I'm Busy. Bullshit, You Are Just Not Important Right Now!

I am busy you fool!

How many of use rang up someone and you got a reply back saying "Sorry, I'm busy right now, call back later" or "In a meeting, call back later"? I bet everyone has this moment. 

How about when you invite someone for a function and they say "Sorry, I have another appointment" or "Sorry, I am not too sure whether I will be able to make it"?  I use this all the time. 

How about the time you sent out a meeting invite which you have plan for fews weeks ahead, book the meeting room, prepared the coffee, got the projector working, printed our the handouts and the day come no one shows up. Why? Because the CEO called everyone in your invite list for an urgent meeting.

This got met pondering, it's not people are busy. It's how they prioritize their circles. Take for instance Google+. Once you sign up, the first thing you have to do is create Circles and add your friends in each respective Circle. Here you are actually determining who is important in your life. 

Google Circles

• Close friends, go into the Friend Circle
• People who you just met on the street, Twitter or Facebook, goes into Acquaintance Circle
• People who annoys you go into the Blocked option
• Important client goes into Very Important Person Circle
• so on and on..... 

The Mistress Calling

You see, any part of our life we subject our attention to what is most important to us. If the wife calls during meeting, you say "I'm busy with work, call back". Now, what if the mistress calls? What is responds like? :)

No one is really busy in their life, it's just people responds differently depending on the situation and the people they are interacting with. If the boss calls over the weekend, highly likely you will answer the call because, your job is at stake. If friends call over the weekend, you can decide whether to answer or not. If we do answer, then we still have the option of saying busy or otherwise.

What if your are waiting to close a major deal which your life depends on or a recruiter to your dream job says he/she will call you on Sunday between 9AM - 10PM. I bet the handphone is glued to your face 24 hours right? Because the particular is call is important and nothing else matters during that period. If someone else calls during the period, we would say "I'm waiting for important call" and click Cancel button because our fear that VIP call would not go thru.

We prioritize all the time and most time we make one party important and another less important.  We tend to break promises because of importance as well. Sometimes we make our work more important than anything else. I am guilty of this and I'll write about this in an upcoming blog post soon.

So what constitute busy? If your mother, wife and mistress calls you and you give the same answer, then you are busy.

So, next time someone says I'm busy, just know that he/she is bullshitting. You are just not important at the moment.

Green Cube is launching GCUBE - Online HRMS

After months of development, Green Cube is finally launching GCUBE. GCUBE is an online HRMS system based on SAAS model.

Right now we are offering 2 modules which is Personnel and Leave. Target companies are SME who are internet enabled. Now with this system, HR has less headache to worry by managing their staff information and leave better, and staff can check their leave balance and apply leave online anytime.

Now is a good time to sign up as we are in Beta stage. We are not charging anytime for those who participate in our beta testing. After the beta stage, it is still FREE for companies with 10 employees and below.

Check out www.gcube.com.my for more information. As per now, we have sign up few big names and some smaller one. The quota for beta is running out soon.

Readers, please forward this URL - www.gcube.com.my to anyone that you feel will benefit from it. Thank you.

String of Bad Luck

Since this year, I had a string of bad luck. It’s amazing how I am still surviving through this.

• My HDD crashed. I don’t have a backup. All my personal stuff is in there. The cost of recovery – RM 4K. Forget it.
• I crashed my car at my condo at the first floor of the car park. I missed my brake and crash to the railing of the first floor. My car was hanging with the 2 front wheels at the edge of the condo. Luckily the concrete stopped my car from diving down. Cost of repair – RM 1.5K. Cost of repair to the condo – another RM 1K. Cost of live? Priceless…
• Saman – RM 30 - RM 100. Superb. I had no choice but to park outside as the LRT parking is full. Don’t this traffic police have other better thing to do than saman those sitting ducks? It’s not that I don’t want to pay parking, there is simply NO PARKING! One hand government say take public transport but another hand there is no parking? What the heck?
• My knee injury – this is the mother of all my bad luck. So far I have spend RM 4K on this. I am expecting to pay another RM 10-20K for the surgery. Superb! Can read more here.

It’s no doubt that I have been under tremendous stress lately due to my business. It’s been hell.

Being a new start-up, I have to juggle everything from the programming, management, finance, sales, accounts, HR, filing, banking and right up to delivery boy. My phone won’t stop ringing and my email won’t stop piling. I have no doubt this is all part and parcel of business, but working for 8 months straight without a break, took its toll on me. Surviving a near death experience was a wake up call for me.

I took a break recently to get away from all this. I left my mobile phone and laptop at home and ran to Malacca. Stayed in Holiday Inn. Nice place.

Unfortunately, it only helped a bit. One lesson I learn here is I am too dependant on technology. As a business owner, I don’t think we can escape from being part of the business. It’s like being the Borg.

Resistance is futile!

I just hope God can be a little forgiving and give me a break. Sorry God, I think I have to postpone my Umrah until I get well from my surgery.

A New Career Path

2nd of June, 2008. On this date, I have officially decided to launch my own company. It's called Green Cube Solutions Sdn. Bhd.

Green Cube will be focusing on Microsoft range of product. Following is my services:-

• Web development based on ASP.Net platform
• Microsoft SharePoint, Dynamics and CRM
• SMS / Mobile development
• SAP

My ambition for this company is to deliver quality product and more importantly, it must makes sense to our customers. Its been always client vs vendor, but very rarely we can see vendor doing what will make sense for the client. I hope to change this. It must makes sense! Hey looks like I have an unofficial motto.

 

 

 

I face a lot of resistance in this endeavour, many said "Don't do it, bad economy, its not a good time.. etc"

I have only 2 dreams in my life. One was shattered a long time ago and 2nd is business. I decided not to wait to long to carry on my 2nd dream, thus Green Cube was born. I lost one dream, should I wait and lose another?

If I don't do this, then I will regret the rest of my life. One mistake was costly enough.

Right now, sleepless night is nothing new. The amount of stress is incredible. Being a CEO of a company is no walk in the park. Not a day goes by without thinking, have I closed a deal today? Do I have enough to sustain? What new technology that I can sell?

Its exciting but terribly stressful. However, if you want to be a entrepreneur, these are all part of it. Nobody said it was easy. Wish me luck guys!

ganee@greencube.my
www.greencube.my

Rent Seekers

What is a rent seeker in Malaysia's context. Read this. The past week I had my first experience with such a company. Sadly it was a Bumi company. Typical? You tell me.

I don't usually blog about work, but I have to this time.

I was awarded a project. I was forced to work with a rent seeking company who is buddy buddy with the client. Honestly, I am OK with all this cronyism as long you are able to deliver with spectacular result. I am perfectionist, so they say in the office. I expect quality in work. Of course I am paying for the service, don't I deserve the best in return?

Well, back to the story. I sent an email to confirm on certain task to be taken up. After 2 emails, no reply. As a prime contractor, I have to beg to a subcontractor company to get task done. Who is paying who here? After I threaten to give the project to another party if he doesn't comply, guess what? He actually sent a nasty email to me and blasting me! AH!? Got ah such thing? Only in Malaysia, man. The rent seeking mentality.

A Malay engineer who is a friend of mine, commented that these days those who do not deserve to get projects are getting it, simply because they know people. Even the deserving Malays are feeling marganlized with such corruptions.

In the email, along the lines, he claims he is the expert and deserves to be in the project. In the first place, I never wanted to work with them because in my past experience they sux! Documents are standard of a 5 year old. Slow and incompetent, hardly attends meeting or bother to reply emails. But I was forced to work with them. Understand the term Rent Seekers now?

Being in anger management therapy now, I just decided to ignore the dumb email from a very dumb person. Only in Malaysia, the rent seekers can thrive. How can MSC or Malaysia progress to the standards of international quality. If this co. were to go overseas, the Mat Salleh would have spit at his face and throw him out if they ever saw the type of documents produced.

All in all, I just kept quiet knowing, in 5 -10 years time, my company will go global due to the emphasis I make on quality and merit. This company, it will be where it was yesterday. How far can you go by being a crony rent seeker?

Back from Brunei

Image from giftrap.com, no pics from me.

I was in Brunei for a business trip. It was a one and the half day trip, so lets sum up:-

• I stayed in Palm Garden hotel. Nice hotel and just beside it is Fitness Zone. Its equivalent to Fitness First here and its 3 storey tall. No time to try it out...
  
• Brunei is not what I expected it to be. I thought as a oil-rich country, everything would be modern. Airport suxs, the surrounding area is like Kuala Terengganu. At least their highway is toll free.
• Food is lousy but cheap. I had a small buffet for BND 8.
  
• DVD is exceptionally cheap here. Only BND 2 and damn clear.
  
• The most "sakit hati" part is their cars. Cars are dirt cheap here. Vios goes for BND 19,000 and a BMW 5 series is BND 60,000. They drive all kindda cars, Lexus, Toyota, Honda, Daihatsu and etc. I did see few Protons going around. Losers...
• Imagine government officers in Brunei driving BMW Z3, Lexus, Mitsubishi and Cefiro. Anyone doing that in Msia is asking for an appointment with ACA.
  
• Petrol is so cheap here that the Brunei ppl we asked didn't even know the price. Murah bah...
• During fasting month, the government office here close at 2 PM, but most of them leave at 12.30 pm. Unbelievable.
  
• Crime rate is low. People are not afraid of leaving their laptops in the car. In KL, within 5 minutes, its gone.
  
• Chicks... hmm.. subjective... KL got better selections.
  

Palace - Picture we took in Brunei

Nothing much in Brunei except the dome of their national mosque is made in gold!

Stolen laptop recovered!

Today I got a call from my colleague saying the Police found our laptops. My boss and I rushed to IPK (Jln Hang Tuah) to check it out. To our delights, YES! Its our laptop. Its back! They managed to retrieve 2 out 4 laptops.

All the data are intact but there is a few scratches on the surface due to the rude handling of the f**king thief. But to my dismay, we were not allowed to take back our laptop because they need it as evidence to prosecute the culprit. Aiyah... so we got ourselves an external HDD and spent the entire evening transferring files.

At least I got my data back. That is more than enough. You can keep the laptop. Anyway, my new laptop is just a week away. I saw the freaking culprit. I wish I could strangle you, but alas then I might end up sitting beside you with cuffs. Learn to earn a decent and honest living idiot!

All in all, its been a tiring but exciting day. I got my data back! I am alive!

To Koperal Zakri (very nice man), Koperal Subra (another nice chap) and team from IPK KL, D4B, thank you very much for you assistance.

My laptop stolen!

Stupid f*ck**ng bloody useless scumbags! During lunch time, 4 laptops was stolen in my office and one of it is mine. Gone all my precious data. That is nothing in this world that can repay it back.

Don't you useless piece of walking meat have anything better to do than to steal other ppl's belonging. I really hope, let me say this is Malay - "Harap harap kau kena langgar dgn kontena lori laptop Dell and mati tertimbun dlm ribuan laptop. Dan juga aku harap semua RAM, motherboard masuk dlm korongkong busuk kau dan perut kau terburai dgn sisa-sisa toksik batteri laptop tu. Itu pun aku rasa tak puas tgk kau mati macam tu, biar lori kontena gilis kau 5000x, sampai badan kau tinggal sisa daging dan tulang utk dilapah oleh anjing kurap yang gila." Also, I hope you get fried, baked, steamed and cooked in hell for eternity.

Really upset and disappointed. Habis baik, aku tak tangkap kau dlm ofis.

Interviews

My position in the company requires me to interview and hire candidates applying for an advertised position. Throughout the years, I have interviewed no less than 50 people for various position. On the net, there is a lot of information regarding how a candidate should prepare for an interview.

Now, you guys listen to me. Direct from an employer. This is a grunt from me as an employer to all those job seekers.

1. Only apply for a job if you are INTERESTED!
   Don't waste a person's time. I shift through hundreds of resumes looking to shortlist candidates. So don't waste my time to call you and to find out that you are not interested.
   
   
2. Read the freaking job advert line by line!
   Study if you match the requirement stated. I got a candidate telling me on the phone, that he is only interested if the job is beneficial for him! In which planet are you in!? No one takes employees to only benefit on one side. There should be a balance on both party. If you don't match the job spec, don't apply!
   
   
3. Be polite on the phone. You are talking to your future employer.
   Some candidates just think they are hellavu great. Be polite and courteous. You are not the only person we are calling. After shifting through hundred of people and we think you are important enough to be called for an interview, have the respect and decency to talk politely. This kind of people usually get rejected immediately from me. So remember, the first phone call is important if you are serious about the job.
   
   
4. Make time for an interview!
   I got candidates telling me they are not free for an interview for the whole week. Why did you apply then? Negotiate politely for a best interview time. I don't care if you are busy, I am much busier than you are but yet I made time to call you. Always prepare a suitable time in case you are called for an interview.
   
   I used to conduct interview during the weekends to make those working candidate's life easier. Almost 60% did not show up for an interview. What!?
   
   
5. Show up for your interview! If you can't make it, call one day in advance.
   Some candidate don't even bother to call. Remember, someone on the other end had sacrifice his weekend is waiting for you to show up.
   
   
6. Bring all the necessary documentation, demo, source code and etc.
   Some candidates comes in for an interview with just a pen. I am not interested in your degree. Show me your project source code, demo and such. This will impress your interviewer more. And dress appropriately matching the company's attire.
   
   
7. Don't waste my time!
   There are candidate who comes in for interview just to 'test water'. I had one guy who had the cheek to tell me that. If you seriously looking for money, go sell VCD or something.
   
   
8. If you don't know the answer to a question, admit it!
   Don't try to wiggle your way out. It makes you look stupid. Don't try to correct your interviewer either. I would not be asking a question if I didn't know the answer earlier.
   
   I had candidate telling me she can't answer theoretical questions, but can perform exceptionally well if given practical work. No problem, I flip open a test paper which I have kept prepared. Do it now. Didn't do well either. Now, why do you get yourself in such a dumb situation?
   
   
9. Once you get a job offer, show up for work!
   If you have received another job offer, please inform you employer about it, ASAP. Don't make them prepare your offer letter, get a desk and PC for you, install the necessary software, waiting in anticipation for you and only to find out later through 3rd party that you got another job.
   
   This are really sick people and deserve to burn in hell. Its no joke since you got the HR, Management and Technical department all working for your arrival. Not to mention the projects that you are suppose to handle.
   
   
10. Keep your promises once you have entered your job!
    Most candidate will promises anything during the interview, but the moment they enter the workforce, things change.
    
    My gold fish needs a bath, I can't work late. I can't do this, can't do that. My pay is not enough, gossips, chatting on IMs, taking long lunch breaks, frequent MCs, surfing jobstreet in the office.
    
    You knew what you were getting into, so shut up and start working. Ask all relevant questions before signing the contract. Don't like working in the company, then leave, PLS!
    
    

In each industry, I believe its a small world. You will end up meeting the same industry people for meetings or projects. Top management tend to meet each other more often. So there is an opportunity to ask about a future candidate application. So don't screw up with any of your employers. The news will get passed around.

Take interviews seriously. "I got no time".

Company Trip

I just got back from my company trip held at Summerset, Rompin. This place is really ulu, where ther is no line and surrounded by jungle.

The trip was fun and nice, but consist alot of team building activities. The worst activitiy was to dig out sand from the beach to built a small tunnel, using your bare hands. On that day, I felt how a dog will feel like...

Most of the free time I get which is between lunch hour and evenings, I dive straight into the pool. Yup, good old cardio exercise. The funny things is I didn't see the gym here eventhough its listed on their brochure.

Pool is clean and nice, and we did spent quite abit of time playing water polo.

The sea was quite rough with big waves. The night was fantastic whereby the sky was brightly lit with stars.

Among the activities we played was water polo, volley ball and beach soccer. Unfortunately, my wrist got worse and now this is my 3rd week that I am out of the gym. I hope to get well soon, can't wait to get back to gym.