COUNTDOWN TO PARIS

Now that it's almost less than 24 hours we are about to leave for Paris. All things are packed and ready to go, and so are my children. All of them now talk about Paris, what to do, what toys to get. I have no idea what we are going to do there, but as for now, all I will start doing is domestication : cooking, cleaning, baking, give my all undivided attention to my children. 

I have bought some baking books and cupcakes too, I will definitely venture into this very soon, probably as soon as I landed!

My eldest Noah is so anxious that he wants to wake up as early as 6:30am when we reach the airport, just in time for check in.

Aaron too shows great anticipation with telling me which of his favourite soft toy to bring to Paris with him etc etc..

This trip is going to be a great adventure for our family, believe it or not!

My father-in-law have shown concern by coming over one day earlier, and offered his help to help me cleaning up the house. I love my in-laws, especially my father-in-law.

See you guys in Paris... !

Off to France, finally

We are leaving for France, finally.
Tickets are ready and printed out. All things are packed and readt to go. We are flying on the 13th March 2013 via Emirates, transit at Dubai for 1 hour 55 minutes, and fly to Lyon France. Total journey will be around 17 hours.

After you make a big mistake in your career and how to move on

I know this topic is not as easy as it sounds, it's never that easy.
First, you have a job that suits you, the bosses likes you very much, your HR head also seems to be in your favour and can be a close buddy to you, your director doesnt mind lending his laps for your 2 year old kid to sit on during a family dinner. Everything seems great and promising, and then suddenly out of the blue, you get another job offer and it's much closer to home, giving bigger salary than what you have. You get confused, big time!.

Let me share with you a few important tips before you start banging your head and make the most stupid decision in your career life :

1. Get some inside information about the new job they offer you. If you have an inside contact, you should make a simple phone call, asking the "future-to-be-colleague" about how the job is like, what the boss is like and how he feels about working there. You know whether this is suitable enough for you, than just blindly join the company without having a second opinion. If you do not have any contact in that section/department you are offered to, then get another contact from other department who you know have been there long enough, and he/she will be able to gauge about the department you are joining. This person's opinion is very crucial to your future work happiness.

2. During the interview, you definitely being interviewed by the person who head your department/section, therefore be observant. If the "future-boss" seems to be very demanding, having ridiculously high expectation and so "gang-ho" about his/her positions in the company, then by all means, stay in your current job. This new boss likes to be on the edge and very competitive, and you might not suit the colour scheme or background of what he/she wants from you in the long run.

3. During the interview, observe the body language too. If the person seems edgy and not in control, eg babbling about some other colleagues and undermine your experience by stating that what they have is far more better than what you are right now, do not accept the job offer. Chances are : you will be out of the job even before you get confirmation, or if not, the boss will do all means and might to kick you out soon enough and get a new replacement.

I have accepted the same type of job offer, thinking that they offer better money, no allowance, but the best of all, its closer to home. I thought i gave it a shot, took the challenge, left my current job and I thinking, that's it! I will retire in this company. After a month joining, I got to know many staff have resigned before me (non-executives, executives, managers) left after 2-3 month, some left after 6 months, and the most alarming fact was that almost all the staff under the new boss are only 2 years old max in the department. My gut feeling says, something is very wrong here. The reasons for people leaving : they cannot work under the boss.

That seems crazy, and after few months, she has been scheming for my exits, planting every evidences and causes for me to leave, there it is, I got the answer. There's nothing wrong with me, it's the company having and nurtuting this kind of pyschotic hostile bosses are intolerable.

God have given me the signs, earlier on, during the interviews, but I refused to look closer.
Anyway, I learned from this and move on now, enjoying my life in Paris with my kids and family.

Just something to share to others.... be careful out there!

VICTIMIZATION & RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

This is also another apparent yet most common reason people leave their jobs. Racial discrimination seems very subtle, yet the most offensive thing to know when the discrimination is against you, yourself.

They can start by saying, "oh we dont spoon feed staff", dismissing the fact that its the boss's job to lead and guide us as a staff, as a team player. Yet, by saying this, they can simply just enjoy the ride without guiding or providing any support for the downline/staff. A lot of hostile bosses gets away with this, just using the above sentence.

We, as the team member becoming scared to even ask, coz when we start opening our mouth, we will be labeled "needy" and need spoon-feeding, and she already said it up-front she doesnt like it. There you are, stuck, with no one to consult and no help is coming. 

Chances are, with bosses like this, your team mates will not support you either, coz they wouldnt want to be spotted "spoon-feeding their fellow colleagues" as well by the terrible boss.

When you encounter this type of boss, start updating your resume, its time to move on.

Observe how many malays, how many chinese, and how many Indians. 

If malays do have high post (ie managers or above), then there's something to look for if you are a malay. But if the numbers are filled up by clerical staff, non-executives, then look no further, this company is not for you. Get out and move on.

In my experience, malays only filled up clerical, non-executive levels and only 2 (together with me) are managers. One manager are quite okay, very sharp and subject matter expert.

The other manager, female is totally psychotic, too much worshiping the boss till we as muslim thinks that this mad bitch thinks her boss is the GOD. I'd like to think is this lady as Indian, because she is not really a malay. She looks Indian, and she has that KP (Kelahiran Peranakan) in her name, which clearly states she is not malay. She gets away with many things,  therefore, I omit her from the counting. 

Funny, but it's true, and its exactly what happened and I have witnessed this in my own 2 eyes. To me, Allah the Almighty is only one true GOD and no other worth worshiping, not even your own boss. Your boss dont own you, they dont give you your mind, body, liver, heart, health, she is just the same, like us, nothing more, nothing less.

Despite of the motto -"no spoon-feeding", there were times we can see chinese are coached, in closed doors, chinese are not shouted at, like malays do in meeting.

This type of harrasment, I would call it, is not apparent on the outside. Human resource department can simply dismiss this issue, coz they can never feel or hear or see what actually happen in the department on daily basis, because Human Resource is just Not There, not IN there like we do.

Best Friends are for life

I had encountered and accompanied by many, through changing jobs, changing places etc. But only few remained in my heart and well kept in touch. That is my closest buddy here. She has been amazing. We saw each other through many things, losing jobs, losing parents, losing places to stay, losing boyfriends etc. Now I am with kids, we remain closer than ever. Love you eliya!

HUBBY is off to France

Me & Hubby

31 December 2012

Hubby flew for France. 
I was lost and grieved for a while.
The whole day I was in no mood for any outing. Surely after this life would be different for 3 of us left behind.

FINANCIALLY TROUBLED COLLEAGUE

Dia start masuk kerja bulan April 2012, so kira baru 4-5 bulan kerja. Dia Project Manager di tempat kerja aku sekarang ni. Kerja tak lah mudah, banyak bende nak kene pikir, banyak bende nak kene settle. Semua kene organize. 

Selama aku ada kat sini, aku selalu guide dia, bagi dia idea cane nak buat.

Orangnya memang ok, secara lahiriah nye, nampak macam warak, ber"goatie" dan nampak gaya macam orang alim dan berumur padahal dia jauh lagi muda dari aku. Dia panggil aku KAK LIA.

Mula-mula kerja dulu, dia dihantar ke Klang workshop, dia di hantar sana untuk familairize dengan system dan cara kerja kami. More or less macam on-job-training macam tu.

Dua minggu atau tinga minggu lamanya.

Dalam masa tu juga, kami dapat order dari Flexsys untuk fabricate tangki sebanyak 7 biji. Mata bulat semua orang, order close to 2.5 milliom ringgit. semua happy. semua senyum.

Tup-tup, kene buat kick-off meeting kat Singapore sebab consultant untuk Flexsys memang kat Singapore. Consultant nak ajak meeting di Singapore. Maka terpaksalah project team ni pergi. Dia tak boleh pergi. HR cerita panjang lah dengan aku kenapa dia tak boleh pergi. Rupa-rupanya hutang PTPTN tak bayar. So passport International tak leh buat, katanya...

Aku geleng kepala, dalam hati, itu masalah peribadi, kenapa tak settle? 

So dia memang tak pergi. Yang pergi ke Singapore adalah engineer kami dan project team yang lain.

Setibanya dia ke office di kemaman, dalam 2-3 hari lepas tu, dia cerita kat aku pasal hutang PTPTN dia tu lah. Aku bagi nasihat selamba - "you kene settle hal peribadi you, jangan sampai melibatkan kerja you...pandai-pandai lah you settle..."

Aku pelik kenapa tetiba nak cerita kat aku, padahal bende tu amat sensitif bagi seorang lelaki, tapi dia cerita jugak. Last-last, betul tekaan aku, dia nak pinjam duit.

Aku tanya dia nak buat apa, dia kata hutang PTPTN dia sangkut sebanyak RM5000, kalau dia boleh settle hutang dia yang tu, dia boleh bebas buat loan. Dia mintak aku tolong. Aku tercengang. Ha? baru je keje, aku baru kenal dia, dah mula pinjam duit? cane ni? aku terdiam. Aku cuma cakap -"tak pe la, nanti akak try bincang-bincang dengan hubby tengok banyak mana boleh tolong." 

Aku buat senyap je pasal issue tu, tak mention langsung, dan dia pun tak tanya.

Seminggu sebelum hari raya 19-20 Ogos hari tu, dia masuk bilik aku, bagi tahu dia ada hal penting nak cakap dengan aku. Aku ingatkan pasal kerja, aku pun pergilah.

Tengok-tengok dia bercerita pasal duit lagi. Kali ni dia cakap dia segan dengan engineer dia, sebab kalau pergi KL meeting, asyik nak kene naik kereta engineer dia aje, sebab kereta dia sungguh teruk keadaanya. Kancil dan sudah tua. Banyak problem, katanya.

Dia cakap dia nak beli second hand Honda Accord. Dia nak pinjam duit lagi dari aku.

Aku pun nasihat la, jangan cari pasal nak beli kereta second hand. Nanti banyak rosak, warranty tak de, lagi banyak duit keluar. Beli baru terus. Aku tak tahu lah apa yang masuk dalam kepala dia.

Pada hari raya kedua atau ketiga, dia call aku beberapa kali, tapi aku busy gila, aku tak angkat. Tengok-tengok dia ada sms aku, bagi tahu yang duit raya untuk aku, liza dan mokteh dah hilang. Dia kata dia simpan di rumah dan dengan duit dia sekali lesap.

Aku tak tahu samada nak percaya atau tak, tapi honestly, aku macam ragu-ragu dengan dia. Aku rasa, dia memang nak pakai duit tu dulu dan nak delay bayar, so dia bagi alasan lah yang duit tu dah hilang. Dia seolah-olah nak suruh aku cakap dengan liza dan mokteh,tapi aku bagi tahu dia, cakap sendiri lah, elok-elok. Rasa diaorang boleh terima kot. Tapi aku memang syak dia ni tak jujur dah.

Hari ni, 27 Ogos 2012, kami ada internal meeting. Bincang pasal project, pasal issue-issue workshop. Tup-tup dia mention pasal scrap carbon steel dengan stainless steel kami. Aku cepat-cepat jawap - "pasal scrap ni, very sensitive issue, apa-apa scrap sekalipun, belongs to MMC, you kene refer pada account department before you do anything, they will decide what to do. Scrap kita akan simpan".

Aku, Liza dengan Ayapa mula la rasa resah sebab mamat ni nampak macam bakal akan jadi trouble kalau tak di pantau. Dia sebagai ketua, sepatutnya dia kene tunjukkan teladan yang elok pada engineer dan colleagues yang lain, barulah mereka respect.

Hai pening..... dah lah minggu ni aku last kerja kat sini, macam2 plak aku dapat tengok...risau plak rasa tinggalkan mereka-mereka ni.... Liza dan ayapa pun rasa macam aku jugak... 

WE DONT TRUST HIM!!

COUNTER OFFER

Ever since I have put in my resignation, there are a few phone calls from the bosses asking me to re-think about my intention. But until today, there is no firm counters  that I can re-consider.

As of today, the resignation clock is still ticking and I am still leaving.
In fact I am so excited to join the new company, BASF-Petronas, even though the enviroment might be a bit tough (having to work from square one), but I can really cherish every single effort, and I am going to stay there for a very long time.
I weighed all consequences and here they are :

Pro-BASF
1. Closer to home (takes only 20 minutes to office)
2. Offer better money.
3. New area - procurement is something new to me, and I am willing to experience the challenges and makes me more versatile.
4. I dont get to go out that much anymore, since the new post - people will look for me.
5. Same holidays and rest days with hubby. Since both are in Kuantan, we can enjoy more family time.

Con-BASF
1. I have nice environment to work, I like my bosses, my colleagues, my engineers and team members, they are okay and we can work very well together.
2. Doing vendor works is a walk in the park for me, easy since 2002 I have been doing vendor works.
3. Lesser pay, but I am happy.
4. Very far from home, i have to travel 1 hour to get to work every single day.
5. More responsibility. At the moment, I am looking after the workshop and there are tonnes of thing to look after and to be done.
6. Currently I am doing a lot of travelling and that requires alot of energy.


So if you were in my shoe, wouldnt you agree with me?

INTERVIEW

I had an interview last week for a Manager- Project Mechanical position @ BASF Petronas Chemicals in Gebeng , Kuantan. The post is very technical and I flunked in the interview badly, but not very badly in terms of performance.
Today I had another phone call from BASF Petronas, to sit for another interview for Manager - Project Procurement.
Wow! I wonder what that would be like! Another postition but it's a non-technical postition. Sounds interesting, but if I managed to get the job, I will be very very happy!

Financing a business

Wow..this has been the most difficult task I ever took on on a serious level, maintaining a business.
My baby gear shop in Megamall is not doing very well nowadays and I have to get another job to support myself. I cannot entirely rely on the business alone to sustain my living, therefore I decided to go back to work. This past few months, business have been quite slow and I am no longer convinced that having a small kiosk in Megamall can sustain the business. I need help. Either I have to ask from the management to lower down the rental fee or I have to move elsewhere.
I need to discuss with my staff before I move elsewhere because if not, my staff have to move along with the shop location. I am fed up with Megamall management and I really dont want to stay there forever doing business. I might as well just stay focus on my job and doing some promotions, every now and then to sell of my baby gears until I can clear everything. I plan not to purchase anymore stocks after this. I freeze stock movement for another month or so, see how the trend is going.
This thursday we are having promotions in East Coast Mall and I want to participate. My staff is all ready and gearde up for it. But the question is, What's Next?

I have been on the job for almost 3 months now.
The most taunting part about my job is that I have to take care of my staff and their performance.
The most fun of my job is that people have to listen to me. Sounds evil but I love it.
Its not many times I get this opportunity to be where I am right now, with much authority. Last job was relaxed but it sucked big time.
I hope I am on the right track knowing that a lot of people are leaving the company, and with little guidance I have to maneuver the branch into a profitable and operable branch.
Its a great challenge for me and I am all geared up for it.
I just hope that I have great team and people who are loyal and good team players are here.
Naha, Liza, Mus, Rosli and the latest addition Azrul seems to be okay so far..

Today there's a new hire coming in. He is hired as QC Inspector. Quite young guy wearing a simple red collar shirt and jean. The fun part was that I didnt notice he is in the office until I called him today. Ha ha ha ha...
Crazy me, as always.
Then we chatted for a while. I plan to have an orientation with him maybe this week or so. The other QC Inspector will come in on the 14th April 2012. Then there will be more people coming in after, Project Engineers etc.

THE GRAMMY AND ACADEMY AWARDS

I  am totally into Music and Movies, I love both so much that I always fill up my life with whatever songs and movies I hear. Even on the radio, even from the very first release of the song, I can tell easily which becoming my favourite.

I wanted to watch grammy awards, but them I had to go out with the kids. I sacrifiide it. When I come back home, the show has finished. I got frustrated a little, wanting to know when it will be shown again.

Last night was the Academy Awards night, I love movies, and I love movies with strong messages. Even hubby sometimes thinks I take the movies too seriously , till I talk in my sleep after watching some good ones. My favourite is always action and comedy. My fave actor will definitely be Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep

BAHAYA NYA ORANG "IC 11"

Pagi tadi jumpa member baik lama kat Gebeng. Minum pagi, kene segelas Nescafe Tarek. Aku pun dah lama tak jumpa member aku ni. Dulu dia buat admin je, tapi sekarang dah jadi Branch Manager kat situ. Sungguh bercaliber dan sungguh bekerja keras punye orang. Keje plak dengan company cina, memang susah nak jumpa orang Melayu boleh kerja lama nak masuk 10 tahun dengan company cina dan dia diberi kepercayaan penuh untuk lead the branch. Dia busy gila dengan project dia, dia jaga project sekarang. 

Yang best nye, semalam aku ternampak staff dia mintak keje kat company aku. Aku pun terus call dia, nak bertanya kenapa mamat tu nak blah dari tempat dia, So terkeluarlah bende-bende yang tak elok pasal mamat yang nak mintak keje tu.

Member aku cakap, "Budak IC 11 memang bahaya babe.. nak cari yang betul-betul boleh buat kerja, memang susah sesangat..". Aku dengan terpinga-pinga tanya dia, "apa tu? IC 11?"

Member aku gelak besar, jawap " Ala..IC 11, kan Terengganu punye orang"..

Aku pun nak tak nak mengangguk..."ooooo ye la.. memang pun!" 

Dia pun tengah cari project engineer, tapi kalau boleh tak nak cari yang IC 11 ni. Dia nak cari yang lain.. 

Aku pun nak tak nak, rasa macam bersetuju dengan member aku ni, Pengalaman aku dengan company lama sudah cukup mengatakan bahawa orang-orang IC 11 ni, sungguh tak tau buat kerja. Pada pendapat aku, they all ni paling pandai bercakap, tapi when the time comes, they never walk the talk.

Lagi satu aku perasan, they all pandai sungguh membodek-bodek. Bab-bab membodek tu, macam dah dilahirkan macam tu..memang suka sangat! Tak payah diajar pun..memang dah pandai dah..

Satu lagi, kalau suruh buat apa-apa.. mesti cakap "bereh boh!" - maksudnya "Sudah bos"..bende tu macam dah automatik keluar dari mulut dia orang.. tak payah di ajar... memang akan pandai punye cakap.. tapi sebenarnya, bila kita tengok satu persatu kerja dia, banyak bende yang "dok bereh" - "Tak Beres lagi.."

Aku sendiri banyak terkena. Nak harapkan they all buat semua bende tanpa involvelment kita, memang TAKKAN BERLAKU punye...In the end, kita terpaksa monitor satu-persatu kerja dia. Aku kene jadi MICRO MANAGER when it comes to "IC 11" ni..

Aku sungguh takut sebab company aku nak hire a few project engineers and project managers for our upcoming project in March this year. Yang aku nampak, resume bertimbun-timbun masuk mintak kerja adalah geng-geng "IC 11" ni... aku tertanya-tanya, manakah pergi nya orang dari tempat lain? Dah tak de orang lain ke? Aku kalau boleh tak nak lah MMC ni dipenuhi dengan geng-geng IC 11 , dan kemudian hari nanti , ramai yang tak boleh buat kerja, aku plak yang kene buat kerja dia.

Dan aku ternanti-nanti jugak kot-kot ada pompuan yang nak mintak kerja. Asyik lelaki je.. adusss! bosannnya!

WHO NEEDS A PERMANENT JOB?

People often ask me,

"why you need to work? You already have a husband who can support you financially, and you have your own business to run now. You dont need a job"

My business can run on its own now. Income is quite steady but not that much to cover for my own lifestyle. I have loans to pay off and many other things to pay. I have residence loan, my car loan and above all my study loan. That's a hell lot of loans!

I need a permanent job hoping to support all that, and above all, I am not ready to be a housewife. I will never be I think!

Not to misjudge my hubby or what, but it's for security reason too. Just in case in the future, something happens to my hubby, at least I can have money to care for my own kids. Everyday it's not always sunny. Sometimes it will rain.

NEW ERA IN BUSINESS BEGINS WITH AN ACCIDENT

Some friends of mine was shocked when i post a comment on Facebook that I have cleaning service available and it cost only a mere RM10 per hour.


It all began few months ago when I wanted to get an Indonesian maid for my house, just to take care of the kids and do house cleaning. I called up a few people and they give me a few more contacts, and it went on and on.. until one day, I managed to get in touch with an agent, who appreared to be sophisticated but really a nice lady, Kak Za.


The impression on the phone while we were coversing was enough to tell me that she is the kind of agent I dont mind dealing with, she doesnt charge impossibly high, and she can find a maid for me within 2 weeks, that was good enough for me.


The first maid came, somewhat earlier than 2 weeks, we were very happy to recieve the maid and welcomed her to my home.As usual, I begin teaching her what to do and so on the very same day she was here. Her name is Ros. 
Then one day, my hubby got back from work and saw that Ros didnt turn off the rice cooker switch. He reminded me to let the maid know, so I did. To my amazement, Ros didnt like the comment and start blabbering about the kind of rice we cooked. She said that the rice we bought was given to dogs in indonesia, they will never eat it etc etc. I was speechless when she blatantly spoke in that tone and with such insults. 
One thing leads to the next, and on the same afternoon, I called her agent Kak Za to replace her.


Kak Za came and took her away, and on the same day she gave me another maid, looks slightly older than Ros, and seems very quiet and reserved. We welcomed her into our house again.
After around 1 week or so, the maid was quite ok with the kids, and I was quite happy with her as well. She doesnt know much about cleaning but she was oky with the kids and I dont complain.
But after almost 2 weeks, she run off from the house, with my hubby in the house having shower and it was around 7:30pm (maghrib time). Before she took off, she broke into my room (force open the lock and knob), took my son's full piggy bank, took some of my clothes and handbags.


This one was really really bad. Hubby told me, we dont need another maid. I agreed.


That's it, we called Kak Za and asked for refund, she said ok and will pay in 2 weeks time after the replacement maid comes in. 


Time passed and it turned into 2 months I think, that suddenly Kak Za called me and asked whether I have any friend wanting to hire a maid, that made me change my mind.


I was running out of staff at my baby shop coz the last one just left. What if I take the maid, give the same salary but get her to help with the shop? 


What if I use the maid to clean other people's houses and generate income for them, and at the same time,. they are happy coz they get to get out of the house everyday?


Those ideas comes from my own experience wanting a by-hour maid to clean the house.\


That's how it started.

HOW TO MEND UNEASY HEART

SILENT TREATMENT
How I hate the silent treatment. Never heard silence can be that loud, actually. I came back from my shop at around 10:30pm, took off my makeup, get a mattress and got ready to sleep in the living room. I saw my bed is quite full tonight. Actually its more like a silent retreat. I forgot what caused me this pain. Was it the remark he gave me about my business, or was it the little insensitive part of him during our Bazar Ramadhan trip today, or was it the RM39.90 elegant clutch discounted very cheap i asked for during our shopping at Parkson today? Either way, I forgot or want to forget about what happened. Tonight is going to be a very different kind of sleep for me, sleep with anger and frustration that has not a chance to be addressed and levelled with. Lets see what happened. 

Angelina Jolie ... The Angel of New Era....

Yes, she's beautiful, gorgeous, sexy, very very beautiful, has mesmerizing eyes and all that... No doubt about all that, but above all, I like her being a human, a humble yet different human being. To me, Angelina Jolie is not just a pretty face, she's a lot more than what people label her as. After many months reading all sorts of news and updates about her life with Partner Brad Pitt and kids, the most I love to read is her UNHCR work. I am not that familiar with that UNHCR thing either (like many other people), but she made me want to read and find out more about what UNHCR do, and what causes they support other than Refugee that Angelina is fully supporting. It's remarkable what she does, and has effect on people. She doesnt mind getting her hands dirty visiting refugee camps, talk to these people... and everytime she visits them, her facial expression tells the world that she cares, she has sympathy to all those suffering people she meets, she's not pretending at all. I love this woman 

JUST KIDDING - VERY FIRST YEAR... AND EXPANDING MORE

At the very beginning, it was hard and not many people are aware of our existance in the market. But now, we already have regulars and people starts to know us everyday. That's a very good thing. What we offer customers are : Very friendly services, mutual understanding between us and customers and the very best of all, we are very honest with our clients. I am proud to mention that we are going to open another branch after Raya Puasa this year. Instead of only 1 kiosk at the beginning of 2011, now we have 2 kiosks already, at the very same location. 

JUST KIDDING - Official start of a new chapter

JUST KIDDING

Location: 1st Floor Berjaya Megamall

(in front of Handz)

I started off this business simply for one reason :

I want to be able to spend more time with my sons, watch them grow and nurture them. My current paid job is a marketing job, which requires me to go outstations, attend meetings etc, which most of the time, I have to leave my children behind. 

Now JUST KIDDING have 2 kiosks, side by side. Because of the demand for baby gears are high, we are planning to take it to the next level, next year, if budget permits.