The Older The Wiser

She is a year older today (I think I'm not allowed to reveal her real age).

Happy birthday, Pae. I know you will get what you aim for this year. It's an honour to have you as our business partner.

This is done on purpose in order to protect her identity. (Hahah ok this is the only pic of her that I keep. The rare occasion when she wears baju kurung...)

Learn, Reflect and Retain...

Yes, there are many types of people. I know many types of people. But today I want to write about one type of people. The type that does not have the urge or initiative to learn and if they do learn that morning, they'll forget when evening comes.

I tell you, this type is one of the worst kinds. They'll ask your help, through all kinds of channels ie emails, phone calls, smses, shouting across the room, and you gave them what they wanted, oh yes, they'll thank you. But give them a day or two and they'll email, call, sms or shout to you across the room asking the same question as the day before. And you answered. No, of course, it doesn't end there. It goes on and on, the same thing all over.

You really want to help, because you believe in karma. You help people now, someday they'll return the favour when you most need it. However, you just cannot help but to wonder, why aren't these people learn, reflect and retain? Why the need to go over the same ritual asking help about the same thing over and over? Why are they wasting their wonderful mind and give in to laziness?

I see this pattern prevalent in many people, especially among the people I work with. Yes, it is sad, unfortunately it is very true. The next time this happens, I'll make sure they'll learn and retain what they have learn. It is not for my satisfaction, it is for their own good.

Always Older Than Me...

Happy Birthday, Amir!
May your dreams come true this year (And GET THAT MURANO!). Amin.

But I'll Manage...

I am angry. I am always angry. Many things make me angry. When people make excuses, lame excuses, I am angry. When people assume they know better about me, I am angry.

When people preach about unity, honesty and integrity, but they don't practice what they preach, I am angry. When people pretend they care, but the truth is they only care about how much they'll get, I am angry. When critics critic with the intention of pushing me to the limit so they can take control over me, I am angry.

When people put the blame on one person, saying they're at the disadvantage because of that one person's alleged inability to do things, I am angry. When people only talk about how THEY feel, instead of listening to how others feel, I am angry. When people talk incessantly about the same thing, I am angry.

I AM angry. I am ALWAYS angry. But I AM also lucky, to have the RIGHT mind and the RIGHT anger management coordinator.

Just don't let me get my sword when I'm angry...

A Personal Business

It's not personal, it's business. I didn't pay much attention to this saying, although Donald Trump always seems to say it with conviction. Frankly speaking, I don't care about Donald Trump. I know a lot of people are inspired by his success but I just don't like his face. Do you notice that he seems to frown all the time? He seems uptight to me. Now, picture Richard Branson.

Ok, I'm digressing. What I really want to say is, business is always personal. When I first made my decision to start this business, my family was on the top list of reasons I start. Family IS personal. And for someone like Mr Trump, who's adored by thousands of people to say it's not, is just not right. We have the right to choice. I trust you will use your best judgement to choose whom to look up to.

What good will it brings when in the course of you expanding your business, many people suffer? You may feel you don't have to answer to them for whatever decisions you've made. But will you want to answer to yourself for whatever you've done? After all the worst critics lies within you. There'll come a time in your life that you will think back all your past deeds and misdeeds. And by then, it'll all be too late.

So my point is, always use your heart and of course your head in whatever you do, for without either one, success will have no meaning.

The Tie That Binds…

We drove all the way to Seremban to fetch adik and bring him to Shah Alam. Honestly, I didn't have the energy to go this morning, woke up all cranky. But the sms from Amir made me dragged my self up. After all, it was my idea to go see Adik.

Adik is a man with few words. He wasn't always like that. When he was small, we had to tell him to shut up. But I guess something happened along the way that made him the man he is now. Along the years, we've grown farther apart.

Then the business came. It somehow change the atmosphere between us. Though he wasn't as lively as when he was young, he's much more approachable now. Amir plays a vital part in this transition. I guess Adik just needed someone to sit down and talk to him, paying attention to what he wants in life.

We still have a long way to go. There are many years to patch up between us. But I know we're going to have a better brother-sister relationship.

The Re-Learning Process

Much of the weekend was spent with my precious ones. Mak took one look at my place & immediately went to work. Yup, she's very hands on & no, I'm not that messy. She just needed something to do.

The seminar at the hotel on Saturday was enlightening as expected. With the exception of the tasteless dinner served there, everything went on as planned. Pae and Esah got all fired up and couldn't wait to launch their own business. Good for them!

Sunday was productive as well. Went to Kajang to meet the mak andam (who's my uni friend). Since I'm a simple person (yes, I'm a self proclaimed 'koboi' - much to my aunts' chagrin) the transactions went on not more than 30 minutes. I just needed to confirm with her the date and the service that I want, but we stayed on for almost two hours.

We all enjoyed the wonderful dish served before us (Amir took half of my sambal sotong). Pae was a great help especially when we talked to Jaya (another friend at another location: Ampang Park). She is learning the ropes quite fast. Good for her!

Together, we are in the process of re-learning…