whatever the occupation that you have, be proud of it

I was driving to gym today and someone caught my eye. He wasn't anybody good looking but he caught my attention. He was an employee of MPPJ (Petaling Jaya's City Council). Didn't manage to take a photo because my phone was in my pocket.

He was sweeping the sidewalk of the highway. His scrawny hands were gripping to the broom as if his life depended on it. He swept the sidewalk patiently and diligently. I had the opportunity to witness this because I was waiting for the traffic light to turn green. You can see his sweat gleaming on his forehead. There and then, I thought to myself: This is one guy whose occupation isn't looked up upon by anyone. People look at them and think "They put themselves in this situation". How not true (if indeed they thought so). They may not be able to help themselves due to many factors both internal and external. I shall not dwell so much on that.

If the job you have is a legitimate one, then you should be proud, although you don't earn a lot. So today, tell yourself that you're proud of your job. No matter how small, it gives impact. Come back to this guy, imagine if we don't have people like him to ensure that our highways are easy on the eye? It would be a disgrace. So there you go; be proud of your job.

This reminds me of something that happened a few months ago in Bangsar Baru when I was having my coffee at Starbucks. It tugged my heart-string ever so strongly and I remember the feeling until today.

I was seated facing the entrance of Starbucks. Doing my work (I sent my car for service in Bangsar and so, I took a couple of hours off from work). About after 40 mins being there, an aunty came in to ask for money. She was, in not so good a word, a beggar. We shall refer to her as the old lady. Calling her a beggar seems so derogatory. She didn't even manage to take 3 steps into the premise and the Starbucks barista shoo-ed her away. I saw the whole ordeal. She was pushing the old lady out of the premise and she had no choice but to back up, almost tripping over the step.

Witnessing the whole thing, I quickly stood up and ran towards her. She was already one shop away. I pull out a RM10 note from my wallet and handed it to her. She wasn't expecting it and she held my hand so tightly, thanking me profusely. Her grip wasn't firm but you can definitely feel that she was very happy. To us, RM10 may not mean much, but to her, it may be her many meals. When I saw her expression, I was so touched. I quickly pulled away and went back to my work in Starbucks.

Life's like that...

Pimping JohnTeh.com???

I am secretly thinking of doing a website for JohnTeh.com proper. It will have links to the things that I like i.e. electronics, travel and etc. Something informative. But I am mindful of the maintenance and time that I have to put in. It's tiresome, sometimes. Perhaps when I have more time; it shall be my hobby. Is it too lame?

Barack Obama's Election Speech. It's Never OLD

I was browsing YouTube just now and I found Barack Obama's Election Speech @Grant Park, Chicago. I've watched this speech many times and yet I wasn't bored when I watched it again, earlier. Like many have so correctly said it, this speech will be remembered for a long time.

Spending Unnecessarily NO MORE! Time to be practical!

Hmm, it's the month of Mega Sale in Malaysia. For those living in Kuala Lumpur, that means major shopping spree. For me, however, I must refrain from spending unnecessarily. I must not spend like how I spend previously... unnecessarily. LOL. BUT, it never hurts to just list down the things I want to get for myself (assuming that I don't have to exercise self-control):-

(the list is in no particular order)

Blackberry Tour (I've given up on iPhone because it's not that practical for me with my flat & wide fingers and etc. Blackberry is still my "thing")

iPod headphone (good one with controls)

Many clothes (grin)

Many pants (grin)

iPod Classic 120GB (due to its huge capacity and it could also double up as a HDD. One very important person once told me it's all about the capacity)

Stuff to pimp my house and my room further

I could get all the above but then I ask myself "Why?" and had decided that I should put the money to better use i.e. save it. I am a changed man, due to many reasons and circumstances. Tehehe. I believe this is a change for the better. Right? (say yes)

Selamat Berpuasa

The fasting month is here again. I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all my Muslim friends (and all Muslims)

Selamat Berpuasa

Finale | Fizzy Milk | Hurricane BILL

Today was the 3rd round (as well as the final round of my department's full-day meeting). You might be wondering why would the whole department go for a full-day meeting... 3 times. Let me give you a short story here.

"We are restructuring our job descriptions. Full expose on everyone's functions in the department/company. We laid it out bare and integrate our functions with each other. Talk about synergy..."

There, that was my short story on the subject matter.

On to other interesting stuff. There's nothing interesting about today besides the above.

Am not going to talk about the Malaysian politics. Too much for me to handle, this bunch of jokers.

Oh ok... let's talk about Coca-cola's new FIZZY MILK. Yeah, they are testing it in the market now (in the States only). It's called Vio. I watched this in CNN when I was running in the gym. (Yeah, I watch CNN or CNBC when I'm in the gym and nothing else. I know I sound old but it's my preference). So, imagine carbonated milk. Wouldn't it be funky?

Also, finally the world named a hurricane with a guy's name: Hurricane BILL. It's about time. Or they have done this before but I was ignorant? I shall wait for my name to be used for a hurricane: Hurricane JOHN... Ooooooo (tremors...). HOT!

h.a.p.p.y.

Wow, I don't know what happened today. I was so happy, right from the morning till now. Very rare. My usual self would be very calm, very poised and very cool. Today, I was just "wwwoooooo.... oooo.... jeng jeng jeng" kinda feeling.

Thanks to this happy feeling, I got many things done. So, positive energy helps. Must practise this from now onwards.

Let's play back what happened today:-

I went to the mechanic to get my car fixed @Damansara Jaya.

I had breakfast with Darryl. Had dim sum @Damansara Jaya. Such a fantastic breakfast.

I went to work (feeling happy already).

I was @work.

I got many things done. Now they are under review by the team (felt super happy).

I had pasta for lunch. Was very hot. Sweaty.

I continued working. Got more things done (ecstatic).

I walked around in the office. Talked. Joked. Laughed.

Mechanic called to say the car was ready (happy).

I got off work around 8pm. Went to get my car. Raining. Cool weather. (felt so relaxed after a very fulfilling day).

I saw my car. Pristine. Praised the mechanic. (I knew my day was a great one then).

I was home. I reflected on the happenings today. I knew what kick started my happy day; the breakfast!

Taken away (a subdued thought)

Today while I was at work, I had a very unusual thought. I was thinking about how would one feel about losing everything that one had worked so hard for.

"Losing" may be too strong a word but I can't really think of another word to replace it.

All of us were raised with a certain set of values that our parents had so successfully hammered into our young fragile brains. One of which is to achieve. As we grow and develop ourselves, we strive to generate income and accumulate wealth. We're still young...

... SUDDENLY, all those that we hold dear and all those plans that we have; career advancement, wealth accumulation, family holidays, disappear within seconds... Taken away! We get bad news about our health e.g. diagnosed with cancer. We get hit by vehicles. We just collapse... (without warning!).

How would we take it? Leaving the world so untimely. Being incapacitated. So many things unaccomplished. So many things unsaid.

So many things, so many people, so many colours in this world that we have yet to see. So many...

Therefore, one should live. Every moment that we have, we don't leave things unsaid and undone. We should find joy in the most unfortunate of circumstances. It's not easy to live to the max given the constraints that we have... but we can definitely make the most out of it.

...of Scholarship recipients and obligations...

I was so disappointed today when I saw the newspaper. I know A(H1N1) is like "the" thing to talk about nowadays, but to me, education and funding is as equally important as the influenza. For one, it is here to stay whilst the influenza will go away, someday (I hope).

Petronas published a full 2-page list of its fund recipients (via scholarship and etc). This published list wasn't any kind of positive recognition of the recipients' success. It was because they didn't honour the conditions in the agreement. I am against such behaviour/character. Why are we taking people's money without fulfilling the obligations set forth in the agreement?

A little bit of history of my own education background. I went to a Sekolah Kebangsaan when I was in the primary school. It was not a big nor popular school. Thereafter, I went to Penang Free School for my secondary education, all the way to 6th form. Throughout my secondary education, the Government had funded my education (most of it). I was thankful.

Then it was time to start applying for admission into universities. I was accepted to the following Universities: London School of Economics (LSE), University College London (UCL), University of Melbourne (UniMel), Hong Kong University (HKU), National University of Singapore (NUS) and a few other sought-after universities. Alas, I didn't get the funds on time due to timing and other constraints. I had to look at local universities. I was finally accepted into Universiti Malaya (UM) to pursue Economics. My current company (Malaysian Re) funded for my entire tertiary education, including living allowances. I had a comfortable education thanks to them.

I graduated in the top 5% of my class with an above average CGPA (above 3.80/4.00). I had several job offers which I decided not to take up because I wanted to service my obligations towards my company. I started my work with very low enthusiasm. I hated my job (at first). Then a few people told me to wait it out. Things would turn out great! I waited. 1 year went by... I had job offers from top-notch investment firms in Singapore and KL as well as super cool consulting firms. I turned all of them down. My family didn't know but perhaps now they do. I also informed Shell to close my application file citing that I don't need it to be opened anymore. All these were due to my waiting. I like what I do now and can't really imagine working any other job.

It has been 3 years. I am still as passionate about my job. So what I am trying to say here is that graduates always think there're greener pastures out there. Having taken people's money for their education, they thought they could just move on without providing any form of notice to their "benefactor" and had not even considered paying back. Shame on them.

I urge all of you to fulfill your contract's obligations (minimal requirement). It says a lot of a person that would stick to their obligations. At least, you show that you're responsible. They spend the money on you because they see potential in you and you just turn your back upon graduation. I do know that many of you out there do not share my view but this is my principle. To each his own...

Effective tonight...

Effective tonight, no entries from www.johnteh.com will be exported to Facebook. I am disabling the export function. To read about the going-ons in my life and the people around me, please visit www.johnteh.com.

I'm doing a few changes and this is one of them. Thanks for reading from Facebook. Goodbye.

Stark Difference

I was home... looking at my Mac. Earlier today, I was in the office and after some intense session looking at numbers, I decided to pay my blog a visit.

To my surprise, the colours on a PC is so bad compared to Mac. Mac's colours are so real. PC's a bit blek. You wouldn't like it. I even look better (sorry, I just had to say it) on a Mac. Mac brings out the "uuumph" in the pictures by making it look more real!

You only live once. You must give compliments to yourself as many times as you could, without sounding narcissistic. There you go....

Monday Heat

Oh my shitty crap... the office's central air-conditioner was turned on just a moment ago. I'm still feeling stuffy amid the cooling air that's circulating. I don't know where to start with my work. What I want to do now is just get the day over with so that I could go home and sleep OR have an enjoyable dinner... Perhaps this is what people call "Monday Blue".

I thought maybe I could check my personal e-mails but I've checked my inboxes before coming to work. So basically what's left to be done is work. Sigh... Lets hope that as the day progresses, things get interesting, as they always do.

I want my Friday. I want my weekend. I want...

Changes

I've made several changes to my blog. Effective today, it will no longer be called "Quill Of A Singleton". It's simply called "I'm JOHN TEH" and I find that this reflects me better. After all, it's all about me and the people around me; my STORIES.

Access it at www.johnteh.com

Screw IT

Yeah... screw it! (I don't know why I'm saying this... Just a burst of expression. Haha. SCREW IT!)

Tired

Today, I attended another meeting that lasted the whole day.

Hmmm, actually I have nothing to write tonight because nothing much happened except the meeting. LOL. So I'll just end here. Goodnight.

of work and life balance

Now that I know what's wrong with me in terms of my health, I need to take some measures to avoid landing on the hospital bed (touch wood).

Effective August 2009, I will TRY not to bring work home, unless it's really necessary like last quarter of the year, first quarter of the year and occasionally in between for projects and etc.

I will eat well, I will sleep well (highly unlikely) and I will live well. I will travel more. I will go on holidays more.

With all the deaths in the news, one can never take it for granted that one will live until 80++ years old.

Life experiences alter the way we think and the way we perceive things. My perception in life changed a few weeks ago. I used to put a high weightage on future i.e. 80% future and 20% present. Now, it's almost the other way round.

FUNERAL

This is one short film directed by the late Yasmin Ahmad for the Singaporean Government that I like immensely. The message so clear, so meaningful and so well produced. I can't say enough good things about it. It's just good. I shed a tear (well, I cried actually), watching this video.