The Reader

200 contractors failed?

> More than 200 contractors who failed to complete projects under Rumah Mesra Rakyat 1Malaysia affordable housing for the poor have been blacklisted by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB), reported Kosmo!

The contractors will not be invited again for any other projects by SPNB, said its chairman Datuk Idris Haron.

To date, 12,889 of houses under this scheme have been built at a cost of RM1.2bil.<

If 2 out 40 students failed in a class is normal,but if 38 out 40 student failed,then we must deeper-at the teacher,the school etc.

Reading the above report,may I request SPNB to look at how the projects were packaged and implemented.It is sad and alarming to hear this news!200 contractors is a big number and from my experience,it has got something to do with total project delivery system being adopted and used-especially payment.Of course, the blame went to the contractors first.But who appointed the contractors?

Last month of 2012

Just another three weeks more to the end of the year 2012.It is a good time to review what we had done,not done,have achieved and not achieved before the year end.I am asking myself what is on my priority list before the 2012 curtain comes down?Time is time;it does not wait for anybody even though you are the sultan.Just like water in the river,if you don't use it,it will just flow to the sea...

We can plan many things to do and to achieve for 2012 but as the year is coming to the close,the reality sets in.We have to be contented with what we had done and what we had achieved.Take down some notes on the lessons learnt, even for a senior citizen like me is still learning the lessons of life.Take some time to plan and try to do better next year,insyaAllah.

Three major events in 2012 that I can share with my fellow readers are the birth of my first grandson,the wedding of my first son and I celebrated my 60th birthday on 30th September this year.First,let me thank my Lord Allahu Rabbul 'Alamin for His Grace and Mercy to bestow all these gifts to my family and me.Now,I am a senior citizen  with a wife,three sons,two daughters-in-law and one grandson.Alhamdulilah.

There are other things that we had gone through but we cannot share in public.I had my achievements and my failures as well.As muslims,La tahzan(don't be sad),we accept them as qadar and qadar,then we move on..and review what went wrong and try to do better next year and never forget to du'a for Allah's helps.

Let me qoute this famous words of the Sufi:

"Allah swt puts turbulence in our heart so that our nearness to Him remains forver."

 

 Note on the photo: The sunrise was taken at Pantai Irama,Bachok.

See-feel-change

Let me share with you this interesting article.It applies to a 300lb lady who felt ugly and humilated,but it also applies to organization and nation as well.The principle was articulated by Prof John Kotter from HBS.Below is one comment of the mentioned article:

Spot on! We decide with our emotions, not our neo-cortex. We all KNOW we should stop smoking, lose weight, exercise more, stay in school, avoid drugs, etc, etc., but knowledge alone is not enough. when we FEEL the effects of our decisions, then we can change. 

David Kaiser, Ph.D. 
Executive Coach and CEO
www.DarkMatterConsulting.com

 

My personal experience confirmed the above 'combo process'.It is as simple as our 3 in 1 Nescafe-where I can make my own morning drink;-)

Malaysia is embarking on many transformation programs.Let us see,feel and we shall embrace the change,insyaAllah.

What is your passion?

Do you know what is your passion? if you donot know,please read this article.

In my case,I only discover only after eight years or working as a civil engineer at JKR.When I was the chief structural engineer for hospital projects I found out that I did not much interest in the engineering part but more in the management of the projects.From JKR,I opted to join Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor as a project manager.Later I joined a construction company and later joined my relative property development company.

As the years went by,my engineering interest faded away and I ended becoming the CEO of  a listed company on KLSE-mainly corporate management. From my personal experience,I noticed that my 'passion' changed over the 20 years from engineering to management.In the last 10 years, my 'passion' moved from management to seeking higher knowledge in Islam studies.However, to foot my bills(earning my living),I have to work and use my core competencies in project/general management which I have acquired over the last three decades.

To younger men and women out there, please take some time to comtemplate as early as possible to identify your passion(work or play) so that you have more time to become experts and enjoy your lives.By the way,I discovered mountain biking more than 10 years ago but only became active last year.As they say,it is better late than never..similarly about photography.

Looking for an old Telekom phone

First,let me clarify that I am not a collector of old or antique phones.The reason I wanted an old Telekom Malaysia phone is because when I terminated my house phone line yesterday,I was told by the officer that I had to return the old phone given by Jabatan Telekom to me 25 years ago.I can't remember how the phone looked like.When I told my 21 years son whether he has seen a phone with a Telekom logo,he jokingly said to me that he was not born yet at the time!

Over the last 25 years,I think I have changed my phone three times.Only God knows where I kept or threw away the old Jabatan Telekom.When I told the officer who processed my application to terminate the service that I can't locate my phone,she told me a fine of RM66 will be deducted from my deposit.Considering the old phone has no book value at all by now and I have been a customer for the past 25 years,why not Telekom waive the fine for old time sake?Anyway, no body wants that type of phone anymore and it will cost Telekom storage cost for no benefits at all.

By the way,if you happen to have an old Telokom phone to give away or to sell for less than RM20,please let me know so that I could save RM66.

PS: Now, my problem is solved when MHI has offered to give me his old Telekom phone.Thank you my friend.

Book:Do It Tomorrow

Just came back yesterday from Hari Raya Puasa holidays.I am back to KL today.

The book as mentioned above is a time management book written by Mark Forster.I bought it for RM64.80 on 12th September and finished reading it a few days ago.You can read the summary and comments here.

IMHO,it is worth reading it and I am giving it a try to improve my time management.To execute the system,I am using using my paper based monologue dairy and a unicorn colour notebook(that looks almost like a molekine A6 notebook but costs RM12.90) to write my daily task lists(closed,open,current initiatives).

Everyone of us has our own 'system' and style but lately I am straying away from my goals and objectives.That was the main reason why I am testing this new rationale and methodology.I hope it works for me and for you if you wish to improve your time management system.As for me growing older and more and more of my friends pass away,I have to do what really matters to me and my stakeholders(family and friends).

Below is a photo I snapped at chabang 4 Panji on the way to Airport to pick up my son on the first day of Eidil Fitri at Tanah Rendah Sekebun Bunga..

Subject,verb and object

Below is an excerpt of an interesting interview of CEO of Delta Air.For complete write-up, click here. Two things that caught my attention.First,Mr Richard Anderson uses moleskine.Second,he emphasized the the importance of effective communication. According to him,a thought could only be complete if you have all the three-subject,verb and object.

In my profession of project management, communication is critical.I remember reading the introduction to a project management book and the author wrote that if you have got time to read one chapter from this book,then read Communication managment.Period.

Q. Are you a list keeper?

A. I use Moleskines. It’s just lists of things. Sometimes I’ll just sit down and write what I’m thinking about things, because I’m not a PowerPoint person. I’ll start at the upper left corner of the page and start writing, in complete thoughts, what I think. I have a long paper that I’m writing about our marketing strategy.

Q. What would you like to see business schools teach more?

A. When you’re managing as much change as corporations globally must deal with today, the ability to communicate and communicate effectively is so important that it ought to be a core capability in a business school curriculum. We measure, study, quantify, analyze every single piece of our business. Business schools in the United States have done a phenomenal job of creating that capability. But then you’ve got to be able to take all that data and information and transform it into change in the organization and improvement in the organization and the formulation of the business strategy.

You’ve got to execute, and that human factor part is important. I know it’s intangible and it’s not like finance where 2 plus 2 is 4. I don’t know whether it can be taught, but it can certainly be studied.

Note: Prince2 defines project management is the management of change.

Delayed projects..

One of the reasons why some projects got delayed because some people wanted that way so that they could stay on longer;-) Tugas belum selesai..

Penny wise,Pound foolish..

Last night I got hungry at about 9pm.While waiting for the digital photos to be printed,I used the waiting time  to get a dinner at KLCC.I was alone in the restaurant because it was well passed the dinner time or no one like to eat at  this shop.Anyway,I ordered a glass of warm water,main dish and a soup.After a few minutes, a waiter came and served me the soup.As I was hungry,I immediately took a spoonful of soup.I nearly threw it out.It was as cool as a cucumber! That really made me angry.Hungry man can easily be angry man.When I informed a waiter about it, he came to take it away and apologised.

While waiting for the main dish to arrive, I took my notebook to jot a few personal notes.Even though I ws the only customer,the noise level was like pasar borong! I heard the waiters and waitresses were talking loudly among themselves about 3 metres away from me.It really irritated me as I wanted some quiet and peace while I am having my dinner alone.That really spoilt my appetite and a good recipe  for my dieting.

When the main dish arrived,I quickly ate whatever I can eat and on the way out to pay for the bill,I got another shock-three in a row! The bill was almost double than what I estimated. On checking, I saw someone double added the cost of my main dish!I showed the bill to the manager and isntead of making the chnages,he was looking for a culprit to blame him or her.A few moments later, I was given another bill.After paying for my bill,I gave the manager a piece of my mind and told him I won't be coming to his shop again.

What has Penny Wise,Pound Foolish has got to do with the above episode?

The management spent nothing less than RM500,000 for a food outlet in KLCC.Later, the store  manager was given untrained or low quality staff to serve the customers.The result?

Customers who had bad experience like me won't come back and may not be going to another outlet of the same brand name.Worse,he will go around telling his friend s or writes in his blog;-)

Some of you may be asking what is the name of the restaurant?I am sorry I can't let you know because I prefer to keep it a secret.

PMI Global Congress @ KLCC