Putrajaya Mosque (Happy Labour Day)

First of all Happy Labour Day to all workers around the world (even though you are not really a labour). You all have made a huge contribution on transforming the world.
1st May was a public holiday all over the county. So, I took this opportunity to perform the Friday prayer at Putrajaya Mosque. It was my second time performing my friday prayer inside the mosque, but this time together with my father-in-law and my brother-in-law. Walking about 5 minutes from the parking with an extremely hot weather and entering the mosque with an air-conditioning.

Finish the prayer, there's a bunch of people were crowding in one side of the exit. It was the former prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. I have a few times met him, especially in MMU, when he pays a visit after his retirement, during my convocation and some functions. I was grateful to shake his hand at that moment. He was a strong leader who worked very hard to transform the country, and even the Putrajaya City is also one of his plan during his time as a prime minister.

A few moment before leaving the building, suddenly a guy come and whisper at me, saying.. "Laaa... ingatkan imam besar mana, imam besar hadhari rupanya..".
In my mind, there are two things.
1. Tun never proposed the idea of Islam Hadhari.
2. As I said earlier, he is the one who work on the Putrajaya City, and even the Putrajaya Mosque was also under his project.
Why do these kind of people never thankful or appreciate the person who actually create the idea of the place?
Or if he don't like the idea of Putrajaya, why the hell he was there in the first place?

Robert Kiyosaki Live in Malaysia

Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the best seller "RICH DAD POOR DAD", a book that teaches on financial education. Being 6 years in the New York Times Best Seller list, he is no doubt a great people to seek advice on financial matters. The good news is he's coming to Malaysia this coming to Malaysia next month. And the BEST news is, I am going for the Seminar.

It was 5 years ago, where Robert last visit to Malaysia and give his talk. 5 years passed by, he decided to come back, not by himself, instead his bringing his group or they call them the Rich Dad's Advisors (as you can see from the picture beside you) and his wife Kim Kiyosaki - the author of 'Rich Woman'.

I was attending a workshop (or a preview for this event) by Jackie Wong, sharing some knowledge on basic of Robert teaching. The Workshop was fun and I do get a lot of contacts. I starting to felt like this is the advantages to be in the middle of the city. Whereas, in Muar, the opportunity was there but it is difficult for me (maybe at that moment) to grab some of the golden opportunities.

I am a big fan of Robert Kiyosaki. I read a lot of his writings and own more than half of his series. I am fortunate enough to be able to join this seminar, even though I am flat broke. I got a promo price and what I can think of at that moment is to use my most precious flat little plastic card with a build in chip and swipe it. The rest, I will work on later. In addition, there is a free gift of ticket to attend the T. Harv Eker - the author of 'The Secret of Million Dollar Mind'. I have read his book on 2006 and I was impressed by the idea of financial blueprint. It really make sense.

I do really hope to actually gain something from the seminar. Of course later on I will share some of the knowledge to some of you who are interested in listening it.

For more info :

http://www.robertkiyosakiasia.com/

http://www.srpl.net/

World Largest Company

Recently Forbes Global has announced the largest company in the world for the year 2009.
Below is the top 20 list of the largest companies.

Rank	Company	Country	Industry	Sales ($bil)	Profits ($bil)	Assets ($bil)	Market Value ($bil)
1	General Electric	United States	Conglomerates	182.52	17.41	797.77	89.87
2	Royal Dutch Shell	Netherlands	Oil & Gas Operations	458.36	26.28	278.44	135.10
3	Toyota Motor	Japan	Consumer Durables	263.42	17.21	324.98	102.35
4	ExxonMobil	United States	Oil & Gas Operations	425.70	45.22	228.05	335.54
5	BP	United Kingdom	Oil & Gas Operations	361.14	21.16	228.24	119.70
6	HSBC Holdings	United Kingdom	Banking	142.05	5.73	2,520.45	85.04
7	AT&T	United States	Telecommunications Services	124.03	12.87	265.25	140.08
8	Wal-Mart Stores	United States	Retailing	405.61	13.40	163.43	193.15
9	Banco Santander	Spain	Banking	96.23	13.25	1,318.86	49.75
9	Chevron	United States	Oil & Gas Operations	255.11	23.93	161.17	121.70
11	Total	France	Oil & Gas Operations	223.15	14.74	164.66	112.90
12	ICBC	China	Banking	53.60	11.16	1,188.08	170.83
13	Gazprom	Russia	Oil & Gas Operations	97.29	26.78	276.81	74.55
14	PetroChina	China	Oil & Gas Operations	114.32	19.94	145.14	270.56
15	Volkswagen Group	Germany	Consumer Durables	158.40	6.52	244.05	75.18
16	JPMorgan Chase	United States	Banking	101.49	3.70	2,175.05	85.87
17	GDF Suez	France	Utilities	115.59	9.05	232.71	70.46
18	ENI	Italy	Oil & Gas Operations	158.32	12.91	139.80	80.68
19	Berkshire Hathaway	United States	Diversified Financials	107.79	4.99	267.40	122.11
20	Vodafone	United Kingdom	Telecommunications Services	70.39	13.30	252.08	93.66

It is obvious that oil and gas dominates the top 20. No wonder the oil and gas always earn more in-terms of salaries and bonuses. So, fresh grads who are looking for a good lifetime job, I might highly recommend this industries for the time being (Nobody can clearly predict the future, btw).

You can get more details here for full list.

If we narrow down the scope to Malaysia, some of the companies might have been performing well this year. Perhaps the global recession is the opportunity for the local companies to get their butt on the list and get notice around the world.

Rank	Company	Country	Industry	Sales ($bil)	Profits ($bil)	Assets ($bil)	Market Value ($bil)
534	Maybank	Malaysia	Banking	4.71	0.90	81.98	6.71
569	Sime Darby	Malaysia	Conglomerates	10.41	1.07	10.79	9.16
575	Tenaga Nasional	Malaysia	Utilities	7.58	0.76	20.58	7.54
685	Public Bank	Malaysia	Banking	3.02	0.76	56.55	8.62
705	Bumiputra-Commerce	Malaysia	Banking	3.68	0.57	59.60	6.66
875	MISC	Malaysia	Transportation	4.05	0.76	9.08	8.58
1051	IOI Group	Malaysia	Food, Drink & Tobacco	4.49	0.68	5.27	6.14
1290	RHB Capital	Malaysia	Banking	1.74	0.31	30.13	2.17
1467	Petronas Gas	Malaysia	Oil & Gas Operations	0.98	0.34	3.06	5.20
1540	YTL	Malaysia	Utilities	2.00	0.24	11.77	3.11
1612	PLUS Expressways	Malaysia	Transportation	0.87	0.32	4.92	3.96
1684	PPB Group	Malaysia	Food, Drink & Tobacco	1.02	0.38	3.82	3.10
1692	AMMB Holdings	Malaysia	Banking	1.72	0.21	25.82	1.82
1734	TM International	Malaysia	Telecommunications Services	3.33	0.15	10.75	3.06
1805	Hong Leong Financial Group	Malaysia	Banking	1.20	0.17	25.53	1.30
1823	Genting	Malaysia	Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure	2.66	0.17	8.78	3.46
1938	Petronas Dagangan	Malaysia	Oil & Gas Operations	6.97	0.21	2.69	1.98
1941	Kuala Lumpur Kepong	Malaysia	Food, Drink & Tobacco	2.28	0.30	2.47	2.87
1976	Telekom Malaysia	Malaysia	Telecommunications Services	2.54	0.23	6.51	3.21

These are the giants companies in Malaysia. Malaysian Maybank leads the way at rank 534, but only Sime Darby managed to earn a billion of profit (in USD). I have no idea how the decide the rank.

So, aren't you wanting to have a part of the cake and receive some portion of their profits in term of dividend?

Happy 1st April

Today, with nothing to do I just viewed the youtube from my beloved laptop. What happened was everything turn upside down. WTF! And they said that is their new layout. However, they claim that they are doing that for a reason.

Your New Viewing Experience

At YouTube, we're always looking to improve the way you watch videos online. As part of that, today we're excited to introduce our new page layout. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your new YouTube viewing experience:

1

Turn your monitor upside-down

Our internal tests have shown that modern computer monitors give a higher quality picture when flipped upside down—kind of like how it's best to rotate your mattress every six months. You might find that YouTube videos look better this way.

2

Tilt your head to the side

Imagine you've got water in your ear and need to get it out. Tilt your head toward one shoulder and watch the video (gentle head-smacking on the opposite side is optional).

3

Move to Australia

As you probably know, everything in Australia is upside-down, so moving to Australia may provide you with a more natural YouTube viewing experience. (Note: If you live Down Under, and the page is still upside-down for you, then we recommended moving to the northern hemisphere.)

Of course, if you prefer the way things used to be, just click on the "I prefer the old-fashioned layout!" when watching a video.

Happy April 1st!

Are you being Retrenched?

Retrenched Workers Are In Higher Demand Now

Recently the government provided a real boost for retrenched workers in its 2nd stimulus package announcement

It announced that companies who employ workers retrenched from 1 July 2008 be given double tax deduction * on the amount of remuneration paid.
This allows companies to enjoy big tax savings by employing retrenched workers.

How does it work?

If an employer recruits a retrenched worker from another company and pays a salary of RM24,000 a year. Normally, tax deduction to the employer is RM24,000 from taxable profit. However, with this measure, the company is allowed to deduct RM48,000 from profit, that is, at double the salary. This represents an additional tax reduction for the company of RM6,000 or 25% from RM24,000.

If you are in this situation, now is the best time to get that interview because companies are much more likely to hire a retrenched worker because of this government incentive!

**Articles taken from jobstreet.

So, if you are a retrenched worker, worry no more. Hurry to update your resume and apply for new job. If you are not, then just pray so. If you received the VSS or monetary compensation, and you got another job, then, that will be fantastic!

Happy 26th Birthday Dear Me...

26th March, it was the biggest day for me. On March 26, I turn 26 years old. Oh my God, I'm getting older. In my new company, there's another person named Denise, which is in the same department as me, who happened to born on the same date as me. We might celebrate it together later with other colleagues, maybe.

As usual, the first wish was always the Jusco, which send me the birthday card earlier this month, but as for this year, Parkson too, did send the card with various coupons to be redeemed. The best thing about Parkson's coupon is, I think I can use the coupon as there is no (or not much) terms and conditions, or pre-requisite before using them. So, if you are not a Bonuslink member, better to grap one.
Up to now, there are 2 text message I received wish me for my birthday, which is my lovely wife, and of course my dearest parents. They are the most important person in my life. Thanks a lot, I love you all very much.

As my previous post, I promised to drop some words for my new company. So, overall it was OK. Everybody is nice to me. The only major thing for me is, I CAN'T SPEAK or UNDERSTAND CHINESE LANGUAGE. Language always be the barrier in communication. I must take some counter-measure on this matter, to learn as soon as possible on this language. Back on track, I was in the Product Marketing Department, role as product engineer. Our company do a lot of Biometrics and RFID product, as well as other product with innovations. Check it out at http://www.rcg.tv. There is a line-up of products that will attract your interest. The only matter is whether you are willing to throw the big bucks or not.

As for the politics, today they have announced the winner for the Wanita, Puteri and Pemuda UMNO. It was really a shocking moment when they announced the winner of Ketua Pemuda as Khairy Jamaluddin. OMG, doesn't eveybody alert on the warning that was given to him regarding the 'politik wang' issue? Or is it the person who already received the SI who voted him? However, it was the decision of the perwakilan. However, I am waiting for tomorrow's result on the Timbalan Presiden post.

Feel free to drop some comment on this matter?

Moving...

Warren Buffet once said...

"Managing your career is like investing -- the degree of difficulty does not count. So you can save yourself money and pain by getting on the right train."

Finally, I have decided to move from Pioneer. I have been working for 2 years and 3 months. It was not a long time, but long enough to give a huge impact to my life. I have build such a great community, with a lot of friends. It was a pain decision that I have to make, but after considering for my future and my family, I have to make the decision.

A got friends in most activities that we have been doing for the past few years, including Karaoke, Jamming, Cinema, photography, recreational, sports, 'mengeteh' and the list goes on. That what I mean by the community that we have developed. After moving, I have to start it all over again. And with the economic crisis, political situation, and additional members in my family, it will be a huge challenge for me.

But if you read the book "Who Moved My Cheese" by Dr. Spencer Johnson, you might understand. Change will happened and it is the way you adapt with change that will count at the end of the day. What I am trying to do today is moving from the comfort zone, and entering a new level of challenge that will develop the better me.

As the quote at the beginning of my post, Buffet have mentioned managing a career is just like investing. So, I am attempting to find the right train that will lead me to better life and great reward.

Tomorrow will be my first day in the new company. I will be back the share some of my experience in my new place. See you around.

Welcome to the New World

picture taken 4.25pm, after azan

28th February 2009. 4.02pm @ Columbia Asia, Seremban.
Welcome to the new world son.
I pray for the prosperity and joyness in our family.

p/s : To my wife, thank you very much.
It was a great experience seeing you inside the labour room delivering our baby.
Thanks also to Dr. Norintan Zainal Shah. May God bless you.