A day in the life ...

I had an appointment at 11:30 am and when I was on the way there, the client called and canceled. As it was near to lunch and I started felling hungry I decided to just stop by somewhere for lunch. Then decided to walk in to all the offices in one of the office towers to mine for new prospects.

Have not done this for a long time. I have to say that it was a bit scary but then when you get the hang of it, it's not too bad.

Thanks Robert Cheah for telling me that all I am trying to do is to help them. If they are not interested or do not give me a chance then maybe they are just not ready. Don't be disheartened, when they are ready they will accept your help.

Results, I walked 8 floors of one tower, got 3 telephone numbers and 1 appointment next month. Good or bad? I don't know only time will tell...

Is KFC, MacDonalds, Burger King, etc Fast Food or Slow Food

I saw this in the local newspaper and that reminded me that I need to put this article up on my blog.


According to my classification, KFC, MacDonalds, Pizza hut, Dominos Pizza, Carl's Jr, Burger King, etc are classified in to a fast food restaurant.

To me fast food means it should be served fast, and it is meant for people who are in a hurry. I used to think and still think that when I am rushed for time I will go for one of these options when I need to grab a bite.

Whenever I visit any one of these restaurants in Kuala Lumpur I will curse as the line moves too slowly.

The reason why I curse is because this fast food takes too long to be served. I have calculated the time taken for a customer to be served in MacDonalds and KFC to be approximately 5 minutes. So if you get in the line and there are 3 people ahead of you, you will expect to wait 15 minutes, if there are 4 then 20 minutes.

The same amount of time is also required even if you were to go to a drive through, especially at KFC. Can you imagine, waiting 20 minutes in the car with your engine on to buy a quick bite because there are 3 cars in front of you? Then you take 3 minutes to finish the meal. It is totally ridiculous.

That is if all the customers ahead of you are Malaysians. If there are any foreigners, please expect to take a longer time. The reason for this is because the cashier or the person serving usually do not understand or speak any English. Worse if the foreigner in front is an Arab, they cannot speak English properly either adding to the confusion.

I have since developed a strategy to queuing up at a fast food restaurant line. My strategy is to make sure that there are no foreigners in my line, make sure I have exact change and never use a Credit Card. The cashiers usually do not know how to accept a transaction with using a credit card.

I believe that a fast food restaurant should serve food fast for people who are in a hurry or on the run. So I pose a challenge to MacDonalds and KFC, the two restaurants I visit most to bring their customer serving time down to 1 minute per customer. Otherwise they might as well revert to the old way where we just go to the restaurant, sit down and wait to be served.

Not to just offer nonconstructive criticism, I would also offer some suggestions as to where they can improve;

1. Hire staff who can Speak more than 1 Language, where English is preferred
   
2. Modify your work-flow or
3. increase your staff strength
   
4. Staff who cannot converse in English should be placed in the outskirts where chances of serving foreigners are more remote. Do not place these staff in the city centre where the main tourists spots are.

Thanks whoever it is who put up this picture in the Star on Saturday 16th October 2010.

Starting Life again @ 40

It has been some time now that I just cannot take the pressure of corporate politics and the pressure of management.

I have been lamenting to myself, wouldn't it be good if I were just an ordinary salesman? I don't have to worry about the target of the company, I don't have to think about the intricacies of mechanics and implementation. I don't have to think about the different ways to manage different people and get them all to be happy working with me. Don't have to manage the expectations and unreasonableness of bosses.

All I have to do is to just go out, see my customer and make them happy. I get my sales and come back. Life will be .... simple.

I have also been looking in to what my dad is doing for the past year. I have tried but not given my best shot at it. The main reason is that I always has this excuse of my full time job and not able to concentrate on this.

Perhaps now is a great opportunity for me to start doing what my dad has been doing and pick up from where he has left off. I know it is tough, as it is rated as the toughest career in the world. However, if I don't pick it up now I will not be able to take over from him. Over the next few years, I need to meet my targets and proof myself so that I may be able to take over his role. Only upon that I can take over his residual income that is enough for him to retire comfortably.

This is the start of a new career, and as I will be turning 40 soon, I guess I'm starting life again at 40.

I have to say that it's scary, but I have to take this leap as my income previously although considered high is still not high enough to keep my dad should he retire. Time to just close my eyes and take this leap, this leap of faith.

Come to think of this, it is the second time in my working life that I have opted to take a huge pay cut with the hope of getting something more in the future. Hope all things will go well this time.

1 Malaysia

I had to take my car for a repair job yesterday. Did not have the chance to eat anything before I went for the repair appointment so I asked the guy at the workshop if there were a place nearby to eat.

So he brought me to the stalls behind the workshop near the entrance to the Renault Service Centre. There were a few Indian stalls. As I was picking out my food I heard an Indian Lady standing behind me and chatting with the owner of the stall in Tamil fluently.

Then I heard another Chinese lady said something I could understand. She said "Orang India". As I turned around to look, I noticed that she wasn't an Indian lady, she was a Chinese lady translating the deal for her friend in to Hakka.

Mr Najib, just to let you know we were already 1 Malaysians in 1963. This spirit was destroyed by your father's affirmative policy in 1969. I do hope you can bring it back, only then I will respect you as a Malaysian, as a Prime Minister.

I droped the Bad News

Haaai on the Lunar New Year's Eve I dropped the bad news on my dad. Not sure how he is taking it but so far it seems like he is taking is very well.

I just informed him casually that there is another bank that is making me an offer to start up a new department. The package there is significantly higher than my current job. So he is encouraging me to take it up.

What he doesn't know is that I really do not want to work for other people any more. All I want is to do the insurance business. Then hopefully I can prove myself and then take over from him. In that way I can get out of employment.

He is just saying that in order for me to achieve the level of income that I am currently earning will take me a few years in the Insurance industry. That it is good for me to go ahead and take up that offer. Well I don't mind if I don't have all my current loan commitments. This money is not that important to me. One thing I am really worried about is that if I just quit and do insurance now. I will not be able to meet my loan commitments and I will then loose my house and car and other things as well.

Yes, I also admit that one big contributing factor to me doing insurance is also for him anyway. In that way he can retire as well and not loose his lifestyle. Life just get's complicated as we age.

Danger on MEX

Last weekend, as I was traveling back from the Airport I was using the MEX Highway. As there were not many cars, I would usually speed around 130 - 140 Km/h.

As I was approaching the Bukit Jalil exit there was a turning and I went in to an area that was raining for some time. Then suddenly something caught my eye on the rear mirror.

There was a Gen2 or it a persona behind me just kept spinning around I saw it spen around 4 - 5 rounds and then finally come to a halt.

Luckily there were no cars that were just too close behind that car or there will be a bad accident. My friends whenever you are on the road, please drive safely. Check your tyres, change them if they are running bald.

Since the Spring festival will be happening in 2 weeks. May I remind all of you who are travelling to at least check the safetly features before heading home for your festivities or holidays.

Till I write here again. All the best, take good care and have a nice hilidays.

Mysteriously Gone

I withdrew some money from the ATM today because I was running low on cash. I also anticipated that I will need to use some money for something tomorrow so I took a little bit more.

Then I went for my dinner. It cost about RM 12.00 and so I paid with all the smaller notes that I have left in my wallet. After dinner I went to the gym and did not take out my wallet from my pocket, it was in my locker all the time.

After my gym on my way home a customer called and said that she have some problem with the machine that we supplied to her company. So I decided to drop by her restaurant and settle the problem.

I think I did take out my wallet at that time and left it on the table in front of me where I was trying to solve the problem for her.

Well after that I had to get something done at home. Knowing that my petrol tank was empty I decided to go out to fill my petrol tank and get some Vitamin "C". When I went to the counter to purchase the Cigarettes I realised that my wallet was empty. There were only my credit cards, ATM card and identity card inside.

The RM 350 that should be in my wallet was completely gone. I have no idea when or how I lost the money. Kept thinking about it ... just so sad. Just cannot figure out where and how I lost it. I do not even remember taking out my wallet beside being at the restaurant and my gym membership card at the gym. Haiiiyaaaaa...