Greener grass

In Dell, people come and go all the time. I guess it was the same for all multi-national corporations since competitions and opportunities are abundant all year long. However, recently I was being shaken by the sudden departure of 2 of my close colleagues.

Early August saw Lee Hin leaving for Shell in Cyberjaya. I gave him one damn big CONGRATULATIONS since it was clearly a better place for such a talented person like him.


Yeoh Lee Hin.

To make things even more interesting, my previous department's Team Leader, Say Leong left for Lenovo on the very day he announced his resignation.


Lim Say Leong.

Since the first day I joined Dell, the 2 of them has provided me with insurmountable amount of guidance, opportunities and knowledge. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this blog entry to the 2 of them for all that they have done for who else but me.

I would like to thank Say Leong for assimilating me into his department even though I clearly know nuts about computer hardware. Judging from how badly I fared during the official interview, I was pretty shocked that he decided to put his faith on me.

I would also like to thank Lee Hin for... EVERYTHING. There is truly no words or pictures that can describe how amazing Lee Hin is. I still remember vividly how he was initially assigned as my Phone Buddy. Just like the 26 alphabets, he played such an important role in my work life that I would have quitted Dell if not for his non-stop guidance and assistance.

They have definitely found the greener grass on the other side of the fence. I wonder where my green grass patch is located at?

Lamps: I’ll bear the pain for Chelsea

I am no big fan of the English Premier League's Chelsea Football Club. The coach, Mr. Jose Mourinho is simply extraordinary but the high expenditure killed my impression on the club.

Recently, Chelsea lost the Community Shield to Manchester United which was decided though a series of penalty shoot-outs. All of the 3 initial penalty takers; Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips failed to net the ball and guess what kind of punishment that was meted out to these players?


Now we know what he meant by I'll bear the pain for Chelsea.

For full story, please read the alternative version of Lamps: I’ll bear the pain for Chelsea as published in The Star newspaper.

Kuala Lumpur

This entry should have been posted way long ago but due to some changes in my working environment... okie, fine. I have been complaining so much that the word work is starting to fade out from my dictionary.

Anyway, my point is that I have finally got the chance to pay Kuala Lumpur a REAL visit! Yes, you read it right. I am a stranger, a tourist in my very own country's capital city. Most of my friends have been to Singapore, Australia, Europe, moon, you-name-it but look at me. Dump me in the middle of Kuala Lumpur and you will see a white mouse getting lost in a maze.

Now, the reason I highlighted the word real is due to the fact that this was actually my 3rd visit to Kuala Lumpur.

I still remember vividly how I lost my Kuala Lumpur virginity. The date was November 1st, year 2005. I was not supposed to be in Kuala Lumpur. I was been promised great glory and fame in exchange for my participation in the inter-university squash competition held at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Alas, things did not go as smooth as it was planned and Universiti Utara Malaysia were eliminated even before I marched into the court. Read my keyboard: I am not the reason my team lost.

Frustrated, I demanded for early retirement from the competition and to be ferried back to my university since I have lectures and assignments to catch up to. The officer-in-charge would not accept any kind of excuses to ruin his holiday and before I could even spot the Petronas Twin Towers, I was already in Puduraya, boarding a bus bound for Universiti Utara Malaysia.

To make things even worse, I did not manage to take even a single photo to commemorate my first visit to Kuala Lumpur save for this photo which was captured in the university stadium. Someone please tell me that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia is IN Kuala Lumpur.


No, I swear this was in UKM!

Zoom a little forward to June 6th, 2006 and, lo and behold, I was in Kuala Lumpur again when I was not supposed to. My coursemates participated in the Application Development Competition in the International Conference on Computing and Informatics and I wasted no opportunity to tag along since it was held in Kuala Lumpur.

I bet that time ticks faster in Kuala Lumpur because AGAIN, before I can spot the Petronas Twin Towers, I was already in the bus on its way back to Penang. This time, I managed to snatch a photo to prove my 2nd failure in a row.


The statue at the back was my alibi that I was indeed in Kuala Lumpur.

April 7th, 2007. Finally I was in Kuala Lumpur without any purpose / event / motive to hinder me from enjoying my time there. Let us see...

1. I have had enough of buses kidnapping me away from Kuala Lumpur. This time, I wanted to travel by car. CHECKED!

2. I have companions that knew their way around Kuala Lumpur. CHECKED!

3. I visited the Petronas Twin Towers. Thank God, at last! CHECKED!

4. I went window shopping at Suria KLCC, Berjaya Times Square, Sungei Wang Plaza and Low Yat Plaza. CHECKED!

5. I lost my IMAX 3D virginity. Yuck but... CHECKED!

6. Took gazillions of photos of me and the Petronas Twin Towers... FAILED.

I DID take a lot of photos but with cheap digital camera came low quality photos. The best photo I have of the Petronas Twin Towers was the one without me in it. Sigh...


View from hotel room.

Kuala Lumpur, CONQUERED!

Death

A few weeks ago, I received a SMS from Tien Han informing me that his grandmother has passed away. I knew that he was pretty close to his grandmother therefore it was not something easy for him to go through. Nevertheless, from what I read in his blog, he managed to get things under control in a short period of time.

A week later, I received another news that one of my ex-schoolmate's father has been admitted into hospital due to cancer. This guy on the other hand tried too much at putting the issue aside that it did not go very well for him. When some of us gracefully rejected his invitation for actitivities that he has planned, this guy got so frustrated that he regretted coming back to Penang during his recent academic holiday.

I can only guess that different people has their own level of capabilities in handling irreversible bad news. Hold on a second... since when death is a "reversible" situation? It is a sad fact that since the day we were born, death has been written as the end of our chronology of life. Each person that we see with our own naked eyes will one day come face to face with death.

Therefore, we were being taught since small not to take things for granted. I have always been repeatedly reminded to treat every single day as if it would be the last day of not only my own life, but of others as well. Alas, there were times when I got to lazy or careless only to be brought back to reality on the fragility of life when something bad happened to me or the person that I am close to.

For example, 2001 marked the year my mom passed away.

2 years later I survived a freak car accident that made me realise the importance of introducing my girlfriend to my family member. At that particular moment when the car was tumbling down the ravine, the only thought that brushed through my mind was "How do I tell my girlfriend that I am dead?" It might sound sarcastic when you are sitting comfortably in your chair reading this but trust me, things are totally different when this short thought is the only thing you can conjure up before the car hits the bottom of the slope in 3 seconds.

In addition, my girlfriend has never failed to land me in panic-stricken state when she did not respond to my telephone call or missed a promised call-back. I would have definitely been much richer if I were to collect RM1 from her for each time she caused me to get anxious. However, optimistically speaking, she has actually indirectly reminded me that like a tiny flame burning on a candle, I could lose her anytime anywhere.

The only advice that I can offer to those who are new to the experience of losing someone is to accept their departure. They have left their memories engraved in your heart and rejecting their demise will only waste those memories away. Last but not least, condolences to all that have learnt to look forward and went on with life.