The Disease

Few days back , I had a chat with one of my seniors at work and he talked about a seminar they were slotted to attend in KL by the company . He explained to me in great lengths about how good this seminar was and how it changed his perception on good work ethics and mentality .

The speaker stressed that we should'nt worry about the past and the future so obsessively . Worrying is a disease . A disease that can open up for more diseases . Worrying can affect the human brain in the worse possible way . The brain tends to shrink when we worry do you know that ? it hinders the brain from expanding and thus limiting your thoughts . The speaker said that the mind is like a universe , why must we shrink it ?

Many workers worry about the mistakes they made in the past , why ? it's in the past . What can you do ? . Even about our futures , why worry so obsessively ? we don't know what's ahead of us . The speaker further added that , take a look at our fellow Malaysian billionaire - Genting owner Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong , who came from humble beginnings , told everyone that he'd become a rich man someday but who would've thought that he would ? we have no control over our past and our future , that's the bottomline .

Why worry over something you have no control of ? instead , the speaker said that we should all focus on the environment that we have a control on : our present . Give your 110% on your present all the time and that's it . You come to work , do your job in your best capacity and stop worrying about what you will get in the future . If you believe that you have done your best yet you did not get what you deserve , its not your fault . Do not blame yourself . That is called fate , which is beyond our control , right ?

He also said that we shouldn't overwork ourselves just in hopes of impressing the boss . If you're paid based on the 9hours or 12hours of work , then why work longer than that if the company doesn't pay you extra for that ? When you overwork , for the sake of showing how hardworking you are , you ended up getting sick in the hospital . Do you think your boss would come visit you ? The boss will visit you if you did something wrong , not when you're doing good .

The speaker also said that we must value the time we have after work for God , ourselves , family , loved ones and friends . Why take that time away from all those by working extra hours ? What do you get ? Do not be a slave to your work . Value the time and attention we give to the things we hold dear and remind ourselves that we are human beings , not robots . The reason why the boss expects you to do extra work is actually to cover up any incompetence he would have when something bad happens . Being on top is not easy , so you gotta understand their position .

So from now on , focus on the present , you can control it , shape it whatever and however you want it . Life is about making choices , we humans have the greatest gift of all : the brain . Use it . Decide what is best for you and most importantly do not worry . Just be mindful and careful , but don't worry . Problems gets worse when you start to worry .

Yo PAS , Don't Be Trippin Now .. Ya Heard ?!

I was driving back home from work this morning while listening to some radio stations with their morning news , reports and stuff . Then I switched to this particular radio station and what the DJ reported caught my attention . I'm sure most Malaysians know what this whole 'Kongsi Raya' deal is right ? Basically its all about celebrating two or more different cultural/religious special days at the same time .. example Hari Raya & Chinese New Year .

Well from the radio report , seems like our boys in Parti PAS , Kelantan branch are not feeling this whole 'Kongsi Raya' concept . Why ? according to their Vice President or someone la , by celebrating Hari Raya with other religion , ia "boleh merosakkan akidah" or in English "capable of corrupting your faith" . I was like "wtf?" How the hell can that happen ? And get this , it is considered "syirik" or " blasphemous" !! . Hah !

According to them again , we Muslims supposedly should be celebrating it amongst us muslim only and although this is so , that should'nt stop us from visiting and paying respects to our friends from other religions . All their trying to say is , there should be a separate day for us Muslims to celebrate our own tradition and another for other religions .

To me , I don't see it as a problem . First of all , how will it corrupt our faith ? its not as if we invite our non-muslim friends to the mosque or them taking us to the temple or anything . When it comes to worshipping , I think we all pretty much know where our limits are ... these PAS guys think we're so stupid . I think they should stay in KL and really experience what's going on . I mean its easy to say things like that when you're in Kelantan , coz Kelantan is a very Malay concentrated area so theres hardly an issue of multi-racial differences involved .

I don't know why we should portray ourselves as a religion that is so 'confined and rigid' . Pardon me , but if we were to prove that our religion is good we should prove to the world that our religion can adapt to changes . Able to stand the test of time . I do not doubt my religion for a second , its just that I feel that time's changed and that we should adapt and open up . In my opinion , instead of it corrupting us , I think this whole Kongsi Raya thingy has got more positive values than negative ones . Not only it fosters the spirit of friendship and tolerance between different races and religions , it builds bridges . Each religion could learn from one another each other's beliefs and cultures . Isn't that a good thing ? Not only the curiosities about a particular religion be erased , I think it will help us understand better and strengthen our individual beliefs .

Look , I'm only 23 , my mom's a Kelantanese , this PAS guy is probably older than me , much wiser and more knowledgable perhaps . Who am I to say anything bout this right ? Plus I like Kelantan , I go back there whenever I can during Raya to visit my one and only grandma left ( my other grandma is chinese somemore .. multi racial ? ) . We always see and hear people preaching about our multi-racial society and why we should 'Pupuk semangat ' among each other , yet when I hear PAS coming up with statements like these , I can't help but feel they're not practising what they preach . You encourage multi-racial union , yet indirectly you're sending subliminal messages saying "oh kita Islam , Islam sahaja cara hidup kat dunia ni" . Come on man hehe .

I just hope they would open up their eyes a lil bit , explore more , experience more . Don't stay in Kelantan too long . I dunno if I'm gonna get in trouble for this , I hope it is not wrong for me to voice out my opinion , from a fellow young muslim man . I mean if Dr M can voice out his frustrations to the freaking PM , then mine is considered nothing ok hehe ..

Tega

Here I am again , hey btw, go and check out Glenn Fredly's new song -"Tega" . At first I didn't really listen to the lyrics coz the melody was so good . After seeing the video of the song , I began to take notice the story its trying to tell .. a story of betrayal by a loved one . I found out that this song was about a girl who's cheating on her boyfriend , by having an affair with his own best friend . Typical idea for a love triangle movie right ? ... Amazing how music videos can really help enhance people's interest on a particular song .

Good lyrics from 'Tega' :

di tengah rasa rinduku yg menggebu
kau bersama dia
di saat-saat ku menunggu dirimu
kau bersama dia

reff:
bila kau cinta aku
mengapa kau tipu diriku
tuk bersama dia

chorus:
kau bunuh hatiku
saat ku bernafas untukmu
kau kebanggaan aku
yg tega menipuku


Betrayal is a painful thing , I've experienced it , in the past . Betrayal is an awful thing to experience , it cuts deep inside .. leaving a permanent scar in you . Like an invisible knife cutting through you , minus the bleeding .

How does one handle betrayals ? be it with a friend , family or loved one , how ?

Different people have different ways of dealing it . Dealing it is only half the battle , hooray ..you stepped up ..but the real battle begins after that . The 'recovery' stage . Imagine a simple scenario : Boy has a gf , both seem perfect .. but girl suddenly fancies this other 'new' guy in her life , but because bf is a nice guy ...gf decides to play a dangerous game .. keeping both :) .. Just like in the video .

Betrayals occur rarely to me , but when it did , boy what an unpleasant feeling it is to have . I just thought about writing on this topic because it is reality . Let's just say I handled mine rather well , but it took a mighty long while to recover , that's for sure ... something I hope to never go through again .

Is betrayal the best way to 'conceal' your true loyalties or motives ? Maybe this is hard to understand to some , but those who do will surely know that it can the most dangerous killer to us humans with hearts :)

What goes through the mind of the betrayer when he/she is doing it ? Pleasure ? Guilt ? we'll never know .. coz selfishness and personal gains will the driving force to commit it ..

Before I lead you all to think that I'm experiencing that right now , I better stop :) I'm not . Just beware that its out there , be careful ..

Work Ethics

Something I'd like to share with y'all ... :)

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire in India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits InfoSys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session with another IT company in India. He is incidentally, one of the top 50 influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during a Mentor Session :

"I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary.

Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace.Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors.My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others.

I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who are not working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another.As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves.

I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday.Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:


1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.

2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.

3) Go home.

4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.

5) Eat well and sleep well.


This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.

In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence,

"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU"

- Narayana Murthy

;) Peace ..