Rojak week...

These past two days (and the previous week too) has been a whirlwind of sort. Endless meetings, discussions, review and appraisal, presentation, classes all vying for your attention. This week for instance, as of today, I have had 6 meetings, 4 discussions, 3 research review, 2 students appraisal, 2 classes and presentation, not to add my basketball training on Monday, canoeing on Tuesday and volleyball this afternoon... and the list will go on and on and on

But then again, I really like it to be like this, always being kept on my toes by my work. It do seems suffocating (to most people, and my colleagues) at times but I do prefer this rather than not having anything to do at all. I'm not the type who could while away their time doing nothing. If that happens, I could easily get sucked into the vast expanse of the web... hahaha. And that, my friend, that tend to happen often.

The rest of the week promises to continue on the same note. Need to process the tickets for the trip to Liepzig and Frankfurt (Jorgie has gotten a bit uneasy), approval for the two projects in May (Singapore and Ipoh), to clarify and resubmit the paperwork for the three big items rejected by Treasury last year, review the research papers sent in by the MSU Masters students and appraisal for MU and MUT intern. Good...

That reminds me, I DO need to do some paperwork for the half a million ringgit systems purchase next AND need to get it signed and submitted in time for the budget meeting tomorrow... and I need to be at Sunway early tomorrow morning.

Whats not to love about my job?

Storm in a teacup

A storm is brewing. It seems that the office is divided in two, one for the Big Boss and the other camp is supposedly rooting for the No.2. A little lesson in history, hmm... to tell you the truth, I can't even remember when does the word 'split' come into effect. I guess what Hitler said is partly true, "If you tell a lie a thousand times, even a lie will seem like the truth..".

Not like the split is purely fiction, some even say that it is inevitable BUT unfortunately, it is playing on everybody's mind and to a certain extent it disrupts the main operations on our outfit. Things goes misplaced, requests fall on deaf ears and sometimes, things never get done. Unfortunately, the work culture in the other division differs slightly from the our division, so it could get frustrating at times. D#@n!

Luckily for us, we have tireless worker who puts everything into perspective and understand the importance of task at hand. We have the people in Admin to bridge the divide and make things happen and more bearable. They are my constant source of reference and they understand our frustration, and together we try to work around the problem. I can't thank you guys (and girls) enough...

Tomorrow the Big Boss wants to meet all officers. Hmm, I wonder what he has in store. As for the split, I'm bracing for the worst and it is yet to be seen.

The favorite one

As I was driving to work, the DJ on the radio was discussing about 'favoritism', be in in office, school or even among family members. Hehehe, it seems like it was a favorite (pun intended) matter of contention for a lot of people, as everybody has some stories to share about it.

We always perceive someone as having a deal better than us. At work, at school, even our own family. The boss prefers someone over the rest of the staff, the teachers do so too. Even some siblings felt that their parent love the other brother/sister more that the other. Maybe rightly so. In some cases there are blatant show of favoritism. But sometimes the line is not so clear.

My friend once quipped that being the middle child means that at times he felt left out. He always feel that the parents shower more love and affection to either the first or the youngest child. Being the first child myself, I don't really see it that way (maybe I'm biased). But then again, I might be wrong. I was given a car by my parents, so did Angah and the youngest one while Uda just got a bike. Hmm... favoritism at work?

Then again, if I discuss the matter with my mum, she would say that Uda's study loan was settled fully by her, while all of us pays our education loan on our own. So who got the raw end of the deal? (Most) parents do not discriminate among their children or favor one over the other. Its just that our perception might be a little bit skewed. We tend to compare, and suddenly we feel we have the shorter end of the stick. Maybe without realizing it, deep down inside we are creatures of envy. End of discussion. Hahaha...

I am forever thankful for all I've ever got in this world, even if I might never fully understand the reason behind it.

Mixed Bag

Today was a mixed bag at work. The day starts on a fast note, with me having a short discussion with the 9 MSU interns in my department just before catching my weekly management meeting (which btw, I foresee will be a loooong one). Need to monitor their progress, with this week being the last week they will be here. No real issues there. Hmm, I wonder whether its really a non-issue or its because they have problem grasping the concept?

The CH meeting was long. Well, we haven't had any meeting for the past 3 weeks with holidays and long absence of TSSP due to work and other commitment. Lots of things need to be trashed out. We started at 0830 and finally finished at 1100. A discussion with TSSP ensued on some equipment, staffing and attachment matter. Glad to get some feedback on them. It does clears up a lot of things. Need to work on Liepzig fast…

PSBC updated me on the Monash projects, then another discussion on the canoe research because PSB9 feels that MU intern did not make sense in his writing. Hahaha... thats a new one. I'm glad to be able to put everything under perspective.

I had an appointment with lecturers from MU at around 1330hrs. Hmm, I wonder why? They seemed like wanting to discuss something with me. Research? Work? Industrial training opportunity? Cheh, it seems that they need me to fill in another evaluation form on the MU intern, with regards to his soft skills.

Supposed to have another discussion with MSU interns at 1400 but it’s a no show by them. Hmm, I wonder if it has something to do with Oleg being here. Joe showed up at 1420 to discuss on tenpin proposed research. I let PSBC to discuss the details with him, and I drop in at some juncture, on and off. Looking back, what he actually wants to do is the same thing that I want to do earlier. Well, it just shows that great mind think alike, hehehe…

Wushu came up next at 1545, with a 3 camera feedback setup and at the same time trying to address some concern of high incidence of ACL injuries to the athletes of late. RedBeast shared maybe I should look into VMO as a cause rather than doing an inverse dynamics calculation of the torque on the knees to find the cause. Hmm, need to read up more on that…

Then IT happens. I have a flat tire. Hahahaha, life does throw a spanner in your plan once in a while

Half a life ago

The picture was taken more than 17 years ago, when me and our rowdy bunch were 17. Looking back, life was much more simpler then. Its either you are the studious type, or the fun type. Me, I was on neither side, not the studious type nor the fun type. A bit of both really. Being in a boarding school, with friends from all over the country really opened my (our) eyes, to the differences of background, upbringing and culture.

My friends from KL are really good in English, while those who originated from the north and the east coast has their own dialect, which is a bit hard to comprehend at first. Our confidence level differs, partly influenced by our earlier education, those from town are seen more urban and , while some who came from the rural area, might find it a bit of a shock.

Being in our (early) teens, other than sports and friends, we start to view the opposite sex in a different light. Relationship blossomed from a seemingly innocent friendship, to sometimes taking a more serious note. Some of us experienced their first love story (cinta monyet kot?), as hormonal changes rules the day. I too was not spared by the love bug. But sometimes, it is better to conceal than to reveal...

Nonetheless, not all is play. We are the chosen few, hailed as the 'creme de la creme', which means academic excellence was the rule of the day. We carry with us on our young shoulder, the expectation of our parents, our people and the nation (hehehe, its a bit too nationalistic, I know). Unfortunately, the burden is too heavy to bear for some of us, and they fall along the way (I know some of my senior did...)

In the five years we were at the boarding school, all of us change, either mentally or physically, most both. I know I did. Along the way, I have seen the best and the worst of people. To some of them, I wonder whether I would ever forgive them for all the things done to me, but I guess life goes on. Most probably, I have forgiven them. 'To err is human, to forgive is divine...'

By the way, can you find me in the above picture?