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February 26, 2005

Off to Hong Kong

I am off to Hong Kong until Thursday - not for fun, but work. My company finalises a major regional project in which I was involved.

There won't be any time for blogging, since the final part of the project demands a lot of attention, stamina and time - I expect to work more than 15 hours per day.

See you than!!

Posted by Andreas at 08:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Carrefour doesn't trust their customer

Way, way back in my old blog in Blogger did I write about Carrefour already. Carrefour has the habit to stop customers with plastic bags at the entrance and wants to close their bags with either a plastic string or put their bags into one from Carrefour.

I don't like it. For me, this shows that they don't trust their customers. This shows to me that basically they believe that any of their customer is a potential thieve.

Normally I sneak in aside of the guards. But today, I knew it is my turn to be controlled by the guards. Besides the one who is busy packing the plastic bags, a guard was standing just in front of the entrance. I tried to get through, and smiled at the boy who asked me for the bag, saying, no thanks, don't need. But I turned around to wait for wife and kid, and the guard at the entrance came after me, asking me in a friendly, but demanding voice to close the back. I told him that I don't want, that I don't steal, and if I would look like a thieve? (How does a thieve look like?). He said, "no thieve", and showed me the string that he would tie around the plastic bag. I said, "no way really. What is it about Carrefour, don't say trust their customer? I am no a thieve and I really don't want that." He than gave up and let me in. I mean, it is not his fault, the guards are just doing their jobs.

But I don't like to be treated like this. There are thefts in the stores, of course. The problem is only that every customer with a plastic bag is suspicious to Carrefour. Collective punishment!

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Posted by Andreas at 08:17 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Free download - Surviving the Corporate Environment in the 21st Century

A newly found friend of mine, David, has published a book about worklife changes and how to survive in the corporate world in the 21st century. Okay, it talks from a US point of view, but I believe there is something that applies to Asia as well.

It is free as download until the first of March. So download "Danger! Quicksand" and distribute it to your friends.

David also blogs at Ripples.

Honestly, I haven't read the book yet, but flipped through it. I am flying to Hong Kong for a week, and hope to find time to read it on my PDA while on the plane. However, I flipped through the introduction and what I read was very appealing!

And David writes:

"Danger Quicksand - Have A Nice Day offers advice you will not find in the usual job-hunter's bible.

Traditional career books seeme to operate on the basis that you can find a pony in your workspace if you shovel enough horsepoop away. You've heard the old story of hoping against hope, "I'll just keep on shoveling. There must be a pony in here someplace."

I have a different viewpoint, based on many years of earnest and hopeful observation. If they want you to have a pony, they will hand you the reins when you join up. As a result, I have assembled in this book the key strategies you should employ to ensure that you get the job and the pony you deserve, and what to do if things are not working out."

So enjoy and tell me (and him) what you think!

Posted by Andreas at 10:39 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 25, 2005

Employee test

A friend of me applied for a job in Singapore. He was interested in the job and had the clear experience that was required.

Challenge was that he worked in a really great company but that there hasn't been too much personal and professional growth over the last year or so.

Subsequently, the thought of moving to a different company came.

Today, he is happy that he didn't go further. The company invited him to an interview, and he was told that he was shortlisted. Naturally, he was happy! But the day of the interview was inconvenient - he was a working guy, remember, and he would have to fly to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur.

So he sent an e-mail to the company and asked if it would be possible to have the first interview via telephone.

No response, the first day.
No response, the second day.

The third day, he sent another e-mail to the company to check, if may be, his first e-mail hadn't been received. The secretary replied that she had indeed received the mail, and forwarded it to management.

So he waited for them to come back to him.
He didn't go to Singapore and they didn't get back to him. He hasn't heart anything from them since.

He is happy that things worked out this way. The way a company treats a potential employee shows the internal values they exhibit. It looks as if this is a company where the values are not that high and courtesy is not very valued.

It is tough for an interested employee to evaluate a potential company. Websites are just like that - websites. Give away something but than, many are promotional.

May be this is a way to test a company. May be the next time you are in doubt, see how the company reacts to an inquiry from your side!

What do you think?

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Posted by Andreas at 07:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

How to comment here!

A blog lives through its comments. So does this blog.

In order to post on this blog, please click "PREVIEW" first.

After this, you will be able to access the "POST" function.

This might be inconvenient for some. However, it became necessary since spammers spammed this side when posting was allowed in the first step.

My apologies!

And keep it coming!!

Posted by Andreas at 05:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Telephone experiences - real, sad and hilarious

I don't usually read the Malay Mail, but this came in my mailbox today, and related to an article ran by them on February 23, 2005.

It is a bit lengthy, but real entertaining. It would be hilarious, if it would be just a joke. But apparently, it happened.

The Malay Mail called 15 different goverment and private companies:

"Of the 15, eight were found to be less than satisfactory, namely, the Immigration Department, Inland Revenue Board (IRB), Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ), Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, National Registration Department (at Maju Junction), Public Bank Bhd headquarters in Jalan Ampang, and Telekom Malaysia."


The Malay Mail conducted a follow-up the next day and wanted to talk to the respective bosses to find out the reasons of the unsatisfactory behaviour from the day earlier.

"Unfortunately, most of the bosses were not in and their subordinates had no authority to comment on the matter.

Here is a sample of what they said when asked on how to improve telephone etiquette.

RAHIMAH ABDULLAH, Inland Revenue Board (IRB) public relations assistant director:

"When a complaint is lodged against a staff, we would call the staff
up to enquire on the problems faced.

"We have courses on counter service and communications at our Akademi
Percukaian Malaysia in Bangi, Selangor."

Following the call made by Chief Secretary Tan Sri Samsudin Osman on the matter, Rahimah said they will look into the need to increase the frequency of courses for their staff.

When The Malay Mail called the IRB on Monday to inquire about certain types of deductibles under the new Self-Assessment System (SAS), we were told to attend their workshops.

The operator who answered our call earlier also failed to inform us to which department our call was being transferred to.

SULAIMAN AHMAD, Immigration Department's Foreign Maids division deputy director:

"We only have one operator who does multi-tasking. We have asked for more staff to handle the ever-growing workload."

He said the operator handles at least 400 to 500 calls a day. Besides that, she has to attend to paperwork and walk-in queries.

"We do send our people, including the telephonist, for training at our Pusat Akademi Imigresen in Port Dickson. The training is conducted yearly," said Sulaiman.

During our short call on Monday to ask about foreign maids, the officer at the division was in a hurry to end the call.

She asked us to come directly to the office to take the forms.

A City Hall (DBKL) public relations department officer:

"We can't simply give you a statement as we need to refer to the Datuk Bandar." She said the mayor would be away at a meeting the whole afternoon. When informed that we had spoken to her in the morning, the staff said:

"It is not easy to see the Datuk Bandar. You will have to be patient if you want a statement."

On Monday's test call, the City Hall staff at the Urban Services Department could not provide adequate
information. She said she has been working there for only two months.

Public Bank Bhd, headquarters in Jalan Ampang: Our call was referred to its director of corporate communication Shameem Abdul Jalil.

However, Shameem was not in. We passed the message to her secretary, explaining what was highlighted in the papers and the follow-up we were doing.

After lunch, we called her office again, only to be told that Shameem had informed the deputy director for property division, Sim Goay Chye, to respond. He was supposed to call us back.

When we called for the third time, Sim's secretary said: "Mr Sim is in a meeting but we have passed your contact number to him."

Asked when we will be getting a response, the secretary said: "Are we supposed to give you a statement?"

When we called the bank on Monday, we wanted to know more about safe
deposit boxes.

While the operator was polite, she failed to inform us to which section we were being referred to.

Only on our fourth attempt did we manage to get a direct number to the safe deposit division.

However, until 5pm, the line was engaged.

ZAINUN ZAKARIA, MPPJ public relations officer:

"I have informed the telephone operators about the importance of giving correct information to callers. If they cannot handle a call, we advise them to forward it to the Public Relations Department."

She said the council has 24 lines which are often very busy with "all sorts of calls from the public".

On Monday, we were told by an operator to contact the council's Landscape Department at a given number but it was either engaged or we were diverted to a fax machine.

Later, we called the main line again but could not get a connection (from 11.39am to 12.03pm).

JAINISAH MOHD NOOR, National Registration Department (NRD) public relations officer:

"There are only two lines at the NRD office in Maju Junction. We are in the midst of improving our services. We are looking into employing more staff and opening up more telephone lines soon."

On Monday, we tried reaching the NRD from morning until closing time but the lines were busy.

TENGKU AMPUAN RAHIMAH HOSPITAL in Klang:

A senior officer said at times there is only one operator to handle calls.

"We must also take into consideration that the operators prioritise calls on level of urgency," said the officer who declined to be named.

"Although we acknowledge that there are weaknesses in the system, we are glad to receive feedback on this service matter."

On Monday, we were abruptly asked to refer to the National Blood Bank for matters regarding blood donation.

T. YOGESWARI, group corporate communications manager of Telekom Malaysia:

"Let me read The Malay Mail and I will get back to you at the soonest."

However, until Press time, we received no response from them.

On Monday, we requested for three different numbers from the telephonist and asked that the numbers be given to us manually.

However, we were automatically transferred to the machine.

The same thing happened on our second and third attempts."

Man, man, man, man, man

Posted by Andreas at 03:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Story about customer service

This was related to me by a friend.

Her boss was one day called by his creditcard company. The company inquired if he was the husband of Ms. XYZ. He confirmed and asked why.

He was than told that they have received a call from a shop in KLCC. His wife has bought a couple of pretty valuable things but forgot to take it one of the plastic bags her when she left the cashier, after paying via credit.

He had the great idea to call the creditcard company if it would be possible to call the contact - my boss - and ask him to inform his wife to return to the cashier.

This is what I call great service. They have won a customer for life - the creditcard company and the shop. This is also what I call an empowered employee - able to act without asking for permission. Wouldn't it be nice if everything would go so smoothly?

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Posted by Andreas at 02:22 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

February 24, 2005

Why is it so hot?

Mack asks, why it is so hot in KL currently.

He is right (as usual). It is hot. Damn hot. So hot that I sweat the moment I move. Standing still is not an option.

What happened? Look at the ticking tendency of the temperature. When I came back in 1993, the evening news always reported that temperature for the next day would be around 29-32 degrees for the Federal Territory.

Now? I think they normally talk about 34 degrees. One colleague of mine today said that it was around 40 degrees somewhere.

Why is that so? Well, we have the Kyoto Agreement - may be it came too late. We have freak weather all around us, and since I wrote this we have earhtquakes here and earthquakes there and more feak weather elsewhere.

Let's look at KL. Way back in 2004, I wrote that the trees are falling in Kuala Lumpur.

And look around you! How many trees have you seen today that are cut down. How many places where a beautiful big tree is suddenly missing, replaced by dust, or a damn road that soon is clogged with traffic.

Don't wonder if it is getting hotter in KL. Trees bring shadow, cleaner air, and cool the temperature.

Posted by Andreas at 09:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

What do you do when you commute?

This entry actually follows an earlier one on "Reading of Blogs", but goes into a different direction.

What do people do when they commute? To and from work, especially? When I worked in Singapore and used the MRT to commute, I read books and magazine, and was very productive in doing so.

Look, this was a ride of 5o minutes in total. How much can you do in that time?

Nowadays, and in Kuala Lumpur, I drive a car. This mainly means bumper-to-bumper traffic and total concentration on the traffic. No chance to read, although I saw people reading newspapers or books, even when driving at higher speed - shame on them.

Listen to radio? I like Radio 4, I have to admit. Those guys - especially the Greenman and the (what's his name again?) in the morning are good, entertaining and sometimes, I can even learn a thing or two. But it is not challenging, it mainly is small talk.

Audio tapes? Tough to drive when you have to concentrate hard. There is always the one car that tries to push its way into my lane and cuts me badly. Or the cars in front of me stop abruptly for the same reason - someone cuts in.

Sometimes, I am singing songs along with my kid. He has his favourites and tries to follow. He sings way better than me. My wife tries to take a quick nap, sometimes, but peeps through one eye, when she realises that I drive too fast.

Often, we test the spelling with my kid - or others, like science, when it is their turn for a test. I always wonder, what kind of values do we instil in my kid - learning in the car, living in the car?

So big question - what do you do when commuting?

Posted by Andreas at 09:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 23, 2005

Now BusinessWeek is Blogging

Blogging is still wow-ing me. Now BusinessWeek is jumping into the boat as well:

Brand New Day

Deal Flow

Tech Beat

Well Spent


Seth says today that the noise of blogs is getting louder. He raises the question, what will happen if it is getting too loud - remember, every 4 seconds, (or let it be six, whatever) a new blog is created.

If blog writers are running out of readers - how many blogs can you read in a day?

Posted by Andreas at 08:14 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 22, 2005

What blogs do you read?

We all read blogs - I read a lot over the day, at work. Lucky, that I can actually define it as part of my job.

Okay, a lot of us will probably read the same blogs. I guess we all read Seth's blog, Gaping Void, Tom Peters, or, closer to home, Jeff's blog or Mack's.

I read most of those via Bloglines, which allows me to access updates straight away (you can subscribe to AlwaysWoW! via Bloglines as well).

All of those are great, great blogs - helpful, enlightening, insightful and full of humour.

But think about the consequences!

If we all visit the same blogs, don't we start to talk about the same staff, get the same points of view, and the same perspective?

I make it a point to, at least sometimes, venture out of the unusual. To see a different design (not that it helps with mine), get different ideas and just to have fun outside the box.

I am starting off with one blog that is on my list and just start to click at the links in their sidebar.

While doing this, I came across Jon's, John's, and John's blogs (a lot of great Jo(h)n's in the US. Others are Brandshift or 43Folders.

So, which blogs do you like? And what ways do you take to read something new and different?

Posted by Andreas at 06:10 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

February 21, 2005

More than just a smile

Frontliners in governmental offices are undergoing courtesy course. T

The Star writes that "many have begun attending week-long courtesy courses organised by public service training institutes around the country. The courses are aimed at making courtesy a way of life among government department frontliners."

This is a continuation of last week's discussion, and I am fully for it, stand 100% behind it. Especially when it concerns places like JPJ that constantly deal with customers or the so-called public.

"Heads of government departments and agencies were also being told to carry out regular “surprise checks” on their staff to see if they were really courteous when serving the public." May be the should check PetalingStreet to find out about the atmosphere in the Malaysian blogger sphere regarding the service level in the country. This would allow an additional insight, for sure.

Posted by Andreas at 12:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Did Bush smoke Marihuana?

Reuters reveals that President George W. Bush "indicated in interviews secretly taped by a friend before he became president that he had used marijuana but would not admit it for fear of setting a bad example for children."

I don't want to say anything about the pro and con of Marijuana, but in this case, well, it surely didn't widen his perspective, or insights into world affairs.

It might have brought out the paranoia in him, so, considering the fear that he has about Iran, and North Korea and .... what else?


Posted by Andreas at 09:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Amex - it takes five to seven working days

It is not the old efficiency anymore. I just come from a call with Amex, and the very friendly lady I talked to found out that my American Express Card has been sent by normal mail last Friday.

Probably after my call to them at 6.30 PM. Now I was informed that it will take five to seven working days to deliver the replacement card. Not good. And not even close to the original promise!

This puts Amex at par with MasterCard - gone is the competitive advantage of speed and prompt delivery of replacement cards.

Interestingly, the lady checked all my details. I didn't have the account card number with me, and she wanted to cross-check all the different telephone numbers, my birthday and working place. I understand that this is for security purposes. The details was unnecessary, and so I now expect some direct marketing campaigns, and may be a birthday greeting from them.

Update:
Amex must be somewhat confused. I just received the card. Apparently, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

Posted by Andreas at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 20, 2005

Courteous Malaysians

The last couple of times, when I filled up my car at the fuel stations, when I entered banks, when I needed help, there were Malaysians, that:

Said "Thank you", when I opened the door for them,
Said "Please go ahead", when they let me cross their way,
They smiled, when our eyes crossed,
Where helpful, when I had lost my wallet - especially in the RHB branch in Damansara that I frequent,
Said "hello" when they recognised my again, after they saw me the day before.

Small things, probably nothing to write about - shouldn't it be normal? Still, it made my day and it shows that there are caring, helpful and simply caring Malaysians

Posted by Andreas at 05:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Customer orientation of companies: we are, oh so personal

Companies talk a lot about customer relationship management (CRM). There is also hardly any company that doesn't have something written in their communications material about how great they are treating their customers, and that they want to embrace the customer.

How to test their sincerity?

A simple test are the letters that they send to you. Frequently, the address on the envelope addresses the person personally.

It hardly ever says Managing Director, or, to the Finance Director, Mr./ Ms or Head of Household. The name of the person is written on the label, thank Microsoft for the MailMerge function in Excel.

What will happen when you take out the letter from the envelope? Frequently the opening line still says "Dear Sir/ Madam", "Mr./ Ms. Mrs." or "Dear Executive". Not personal enough - thank you very much

This simple example reveals that all the talk of customer orientation of companies is still mainly lip service, and it doesn't go beyond the first layer - in this case, the envelope.

Posted by Andreas at 04:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oh my God, there it is

I found my wallet - that is the message.

We are one of those housholds who don't have a maid, but "use" the maid in my sister-in-laws house to assist us with ironing from time to time.

Today, we wanted to bring clothes over today, and my wife asked me to bring her the big green bag that is in the big wardrope. I open the door, look up to the shelve and just stare - my wallet is there.

It is laying there peacefully, just waiting to be found. I swear, it wasn't there the day before yesterday, and yesterday. After one and a half days of running around and changing cards and makijng reports, I found my wallet.

Well, it apparently was in one of those places that are unusual - where I would NEVER put things.

It reminded me of the first time in Malaysia. I misplaced the sugar bowl - and looked for it for three weeks. My wife found it (I dated her at that time) in the back of the refrigerator. A place, where I would NEVER put sugar - and I did this recently again!!

Last Monday, I told everybody around me that I got so used to all the holidays and that currently, working days disturb the routine. I mean, look, there were two days off in that week, and one day in the other week - you get the picture. So I told everybody that I would love to have another two days off - and than I lost my wallet to run around 1.5 days - so conclusion: Take care what you wish for!!!

Posted by Andreas at 04:26 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

February 19, 2005

American Express - fails to deliver

One of the items lost with my wallet was my Corporate Card from American Express. I called the morning I recognised that I lost the wallet to report the loss and they promised to re-issue a new one and bring it to the office, the same day - that was Thursday. And this is their brand promise - same day delivery in case you lose a card.

Yesterday, Friday, I was busy with JPJ, the transport department, and later with work. Only at 6.30 PM today did I realise that I still haven't received the card.

I called to inquire about the whereabouts. Since their office was closed, I dialled the number reserved to report lost cards.

The girl on the line was friendly and really tried to help. She said that the courier service might have gone out too late in the afternoon to deliver to my office (courier service?), but than, she mumbled here, so I might have heard understood wrongly.

She asked, if it would be okay to issue a new card now and send it over, to which I said that there isn't anybody in the office soon anymore. Her third offer was to ask me to come to The Weld on Saturday. I said that this is also no option.

Results: I have to wait until Monday. What was the original promise by American Express? Same day delivery? It is easy to write down a brand promise. It is difficult to keep it - but this what the strength of a brand is. And brand strength is re-enforced in extraordinary situations. This wasn't a difficult situation. There was time. I didn't lose the card in the high mountains.

As such, sorry Amex. You failed to deliver. If is would be Donald Trump in The Apprentice, Donald would point his finger and say - Amex, You Are Fired!

(I would love to send this entry to someone in Amex - anybody has a contact?)

Posted by Andreas at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Malaysia Airlines Travel Fair

I am preparing a trip to Germany in May/ June, and nothing comes more handy than a travel fair, such as MATA or, now, the Malaysia Travel Fair 2005. My wife already studied a lot of advertisements from the different travel agencies.

Luckily, we also found out that actually, one does not need to go to Mines Wonderland in order to get a reservation or booking. For international flights, we can do the booking at the travel agents' offices.

They were told not to log in before 10.00 AM. We arrived at 11.00 AM only to be told that the system is down. It went down sharp at 10.00 AM. We first thought it might have been the agent's system only, but other agencies confirmed the incidence.

Again, lucky we didn't go to Mines Wonderland - the travel agent allows to make preliminary booking with pen and paper. You write down where you want to go, make the 50% deposit and they call you, if the booking has been confirmed.

However, imagine the hassle for the people and the costs involved. All this promotion earlier in preparation. The renting of rooms in Mines Wonderland. The costs for the many agents who went there in anticipation of business. The traffic jams. Remember, that more than 150,000 visitors are expected and an increase of 50% in revenues over the RM 68 million that the travel fair achieved in 2003.

And the result? Visistors can now leanr that the system is down!

Update:

The system came back online at about 12.30 PM

Posted by Andreas at 11:22 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 18, 2005

Greater service at governmental departments

Oh man, I would love it! Imagine, governmental officers who smile with a sincere smile. Who actually try to help you.

Who go out of their way to assist you, with telephone calls. Those who also walk faster as a sign of urgency, and not because the call of nature urges.

If this is happening, than we don't need a customer service offices. Than, we have branded governmental service where one can feel the vibrancy, the enthusiasm to serve the Rakyat (population), and not only enthusiasm to play Solitaire.

Than, we have Mat Sallehs that happily go to the Immigration Department to fulfill their duty.

It won't take more than two working days to get a new driving license when one was lost, or stolen.

You won't be scared or anxious when you cross the border, or come back to your home in Malaysia.

May be than, may be than, we will have a people in Malaysia, that respects their governmental departments and the stories about bad, really bad governmental departments are close to disappearing.

In the meantime, the government tries it with a new customer service office in a number of government departments. Selected are those with a lot of customer traffic, those with the face to the public (really?).

A new scheme has been introduced - but the way it has been introduced calls for failure - a circular was all there is. What about the three main ingredients of change - communication,communication, communication? A circular won't do!!

What else? The New Straits Times writes that: "With its introduction, a number of staff from each department will be specially trained to handle customers, and new staff may be taken in for the new office." - A number of staff? I hope I won't have to deal with the rest of the staff. What about all of our staff will be highly trained and extremely efficient as a possibility?

"They will be briefed on "frequently asked questions" and they also have to be aware of department procedures, so as to assist customers without needing to refer to other officers." That's all? I ask my question, and if the question is outside of the FAQ, than how?

"The officers under this scheme are also likely to be entrusted with a certain degree of decision-making." - A certain degree? Sorry - I can only help you to a certain degree? So - I can only dial three out of 8 digits on the phone - the rest exceeds my authority?

I think the idea is good - a start. But hey - there are plenty of things that can be done much, much better!!

Technorati Tags

Posted by Andreas at 11:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

JPJ

Early this morning, my wife and I turned up at JPJ in PJ again. She found all the old passports yesterday evening (which is amazing), so we were well armed, following their advice.

We had the opportunity to talk to the same girl that tried to help us yesterday. She keyed in the old passport numbers. From the one which I carried when I first came to Malaysia to the newest one. Nothing, again.

Counter Girl asks if we are sure that we brought all the passports along. Well, the pictures change – man, did I look young – and the dates. The passport “under consideration” is clearly the one I entered the country with. She cannot find it, so she calls her boss, named Nor Ida.

The boss, being a boss, doesn’t believe it, cannot believe it. She also types in all the numbers. In between she asks counter girl for the story. Counter girl explains that we were there yesterday, and that she couldn’t find me in the system, but had asked us to find the old passport. So we are now back. Boss looks at her and said, why did she ask us to come back.

Boss also asks us constantly, if we were sure about the passport. We keep nodding the heads. Finally, we get the ultimate response, namely that she cannot find us, since the system is just being upgraded!

She than asks where I applied for the driving license in the first place. Since this is 12 years back, I had a driver at that time (paid by the company, what can I do?), who organised this all for me and KL is pretty confusing, I couldn’t remember at all. Boss says, well, there are people who remember such things from 30 years ago!

Counter girl asks if we would have any receipt issued at the date of license renewal – but since this is 5 years back, we don’t have one. Who keeps such things?

Boss repeats that normally I should go back to the office where I did the application. They would at least have a paper file. My wife repeats that I simply don’t know where I did the application. Boss now a bit moody, tells us that she is trying to help, and that this is procedure, that normally applies to such cases. My wife says that this might be fine under normal circumstances, but that is now is situation which is not normal.

Boss: Look, I am trying to help you. Normally, such transfers can only be made in two locations. I am trying to help you. Later you go to these places and there is no file, that you wasted your time.

My wife: If there are only two of such office locations, may be you can just call them and see, which one has got our file?

Boss: We don't do this. People normally do this themselves.

My wife just stares at her – she is good at this. You don’t want to be behind a counter, when she does this. She falls quiet and most of the time, she gets her will. It even works with me.

Boss, after a while, gives up: Ok, ok, just give me the passport and the paper, I check.

She calls. We wait.

Than she comes back and says that she called the location in Padang Jawa, which is in Shah Alam and they have told her that they can do the renewal for us.

Happily, we go off, assuming, all is well – but in for a surprise. The two ladies behind the counter just start the whole procedure again – checking our passports. Logically, they don’t find anything. Very similar conversation – they must have a tape that is distributed, on what to say in difficult situations. But they are nice.

My wife asks, how to find out, if I did something wrong, and would like to check the files?

Pawang Jawa asks, if I ever had a vehicle registered under my name – I only had a bike, but I sold it in 1995. They than ask, in which year I had applied for the license and when they learn that this was in 1993, you can see that they don’t like it. Reluctantly they admit that the application must be in those paper files. Amongst themselves they murmur – so long, so many files. My wife can still hear it.

Than they ask for the German driver license, and, after studying it intensively, they suggest that I get a certified translation and that than, I could get a Malaysian driver license.

40 minutes I submit my diver license in the German Embassy in Ampang. I get it back next Tuesday, after which I can go to Pawang Jawa to get a new Malaysian driver license.

My wife, on the road, suggests that I make a police report for JPJ. Case: A JPJ which lost my data.

I really believe they believe that they are helpful - honestly, but I always get the feeling that they want to get rid of you as soon as things are outside their small, limited box? It is really tough to stay patient in the departments.

Posted by Andreas at 10:14 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 17, 2005

A lost wallet and a long run-around the roses

I am leaving our apartment every morning around 7.00 AM to hit the roads and bring my kid to school.

This morning, things changed. The last thing I normally do is to grap my wallet and head of to the car. I stopped halfway - the wallet wasn't at the usual places - there are normally around 4. In the bookshelve besides the dining table, in the shelve behind the dining table or somewhere on the two little tables close to the television. It wasn't there.

Okay - quickly browsing through the whole apartment; crawling on the floor, looking under pillows, below the sofa, behind the books - nothing. Not too panic - last night, we had diner at my sister-in-laws place and it should be there - I forgot it there a couple of times earlier.

A call to the house - to no avail. Driving over - it is not far from our place. Checking there - the usual 6 options (I have permanent places for my glasses, my wallet, and my PDA, contrary to the opinion of my wife who thinks I leave my stuff all over the place). The wallet is nowhere to be found, even after checking EVERYWHERE. Nothing.

It dawns onto me that it might be lost. Where else could it be? First things first - I drive my kid to school.

After that, straigth to the office to check there. Could it be I left it there? In the meantime, thinking, thinking, thinking - what did I do, where did I go, when was the last time I saw the wallet, had it in my hand, felt it at my back.

It is not in the office. Back home, turning the condominium upside down. Nothing. Back to my sister in law's place. The maid says, she has looked already - nothing. Nevermind, another look doesn't cost anything. Nothing.

I call the office, tell the story, ask the receptionist to cancel the corporate card of American Express. No charges occurred overnight. Cancelling Mastercard. I am trusting HSBC - they always call me, the moment I have made a larger payment. Since there was no call, I am sure, no transaction has been made. True enough - it is clear.

Next actions planned - police. A police post in Taman Desa. The femal police officer is nice, and helpful. We have to fill out the police report, she looks on, interested. We need to go to the Brickfield Station, to have it verified. No parking place, but my wife convinces an officer who wants to shush us away from their premises that we just need a minute. Well, the certification needs 10 minutes.

Next station, various banks. Starting with HSBC - applying for a replacement of the ATM Card, and the bank account card.

So far, everything goes smoothly, great!

After lunch, we go to JPJ, to apply for a replacement of the drivers license, and it is here where the problems start. The JPJ officers cannot find my details in their computer. Their computer is registering applicants by number of IC, not by name. A cross-check between various indicators is not possible. Entries by name apparently don't make sense, because their are too many similar names such as Lim or Mohammad.

They check all numbers in my new passport, to no avail. Of course, since this passport is new. They want to have the number of the passport that I used when I came to Malaysia - this means, the passport from 1993. I laugh, frustrated. How to find? Calling the German Embassy, and the person there says that it might be possible since they are required to keep old documents for a long time. He calls me later but only found the number from my old passport - the one that expired last year.

I am giving up at JPJ, for the time being, see myself driving around without one, and having deep conversations in the future with police officers, who insist of seeing my driving license.

I am driving to the office - it is already in the afternoon. Time flies when you have to wait here a bit and there a bit.

In the office, I am calling the German Embassy in Singapore - I worked there from 1998 to 199. Hoping that they will have access to my old passport. I need to call back tomorrow.

Than, the Indonesian embassy. I worked in Indonesia from 1995 to 1998, through the riots that let to the fall of Suharto (but I was innocent!). Also, they ask me to call back tomorrow.

I than cancel the ATM card at RHB. I still haven't cancelled my Fitness First Membership Card, and have to get a new membership card from MPH.

Still frustrated, I call it an early day in the office, after a lengthy tele-conference.

In the evening, I might have found the old, invalid passport that I used in Indonesia. My wife has kept it. Lucky me that she is more orderly and organised than me! So another round with JPJ tomorrow. I hope they will find me - if not, I might be required to sit for a drivers test in Malaysia. After driving 25 years, this might be the second time, I have to do a test. Not a great perspective!!

Lessons learnt?

1.) Keep the number or a copy of any document that you have ever had. It might be useful

2.) I feel violated. There were pictures in the wallet that I valued.

3.) Don't keep so many things in your wallet. Only those that are absolutely necessary. Or you two different items to carry your documents and cards.

4.) Have a sense of humuor, even so I lost my things. At least I had half a day off!!

Posted by Andreas at 08:08 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

The perils of Movable Type

Movable Type is nice, I really like it, even so I haven't managed to use all the features that I want to use. Time is just too short.

Now I am victimised - victimised by spammers. Movable Type is known to be exposed to them.

Since yesterday, they spam the comments - at least not hundreds of comments at once, but in smaller numbers. Good. I don't want to close the comments or only allow comments after approval from my side. Approval from my side sounds to "undemocratic", and full of authority. Approval also doesn't allow commenters to respond to each other's comments or only after a delay. This is than a limited conversation, more one-sided.

But pitifully, I might have to do this. While more cumbersome to some readers, well, it is said that it is one weapon to fight those spammers.

Update: I have removed tohe comment button as the first step. As such, you have to preview first, before proceeding to Posting. Sorry for the inconvenience!


Posted by Andreas at 07:05 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 16, 2005

Pos Malaysia: Improved efficiency leads to higher charges

Tell me if I am wrong in my assumption.

Normally, one would expect that increased automation followed by higher efficiency would lead to lower operational costs - right? This cost saving could than be forwarded to customers.

However, Pos Malaysia says that they will increase their charges for posting of mail to domestic and international destinations, as reported in the New Straits Times yesterday.

Apparently, automation is the culprit responsible for the price increase: The speed in which the sorting machine processes mail increases from 1,500 pieces of mail per hour, sorted manually, to 30,000 pieces per hour with automation.

Hm - how was that again with the one company that is the most efficient in reducing operational costs. They constantly pass this savings on to consumer? I think their name is Dell. Anybody knows them?



Posted by Andreas at 12:34 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

February 14, 2005

Do I need more traffic?

It was nice, before I moved here from my old blog.

On average, I had about 150 hits per day. This is not much, considering the vast side of the Internet world, but it grew - slowly and steadily over time. Of course, the Tsunami and the mentioning of my blog in The Star and at Jeff Ooi's side pumped up the daily hits and I felt a growing sense of responsibility. I felt important.

All this collapsed, interestingly, after I moved from my old blog to this side here.

But do I care? Not really (well, may be I am lying). It is the stickiness that counts, and I am happy that half of the visitors are regulars. Okay, one can say that this pathetic, 25 hits from regulars. But hey - turn the thing around. You are the Avant-Garde of something different. The Pirates of Change, those who want to make their life a WoW - wah, how is that, as a definition?

Many of you leave a comment, every now and than. And that is what makes a great side a living thing. Return visitors and a vibrant comments.

I am happy that you comment. So: Give it to me one more time - and keep commenting.

Happy Valentines Day is for lovers. Can I say, I love you guys? I wouldn't dare, for the sake of my wife, hehe. But hey - a big Thank You to all of you who are here, regularly. And for those who made themselves heard.

Posted by Andreas at 06:08 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack

Mass Kissing in Kuala Lumpur?

Imagine that this would take place in Kuala Lumpur. Mass kissing to get into the Guiness Book of Records.

Wouldn't it be lovely?

Fits with my former entry.

But well, it takes place in the Philippines. "More than 5,000 kissing couples smooched their way into the Guinness Book of Records, surpassing the previous world record set in Chile by 4,445 pairs in January 2004. The kissing marathon was held simultaneously along a one-mile stretch in four cities."

Posted by Andreas at 09:40 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 13, 2005

Amazing innocence

Traffic was easy, coming back from Tioman to Kuala Lumpur. I expected huge traffic jams, as it was Chinese New Year, and the festivals are over. Of course, I am happy about that.

The only major snag was around Malacca, but this was bearable, since it is close to home.

There were those idiots (and I am not holding back here), that immediately used the emergency lane to get ahead of those waiting patiently in jam line.

The moment the jam started to move, ever so slowly, there were those, who started to move from left to right, back to left, onto the emergency lane - overtaking any car they could. It didn't bring them much.

But it was fun to see that some of them were caught in the police control just around the next curve. What was amazing to see was the innocence with which they looked at the policeman standing besides the car. It really was clear what they said - "Me? Jumping lanes? Using the emergency lane?"

What was amazing as well was the age of those that were caught or were speeding, cutting, tailing other cars - most of them incredibly young. I wonder how their reaction will be when something needs serious attention. I doubt they will have the reaction, or knowledge on how to react. I don't have statistics with me here, but I can make the wild guess that those involved in serious or less serious accidents are mostly young. am I right?

Posted by Andreas at 03:42 PM

Hotel Timotel in Mersing

On our way to Tioman, we needed to make an overnight stop in Mersing. My sister-in-law, who organised this trip for the two families, decided on Hotel Timotel.

Inclusive breakfast, we had to pay RM200 per room - pretty expensive, but of course, for a price like this, in a small town like that, you also expect service.

It didn't happen, and may be for once, I try to be less nagging.

The receptionist checked the departure of the ferry to Tioman for us. My sister-in-law before said, it is at about 10.00 AM. The receptionist called us up and told us, that when she talked to the ferry operator, she was told it is 8.00 AM. I wasn't sure. She hang up on me, saying, I should better make sure of the correct time.

We believed her - thinking that she must know. My wife called to inquire about the breakfast. She was told, that we don't need to come down before 7.00 AM, since there won't be breakfast before that. Do your own calculation - Mersing probably thrives because of the ferry to Tioman - who else would visit the place? (Okay, may be there is more, and I am not aware of it). But to only start breakfast one hour before the ferry takes off doesn't make sense. It is too tight in time, and forces a visitor to speed up. Not good for someone in the mood for a great holiday. Overall, they only prepared the breakfast buffett at 7.00 AM. Until the finished the setup, it was already 7.15 AM and the first guests (besides us), just took what was brought in in teh first 15 minutes, and had left, when the set up was completed. And, the breakfast sucked! Nothing really special, not worth a further description.

What is worse is that the wake-up service didn't work. We asked to be woken up at 6.30 AM. Just to make sure, my wife set the alarm clock at her mobile phone at 6.40 AM. The 6.30 AM call never came. We would have missed the ferry, since we were extremely tired and exhausted when we went to bed - we came from Kuala Lumpur, and it was a long ride. We inquired about this at the reception, when we paid and all we heard was, well, may be the phone in our room is broken. What an excuse! Not even an apology!.

So well, there is no great recommendation for this hotel. And this blog entry will sooner or later appear aside of their webpage. Too bad for them.

Posted by Andreas at 03:08 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

February 12, 2005

Resignation of Carly - but she won't be poor

Just a few days ago, we had the largest merger in history, when P&G bought Gillette. At that time, I doubted the wisdom of the merger.

Now, I dare to take a few days off and already, one chieftain of one large merger resigns. Carly Fiorina - the famous one, the one that pushed the merger with Compaq. The one that acquired the consulting arm of PWC.

Carly Fiorina, resigned and joined the ranks of the American unemployed. She resigned, but she won't be poor. She will receive a US$21.4 million severance package, of which US$14 million will be in cash.

She won't be poor. Just a simple calculation will put this severance package into perspective.

She celebrated her 50th birthday last September. Let's say, the official retirement age would be 65 years - if she would just live from her severence package until she turns 65, she could spend US$3,908.7 every single day.

She won't be poor. And I don't believe she will stay unemployed for long. What is the sad part is that she is getting a severance package, although the company she ran underperformed. HP lost its lead in the PC market that it had after the Compaq acquisition. The only real cashcow before and after was the printer division. The only good thing she did was that she rejected the spin-off of the division. Imagine, you underperform in your job. Will you get promted, or a severance package while being retrenched?

I am ranting against Carly. I like/d her. She did something unusual, out of the box, different from the HP way. That was great. She could have followed the HP way, but it wasn't sure if that would have been successful - you cannot do the the same thing over and over again and expect different or better results.

She was one of the few women that let a Fortune 500 company. That was great as well. The boys guard is much too strong, still.

I just cannot believe that severance packages are so enourmous. That is what I am ranting about.

So I wish Carly all the best.


Posted by Andreas at 07:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Tioman

I just came back from Tioman. It was fun and it was different. Different from what I had in my memory when I visited the island, about 11 years back.

This is the funny thing - memory can change bad things into good things, and good things mainly stay as they are - good. This is one function of the human brain that is admirable, considering that many of us will go through at least one traumatic event.

But I am not talking about traumatic events. I actually wanted to have a "personal" entry - I wasn't aware that I would go to Tioman. That is the funny part of being married. My sister in law is member of Berjaya Vacation Package and she managed to get us into Berjaya Resort over Chinese New Year.

I was thus operated remotely. But as I said, it was fun. We went on an island hopping trip, observing fishes, snorkling, eating a lot (what's new) - and since I haven't been in the sun for a longer period of time, well, I am actually resembling a lobster. Very, very red. Equivalent: very very unhealthy. I just hope, that those plans to redevelop Tioman are burried - deep and forever!

What do you think of sun-burnt Mat Sallehs? I think, okay, when we are tan, we might look good. We look rather funny when we are red - and we look somewhat "strange", when we are white.

There is this one serious joke when a Black Man talks to a White Man about their skin colour (I am not getting it all together, but let me try).

He says:

When you are born, you are purple. When I am born, I am black
When you go into the sun, you turn red. When I am in the sun, I remain black.
When you are embarrassed, you turn red. I stay black.
When you are scared, you turn pale, I stay black.
When you get old, your skin turns grey. When I get older, I stay black.

There is more to it, but in the end, the black man says something like: You see, you call me coloured. I wonder, why?


Posted by Andreas at 07:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 08, 2005

TV - or, we are too lazy to educate

Jon, over at the Business Evolutionist quotes from the Parade. The Parade raises some interesting questions about the effect of advertisements on television on children.

The statement is that basically, kids are no longer reading. They are watching TV and get addicted to the commercial breaks. Their concentration span is thus becoming limited, since the interruptions by the commercials attune their mind to the time until the next commercial. Every nine, ten or 15 minutes. This conflicts with what we in the "older generation" experienced. I remember that my father complained that I read too much, too fast. That I wouldn't take the time to think through a book, but that instead, I would start with the next book immediately. There is no flash in books, no noise, no nothing. How can books compete with television, with the excitement on Disney or Cartoon Channel? Both substitute for imagination.

It is true that today, it is tough to get children to read. Even my child doesn't pick up books. I read to him, too often and it takes a lot of persuasion to make him read. He prefers TV. Parents also promote television as an incentive to study. "If you are good, you can watch TV." "Do your studies and than, you can watch TV."

And when they watch TV, they get educated that there is a break every 10 minutes. Breaks that don't have anything to do with each other. One time, there is a commercial about airplanes and travelling to romantic places. Next is the ad for a new handphone. Do they really comprehend?

May be all we get in the end are zombies that operate on a 10 minute span. They need to have their dose of noise and flashes after 10 minutes.

May be we get adults that are trained to shop. As my kid says - "See, Papa, here it is written - it is a must-bye. And you get one free" Is it a wonder that I have to run on toilet every time the commercials start?

Posted by Andreas at 05:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Ceasefire in the Middle East

Yahoo writes:

"With a cease-fire deal in hand, Israeli and Palestinian leaders gathered Tuesday at a Mideast summit for face-to-face talks and goodwill gestures aimed at ending four years of violence and entering a new era of peace talks."

Let's just hope that there are no idiots on either side that blow themselves up, in front of innocent people or threaten progress in other ways.

That happened before and the "injured" or "insulted" party straight away went back to the old warpath. Shouldn't they realise that bombing and killing is not brining any gains to anybody, but misery and more hate?

Posted by Andreas at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Just sue those damn website creators

There are plenty of webpages out there - blogs or personal ones - that fire at companies. Fire at companies for the simple reason that companies treat customers as their property. Old company thinking, top-down approach - take it or leave it.

Naturally, people who are somewhat web-savvy go online, and, surprise, surprise, suddenly find other consumers, that have been mistreated. Think about Air Asia and the gripes that other bloggers have with the company, and what discussions where created.

In fact, the web is the ideal place to share stories - communicating with others was one of the original ideas, why the web was created in the first place. It didn't take long for people to realise that it is an ideal place to share experiences.

But instead of engaging customers in an honest discussion, some companies have started to fire back - n the US, there is a recent case with Suzuki. A purchaser of a Suzuki created a website after his car kept stalling and his local dealership hasn't been unable to resolve the issue.

Sad thing is that those postings often help those that are actually the cause. Think about the awful Tsunami song, or similar happenings.

What's your thinking?

Posted by Andreas at 03:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google helps in education

Man, my kid asks questions and questions and questions. It was my aim to educate him that way. And it is great. So, after the Tsunami, we talked a lot about different catastrophies and how they come about. Recently, we had a discussion about what words are most important to know, and which questions (I favoured "Why" and taught him to ask why 5 times, before he should stop inquiring about one thing - think about payback!!)

Currently, we intensively study volcanos. Talking about the crust in the earth, and the fire below. He immediately would identify when I say something different from what my wife said, or vice-versa. Other questions are, why is the sky blue, why does it rain, how is paper made (don't wast paper, Papa) and so on. It also often happens when I just brought him to bed, and already relax - thinking, he fall asleep already (I always stay a while with him). Suddenly, the famous "Why" qustion comes up.

Those of you who follow this blog surely remember his question about God.

It is fun, and it is educational. I wish he keeps it up!

He also turns the stick around. Recently, during our normal weekdays early morning breakfasts, he turns to me and said: "Papa, you haven't asked me any question yet." Come on, it was 6.15 AM - but it was easy, since I can ask him about his dreams.

There are times, of course, when I cannot respond to him. I just don't know all the background to whatever he asks - about stones, and trees, and planets, and birds, and so on.

If it is the weekend, and the computer is running, well, we check it out in the Internet. That helps me to learn something and him, to learn something as well, plus typing on the keyboard and understanding the Internet.

I am not alone. Dan Farber over at ZDNet is actually describing how wi-fi and Google makes the life easier or more miserable for all of us. In a conference and enabled through Wi-Fi, guests can check the credentials of your speech.

He also write that "some elementary school teachers say that kids today are asking more questions than their predecessors--possibly because their parents use Google, so they hear fewer "Because!" responses and more actual answers, which encourages them to ask yet more questions."

I actually prefer my kid to ask question over those in conferences. Imagine, you have to "argue" with someone, who comes up with 500,000 links to argue against my statement.

Posted by Andreas at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 07, 2005

Are your employees walking fast?

I found one - I found a really good, no great company in Malaysia:

- Extremely transparent in their doing even when the transparency disadvantages them in their business conduct;
- Taking care of their employees with a LOT of development programmes - even the meeting rooms are named after international universities, such as Harvard or Oxford;
- If women work late at night, security is obliged to bring them to their cars.

There is plenty more.

The company's interior design is great - the company occupies three different levels in their own building - interestingly, each level - no, each department has its own level of high quality interior design.

The values of integrity and trust are pinned all over the place. Contrast this to other companies. Other companies talk about their value in the Annual Report - annually once! The CEO holds a pep-talk - once!. Here, it permeates the company, everywhere, no running away - it is found even on the toilet.

Employees are free to submit improvement proposals. But they have problems to identify improvement opportunities. One employee jokingly said that every time, he comes up with an idea, the company already implemented it.

The CEO is passionate and spends a lot of time with the employees. He is fast - fast talking, fast in his walk. You can see the impact as well.

There was hardly any employee in the company that walked slow. May be this is quite an indicator of how great a company is!

So - how fast are your employees walking in your company?

Posted by Andreas at 05:47 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

KL Monorail on Courtesy Drive

I just picked this up from Bernama, but it has been published on February 3 already. Apparently, KL Monorail is off to a month-long courtesy drive.

Their aim, this year is to increase the number of passengers by 30%.

"This campaign, which involves all monorail employees, will see the staff at their best and they will be constantly observed and monitored for their actions at all times."

Sounds good (even so it is only for one month!!) – but what do passengers say? Most of what I heard before related to late arrivals of trains, and that the passengers are packed in the trains like sardines – a function of the limited number of trains. And now, they want to increase the number by 30%.

Coming from Europe or Germany, I am pretty pampered with public transport – bus, street trains and underground. The trains are punctual – absolutely punctual. During rush hours, the vehicles arrive in a 3-5 minute rhythm.

Buses don’t cut the line, or swing in and out of traffic – they stay on their lane. The conductors are helpful and courteous.

It works – sure they are full during rush hour but you know that if you don’t manage to get on the train, the next one is already on its way. The train driver even announces that the next one is waiting in the tunnel already, or says, it is just two stations behind him.

Man, I would be the first to jump ship. But what about here? The trains are okay, for sure. But they are packed. In addition, they are inconvenient for me, due to my working and living areas. Bus service? I actually hate them here. They look too dangerous, drive too dangerous, and are way too unpunctual to make them attractive.

What is your opinion?

Posted by Andreas at 10:27 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

February 06, 2005

My first kiss

I won't tell you the story of my first "real" kiss, but I was pretty young - around 15 or so - and was plenty of times in love with girls even before that event. Girls were all over my mind, and finally, there was this one great kiss.

It was fun, great and I dreamt of it for months and months (the friendship didn't work out, so).

Researchers now discovered that there is a Kiss-1 gene, a gene that switches on puberty. Hey - that is how it starts, so to speak, the changes in bodies, the famous puberty.

"KiSS-1 genes that reside in nerve cells found in the brain's hypothalamus. The kisspeptin proteins produced by these cells go on to bind to the surfaces of other neurons in the brain, causing those cells to produce gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

That hormone in turn stimulates the pituitary gland to release its own hormonal messengers, which ultimately kick sex hormone production into high gear."

I don't care if this is what happened to my body after my first kiss. The memories were great. It happened on a fun fair, and many, many people were around me.

According to plans now tabled in Indonesia, I would have spent 10 years in prison - and would have only get out jail when I turned 25. Newpapers write that "Indonesia's government is considering a law banning unwed couples from pecking in public - and harshly penalizing those who do."

My thinking is that these kind of proposals really show a very disturbing perception of how guys and girls can learn respect and tolerance from and together with each other.

Segregation of gender only reinforces prejudices. If "authorities" believe that segregation enforces moral behaviour, than they have to do more. For example, destroy computers, movie theaters, close down radio stations, forbid books and overall, basically close their country down. Why not extraditing all the women and only bring those back to men that are going to marry?

The experience to mingle with girls taught me respect for them, and helped me to see the world from their eyes. It helped me to understand the different languages of women and girls, even helped me to see that a building's architecture is very often male. You laugh? Just look around at the buildings and see, how phallus-like many buildings look.

Or look at the structures inside of buildings - women would never plan dark corners and aisles that are so common in parking lots here. There would be light and colour, to enlighten the athmosphere.

I believe, honestly, that restrictions on the free move and mingling of girls and boys, women and men, contribute a lot to the increase of rape and molestation in some countries in Asia. Or to the "youths that spend idle hours in places like Uptown Damansara (go on a weekend and see how many Malay youths appear like zombies, being a pest to traffic and sitting for endless hours, whistling at girls and being a Romeo Pokai), as Mack writes.

I am not saying that I support pre-marital sex - I just don't care - and mingling with each other doesn't necessarily mean that there is sex. If there is sex (and there is a lot of sex possible before the "famous intercourse"), there needs to be respect and tolerance. As simple as that. Respect for each other's body and feeling.

This respect is developed from childhood onwards and comes from the values that parents and the other social surrounding instill in children.

Better, the behaviour that parents live in front of their children. Do they walk the talk? Do they respect each other? Are they fighting with each other, and how is conflict resolved? Do they spend time together - quality time? Together with their children? Talking or just in front of the TV?

Even - the way they drive their car - do they show respect for regulations or that they don't care for others, for traffic lights and so on? If all live this respect and tolerance, the value system in a society would also improve. Honestly, it starts with simple things like thank you, please and a smile on the lips.

Seriously, I wouldn't like to miss the many experiences that girls and women were able to teach me. And I believe that those who experience those experience late are really missing out something.

Look around you, when you next visit a place (in its widest sense). Where are the women and where are the men? If they mingle, you see a household where respect and tolerance is alive. May be than you see a household with towering personalities - which could be a Malay, Indian or a Chinese household.

Than, you would be able to see "well-rounded people who have developed high intellect, a high-value system, a successful career, a good economic standing and a well-respected culture and religion, so much so that they would be marvelled at by others."

Posted by Andreas at 01:05 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

February 04, 2005

Immigration and customs at airports

It is always, always, always strange to leave a country, enter a different country and come back to one. No, not too worry, I like to visit other countries and visited quite a lot in my life. I was all around Europe, in West Africa, and in Asia, of course.

But I never lost this strange feeling, standing in line with others to face those who check your passport.

They flip through your passport. Look at your picture, and look at you. Back to the picture and back to you. Okay, my picture is not the best shot, but don't make it too obvious.

Next step - they look at all the stamps. My passport is filling up pretty rapidly, so sometimes, they don't find the right stamp immidiately. They also tend to check the departure or arrival card. Dare you, you lost it, what happens quite often to me. Sharp voices, requesting the card, me - daunted, saying, sorry, lost it. It is not an important card, at least, I don't really see a reason for it.

Flip, flip. Finally - they take their own stamp, raise their hand and bummm, give it to your passport. And than, you get your ID back, your life is coming back to a normal stage.

Adrenaline level gets back to normal, and I enter the no-mans land at the airport.

Same when you come back, with one additional step. Since I am a good citizen, I head towards the "Nothing To Declare" sign, straight away. But I am always, always, always waiting for the one to call me back.

What could be done better?

Surely, a sticker "Service with a Smile" doesn't help much, when most of the employees there look grouchy, as if they would sit out a prison term. It also doesn't help too much, that they mostly sit at a higher level than those that approach them. A similar level wouldn't impede their authority.

The candy in front of them, for those daunted figures in front of them is nice, if your breath gets bad and your mouth dry when you are stressed out. And it distracts you at least for a while, when one has to open the wrapper. But a customer friendly solution? Nice but not special.

Posted by Andreas at 07:30 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Spam - I am losing

There are efforts made in the US and elsewhere to dampen the flood of spam into inboxes. In addition, spam filters are getting better, while spammers were arrested.

I thought "the authorities" are winning.

For a short while, at least, the amount of spam was reduced to a trickle.

Now they are back - my in-box is full again. I hate them - they are not WoW, and they are not welcome.

Idiots (I seldom swear in public) - get out of cloud!!

Posted by Andreas at 03:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

You know the world is changing when...

You know the world is changing when a so-called socialistic (or whatever) country is issuing the world's first newspaper in Gold.

Price per issue? US$8,300 per copy for the high-end version and US$3,500 for the lower end one. Where is that? China!

gold_paper203.jpg
(Picture pirated from BBC Asia - with many thanks!)

Talk about standing out!!

Posted by Andreas at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 03, 2005

AT&T, the Mother of all Bells

AT&T is gone. The mother of telecommunications, so to speak. Bought over, last week, by SBC Communications for US$16 billion.

Their failure will be one lesson for many companies and many management books will take her lesson as case study.

Ma Bell, as the company was called, didn't see the importance to move on to other, upcoming technologies, such as the mobile phone. They thought that it wouldn't be of importance and after their breakup in 1884 quoted a widely circulated McKinsey study to back up their claim. The study forecasted that there would be 900,000 mobile phone users in the US in 2000. Many thought that even this number was too high.

They also didn't upgrade their service offering, because, well, they had a very lucrative long-distance and fixed line business. There was no real competition for them, until technology made its impact - Internet telephony and the mentioned mobile phones.

Does this somehow ring familiar to telecommuniciation companies across Asia Pacific? Or, close to home, Malaysia?

When is our incumbent learning to dance, instead of Banyak Cakap Cakap?

Posted by Andreas at 08:43 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Remember the power failure

Remember the power failure last month?

Tenaga was asked to reimburse losses.

A consultant was charged to check what went wrong.

Tenaga blamed an earlier consultant who happened to prepare a report last year on the company's system, that he didn't warn them of possible breakdowns in the system.

I remember - do you?

What happened to all of those activities? Where are the results?

Blabarella, in the first comment, gave some good reasons for the delay. Read it.

I also heard in the news that the report by the consultant will be tabled soon. Does this excuse Tenaga to be quiet?

Posted by Andreas at 03:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Just let the customer wait, and wait and wait and...

Yesterday, I wrote about the Indian hawker stall in my building that started to continuously increase the price for his food.

There is another of those guys around my area. His food is great. My favourite at his place is Chili Chicken, but I also go for Mango Chicken or Sweet and Sour Chicken. There is more va