Fire Garden: The First Blog That I Created in 2006

I started this blog back in 2006. When I looked back, my last post was in 2014.

Why did I create this blog in the first place?

2016 was the final year of my engineering degree. And after 5 years studying, I became worried that I have a bad command in English. I can't speak well, my grammar was broken, and I don't have a medium for me to express my thoughts. During my foundation studies in MMU, I got C for all 3 English subjects. And if I can't communicate in English, I might be losing the opportunity to have a good career.

Looking back at my 2006 post, that was the year that I actively updated my blog. I just don't know the theme of the blog, but I just wrote it because I wanted to improve my English. I maintain it as a public blog so that when I was to write something, I keep myself conscious that I need to write the best that I can because the world will be reading it. And I made the decision to only write in English to support my primary objectives. Yes, until today, I believe it was written in English and it has served that purpose.

My English now is much better as compared to myself 12 years ago. Not even near perfect, but  I believe it is much better. And I credited to so many events that happened in my life. But to me, writing is one of the ways for me to articulate my idea, get clarity of my thoughts and a way to express myself. Nowadays, I use Facebook as my main medium of writing (to the public) and I use Malay, as many people would appreciate my posting if I write in Malay as compared to English.

Today I have many ways of practicing my English. I have many friends internationally that forced me to speak 100% English without a mixture of Malay at all. I have platforms for me to speak, been in so many associations, Toastmasters, also networking with other races. And I am in training business, I just couldn't believe myself that I can deliver a keynote in English and conduct a 2-day programme in English.

I am not sure if I will still be active on this blog, as I have created another blog of www.johanirwan.com which also have not been updated for quite sometimes. But this blog I believe is for me to write about my thoughts without too much intelligent aspect of it or any professional point of view. It is just about me, my life and the thoughts that came to my mind.

Hopefully, even after I passed away, someone will read this blog and look back at my past. They will know that I am terrible at writing with hundred of grammatical error, yet, I am able to speak on an international stage.

Opportunities

Opportunities are everywhere. But just because an opportunity is good for someone doesn't mean it is good for everyone.

I know one takaful agent earn RM150,000 a month. He is the top producer for a takaful brand. That was great business, wasn't it? But i also know thousand others who quit. Doesn't make money, in fact losing money. The key is not about the business. It is about being the best in the things you choose to do. And the one that earn RM150k is not that many, but only the best out of many others.

Who said employee cannot be multi millionaire? One of GLC was paying the GCEO RM9M in 2013 alone. (Read Malaysian Business Megazine to find out who). And this is on top of other benefits as an employee. Again this is the best performer in the industry. And again not many were paid this kind of amount.

Only the best will earn lots of money. And the secret to be the best is to love what you do.

Do you love what you do? Because only those who love what they do will persist.

Feng-shui dan Azizi Ali

1. Saya teringat semasa membaca salah satu buku pelaburan hartanah oleh Azizi Ali bertahun-tahun sudah. Beliau menyentuh sedikit berkenaan Feng-shui.

2. Kata beliau, bukan isu sama ada kita percaya atau tidak berkenaan Feng Shui. Tetapi ianya penting dalam pelaburan hartanah.

3. Bagaimana ianya penting? Kerana hartanah yang kita beli, kita mahu sewakan atau jualkan untung mendapatkan pulangan pendapatan. Orang yang menyewa berkemungkinan mengamalkan Feng-shui dan ia sedikit sebanyak mempengaruhi harga pasaran atas dasar market demand.

4. Oleh yang demikian, kita perlu tahu sedikit sebanyak berkenaan feng-shui untuk memaksimakan pulangan pelaburan.

5. Begitu juga kisahnya dengan rahsia tarikh lahir. Semasa saya mempelajarinya kali pertama dalam seminar rahsia tarikh lahir kendalian Dr. Azizan Osman pada tahun 2010, ramai yang mengkritik tentang kaedah penggunaan tarikh lahir kerana ia mungkin berkait dengan kepercayaan dan tilik nasib.

6. Saya tidak pula mempercayainya secara taksub. Walaubagaimanapun saya mengambil keputusan untuk tidak mendalami ilmu tersebut kerana kontroversi yang mungkin bakal tercetus. Dalam masa yang sama, saya tidak menolak seratus peratus perkara tersebut.

7. Pada bulan lepas, saya dibawa oleh seorang rakan niaga bertemu dengan seorang Dato' untuk diperkenalkan sebagai penceramah.

8. Pertemuan diatur. Saya membentangkan kelayakan serta profil saya sebagai jurulatih, pengalaman lepas, serta beberapa idea tentang kandungan kursus.

9. Setelah mendapat persetujuan tentang beberapa perkara, saya ditanya berkenaan tarikh lahir. Hasil daripada kiraan, saya dikatakan mempunyai bakat tentang komunikasi kerana terdapat tiga kombinasi nombor yang mengatakan antara kekuatan saya adalah pada komunikasi.

10. Dato' tersebut juga mengesyorkan saya untuk fokus pada bidang ini, dan tidak perlu untuk mengeksplorasi bidang-bidang yang lain. Katanya "oil and gas ke apa ke, tak payah. Fokus pada bidang komunikasi."

11. Hasil daripada keputusan tarikh lahir ini, ia lebih meyakinkan Dato' yang membuat keputusan. Surat lantikan juga dikeluarkan dalam beberapa hari. Dan beberapa program bersiri sudah pun dijalankan.

12. Bukan isu sama ada kita percaya atau tidak. Tetapi orang lain mungkin menggunakan beberapa 'tools' untuk menilai kita sebelum memberikan projek, atau mungkin majikan menggunakannya untuk mengambil kita sebagai pekerja.

13. Seperti juga kata Azizi Ali dengan pandangan beliau mengenai Feng Shui.

Syed Mokhtar Albukhary

I have a high Growth Emotional Need. It is typical me to buy so many books because I might think that I can benefits from the content. However, I hardly finish reading book because of so many reasons (or excuses). Yesterday, I bought a book - a biography of Malaysian tycoon, the only bumiputera that makes into the list of top 10 riches man in Malaysia (according to Forbes) for more than a decades. He ranked no. 6 in Malaysia and no. 344 of riches man in the world from the latest Forbes list. This book really interest me and for the first time I managed to read the whole book, cover-to-cover in less than 18 hours.

This book really reveal how Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar started the trading business after skipped his SPM examination because the family could not afford to pay for the examination fees. He is really a genius in doing business and there are some strategies that he used which most of people wont. He did not become rich overnight. He really did it step-by-step from a sole-proprietorship. He has his own principle of doing business since the beginning of his venture.

"It was based on the idea that every business needs two key figures who must work together to succeed: one to run the business, another to manage the finances."

He never do business by his own and always have a partner that will complement. And this principle is true if you look at other giant corporations in the world, most of them started by 2 co-founders.

He went to ups and downs especially during the economic crisis where he lost almost 80% of his net worth.

"The Asian Economic Crisis of 1997 came down hard on me. I was hit by the economic downturn, and it was made worse because I refused to relinquish my own companies as well as those acquired as a bumiputera to settle my debts. It was a question of pride, and I struggled to maintain the dignity of the Malays by not letting go especially of strategic assets. And this cost me RM2.4 billion."

He puts his interest aside and always think about other people, especially the Malays, the country and the less fortunate.  There are a lot of moves that he did which is not financially strategic, but in order maintain the equity of the bumiputera and protecting the assets. He did not trade stocks and make profits when the price when up. But he holds it and add value so that the price will go up which will benefits the other stakeholders.

Syed Mokhtar has a magic touch, even in heavily diversified industries, he always take over the companies that is sick and turn it around to make the companies run in profit. He has done this over-and-over again especially on the 3 corporations that he took over starting from the MMC, PERNAS and DRB-Hicom. He made many of strategic moves which was not advised by his financial advisor, but he made the decision when he look at it as a whole group benefits, instead of only financial aspect. And this move is actually proven in the long run. It is interesting to see the Proton next moves after DRB-Hicom took over. And I wonder what will happened if he took over Malaysian Airlines.

Ali Alabbar once asked: "Your business is so huge, so why are you working so hard?"
Syed Mokhtar answered: "We all need to be strong and successful so we have the ability to help other."
Being a philanthropist, he contribute so much and just enjoyed to do so.

"Whenever I do charity, my heart moves. It is not about corporate social responsibility. It is about caring, something that comes from the heart. My wish is that people with money will help those less fortunate so that the world is more just and fair to all." 

All and all, I felt truly inspired to achieve more success with the leadership, humility and achievement shown by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar after reading this book.

When was the last time you feel inspired?

Marrying at the age of 25

When I give talk about Law of Attraction, I will always give an example of my marriage. When I was 17 or 16, I always made a claim that I am going to marry at the age of 25. While I set the target, I never have any candidate for my future wife in my mind. Why 25? I am not sure, but I justify; because our prophet get married when he was 25. And I am sure that is the best age to fit marriage, at least for male. 

My wedding in June 2007

Guess what happened when I turn 25? I got married. And at that time, most of my friend was not married yet while some percentage married earlier than me. It does not mean good or bad, but the point is, the Law of Attraction work. 

Recently we have a chit-chat with my good friends, Syazly, Jack (Safwan) and BHN participant from Indonesia, Wahyu about marriage. Than I recall back one of my conversation with 1 of my friend. Back then, I was 18 or 19 year-old. I told my friend, Azmil, we should get married at 25 while his opinion 30 should be better. Then I started to argue my point. 

"If we get married at 25, the next year we got our first child. And the first child married at 25, most probability we will be having our first grandchildren at the age of 52. If we got married at 30 and our first child married also at the age of 30, most probably by the age of 62 only we will have the chance to see our first grandchildren. And that assume that the baby born the next year after marriage. And by then, we will be too old and we might not able to see the 5th or 6th grandchildren."

I still remember the reply from Azmil "It's ok if they don't meet me, as long as they know that their grandfather is a Rockstar." (Azmil is our drummer at that time, and he is really talented when it comes to music. And btw, Azmil married at the age of 25, almost the same date with me).

But as I recall the story, it gives some impact to our conversation, especially to Safwan. He started to realize that he needs to prepare on getting married from now. 

While there is no right and wrong answer to this. It depends on every individual value. Some really appreciate their next generation as they are going to continue our legacy. Some might think that they need to achieve 'something' first before getting married. Some might think that it is better to be matured enough before getting married. If the marriage fails, then there is no point of getting marry at early age. However, my advise is to look things at broader perspective and consider the long term impact to us.

Butterflies and Hurricanes

Songs can motivate people. Especially when the lyrics gives some meaning. Different people likes different kind of song, and we need to respect that.



This song provide very good lyrics:

Change everything you are, and everything you were
Your number has been called

Fight the battle has begun, revenge will surely come
Your hardtime are ahead

Best You've got to be the best, you've got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now!

Working With Different Colored Brain

In my life, as an employee I have some difficulties to work with people. Especially my superior. Once in a while, I have a good idea. For example, working in a company where training is part of our bread and butter, I do think that to upgrade the HRDF status of the company is important. We were at class C at that time. What stopping us to upgrade to class B was the TTT. Being a subsidiary of a University, we don't have trainer that parked under our payroll, which is one of the requirement of class B and of course to upgrade to class A we need to have 2 trainers.

Since we don't have any trainers inside the company (we outsource from our parent company most of the time), I proposed to my CEO to send me to the TTT course. I begin to explain why we need this to him. The result - he don't agreed. It is a five days course and there bound to be some problem if I leave the company for 5 days (and I realized how important I am to the company).

Frustrated, I just went back into my room and start talking to other colleagues. They were all agreed with me but somehow the boss just couldn't see.

One day, we have a new head coming onboard. After convincing the same idea to her, she started to see the CEO. Interestingly, the CEO agreed to send me for the 5 days HRDF-TTT course. I was quite surprise. Is it because our new head is a female; easily convinced the male CEO or because of she is a great influencer?

Today we studied Colored Brain. And I noticed that my CEO is a Purple Brained. He just look things into details and always try to find ways to reject our first submission especially on documentation. By knowing this characteristic, I know that he needs a lot of information before he can proceed with any decision. While being a Green Brain, I always talk thing without any structure and jumping here and there. This results to my communication did not match with what his brain is trying to process.

Moving forward - the next time if I were to submit a proposal or asking an approval, I might need to spend more time to feed him with more details and information before asking him to make any decision. This way, it fits to his way of communicating and this can help him to make a decision.

And by the way, from this writing I noticed that I am Green Brained. Do you noticed that?
What is your Boss Brain Color? Call me and I can help you to identify that.

Training: A month full of training activities!

Being in training line is something that I am passionate about. Training can educate people and add value to their live. However, the most important thing is that I have seen people changes from a single training session. It is a changing point to some people's life.

Working in my current company, MMU Cnergy, as a training provider have so many advantages. Nonetheless, I see a lot of point to be improved. We are constantly making change for the better!

Talking about training, I thing this two months are an interesting period. These are some list of training that I will be joining in the next few days:

1. Teaming for Quantum Growth by Lawrence Walter Seminar. I have been working with Dr Lawrence and from testimonial from other people, his training is a total transformation. Using active NLP technique, Dr Lawrence Walter has the unique ability to touch human heart and made the transformation really happened. It does not only change the participants, it also changes the whole culture of the organization. And I am really excited for this training. Training will be on 17th and 18th October 2012.

2. Colored Brain Train-the-trainer certification. I have invested some amount of money to be certified as colored brain practitioner and trainer. Developed by Arthur F. Carmazzi, it is an interesting topic that talk about your brain. How your brain process information and how to communicate with different types of brain color so that we can communicate better. I will elaborate more when I am certified to talk about this. Training will be on 26th - 28th October. (and this is during the Eid celebration)

3. Training Needs Analysis - by PSMB. This is a free subsidized training by HRDF and they are meant for SMEs. SMEs don't have sufficient fund in their HRDF. It is an initiative by PSMB to conduct some free training and without any hesitation I signed up because it can greatly benefit my current job function and my career as well. TNA will actually provide some tools to evaluate whether the training is really needed by an organization or an individual. As you might aware, training require some investment in terms of money and time. And to make sure this two most valuable items is not wasted, a proper TNA will help to identify whether which training should be conducted to minimize competency gap. The training will be on 7th - 8th November 2012.

That were the list of trainings that I am going to attend. Some training that we are organizing and happening this month are:
1. Winnable Relationship and High Impact Presentation (with Dale Carnegie) for TM Government. (8 - 10 October)
2. Talent Assessment (with Leaderonomics) for Malaysian Airports Holdings Berhad. (11 - 12 October)
3. Creative and Critical Thinking for AUO Crystal. (19 - 20 October)
4. Instructional Design Training for University Tun Hussein Onn. (31 Oct - 2 Nov)

These does not count our MMU Toastmasters meeting - which is also part of development programme.

It was an interesting journey in the training business and I am looking forward to have more achievement in this near future!

Hopefully, everybody will be benefited from all of these training programme.