Again and again it happens

What is hot in past one week? It is the landslides that struck Bukit Antarabangsa one week ago that we are talking about, this tragedy has taken it’s toll of 4 persons and one is still missing now.

This incident sounds so familiar; it happens quite a couple of times. One can not help asking why serious actions from Government were only taken now. Is it due to the mounting public outcry over last week tragedy? Or they are trying to make amends to something wrong they have done?

Our Government has, at the very least, frozen a few projects currently under construction at certain landslide-prone area to deter likely landslide or land erosion tragedy and evaluations / proper studies is now undertaken on these temporary frozen projects. On the other hand, our Government also plans to adopt certain Hill Slope Property building policies and guidelines effectively executed and duely implemented in Hong Kong so that we can get around further casualty in future.

But why all these only come now, that it is so “Just in Time”? Isn’t mandatory for the Government and the developers to carry out proper study before any construction works was kicked off? If this situation continues, we really need to enquire the possibility of achieving the “Wawasan 2020”. How can we get there if the people running the system lack that level of quality to ensure that things are on track? If our country can not assure its people of their shelter, we really wonder on what earth we are going to ask our people to achieve the much ambitious “Wawasan 2020”. It is same as the water issue, many know that the quality of the water here is horrendous and one knows the importance of water to one’s health. If the water is not clean, how do you expect our people to stay healthy to be competitive?

I think I have to repeat what American Presidents like to say but with slight changes : God Bless Malaysia.


p/s: the picture was googled out somewhere from the Internet. Not taken by me.

Old friends

I was rushing back hometown two days ago in order to take my original academic transcripts and other relevant documents for my up coming interview next week.

These documents have long been buried down in my closet ages ago since I last applied jobs. All my academic transcripts and testimonials were cluttered up together with my other stuffs I brought back from Australia. Not working and free, I decided to clean up the clutter and keep things in good order. Flipping through these almost out of the ark documents (included documents since primary school) I came across one stake of birthday cards given by my friends of campus team bible study group while I attended the Waverley Christian Fellowship (“WCF”) back in year 2000, together with some pictures we took eight years ago. My gaze was on these cards and pictures for quite a while, gracious and sweet memories were slowly evoked from my heart.

It had been almost 8 years I did not contact these friends. The last time we saw each other was at the Melbourne International airport in year 2001. These are the people who make me feel very much at home during my stay in Australia. I went to pursue my tertiary degree in Monash alone. The new environment did set me adrift initially, but I rapidly made the acquaintances of a few Malaysian, with some Christian, students within a month. I was brought to WCF by these Christian friends and that seems to be a right place where it’s at for me to mingle with the local people so that I can be better acquainted with their cultures.

I really feel touched every time I went to attend the cell group and it is amazing to “share” many things with my cell members. As a non Christian, my cell group leader understands the awkwardness I may encounter in the church, hence she promises me to be very patient. I was a skeptic then and was quite resistant to Christianity. Though I did not convert myself into a Christian till now, but at the very least I can now accept Christianity completely. The cell group actually offers me their heartiest fellowship and hence much peace and joys abodes in me then. There is one time; my cell group leader washed our feet just as how Jesus Christ did to his disciples. It moved me so much that I feel the grace of the whole thing.

How sweet it is when we held our hands together, singing the songs to rejoice the presence of God and feel the breath and touches of the holy spirits; how joyful it is for all the activities that we participated together encompass Christmas carol in old folks home to many more parties and gatherings that we used to have. I feel that I can be attached to them. Should I baptize myself becoming a brother and sister with them in Christ, I am sure it will be awesome.

Being a free thinker would not come amiss for me in the mean time. Thanks friends, I will try to keep in touch with all of you guys once again for you are the one who teach me how to open up myself, how to share and how to hug one another and celebrate the grace of the God.

p/s: visit http://oneyearplan.net/Andrew

China Trip No.4 - 11 September 2008 (Day 1) - Promenade and Pudong

Crossing the road from the Bund, you will reach the Promenade (second picture) along the Bund. This is one of the best places to take pictures of Pudong skyline (as shown in the first picture). The Promenade is packed with people and photography booths touting the photography services. And you can enjoy the sightseeing here and the breeze is really comfortable. It is great to take a stroll along the Promenade to see those river cruises and ferries passing by. Nice view, it is a place overlooking the façade of Pudong skyline including the Shanghai Oriental Tower, Jing Mao Tower (the world fifth tallest building - third picture) and also the Shanghai World Financial Centre (the world second tallest building - third picture).

As mentioned in my previous blog, I met a lady from Si Chuan Province who came to travel in Shanghai alone at the Promenade. She requested me to take photo for her and she did it for me in return. After exchanging a very brief conversation, we found that we were heading toward the same direction, the Oriental Pearl Tower; therefore we decided to go there together. We took a ferry to cross the river.

It is weird that we have to seat inside the ferry; hence we lose the chance to enjoy the breeze swirling across HuangPu River. After crossing the river, we needed to walk about 15 minutes to reach the Oriental Pearl Tower. We passed by the Jing Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Centre, we paused and took our pictures here. It is nice to meet another couple from Shan Xi province （山西省）. They required us to take pictures for them and it was great to find out that they were heading toward the same destination as us. So we walked together and started our chat till we reached Oriental Pearl Tower.

Pudong means the east side of HuangPu River and the river segregates the Great Shanghai into new and old. Basically, one can barely see any modern building before 1990s in Pudong, it is a vast area covered with numerous villages. But now, Pudong is the area to showcase the prosperity of Shanghai and China, it has the tallest building in China, one of the biggest stock exchanges in Asia, its equivalent to Wall Street LuJiaZui financial district, world class performing art centre, state of the art museums, Pudong International Air Port and many more. This area signifies the future of China that various modern development ideas are being unfolded and materialized.

The entry ticket to Oriental Pearl Tower varies depending which part of the Tower we want to go. The Tower consists of Shanghai Municipal History Museum, 360 degree view of the city (provided is a clear day but the day I went is overcast), a restaurant and the Space Mountain rollercoaster ride. The building is 468 meter tall (1535 ft). We only opted for the Shanghai Municipal History Museum and the 360 degree view of the city, which costs about RMB 100 each person. I think this is the most expensive entry ticket I had ever paid (the gigantic forbidden city in Beijing only costs me RMB 80) in my whole China trip.

We spent around 30 minutes taking pictures and enjoying the city view. Then we went to the basement in order to visit the museum. The Shanghai Municipal Museum takes us through the history of old shanghai with audio-visual exhibits.

When we came out it is already 6 pm and the sky had turned completely dark. So we decided to go for dinner but neither the Si Chuan lady nor I knew where to dine (don’t forget it is still the first day of my trip). Somehow, we decided to go to NanJing Road to look for a decent place to dine. The nearest Subway is Lu Jia Zui station, from there we went to the NanJing East Road station.

When we got down at the NanJing East Road station, it was raining. But the rain soon stopped. We came out, turned right and we were lucky to come across a very popular local snack foods street called Wu Jiang Road (吴江路). The street is not very long, but still I had no idea what to eat. It was my first meal since I arrived in Shanghai (I didn’t have anything for the whole day). I remembered I walked up and down the whole street twice trying to figure out what to eat. In the end, we entered into a small restaurant serving “Hu Nan Cai” （湖南菜）. Hu Nan Province is where Chairman Mao Ze Dong from.

My Si Chuan friend had given me a shout for my first meal in China. It is a wonderful night. This is how I find out that Chinese people are passionate and friendly, she even gave me a “YumSeng” and volunteered herself to welcome me visiting China on behalf of all Chinese people. Woow, I was stunned then. We exchanged our contact because she was going back to Si Chuan the next day. After the dinner we farewell with each others.

p/s: visit http://oneyearplan.net/Andrew

China Trip No.3 - 11 September 2008 (Day 1) - The Bund

When I arrived at Jing An International Youth hostel at around 10 am in the morning, I did not go out immediately. After checking in into the hostel, unloading my luggage and taking a shower, I decided to take a short nap before going out because I am too excited about this trip that I did not actually sleep on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai.

I woke up at 3 pm, put on my cloths without eating (not hungry then). I started ponder over where I should go since I came to China without detail itinerary. Shanghai Bund was the first thing that came to my mind. Hence, I decided to go to the Bund.

I walked to the Subway station (Jing An station) and enquired the lady at the information counter which line I should take and which station I should get down in order to reach the Bund. The answer is Subway Line 2, Nan Jing East Road (南京东路).

It is worthy to mention that the Subway in China is very friendly to foreigners and travelers. Passengers will be informed about the next destination in both English and Chinese. The next coming destination is also shown on screen in case the train is too noisy that the passengers can not hear the reporting clearly. This will help certain foreigners who can not understand the English reporting with heavy Chinese accent. The train is clean by the way.

When I get down at the Nan Jing East Road station, I am overwhelmingly stunned by the people I saw. Standing at the entrance, I have two options with the popular Nan Jing East Road pedestrian walkway on my left or go to the bund on my right. I was not quite sure where the Bund is at that time but I quickly learned that it is 5 minutes walking distance from the Nan Jing East Road station when I overheard a conversation between two ladies. So I started walking toward there. After walking for 5 minutes, I saw the famous Peace Hotel (和平饭店) and quickly took several pictures of it with my digital camera. Built in 1929 as a luxurious hotel, every luminary visited (of course I am talking about the early 20th century) Shanghai stayed here. Peach hotel is located at the corner of the street and the Bund is just right in front of me.

This strip of land along the HuangPu River has stately magnificent building erected alongside and each is different and distinctive with one another. The buildings are old but still maintain its stately glamorous and original character. Most of the buildings were built during the era of colonial foreign domination in China in the early 20 century. The open and the development of Shanghai was the result of the British signatories to the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842 that ended the First Opium War (separate treaty were signed by US and France in 1844). With many banks and financial institutions lining up the Bund, it looks like Wall Street in the East or Manhattan in New York.

I did not finish walking the Bund and here are a few photos taken of the buildings. It is interesting to see that one bank has two stoned lion guided in front of the bank entrance, with one lion mouth opened and another mouth shut. This signifies that “Money go in, but not go out”, a very prosperous sign indeed.

There is something I miss out which was reminded by my friend subsequently. The interior design and art deco on wall and ceiling inside these old building is magnificent and are worth taking a look. No wonder many of these buildings were turned into beautiful boutique and art exhibition centre such as the Bund 18.

The night scene at the Bund is beautiful where one can see all building are aflame in different rays of light and colour. One can take a night river cruise to enjoy the romantic night scene here. But I did not manage to see it.

I met a lady from Shi Chuan Province who came to travel in Shanghai alone. She requested me to take photo for her and she did it for me in return. After exchanging a very brief conversation, we find that we are heading toward the same direction, the Oriental Pearl Tower; therefore we decided to go there together. We took a ferry to cross the river.

p/s: visit http://oneyearplan.net/Andrew

China Trip No.2 - 11 September 2008 (Day 1) - Jing An International Youth Hostel

The International hostel I stayed located in one of the back lane. In Shanghai, the main road is called "Road" and the smaller road called "street". There are many shops lining up the street and in between block of shops there is "lane", something like back alley. There are houses and shops in the back alley too. Just like this one here.

This is the hostel lobby. The receptionist from Shi Chuan Province, very friendly and helpful.

I get to know this hostel through hostel world, and it is highly rated by many international backpackers. I give them 100%.

p/s: come on in, visist http://oneyearplan.net/Andrew

China Trip No.1 – 11 September 2008 (Day 1)

On 11 September 2008, I set out on my month long China trip departing from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 2:05am in the morning, arrived Shanghai Pudong International Airport at around 7:30am, approximately 5 hours. 11 September, what a day to travel.

I reached Terminal 1 of Pudong Airport, the old wing of Pudong Airport, not many flights arrived in that morning so I managed to get around the crowds and long queue. I decided to take the Magnetic Levitation train to the city, the fastest train in the world. The train ticket costs RMB50 per person for one way and it takes preciously 8 minutes to reach Shanghai city. It is fast because the normal driving distance from Pudong Airport to Shanghai can be more than one hour.

The train uses electro-magnetic technology to whisk me at a dizzying 430km an hour and brought us to Long Yang station. Long Yang station is part of subway line as well. So I switched to the subway line 2 at Long Yang station in order to reach the city.

It was 9:15 am when I was at the Long Yang station; people were rushing to work with high speed. I was a little bit taken aback then, because I never see so many people “moving” in one station before. I held my luggage closed to me to ensure no one come near me. There are security check in the subway station, all luggage need to be scanned before entering the subway line.

If I am not mistaken, there are altogether 8 subway lines in shanghai. Most of the tourism spots are located along Line 2, what a well planned city. Besides, the international youth hostel that I stayed is nearby line 2 as well, which is very convenient for me.

I stayed at the Jing An district in Shanghai (静安区) ，an area named after a popular Jing An temple in that area. I got down at Jing An station and started asking people how to get to my hostel. Quite surprised to see there are many police and security guards stationed on the street and they are friendly to show me the way. It takes me 20 minutes to reach my hostel. It was nice walking from the Jing An station to my hostel because there are many old and small shanghai houses /shops long the way.

p/s: come on in, visit http://oneyearplan.net/Andrew

无为

Sometime by expecting nothing, one will actually gain more. This is the first most important lesson I learn from my China trip in September 2008.

Planning nothing about the trip but just having a simple idea which cities I want to go. I fully let everything to the journey and follow whatever and whenever the journey takes me. It turns out to be amazing.

I reckon that life has so much to offer to us and we are all the apple of the Great Nature’s eye. Yet, our desire may deprive us from all the good things offered by the nature. Instead of appreciating and celebrating all the great things in life, our desire deviate us from those great things to other worldly things so that our insatiable want can be filled. Hence we are sometime happy for the things we gain, but also suffer occasionally for certain things we lost. So what is the right attitude to all this?

Being satisfied is truly an enormous test for human being. But of course, I am not saying we should be aimless and has no objectives. Just that we should set a higher target and not to think and dwell so much on the details in order not to over stress one-self. The Great Nature will lead us from where we are now to our destinations. Let the Great Nature do the tedious job and we should be enjoying the process.

It is also important to enjoy whatever we do. Life is short enough within the whole great scheme of the universe, everyone is free to choose an enjoyable life or otherwise.

有所不为， 才能有所为 – By doing nothing, we may or can do more.

p/s: probably you are now scratching your head what the hell does the picture I uploaded got anything to do with this theme. Look down, look at the “present” and be in present. Enjoy the present time.

What is next?

Resigning from a highly pressurized works feel so damn "excellent", so what is next? Since I wrote this blog in arrears, so the plan goes like these. Rest and doing nothing in the month of August, just rest the rest, sleep the sleep, enjoy the joy, and be a free man. Then come the plan to travel one month in China in Beijing, Shanghai, Su Zhou and Hang Zhou. When I back, I need to settle something personal in the month of October then start building and updating my CVs since my last old CVs was written don't know how many donkey years ago... ... ...

My original plan was to travel in Europe for one and half months, with 3 weeks working in an organic farm in exchange for foods and boarding somewhere in France and/or UK, the rest of the other 3 weeks will be for real traveling including visiting my friends in Germany and UK. Working in the organic farm will allow me to get in touch with the local community, stay away from the hustle and bustle of the modern city life and learn their culture and stuffs from them. Of course, it is one of the many ways to save the traveling costs by earning free foods and accommodation myself, and make new friends and lengthen my trips. However, my travel budget drawn up by me revealed that this European trip could easily cost me a great fortune, so I fret. Approximately RM20, 000 to RM30, 000, so I have a valid reason to fret and twiddle my thumbs.

Making the allowance of high traveling costs in Europe, and the thrills of the opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympic game, I changed my plan to China and it turns out to be an amazing trip. Cheap currency has allowed me to spend whenever I feel I want to. Should I stick to my old plan to travel in Europe, probably I will not enjoy as much as my China trip.

My first stop is Shanghai, then Hang Zhou, followed by Su Zhou, then Beijing. I spent 6 days in Shanghai, 3 days in Hang Zhou, 4 days in Su Zhou and two weeks in Beijing. I take this trip alone and without much plan. I don't even reserve my accommodation in advance in Hang Zhou, Su Zhou and Beijing, of course, no plan for the intercity transport except booking down the flight from Shanghai to Beijing.

I choose to stay in International youth hostel during the whole trip and it does save me a lot of dimes. It costs around 40 to 60 Yuan per bed in a big city like Beijing and Shanghai but of course I need to share the room with the other strangers. I always take the 6 sharing bed rooms and it is great because it is one of the many ways to know people. Nothing much can be done at night over there, especially after walking and traveling the whole day one may easily felt weary and lethargic. There are TVs and Internet provided but I am just lazy to go for it. After taking dinner and nice shower, I normally sat by my bed and start chat with roommates. It is relatively easier to know someone in international youth hostel because most travelers are backpackers who travel alone or with two/three companions. While traveling alone in abroad, one tends to be friendly and that is why I met and talked to many people and make a couple of friends.

Surprisingly I get up early in China because the day becomes bright at around 6am in the morning. So I wake up at around 630am everyday, switch on the bed-side lamp beside me, start reading my lonely planet and see where I can go on that particular day. Yes, I only plan my itinerary in the morning on that particular day. And it turns out to be amazing. My boss always tells me that 'if one fails to plan, you plan to fail'. But this trip showed me otherwise, by not planning upfront, many surprising things happen and I just follow whatever my journey takes me, all I need to do is to enjoy every single moment it bring forward to me. As a result, I came across many great people, foods and other fabulous stuffs unexpectedly.

This trip is truly revealing and I think I will continue to travel alone next time. I used to work 24/7, now I plan to travel at least once per year. We should all do that to let our hair down and find time to pamper our self.

p/s: the next destination is here. Join us.

My Resignation

My much delayed resignation has finally become a “fact”. Yes, I have resigned from my ex-firm as Assurance and Business Advisory Assistant Manager from Grant Thornton Malaysia (“GT”).

I joined GT on 1 October 2003 and leaved on 31 July 2008, all in all, I have spent about 4 years and 10 months in that firm. I still remembered the day I went for my interview and how I talked to the two interviewers. Images of the very first day I came to GT and seated by the receptionist desk waiting to be called in by the manager could still be evoked vividly from my mind. Many memories are still fresh.

Much appreciation is owed to this firm, for my career accession from an Audit Assistant all the way up to an Assistant Manager. Albeit much pressured from my superiors while I worked as a staff, people are nice and I like my works very much. Thinking back now, I sometime wonder how I managed to survive the long working hours from morning to another morning, especially the high concentration without any trifle entertainments. It is a 24/7/365 working style. However, I believe that the tough working environment has actually transformed me to be a better professional.

I was lucky or I should say I “am”. Great opportunities have been given to me to learn, from public listed companies across various industries to corporate exercises acting as reporting accountants in initial public offering exercises, acquisition exercises, special review, etc. Wide exposures have broadened my experiences and I reckoned that remain one of the key reasons why I stayed that long in GT even though I can left earlier to join a better firm. But I think that the opportunities are rare and if I don’t take a firm grip of it, it will slip away and I may not have the same chance again.

I have to mention that it was my second resignation in GT. The first resignation was tendered on 30 April 2007 due to unbearable work pressures. But my continuing extension has finally led me to withdraw my resignation on 30 September 2007 and joined back. The main reason for joining back is because of an interesting and challenging assignment in AIM listing exercises, but unfortunately the assignments was up in the air not long after I joined back and was ultimately abandoned. So I keep staying back and till I tendered second time on 30 April 2008 and served my two months notice and one month extension and finally I managed to left on 31 July 2008.

As usual, a farewell party was organized for me and I was required to give a simple speech. It was sweet. But my last day in the firm was not very relaxed and easy, far from my expectation, I still rushed high and low and here and there.

Finally, from my heartiest gratitude, I would like to thanks all those who has worked with me and wish all of you the best in your future undertaking.

p/s: quit your job seriously

SIGNSSS!!!

A penny for your thoughts after reading it.

p/s: No matter what signs they are, this is even better.