The Push !

It has happened....we signed an agreement with a listed company to manage the students staying at their service residence and it will be for a contract period of 4 years to start with ( by which time I will be 78 omg ).It means starting all over again and facing new challenges which I relish .I have built my team and am confident that after all the guidance and training they will be able to handle the project. Somehow I cant help but feel excited over the new project.We have our vision and working towards the realization of the vision is going to be our strongest motivational factor.Also the fact that they have come to us makes us proud that we have established our reputation in the student accommodation market and this gives us perhaps the best incentive. Apparently our resident centered approach is well accepted by people in business and its good that we are able to convince them that sometimes its not just about making money but also making valuable social contributions. Now that this has happened I have to work on my fitness level as some running about is required.To be able to cope with all this good health is a must and actually its up to us to ensure that we stay healthy by living a life of moderation and doing the things necessary for good health like exercise , rest and eating moderately but regularly.God willing I shall have the will and strength to see this project through.

The final push ?

Lately two offers came our way.One hotel which is being turned into a hostel looked us up for help.They wanted us to run the hostel for them and the terms are fairly attractive.Its not going to pay big bucks but I like the challenge of having to start something from scratch.Then there is a group of investors from China who have bought a piece of land in Sunway near the education hub of Subang jaya and they have approached us for the role of adviser from start to operation level. The offers are exciting because it means running about and being on the go for another few years down the road.Admittedly I am not as gung ho as I was a few years ago but I believe that there is still some " gung " left but am not so sure of the "ho".It is something to think about .On the one hand I should be calling it a day soon as I believe I have worked long enough but then the thought of sitting home doing nothing is quite something too. Of corse there will be things to do like writing, golfing and maybe travelling ( by road )and of course being with the grandchildren. Knowing mum she would want me to go on working as she knows me better than I do perhaps and she does not want to see me waste away.My working life has been interesting and fruitful I must say.Along the career path I have learned that one must be humble and work closely with the team and to never grumble when told to do the little bit extra.Going the extra mile will always make one stand out in an organization until you work with bosses who are totally blind. Years of involvement in human resource management has taught me how to differentiate between the worker with potential as against the deadwood.Also working as a team player and to do things without fear or favor.Dealing with people is perhaps one of the most interesting and challenging aspect of working life.Sometimes I cannot help but remember an old saying " To soar like an eagle when you are working with turkeys".It just show that we should have the correct attitude and subscribe to the notion that there will always be people who are " turkeys" , just as there will always be " eagles" in any organization and we should be able to identify them and this should encourage us to strive for the "eagle : status. I have always believed that one should be the best and I had my day a couple of weeks ago when a golfing partner told me " Hey. Uncle you have improved !". a good one at 74 but it was sheer determination and hard work.Age should not be barrier.Its all in our mind set .If we think there is no age limit to work then we can continue .The only thing which is difficult to overcome is the protest from your body.

Something to think about !

Being disciplined is never easy but if we look at what discipline brings maybe we will strive that much harder to acquire discipline as one of our traits.Too often we see young people indulging in many bad habits, oversleeping , overeating and under exercising or under controlling themselves. Our health is the main ingredient in our lives but sadly its often neglected until the day we fall sick. That is the time when statements like " I should have been more careful about my diet. I should have done this and that ".Unfortunately its too late for we cannot turn back the clock .Health is God given but we must learn how to take care of it and let it not be abused.To be disciplined requires will power and a strong belief in what you are doing. Nobody likes to stretch himself working out a sweat or having to go for long walks when watching the TV or playing with gadgets is a more attractive proposition .It is only if we are sensible enough to think of the consequences if we should lose our health that perhaps we may have the motivation to want to take better care of ourselves.We eat too much , we laze too much and we also abuse our bodies too much. Bodies which are not kept in order will deteriorate , firstly becoming out of shape and then gradually breaking down. If we look at the farmers , fishermen and people who have to work hard physically we realize that many of them do not suffer from common ailments that the sedentary people do.This is because they are on the go all the time and this is what probably keeps them fit. To be disciplined enough to lead a good life style is not easy.It means eating moderately , exercising regularly and sleeping early.keeping awake till late at night makes you overstretch your body and mind and lack of sleep and rest will make it difficult for you to face the challenges of the new day.One may say all this is common sense and common knowledge.We know it yet we never do it and I just cant help but wonder why , why are we like that ? Not doing the things we know are good for us >The key here is its a matter of discipline. Some wise man defined discipline as " doing something which you do not like to do " but if we know that certain things have to be done for our own good then we should try to do it.It requires an awareness that we need to ensure that we are disciplined enough to take the necessary steps to ensure that our well being is maintained throughout and thinking about it should make us realize that after all being disciplined is not really that difficult !

The other side of the story

Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our own lives that we fail to see how others live theirs.There was a recent case of a father beating his 17 year old son to death because he tried to earn a little extra money for the family to have a decent " Break Fast " meal which hitherto consisted of a banana and just water.Imagine having this after having gone one whole day without food. Compare this with the culture of " Buka Puasa " where people feast upon breaking fast normally with lots of food unfinished on their plates and wasted.There are many of us who are so fortunate that we fail to count our blessings and value what we have.It is only when the plights of the unfortunate are highlighted that we perhaps would take a step backwards and think.Never look down on people who take handouts ...they may have reasons which we may never have thought about.I remember the time when I was Headmaster a teacher kept sending one particular little Indian boy to see me almost every day for not doing his homework and wearing dirty clothes .The boy was only 12 years old . When I spoke to him, unveiled a heart breaking story.His father had passed away committing suicide by taking weed poison and he was the eldest of five siblings.His mother was a rubber tapper and was off to work early in the morning.The boy had to look after his siblings before coming to school and he ate nothing before school.When he came home after school the mother would be back and have dinner ready for the family.Dinner was rice with curry water as they had no money to cook the curry with anything else. One would not imagine that some people can live such difficult lives.I called up the teacher and asked him had he ever bothered to find out the reason why the student was like that .He answered " No" and I told him he should be a bit more humane and check on problem students.I then took the boy and bought him two sets of uniform and shoes and told the cafeteria operator that this boy would come and eat there every day during break time and I would settle the bill. Slowly the boy improved on his studies and I was deeply touched when he gave me a hand made "Thank You" card when I was transferred out of the school.It goes to show that too often we are so concerned about ourselves and the things that we "lac" that we forget there are many people in worse shape than us and too often we fail to value the things that we have .Take health for example .I have heard of so many of my friends suffering from all kinds of ailments and it makes me realize how precious health is and how important it is to ensure that we follow a healthy lifestyle and always be thankful for what we have and not forget there are millions out there who dont even have the basic necessities of life .

A weekend in Ipoh and a learning experience

We went back to Ipoh last weekend and it was an eye opener.Arriving there in the late afternoon we both felt hungry and decided to have something to eat before dinner.After that I bought a few stuff and then home. Mum had to spend some time to clean up and asked me to go look for my friends as she said I would be in the way. So off to the Golf club and there was no other place to go , it was a beeline for the amhjong room. The same old people were there and it struck me how these people never changed all these years. Albeit mahjong is a way of passing time but then surely there must be other things to do ?And watching the various people playing , you get a glimpse of human character.There are the happy go lucky ones , the serious ones and the cari makan ones.point to note is that they are all mostly senior people and it struck me that if I am not working I will be like them and then life would be not so interesting and perhaps less meaningful .Hence I have made a silent resolution that I will continue to work till I cant do so any more.

The Learning Process

We educationists believe that learning is a life long process and when you reflect on it you will realize that there are indeed lots of opportunities to learn.I never stop learning as I always tell myself " If others can do it why cant you ?". Age should never be given as an excuse.There is nothing which says that you cant do something because of age.I am now trying to master the i phone with all its intricacies and it has opened up a whole new horizon for me.The learning goes on and I am basically self taught as many people are I presume The process makes you think and the harder you think the more your mind works. I learned from my niece's narrative of her working incident that management must always focus not only on the big guns in an organisation but also to open their eyes and take a look at what the other staff are doing.It takes a whole team of players to make an organisation tick from the tea lady to the president and in between. If we are in the top management it must never be below us to be courteous to the people whom we work with no matter what is their status in the organisation.Unfortunately there are many in the top positions who fail to acknowledge the people below them .If you look at the behavior of some of the so called VIPs you will see how artificial they are.Looking at some of the Ministers and the way they greet the people is an eye opener.They shake hands with you without even looking at you as though they are doing you a big favor by shaking your hand.people still line up to shake their hands as though they are idols to be worshiped.This is human shallowness at its worst , yet strange to say there are so many people who take joy in this and go back telling " I shook hand with so and so " not realizing that its no big deal. We learn from everyone and from everywhere if only we care to bother.Even my little grand children have things to teach me .You have to be observant and watch them in order to see the learning opportunities which they present now and then. I have learned to be independent and to fend for myself since young and that is perhaps one value which I will take with me.I have learned that if I need to drive long distances that I should tell myself it can be done and it is done albeit with a bit of ache here and there at the end of the journey.Its better to depend on yourself for then you can travel at your own time and convenience.I have learned to ignore the protests from your body when you do things you should not be doing.I have learned to control the body with your mind rather than the other way round. Learning comes from the willingness of the mind and its ever challenging but never let yourself be daunted by something before you even start.Some times you need to look up something in the net and you start to think as to how to go about it and suddenly the task becomes daunting and you rationalize and give yourself the reason that you will do it later and at the end of the day its never done. We receive feedback about ourselves everyday. Things like " why are you so slow? why are you always late ?" has to do with our time management and self management.Can we not learn to be faster ? Can we not learn to be more time conscious ? If we are people who are bent on self improvement these are simple things to work on.Its only when we the " mind blockage, ear blocked , mind closed " type that we cannot improve. Self improvement is learning process and unless we are open to learning we will never improve.

Thinking out of the box

All too often our thinking is stereotyped partly because we are so used to set ways of doing things or thinking.Great innovations leading to man's progress has come about because there are people who dare to think outside the box, dare to take risks and dare to be bold.Too often we have our comfort zone and too often we have the same rationale for doing things. The " I will do it later " syndrome plagues many a person and it leads to procrastination and and the giving excuses syndrome. Doing something which needs to be done immediately and not waiting is a sure way of getting things done.Sometimes we have so many things to do that it becomes daunting.The way to do it is to think how to break all the tasks into manageable one and tackle them .The " box " thinking would be " How to handle all these ?".This leads to inaction and at the end of the day nothing gets done because we have lost the battle before we even start. Men are creatures of habits but in order to make life interesting we should have some variety.Eating the same food , doing the same thing day after day certainly would be boring.Yet there are many people who follow this life style.I know of people who would eat the same food for years for breakfast , lunch and dinner.Sadly they never realize there can be so much adventure in food.We all love surprises and it will be fun if once in a way we do something unexpected of us thereby making ourselves interesting.being stereo typed and predictable certainly makes you a dull person. We should realize that in life there are always alternatives and we should spare a thought or some time looking at the alternatives as there will certainly be better ways of doing something.