History doesn't favor lame-duck coaches for UT, A&M

By Suzanne Halliburton

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, November 22, 2007
No doubt, Texas-Texas A&M is one of the most significant rivalries in college football. For one Friday every late November, the game even trumps loyalty to families and friends based on whether someone's preferred hand sign hooks or gigs.
But tradition also suggests that the game's outcome rarely helps a potential lame duck coach fighting to keep his job.

That doesn't bode so well for A&M's Dennis Franchione, who may be coaching his final game as the leader of the Aggie football program.
In the past half-century, there have been a total of 12 coaching changes from both schools. Jackie Sherrill, who was forced out at A&M in 1988 because of NCAA issues, is the only coach from either team who won his final game against the archrival.
The main reason the game doesn't save an embattled coach is that the rivalry — college football's third-longest — features so few upsets. The results have kept the season's status quo, and the lack of drama makes it easier for the athletic directors to write up a pink slip.
The series dates back to 1894, with Texas owning a 73-35-5 record over the Aggies. A&M knocked off the favored Longhorns last year, 12-7. Before 2006, Texas had won six straight games over the Aggies and eight of the past 10.
Another reason the outcome doesn't figure into a coach's future is because by late November, the termination decision already has been made.
"Had I won that (last) game," said former Texas coach David McWilliams, "I don't think it would have mattered."
McWilliams already had set a meeting with UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds before his team traveled to College Station for the 1991 season finale. Although he'd been given a five-year contract extension in 1990, McWilliams was planning to resign even before the Longhorns' 31-14 loss.
A&M's R.C. Slocum, who participated in 30 Texas games, coached his last one in 2002. He said this week he had no idea that the 2002 Longhorn game would be his final one as a coach.
Five days before the Aggies traveled to Austin, A&M freshman Brandon Fails collapsed in his dorm room and died hours later at a local hospital. Slocum was the one who told Fails' parents their son had passed away. He said he spent the rest of the week preparing for Texas and planning a funeral.
The Aggies lost by 30 to Texas. By that Sunday, Slocum was recruiting in Dallas, visiting the homes of several of his 18 commitments when he received the news he'd been fired.
He doesn't believe a win would have made a difference.
"Probably not," Slocum said. "The things I've heard since then, they already had made the deal (with Franchione)."
The turnaround was even quicker the last time Texas hired a coach in 1997. John Mackovic — Mack Brown's predecessor— coached his final game for the Longhorns, a 27-16 loss to A&M. His termination came less than 24 hours after the team buses arrived in Austin from College Station. Brown was hired and introduced to fans within six days.
There are differing plotlines for Friday's game. Brown, who received a new contract and a $250,000 raise in August, is hoping his team wins its 10th game of the season. A victory could put Texas into the Big 12 title game and make the Longhorns an attractive at-large candidate for a BCS berth.
Meanwhile, the Aggies' theme is whether they can make a bowl game and whether Franchione would be there to coach them.
For much of the past month, Franchione has denied that he's already agreed to a buyout of his contract. So it's unknown whether Friday's game will be his last as an Aggie.
He could be like former Texas coach Fred Akers, who in 1986 ended his post-game press conference following a 16-3 defeat to A&M by telling a group of local reporters that he'd see them next season.
Two days later, Dodds called a news conference. It took him about three minutes to announce that Akers was gone.

The Old Songs

Candles burning, glasses are chilled and soon she'll be by
Hope and pray she'll say that she's willing to give us another try
And if all those plans I made don't melt the lady's heart,
I'll put on the old 45's

And maybe the old songs'll bring back the old times
Maybe the old lines will sound new
Maybe she'll lay her head on my shoulder
Maybe old feelings will come through
Maybe we'll start to cry and wonder why we ever walked away
Maybe the old songs'll bring back the old times
And make her wanna stay

It's been too long since I've seen her face light up when I come home
It's been too many hours I've wasted staring at the phone
Sweet old songs I'm counting on you to bring her back to me
I'm tired of listening alone

And maybe the old songs'll bring back the old times
Maybe the old lines will sound new
Maybe she'll lay her head on my shoulder
Maybe old feelings will come through
Maybe we'll start to cry and wonder why we ever walked away
Maybe the old songs'll bring back the old times
And make her wanna stay

Barry Manilow

Padang Chetty

I was watching TV during the Eid holidays when TV3 brought up this stories. Padang Chetty to make way for some kind of development. There goes another piece of green spots. One less meaningful place for the future generation. What is there in Padang Chetty anyway? One might asked? Whats so significant of that particular place that we want to deny mighty local authorities the Development?
Yeah, I knew the place. Padang Chetty back in my primary school days was like 'road to Wembley' stories for those who got to play there to represent their schools. Most of the inter-schools final games will be played there; be it hockey, soccer and netball. Yes, I got to represent my school and played at Padang Chetty against the mighty La Salle (Primary) in a hockey finals. I could remember vividly the cramped car rides in my teacher's jalopy ( i think it was a boxed peugeot). My task (and only task in that final) was to make sure the prolific and feared La Salle top scorer, Steven, wont score!
My school wasn't that well known before in field hockey, until the arrival of a PE teacher Mr. Chandran a year before. He handpicked players from the standard 4 and 5 pool and groomed them the latter half of the previous year to prepare for our 6th year. We were given a hockey stick and a ball ( I still have the stick in my store!) to bring back home every day since being selected. Each evening at 5, we will dutifully leave the last period (much to the chagrin of Mrs JR Rajadurai) and start 5 round warm-up around the school fields. We were instilled with the self-belief to win for the school. Mr. Chandran would teach us all the basic; trappings, passing, hitting, dribbling etc. Then next phase; team positioning, roles of each members, team spirits, before finally being grilled on the tactics and tricks (including feigning dramatic injuries!) but most of all, he let us having fun playing hockey. I could still remember his words during those halftime breaks - "Do you want to play at Padang Chetty in the finals?"
Well, we lost 0-1 in that final unfortunately but Steven didn't get to score!

Upin & Ipin

Les' Copaque Production Sdn. Bhd.
Hats off to these guys. Five minutes worth of quality family time spent in front of the idiot box during iftar times on weekends. A distance second in my list of good Malaysian animation products is Anak-Anak Sidek. Honestly, eventhough I like Lat's Kampung Boy hardcopy, the same attachment is hardly replicated when watching its animation effort equivalent.

Occupied

Currently, I am being entrusted to make this building completed before third quarter of next year. It's not any normal square box type structure which doesn't requires much imagination. Well, this makes me currently occupied for a while. I am trying new approach in executing this job, bringing in my years of collective experiences. Surprisingly, I met some old old friends along the way. One in partical was as long as my pre-college days where the our whole life was still open wide for us to explore back then. It was the time of Thundercats.

Wisecracking

My daily routine has started to set in. I am having a regular exercise every morning and evening by taking a 400m walk to and fro. Not forgetting going down flight of stairs from the elevated monorail platform (well, going up is via escalator!). Added to this setup a daily dosage of being packed into a small moving coach and being meshed further along the 5 station stops.

I missed being in command of several staff, executives and engineers. Instead, I am practically back where I was started almost 17 years ago, but with a difference. I am more experienced and well rounded this time around. Admittedly a bit rusty in original ideas but made it up via the ability to see potential pitfalls that normally comes with raw and unbridled designs.

Beam Me Up Scotty!

I have been transported into a different time zone. It's a rather new environment even though I am doing things which have been nearly forgotten for quite a while. It is rusty for now and it shows. Making the best of the situation.

Admittedly, I am longing for the constant pressure cooker environment that requires me to always be on guard, on toes and 'updated'.

Till the next report, I have a 'monorail' to catch.

Promotion

As I walked into the boardroom, 7 pairs of eyes followed my every footsteps. Dang! I was partially nervous that I even kicked the side gypsum wall as I was about to pull the chair by the end of the long table.

The chairman mumbled something about finally having found the right person to be given greater responsibilities (read 'sucker'). My short reply was that I have been performing almost the same level of responsibilities since the start (it was supposed to be a sarcastic remark but I guess they were so engrossed in finding surrogates that they didn't pretty much noticed it)

Further explanations of what an ideal organization chart should be and how to manage bigger staff didn't fuelled me at all. My mind just wandered to my colleagues and subordinates whom in reality has became unmotivated, depressed, clueless and disillusioned with the journey taken and the direction heading.

I was awaken by the sudden silence in the boardroom. 3 pairs of eyes looking directly at me, 2 pairs looking at the lints on the squeaking clean table, and another 2 pairs looking lost at each other. A long pause ( I am sorry, I have to rewind quickly to figure out what was the question) as the 2 pairs of eyes from the original 3 started to find more lints on their area of the table. The only safe phrase I could come up with (no matter what the question might have been) "I will have to sit down with new boss and figure out the details and strategies" (?)

You are excused and hope you will be more motivated now with the new responsibilities.

I guess they won't ever get it at all.

Management Boot Camps

I just got back from a Team building Session organized by my present company. It was a 4 days affair where approximately 40 personnel from several construction sites were sequestered and given a systematic dressing down of team building concept and implementation. It was conducted by Malaysian outfit of trainers and facilitators from CEDC.

Suffice to say the general objective was met and everyone seemed to have learned something about what it takes to be a team player. As for me, I re-learned and unlearned few things. Most and foremost - that senior managers are human too. Where else you can get a chance to really participate and beat up your senior managers fairly in a company sanctioned event, and don't have to worry about the repercussion later?

I came out impressed with the personnel we are having right now (accept for one or two blokes) despite the initial cultural differences (Iraqis, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Philippines, Malaysians, Brits and Irish) making me nostalgic if and when the time eventually comes for me to make a career move. The time has long gone since being shouted at in the phone and labelled as not a team player and too emotional by trying to question along the chain of management abyss on procedural matters. Paying the price of cold storage simply because I asked too much.

Oh by the way, our group won the overall first place in the team category. Even though we found out eventually that the other teams all get the same contents of snacks and chocolates, I would never trade places with the tacit acknowledgement of winning.

Montage

Just a montage of works I personally had had a hand in constructing.

My Dearest Father

11:27am 23 April 2007 I lost my father. I thought I could make it and met him while he was still breathing. It was not meant to be. I was on the plane somewhere above the sub-continent when he left me. I only got to know about it upon touching down in KLIA at 2:40pm as I turn on my handphone and the a short sms from my wife; Innalillah, your dad passed away at half past 11 in HTAR.

I sat down on my 23K seat oblivious to the people around me but the whole thing didn't downed on me yet. I only made it out of KLIA after 3:45pm (the usual delay in the luggage carousel). I raced to make the journey back directly to my parent's house (hitting 140kmh!) in order not to miss the burial.

I only began to cry quietly as I made the last turn into the road leading to the house. As I stopped the car and made the way through the onlooking crowds gathering by the house compound (I could made out some familiar faces among them), my sister waited for me by the entrance. I think I heard her saying something but my eyes were only fixed beyond the wide door while trying my level best to calm her down.

There he was, laying in the middle of the house, the place he used to take his nap in the evening breeze, but this time around fully wrapped in white cotton pieces except for the face. I saw my mum sitting a few feet away, being consoled by the ladies. She was surprisingly quite.

I sat by my father's side, looking at his unshaven face (I can't hardly recall him having so much beard or moustache) and fulfill my promise of whispering to his ears for the last time.

Fast Forward

I am on my way home at this moment. Just received the news on the condition of my dearest father. He has slipped into deep coma after second stroke attack this morning. He was recuperating from his first mild stroke attack on 10th April.

As my family members gather around him in the hospital bed, I am struggling to find the earliest possible flight to KLIA. Hang on dear dad. Let you hear me whisper in your ears again.

Blacksburg vs Ijok

During my elapsed work time this last few days, I can't help but search for the latest news coming from between these two places. One made world headlines and the other, well sort of deserves another headline category. Tragic news from Blacksburg a plenty! So does Ijok (tragic?). I am not going to add more to any of those news nor comment, but merely my reminiscent of that word Ijok.

His name is Ashadi (I think that's what I could recall, its been nearly 27 years). We called him Ijok, simply because he is from that town. We were in boarding hostel operated by Yayasan Selangor. A very affable fellow with wide grin. Although he has a slight gait to his steps (I was told he has polio when he was small toddler), he beats me in pingpong, times and times. Not just pingpong, he also beats me in carrom. Luckily I can match him at badminton - well obviously thats not a fair game to him! Oh by the way he is a Javanese descent (can't doubt that!)
Each time the name Ijok crops up, he is the first thing that came to my mind. Funny how we tend to associate names to places. Sometimes I wonder if I had to acquire another acquiantance from Ijok later on would Ashadi's face be replaced from my subconscious memory pages?
To Ashadi from Ijok, if you still live there, wherever you are, don't forget to vote.
ps.
BTW, I almost forgot, Badrulhisham from Batang Berjuntai - well this one deserve another story. And also Annuar from Sg Choh, who introduced me to Rubik Cubes solutions.

Condolences to the Hokies

Somehow, upon hearing this tragic news yesterday, I was truly disturbed. Apparently the troubled signs were there. A few noticed him and his anti-social personality disorder tendencies but as usual, people hope that the problem would just go away or someone else would take on the responsibility later.

I hope his 'disturbing' scripting class assignment below wouldn't be made into movies by some demented, cash hungry and selfish Hollywood directors/producers.

Richard McBeef
Mr Brownstone

Univ Texas 1996, Columbine in 1999, Beltway Sniper 2002, Amish School 2006, Vtech 2007 - its a sign a society gone wrong.

I Got Smacked!!!

Poor design and shoddy work blamed

Maybe I spoke too soon or maybe it's 'karma'. Whichever it is, remember my previous posting regarding my Malaysian experience comment? Well, this morning I have to do some retreating after reading this latest Putrajaya incident. Yeah, people here do read 'bad' news about Malaysian especially those that closely related to the industry. I think I have to give my colleague few nods of acknowledgement and the latest signed picture autograph of Catherine Zeta Jones (with her hubby at the side of course!!!)

Oh, have I mentioned that this colleague of mine has been 'promoted' - well sort of.

Sketchy

I haven't lost my sketching skills.

When I thought I might have gotten myself lost into technical writings, ISO procedures, QAQC thingy, contractual letters and number crunching rituals, once in a while I just threw away my CAD and get more creative with the natural way. Instead of typing away technical jargons spiced with 'lawyerspeak' and dimensioned diagrams, I went NTS (not to scale) and let my fingers do the talks. Pictures paint thousands words - they say.

I remember my quote given during the interview for an article in a regional IT magazine in 1992 when the CAD explosion began to hit Malaysian shores. Suffice to say , I was quite unforgiving with AutoCad (given that it was R10-R11 on Intel386DX PC) despite advocating the use of CAD in consultancy back then.

Sometime's people wouldn't just mind imperfections in this imperfect world.

I was cleaning my office drawer the other day. Actually I only wanted to rearrange my pen box then one thing led to another and I ended up rearranging the whole 3 drawers (well, since some of the pens and pencils and markers found themselves their own little corners spread out among the three drawers over the past months). I found my airplane ticket stub dated 12 Nov 2006, the last time I was in Malaysian soil. It has been almost 6 months since I last pay the ELITE toll and now the rate has risen up.

Funny thing happened on that flight after taking-off at 4pm because the plane had to return to KLIA almost 1 hour into the journey as it flew over the tip of Sumatra. We touched-down back at 7pm and had to stay for another 3 hours before the 'Carrier Man' replaced the cabin air-conditioner.

As the result, I missed my connecting flight at Manama, which meant I have to stay put in Muscat for a night (more like 4 hours only from 3am to 7am!) before finally being reloaded onto the 10am flight out to Dubai.

One Upmanship Game

I was having woefully days since the site 'closed-down' order by the consultant. I am not going to get into the itsy-bitsy details of it but personally I would think my consultant bungle-up big-time and is trying to make-up their initial deficiencies at the onset of this project.

On lighter note, this whole episode has made some of my fellow colleagues realised how inter-departmental dependencies was there for a reason. The sentence that I was used to hear - "no one can tell me what I can or cannot do" and "don't be more Christian than the Pope" or "in house acting consultant" when trying to point out my concern on some questionable practices now rang hollow. Added to the most ubiquitous mantra "This is how things get done, here!"

However, this incident took the whole cake.

We were having a walk-around of the site to identify the safety and quality issues that are impeding the works progress. As we were nearing the end of the walk-around with the consultants and the PMCs, someone queried in a light-hearted manner that being a Malaysian entity, were these the normal standard of quality to be expected in Malaysia generally? As the question was posed to the highest rank managers which happened to be non-Malaysian and have never worked there, they redirected the task of answering it to me. In my most diplomatic smile I retorted that these kind of quality was also not acceptable and should not have gone past first floor level of construction. However I could sensed that my honest assessment was not taken too likely by my non-Malaysian superiors and other multinational (from a specific country).

After the walk-around ended, one of the multinationals (whom I would love to have a banter with) came to me to show his displeasure of my 'low blows'.

"If Malaysian constructions were of high quality like you said, how was it possible that in the movie Entrapment starred by Sir Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones, there was a scene when the a lady pulled down a ceiling panel and the entire floor ceiling fell down with the wires and ducts dangling down?" in his most animated manner.

Suffice to say, I proved my point!

Reunion thingy

There was an informal reunion gathering at my old high school last week (31st March).

Some of my batchmates made it and send group pics to those who didn't made it (yours truly included of course) In my jovial mood (and mostly nostalgic) I just replied with a single comment - "WIDER SHAPED" - to the pics.
Yeah, most of us now looked wider on the waistlines. But somehow, when looking at the pics I could only see them still in their school uniforms; young and ambitiuos and 22 more years of life to be filled. Forget the waistline and the sleuth of modern sickness to follow. To me, whenever we meet, they will still be that 18 years old buddies whom we had shared time, space, moments and adolesences together. For a while, the memories flooded in and temporarily brought us to that moments, away from the current mid-life tribulations.

My Personality Test Result

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people. Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You're generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Once Upon A Time.... Attitude Hasn't Changed

Year - 1994
I was waiting for an appointment to meet a Local Government Department Officer for a building approval matters. Had been sitting there since morning waiting for the ubiquitous fellow to show up for work. I was seated next to a photocopy room where staff would come and go for document duplicating works, and also gossiping (second best to the most popular gossip center - the pantry).
Two ladies walk in apparently to make duplicates, but since two is the main ingredient for small talks, the task took a while. The loud whispers were bearable because it was non-juicy stuff. Then walked in a lone SYT, which apparently still new to the place and that explained why she was alone doing her jobs. She entered the room, and of course the whispers stopped, small formal pleasantries between them, then off the SYT went back to wherever she came from to continue with her other tasks.
The following was my recollection of the ladies juicy commentaries;
Lady 1 : She is new here?
Lady 2 : Yeah! She works so fast that made everyone else looks bad.
Lady 1 : Where she's coming from? DO you know?
Lady 2 : No. But she must be from 'SWASTA' company.
Lady 1 : Is she? No wonder.....
Lady 2 : She must be, didn't you noticed? She didn't use new paper for copying.
Lady 1 : You mean she recycle the paper?
Lady 2 : Yeah, she re-use the clean face of the paper for copying!! Hi hi hi
Lady 1 : Hik hik hik

I left soon after, realizing that the officer might not turn up for work that day. I still am 'SWASTA' to till this day.

Site is Closed - For Now

Hey, I am not talking about this Blog Site. I am talking about my work site. We were officially informed by the consultant that due to our failure to heed their advices regarding Safety and Quality of works, the site will be 'shut-down' until further notice. Actually it was related to the 'Bug' notice we received from the Local Authorities.

First thing that came to my colleague's' mind was a subdued elation since it would be less or no work at all to perform. Unfortunately for me, that was where my workload became exponentially expanded. Suddenly everyone became interested in my 'vinyl LP collections' ( figuratively). Everyone now wants me to recall minute verbal conversations that took place eons ago. If I said I have no recollection of ever hearing or participating in those banters, that individual(s) would look at me as if I am a traitor in their midst.

So much of the importance of taking small notes and reconfirm officially on any matters! There you go, as far as I am concerned, my responsibility ends the moment an acknowledgement is denied. Sort of like, 'Caveat Emptor' in inter-departmental relations.

Want to know what am I actually doing now?

Repairing the Method Statement for Repair of the Repaired Elements. How's that for a new tongue twister.

This Site is not Closed - Forever.

PS - I watched The Departed. It would be on my all time list.

Sweet 16 - 2007

ESPN.com - NCB - 2007 Men's NCAA Tournament Bracket
I was glancing through the passing of Pakistani's cricket coach after the hoopla around me since being surrounded by cricket fanatics (I don't even quite understand how it is being played much as compared to baseball or 'bola lisut' - softball).
Since normally this time of the year - as an American Football fan, the news are pretty tame after superbowl and college spring training - my doze of sports from the -8 time zones were suddenly awaken by the flash of my alma matter in sweet sixteen ncaa basketball tournament -aka March Madness.
I guess this the fruit of building a state of the art event center back in 1992. From tha famous line in Field of Dreams - If you built it, they will come.... I don't know whether it can be compared with our latest hoopla on that sports facilities near London. Whatever happen to our Titus James.

Pages of My Blue Book

I found this piece written in my old blue book. I guess the year was 1988?
----------
Feb 28th
Salam pada masa hadapan
(Greetings to the future)
Setingkat lagi mendaki tangga usia
(Another climb on the steps of age)
Dalam menduga tinggi mana perginya nanti
(Wondering how high the climb might be)
Takat manakah akan ku tiba pada puncak hidup
(Where or when would I reached the pinnacle of life)
Buat masa yang akan tiba untuk ku melihat ke bawah
(To that time when I would look below me)
Pada anak-anak tangga yang telah ku daki dan tinggalkan
(Those steps that I've climbed and left behind)
Melihat pada detik detik ditarik napas-napas kepenatan
(Recalling the moments for breath of tiredness)
Ketika usaha maju dalam pendakian
(There were times during the climbs)
Ada terasa mahu sahaja turun pada tangga mulanya
(The feel of wanting to slide down)
Sedang tangan memetik buah-buah usia
(As the hand plucks the fruits of age)
Yang segar, yang hitam, yang pahit, yang manis
(Fresh, blacks, bitter or sweet)
Pada bahu yang memikul bakul bakul igauan
(The shoulder that carries nighmares)
Berlekangkan panas mentari membakar pedih-pedih pengalaman
(And the hot sun burning the stinging experinces)
Pesankan pada diri
(Reminding myself)
Agar dibekalkan keredhaan
(Hoping for God's grace)
Mencari hasilan terbaik biarpun sukar dan perit
(Finding the best no matter how difficult)
Meredah onak dan duri masyarakat
(Going through the thorns of community)
----------
An amature attempt I might add. I am still recalling from memories the feelings I had while writing those. Was I melancholic? idealistic? or just ramblings. For context, the page preceeding that was the lyrics from Chirstopher Cross - Think of Laura
Every once in a while I'd see her smile, And she'd turn my way around
A girl with those eyes could stare through the lies, And see what your heart was saying
Think of Laura but laugh don't cry, I know she'd want it that way
A friend of a friend, a freind to the end, That's the kind of girl she was
Taken away so young, Taken away without a warning
I know you and you are here, In every day we live
I know her and she's here, I can feel her when I sing
Hey Laura where are you now, Are you far away form here
I don't think so. I think you are here, taking our tears away

Cut and Paste

One of my reader commented on my 'cut and paste' post lately. He/She was expecting more of my original postings instead of cross linked articles and other blogger posts.

In my defence, I tried to wriggle out by saying, "sometimes those posts are better the way it is than I would have written and also as guides to the style of posting I would have liked mine to be". Anyway, the current blogging mental block is preventing me from writing other than the technical subjects I am doing nowadays.

Did I get away with it? Fat chance!!!

Part of my current job is to decipher the incoming information, disseminate it to right parties, compile feedback and provide responses or formulate course of actions to be taken on issues arising from the original information. However problems would be compounded whenever the original information is blurry or misrepresented, thus would caused the subsequent responses way off targets. Tell me how would I approach and resolve an urgent and highly sensitive and costly issue based on information I received very late.

I am going to give you an example below: (original communique, no editing)
------
Subject: Project Carried On
Regarding the above subject and after checking the project by our department engineer's and regarding the clear non-obligation from your work side towards Local Order #3 regarding organizing the building works in this country and it as follows:
First: There is very bad handy making in executing all columns and slabs which causing these technical bugs which reduce the designing ability of columns as follows:
1-Honeycomb widely found in most structure elements.
2-There is sway in most columns.
3-Columns not located on vertical axis & there is horizontal displacement for most columns.
4-The columns on the slab perimeter are shifted outside by 10cm.
5-Columns sections are not organized at the casting expansion which result in non-homogeneous in casted concrete.
6-No enough supporting for some columns which causing swelling in some columns ans non-regular of prismatic cross section.
7-Bugs were found in the covered protection ply.
8-Project system interactions are not valid.
As a result the following are requested from you:
1-Apply technical suggestions to recover the mentioned bugs.
2-Present promise concerning non repeating these bugs again.
3-Pay fin (100,000.00) before noon today.
And in case of no obligation from your side the necessary procedures will be taken against you.
------

Well, I just could tell you that we only managed to pay the 100,000 penalty (fin?) by noon yesterday. Now to find those BUGS....

I don't think I did well with this post

Came across this entry in The Star Blog;

The Star Online: View Post

I don't think I did well with this post

Posted by: thejason

Are you a student who is always getting weird alphabets as your final grades?Do you think F stands for Fantastic?Are your marks always less than 0?Do you find it difficult to circle the correct answer on a multiple choice question paper?Do you find it difficult to circle?Do you want to get the best out of your edjukashun? If you answered with an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’ to any of the above questions,then pay attention for this article will give you some hard,honest advice on how to really get the best out of exams. Let’s face it,exams are tough.But if you are always finding yourself being stressed over exams and actually feel physical pain when an exam looms near,take a moment to be grateful.Grateful that at least you have the opportunity to actually HAVE exams.Be grateful that you are part of an education system that annually churns out redundant degree-holders in courses that were only relevant in the Stone Age.Be thankful that after many years of sweat,tears and studying,you will come out of this experience all geared up and ready to be retrenched during the next economic crisis.Do you want to be like those dropouts who never finished university,never had a degree to their name and were forced to call upon their creativity and resourcefulness and ventured into business or entrepreneurship and then making millions of ringgit?Do you? I thought so.Now listen up. Many a scholar do not know this,but to be truly successful,you have to adhere to a secret code of conduct when dealing with exams.Only the best and the brightest know of this mysterious mythical code and now,YOU will have access to it.It is a bunch of unspoken rules,each one draconian in nature but innately powerful in turning the tides of the cosmos to your favour.The sum of all the rules is called : - The Law of the Exams In preparation for the upcoming exams,you must of course,study your butt off until it actually develops a series of purple rashes on top of a series of red blisters.You must study as if the Devil is behind you, with a 6-ft pitchfork ready to sodomize you the instant you slack off.Sleep 2 hours a day.Abandon all social life,ye who art sitting for exams.Eat sparingly,for munching time takes up cramming time.Your books are extensions of your eyeballs.Your books cannot leave your eyes,in the same way your love handles and fat thighs cannot leave you. But that is not the essence of The Law.You already know you have to study hard.The trick behind it is to never admit you are studying hard..That’s right.Students who score A ++++ in all their exams,major,minor or even monthly, will never ever say they are studying hard.Heck,they won’t even admit they are studying.Here is a typical application of this rule : - Background – Ah Chong has been studying 17 hours a day for the past few weeks in preparation for an exam next week.He has covered all the relevant material 30 times over and just for kicks,he has even covered the irrelevant material “just in case”.He has flipped so many pages that facts and figures are imprinted on his fingernails.He has absorbed his textbooks so thoroughly that he can recite long paragraphs of information on cue.Backwards.In his sleep.On a few occasions,he has actually called up the authors of several textbooks and reprimanded them for slight mistakes in their presentation of the subject at hand.The constant rubbing of his elbows against his wooden table have produced two indentations which will soon become actual holes.He has giving up vital tasks like showering and defecating to free up more time to study. Muthu – So Chong,how long you studied last night? Chong – Aiyoh I didn’t study at all lar!I haven’t even started reading the first few chapters! Muthu – Hah?Really ah? Chong – Yalah…somemore I don’t understand all the concepts that Mrs. Goh thought us. And when I try to study ah,everything also cannot masuk!! Muthu – Eh don’t stress brother!Tell you what,let’s go mamak tonight.I belanja! Chong – Errr..mamak ah?I er…cannot la…because the… Muthu – Aiyah why so shy?You yourself say you never study what! Chong – I know…but tomorrow night…cos…a bit too.. Muthu – Ah okaylah okaylah no need la. They then part ways.Ah Chong returns to his books,and Muthu also returns to his books,for he too has been studying as hard as Ah Chong and played up the whole mamak routine to fish out information on his enemy…whoops,I mean…friend’s progress.Confident that his friend has been slacking,Muthu decides to actually bathe and sleep an extra hour,bringing the grand total of hours he will sleep tonight to : One. This brings me to the next rule of war.Always ascertain the progress of fellow exam-sitters.This can be done simply and discreetly by proclaiming loudly that you can’t grasp a certain concept or that you are unable to memorize key elements of a chapter.Of course,at this point you are lying shamelessly,as you by now have not only grasped everything that is to grasp,but have crushed them into fine powder and can actually build a small sandcastle with all that powder.Be alert as to who offers you help,those are the ones that will be a threat.When a friend of yours offers competent help in answering all your fake queries and thoroughly satisfies all your fake academic inadequacies,thank him by patting his back with the sharp end of a knife or by offering him cyanide in the guise of some delicious soup.Have you heard about cases of school canteen poisoning?Yes,your daily newspaper can give you some good ideas too. Thirdly,one must always guard oneself from practitioners of the second rule.You must not give your own progress away,for that will only embolden your friends to study harder and become better at the subject matter which you previously have understood so well.So,my young Padawan,the third rule is, Only offer help to weaker students.Why?Because weaker students don’t give a hoot if you do better than them,they are just thankful they are getting Cs and Ds.Weaker students will not affect your position in the official Top 10 ranking in your class if they score an extra mark here or there.But,if you commit the cardinal sin of helping your fellow Top 10 friends,then behold, out of your own effort, you will be demoted down the hierarchy of greatness in less time than it took you to help your friends.Do not voluntarily become academically inferior.Rest assured,your friends are working hard day,night and twilight to do exactly that. The exam is approaching near,and with the impending inevitability,you must possess about you an aura of pathetic incompetency.To do this,always wail things like , “Aiyoh die la die la die la exam coming and I haven’t touched a single thing!!!” or the always classic , “ Oh my gawd no more time already!I played games too much,and now I cant finish this chapter and that chapter!”.Facial expressions and body language are of paramount importance.You can alternate between blankness to sheer depression leading to panic and fear.Feign an epileptic seizure or two.Faint every once in a while.This will make your act more convincing.Again,the idea behind this is to ensure that your friends lay down their guard and assume you won’t be a thorn in their side in this particular exam.So remember, always appear as if you dread the exams. Then comes the actual exam.You sit the exam,you do your best,you say a small prayer and pass your exam paper to the invigilator.It’s all over.But WAIT!If you want to be a truly successful student,it does not stop at just writing down your essays exuberantly or circling the correct answers on a sheet.You may think now that your papers are passed up,theres nothing you can do to physically change your wrong answers or to improve your correct ones. That is not the case. This is perhaps the most crucial phase of exam-taking.The time when your exam lies in a plane of suspension,a state of limbo.You think your exam papers are sitting at your teachers’ desks,waiting to be corrected with red pens and computers? That is not the case. No one knows for sure where exactly your papers will be at this point.Some have speculated that they mysteriously disappear into the night and appear the next morning all marked and ready to be handed back.The teachers are already in the know,and they act as mere mediums to a higher power that governs your grades.We shall go with the most accepted theory that all exam papers are transported into the 4th Dimension,where they are arranged on a massive pile in front of a gigantic,universal concentration of endless energy.This is known as The Cosmic One and its purpose is to mark your paper.It is not an objective evaluation.Instead,several factors are weighed into consideration. How does it do so?It works on a basis of cause and effect,karma,yin and yang,the delicate balace between morality and spirituality.For example,if a student upon completion of an exam states that he is confident he did well in the exam,he will upset the cosmic balance and piss The Cosmic One off.This will cause his exam results to be significantly lower than his confident expectations.It wont matter whether he actually felt confident of the exam or not,as long as he verbalizes it,the cosmic rule will be flagrantly broken.So,the rule here is this, you must NEVER admit that you think you will score well. Instead,you must always say that for this particular exam,you are definitely going to fail miserably.Research has shown that the more a student denies that he performed excellently,the higher his marks will be at the end.It does not MATTER if you actually know you are going to score 780%,you MUST NOT SAY IT OUT LOUD.Remember,the Cosmic One is very unforgiving. You are by now well equipped to face the harsh uncertainties of exams.Go with peace,my friends.Study the rules and learn them by heart.Apply them daily.Do not merely understand the rules,but live through them as if they are organic,as if they have taken over you and are now part of your personality,your very existence.Do all the above,and you can finally say with absolute and utter confidence that you will do extremely well in your exams. But for heaven sakes,don’t.

How to judge a person's REAL character

I am posting this blog entry from Freelunch 2020

Watch how he/she treats/talks to a nobody.
That's what and who he/she really is.
And remember that cos that's what they will turn into under stress.
People become themselves under pressure.
Try it.
Push their buttons and see how they react.
That will reveal more than all the lovely chit-chat and back-rubbing during good times.
Find out as soon as possible.
So you won't be fooled by wolves in sheep's clothing.
Especially in politics.
Everyone is a great actor/actress.
Especially if they have something to gain.
But when you have nothing to offer yet he treats you like a decent human being.
That's a decent person and you should cherish that friendship.

Happy Birthday

Today, 40 years ago, I was born.
I have been reminiscing the many 'commas and punctuations' in my life since I could remember. Being that lone, naughty (according to my mom!) little kid, until the arrival of my first baby brother at 9 (he passed away before reaching one when I was 10); entering primary school at 7; going to boarding school at 13; came back home mentally scarred at 14 (another statistics of boarding school ragging); making amends by going to another boarding school at 16; achieving some kind of teenage independence by 18; entering college life after that, meeting my future significant other along the way; went to the States at 20; getting married at 23; start working and my first daughter at 24, first son at 26, second daughter at 28, third daughter at 29, second son at 31; finally moved to a new home at 33 and at the same time resigning from my first job; landed my most satisfying job at 35; get my hands into self employment at 37 before going away overseas at 38; and the last 2 years of self discoveries.
I am still discovering myself, writing and composing new paragraphs from the endless chapters in my life book.

Valentine

Kickdefella

Well, its not everyday you can find a grown man cry. Nor do you see the mushy part of a macho one. However, its thru these rare glimpse of a man's past do we see the future. We may not know each other personally Sheih but don't sue me for plagiarism okay... (till the time I could emulate writings such as these...)
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Being Sheih is not easy. My great great grandpa was traced back to Bukhara
Desert and please I beg you not to ask me where it is. My arwah father used to show me the map but I always took it for granted that I always can refer to him in regards of the geography.

Somewhere along the line, one Syed by the name of Karim sailed from India to
Penang with his Indian wife. Syed Karim AlBukhary later settled down in Klang. He is the father of my grandpa, whom later took a job in the Kota Bharu General Hospital where he soon became a legend. He was known as Abiq Razak. Fierce but wise.

The trishaw peddlers in Kota Bharu always shared with me their encounter with Abiq Razak who was a dresser. They said, if you meet Abiq Razak, you can be cured just by hearing his lecture on how to live a hygienic life. To be honest, I knew my grandpa well, he will scream at you and your fever will run away.

When Abiq Razak moves to Kota Bharu, my father is still very young. As Abiq Razak was a good man, everybody would love to send his or her children to stay at his house. One lucky kid, was my mother.

She suffered a tragic life. Her mother and her father died 12 hours apart due to typhoid. The authority burned down her house. My mother and her siblings had to be separated. Two were sent to remote part known as Kuala Krai (this is in the late forties) and two other to an island.

As my mother recalled, my father would always ask my mother to wash his shirt and said, when you grow up, I shall marry you. One day my father disappeared after an argument with my grandpa. Only for him to return two years later as a handsome young man in military uniform. My dad kept his promise. He married my mother and took her almost everywhere in Malaya and Malaysia. My father served the military for almost thirty years. Life was hard for both of them.

Early in their marriage, my father had to fight the Emergency. Towards the end of their marriage, my father struggling fighting the Insurgency.

When I was two years old, my father was posted to South Vietnam as the Military Attaché. I had to admit, there were many flying saucers in our house. I used to watch the saucers flying and our dinner ended hitting the ceiling. My mum cried a lot. We cried a lot. My dad cried a lot too, just that he did his crying deep inside.

Life is difficult for my dad because he is a man who would stand his ground. The military top men did not like it. Once he and his platoon was ambushed in Rajang River. Half of his platoon was mutilated by the Northern Kalimantan bandits. The ambushed was meant for my father but only for him to become a spectator because his longboat took a detour to check on an intelligent report of a sighting at nearby village.

Arrived at the scene, moments later, my father took a chase. He went after the bandits although he was ordered to stay behind. He was the Commanding Officer of The First Renjer not a spectator.

However, the military believed that he serves the country better by being a spectator rather than being a trophy for the bandit. After that incident, he was ordered back to MINDEF.

My father, even until his last breath, remains a fighter not an ass kisser.

At the end of his military career, he was left fighting for his pride. When others get to enjoy the snow in Europe, he was sent to enjoy the war-torn Saigon. His Camelot crumbled so as ours, and soon we ceased to become a family anymore.

The five years old me, sat on my mum’s lap when my father sign the divorce paper. This was his word, you can have my pension, and you can have the kids, just give me my life.

I did not cry, only many years later I realized the effect of the incident. Then I cried a lot. Not having a father in 1970’s was a big deal. My schoolmate teased me because my report book signed by my mum. They laughed at me because only my mum attended our sports day. They took every opportunity to make me think that I am not normal just because they have their dad and I did not.

I grew up determined not to be the father I hardly knew.

The last ten years of his life, my father was left fighting to love me. Unfortunately, I am a father myself and struggling to make a living. I find no time for him. He would call me every alternate day. Some time I answered it, most of the time, I just ignore it.

When I answer it, this shall be our routine conversation,

“Hi Azidi, how are you” “I’m fine Bah, thank you”. Silence. “Apa cerita Azidi?” “Tak da cerita Bah”. Silence. “How are the kids doing?” “They are fine Bah, thank you”. Silence. “How is my lovely daughter in law?” “Lovely as ever Bah, thank you”. “Azidi, why don’t you bring them over for makan-makan this weekend?” “Sorry Bah, we already had other plan, thank you”.

After more silent, my father will always said this “Any way, drop by anytime okay” “I shall Bah” “Okay Azidi, I love you” “Me too Bah, bye”.

When I narrated this incident in my class, the whole class started to tears.

My father suffered a heart attack when I was watching Suzuka Formula One Grand Prix in 2001. He died two weeks before Suzuka Formula One Grand Prix, two seasons later.

I bathed him and performed the last rites.

Almost a year later, while scrolling the phone numbers in my mobile, I came across his number. I do not know for what reason I actually called that number. Nevertheless, that day, I surely did. How I wished he is still alive and I will give him the chance to be my father.

Damn!

Did I say how determined am I, not wanting to be him?

Today, as I walked with Bro Rocky, Jeff, Sis Marina, Nuraina, Bro Monsterball, Mulah, Sang Kelembai, David Beckham, Zorro, Shanghai Stephens, Kuda Ranggi and many more, the memory of a father, I ceased to have struck me.

As I watched Rocky and Nuraina working on their laptop in Austen Chase, I asked myself, am I a spectator or am I a fighter? I know for sure, I am not an ass kisser.

Pak Lah and Khairy will think I serve my country better by being a spectator. I wonder what my father would think if ever I have him on the other line.

“Hi Bah, how are you?” “I’m fine Azidi… where have you been?” “I was away Bah, forgive me, but now I’m back, and I love you” “I know Azidi, I know, I love you too” “Bah, may I ask you for an advice?”

I know for sure, he who chooses to live his life as a fighter will have a good piece of advice for me.

AGI IDUP AGI NGELABAN

KICK DE BUGGER!!!!!!!

Ignorance

Eerily similar to what I am going through in this organization.

Compromise

I usually browse this site to laugh at myself.

2007

I hope its not too late to wish a Happy New Year 2007. As I looked back to the year, one thing that really dawn on me is is how I seemed to have abandoned my blog. Reasons aplenty and I wouldn't bother my dearest readers with the details. Sufficient to say, I was pretty much preoccupied then. By right it should have been a wonderful thing to write about those preoccupations but its too personal to share. Maybe if the time is right, I might let you in.

Its rather cold here this time of the year. I had almost unending roller coaster rides both physically and mentally in a space of few weeks. Exhausting you might say! Yeah sort of! Now that it seemed to have stationed, its time to unbuckle and step out. But the flu bugs got on to me. I remember almost about the same time last year that I was bedridden for few days. I guess with a drop of TLC, I could get over it again this time around.

PS.

Got back from lunch with my mates. We almost had the same kind of menu but why I was the one being charged higher than the rest. As usual I am only guessing and keeping it to myself. Accepting the fact that I have never been to this place before and they are regulars (sort of! maybe)

Oh. I came across this song in my iTune list.

If You Walked Away-David Pomeranz

If you walked away from me today

I am sure that who you were going to

Would feel the way that I do

Baby it's you

Who fills up my life

And if you walked away from me today

Never to return until the journey

That you made had ended

I know you planned it

Just to fill up my life

Fill my life

Till now

No one's been able to show me how

To fill my life like you

You are the woman who taught me to

And if you walked away from me today

It wouldn't change a thing

I'd still be singing celebration of you

Baby you do

You fill up my life

Fill my life

Now I know

What it feels like to overflow

Until my life is through

All I'm here for is here for you

Fill my life

Now I see

What it feels like to be set free

Until my life is through

All I'm here for

Is here for you

Just for you

Only for you

Hey hey...oooo