World-class engineering... Third world housekeeping...
Friday, March 29, 2013
Chinese, Ethics and Etiquette...
Continued...
Taman Tun is tree-lined everywhere. Homes are better kept – no used tyres
in the garden, nor are laundry lines on the fences and colours more
aesthetically applied. Roads are wide and parking is easy everywhere. If one
feels like going for a morning walk, there are plenty of places to go. However
there is less variety of shops in Taman Tun. Even McDonald’s had to pack up and relocate
elsewhere.
Taman Tun has a high percentage of Malay population and SS2 is totally a
Chinese enclave. This is the reason.
To be continued...
Rolex
is a must, even though it is a fake…
The first time I came across a degree mill was some 20 years ago when
I was trying to recruit a technical assistant to help me manage the
construction of a high-rise building in Kuala
Lumpur India
A few years later, when a candidate
for a vacancy in Genting showed me his master’s degree certificate in engineering
purportedly from a never-heard-off university in the States, I did little to
hide my contempt for the candidate’s “qualification”. This person already had a diploma from Technical College ,
the predecessor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Degree hawking must be a lucrative
business. There are many degree mills around. Some have also gone around
conferring honorary doctorates on the less discerning public figures. A case in
point was the one given to a chief minister by Pacific XXXXXXX University some
years ago. The chief minister was reported to have felt “very humbled” by the
honour. Someone should have told him that this university is essentially a
degree mill. But we should not blame him really. He accepted the accolade in
good faith; he did not solicit for the “honour”.
But what is disturbing are the many
congratulatory advertisements you see in Chinese papers on such honours. “So-and-so” is the pride of our community,
so the advertisement screams! They are like fake Rolexes!
I was asked to interview a candidate
in Beijing in the mid-1990s. Apparently he is related to the President of
China. He claimed to have an MBA from Dallas University. What do you think of
Michael Porter’s model? What about Peter Drucker? I asked. He gave me a blank
look. Not sure if he had ever been to a university, let alone a graduate
management degree!
I do not think it is right for me to
make any value judgement on these people. An academic degree carries with it
the recognition of one’s knowledge attainment in a specific field. To be
awarded a PhD, one must have acquired the philosophical depth on a subject
matter. However, these acronyms will ring hollow if the bearer is not able to
deliver the goods. After all, the test of the pudding is in the eating. (Recently, the authorities have advised
against (or disallowed for govt purposes) using the honorific Dr in front of
names of those who have not earned their doctorate degree but are honorary
degrees conferred on them.)
On a per capita basis, Malaysians
rank high in academic qualifications. (Is this not the reason why some without
academic papers are anxious to acquire one with minimum efforts?) The more
cynical lot had it that in some organisations, you might even hit two MBAs with
a single stone. Learning is a life-long process. Knowledge is something that
must be put to good use if you do not want to lose it. Knowledge is also
dynamic as the frontiers of knowledge are being pushed to their limits every
day. You will be surprised that many in the corporate world do not go beyond
the New Straits Times or The Star for their daily information needs. Corporate Malaysia
The process of degeneration begins
the moment we think we have learned enough. Degrees are therefore not an end in
themselves. They give us the intellectual threshold to acquire more knowledge
and skills. But are we wiser than, or superior to, those who have gone through
the hard-grinds of the social university? Are we more ethical than those who do
not have anything to show in terms of academic achievements? By stringing our
names with those acronyms purchased from the degree mills, can we become better
performers? Or are we just trying to project a false aura? Or do we have a very
strong sense of inferiority complex?
Awareness of our own inadequacies is
strength by itself. It should prompt us to improve ourselves in the frontier of
knowledge, skills and even attitudes. White-washing a fungus-infested wall is
certainly not a long-term solution. The paint will peel off in no time.
Back Seat for Cleanliness and Orderliness
To a casual visitor, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur
Malays, as a race, are very
house-proud. Even in remote villages, they take good care of their
surroundings, even though their dwellings may be very modest. Physical
cleanliness is a religious prerequisite. Quality consciousness is, therefore,
inculcated in them. Take these two adjacent suburbs as an illustration: Taman Tun
Dr
I had the opportunity to live in
these two suburbs and maybe I can “patronise” readers a little. When I bought a
two-storey link house in SS2 in the mid-1970s, houses in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, which had more or less the same geographical
and demographic attributes as SS2 (incidentally, the developer of SS2 was also
a 50 per cent shareholder of the company behind the development of Taman Tun Dr Ismail at the inception
stage), were selling at a discount to those in SS2. This is not surprising; SS2
was an extension of the more mature township of SEA Park
Things turned out differently 10
years or so later. When I decided to upgrade to a bigger property in Taman
Tun Dr
As for SS2, you can get everything
there. The town centre is very self-contained. But parking is a nightmare as
traffic is heavy. It is certainly a haven for business. But it is a place you
do not expect to find much orderliness and cleanliness.
Having been to China a couple of times and having had the
opportunity to see Chinatowns in some of the
great metropolises in the world, I believe I have seen the best and worst of
Chinese-ness. A total lack of cleanliness and orderliness is the most glaring
weakness of the Chinese societies all over the world. Moreover, civic
consciousness is only skin-deep. It is more for “face” than from the “heart”.
Chinese as a community is not short of men or women of great social
graces. Many of its Mandarins are sophisticated to the extreme. But by and
large, Chinese tend to be very casual when it comes to cleanliness and
orderliness. Rural communities are worse; time seems to pass them by. Look at
the way they dress their children; look at the way they clean their tables –
everything to the floor! And look at the
way they clear their throats… But don’t Chinese schools teach all these things?
I attended Chinese school when I was young. I remember we were taught all these
things. But we simply don’t practise
them!
Airports fascinate me; I like to
watch all the big birds. Air China ,
China
Are Short-changing customers and Zero-sum games smart?
I believe if you have a chance to walk into the kitchens of Chinese
restaurants, it will not be hard for you to see unsold food being kept for
overnight resale. (Don’t forget to watch out for rats and cockroaches!).
Luckily, most Chinese food is steamed or cooked to a boil!
Walk into a supermarket; you will
see new brands of tissue paper being sold at half the price of established
names. Open one to see how the papers are packed. Chances are that only half of
the box is filled. Looking for tidbits? Try the cuttlefish. I bet you when you
open the plastic packaging, three quarters of it are inflated with paper rolls
and the like.
I am pretty sure some readers might
have also lost their cool with the roadside durian hawkers. Not only are they
capable of short-changing you in weight, you might even find the fruits that
you took home were not the ones you had painstakingly chosen!
There
are simply too many horror stories to relate…
When
one of the scions of a fortune tried to invest in China
Having worked with a few Chinese
entrepreneurs, I see there are many who are like this young man. They think
people are stupid! But in truth, there are also many Sun-Tze’s in the other
ethnic communities.
To be continued...
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
A Lao-tze in Turkey?
Legend has it that Lao-tze (老子) road his mule - with his body facing backwards - to philosophical eternity. I took these two pictures when I toured Turkey some years ago. I saw that they also had a "Lao-tze" there!
However, their "Lao-tze" - Nasreddin Hodja - was more renowned for jokes than anything else. Certainly not Dao! Apparently, he has 202 jokes to his credit.
Chinese, Issues of Ethics and Etiquette...
Continued from before...
Little importance to Systems and Training
Back to the
Chinese restaurant example…. To many, waiters and waitresses in Chinese
restaurants are a very efficient lot indeed. They seem so busy. But are they
really efficient? Look more closely or try to beckon them for service and
you will find you are quite invisible to them! They are mostly “activities-oriented”,
which we mistake for efficiency. Try comparing them with the young lads in
McDonald’s, you will understand what I am trying to compare and contrast.
Few Chinese restaurants train their
staff to lay the tables the way Westerners and the Japanese do. Look at the way
they arrange plates, glasses and cutlery. Look at the way they pour your
drinks. In a Chinese restaurant, everything is left to the devices of the
individual waiter or waitress. To them, what’s the big deal? Only The Flower Drum in Melbourne understands
the concept of service; not even John So’s restaurants. His waiters and
waitresses are still of the “kei-tor-wei?”
(In Cantonese: How
many of you? - usually asked in a non-attentive manner) and “one-sauce-for-all-to-share”
type. And John So is the ex-Lord Mayor of the very cultured city of Melbourne!
Germans spent
years in apprenticeship before they dare strike out on their own. How many of
our electricians, mechanics, and plumbers have gone through a formal apprenticeship
programme? Many had been handymen to their “sifu”
[师父] (masters) for only months before they also
decided to set up shops themselves. No wonder, when you summon one of these
tradesmen to fix one problem, you end up with two! Ethnic Chinese think they
can pick things up on the job. That may be true when things were pretty simple.
But the misplaced confidence persists.
Once I walked into
a men’s wear store in Kuala Lumpur
In societies where
attention on social etiquette is more diligently observed, you will find that
the store assistants will most likely leave you alone or, if you are seen a
little lost, ask “can I help you?” But ethnic Chinese shop assistants tend to
follow you like a shadow. Or is it that I am a potential shoplifter?
Oh, we still have a great deal to learn from the
Japanese…
When the then prime minister Mahathir Mohamed said we should look East, few
dared to contradict him, although in the hearts of many ethnic Chinese, they
must be saying, “why from the Japanese, of all
people?” I believe not many people really understood his intention; they
might have thought that he was prompting Malaysians to learn all the
productivity gimmicks from the Japanese. But in reality, Mahathir wanted
Malaysians to absorb the best of Japanese culture, values, philosophy and even
rituals! To him, these are the stuff that will make a nation great.
It will cost you a
bomb to take a taxi from Narita Airport to downtown Tokyo. If you are not in a
hurry, the shuttle coach service is good and more affordable. Before the coach
arrives, porters at the terminal will have finished tagging all the baggage and
when the coach pulls out of the terminal, a chap will stand in front of the
aisle, and with a deep bow, wish everybody a happy journey. There are no
pretensions. And no tips, please! How
refreshing! It may also make a number of passenger droppings, but it will
deliver you to your destination right on the dot, unless you are really not in
luck that day!
I cannot help
admiring the Japanese (but NOT their Shinzo Abe and Yasukuni Shrine worshippers). I was watching a road sweeper in front of Daichi Hotel
at work during one my rare visits there. The experience fascinated me a great
deal. His uniform was smart, not the T-shirts and slippers stuff we generally
see of cleaners. If not for his gears, he could be mistaken for a police
sergeant. His strokes were so deliberate. He did his work like an artist. If
you think this is just an isolated case, go to the Tokyo Central Station; it is
as clean as many private hospitals!
I was once invited
by a long lost distant cousin to attend a seminar organised by his firm at
Subang Merlin (now Sheraton). This distant cousin of mine holds a PhD from Liverpool . He was lecturing at the National University of
Singapore before he returned to Kuala
Lumpur 6:00
p.m. sharp and end at 9:00
p.m.
I turned up at
exactly 6:00 p.m. and was promptly ushered into the function room. The room was
very empty; I was amongst the first there! The backdrop read: WORLD
CLASS MANUFACTURING, VISION 2020.
SIRIM and MIDA were also the joint sponsors, besides my cousin’s firm.
Guests trickled in slowly. At 6:20
p.m. or so, one of the staff, detecting some restlessness, went to
the microphone and made this announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the
delay, blah, blah, blah, and thank you for your patience.”
By 6:35 p.m.,
there was still no sign of the session convening. I thought I had better go as
I had another appointment in Kajang to keep at 7:30 p.m. On my way out, I walked towards my cousin who
appeared a little lost.
“What’s the matter?”
“The key speaker, Mr (now Datuk) Jegathesan of MIDA, has not turned up yet.”
So much for our Vision 2020 and my cousin’s World Class Manufacturing. Can you achieve Vision 2020 if punctuality is still being taken for granted by the champions of management?
“What’s the matter?”
“The key speaker, Mr (now Datuk) Jegathesan of MIDA, has not turned up yet.”
So much for our Vision 2020 and my cousin’s World Class Manufacturing. Can you achieve Vision 2020 if punctuality is still being taken for granted by the champions of management?
Have Fengshui
will travel!
A TV interviewer was going
round soliciting for opinions when Malaysia
Everybody had some
points to make. But this one was most mind-boggling…“You know what Nipah is in Chinese?” One excitedly asked. Interested
only to say his piece, he went on to explain, “Pai [百] in Chinese means hundred. One hundred people will die.” He said it
in such a manner as if the figure was written in the stars already! Despite all
the sciences, numerology still commands a large following. No wonder Lillian
Too’s books on fengshui are still
selling like hot cakes.
You have to go for the number ‘8’ if you want wild fortunes to drop on your lap (fatt) [发]. For high status, you have to seek out the number ‘6’ (lôke) [祿]. And if you are the forever rejuvenating type, then the number ‘3’ (sum) [生] is pretty good. But the Fujianese will bet on the number ‘9’ (kaô) [搞] – I suppose it stands for “almost perfect”; Cantonese will say it is also not a bad number – “chance to play on”? Ethnic Chinese will want to steer clear of the number ‘4’. When I was a schoolboy in Muar, my family used to live near Othman Sa’at[2]’s kampung. I remember all his personal cars carried number plates of “4” (sei) [死]. Othman Sa’at went into political oblivion. Maybe Lillian Too will say this: I told you so.
One day I casually asked Lim Goh Tong’s fengshui consultant about his true feeling about the belief. He said he was very sceptical about it for many years. But there is something mystical about it that makes him now a practitioner; he calls it au-miao [奥妙] Chinese characters, two]. I suppose it pays to be vigilant; it is a little like insurance, don’t regret when things happen!
You have to go for the number ‘8’ if you want wild fortunes to drop on your lap (fatt) [发]. For high status, you have to seek out the number ‘6’ (lôke) [祿]. And if you are the forever rejuvenating type, then the number ‘3’ (sum) [生] is pretty good. But the Fujianese will bet on the number ‘9’ (kaô) [搞] – I suppose it stands for “almost perfect”; Cantonese will say it is also not a bad number – “chance to play on”? Ethnic Chinese will want to steer clear of the number ‘4’. When I was a schoolboy in Muar, my family used to live near Othman Sa’at[2]’s kampung. I remember all his personal cars carried number plates of “4” (sei) [死]. Othman Sa’at went into political oblivion. Maybe Lillian Too will say this: I told you so.
One day I casually asked Lim Goh Tong’s fengshui consultant about his true feeling about the belief. He said he was very sceptical about it for many years. But there is something mystical about it that makes him now a practitioner; he calls it au-miao [奥妙] Chinese characters, two]. I suppose it pays to be vigilant; it is a little like insurance, don’t regret when things happen!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Incredible Germany!
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| Somewhere in Germany. Have to leave it to your imagination... |
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| The car looks very much like the man behind, doesn't it? BMW Museum in Munich |
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| Indian? NO! A hotel in Weimar, Germany, said to be Hitler's favourite |
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| Our Police will love this! Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, Germany |
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| Somewhere in Dresden, Germany |
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| Why not let's eat heres? Somewhere in Germnay |
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| By Otto Dix - but you call this art? A museum in Stuttgart, Germany |
When you have a board of chairmen, nothing moves...
WHEN YOU HAVE A BOARD OF CHAIRMEN, NOTHING MOVES
1982
This was exactly what happened to Highlands & Lowlands
Berhad in the early 80s.
High & Low, as it was known to its fans[1],
must have been one of the most envied companies then. It had a paid-up capital
of about RM150 million, a big one during those days. But what made High &
Low very exceptional were its formidable cash hordes and its highly visible
landbank in the Klang
Valley
Ten of High & Low’s twenty estates were in Selangor.
Some of these were right in the Klang
Valley Klang
Valley estates: Sungei Renggam, Bukit
Jelutong/Rasak and Midlands . So were Kuala Lumpur ’s Subang
Airport
High & Low sold some of the land also. An example is the
1,500-or-so-acre property at the junction of Jalan Damansara and Jalan Kepong,
once known as Edinburgh Estate. Today the township that has taken shape there
is called Taman Maluri.
In spite of all these, High & Low was and still is the
biggest owner of land with real estate potential in the Klang Valley Highlands
(now Bukit Tinggi), Vallambrosa (now Kapar) and Elmina are High & Low’s and
if you know where they are, you will agree with me that they are real-estate
gold mines.
With its resources, High & Low could have taken over a
bank or two if it had wanted to. (There was no ownership restriction then.
Moreover, you could count with the fingers in your hands the number of local
banks that had bigger net worth than High & Low’s at that time.) There were
indeed many take-over opportunities: many listed companies were on the block;
prime properties across the Causeway were also not expensive; many estates were
being sold cheaply because of depressed commodity prices, etc. But all High
& Low could manage was the acquisition of a small 1,000-acre oil palm
estate in a very remote corner of Perak before the company was itself taken
over by Guthrie in 1985.
Why was it so?
High & Low had a board of chairmen, not directors!
* * * * *
I was High & Low’s manager of corporate planning. It was essentially a one-man show, discounting my secretary and driver.
The first task I set for myself was the preparation of a
corporate diversification plan, and thinking that property development would be
an obvious starting point, I mapped out a framework with which High & Low
could systematically realize the real estate potential of its vast landbank in
the Klang Valley
I also approached merchant bankers, stock brokers,
investment authorities, venture capital companies, overseas manufacturers and
friends for business leads and possible joint ventures. Initially we were
deluged with offers, but soon people saw through us. We were just wasting their
time.
Decision-making in High & Low was a mind-boggling
process. The board comprised Dr Syed Mahmood, who was the chairman, the late
Tun Ismail Mohd Ali, the late Tun Tan Siew Sin, Raja Tan Sri M Alias, the late
Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng, Tunku Shariman, Datuk Syed Kechik, Charles Letts, Tengku
Robert Hamzah and the late Yeoh Chin Hin. Every one of them was a company
chairman in his own right.
On day-to-day operational matters, there were two general
managers – one looking after Plantations and the other, Finance and
Administration. There was no chief executive. The general managers had little
authority and most matters were referred to the directors. But few at that
level had time for High & Low. What the board did was to entrust the
authority to an executive committee made up of Dr Syed Mahmood, the late Tun
Ismail, the late Tan Sri Lee and Raja Tan Sri M Alias which would meet once in
about two months. All proposals and decisions required of the executive
committee had to be formally prepared in a prescribed format and submitted to
the company secretary a week or so before the committee met. It was the
prerogative of the executive committee either to make a decision or to refer
the recommendation to the board.
A proposal could win approval one day and had it withdrawn
the following day. Very frustrating indeed!
When you had a board of chairmen, meetings were usually a
free-for-all affair. At their level, it was natural that everybody had a big
ego. Some were quite petty also. I should not forget to mention their
prejudices too – you have to believe me!
I had the opportunity to “defend” my papers in the executive
committee meetings. I was, however, rarely given a chance to do so at the board
level. Our kind Cik Halimatus, High & Low’s company secretary, would come
to see me after each board meeting. “Hard work down the drain, I suppose?” I
would ask. If there was good news, she would give me a big smile. Otherwise,
she would always console me by saying, “Mr. Lim, I don’t know why they are
always like that…” The reason could be anything, ranging from patronizing
reservations voiced by one of the directors out of his personal prejudices to a
typographical error in your paper, or to outright proxy intrigues between the
different interest groups in the boardroom (none of High & Low’s big
shareholders, namely Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Felda (Federal Land
Development Authority), Kuala Lumpur-Kepong, and PERNAS was in a position to
exercise full control of the board) or to, guess what, the unfavourable mood of
the late Tun Ismail, who was really the first amongst equals there. But what
was particularly frustrating was the fact that one had to live with the type of
ignorance displayed by some of the leading captains of the corporate world of
the day.
Maybe I was naive; the stakes were too big for me to
understand. Maybe they were just play-acting?
* * * * *
YOUNG MAN, I AM SPEAKING FROM MY EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW!
High & Low’s Midlands Estate sat visibly along the Kuala Lumpur-Klang Highway Klang Valley Federal Highway Midlands
remained vulnerable.
Sometime in 1980, High & Low received a land acquisition
notice from the state government of Selangor. A piece of land in Midlands had been identified for some public purpose. The land, measuring
about 84 acres, is a developer’s dream. Its southern front is close to the Federal Highway
The public purpose the state
government had in mind turned out to be the extension of the adjacent Shah Alam
municipality. High & Low was renting two floors at Wisma Budiman for its
head-office use. When it was known that the land was intended for the extension
of the municipality, the board decided that the company should approach the
government to rescind the acquisition order. After all, High & Low had the
resources to help develop Shah Alam.
A team, comprising the chairman
of the company Dr Syed Mahmood and two directors - the late Tun Ismail and
Tengku Robert Hamzah - was duly dispatched to see the Menteri Besar, who was
Dato’ Rafei Hormat then. The Menteri Besar saw the merit of the proposal. He
was glad to leave the development of the land to High & Low.
Tengku Robert, who is also an
architect, was given the task of coming up with a comprehensive development
plan for the area. Besides the head-office building, he was told to look into
having a hypermarket, a private school, a private hospital, etc. Someone
suggested that part of the land could be turned into a High & Low “village”
– a kind of residential complex for the executives and staff. The board was
agreeable to this. I was told to organize the development. Obviously the first
thing to do was to draw up an implementation schedule. I also saw the need for
the early appointment of a project manager. To me, you cannot leave the project
to the consultants alone. Although they are professionally accountable to the
client for their designs and the progress and quality at site, their priorities
are different. Moreover, with due respect, few of them are good managers. My
experience in handling the construction of the Bank Pertanian building at Lebuh
Pasar Besar taught me an important lesson in project management: You have to be
fair to the contractors. Consultants tend to wield their big sticks and
contractors, on the other hand, will find every excuse to claim VOs, or
variation orders – works that are originally not in the contract but
commissioned out of site or other necessities. Their approach to issues is
always confrontational or “we-versus-they” in both form and substance.
Priorities are lost and projects invariably get delayed.
In one of the executive committee
meetings, I argued my case for the recruitment of a suitable candidate for this
position. The late Tun disagreed with the job specifications outlined in my
paper.
His concept of a project
manager was someone who would diligently check the materials and construction
practices at site. We were far from starting the construction work yet. I knew
I had been misunderstood.
As I was trying to explain to
the late Tun the difference between the two roles, he cut me out and said,
“Young man, I know what I am talking, you know! I am talking from my
experience…”
You couldn’t argue with the
late Tun.
* * * * *
The late Tun had strong likes
and dislikes. He did not forgive easily, I was told.
I have no means to verify the
following story, but I believe there is some truth in it.
The story went this way:
There was this senior economist
in the Central Bank who was asked to prepare an analysis for the late Tun, who
was the governor then.
His day was ruined after he got
the report back from Tun.
In one of the pages, Tun had
made a circle around a term, drawn a line all the way to the bottom of the page
and written, “Is there such a term?”
The term that was circled by
Tun was NEGATIVE RETURNS. This term
is commonly used by those in financial circles to describe a loss-making
situation. But sure if you examine the term closely, you will realise that Tun
was absolutely right. Returns are always positive. How can one have negative returns? Think about that.
I was told this senior
economist did not stay with the bank. Apparently, it was also a blessing in
disguise for him. He is now someone big in the corporate world.
* * * * *
My colleague Khairil was asked
to coordinate the preparation of the chairman’s statement for High & Low’s
annual report. He was supposed to edit all the inputs and add coherency to the
text.
The draft was presented to the
board for approval.
Tun’s annoyance was immediately
noticed.
What was this term “add value”?
“Who wrote this?”
“Khairil.”
“Is he local?”
“Yes, Tun.”
“No wonder!”
Khairil was not in the meeting.
I do not know how he would have reacted if he had been there.
Tun did not go to Harvard Business School
Khairil’s MBA was from Harvard.
* * * * *
My experience with the late Tun
on the use of English was no happier either.
High & Low’s landbank in
the Klang Valley
He turned to me, “Why can’t you
say land with development potential instead?”
I had no answer.
* * * * *
Tun was however tolerant to
some.
I was told his right hand man
at PNB was quite casual with his use of English and yet the late Tun did not
mind.
But how can you compare
yourself with Datuk Khalid whose scope of responsibilities is so vast that his
misuse of English is excusable.
* * * * *
COKE, PLEASE
It was sometime in 1984.
There was this big dinner to
raise funds for the Tun
Hussein Onn
Eye Hospital
Dr Syed Mahmood was to be the
host of the table, since he was the chairman of the company. It was supposed to
be an “all-directors” function.
Once it was confirmed that the
late Tun and the late Toh Puan would be able to make it, the other directors
began to send their RSVP regrets to Dr Syed, although some had earlier
indicated their willingness to grace the occasion. Excuse? – Last-minute urgent
matters to attend to lah! All very
coincidental!
You cannot leave the table
half-empty, can you?
The two general managers had
naturally to oblige. They should bring along their spouses too. There were two
more places to be filled. The “privilege” fell on yours faithfully and his
madam.
* * * * *
The dinner was a grand event,
virtually every who’s who in town was there. But the mood of our table was a
subdued one. Except for a few occasions when the witty Toh Puan would take aim
at Tun and make us misbehave ourselves in front of Tun, it was just food, food,
and food.
When Tun was on your table, you
could be sure few would bother to approach you.
I remember a Datuk Somebody
that night. When he spotted Sayed Mohamed, one of High & Low’s two general
managers, from afar, he decided to waltz his way through the crowd to greet an
old friend. As soon as the familiar bald patch surfaced before him than he froze
and stammered, “Tun”, took a 360-degree turn and marched back. I cannot recall
if he had said hello to his old friend Sayed Mohamed.
“Sir, may I have your order please?” After the waiter had completed taking
the ladies’ orders, I was the first to be given the honour.
“Vodka lime.” I suddenly realised everyone was looking scornfully at me.
How indiscreet of me. “The Korean 747 has just been shot down over the Sakhalin Peninsula
Next was the late Aziz (the other High & Low GM)’s turn. “Coke.”
What? Coke for this occasion? I thought he liked something else.
Tuan Sayed, how about you? Can’t be Coke I suppose.
“Coke, please.” Coming from Sayed’s mouth, it was unbelievable.
Had I committed an unforgivable sin in front of Tun and Dr Syed?
Everyone knows Dr Syed does not drink. It did not surprise me when he
asked for water.
When it was the late Tun’s turn, he asked for what he desired, no more, no
less. And I know it was no fruit juice.
* * * * *
I was comparing notes on the late Tun with someone the other day.
He updated me with this story:
There was this board meeting. Tun had excused himself to go
to the loo.
Without him, no major decision could be made. Everybody was
happy as they could stretch themselves a little. Soon the boardroom was full of
life.
Ten minutes passed, no sign of Tun, good! We can continue
talking or do some catching up.
Half an hour later, still no sign of Tun. Maybe Tun has a
bad stomach.
One hour later, how come ah? Something must be wrong
A search and rescue team was promptly dispatched to the
executive restroom.
No trace of Tun either.
Quick, call the house.
“Yes, Tun is in.”
Apparently, after easing himself, Tun headed for home
straight. He had forgotten that the board meeting had yet to be adjourned!
* * * * *
ACCOUNTANT – DOESN’T THE WORD SOUND
LIKE “I-COUNT-TEN”?
High & Low owned 26,400 shares in H&C Latex, a very
small holding indeed, compared to Harrisons Malaysia (now Golden Hope)’s how-many-million
shares.
Why so good a price? Wasn’t the investment carried in the
books of High & Low as RM29,370.35 or RM1.11 per share only?
I went back to the records.
The answer was there.
When High & Low was “Malaysianised”, values in Pound
Sterling had to be converted into Ringgit. Someone in the accountant’s office
forgot to multiply the figure by 7.5, which was the exchange rate then.
But it meant a difference of RM1,652,573.65.
Peanuts to High & Low, but it was hell of a substantial
oversight by any standard.
* * * * *
[1] High
& Low’s shares were traded in KL and London
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Sarawak Head Hunter
We all know that natives in Sarawak used to practise headhunting. There are many skulls amongst the exhibits in the state's museum in Kuching. Recently a friend there forwarded this picture to me. Do look at the particulars carried in this sea dayak's document; I didn't know that Head Hunter was in fact a "legitimate" occupation!
My mother-in-law's family hailed from Sarawak. Her father was apparently a victim of this practice.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Days in Indonesia
I traversed the length and breadth of Indonesia from 2005 to 2008 - to identify land for oil palm cultivation for the IMC Group. Below are some of the pictures I like to share with friends...
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| With my manager in Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan |
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| At the Jakarta airport's domestic terminal. The two clocks on the wall tell different times! |
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| Indonesia's own KFC, somewhere in Sumatra |
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| Papaya flowers - cure for malaria? Central Kalimantan |
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| Kutai Barat, a Dayak long house |
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| Impromptu ferry; Central Kalimantan |
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| Temple in Lombok |
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| Chinese heritage showcase, Jakarta |
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| Pulau Rimau, Sumatra - Circus de Soleil |
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