The Glass Half Full

"There are essentially two completely different ways to look at the Sony Alpha 550. The glass half empty view is that it lacks the serious photographic toolset offered by any similarly-priced model from the likes of Canon, Nikon, Pentax et al. A more positive view - and the one I'm sure Sony wants you to take - is that it brings high end features such as high speed continuous shooting and automatic HDR processing to those looking to step up from an entry-level SLR or high end compact."

Which would be a better opinion.....

About the glass that is half full

OR.....

About the glass that is half empty

What Einstein say about Leaders and Followers

The led must not be compelled; they must be able to choose their own leader.~ Albert Einstein

Transformation Starts in the Mirror

This is a nice piece of personal reflection I came across from Twitter posts, about the "Power of One" i.e. changing one's own mindset to contribute towards the greater good (Transformation Starts in the Mirror).

Transformation is never a smooth journey. It starts with a realization that it takes only one ... to start and make that change. Enjoy reading this article.

Phase 1 Interventiopn Programme Completed

We have completed phase 1 of the intervention programme. This programme emphasise personal transformation. We have managed to get all group staffs to participate.

We originally have 18 session to cover all participant from the group but after 16 session everyone already attended. The last 2 session was redesign for staff's children and power presentation skills for transformation agent.

We are hoping that there will be a considerable changes in the staff's acceptance towards the transformation. It is very hard to measure the improvement but nevertheless we hope the session is of a great value to everyone.

There is a phase 2 session in the Mindset & Culture intervention programme but no final decision has been made by the company.

This blog will continue to be updated with tranformation related information. Do come often, leave you comment and suggestion.

Mushroom

I watched Agro Asia on tv last week. It was about mushroom industry in Taiwan.

A few companies are producing various mushroom for local and export market. The process had been transformed from labour intensive to technology intensive. This is to ensure consistent quality of the products.

But a few interesting thing that I found:

1) They have started the industries 30 years ago

2) 90% of the product is being sold locally (only 10% is being exported)

They have created a vast market internally. Mushroom have become a favorite source of nutrition and it has been supported by hotels and restaurants which have come up various dishes based on mushroom.

What mushroom has anything to do with our transformation?

Ehmmm.... opinoin anybody?

Do the ride things!

I rode to Pangkor Island last weekend. Yes, during the Christmas holiday. The 15 of us spent hours on the bike, enjoying the gallop and the views.

When I reached the island's jetty, I realised there were some improvement compared to my visit a few years ago. More hotel and chalet. More stores and other related facilities. Glad to see such improvement but really disappointed by the rise of hotel price during the festive season. According to a local, the dorm like room for 9 people usually cost RM250 a night but I got it for RM450 last weekend.

But it was fun. Dining at a seashore stall on the sandy beach with a group of friends was memorable. Riding in the sun and in the rain and talking nonsense just for the fun of it.

It's a very nice get away! I don't expect all of you to understand but I do hope you can enjoy a little bit of you life.

Do what you like..........

I attended a training session called 'Powerful Presentation Skills Training' last week. Very good course. But I am not going to talk about the training.

During the introduction session, we had to get up and tell a little bit about ourselves. Thing that grab me hard was about our chosen profession.

Some said that this is not really what they like to do, some said that their parent was happy when they graduated in the course that their parent choosed for them.

When I took Diploma in QS 25 years ago, I was in the same situation but not because my parent choosed for me, but because I did not know enough what I was getting into.

I survive for 10 years but when I joined KLCC I was asked to choose between Project QS and ICMS System Administrator. It did not take me even 10 minutes to think. I choosed the later.

I enjoy my work ever since but with no less worries or concern about what is going to happened. A paper certificate in QS but a working experiences in IT...... ehmmmmmm.... which will do me more good in the real world?

To those in the above situation, I do not have a clue what you should do but one thing I am very sure, you will have to do something about it.

......It's either you do what you like or you like what you do! ...............

Government Transformation Programme (GTP)

GTP Open Day receives thumbs-up from visitiors

PETALING JAYA Dec 17 — The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Open Day here has been well received by visitors.

National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said the open day offered a great opportunity for the public to understand the government’s projects and ideas.
“This is a good channel for the public to truly understand what the government is doing and voice out their opinions at the same time,” she said.

The open day, which started yesterday, ends at 5.30 pm today.

She added that the open day provided a “two-way traffic” for both government and the people, especially for the grassroots to know the implementation of projects done by the government.


More

ps/  Ehmmm..... again.... we are not alone!

Malaysia is an establish exporter of a finished product

Ganoderma Lucidum is the scientific name for a species of Red Mushrooms and is said to be more powerful than Ginseng. Known as the "Miraculous King of Herbs", Ganoderma (also known as Lingzhi in China; Reishi in Japan and Youngchi in Korea) is listed as a Superior Herb in Sheng Nong's Pharmacopeia, an ancient Chinese Herbal Text dating back over 2,000 years.

For thousands of years, Ganoderma Lucidum (the Red Mushroom), a kind of medicinal fungi, has been highly regarded by the Chinese as the "Miraculous King of Herbs." Ganoderma is said to be able to improve the body's healing ability, maintain a healthy body and promote longevity. Under the attentive research done by domestic and foreign scholars in recent years, as well as the cooperative analysis and clinical experiments done by hospitals, colleges and pharmaceutical manufacturers, Ganoderma has shown to have the ability to help and strengthen the body function more effectively and efficiently.

ps//
Well, do you know that a Malaysian company is now exporting a range of products base on this herbs to the America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and West Africa? The herbs are cultured and the final product are processed by the company in Kedah.


So, we are pretty good aren't we? If other company managed to become a world class health products manufacturer why can't KLCC become a world class project manager............

Clear Sky, Soft Winds.......

The weather has been good lately. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and clear. The wind is blowing softly. How is the weather affecting us?

Ehmmmm.... I feel comfortable. I do not have to worry about getting wet. The clothes are drying quickly. Less traffic jam in KL (I think). But that is small talks... right.

Good weather usually give us a chance to fell good, think good, do good things. Do you agree with me? Well, I certainly feel that way..... if you don't.... no problem... you are not me..... but don't you think we ought to fell good, think good and do good things, regardless of the whether?

Cuti / Holiday

Well... dah hujung tahun dah ni. Siapa yang belum menghabiskan cuti tahunan? Hahhh.... kena ingat ya... boleh carry forward 5 hari sahaja.

I've got 6 days balance. I am going to take one day and carry forward to next year, the balance 5 days. Need to take a holidays earlier next year.......

To those yang dah merancang nak pergi bercuti.... jangan lupa bawa kamera. Bila balik nanti, share them with us. Tu kalau koghang tak kisahlah kan. Yang nak berahsia tu.... terpulang.... tu hak yang memang orang lain tak boleh sentuh........... walau bagaimana pun...........

Happy Holiday!!!

When come back.. more transformation activities will be waiting!

Position Description

We use to have a Job Description which I am sure most of you had been filling it for more than once. I don't know if they are the same..... Position Description and Job Description..... but we have to fill it up again.

But one thing that I realise though....... Position Description is more general or rather....... belongs to the position not the personnel....... that is a description for an Executive or Senior Executive or Manager or etc..... in the company in general not a job scope for Encik Abdullah whom is an Executive at the Park & Landscape Department in Putrajaya @ PJC.

Phew..... get what I mean? ........eehhhrrrrrrrrr........... I don't blame you. I am pretty confuse myself..... heeeeeeee.............

Road

Country road

Take me home

To the place

I belong

How stuff works?

People says, knowledge is power. Yeah... yeah.. yeah. When we keep on doing the same thing over and over again, we become expert in doing it but at the same time, the repeated process (and the same knowledge received repeatedly) become our boredom. So, if you are an estimator, doing estimate everyday (because that is what you do for a living) can bored you, if you are a project manager, managing projects for years (even though it's a different project every 2 to 3 years) make you boring too.

So, due to this facts, we tend to find other things to do beside our daily routine. This is where hobbies come in. But to most of us, hobby can only be one or two because most hobbies require certain amount of financial investment. But most of the time, one or two hobby would be sufficient to give colors to our live.

But to those whom are hungry for more knowledge or information (not just the knowledge from the 2 or 3 hobbies), the internet is a good place to start. One of the place I found very interesting is here :

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

ps//  Find a hobby guys/gals............ he... he... he..........

Happy browsing!

Innovation - A clean cruise

The answer to the problem of pollution-spewing vehicles is a bike that runs on human muscles.
IT’s been called a transport revolution. A bolt of lightning on wheels, it is one of the quickest forms of inner city transport on the planet. Best of all, it is environment-friendly. Meet the eROCKIT, poster child of green mobility.

Basically a motorcycle that you have to pedal like a bicycle to move, the eROCKIT is initially difficult to wrap your mind around. Like the Superman dictum of “Is it a bird? Is it a plane?”, the nifty two-wheeler is neither bicycle nor motorcycle. Instead, its ingenious inventor has come up with its own category: the human-hybrid motorcycle.

That’s because you need human muscles to power (through pedalling) the electric motor. The motor multiplies your muscle power by a factor of up to 50, allowing you to accelerate astonishingly quickly – comparable, in fact to motorcycles. The faster you pedal, the stronger the motor rotates and you can reach speeds of 80kph – that’s how fast a 250cc conventional motorcycle goes. If you stop pedalling, the vehicle will come to a stop.

Mean machine: ‘I came up with an idea of a bicycle that can overtake cars,’ says eROCKIT creator Stefan Gulas (left).

 

That car manufacturers are heading in the wrong direction, is one reason behind this invention, says eROCKIT’s creator, 39-year-old Stefan Gulas. “Over the years, they haven’t thought about what the driver needs. Everything’s computerised and they keep making cars faster, but it’s not about that. People want to feel they are an active part of the driving.”

There is more to it, though, and a hint of it is in the twinkling eyes and the big laugh of this tall, loose-limbed Austrian. “There’s a pyramid of transport on roads in terms of power,” says Gulas. “The cars are at the top, and bicycles at the bottom. But morally, in terms of the environment, bicycles are at the top. It’s unfair. So I decided to bring something to the market that overturns the pyramid, and came up with an idea of a bicycle that can overtake cars.”

It was with glee that the BBC, for instance, showed the eROCKIT nonchalantly overtaking a Porsche using pedal power, a laugh-out-loud sight.

Many also long to lower their carbon footprint, hence Gulas’ loving attention to the eco-friendliness of his “personal contribution to fighting global warming”.

The eROCKIT uses no petrol. Therefore it has no carbon dioxide emissions. It is also surprisingly silent and you can use either a horn or a bicycle bell to warn people you are coming. The high quality lithium-ion nanophosphate batteries claim to last approximately 50,000km or 10 years, and a battery management system maximises their life cycle. Batteries are recharged when you pedal and brake. When stationary, the bike can be plugged into a normal socket and get fully charged in three to four hours. Battery disposal comes as part of the price you pay for the vehicle.

With a background that includes automobile obsession, rabid environmentalism, mining engineering and multinational management consultancy, Gulas has worked out that the human-hybrid concept is what will make the eROCKIT attractive to greenies as well. “The biggest hurdle for electric vehicles is they’re very boring. Here, you’re not just adding a motor to a bicycle, you’re involving the human in the propulsion.”

Because it handles like a basic bicycle, the bike is also more manoeuvrable than a motorcycle. Anyone who can ride a bicycle will be able to ride an eROCKIT, bearing in mind only that it is heavier, tipping the scales at 110kg. In fact there are no gears or even a clutch.

I keep testing the solidity of Gulas’ concept. I remind him of the Segway, another mould-breaking eco-transport. It never lived up to its potential. “If you want to sell something, you shouldn’t force people to change their behaviour,” says Gulas. The Segway requires users to shift their body weight to propel it. “And they took out the movement of walking, whereas we’ve put in the movement through cycling.”
All of which makes the eROCKIT very cool, but the thing that takes the cake is that it looks cool as well. Its elegant, vintage lines won it a place in BusinessWeek’s 20 coolest bike design list, among others (its technology has garnered numerous other international awards).

At the moment, the plan is to come out with 10 to 20 vehicles by the end of this year, largely hand-made in a low-roofed 10-man Berlin workshop. Production will be ramped up to 500 next year.

“We are now developing cell production processes and considering production regions, but the factors that need to be in place are the right investors, people understanding the concept and a demand for the product,” says Gulas chief operating officer, Andy j. zur Wehme.

In Germany, the pair is exploring three business channels: partnerships with businesses such as renewable energy utility providers; making a presence in the German Environment Ministry’s 12 electric mobility regions (field-test areas for electric mobility); and developing dealerships for end-user sales.

The timing for this product could not be better. Germany’s national development plan for electric mobility kicks off this year, aiming to have one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020.

Unfortunately, I never did get the chance to propel an eROCKIT, my too-short 163cm allowing me to merely perch on it, balanced on tip-toes. Gulas is profusely apologetic about this, but sets a two-year target for a smaller, lower-horsepower, simplified model.

What’s more, other products are in the pipeline; keep an eye out for “four wheelers” and “water transport”.
If they succeed, the eROCKIT will be to human-hybrid transport the way Coke is to soft drinks, and the face of urban transport changed.