leaving an impression

I've always come across as someone with no nonsense, cannot tolerate nonsense & will tell it as it is. Some find it a nasty trait, some says its good. Depends I suppose on one's perception & acceptance.

In a previous employment, I had two charges under my supervision. When they do well, I give credit where it's due. When they screw up, they hear what I need them to hear. I've laid the ground rules (well my golden rules):

'If there is anything that you don't know, ask. I've never screamed at anyone simply for asking. If you don't ask & you go ahead and do it, if it turns out well then you are lucky, if you screw up then too bad for you.'

'I only say things once or at most twice. I never like to sound like a broken record.'

'I cannot tolerate stupidity'.

Well, honestly I don't know what were they thought of me. Whether they liked me or hated me to death, I never asked. I give what I think they truly deserve & stand up for them when I should. It may have made me unpopular with certain parties but I didn't lose any sleep over it.

Fast forward, today someone told me that one of my ex-subordinate marched into the big kahuna's office to express her dissatisfaction at the review she received (which rated her as below average thus resulting in a no increment). Seems she complimented me citing that although I was fierce & 'keras' at least I do what is right.

Keras? Don't ask me. I'm every bit as lost as you ought to be....

So anyways, I'm glad that albeit my unconventional (yes? no?) method of getting things done & albeit being the occasional pain in the arse, I left a positive impression. I suppose it is nice to be remembered for the good I did & the 'wonderful righteous' person that I am. Blowing my own trumpet much?

One person's perception of the kind of person I am - 'mulut jahat macam sial tapi hati baik'. Which is better, that or the opposite?

the wicked witch

The witch is back. The bitch is back. The devil is back. Seems, it was never gone.

This morning I arranged for the office boy to go to the auditors' office to collect some documents. A while ago, he calls me to say that the person he's supposed to pick it up from isn't in the office today.

So I call my colleague in East Coast to check what's going on. A quick call to the auditors' branch office in the East Coast region; seems that the guy was supposed to bring it to the KL office since he's gonna be here today to do some auditing. I feel my temper rising... I ask the girl whether she informed my office. She goes "Ya, ya"

I call my office boy & tell him to leave and do other things. Then I call my colleague again & ask her what went wrong where. After some corporate tai-chi, I walk out to find that the bugger was in my office the whole morning & had already passed the documents to someone else.

I of course did not hesitate to give him a piece of my mind. Tsk tsk tsk...all my effort to be Mother Theresa incarnate is flushed down the drain, slowly if not surely.

Must. Be. Kind.

of bobs, bangs, anna & prada

I have this habit. One minute I want to let my hair grow and do soft curls & all that glam. But now with the weather like this, my shoulder length hair was getting a bit irritating.

So I made a call to my hairdressers to make an appointment. My regular stylist is on leave, they tell me. Would I like to come back another day, she asks me. I have things to do this weekend, so I told them I'll go with whichever stylist available.

Finished work & left the office at 6pm. 'Schumied' my way to Taman Tun & managed to reach there at 615pm for my appointment. I sit. They bring me magazines. The stylist comes. Someone I don't recognize. New maybe. Till, he speaks. Ahhhh, Alvin - the daughter's stylist. He looks different. New hairdo. Occupational hazards? Maybe.

I decide to color my hair. Back to black. He's not to keen on black. He suggests ash, or burgundy, or something else. Told him I'm sick of the 'karat' look. Blue black, he says. Okaylah. It turns out to look like a wig. A very dark wig. But no matter.

He tells me I need to cut it off cos it's getting messy. He asks me what I want to do. I tell him to do whatever he wants as long as I don't end up looking weird or retarded. He tells me to trust him. A few snips, a few rinses & god-knows-what else later, I end up with a bob, bangs & he says like "Anna".

Anna? Who's Anna? The first thing that comes to mind is Anna & the King. There will be a first of suing the hairdresser for making one look like THAT Anna. Don't think I'll be able to carry off the look... Even I am scared to imagine that. Can anyone imagine me looking like Jodie Foster in her Anna role? Traumatized for life, I'd say.

No, no the very famous one.... the boss of Vogue, he says. Oh! That Anna. Anna Wintour. The devil who wears Prada. Or Meryll Streep. Old, I ask. No, no, he defends. Very vogue (pun intended?) & trendy, he says.


I'm trying to get used to this look. Wonder what the daughter's reaction will be when she sees me this evening when I pick her up at the airport. The last I had bangs was like when I was in a school uniform. Yup, that long ago...
But I must say I do like what Alvin has done. I think I'll change stylists. I like Alvin. He's cute (not drop dead handsome like RDJ but okaylah), bubbly, fashion conscious (telling me about Alexander Wang), risk taker (assuring me confidently that I will like the look even when I was doubting), chatty, bubbly and all that. Yup, I'm definitely changing stylists....

Now, maybe this weekend I'll drop by Prada. You think?

a little less conversation, a little more time

We are heading back to my office after lunch. He sees a PYT getting into a cab by the side of the road.

"Wah, her kaki so panjang. I like"

"Hmm, okay..."

"What do I sound like?"

"Like a hamsap bugger digging his own grave"

"At least I berani cakap depan you"

"Make sure cakap jer. Kalau buat?"

"Yes, I'm digging my own grave"

And this is one of our saner conversations....

bringing up kids

I think I've had one too many posts on kids. I am no genius & nor do I claim to be perfect when it comes to raising kids. But truth be told, it is indeed a challenge. Back then, when we were kids (yes it was that long ago) we wouldn't dare speak up or make a sound when we were being lectured till kingdom come by our moms. Now, you try and see...

So many things to teach them kids - about money, about sex, about life, about religion, about whats wrong and whats right. But how many parents can actually sit down with their kids and explain things to them? Or is it simply "Because I said so"? They go through phases you never knew existed.

Newborns, babies - its the 3hourly feed or more like 'Feed me now, I'm hungry' phase, weaning phase, potty training phase (this one takes a LOT of patience).

Toddlers / pre-teen - the terrible 2 (trust me they exist) phase, drawing on the wall phase, 'I want' phase, supermarket sweep phase.

Teenagers - 'I know' phase, 'I hate the world, the world hates me' phase, Emo, goth all the t-shirts in the wardrobe are black phase, 'Why don't everyone just drop dead' phase, 'I hate my life, I hate my parents' phase

Well, I have only reached the teenage stage so I shan't comment on the adolescent or young adult phase. It will come to that in a couple of years I suppose. But for now, I'll take it as it comes as I always do.

Then they eventually come out of whatever they were in, to pleasantly surprise you. They realize that the world is not out to get them after all. The black parade leaves town and the frown has turned upside down. And to get us through it all - lots of love, understanding, patience (loads and loads and loads and loads), prayer, faith, calm, belief...

I've seen parents who give in to their kids every whim and fancy. I've seen kids throwing tantrums just because they didn't get what they asked for. I've seen kids order and boss their parents around. Whether they behave like angels or brats, it is on the parents. There are parents who give in to their kids demands just to appease the guilt of spending too much time at work. See kids these days with the latest Mac or Blackberry (yes I saw a teenager with these gadgets) or zooming around in an Mini S.

Cliche as it may be, you know "when you love something, set it free" - well in a sense, it's something like that. You love them so much that you need to set them free. To experience, to feel, to learn. Painful it may be at times yes but no one has ever died from a little hard work yet or a fall while learning to ride the bike. Laughter there will be aplenty. Tears, there will be a generous amount too. These lessons will chart their course of life, to be the person whom they are meant to be.

And then, we'll sit back, beam & proudly say "that's MY kid".... or not. Our choice really....

sweet & sarky sixteen

The daughter recounts a conversation she had with a classmate. She teases him with a statement and uses a word that he doesn't quite understand. He says that she's being mean. She asked him if he even knew what that word meant. His reply - "Any word which I don't understand that comes out from your mouth cannot be good"

Me: Where do you get this nasty habit from?

Her: From ma lah...

Me: I didn't teach you such a word...

Her: I'm sixteen la, what do you expect...

Me: Bad influence

With the recent release of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video she downloaded it and called me to watch it with her. Yes, we both like the fame monster.

Can I tell the daughter what to watch, what not to? She's got a good head on her shoulders. She knows her limits, she knows the repercussions.

Should I feel honored that she takes after me? I suppose...LOL. Well, she's inherited a bit of both parents but she's her own person. Who's the bad influence? Me? The daughter? Who knows? You decide....

the lame monster

First sentence is the original. Second sentence is what she changed it to be. Ain't it a bloody pain?

"Please fill in / change (where necessary) the items of uniform allocated to the staffs"

"Please add or / change (where necessary) the items of uniform allocated to the staffs according to the various category of allocation"

and from "colors" to "colours".

My reaction? See mamamamy perperperpoker face, perperperpoker face....

ga ga oo la la

We, the undersigned from *company name*hereby acknowledge receipt of the Schedule of Benefits (an excerpts from the *company* Handbook) and hereby confirmed having read, understood and agreed to abide to all the contents contained in this Schedule of Benefits.

We further agree that the contents of this Schedule of Benefits is sole property of The Group of Companies and we are not allow to temper with, amend, add on or modify on any part of this Schedule of Benefits to suit ourselves. The Company will not hesitate to take any disciplinary action/s against anyone found to have tempered with, amend, add on or modify any part of this Schedule of Benefit, such action may include dismissal, if found guilty.

We note that the Company reserves the right to revise, delete or amend any of the terms and conditions contained in the Schedule of Benefits at any time at its own discretion. However, such change/s shall be communicated in writing accordingly.

Please sign and return the duplication copy of this memo as indication that you have read, understood and agreed to the abovestated.


Thank you.
(signed by Vice Chairman) & (Executive Director) - both of the parent company



I .... on behalf of the employees of .... (employee signs)


I swear I did not make this up. Typo, spelling, grammar & all. Word for word. Copy & Paste. Tell me how this makes sense. This. From the director. I don't know if the 'letter' is from the employee to the company or vice-versa.

alice in underland

Caught the movie yesterday with the daughter, the 3D version. I thought the movie was alright. It leaves you with a sense of deja vu like you've seen this before. The closet full of fur coats that leads to another land where animals talk, the lion, the ice queen, the centaur.. Yep. That movie.

Not what I expected from the Burton-Depp-Bonham Carter team. After Sweeney Todd, Corpse Bride, Alice sort of fell short.

And it's not the Wonderland we grew up to. Seems it's not wonderland, it's Underland. Alice being the pelat child she was couldn't pronounce Underland and it ended up as Wonderland. Wonderland. Underland. Same difference.

Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Adorable. Me love... He never disappoints. Or maybe I'm just biased.

Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Pure evil. There's something about 'em villains that I find intriguing. Me like... Yes. I am weird like that. Off with their heads!! (If only I could use this in my everyday conversation)

Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Kind of freaky. Not my cup of tea


Mia Wasikowska as Alice. Err, no comments. Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts. Eerie. Matt Lucas as Tweedledee & Tweedledum. It's like watching Little Britain. All in all, I did not LOVE the movie. It was alright, I suppose.

Like Chindy quotes, might as well spend the moolah on Ramly Burger & air tebu...

Oh well, till Ironman 2 then.

heartless hr

In my previous company, there was a year they declared 'HR with a Heart' where they wanted to promote a friendlier, more approachable HR department. So I was supposed to have a heart, to empathize with the employees and feel for them; seeing that I was (is?) a heartless bitch and all.

So anyways, to cut a long story short - I had to have a heart for one whole year. Did it work? I have no clue.

But then again, heartless bitch or no - I always am a firm believer of giving what is due to the employee and taking away what is not rightfully meant to be. So in the new company, since I am checking the claims I am practising the same mantra.

But Super Dino tells me - "No, if they don't claim for meal allowance, you don't simply simply give it to them. You don't follow them around for their business trip so you don't know if they take their meals or not. Or if they entertain or not."

What gives? Do I rebut her statement? Honestly, I don't give a shit that SHE doesn't have a heart. Suka hatilah, she is the HR goddess anyways...I'm just here for as long as they don't irritate the hell out of me.

Cue - DEAD!!

She's got this huge presentation coming up tomorrow. Nervous, she is. She may the victim of abuse & 'rotten eggs'. It's never easy when it comes to HR benefits for the staffs.

We've been working on the materials for what seems like eternity now. A gazillion changes have been made, whether it's just "the", "a", "in" & what-nots. I'm short of pulling out all my hair and going crazy.

Did a 'mock' presentation. Just couldn't keep my big fat mouth shut. Told her the presentation was kinda boring what with her just reading it off. So she goes home & thinks about it for a good half a day. The next day, I get a message from her - 'after giving it much though, u r right. i shouldn't be readinf for the text. since you have the materials, you can do the bullet form for me'

Sigh!! When will I ever learn. So come Monday morning, I am now condensing the 12 pages long into like 3 pages. She reads. She makes changes. Don't see much difference from the text just maybe 'the', 'and', 'is' are probably missing. So yeah, from 12 to probably 11 pages. That's condensed. For. Her.

Then she wants to highlight the parts where she has to look up at the slide show. And I have to mark in her notes to cue her when to look up at the screen or maybe make eye contact with the directors & possibly wink at the Group Accountant. Or probably drop dead.

Imagine. Director. Yet. The process of getting ready for a presentation. By now I have memorized everything that I might as well do the bloody presentation. But then, I ain't no director. Now, where are my cue cards???