Monday 20 July 2009

Al-Fareeda is up and running!!!

visit this for a collection of swimwear for muslimah!

Sunday 19 July 2009

PK lahhhh

my father has been the general manager of a small developer company for 20 or more years. it was about time he retires and let his jr staffs take over. this developer company is a part of the PKNS developers. so whatever the company decides, it has to answer back to PKNS.

but now, since Selangor is under a new government, there are a lot of political disputes. even down to the part of who shall be the next GM of my father's company...

my father suggested one of his staffs. he knew him for 20 years, the way he works and obviously that particular candidate knows he's way around that company. my father knows there's a no better candidate than this guy.

but now, since Selangor is under a new government, outsiders are trying to lobby for the post. when i say lobby, they are doing everything in their will to get it - even if it takes to do a little evil.

but they should understand that my father knows who is best to replace him. the board should consider his proposal. the company has brought so much profit - they should be able to trust my father's judgments.

and on last wednesday, i was fortunate to be able to present a project to my father's company in his last few days at the company. for more than 20 years of my father working there, i have never seen my father playing a role other than a father, brother, son... this is the first time i see him in a much more superior state. and of all the scare of how shitty clients can be when i was studying was definitely not displayed with this company. even my boss became long term friends with the company exco. they gave constructive comments that i find very helpful and also lifted my spirits to design better.

it was a significant day for me - my first meeting with client and my father's last day as a client.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Authority-hopping!

hey this is my second post in a day. i was fasting today so i had to refrain myself from cursing and channeling out my anger until i break fast. now... the time has come...

I was on a mission on getting planning guidelines in Klang. This is my company's first project in Klang so we had very little idea what to do except finding the planning guidelines (different areas usually have different guidelines). so I embark on a journey of massive traffic jams, scorching heat and ended up getting lost. I missed a junction towards the town council and had to make a huge detour just to turn back. i would not have missed it if the signage is consistent. up to one extend, the direction to the town council was gone!

At the HQ, i was told planning department had moved! so i had to drive to the planning department to get the planning guidelines. when i requested it, they gave me their copy of the book and i asked if they sell it. it's the planning department! shouldn't they have planning guidelines with them?

but no... apparently Malaysians like to twist things a little. i was directed to the Town and Country Planning Department (don't know if i translated it correctly - Jabatan Perancangan Bandar dan Desa) in Shah Alam! Okay fine... i can go on the way back to KL. Then, since i am at the planning department, i thought i'd ask for submission forms for development order. it's the planning department! shouldn't they have the forms with them?

but no... it was at the OSC, which is at the HQ! well, yeah... usually forms are at the OSC but if you have one department five-minute drive away from the HQ, u ought to keep a set of forms in your department to avoid hassle.

okay, got my forms! off to Shah Alam... i'm not equipped with GPS so i decided to gamble and i got lost. i called my office mates, they were all weren't around. i didn't want to bother my boss so i called a friend, who is a resident there, for directions. After 1 hour of roaming around, i finally found it.

i rushed straight to the 15th floor. requested from this lady the planning guideline, she said that is on the 16th floor. fine... ran up to floor 16, requested for the book again from the lady at the counter. and she said it's on the 18th floor! hmmm... ok, i ran up to 18th floor and asked the guy at the counter, "Do u have the planning guideline?"

"Oh, you can go www.jpbdselangor.gov.my to get it"

At the time, it seemed like i was going, "......." but inside i was screaming, "ARGHHHH!!! #^%$#%%@#!!!!"

so... lesson of the day... when you had a core subject course named "Professional Study" for B.Sc. in Architecture, please pay a little bit of attention and never skip class :P

second lesson, don't put on high heels to go to authority. they make you run around... it's best to put on some cute olivias :D

Maid in Malaysia

The rationale behind the blog title will be revealed after you read this post.

My mom has a maid. The reason why my mom hires a maid because my mom needs help in running the household. There used to be seven people to look after (not including herself), with a huge house of 6 bedrooms, a living, a dining, a family, a dry/wet kitchen, a porch, a terrace and fifty sq meter of lawn, my mom just couldn't manage the house on her own. Hence, she hired a maid to help her.

The first foreign maid was when i was about seven or eight years old. she had come to our house as her previous employer allegedly abused her. we helped her and take her into our home and treat her as if one of our own. but as years passed, you slowly see the true colours. i remembered how bad-tempered she was, although she never did anything physical to us but i remembered the words and the tones she used with us when she's angry (of course behind our parents)... all hell broke loose, i tell u... but we were too young and too stupid to understand and not complain to our parents. but slowly, my mom saw it for herself. she was let go...

and we hired her niece next. she was only fifteen when she was hired. and she was at the age of raging hormones! i have to acknowledge that she stayed with us the longest and the best and most cooperative one we ever had. my mom even considered her as her own daughter. but when she got older, she decided to get married and start a family of her own. so we had to let her go...

the next maid we hired is through an agent. her documents said that she was 36 and married. so my mom thought, ok... married... no raging hormonal teenagers... and 36 so she probably know how to run a household :) so when she arrived, she hunched as she got out of the car... like an old lady! apparently, she wasn't 36 as mentioned in the papers... she was easily 50 something. hence, there are somethings that she couldn't do and also, due to she being older than my mom... she kind of has her own mind that really annoys my mom. after 4 years, she was let go...

our current maid is young, fresh and fast. although she doesn't really know how to cook but her skills in cleaning compensates her weakness. my mom bonded well with her as the rest of us. we welcomed her with open arms... until when she opens her mouth... i am not only trying to badmouth these people who has helped my mom but hers by far is the most intolerable.

not only does she talks loud, she gloats about how her mother's employer was so nice to her mother as if we are not being nice enough. as if we have not treat her well enough. she boasts about her life and i'm not saying i hate it just because she's a maid. the fact that anyone boasts just irritates me. she likes the fact that we beg her to come follow us on our picnics, our family dinner or just stay with us a little longer. but our family does not work that way. and when we don't plead or show some sort of desperateness of wanting her presence, she'd go off to her room and stay there, only coming out when we were upstairs.

just today, she tested me and my mom by saying, 'in a few months, i'll be gone'(in indonesian of course). but she already said that like a million times over, as if waiting for us to say, 'ohhh... please stay... don't go...'. but instead, we all rolled our eyes and silenced. my mom even asked, 'have you decided?'... apparently, she is still 'bingung' (confused and undecided).

we never scolded any of our maids or even raise our voice because we respect them as we respect any other human beings. she, as well as the next maid knows how bad other employers can treat their maids. it is all evident in the papers...

employers are the villains?? but maids aren't that angelic too...