive, lived, and breathed everyday in our restaurants by all levels of our frontline operations. Being a world-class company is our aspiration and we believe is one that we can achieve, more so when we continuously work to improve ourselves and be maniacal about delivering products and service that WOW the customer.

We appreciate the feedback you had given us. Please accept again my sincerest apology and be assured that your comments and feedback will be one that will be shared with our frontline operations staff so that we may be able to meet the expectations of our discerning consumers."

Interesting, isn't it? There is understanding on their side and they "indicate" training for their staff. A very neutral response. I am not sure how I should take it. Should I react to it at all, beside thanking them? I think, what bothers me is the neutral part of it - it is so "corporate". I don't know. Something is there that doesn't sound quite right and I am not sure what it is. But probably it is just me who reads too much into the lines. However, I am happy they reacted and reacted fast. Not all are doing this. And they inquired further, after they were not able to open the original link that I sent to them via their comment submission form.

Yahoo's antispyware program Part 2

2004-11-03T14:35:00.000+08:00

Izuan was so nice to inform me about hickups in Yahoo's antispyware program in the toolbar and send me a link to an article. The article describes that Yahoo doesn't necessarily remove Gator's eWallet and that this might be because of the relationship between Yahoo and Glaria, the "creator of Glator" and that one needs to set the toolbar to "Remove Adware" manually. Not nice!

May be I need more weapons. Thanks Izuan.

My first mobile phone spam

2004-11-03T13:45:00.000+08:00

I talked about spam that is going to hit mobile phones, instant messengers (called SPIM) and what will hit VoiP services (called SPIT).

Besides those senseless messages by Maxis that sends its promotional package advertising to me (and I never got back to them), I had the luck to never get any spam in my mobile so far - until now.

Just abut 30 minutes ago, I received an SMS from a company called BL Beauty. What do they announce? Read on:

"BL BEAUTY NOV' 40 SESSIONS PROMOTION. ADVANCED BODY SLIMMING (at RM688) - GET FREE BUST enlarge & Firming (worth RM 250). BL BEAUTY Tmn Desa."

I am not interested - shall I reply to them? Anybody interested? Lol.

Bt I hope that this won't spread!!

Commercials during the elections

2004-11-03T08:22:00.000+08:00

I heard this morning in CNN that there were 12,000 commercials on TV in the last week of campaigning in, I think, Florida.

Voters welcome the end to the longest, most expensive election on record. One voter called Amanda Karel (25) is quoted as saying: "It's the only way to make the ads stop."

I absolutely, totally agree - wow, how many toilet breaks can you take to run away from TV? Or, turn the question around? How many voters got p...... off by all those interruptions? May be it is good, real good, that Malaysia doesn't have this kind of election carousel. While the number of ads on TV appears to increase, well, we are not yet there. Not yet!!

Who actually likes advertisements on TV? The last that I saw that was somewhat memorable was the one by DHL - their truck got stuck in a traffic jam and they raced cross-country (promoting environmental destruction?). Another, apparently local courier service followed thinking, that DHL knows the way best and they ended up on an airport pit of DHL. Something like that. Nicely made, entertaining. But this is really the only one that I can remember. Which one is the best for you??

Yahoo's toolbar has anti-spyware

2004-11-02T18:36:00.000+08:00

That is one of the newest features on the Yahoo toolbar. So I have two toolbars. One is from Google and one is from Yahoo.

I installed Yahoo's because of the anti-spyware addition, and I think it is great. At least I can uninstall other programs (such as Spysweeper) that run on trial period on my computer and where the trial period has expired. I was thinking of subscribing to Spysweeper, because I actually think their program is working great. But now ....

What I don't like at Yahoo is the Software License Agreement that one has to tick in order to be "allowed" to run the software.

It says:

"Yahoo! reserves the right to update and change, from time to time, this Software License and all documents incorporated by reference. You can always find the most recent version of this Software License at http://docs.yahoo.com/info/cpn/eula/. Yahoo! may change this Software License by posting a new version without notice to you. Use of the Yahoo! Software after such change constitutes acceptance of such changes. "

How often will I check this weblink? I will only check it (may be), when Yahoo will start to charge something or something else happens. This paragraph puts the onus on me. Of course I am happy if they update the software, for sure. But I am also always suspicious, what happens in the background. Not that I think that something "bad" is happening. I trust Yahoo. But still - it is a large corporation and I am just a little light. Am I too suspicious?

This time next year, let's be laughing together - the most powerful pick-up line

2004-11-02T13:00:00.000+08:00

In Japan, a panel has come up with the best pick-up or chat-up line - for guys of course (the New Straits Times (Malaysia) reports today).

It apparently draws on the incredible potency of three powerful word triggers, that work on the subconscious level:

First advantage: The right choice of words:

This time next year: Sends the sign that the chatter is interested in more than just a short term fling
Together: It suggests that even after a year of dating, the fun is still there
Laughing: Softens the whole phrase, implies mutual happiness

The second advantage:

The lack of sleaziness in the sentence

Makes me think - all the work that all those guys do in the gym center to build up muscles. All the reading that we do to sound somewhat clever in the eyes of girls and women, all the manners that we try to exhibit in our oh so gentle approaches, all the different dances that guys try to impress girls on the dancing floor, and all the hairgel put into hair to look attractive - what does this count for?

All that it boils down to is some sentence like this (May be it only works in Japan!)? What pickup lines do you or did you use most successfully? Or, to turn it around - how would girls react to pick-up lines, this one or others? In the end, may be it boils down to the right message at the right time to the right "audience" - communication is everything.

Cousin of new species found

2004-11-01T15:50:00.000+08:00

Last week, I wrote about the exciting discovery of the new "species" in Indonesia - this was the girl. It was just reported that a male companion has been found. WoW - how great can life be!

Help me, I am in the wrong segment

2004-11-01T11:04:00.000+08:00

As mentioned in an earlier entry in my blog, I had lunch in Amcorp Mall last Friday with a new acquaintance and subsequently, I fall victim to “traditional segmental thinking”.

Let me start by saying that I am mostly quite casually dressed at work, but dress up a bit when I have a meeting. However, I wasn’t in the mood to dress up totally, so arrived smart-casual. I say this because it fits into the following story.

After lunch and showing my lunch-partner off, I thought of the Popular bookshop in the mall. I am currently looking for a specific book, cannot find it in MPH, but take a chance to browse in all bookshops for the book.

Regular readers will remember that I love to read. So I thought I take the chance to browse in the bookshop for a couple of minutes. Since I couldn't remember its exact location, I went to information and checked with the girl.

She than sent me to the second floor. Coming up the escalator, I saw another bookshop, called “Pay Less Books”. It is a shop that sells second hand books – I think I saw it mentioned earlier, in some other blog. Interesting shop, really. Some of the books look a bit run down, but who cares.

Now I wonder why the girl at the information didn't mention this bookshop as well and I realise that she might have fallen victim to “traditional segmental thinking”. See, I was dressed quite well, no coat or tie, but a pretty good trouser and a nice shirt.

I am a Mat Salleh - subsequently, she thought I am not, cannot, be interested in a Second Hand Bookshop. She thinks like everybody likes to think: Mat Sallehs are rich, people with coats have money, they want branded, new stuff. It is not her fault, of course not. If she would see me in my normal clothes, with Shorts or Jeans, and T-Shirt, she might have told me about the second hand shop.

Circumstances change, people act differently in different situations. In new marketing speak: they move across segments. That's why "traditional customer segmentation" fails. I am not always the rich guy (will I be, ever?), or the dressed-up guy or the one, who is out for fun. But companies market to me in the sense that they say, okay, he lives in a condominium, is an expat (no, no, no, I don't see myself as an expat!!!!), married with kid, aged, blablabla and so on, so let's create this product, this ad this whatever and he will buy it.

But this is wrong, I think.

People need a specific product at a specific time, and look for something - product or service - that they need at that point of time. May be today, products or services that target specific demographics set themselves up for lower performance, if not even for failure.