Jumaatday

True story, mamak dekat sini asked Aishah "baby, nak minum apa?". FTW!

I'm sure it's hardly original but I'm claiming the copyright to Syukur Sudah Jumaat (SSJ). TGIF is so old school yo.

SSJ mateys!

Fresh

There is this standing mindset (especially amongst bankers in foreign banks) that the local banks are a notch below. The Liga Perdana to the Liga Super, where of course the big boys go to play. Oh come on don't deny it, I was one of you.

I recently made the switch to a local bank, despite it being one of the biggest local banks I still had some reservations. The salary offered was good, but the benefits package was very much subpar to what I was used to. But I decided to join anyway because it was for a regional position and the manager was someone I felt I can work with. Well here I am about a month in, and I can already dispel some of the notions I had previously.

My old bank prides itself on being a major global player, and as such kept telling us that we were lucky to be part of the organisation. Well I did felt lucky earlier in my career there. We were paid very well (for a fresh graduate that is), the benefits provided were some of the best in the industry if not the country, and as a management trainee were accorded some extra privileges like rubbing shoulders with the top management (CEO included, mind you) regularly in both formal and social settings, and were also provided the best training one can offer. Four weeks in UK, three in Hong Kong, that's pretty damn good I must say!

After 2 CEO changes later, things were not looking good. The new CEO is a very brash man who doesn't practice any subtleties and niceties that people loved with the previous CEOs. When asked why aren't the bank trying to compete in the market by increasing the salary since many talents leave year after year for the bigger bucks elsewhere, he just responded 'if you want more money, then you can leave too'. Talk about tact. True to fact, a lot of people left and in time I too became part of that movement =P

Anyway enough about the old place, let's talk about the new bank. Honestly I expected the worse. My first day did nought to dispel that. I reported to the HR and was asked to wait in a room full of other first day joiners. Most of them fresh faced and eager to be a banker, some like me looked wary already after a few years on the line. Filling up a stack of forms was next, it wasn't as organised as I would've liked but that's life kan? The we were taken to our respective floors. I was given an archaic old PC (CRT monitor yo!) that takes ages to startup, and soon realised that IE6.0 and Lotus Notes 7.0 is the current system standard. The warning lights in my head all came on, and all the key words people usually associate with local banks come to the front - old school, slow, lazy, bureaucratic, lethargic, etc fills my head. Man I was scared, here I was a pampered foreign banker jumping into this backwater called local banks. Plus my boss was away that day, so I had the whole day to rethink my decision oh the agony.

The next day my boss comes in and things started to change. She asked someone to replace my PC straightaway and I got a spankin' new Lenovo with a 19'' LCD within a few days (unfortunately, IE6.0 and LN7.0 is apparently still the bankwide standard, bummer). She briefed me a bit about the department and the bank, and it was reassuring. She was a former foreign banker as well, and most my department either comes from HSBC/Citi/Stanchart triumvirate or from the Big Four. She explains how things work, and though she laments the pace as being a bit slow, it is improving over when she first joined.

Old school? Some departments maybe, but mine is alright. Especially since more than half of the guys here are mid 30s and youngers. Slow? I agree with this, don't expect a response to your e-mails within a day or two (even with chasers), try a week. If this like what my boss said is 'improving', I pity those who joined way back when. Bureaucratic? Yes. I need to go through twice the number of approvals I need previously for a business case. Lethargic? Not here. Probably because we are of a younger subset, I don't know. The place is definitely more friendlier, I have more space to my cubicle than I know what to do with, I have a pantry that's bigger than my old big boss' office, the lifts faster and most importantly kids, some local banks pay a whole lot more than you think ;)

Name

Quick question, what's up with Malay parents these days naming their kids Isaac and Julian and Adrien? Sebab trend ke sebab malu nak namakan dengan nama melayu/Islam?

Echo

*Flexes fingers*

Now, how do I start again?

New

I don't really feel like doing a lengthy review of 2010, so in short 2010 saw me travelling to Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok (again, but this time by land yo), but the biggest landmark of last year was that i finally ended my bachelorhood and got married =D

Now that I am married, my plans for 2011 are gonna change a little bit. Can't do crazy backpacking like I used to, gotta take into account that she's not used to travelling let alone backpacking. So our first plan for the year is gonna be Bali sometime soon once we got our life sorted out first. Anyone got experience staying at private villas in Ubud?

We're also planning to head north to Bangkok yet again since she's really enthralled by my stories of the city - that would probably be sometime mid year. If we got some more extra cash stashed away somewhere, perhaps a visit to Jakarta-Bandung is in order to visit some friends and do more shopping.

Apart from travelling, I have a few other things in mind. I finally did upgrade from my Canon 400D to Canon 60D last week, so far it's been a wonderful piece of machinery. Gotta put it to real use soon to see how does it measure up - photography outings anyone?

I also gotta start going back to the driving range, I'm pretty sure whatever form or swing I had is now gone so it's gonna feel like starting over, oh my back.

Besides that, am thinking of buying a bicycle. Haven't rode one since maybe Standard 6, and I'm really hoping that riding a bike is not a skill that you lose over time. Though riding in Ampang would probably be considered an extreme sport, the drivers around there are crazy I tell you. To be fair, that would include me too from time to time hehe.

The more extravagant plan is buying that nice house I've been eyeing which is priced just a wee bit beyond what I can afford (22x75 + freehold + good location = must buy!). A promotion (and the pay rise that comes along with it) would definitely help ;)

Well that's about it I guess. Gonna turn 28(!) in a fortnight's time, inching closer to the big three zero. Just 7 more years for me to meet my deadline of having my own business. But for now, I got a decent car, a cosy home, a good job and the woman of my dreams. Not too shabby I guess, Alhamdulillah.

Tigers

It's not a secret that Malaysian football, domestic leagues and the national team both, has been in the ditches for so long. Not much can be said when we keep on harping on the exploits of the teams of the 70s even some 40 years on.

I still remember in the early to mid 90s, we had quite a good semi-pro league going. The mercurial foreign players such as the likes of Ervin Boban, Scott Ollerenshaw, Zsolt Bucs & Olubumi (later converted to Abdul Rahman) Adigun complemented the local boys like Hashim Mustapha, Dollah Salleh, Radhi Md Din & Matlan Marjan. Local matches are shown on TV, men actually went to watch the games while those who didn't stayed home to watch them.

What happened between then and now? I guess the popular theory is that after the major match fixing scandal, people just lost the passion and the players who were not affected by the scandal were just not good enough.

And it all went downhill from there. Various plans and initiative were carried out, but we were sliding further and further down the football pecking order. Remember the Olimpik 2000 team? That was an initiative to get future national players more playing time, which failed. Basically the team was crap. A few actually went on to have a long career in football like Khalid Jamlus and Akmal Rizal while the rest faded away.

But you know, these days I'm actually seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Still dim, but it's a light nonetheless. On the domestic front, two things happened. One is the emergence of the Kelantan team as a major force after years of being in the doldrums. Why is this important? Well, this is the only team where home games are ALWAYS packed, and away games would see a sizable away support cheering the team on. What does this have to do with the big picture? Several things. The team now actually have money from the gate collection, and with the team playing so well the supporters splurge on authentic team merchandise which means more money too. With that kind of money, they can attract the best players around. Which also means that the other teams gotta start to buck up and get their act together. Playing in front of a voracious crowd weekly surely would help our boys grow some balls and gain mental toughness too.

Kelantan when on song is a joy to watch, second leg Malaysia Cup tie against Selangor comes into mind when Selangor was demolished despite having the players and the money to match Kelantan. Despite these two teams, Negeri Sembilan is also consistently fighting for silverware on all fronts. I hope next season we'll see a re-emergence of Perak, Pahang, Kedah and the Borneo twins who have been big teams in the past.

The other thing is the raw talent coming through are being handled correctly. Harimau Muda A and B are playing regular football, and unlike Olimpik 2000 these guys are actually good. Then they were also given exposure in the Slovakian league, which sounded like a dud but I am sure helped in some ways. Then you see many players below 25 playing week in and week out for their teams, which can only be good for the future.

Starting with some friendlies, we started to shift gears. In Guangzhou we did very well in my books, despite some dubious officiating in the game against China we made it through to play Iran. And that's with half the team out due to injuries and suspensions. Now we're playing the AFF Suzuki Cup, where after the 1-5 drubbing by Indonesia the wolves came out baying for blood immediately. K. Rajagopal realised his mistake I guess and immediately restored Khairul Fahmi as Malaysia's No. 1. With a much more reliable keeper than Sharbinee, the young back four gained confidence and started playing like they did in Guangzhou. Draw with Thailand and just now a 5-1 thrashing of Laos saw us through to the semis (credit shall also go to Indonesia for being sporting and not just rollover to Thailand).

Of course I'm pretty sure there will still be wolves out there discrediting our performance. They are not world class players yet, sure. We're not the feared team in Asia nor Asean yet, true. But I have faith. It has to start somewhere and I have a niggling feeling that it has started already. It is my belief that in 5 years time this current team we have will have matured enough to be a force to be reckoned with. These same guys will be mid 20s to early 30s then, which should be at the peak of their careers. It's time to start cheering our boys on, and not just ignore pre-game and criticise post-game no matter the result.

If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

Current Malaysia squad at the AFF Suzuki Cup
Khairul Fahmi, Sharbinee; Sabre, Faizal Mohd, Asraruddin, Muslim, Fadhli, Razman, Khairul Helmi, Mahali; Safiq, Amar, Khyril, Amirulhadi, Guru, Kuna, Faizal Abu Bakar, Amri; Norshahrul, Safee, Ashaari, Izzaq.

AYUH HARIMAU MALAYA!

The Cult Of The i

I woke early on Sunday, by 7am I was already in the shower. Put on some comfortable clothes, grabbed the keys and hurried to the lift.

Turned back because forgot the wallet. Then again rushed to the lift and to the car and sped out.

By 8am, I was already on the escalator going up to where I wanted to be. I was early, I'm pretty sure that - ohh, I'm number 14.

Yes, I did the unthinkable. I actually went to line up outside Maxis KLCC to get the iPhone 4 at 8am on a Sunday morning. Last Sunday there was only 20 in stock, so the folks who arrived some 10 minutes after me had to go back empty-handed.

The whole process of getting one is a big hassle. I lined up at 8am, and the Centre opens at 8.30am. We were asked beforehand which iPhone 4 we wanted (16GB or 32GB) and was given a number. Then when the door opened we all went to a special iPhone 4 counter and was asked some questions about out preferred iValue plans and payment method etc. Then they photocopied my IC and was asked to wait 10 minutes.

Boy that was the longest 10 minutes ever. It was already 9.15am when I asked one staff what's going on, and what am I supposed to wait for. I was told to wait for the number. Okay then.

It's 10.00am and still no number given out, how hard was it to get me a damn number? So I asked again. Only then I was told that number 14 will only be processed IN THE AFTERNOON and they will call me when it's ready for pickup. Flippin' hell, they could've told me that after they photocopied my IC and save me more than an hour of useless waiting around.

So I left and went to wash my car, all the while planning to go to the bank and run some other errands to pass the time when Maxis called at 10.30am that my iPhone is ready for pickup. iDontfuckinbelieveit.

So I went back to Maxis KLCC and finally got a goddamn number, and waited for another 45 minutes before my number was called. So I went to the iPhone collection/payment counter, and the whole process took maybe 10 minutes tops. I was told to go to the unbricking counter, and it was done in less than 1 minute.

The whole ordeal took me the whole morning that could've been put to do more productive stuff like err sleeping in for instance. Okay maybe not productive but definitely beats waiting around like that. It could've gone better, they could've just told me at 8.45am that my phone will only be ready in the afternoon so I can go run my errands or balik sambung tidur and I'll just pop back in later to collect it.

After all that trouble, this phone better be worth it.