Summary – How “Periuk” and “Kerak” explain life

For those who may not recognize the superhero wearing the red mask in the previous entry, he is Flash Gordon, one of the superheroes in comics. He is able to move faster than superman (shown in Smallville).

Imagine, if we were blessed with the ability to move that fast, what do we do with it? I personally will be able to go back to Kedah on a daily basis, Maybe visit each country around the world one every weekend. Finished all my work around the mill in minutes. Wow if only…

Seriously… if I am able to move that fast, do you think I will be able to do everything? No… I will not.

There is a Malay idiom that says – “Lagi besar periuk, lagi besar keraknya”, hm I’m not sure what “kerak” is in English. Somebody who knows, please help. It is those burnt rice left stuck to the pot. But generally it means that the more you get, the more it will take from you.

For example, when I am a student, I was given a monthly allowance of RM220 per month. Inflation aside, I was able to enjoy my life even with only RM220. I am still able to go ice skating at Sunway Pyramid once in two weeks. Still able to eat “decent” food, and even gain extra kg.

I was thinking, hmm when I started working, and my salary is within the 4 digit figure. I will live like kings. 🙂 Now that I’m working, I really do live like King… King Kong hahah. (That was before you… dear <– meant for my wife eheh).

During my bachelor working years, to my surprise, I’m still living from paycheck to paycheck. Not much money to do that round the Malaysia trip I dreamt etc. Of course I had commitments like new bills, the cars, the saving for marriage etc.

The more money I get, the more bills I have to pay, I guess it is because our lifestyle adapt to the changes in our life.

This does not only cover financial changes. Apparently other thing as well, like –

• the more paperwork I finished, the more will pile up by the end of the day.
• my gmail inbox, it seems the more GB of storage I was given, the more spam I received.

Isn’t life weird?

Hey, It’s Sunday!! sorry, it’s Monday…

I was surfing yesterday.. and I found this picture on lowyat.net. It is generally about the difference of exposure when using camera with and without flash. Hope it helps fellow friends interested in cameras.

I just can’t stop laughing…… :))

Dear friends… For your information, Alfattah will be starting her first day at work this coming Wednesday. And she would appreciate if everyone could give some advice on her first day. Congratulation sis…

Let me start by laying out some lessons I personally learnt during my first day. You probably knew most of them already, but it is in my opinion that important to be repeated

Tip 1 – First impression
That’s why it is called first impression. Only the first one will count. So.. be presentable. Dress suitably, Get enough sleep the day before. If you are excited like I was, you will not be able to sleep anyway, but no worry 🙂

Tip 2 – Learn as fast as you can.. (jgn malas)
You must realize that work is work.. It’s not like studying. And you are expected to work the first day you reported in, even though people say you can start later. So do some research on what your job scope is (MOST IMPORTANT), Prepare some question to ask on your work. Of course they will allow you some familiarisation period. But seriously you need to show that you are not some student doing practical training. You are there to work. Ask question if you don’t understand but please try to research the answer yourself first.

Believe me, the first few month of your work will be very demanding. You are expected to know everything as fast as you can, and in the mean time, all daily task need to be done. So be strong kay. it will get easier.. I promise

Tip 3 – Make friends immediately
Do not be shy, I made a fatal mistake of being a bit shy making friends when I started working. As a result after a year gone by, I still don’t know the name of a few of my staff. It’s very hard to work with a person if the two of you are strangers to each other. So make friends… Of course you will have to screen them eventually. Not all can be made friend.

As you are the new person, you are allowed to ask their name again should you forget. “Sori ye, tak ingat lah pulak nama, boleh saya tau sekali lagi?”

Tip 4 – Observe the culture
Make a mental note, you will be surprise with the working culture there. So keep your mind as opened as possible, because if not, you will start to be uncomfortable with everything. You cannot change the culture there on your first day. So go along with it.. For example, you see people got yelled in public because they are late for work… don’t freak out just yet. Just nod, and try to be early to avoid that kind of embarassment. observe and adapt… later we’ll change the culture

Tip 5 – observe the people
This is the fun part. You will see many people testing you. Yes.. testing you. They want to know what kind of person you are. So be smart with them. observe and listen. You will figure out the type of people in no time. Typically, there will always be

• people who’s good
• people who’s a suck up
• people who’s manipulative
• people who’s just plain annoying

Last Tips 6 – Don’t be nervous
After reading all this tips, you may start to be a bit nervous. Don’t… actually if you notice, there’s no reason to be. All you’re doing, is coming to work with an open mind. it is not hard at all to do.

Guys… do you have any other first day tips for Alfattah

So again, congratulation sis… I pray all the best for you 🙂

Today is a historical moment for Immortal Wisdom. This blog had been nominated for World United Blogger Award (WUBA) and is one of the fifteen blogs that won the award. The details can be read here

For your information World United Bloggers pioneered by Dr Ahmed El-Zoghbi @ Sharm with the intention to call bloggers from around the world and share ideas to promote love and peace. More about it in WUB’s blog

I am not a member of the organization. And being awarded doesn’t mean I will get prize money or anything. But really I’m so touched that a member of the group (a very dear friend of mine – noushy) confidently nominated this newbie blog for the award. For the confidence given I’m forever be grateful.

Seriously, I think the appreciation should be given to all of you who frequent the blog. You had taken the time everyday to click the link to this blog and share your opinion here, saying hi in the shoutbox or just come in to see what’s on menu today. I really can’t do this without knowing you will be here supporting. So I sincerely thank you.

As you can see from my entries… it is always my intention to try to make a difference to our society by learning from each other. So I humbly requested, if you think that the blog or any entry in it will benefit others (maybe friends or family), please help introducing it to them. I’m not going to be any richer, and I’m not interested to be popular. I just hope we will not repeat the same mistake and maybe be a bit better with every passing day. Amiin….