Tuesday, October 30, 2007

To Work Or To Play, That's The Question.



Today I'm in a bit of delima because on one hand I have a huge rebranding campaign that needs to be completed by Saturday. The presentation is on Monday Morning. Till now, not much work has been done and it worries me. The campaign is huge and we went in at the right time. The annual budget allocation time. To win this campaign pitch will be very important achievement for us. 2 people whom others feel are not capable able to achieve something big single handed without help. Besides our brilliant copywriter.

Today is also the day I have to leave for Hong Kong on a business trip. Never been to Hong Kong before and my friend asked me to bring my camera so I can take some photos, places of interest and show it to him when I return on Friday. It sound exciting and I am tempting to extend my stay till Saturday. Unfortunately, I have work waiting for me when I get home on Friday. The pitching is more important than the holiday. Sigh...

I'm leaving for KLIA around 2pm and our flight is estimated at 6pm. We should be reaching Hong Kong International Airport around 9pm. Taking a cab to the hotel will be a pitch because it cost HK$300-400. That's $150+... Anyway, Hong Kong, here I come.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Exploration



Few days ago, my friend and I went out to take some photos for one of our ad projects. I was taking photos of a building where we will propose our artwork costing later. When I downloaded the photos into my laptop, I realised that my friend was in a some of the photos, inspecting. This artwork is showing him exploring opportunity.

Credit talent: My Friend :-)

Exploration



Few days ago, my friend and I went out to take some photos for one of our ad projects. I was taking photos of a building where we will propose our artwork costing later. When I downloaded the photos into my laptop, I realised that my friend was in a some of the photos, inspecting. This artwork is showing him exploring opportunity.

Credit talent: My Friend :-)

In the Mist of Trees



Lately, there seems to be too many beckering going round the office. I'm not the type to be influenced by someone's story. I made my own judgement on every issue. But, I have to be a listener. All the stories I heard, different versions, respecting the informer's privacy, trying to understand their feelings and frustration. It's a jungle in my head. Everyone's stories has a point. The stories are information. Information that will has some input in my work here. Input that alerts me to be on guard. Guarding myself from being naive at my surroundings. Not to be naive that I will end up frustrating, loosing my interest and respect but too late to help myself. Learning from past experiences, I must be selfish and help myself. My needs, family, health, career comes first. Above all things. I'm only an employee of a company.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Mirror Image

Mirror image. Truth or illusion? Faith or fantasy?

She has many faces. Divide and conquer that is the strategy for a continuous safety from judgement. Power is the tool to wipe around the herds and control them with fear. Diplomatic and sharing of ideas are alien to her. First impression is the game. Creating a false environment to accompany it was the cream. Once she lure you into her cave, there is no turning back. She started off providing you dream and inspirations. Motivate and encourage. Standing besides you at all time, like a mother protecting and nurture a child. You feel warmth under her wings. You feel safe. You feel that you can conquer anything and everything with her besides you. You adore her and eager to learn from her. Her trade secrets. Her brain. Her fighting spirit against hostile responses from the likes of her in the battle field.

She was your superior. She was your authority that you killed off your own life for a glimpse of her techniques. A taste of her brain juice. A piece of her success. The illusion was created just for you. You think you are standing on top of the majectic mountain over-looking a clear valley with purple evening sky. Divide and conquer, that is the plan.

You dismember yourself from your herds. You are trap by the spider web. Your movement are restricted, moving further away from your own life, your herds. The deeper you are in her trap, the harder for you to release yourself and run away before she eats you. You realised all the first impressions were just illusion. In your sadness, you preview back the movies created specially for you. Drown with regrets for your stupidity. Or was she too good of an actor? Trapping on the web, you see one by one the captives are swallowed up. You feel sorry for those who sacrifice their life for the long hours. Sorry for those whose health deteriorating just to make her proud. In the end, it is all for nothing. You gain nothing but loose everything. Trap by the web, you wait for your turn to be slaughtered. Tragedy of a mirror image.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

How Time Flies




Today my colleague showed me his cute son via a montage. It’s amazing how time flies so quickly that his baby is already a month old. It was just like yesterday when I hired my colleague in the previous company but that was 3 years ago. 3 years! My, I am getting no younger. In fact one of my friends is getting married next September. By then, I will be officially the only one left single. Well, happy holiday Teddy.

Petronas TVC Raya

My colleague told me yesterday that he saw a very creative and touching TVC from petronas. The TVC was so effective that even his newphew was repeating "burung apa tu? burung Murai" again and again. We always look forward to Petronas TVC on every occassion. They never fell to come up with some useful moral story in a creative way. Kudos! to the ad agency involved in the making of petronas Raya TVC. Is it LB or McCann huh?

Braveness

It has been a while since I last update my blog. This morning I read an article from The Star which Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said government shouldn't view citizen journalist aka "bloggers like you and me with spicy and laser mouth" as a threat to government. Then, later this morning I had a meeting with one of my clients and I like meeting him as conversations always gets very exciting when he touch the daily life of Malaysian and our culture. I tend to agreed with him that the more we move forward in terms of technology and the super-cyber-corridor-high-tech mombo jumbo, our mentality and way of life is moving backward!

Yes! we are moving backward. I still remember my favourite P.Ramlee movies that ladies are wearing figure hugging kenaya and no tudong. But I never heard my grandma nag or give negative criticsm about it. During my uni days, if you don't wear tudong, someone will slip in flyers under your dorm door. That time it was 'encourge' quietly. Nowadays, everything is so open. The Chinese send their kids to Chinese school, Malays go to Sekolah Agama, Indian goes to Tamil school. What happen to Muhhibah? There are so much lack of racial and cultural interaction. Few years back I was always proud to tell my aussie friends that in Malaysia you can see all race talking and laughing together on the street. Everyone has a friend from different race and religion. Unlike in Sydney when I saw mostly Asian with Asian, Indian in their community and the mat salleh with their own friends. Now, it seems I have to eat my own words because I fear my country is showing sign of racial grouping. Luckily, till today I still have my best friend who is a Malay. In fact, most of my friends are Malay. However, this make me the target of my own race, some times. I'm being label as banana or pemberontak cina. Yup, this word was used to refer me. It happened when I promote my Malay team lead to assistant production manager over another Chinese team lead. Well, I learned something... and overcome my challenge.

Today, my colleague showed me an interesting webblog call siigosip.wordpress.com. My oh my. My preious staff have matured and started to stand out and voice out their frustration. I am very proud of them who stand up and fight for their rights against the bunch of mat salleh who has been paying them late, more work, doesn't contribute their EPF, forcing them to sign an letter that can't stand in the court of Malaysia. If you understand Malay, you should go to that site. Of course, there are still quite a large number who are tak-nak-ambik-tau, tak-nak-masuk-campur-tapi-nak-equal-habuan, lalang and of course the brown-noser lah. But for the few who voice out their frustration under anom, I am still proud of them. I fully understand why they have to hide behind anom. Working with this bunch of mat salleh shouldn't be taking likely. They are very good in expoiting Malaysian workers for their own benefits and money in their pockets. I will surely be a regular visitor to their blog. Kudos!