Communication breakdown...

Do you know how frustrating it is when your colleague and yourself do not speak the same language? That whatever you say is not understood by him, and whatever he says is not understood by you?

It gets nerve wrecking especially during a time of such high tension and difficulties. The project timeline is squeezed to the limit given the limitation faced in getting 2 foreign experts to consult the local team in a fairly new technology. While one of them had good communication aptitude, he had already gone off on another business trip. That leaves the remaining consultant who, unfortunately for some strange reason, has some kind of difficulty understanding simple English or simple explanations of key points during any technical discussion.

This kind of communication breakdown can only serve to disrupt the progress of the project. It jeapordizes the entire project team and has the potential to slow things down. Eventually, left unchecked, this communication breakdown will result in one very pissed foreigner who will vow never again to work with Malaysians.

On the other hand, this can be interpreted as one of the many challenges working in a multinational environment. Communication breakdown is bound to happen, given the fact that there are different nationalities working together under one roof. However, I have personally worked with colleagues from Thailand, Portugal, Indonesia, India, Taiwan and China, and sad to say, this is the first time I am feeling extremely frustrated.

Sometimes I just don't understand...

Why is it so difficult to accept logical explanations?

Why must there be irrational behaviour?

Why are there so many unreasonable people in the world?

Why is it that everytime something bad happens, it's always my fault?

Why???

Stupid banks!

How not to be angry with these stupid banks? Bank Negara raise OPR by 25 basis points. The banks increase the stupid BLR by 0.25%.

And then they make a big fuss out of their increasing FD rates also. The problem is, it didn't increase by 0.25%. Instead, it only increase by a stupid 0.1%. And this is after Bank Negara raised the OPR 3 times, with corresponding increases in BLR! That's BLR 6% --> 6.75% within half a year. And FD? 3% --> 3.1%. Bravo stupid banks of Malaysia!

I'm a fanatic

What would I do that I won't normally do?

Yes, I've been a naughty boy... I tailed a Honda Civic all the way from Jalan Tun Razak until Subang Jaya.

Yes, I'm a fanatic!

Cabinet reshuffle with no major changes...

So the AGM was just over last Sunday. As expected, with the exception of 3 new EXCO members, there were no further changes to the line up.

With this minimal "cabinet reshuffle", I do not forsee any radical changes to the work culture that BGF is used to.

And it is this culture of "everything also I want to do and I must do it my way because it is the way that it has been done all this while" that will eventually bring the organization to a standstill and no further progression.

New toy

The Linksys WRT54G!


Linksys


WRT54G


Linksys is a division of Cisco Systems Inc.


The router unit (front view)


The router unit (back view)


All systems go!

My email address was stolen!

Somebody with NBTD designed a page to capture my password and now I can't access my yahoo email. F@#$%^#$&%

Therefore, please redirect your emails to:
nskhoo AT gmail DOT com
nskhoons AT yahoo DOT com

And if you receive any emails from xerxesxerxes@yahoo.com, please ignore and delete!

Beef ball noodle in Asia Cafe...

... is extremely delicious!

The soup is slightly saltish/soury/pepperish. The dish is loaded with chunks of beef and beef balls. Best noodle to eat with is kuey teow.

It's located near the Western Food stall at Asia Cafe.

And this is how you get into the news!

Check this out...

Not only NST Online carried the story, but theSun as well (Front Page). I'm trying to get a screencap.

NLP...

It's interesting to note HOW someone thinks. Especially if one has knowledge on NLP and the infamous eye-movement modalities.

During a friendly interview session, the interviewer asked me questions which normal interviewers do. About my past challenges, my current strengths, the expectations I have for a career, etc.

And interestingly, everytime I was constructing sentences to answer the questions, I consciously knew that I was shifting my eyes to my upper left (Visual Recall), which according to the NLP literature meant that I was accessing my memories. But here's the cool thing. I was not recalling any answer. I was making those answers up on-the-fly. And logically I would categorize that under Visual Constructed.

Alex pointed out that maybe I was recalling certain words and phrases, or picturing how the word would look like when spelt out. Maybe I was indeed recalling whether or not I have used these phrases in my daily communications (verbal or email).

So, there's another tip for you to look out for when providing answers to your potential interviewers. Look up left :P