The story begins with a scene describing an eighteen years old Amish girl delivering a baby by her own self in a barnyard at two o’clock in the morning. She managed to deliver the baby, cut the cords, and cuddling her baby; and then she felt asleep due to exhaustion. She prayed that the baby would be gone since it is conceived out of wedlock, and nobody knew that she’s been pregnant. When she woke up some hours later, the baby is gone.

It seems that her prayers have been answered. Or did they?

A few hours later, when the morning sun has beautifully shine the farm, the child’s body is found – lying dead covered in hay — and of course, Katie Fisher is the prime suspect in murdering her own child.

Or did she?

This novel has beautifully described the Amish community; a group of devoted Christian that lived in a traditional way without technology and even electricity. The mindfuck factor in this novel is: how can a devoted Christian girl be willingly having sex and be pregnant out of wedlock, and even goes further by murdering her own child? It reveals the most misguided emotions of human and how does a mother would react in protecting her child, maternal issues, and it also goes beyond that – it argues about neonaticide instinct in a mother.

Somehow, someway, I would recommend this book to those kids who have been throwing away their babies on the street. It reflects how a religious community can still be misguided and how love can be misinterpreted into something physical act that leds to another. Not only that, it also describes how certain mothers would do anything just to get a baby – which is being portrayed by the character Ellie, Katie’s defense attorney.

Jodi Picoult as usual makes her novels to be gripping at the start, slowing down in the middle, add more conflicts while nearing the end, and ended it with a bang and twisted closing. If you have been enjoying “Keeping Faith”, or “Nineteen Minutes”, then this book follows that kinda trend of writing. The advantage of this book is that the ending is so unexpected

It’s not so depressing, but it can give you mindfuck momentarily. Suitable to be read while in stress (since the issue of maternity can be quite soothing and it is slow), and it is not so stressing compared to other book like Sister Keeper’s. Yeah, it’s introduction is gripping that you will not let go in the first five to six chapters, but then the middle is quite slow you can break the reading into multiple days. But again, the ending might make you goes WTF!

So, mommy, mommy-to-be: this can be a good read for you too. Jamie, maybe this book will give you a different perspective on parenting.  Dils, wanna try? Disclaimer: Not suitable for those pregnant woman. Nad, tunggu kau bersalin boleh la baca kot. Kang anak kau mengikut ke terkenan ke aku tak bertanggungjawab!

Note: This post is in sticky mode for this week. For more updated post, scroll down or check the sidebar for the last 12 posts.

Ahah, tiba-tiba pagi ini dapat tahu kisah sebenar pasal Paderi Melayu yang telah diwar-warkan dengan hebat dan jayanya di Facebook.  Bukan setakat di Facebook, blogger pun ramai yang post. Aku siap dapat emel yang diforward lagi. Maka sudah pastilah kena menulis dalam bahasa Melayu pasal kalau tak nanti ada je orang-orang Melayu yang tak faham kalau aku guna bahasa penjajah dengan jayanya. Miahaha!

Nah, ini adalah gambar yang telah digembar-gemburkan sebagai “Paderi Melayu” yang sampai di Singapura, konon-kononnya sedang giat berusaha untuk memurtadkan Melayu di Singapura dan Malaysia. Terus semua Meleis tanpa berfikir panjang menekan butang “Share” di Facebook. Ada yang tekan butang “Like” tak?

Kebenaran sebenarnya (the truth is.. OMG it sounds so different when translated), ini adalah gambar dua paderi dari Sabah dan Indonesia yang berbangsa Cina dan Kadazan. BUKAN MELAYU.

Quote dari sumber asal berita ini adalah:

“The 2 priests in the picture is Rev. Fr. Paulus Toni Tantiono OFM Capuchin from Pontianak, Kalimantan  and currently teaching Bible Study in Seminari Tinggi Permatang Siantar Sumatera Utara, Indonesia and the other priest standing at his back is Rev. Fr. Nicholas Stephen from Penampang, Sabah and currently serving at St. John’s parish Tuaran, Sabah. Fr. Paulus is a Chinese descendent while Fr. Nicholas Stephen is a Kadazan descendant.“

Hah! Mana datang Melayu nya? Nama pun dah sah-sah bukan Melayu. Mana datang Razman Zakri tu? Korang ni memanglah. Tengok orang tu hensem-hensem Melayu sikit (macam..err..oklah macam Munir. Aku tak hensem comel je muahaha! ) pakai jubah paderi, terus korang Melayukan ek? Itu memang Cina dan Kadazan lor! Ho liau!

Aku bukanlah nak cakap yang aku ni menyokong paderi memurtadkan Islam ke hape, tapi sebelum percaya bulat-bulat benda dari Internet ni, lain kali research dulu! Selidik betul-betul! Ini tak. Suka-suki korang je buat fitnah sana sini. Niat nak menambah pahala konon-kononnya di bulan puasa, turns out jadi dosa je korang. Paling-paling kurang jadi dosa menipu.

Kita selalu marah bila dengar rakyat US yang menyamakan orang-orang Muslim sebagai pengganas atau terrorist. Agak – agak korang apa yang orang Kadazan atau orang Cina tu rasa bila mereka di”melayu”kan sebegini rupa? Dahlah tiba-tiba jadi Melayu, lepas tu digambarkan sebagai seorang pendakwah yang menggunakan sihir pulak tu? Fuhh siap diequip dengan Holy Water (+10 defense, +10 attack power) tuuu!!!

Memang nice combination laa untuk menakutkan orang Melayu ni: paderi + air Holy Water + gambar + cruel intention to destroy our creed. How dense and how stupid can we be to believe Internet rumours? WTF? *sigh*

Konklusinya, bukan sebab paderi atau holy water yang menyebabkan seseorang Melayu boleh murtad. Kekurangan iman dan ilmulah yang membuatkan sesiapa pun boleh terpesong dari landasan sebenar. Percaya bulat-bulat, silap-silap beri fakta yang salah, boleh membawa kepada peperangan dan berbunuhan. Hah, bila dah berbunuhan tu, nak salahkan siapa? Bulan Ramadhan bukan ke syaitan dah kena ikat?

P/s: Jerry, just remember; it’s not a lie if you believe it – George Costanza, Seinfield (1990).

A reversed peace sign might be a cool or cute gesture especially when you’re snapped for a picture. I’ve seen a lot of pictures that gives the reversed peace sign, no matter by guys or girls (some of the pictures are nice pictures e.g of iftar, or after Terawih?) I won’t deny that sometimes I do that gesture myself too. I understand what I’m doing, but do you really understand what does it really mean, actually?

It actually means “Up yours” or “Fuck you“. It is similar to the middle-finger sign. Yes, you’re actually cursing whenever you’re trying to be cute. LOLOLOL

No, I’m not kidding and this is not a joke. This is serious business. This is true in United Kingdom and US, and even being accepted as the correct insulting gestures in China. Quoting from the Uncyclopedia:

The Chinese consider it to be the retarded brother of the normal Peace Sign and have adapted it to mean Fuck you.

The outward-palm V sign is still acceptable and that mean “peace” or “victory”. But the reversed of it — you better watch yourself if you’re in someone else country! You don’t want people there to chase you away or may even hit you! LOL.

Tak puas hati lagi?

Here’s another explanation in a more reliable source, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign#Inverted_V_sign_as_an_insult

According to a popular legend the two-fingers salute and/or V sign derives from the gestures of longbowmen fighting in the English army at the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years’ War. The story claims that the French claimed that they would cut off the arrow-shooting fingers of all the English and Welsh longbowmen after they had won the battle at Agincourt. But the English came out victorious and showed off their two fingers, still intact. Historian Juliet Barker quotes Jean Le Fevre (who fought on the English side at Agincourt) as saying that Henry V included a reference to the French cutting off longbowmen’s fingers in his pre-battle speech.

So, are you actually being cute, or you’re actually being rude?

Cute, or rude, or about to be killed? (Credits: Uncyclopedia)

But truth been told, I never read RedMummy.com before even though I do know her blog’s existence due to media coverage that she’s got; and it’s for simple reason – her topic is feminine. Jadah hapenye aku nak baca blog pasal mekap2 henbeg2 sume kan. Nak baca pasal anak-anak or parenting tips, aku kahwin pun blom!

Since I don’t have anything better to do, I read it today just to find out how she made it to success with personal blogs. It’s hard to be a successful personal blogger, obviously. It’s even harder than having blog dedicated to certain niches where you can have a focused topic to talk about. So, she and her blog have impressed me quite shockingly.

Reason that I’m so impressed with her are:

1. She’s a married with two kids Malay woman.
2. She still has a daily job in KLCC (I believe she’s a secretary)
3. She involve her family totally in her blog making them her own dream team.

Elaboration: Reason #1

If there’s a title for super-mom, super-woman, super-wife (and apa-apa je lagi yang super), she’s earned it. I am not sure how she can manage her time superbly. Aku ni baru busy-busy kerja sikit dah memaki hamun stress macam siyal sume bugima barbiturat keluar dari mulut aku! And she used to write 8 posts per day while nurturing her two kids and keeping her daily job? Really, gotta salute that.

I am not gonna comment on the quality of her posts or whatnot because that wouldn’t be fair. Of course, you cannot compare her posts with Obefiend’s; that’s like comparing an apple with a lemon. After all, her blog is dedicated for her personal life. Obefiend’s is dedicated for politics, his cynical thoughts and smirks. How can those two be the same meh?

And being Malay who is also a Muslim, it’s not like she can write like KennySia where alcoholic ads or partying is part of the life. Her simple life of her family is somehow being made interesting with her creative posts. It’s not her daily mundane tasks or her office day-to-day operation that is being revealed there. Somehow, her simple hectic life is being turned into an art that attracted million readers to read it.

That’s just — creative beyond boundaries. She seems not to have a writer’s block.. (or at least that’s what I believed at this time of reading..)

Elaboration: Reason #2

There’s nothing much to elaborate actually. She has a day job as a secretary, yet she has talked so little of her job. Most people find that it’s easier to talk about their jobs and whatnot mundane tasks they are assigned to; after all, that’s where our times are mostly spend, aight?

By doing this, her confidentiality is kept private and I would think that her boss wouldn’t mind at all. There’s no business deals or operations being revealed that might compromised their legality. There’s no conflict of interests at all. She didn’t write her blogs in the office (like most of us do.. kohkohkoh )

That, I believe, is what makes her a very professional and trustworthy person. I believe her PR skills and her people / social skills are top-rated.

While her dream of being a full-time blogger is yet to be achieved, I would think that it’s very possible. Good luck Kak Red!

Elaboration: Reason #3:

Success is not a one man show. Often, it needs a team. Usually, family makes a bad team, especially in business. We’ve seen a whole lot of Malay drama showing how corporate entities can crumble when a family member turns rogue. Okay, I might be biased due to my own family differences here LOL.

Nevertheless, Kak Red involved her own family in his blogs. Me? Nak add Facebook mak aku pun dah takut weh! HAHAHA

She’s lucky to have a very understanding hubby that supports her all the way into the blogging world. And it’s her very biggest advantage to have a very dedicated and hardworking IT Specialist to help her with all the technical stuffs as well. And I mean all the words I’ve said; most geeks or IT people are just plain lazy as far as I knew. I just need to look in the mirror for a prove.

Agak-agak kalau aku kawen nanti, Kinkin nak ke tak jadik famous blogger macam Kak Red ni? Heee~

Conclusion:

With all the reasons given, it’s a no wonder that with hardwork, a good team, dedication and luck; success will just be in your grabs. She deserved the thousands of moolah derived from her blog. Not many people can do what she has been doing (and keep doing it). It makes me awe, and her determination has been very fruitful.

I might be so very late on congratulating her; after all, she’s been in the media and my non-worthy blog reviewing her is nothing compared to all those publicity. But what I’m sharing here is just a sincere astonishment on how an average people can be successful, once you found the magic systems.

Making money with blog is not about having a blog. It is about passion and hardwork. Kak Red, I salute you..

P/s: Copy from one, it’s plagiarism. Copy from two, it’s research – Wilson Mizner

In b4: Pic being posted in the article. Cute. For original link, see here.

************************************************************************************************************

By The Tunku’s Great Granddaughter:
Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan, 24, Conservationist

Both my parents are Malay. My mum’s heritage includes Chinese, Thai and Arab, while my dad is Minangkabau. Due to my skin colour, I am often mistaken for a Chinese. I’m happy that I don’t have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up “Are you Chinese or Malay?”.

Like, why does it matter? Before I used to answer “Malay” but now I’m trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead.

There’s this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I don’t have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that I’m older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesn’t define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or Ali and still be a Christian.

I’ve heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we don’t need to be told to be united. We’ve come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders.

For the concept to succeed, I think the government should stop with the race politics. It’s tiring, really. We grew up with application forms asking us to tick our race. We should stop painting a negative image of the other races, stop thinking about ‘us’ and ‘them’ and focus on ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘Malaysians’.

No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, “I don’t feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysians in my home, and I don’t feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there.”

I know some baba Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. I’m a fourth generation Malaysian. If I am Bumiputra, why can’t they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term.

I think the main reason why we still can’t achieve total unity is because of this ‘Malay rights’ concept. I’d rather ‘Malay rights’ be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity.

For my merdeka wish, I’d like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.

I wish that Malaysia would truly live up to the tourism spin of Malaysia truly Asia . Malaysians to lead – whatever their ethnic background. Only ONE NATIONALITY MALAYSIAN. No Malays, No Chinese, No Indians – ONLY MALAYSIANS.. Choose whatever religion one is comfortable with.

MERDEKA!
MERDEKA!
MERDEKA!

************************************************************************************************************

P/s: Ah terlambat 10 minit nak post – dah terlepas 31st August. Nevermind. Shoot any comments if you have.

Why don’t you try to play Cashflow Online Games created by the best-selling author of Rich Dad and Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki? I guess while we are in the mood of independence and freedom, playing a financial games like this might free you from the burden of the financial illiteracy as well:

If you ever read any of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series, you know that one of Robert Kiyosaki business is the educational program that he called Cashflow, where people learned about personal finance by playing a board game. Ever since I read that book last five years or so, I’ve been itching to play the games and I pray that the game will be available online for free.

It is now available, and yes, it is FREE.

All you need to do is register with the website: Cashflow Online Games, verified your email address and boom! Play the game. Your objective is to exit the rat-race as soon as possible and jump into the fast-lane to richness; whoever that reach the goal first will win. You can play this game by yourself, or versus the computer, or versus the other online player as well.

Warning: This game is a Flash-based game and it consumes quite a high volume of bandwidth. Ensure that your network is stable and fast enough. Dial-up users are not recommended to play this game. Broadband users can still play this game, but I’m not recommending you to play with other player (since your side will be too slow to load other person’s action).

Playing this game will not make you rich overnight, but if you’re looking for a fun way to learn all those dreaded financial statements, or personal financial issues, or how to be rich and stay rich the capitalist way; this is the game for you. It teaches you about income versus expenses, assets versus liabilities, good deals, bad deals, real estates deals, business deals, as well as the stock market.

It has two version: Casflow 101 for beginner and Cashflow 202 for intermediate to advance level. I always play the 101 (since the 202 has some major bugs e.g when the stock market rises, your game can hang WTF! ) and I always play by myself or versus the computer due to the slow network that I have at home. I am now a level #9 Employee trying to break into the Self-Employed level. Heh heh heh

Have fun playing and happy holiday!

*Tiba-tiba mood nak menulis dalam bahasa ibunda mencanak-canak seperti keadaan senjata lelaki yang menegang di waktu pagi. LOL*

Malaysia, selamat ulang tahun kemerdekaan ke-53. Sudah 53 tahun kau ya? Kalau diikutkan pada skala umur manusia di Malaysia ni, kau dah layak untuk tengok-tengok akaun EPF atau akaun pencen kau. Dua tahun lagi kau dah boleh berhenti kerja dan berehat di rumah goyang kaki atau menyusahkan kembali anak-anak kau untuk menjaga kau yang sudah mula kerepot.

Sudah banyak perkembangan kau aku lihat dalam usiaku yang masih muda dan masih tak layak untuk menjadi pewaris kau. Setakat jadi cucu tu bolehlah kot! Adakah aku gembira? Mungkin. Tapi lebihnya aku cuma rasa tiada perasaan. Indifference kata kaum yang menjajah tanah kau sebelum kau dilahirkan. Kenapa? Sebab rakyat kau semakin teruk jadinya walaupun pembangunan kau boleh tahan hebat.

Sifat perkauman semakin berleluasa. Perwatakan “holier than thou” makin menjadi-jadi. Salah sebut sedikit boleh dibawa berperang. Sampaikan perbuatan yang tak salah pun disalahkan. Tengok sahajalah kes masuk masjid. Minion-minion kau bina masjid cantik-cantik, tapi apabila orang lain nak masuk pun tak boleh, gila ke apa? Kemudian siapa yang disalahkan? Agama jugakk. Agama jugak yang diperkotak-katikkan di sana sini.

Penat kadang-kadang menengokkan mereka-mereka yang tak semenggah ni. Yang apek Cinenya nak kerek konon merekalah punca kekayaan kau, yang Meleis nak kerek kononnya akulah tuan punya tanah. Semua nak dipolitikkan. Agaknya diorang ni tak pernah tengok cerita P. Ramlee kot, yang Seniman Bujang Lapuk tu? Kau ingat tak adegan Singh sound  Bujang Lapuk tu?

You punya nasi you makan, dia punya nasi dia makan, apa salah kasi makan sama-sama?

Ini nak makan manusia sesama manusia; ish kanibal sungguh!

Entahlah, aku nak cakap pasal politik, aku sendiri pun tak pandai. Mengundi pun belum pernah lagi walaupun dah masuk tahun ketiga aku sepatutnya mengundi. Nak mengundi apanya, yang sini salahkan yang sana, yang sana salahkan yang sini. Buat pening kepala otak aku je mendengar mereka-mereka tu membebel. Aku undi diorang pun bukan aku dapat duit makan bulan-bulan. Panas je kena beratur panjang-panjang.

Aku tak nafikan hidup dalam Malaysia ni menarik. Cukup makan, cukup pakai, cukup dapat pergi sekolah sampai dah dapat kerja pun. Setakat cukuplah. Nak mintak lebih-lebih takut kufur nikmat. Tapi bila tiap-tiap hari aku baca suratkhabar ke, tengok dekat Internet ke, penuh je lah hate message sana sini.  Balik-balik bergaduh. Balik-balik buang anak. Balik-balik kes bunuh-bunuh. Sampaikan artis kahwin ke bercerai pun boleh jadi bukak hate group kat Facebook, kau tahu?

Padahal artis tu jugak yang sedap dapat bersenggama nanti. Apalahh minion-minion kau ni…

Ah, malaslah aku nak membebel panjang-panjang. Aku rasa kau pun tahu apa yang jadik dalam isi perut kau. Cuma kau tak tahu jelah kan nak buat camne? Aku pun tak tau nak buat camne. Aku pun cuma boleh berharap jelah yang minion-minion kau tu nanti duduk, ambil cermin, dan fikir sendiri apa yang diorang dah buat untuk memantapkan lagi kondisi kau yang macam hidup pun nyawa-nyawa ikan. Jangan diorang ambil cermin, fikir dan memantatkan kau balik sudahlah. Bagilah aku gembira baca akhbar-akhbar menunjukkan yang kau makin maju dan makin best untuk diduduki. Bukannya baca berita-berita yang menambahkan tekanan. Depress jadiknya camtu dowh!

Selamat ulang tahun kemerdekaan yang ke 53, Malaysia.

Picture credit to Google Image

P/s: So you called this, your free country; tell me why it costs so much to live? – Three Doors Down, Duck and Run

Alamak.. *bertukar kepada tutor mode*

Definition and Explanation:

Pagerank is a ranking given by Google to all websites that is being indexed in Google. The more important a website is, then a higher ranking (out of 10)  will be given. E.g Facebook – the largest social networking websites that is being indexed in Google as #1 sites with the most users: have a pagerank (PR) of 10.

The exact way Google determined whether a page is important or not is unknown. It is believed that the algorithm calculated the pagerank based on 500 millions variable and 2 million terms and the algorithm changed over time – quote from Wikipedia.

So, since this is Google’s way of determining the importance of your page, usually PR is used to determine whether a site is a hoax, a scam, or not. That’s one of the use. Also, it gives an indication whether that sites (and it’s owner) is popular or not.

So, the simple way of understanding it is..

1. The higher the pagerank, the easier Google put the page in it’s search engine result.
2. The more search engine result given, the more users visiting the page.
3. The way to increase your pagerank is to publish something useful for your keyword that you wanted to target, so that many links will share your sites and make it popular plus useful — maybe this is the easiest concept in increasing your pageranks.

Having said that, usually it is hard for a niche blog / personal blog to achieve more than 5 or 6 pageranks nowadays. It is hard but it is not impossible. Seth Godin blog has a PR7. Mine? I got 2. Obefiend’s and Redmummy got 3.

How to check my pagerank?

Two ways:

1. Go to this web service that offers you to check the pagerank of any sites: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
2. Install Google Toolbar and enable the Pagerank features. See video below.

Google has already put a short video explaining how to enable the pagerank feature from the Google Toolbar. Personally, I use this since it is integrated into Firefox directly:

So, was that helpful?

While some responses I got is like I am the biggest betrayer to IBM (which is expected — you know, some of my teammates stop talking to me in this period of resignation), some of my friends was amazed at my ability to withstand IBM for so long. Some of them even asked me..

How come you can be so long with IBM?

Haha. I don’t have much answer for that actually. While some might think that 3 years is a short time, some do thinks that it is a very long time.  Depends on each individual perception, everyone will have a different answers. Oh well, let me try to answer some less trivial questions, shall we?:

Reason I’m leaving IBM for HP:

1. I got to be based in Cyberjaya, which is much nearer to my current residence in Kajang now. No traffic jam, no tense before reaching the office I hope.
2. I got to do DB2 for HP’s internal system, so I still will be doing what I do best — a DBA, a Server Administrator, and will be a DB Developer as well. Oh yeahh!!
3. HP offer me a bigger pay. 22% more pay from my current, revised salary; and same benefits as offer by IBM. Surely will help my financial condition.

Did IBM gave me a counter offer? NOPE. And if they did, most probably I won’t stay too due to the first reason (unless it was like 200% or 300% more pay which is of course, ridiculous). Do you know that I have to travel 40km one-way to come to office? Even in the no-traffic-jam road condition, it will still take me one hour to reach office or vice versa.

Multiply the one hour with *at least* two; and that is the average time that I need to be stucked in traffic jam normally when coming or going back to the office. It just  not making sense any more to me – financially and timely. And the cost to rent a place nearer to the office also is quite high.

It has been three years and sadly, I do not have any savings that can be liquidated easily (read: cash savings) while with IBM. It all went back some way or the other to IBM. Maybe I can quote Petronas most popular saying:

Energy received, energy returned.

It just… not returning to me in terms of monetary value.

So, with this movement to HP, at least I have fulfilled one of my 2010 resolutions (#3) with an over-achievement. I hope this would ease the resolution #1. Hehehe. Sayang, are you ready?

(Reading back the 2010 resolutions post, I gotta *pfft* myself. I haven’t started on #4, #5 most prolly won’t get done, and #6 is slowly failing… )

Would you recommend people to work at IBM?

Of course I do. It’s a good place to learn, grow, and equip yourself with a lot of knowledge. But as the saying goes, there’s no workplace that is totally heaven. It still have some perks here and there. Here’s what you need to expect:

• Don’t expect people there to spoonfeed you anything. If you want to grow, you got to take your own initiatives. Self-learn, getting technical certificates, and offering to start an initiative or whatnot. That’s the way to success in IBM. Of course, your manager can be your mentor / guidance, but that’s about it.
• Working hard and working late is expected. There will be time when an extra effort is needed to meet your goals or personal business commitment (PBC – something like KPI for IBM). People calls you when you’re just about to pack your bags? Normal.
• Equip yourself with communication skills and people skills. That is the most vital tools for you. If you need to meet 100 peoples around your work, you will find 100 different attitudes. Bonus tips: Equip yourself with body languages skills too. People tend to say accordingly but act differently. Things like “taichee” their tasks, recognition steal, defensive stances, “cover my own ass” attitude is normal. It’s a jungle there. HAHA
• Don’t expect the environment to be happening. Most of the time, most team or department will have the dark, bleak, quiet and boring environment. I kid you not. The most noise that you can hear is the keyboard typing or people calling others in phones. At least this is true to all departments I’ve been in these three years. Bring an earphone and a MP3 player, that will help a lot.

Okay, that’s the expectation. What about things that you can learn?

• Business process. You’ll find that IBM matrix structure is quite clean (even though at times the roles or responsibilities are not). I got to say that their business process is very effective, albeit at times can be quite slow. If you plan to setup your business later, IBM is a good place to learn it’s perks. You will learn to have a business mindset too.
• Vast technical knowledge. IBM has many portals that you can learn all kind of stuffs you want. Take a look at IBM Redbooks for example. You can download one Redbooks, download the installer, and do your own hands-on. Believe me, that’s the best way to learn technical stuffs. While not all portals are equal (sometimes there’s also stuffs that is not available), it’s a good place to get as much knowledge as you can absorb. In the end, you can get a chance to take professional certifications too.
• Globalization. Since IBM is a very big company with a lot of branches all around the world, you will have a chance to work with a lot of people, each with different speciality and comes from different background. You will work with people from US, China, India, Australia.. just to name a few. If you have a solid communication skills, even a base foundational skills; that will helps and you will find that your communication skills grow a lot.

Well, that’s all I have to say about this. Wish me luck in my new career , and may some day our lives cross again for the betterment of the world. (Haha, that’s such a wishful thinking)

P/s: Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future – John F. Kennedy

]]> http://www.rearrange-inc.com/2010/goodbye-ibm-oh-y-halo-thar-hp.php/feed 5 http://www.rearrange-inc.com/2010/money-and-relationship.php http://www.rearrange-inc.com/2010/money-and-relationship.php#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:00:39 +0000 [re-arrange] http://www.rearrange-inc.com/?p=542 Have you seen this video? Unfortunately this video is in Malay so if you don’t understand it, basically it says that a man (who only sells burger in a stall as his living) has been rejected by his fiancée, a gold-digger bitchy type of woman. The best thing is, this is a recording from our local radio. *facepalm*

Sad. Pathetic. Lose his dignity over a radio call. Hai lah Samad… Samad… kesian….

This got me thinking about money and relationship. My stand; love by itself will not be sufficient for a living. You still need money to buy foods, shelter, and to move around. But…

1. For men, being pathetic and not improving himself to prove to the world that you can support somebody’s daughter is killer. We need to prove to the world that we are capable of taking care and support somebody’s daughter. And it’s not by providing love by itself.
2. For women, don’t be too greedy and be a gold digger. It’s so bitchy and make you worthless if you keep going around chasing those “Datuks” or VIP who has a lot in his pocket. World is based on karma; one day you will also be old and not pretty anymore.

That nicely put the conclusions.

Man is a provider. You got to work to earn money so that you won’t live on the street. No matter whether you’re starting your own business or you work for some corporation or other business, the important thing is for you to improve your living condition. You work, you got money. You got money, you can get married and are worthy to be someone’s husband. Enough said.

Woman is the supporter and the caretaker. If your man is having difficulty, say — being sacked; be by his side. His business got some problem, help as much as you can. Help him to rise again. Help motivate him. If you can help a man to be successful in his life, then that’s your indication that you have found somebody that is worthy to be yours. I don’t deny that many women can stand by their own feet nowadays — but you are still being seen as not successful if you haven’t been the reason for one man to achieve his glory.

Relationship is symbiosis. Man might be seen as a powerful figure in this world; he who control the domination, but he is nothing without you, girl. Yes, you might want to give him a lesson, but leaving him for another man gives an impression that you’re too materialistic.

Or maybe that guy is just hopeless? Sounds like it, anyway. *sigh*

I hope that Samad can rise again and be successful in his life. At least Ramly Burger proved that selling burgers is one hell of a good business. McDonalds prove it too. That bitch ain’t worth it.

You know what, Samad? Listen to this song below and dedicate it to her. HAHA

So what do you think? Is the girl a bitch, or is the guy is just hopeless?

P/s: Marriage is an important part of getting ahead: it lets people know you’re not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash and your cock must work. (Guess which movie quote is this? )