Think.Z

Things just fall into place nicely. Smooth flow of the day. I did my tax return at noon.

One of the senior operators Steve dropped by my office. We talked about how different is it to have a full-blown American culture and a “wannabe”. I was telling Steve how some local folks here were talking to me about, “Hey, this is the American culture… thingy.” And I told Steve that that’s more like a “wannabe”. And Steve agreed. I know what it’s like to be in an American culture. I was in the US for 4 freaking years. Maybe it was not as long as some of those folks… “ooh, I work in a multinational company, I am so well-versed with other cultures, I am very civilized” who have spent more years overseas, but it was enough for me to reach the level of an engineering Honors chapter president. I said “wannabe” because I saw some locals took the questioning and the aggression to another level. Without being objective. They keep the judgmental part along with the aggression. What do you have? A Turkish rodeo, if you know what I mean.

I don’t think I have to explain the “being objective” part. And the Turkish rodeo.

The group leaders are working on staffing.

Right.

I’m not sure if we’ve got it right for the last 5 years from what I’ve seen so far. I don’t know. Maybe I haven’t been around long enough. Perhaps, we can do it correct now.

Tazkirah (Surau ME: 29 Apr 2008, Ust. ____)

Our values have been toned in such a way that we are more proud if
1) One of the Malaysians has reached the space
2) A Malaysian swam across the English channel
3) Winning the Thomas Cup

Instead of celebrating that we promote good deeds and prevent wrongdoings.

Some statistics to ponder upon:
1) In Jeram, roughly 30% of the students from one of the high schools are proven to be addicted to sex. They’d engage on the activity after school in the uniform on top of the motorbikes somewhere in the palm oil plantation. The teachers actually followed and filmed the action as proofs.
2) Out of 87 students of one of the high schools in Kajang that were brainwashed and questioned, 40 admitted to have at least cuddled and kissed their boyfriends, and 27 admitted to be addicted to sex.

The reminder is to watch the new generation. Do your part - promote good deeds and prevent/intervene wrongdoings. Everyone is accountable.

Wallahua’lam. It’s the short version of the tazkirah. Please refer to the more knowledgeable ones for clarifications.

Things go well today. In the morning, we had a meeting with one of the metering vendors rep, a Norwegian. I liked his idea but I had to unfortunately constantly remind him how hard it would be to implement something at this company. We have more ideas and creativity squashed in a day than the number of saliva droplets floating in the air after you sneeze.

For what seemed like an eternity of waiting, I was finally able to see a knee specialist. The doctor sucked the liquid out of my lower thigh. Prescribed me something. It still felt a little uneasy at the backside of the knee.

I caught up with Ihsan over a quick bite. Things are different these days. For some reason, I felt like I tend to lecture some utopian non-sense and how things were supposed to be this way and all. Time flies too.

I was all whipped. Almost burned out. I couldn’t focus on work. Two colleagues went, “You don’t look so good.”

Decided to pay clinic a visit.

My knee felt a little different. Stiffer on the back side.

My driver of choice, Kimi “Iceman” Räikkönen fired up the tracks again. Way to go the Flying Finn! He’s going to win 2008 F1 championship and retire. And there’d be no more fabulous Finn after Häkkinen and Räikkönen.

Wait. What about Kovalainen?

We celebrated Dad, Mom and Alya’s birthday. I gave away all the vouchers I’ve earned from the Away Day. It’s only right.

Man U lost to Chelsea. Chelsea managed to pull it off with the linesman help. Last time, it was Riise from Liverpool that came to rescue. I personally suspect that the linesman was rigged. The actual referee would’ve seen it if Carrick touched the ball with his hand but he did not bring it up. The linesman did and so the ref made that call.

The Italians were match-fixing. NBA had that problem once. What makes you think big sports and big money are totally clean and transparent?

Planning and budgeting cycle sucks. The cycle by itself is not, but the situation we were in dragged us down.

It’s like one dude counting for car modifications and repairs to go how far for how much when you need major parts overhaul with at least a 4-men team to properly manage everything, in order to get back to a smooth ride. If you know what I mean.

Somebody wants iPhone too much. The chief inspector went, “What kind of phone is this?”

From: http://www.bharian.com.my/Gambar_Pilihan_BH/gambar_456/zoom

I got out of the bed limping. The knee twist was absolutely painful! I hope that didn’t shear off any meniscus or other ligaments. I could straighten my leg but only slowly.

The yellow team was the champion! Even without a fit knee, I contributed as much as possible to the team. The game was similar to that of the Amazing Race. There were trivial questions, riddles, and tasks for us to answer and perform. We were having a lot of fun, except that it felt too competitive sometimes.

Working alongside Yusof and Nadia.

On my way back from the first checkpoint, I bumped into Pok Su Azhar again who seemed to be just arriving for the occasion. Apparently, UiTM was holding a conference on ICT improvement and all at the same hotel and he was invited. We briefly joked around and he excused himself to join the quorum.