OK, ok - I surrender :-)

Last year, I wrote a post on how I thought TV advertisements were overloading on the 'tug-the-heartstrings' elements. I truly felt disenchanted and too cynical about it all. Sentimentality overload, surely. This year, the clip on how Aiman Gyver grew up into a respectful young man who brought back a power bike for his dad made me feel differently about Merdeka adverts.

I am reminded of these lessons from watching the video: innovation rules, for sure. At the same time, a culture of hard work and gentle reminders in bringing up children keeps our feet on the ground while we're reaching for the stars (didn't Casey Kasem end every American Top 40 weekly episode with that phrase?). This culture helps to nurture brilliant youngsters who'll grow up to be creative inventors and successful professionals who are still humble and practice good manners.

So, I now surrender myself to the heartwarming effects of the campaign video :-)

Oh Charlie!

I was feeling dreary. It's so sunny outside I had to bite my own fist to stop myself from getting into the car and running AWOL to enjoy a bit of lie-down by the condo pool. Then a good friend, Johnny, suggested I go read some Charlie Brooker.

"Thank God for dishonesty. I can't have been the only Briton to shift awkwardly in their seat throughout the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games the other week. The Chinese mounted an unprecedented spectacle. Thousands of synchronised drummers, acrobats, fireworks, impossible floating rings made of electric dust (surely alien technology, that), dancers, prancers, singers and flingers. Maybe not flingers. I just threw that in to complete the rhyme. But you get the picture. It was amazing. It cost around £50m and was probably rehearsed at the shooty end of a machine gun. Dance, beloved populace! Miss three steps and we take out your kneecaps. Miss five and we go for the head. Dance till your homeland is the envy of the world! Stop weeping and dance!"

Read the full article here: Thanks to China, we have a blueprint for 2012 - virtual athletes and exciting made-up CGI sports.

I am now both enlightened AND entertained. Thanks Jay!

Do judge a bookstore by its services

Today marks the 3rd month anniversary of the special order that I made for Coelho's Eleven Minutes, from a certain bookstore that boasts its extensive collection, store size and its quality, with plans 'to take the book industry to greater heights.'

Hmph. Greater heights, konon.

Funny there is no mention about any commitment to offering help to customers. The only time the word 'service' appeared was in the franchiser company name.

That probably should have been my warning flag. A bookseller who appears to pay no attention to customer service sounds like an owner of an orchard who boasts about how large the land is and how the fertilizers he uses will take fruit orchards to the next level and fails to mention that he has no fruit trees planted there.

OK maybe I exaggerate. And digress.

Living next to the said bookstore provided me with the ample opportunity to make frequent visits there. In one of my visits 2 weeks ago I found out that my book has left the ship and arrived at the warehouse (somewhere is Port Klang I reckon, and not in Poughkeepsie, NY). Last week I asked the people in charge of special orders about the status of my book. Here's the reply:

"I don't know, miss. I have to check with the Ingram (as I heard it, and I found out later this entity is their warehouse) on the status of your book. I don't know about this because this was from the person before me" (who has quit already, apparently - maybe went to join the ingram)

I received a call from this person a day later. Here's what she told me:

"I checked with the Ingram, and they don't know what happened to your book. They lost it. All the other orders on the same day also gone."

Now that's interesting. It sounds to me like someone carried a bunch of books tied up in string from a ship down into the warehouse and told someone in the building, "hey, dude - I'm just gonna put this bunch of stuff here on the floor OK?" and left, walked off into the smoggy afternoon. The blinking 'Ingram' didn't know what happened to my book and the other books from the May 16 order batch.

I asked: "Did the book arrive or not?"
Answer: "I don't know Miss"
I asked: "What happened to the manifest? Someone signed for the cargo when it arrived, right?"
Answer: "I don't know, Miss. That's not our responsibility"

MISTAKE NUMBER ONE. IT IS YOUR BLEEDIN' RESPONSIBILITY. LIVE WITH IT.

I asked: "What do I do now? I want my book. What options do you have for me?"
Answer: "Do you want your money back, Miss?"

MISTAKE NUMBER TWO. This may seem like a logical answer to give; however, take note that this particular customer kept on dropping by regularly at the Information counter to ask for the status of her special order since the 5th week of placing it. Would that be the act of a customer who doesn't care whether her order arrives? I reckon not, Bubba. IDEAL ANSWER: I'm sorry to see you upset, Miss. I understand how sad it is when something you're waiting for doesn't arrive on time. I can place a re-order right now, and I'm sure my supervisor will be able to help out with something to compensate you with.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED -
I asked: Can you put in a re-order?
Answer: Yes.
I asked. Can you re-order right away?
Answer: I have to check with my supervisor first, Miss, cos right now he's busy with the sale at the concourse.
I asked: So you can't help me with this right away.
Answer: I can record if you want your money back.

I can't help it. I exploded.

"Do I look like someone who wants her money back or do I look like someone who wants her book and wants it NOW???"

Grrr grrr.

It's not about the bad news, Bubba. It's about HOW it was delivered. Let's go back to shooting the messenger. Maybe then we'll all care about how we deliver the news we need to deliver.

-Maybe King Leonidas had the right idea there, Bubba.

Image courtesy of '300' promotional photos

Raising the bar; an experience

Once upon a time, there was an all girls boarding school. Almost every girl (and their mothers) dreamed about completing their secondary school education there. It was the school for the creme-de-la-creme, they were told, and it would be such an honor to be an alum of that great institution.

It was 1988 when it happened. The announcement came as a shock to all the fair students there. A batch of girls would join the fourth formers. They were the best students from selected schools. Those 'form four barus' will make up 2 new classes. The 'form four lamas' were incensed. How could this be happening? What will happen to tradition? We waited 3 years, slogged through forms 1, 2 and 3 to become seniors in college and enjoy the privileges of being seniors, to be greeted with this abomination? What will happen to the quality of the thoroughbreds? When we design our sweaters to mark our arrival at the landmark year of Form 5, are we going to have 2 different designs to accommodate the form four barus? What's the purpose of bringing them in? Tradition will be ruined!

When the girls came in, the school organized a camping weekend on the college field (where else could we go anyway) to INTEGRATE the form four lamas and the form four barus. The form four lamas were more incensed! As the term went into full swing, the form four lamas were forced to eat humble pie. The form four barus gave a new definition to the word 'excellence' and 'all-rounder'. They easily made up the top 10% in all tests & term exams. Teachers loved them. Coaches wanted them in all the sports teams. Positions that many form four lamas thought they would inherit (club presidency, team captaincy) went to some of the form four barus. The juniors held many of them in high regard. They were considered role models.

It took a while, then the form four lamas realized that the situation was not going to change. They had better buck up or else they would forever stay at the level of mediocrity that they had mistakenly thought were their 'level best'. They made friends with the form four barus. They saw that the entry of their new friends helped to raise the bar. Standards got higher. As the weeks turned into months, the distinction of old and new was gone. The fourth formers worked together in inter-form drama competitions, inter-house dancing competitions, inter-school debates, sports and games, marching band practices and PPM debates. As the fourth formers became fifth formers, they integrated. They even bonded, somewhat. As they bid farewell to the college on their last days of the fifth form, they all felt sentimental and sad to to leave the venerable institution. They have learned to see the bigger picture; it was not about THEM - it was about THE COLLEGE.

Having learned what I had in those valuable 2 years of 1988-1989, I am sad to read of students protesting and handing over memorandums to force apologies out of the Selangor MB for announcing the possibility of opening up 10% of UiTM to non-Bumiputeras. Their bone of contention? Among others, it would deprive 10% of Bumiputera students of the opportunity to pursue higher education in UiTM. My goodness. Such flimsy arguments! Move on or stay mediocre.

Please.

My Nipah Bay alternative

It was Sunday afternoon. I was recovering from a flu bug. I was not cheered up at the prospect of a 2-hour LDF class in FF Menara Axis. I felt restless and rather oddly depressed, which was pretty rare for me. I had planned to be in Pangkor that weekend, but I canceled the plan due to the bug. After a quick consultation with Chris, we got in the car and started driving. We ended up in PD, and I had a lovely afternoon there.  

Sometimes, all you need to do is just get in the car and drive.

Nipah Bay, my new hometown

Provided by Pulau Pangkor.com 2004-2008

When one needs to recuperate, it's always best to do so in a relaxing place. For me, it's Pangkor Island. Not only I love the island, the journey itself is something to look forward to. Whether on the highway or the upgraded trunk road where we pass by Sekinchan, the rice bowl of Selangor, there's always something for us to see and enjoy. This time, I'll make sure to have my Telfast tablets on the ready, just in case my histamine levels decide to play 'polis sentry' and run out of whack. Chris & I will also grab our motorbike (AND helmets - yes, mum) at the jetty as soon as we arrive to eliminate the need for taxis. Since we've toured Lumut on our last Pangkor trip, we'll give Lumut a miss.

I'd like to visit the Dutch Fort this round. I'm not sure if I'm up to hike through the forest to get to the white sands of Segadas Bay. I'll keep quiet about it for the time being, lest Chris gets one of his brilliant 'let's go hiking' ideas.





I'd also like to check out another historical site: the Foo Lin Kong temple. I've always been a fan of
buildings and I must admit, the Bedrock-style entrance caught my eye. That and the miniature Great Wall of China that they've got there. I miss that part of Beijing since I am no longer traveling on a regular basis to that city. The temple's on the foot of Pangkor Hill on the village of Sungai Pinang Besar. This would be a cool thing to do before going back to Nipah Bay and walking along the beach stalls scouting for ice kacang & laksa utara.

After that, the best thing to do would be to walk along Pasir Bogak Beach and see how different the sunset looks, a few kilometers north of Nipah Bay. I'd recap the day with a relaxing supper at Daddy's Cafe back on Nipah Beach. I'll sip my tea, Chris his Tiger, while we both listen to the waves.

Parts, integrated? For sure.