Zainal Abidin Meet & Greet @ The Summit Shopping Complex, Subang

Stumbled upon our veteran local artiste, Zainal Abidin, at The Summit Shopping Complex, Subang last Sunday. There was a "Zainal Abidin - Meet & Greet" session in conjunction with "Raya Raya Kat Summit" Balik Kampung Fair at the said shopping complex.

Zainal Abidin was presence for only about 15 minutes and i count myself lucky for being able to see him in person at a very close range, watching him singing a few songs, including "Hijau". I still remembered watching Zainal Abidin's music video being aired on RTM when i was a kid.

"Hijau" is sung back in 1989, which has already highlighted the issue of saving Mother Nature. Part of this song (if not mistaken) is sung in Kelantanese dialect. This song has successfully blend the unique dialect into the plight of environmentalist. It was a hit back then.

Zainal Abidin, in my opinion, is one of Malaysia’s most successful singer. To be frank, i only knew a handful of local artistes and Zainal Abidin is definitely in the list!

Talked about how time has passed... Zainal Abidin's look has changed so much in 20 years...

Life Is Not Fair

Recently two friends of mine rambling about their "psychological imbalance" towards money matters.

One of them, C, an ex-classmate of mine and currently in education field, told me about how she felt that life is unfair as one of her colleague charged double the fees that my dear C charged in her tuition lessons. C is of the opinion that her colleague has over-charged in tuition fees and that her colleague does not "qualify" to charge that high (as C thought that her colleague is not that up-to-standard after all).

Another one, S, also an ex-classmate of mine and currently in construction field, told me how she felt that life is unfair as one of her ex-classmate in University earned double the salary that S is earning now. S is of the opinion that she has been ill-treated by her company by underpaid salary. Hence, C and S are now consider themselves on the same boat and embrace each other on their "ill-fate".

This is my two cents worth. C and S's case are totally two different matters and cannot be placed on a par. The two cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

Tuition fees and salary are two different matters. Tuition fees is offered by the teacher (C) and regardless of what is the price, it is all depends on whether the parents think it is worthy or not. In other word, say a price and the parents will consider whether it is worthy of the services rendered/price paid.

I used to provide tuition lessons many years ago. It was a one-to-one tuition class, RM25 per session, 2 hours per session, twice a week. My brother also provide tuition lessons when he studied his A-Level. It was also a one-to-one tuition class, but he charged double my fees with the same duration of time. If you asked me, i never considered my tuition fees under-charged. In fact, i think it was reasonable considering the mother of my tuition student often provides me with meals at the end of tuition lessons (which is a cost in itself).

I just thought that C can always revise her tuition fees if she really thinks that she has under-charged but at the same time, she is wary of the fact that she might lose some of her students due to price-hike.

On the other hand, salary is often offered by the employer to the employee (S). It is the employer who consider whether S is worthy of the salary paid. S may ask for an expected salary that she thinks she worth but it is up to the employer to determine the salary amount.

When i just joined my previous company, i was offered an X amount of salary. I took the offer as i thought that the salary is reasonable and not very far from my expectation. More than a year later, my previous company employed another one for the same position with the same working experience, but with a salary of RM200 more than what i got when i first joined.

A colleague of mine from the same batch felt that it is very unfair for someone to receive a higher pay when the position and working experience is all the same. However, this is not an issue for me. I always think that everyone has a price that he or she worth in the working arena, be it academically or capability.

If i were to look for a reason for a RM200 more in salary, i would say that the new staff excelled academically than i am and the new staff used to work in the company on a part-time basis and from there, my boss got to know what kind of employee he is looking at. As opposed to someone like me whom he never met, of course there would be lots of doubts arising.

S can try to voice out her concerns to her boss and see what are the reactions. If the company thinks that this is what S worth and S thinks that she has been under-paid, S can always opt for a better job elsewhere. However, S must first prove her worth and strive to place herself in the same salary range as her ex-coursemate. After all, there is no free lunch in this world. Everything comes with a price.

Like Bill Gates said “Life is not fair - get used to it". You must accept that life is unfair. You must learn to adapt to your life, then change it.

机会

一个有非凡成就的大企业家受邀对一群即将进入社会职场的大学生演讲。

他拿了一张中央有一个黑点的白纸展示给在座的人看。

他问：“ 你们看到了什么？”

大家都说：“ 一个黑点。”

“对。” 他说：“ 很多人都只注意到这个黑点，而忘了旁边这一大部分的空白，今天我要讲的题目“机会”，重点也就在这里。我们在日常生活中，往往只注意到自己或别人犯的错误而耿耿于怀，甚至自暴自弃，却忘记了其他可能做好的机会。”

这个故事提供我们从另一个角度来看待人生的错误。

人难免犯错，就像一张白纸上的黑点一样，然而只注意到这个黑点却不修正，甚至因此而限定了将来可能的成就，那么这个人就真的被这个小黑点所影响了。

Learn To Be Extreme

I once read an article in the newspaper saying that great leaders are a peculiar group, almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when it comes to their leadership actions. Great leaders know the right time when to alternate between contrasting leadership traits.

Here are the Extreme Leadership Traits:-

A B

Humility Assertiveness

Visionary/Big Picture Detail Oriented

Using Influence Using Authority

Street Smart Academic Knowledge

Time For Self Time For Community

Discipline Creativity

Task Oriented People Oriented

Leveraging Strengths Developing Weaknesses

Showing Love Using Fear

Using Intuition Data-Based Decisions

Extrovert Introvert

Personal Reflection Social Interactions

Ensuring Perfection Ensuring Speed/Execution

Telling Stories Using Data

Listening Talking

Quitting Pursuing Excellence

Teaching Others Learning From Others

Doing It Yourself Delegating To Others

Learning From Mistakes Doing Things Successfully the First Time

Experimenting Adhering To Policy

Hence, you have to learn to be extreme if you want to be a leader!

The End, At Last

Spain won the FIFA World Cup for the first time after securing a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands. With Spain's World Cup squad receive heroes welcome home and Paul the Octopus shocking retirement, this marked the end of FIFA World Cup 2010.

Sharing some of the promotional event photos by Adidas at the Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall taken on the first week of FIFA World Cup 2010.

And now, let's seal it (FIFA World Cup 2010) with a kiss...

Iker Casillas is the Spanish captain and Sara Carbonero is the TV presenter girlfriend who interview the emotion-filled boyfriend.

Awwwwww My God!

HonKee Porridge Restaurant @ Taipan USJ, Subang Jaya

I had porridge for dinner last night at HonKee Porridge Restaurant. This is the 5th branch of the famous congee stall in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur which spans three generations since 1949. Fresh Sliced Fish Porridge has been their specialty over the past 60 years. It is located just a few doors away from Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Taipan USJ, Subang Jaya.

Even though HonKee is just opened a week ago, people just seems to know of its existence since the day they started their business as you can see the shop is constantly packed! My friend and i were there around 7.30pm and there were only 3 tables available. By 8pm, people have started queuing outside the shop waiting for vacant table.

Not long after we have ourselves seated, we heard a young lady screaming from behind. It turned out that a waiter had accidentally spilled a glass of drinks on her. She should count herself lucky because it's not the super HOT porridge that spilled on her. The shop is in a chaotic state due to overwhelming customers and (maybe) inexperienced waiters.

From then onwards, i dare not take out my camera to take pictures of the shop and food. Even my blackberry was kept intact in my handbag. It's just that i'm scared the same thing will happen to me. That's why there is no picture posted about food in this post. Honestly, i would not want to be part of the training object for those waiters.

My friend ordered Cooked Fish Porridge (RM5.00) whilst i ordered Minced Pork and Bitter Gourd Porridge (RM6.50). Both of us ordered fresh Soya Bean Milk (RM2.30 per glass) and You Tiao (fried dough stick) (RM1.00).

In conclusion:-

Cooked Fish Porridge - Quite a lot of fish bones, must eat with extra care.

Minced Pork and Bitter Gourd Porridge - The minced pork is extremely salty.

Fresh Soya Bean Milk - Very diluted, no "home-made" taste.

You Tiau - It's not freshly-made and hence not crunchy. The portion is extremely little.

With HonKee started to expand their business by opening branches like this, one cannot help but comparing them to I Love Yoo (老友鬼鬼) which sells similar food. If you asked me, here are my two cents worth:-

Porridge - Both have great quality porridge. But HonKee's portion is bigger than I Love Yoo.

Soya Bean Milk - I Love Yoo's soya bean milk is very "home-made". This is lacking in Hon Kee.

You Tiau - I Love Yoo's You Tiau is freshly-made. Hence, it's very crunchy and you'll not get those "greasy" smell. Did i mentioned to you that the You Tiau at HonKee have this "greasy" smell that i think it spoiled my delicious porridge?

Anyway, i'll still patronize HonKee Restaurant, just for their delicious porridge but nothing else.

Meanwhile, you can visit their website at www.honkeeporridge.com for more information. I presumed the website is still under construction as the person who claimed to have a BSc. (Hons) IT (UK) can do far much better than this.

List of Outlets:-

Petaling Street: (5am - 1.30pm)

No. 93, Jalan Hang Lekir, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.

Lot 10 Hutong: (10am - 10pm)

Lower Ground Floor, Lot 10, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

Damansara Uptown: (7am - 10pm)

No. 71, Jalan SS21/1A, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Bandar Puteri: (7am - 10pm)

No. 52, Jalan Puteri 2/4, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor.

Taipan USJ: (7am - 10pm)

No. 59, Jalan USJ 10/1A, UEP Subang Jaya, 47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 012-238 0362 (Mr. Wong)

[Disclaimer: The opinion expressed here are based entirely on personal taste buds, view and preference and may vary from others.]

What A Pleasant Surprise!

I paid a visit to my ex-coursemate, Yau last weekend. We are not particularly close. It's just that she is one of those friends whom we'll meet up for a cup of coffee or tea annually since the day we left college.

I went to her house at Salak Selatan, KL in which she had just bought early this year. It's a 30-years-old Single Storey Terrace House but it's very spacious due to the extension renovation made on the backyard.

She served me Ginger Tea which she bought from Taiwan. She went to Taiwan on April this year and bought a lot of food-stuff and drink-stuff which cannot be found in Malaysia. That goes to explain why she need to buy another luggage to carry all these tit-bits.

Despite the fact that i only see her once a year, this year would be a very special one.

Reason being...

1. Yau has just set-up her own company and is now THE BOSS.

2. Yau is one month PREGNANT.

This really sounds like 双喜临门 to me. She is now marching to another level of her career and becoming a mother in eight months time will surely mark another level of her life!

I am so happy for her.

Her husband, Siong is very supportive and understanding. He treated me (as Yau's not-so-close-friend) very well. For me, this is definitely a good sign of a loving and caring husband!

I am doubly happy for her.

Yau is expecting her baby by the end of February 2011. I do hope to see her new-born baby next year after Chinese New Year!