Don't sweat the small stuffs

Life is full of challenges as well as rewards and satisfaction.

Facing the challenges will consume us - physically and mentally. Sometimes we thought that the consumption would be proportionate to the challenges - however I began to realise that sometimes smaller challenges consumes you equally as hard as the bigger ones. Sometimes more. And at a cost. 

Focusing on the small stuffs at home - my kids mess in their rooms, not doing their chores of washing dishes or throwing the rubbish etc coupled with on/off reactions from my only son and eldest of three children - put a wedge in my relationship with him. The more he ignored me, the harder I pushed him and it got to nearly a breaking point.

Fortunately for me, I have my wife, my minder, my advisor, my conscience and most importantly my rock for me to lean on and at the same time my pillow to soften my fall. She pulled me aside. I was sweating on the small stuffs at the cost of my relationship with my son, who is 13 now. The house felt like a morgue. Everyone were crying, my son, my daughters and my wife. And I. I cried.

I began to make changes in my approach. At the beginning, I ignored the mess, uncompleted chores etc for a few days until I am able to point out things that I need done without being angry or emotional about it. I sat down with my son and my 2 girls, apologising and promising to make changes, and at the same time I pointed out my expectations from them, especially my son being the eldest. I also begin to help him to ease his loads. And also began to join him in the game room - play games on PS3, and losing.

Soon after, the emotional bank account grew for both of us. The mess is still there - much less now but I gained a healthier relationship with my son, and this didn't go unnoticed by the sisters. And things are slowly improving with them too. Laughters began to fill the house again.

That was a real life lesson for me. Thanks to my rock, my darling wife.

Alhamdulillah. May Allah continue to shower blessings to my family. Azmi

Life, as we know it.

Life.

You don't do anything, you just happened to be at the right place at the right time. You'll be looked up like a hero, saviour. You try to correct them, they'll say you're humble.

You do so many things, bent your back to do something, yet the outcome is not as one would expect. You'd be seen as a failure, no hope. You try to defend yourself, it'll fall on deaf ears.

La hawla wala quwata illah billah Hil Ilyl Azeem :لاحول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم

There is no strength nor power except Allah

 

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Be the difference

Bismillaa Hirrahmaa Nirraheem.

A few weeks ago, I was given a challenge to make my weekly safety report interesting. The report is a two pager PDF file, and for the past 22 months I've used a standard cover email of "Please see attached the HSSE Weekly Report for Week XX".

I have not changed the format of the report itself, as it is still useful and informative. The only difference I made was the cover email, to make it more interesting to read.

I love football. So does most of Bruneians and majority of our company's workforce, local and expat alike. So this is a common theme. There had been ongoing banter between fans of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, and these teams made headlines at the back pages for their big wins or unusual results.

For my first cover email, I sent out the following:

To : All BSP Staff

From : BSP HSE via e-Bulletin

Dear Colleagues,Welcome to the 46th week edition of our HSSE Weekly Report.

Before you go and click the link to view the report, lets reflect to the greatest comeback in English football. And then we see the parallel with our journey.

Greatest comeback

Manchester United is the 20 times English league champions, and the current Premier League champions. Their amazing comeback – as a journey, was in 1996 during the 1995/96 season.

By the new year’s day 1996, Manchester United was 12 points behind league leaders Newcastle United, who was bookies favourite to win the Premier League championship during that season. Nearly half of Manchester United’s first team were young, inexperienced but talented players and they were written off at the beginning of the season with a famous comment "You'll never win anything with kids" (no prizes for guessing which club the commentator came from!).

The parallels

Huge, huge challenge currently in BSP on Safety, just like what United were facing after the New Years day 1996. We have Alex Fergusons in every Assets and Operations; we have Steve Bruce, Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs in our front line and we have the Nevilles, Butt, Beckham and Solskjaer coming to the organisation – young and talented. All we need to reinforce is the strong belief that the dedication and hard work we put in will pay off eventually, towards achieving our Way of Being - Green Day: Creating an incident and injury free workplace.

This little change have made a difference, people are now beginning to read the reports. Soon I hope they will take the messages and share with everyone else, that safety is important, for them, for their families, for the community, and for the country.

Till my next post which I hope will not be too long from this, let's hope this new spark will create a continuous flame.

Wassalaam,

Azmi

 

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Bow-Tie. No, we're not going to dinner.

Salaam friends.

I'd like to share what we had learnt at work last week - part of our Learning From Incidents monthly series.  But instead of focusing on a particular incident, this month we looked back to basics - How do we prevent incidents from happening, and if they do happen, how do we prevent them from getting worst.

We were introduced to a tool called Bow-Tie. Not to put on our tuxedo though :-)   Normally Bow-Tie is used by companies involved with high risks activities to manage their Major Accident Hazards (MAH), where occurrence could likely result in multiple fatalities, significant assets loss, serious environmental issues and really affect your company's reputation.

Basic Bow Tie Diagram

The blue box is the incident we are trying to avoid from happening - the red box on the left is the threat that could cause the incident to happen and the green box on the left is the barrier that we need to beef up to ensure the incident doesn't occur.  But if it does occur, we need to prevent it from getting worst (red box on the right), so we have to make sure the green box on the right is effective.

Bow-Tie Diagram - in simpler terms

Same thing, but in much simpler terms to help any layman like you and me.

Example of Prevention (Left Side)

We used the example of road accident as the thing that can go wrong. What could cause it to go wrong, well one of it could be road conditions.  The barriers can be endless but we picked up three main ones.  For example we have to ensure the tires are in great condition, we follow the speed limit and we are trained to drive safely. If we have 'holes' in these barriers e.g. tires are bald, we speed and are not competent, the likelihood of an accident is high or... inevitable.

Example of Recovery (right hand side)

OK... the incident actually happened, but it could get worst.  In this example, Na'uzubillah (I seek protection from Allah), it could result in death.  How we can avoid it from getting worst is to make sure the barriers actually work: airbags, seat belts and cars with good great crumple zones

The presenter, a scouser with great sense of humor offered an example where the top event is "achieving just average year end appraisal".  Now, working backwards, what can we do to make sure it won't happen? Deliver more than target, be visible, more structured in our work? But when it does happen, average appraisal = lower salary increment / lower bonus and the worst that could happen is the iPad or the iPhone that we've dreamed of purchasing hedged against the potential bonus, may remain a dream. How do we prepare for that? Plan B perhaps?... that Nokia still looks useful and it's only a tenth the price of an iPhone.....

You can use whatever top event you'd like, and it can help prepare you for the worst OR better still, avoid them from happening by strengthening your barriers. Practice makes perfect. I am still working on it myself.

I hope this is of help.  And Mike S, I hope your google search for bowtie will lead you here :-)

Salaam
Azmi

Friendship

Assalaamu 'alaikum

I am currently taking a breather after an exhaustive 3 day of long hours - a day of preparations for 2 major events that took place yesterday and today.  I should hit the sack by now having only slept for 10 hours.....combined in the last 3 days.

Anyway, a quick one on Friendship, that I feel like I want to share. (pssst, I know my kids loved to read the blog, especially Iman hence why I wrote this here :-)

On Monday, to prepare for the event on Tuesday, I have to stand in for our MD to personally discuss the event with our Guest of Honour, a Government Minister for 8 years now.

After the formalities, I recalled stories from my dad that he knew the Minister from their studying years in the UK in the 60's and I suggested to the Minister that he might know who my dad is.  When I mentioned my dad's name, the Minister was so excited he told the PA to arrange a visit to see his old friend, since they would be around the area.  The Minister told me he hadn't met my dad for maybe 10 years.

I called my dad immediately when I left the MInister's office to let him know of the plan.  Early this morning, I received a call from my dad who sounded so excited, letting me know that the minister spent an hour at my dad's place.  An hour of a Minister's time is precious, and I am so happy to bring joy to my dad.

Allah teaches us in mysterious ways.  Here, I learned that friendship knows no boundaries:

No matter how high you go, never forget your comrades and whenever an opportunity comes to meet your buddies, grasp it and make full use of the time.

Alhamdulillah.

Now I need to sleep, and I'll sign off now.

Salaam friends, wherever you are.  May Allah grants me opportunity to meet every one of you.

Jimi @ Pg Hj Azmi Razak

Happy New Year? Alhamdulillah, Happy New Year indeed.

Assalamu 'Alaikum

In the office last Friday, the 6th day of 2012, I still wished people happy new year and they reciprocated my wishes with excitement. Taking the cue from that, I still think it is not too late to wish the same to you, so  Happy New Year to you all.

Yes, 2012 is just another year to some, but it means a lot to others who wanted to start with a clean sheet and all that, new resolutions, targets, goals, you name it. I wish you Allah's blessings and may you achieve your new goals for 2012.

We had a great closing of 2011. On the New Year's eve we hosted my mother in law's 66th birthday. My bro & sis in laws from Bandar stayed over and our kids enjoyed having their cousins around. We moved the fusbol table to the main entrance and let the kids (and a few adults :P) enjoy.

Our new year however did not start well.  On the first public holiday of 2012, I was called in to the office to help the communication team with their press conference following a minor oilspill.  After four hours away, I made up to the family by taking them out to the beach to see and also show them what had happened and then grabbed dinner.  Alhamdulillah the beach was already cleared by the time we went there, but the kids simply enjoyed being at the beach including taking pics with one of the oil spill response transport.

The above photos were taken from The Borneo Bulletin. 

The bottom picture showed the volunteers from Brunei Shell's 

business partners helping out with the cleanup

Iman, Aaeeshah (hidden) and Muhammad with one of the

 Oil Spill Response equipment, sort of special version ATV 

to help with pulling the oil booms and other equipment

Our company men, doing their regular inspection to ensure

 no more spill made shore after the cleanup. 

The next day, school reopened and Alhamdulillah kids were alright, returning to their normal routine without much fanfare.  Muhammad is now in Year 6 preparing for his PSR (Primary Certificate of Education). Iman got promoted to Year 3 and Aaesshah is no longer in kindy, now in Year 1.

I was however concerned that the school now requires every student to use the school's exercise book (with the school logo).  Nonetheless, I bought the exercise books from the school for my three children for nearly $55, although I felt I could save $15 or even $20 if I were to buy them from the shops.   It's not much, yes but for those families who earn just enough to get by, it would be a burden.  After all, an exercise book is the an exercise book, right?  The logo doesn't make a difference at all, so why bother? I pick my battles, so I relented in this case.

On a different light and a cheery one at that, we welcomed the arrival of my new nephew Awangku Ariff Rayyan bin Pengiran Azirul Ridzuan, a baby boy to my younger brother and his wife born at 5.28am on Sunday morning, 8th January.  Alhamdulillah Rayyan looked healthy, and weighed 3.7kg.  We were up early on a Sunday for the hour long drive to see Rayyan, who was sound asleep all the while we were there and was not at all bothered with the attention. He even posed for us!

Baby Rayyan, sound asleep and thinking :-)

Abang Muhammad, Kaka Aaeeshah, Ngangah Girl and Kaka Iman.

 Ngangah Haji behind the camera :-)

Till next time, Happy New Year to all. Be safe always.

Wassalam

Mr G

ps - on the way home from seeing Rayyan, we saw two cars involved in an accident. I believed it was caused by a car making a U-turn (legal) but not anticipating the speed of the oncoming car, he got hit at the back and swerved.   The driver felt pain on his back so we told him to sit tight and wait for emergency services once we've confirmed there was no bleeding.  The other driver was ok, his car badly damaged at the front and he was thankful that he wore his safety belt.  2 points to note here: Situational awareness and using the safety equipment.  If you are on top of that, InsyaAllah things should be alright.

Meet my friend ERIC. ERIC PD.

Assalamualaikum

Last night we returned home from a short holiday in the capital, a 100 km drive home.  In torrential rain.  I knew the tyres are in good condition as I've checked them before the trip.  Brakepads are still ok from recent servicing checks and the dashboard control lights indicate everything are ok.  Despite all that I drove at only 60km/h in the 100km/h zone.  With precious cargoes on board - 4 loved ones, I would do anything to ensure their safety.

Apart from my ever so faithful co-pilot Mrs G who kept me company with iPad playing songs from when we started going out 14 years ago, I was also guided by a friend, ERIC PD.  ERIC tells me how to control the hazards of the trip.

OK, ERIC PD is not a real person, but a lego-man and in the Health and Safety world is oft used term to spell out the hierarchy of controls to control risks of any activity.

How often have we seen or heard in the news or even on facebook after a major accident, that  people would ask the authorities to tighten the rules, which is actually way down the order to control risks.  Let me share with you what ERIC PD means:

E mean Eliminate. Get rid of the hazard, or replace with something less hazardous.  Eliminating the trip is a no-no, so I moved on to the next level.

R means Reduce: Reduce the nature of the hazard or the exposure to the hazard.  In our case, we drove from home to hotel - point A to point B, no detour.  I also made sure everyone wore their seat belts.  When we reached the hotel, we walk around the area rather than driving around.

I means Isolate.  Isolate the hazard from the people.  In industries, if a machine is too noisy, then we isolate them i.e. put it at a distance to the point that it is doesn't cause noise hazards to the workers.

C means Control.  Control who has access to the hazard.  Limit the exposure time as only necessary.  Ensure all the controls/procedures are in place.

P means Protection.  Always assume that what could go wrong would go wrong, and always wear personal protective equipment.  The standard fare where I work, the standard protection are fire retardant coveralls, safety boots, helmets, goggles and to some extent, gloves.

D means Discipline.  All controls are monitored, reviewed and enforced.  Any breach of the controls will be dealt with accordingly.

Alhamdulillah we reached home in 1 hr 40 mins, against the usual 1 hr 10 mins.  Half an hour late, but we arrived safely.  Thanks to my wife and also ERIC.  Alhamdulillah.

During the drive home we were overtaken by cars we reckon were doing c. 120-130km/h.  The highway was like a river yet the mindless drivers drive like they were boats!  At the highway near our destination, we saw two tow trucks with a police car in chase - today I heard there were 7 injuries in an accident related to that, with a person suffering broken leg.  Let's hope everyone recovers well.  And share their ordeal on what caused the accident and tell others how to prevent it from happening.

Let's see how you can apply ERIC PD to your day to day activity.  In the kitchen.  In your garden.  In the bedroom :D

Always think safety.

Take care & till then, Wassalam.
G

Missing...

Salaam

Alhamdulillah.  I am back.  I have been trying to be back for a while now.  Over tea this afternoon my dear wife made a profound comment: she missed reading my blog.  I did not realize that.  A few of my blogger friends have stopped blogging, and so I thought that is how the blog universe works.  Your blog dies silently.

You see, my wife love reading blogs, of shoppings, holidays, life, cookings... you name it.  She reads the blogs linked on the right hand column.  Every day.  She will share with me the very interesting ones and the one yesterday evening prompted me to dust off this blog.

The blog was of Pak Mat, at http://tatak-tatak.blogspot.com/ and his blog entry of death was very sad indeed.  Pak Mat is a retiree, in his mid 60's and had just returned from Haj pilgrimage.  One of his four roommates during Haj died whilst in the Holy land, and his narration of what they faced brought tears to my eyes.  Pak Mat's blog was so well written that it does not reflect a middle age person where English is not his or her mother tongue.

Anyway, it is two days short of 5 months hiatus for me.  There are lots of potential blog entries missed, such as:

• my wife's birthday at the end of July
• all my three children completed their Ramadhan fast without missing a single day!
• our 4th Hari Raya Aidil Fitri in our crib
• our 11th wedding anniversary (I love you Sayang) and the subsequent celebratory trip to Melbourne
• Iman's 8th birthday (when my wife and I was on our last day in Melbourne
• exam blues for all my three children and Muhammad finished 6th in Year 5, Iman 1st in Year 2 and Aaeeshah 2nd in KG3.  
• Aaeeshah's Kindergarten graduation ceremony (and buying her gift even before we reach home!)
• I was honored to be with a man blinded through an industrial accident 21 years ago, and travelled around the world to talk about safety - how he had disappointed his family and friends
• My wife and I travelled to Bandung with a couple of bloggers
• Local holiday in December - 2 days leave left, what to do (and of course $$ :|)
• 2012!

It took me a good 1 hour to write this up whilst watching the 8 o'clock news.  I hope it'll be more frequent.

I needed this.  This is what I do for my day job, well sort of: communicate on Safety. 

Till next time, InsyaAllah.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I did.

Salaam, Gembo

It is safe... or is it?

Assalamu 'Alaikum

I got the following sets of photos in the email a week ago.

These are interesting photos actually, improvisation of tools or equipment, or shortcuts to do work.  After all, you get to finish the work quickly.  Had the workers gone through the hassles of getting proper scaffolding or longer ladders, it'll take more time or even cost them more and it'll mean lower profits, right?  Well, it depends, purely on luck I supposed.  One wrong move or slip, you're gone. Look at the pictures.  What do you think?

Balancing the ladder on the edge of the floor

Oh yes, the walk plug socket is meant to support the ladder

Who needs scaffolding when you have a plank

I don't know what this fella is doing, but I am pretty sure the air-cond brackets is meant to support the compressor, not an idiot 

Once he's done fixing the rear axle, he should think of fixing his brain.  He need to tune his perception of risks!

They will enjoy cold food & drinks once the fridge is installed. They can also freeze their brains!

Another one balancing his ladder, this time on a narrow edge

This photo gave me the creeps.  How many floors are there again?

Resting in peace...let's hope they will not Rest In Peace!

Whatever you do my friends, please do the right thing.  If an activity is not safe, or if you are unsure if it is safe, do the right thing and don't continue the activity.  Think of your loved ones.

Be safe.  Wassalam.

Gembo

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Assalamu 'Alaikum

Have you ever encountered real life Jekyll n Hyde?  I have... many times but today I've decided to put it down to paper... err blog. 

Today, after a long day at the office, I called up a local hotel to book a room for the weekend, to wind down with the kids after my short trip last week, and my long hours in the office this week.  That's when a Mr (or rather Ms) Hyde was at the other end of the line.

Ms Hyde spoke quickly, so quick that I couldn't catch what she was saying, not due to the fact that I have slight deafness from childhood indulgence in the walkman but rather to her unfortunate failure at trying a slang that was a marriage between American-Filipino-British tongue. Alas, I managed to get a room booked. That's all that matters for me!

Ok, 11 months ago, I got a call from the same hotel, from a Dr Jekyll. Possibly a mutated Dr Jekyll as she also speak in that unfortunate slang.  Dr Jekyll offered me to join the hotel membership club. 

The lure of discounted meals, free nights and lunches attracted me, so I signed up.

What disappoints me though, is the continuing attitude of such people, nice when they need you but unwelcoming when we call them up to book a room, especially when they realised we are going to use the free vouchers.  We've paid, didn't we?  not that we are begging.  Mind you, not all of them are bad, I've met good ones but they are getting more difficult to come across now.  Rare species them.

Anyway, at this point, 1.30 in the morning and having just finished amending a 20 page slide for an afternoon session tomorrow (or rather, later), I've run out of juice trying to think what to write more.  It annoyed me so bad I just have to let it out.  

Oh well, good night all. Or good morning. Sleep tight.

Wassalam,

Mr G

Dirgahayu Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik

Assalamu 'Alaikum

15th July has always been a special occasion for us Bruneians, and tomorrow will be no exception.  It is a date when our beloved ruler, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah was born in 1946, and His Majesty will be 65 this year.

Dirgahayu Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik, and I, your humble and loyal subject pray for your health, wisdom and happiness, and continue to rule the nation to prosperity with the guidance and will of Allah, Amin.

taken from www.royalbirthday.org.bn 

Wassalam,

Azmi

Catching up.... Iman's award for 2010, Congratulations Sayang!

Assalamu 'Alaikum

Again, catching up on those 'missing' posts... this time, an event in April, where Iman was awarded for finishing second in her class of Year 1 at St James's School.

During the last Parent-Teacher consultation day in May, her class teacher for Year 2 commented that there is nothing to worry about Iman, her work ethics, her understanding, her attention... All OK... If anything it would be her handwriting heheh, they're neat but too tiny for the teacher's liking.  I have to agree with the teacher and looks like Iman has addressed that now :-)

Less writing and more photos today.

Wassalam, 

Mr G

To my fellow Bruneians... CSPS needs your help

Assalamualaikum

Are you a graduate? Are you currently employed / unemployed or overqualified for your job? If you are, then Brunei Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) needs your help, to help you.

Yes, help CSPS to help you.

Help CSPS by filling their online questionnaire - just visit their website: www.csps.org.bn, their facebook page: www.facebook.com/csps.brunei or straight to their online questionnaire at csps.graduate-employmen​t.sgizmo.com/s3/.

I've helped them and filled the questionnaires.  It took me less than 10 minutes to complete.

To manage your expectations, there is no prizes for completing it.  But I do hope CSPS will gather enough responses and information to help their research and to come up with new initiatives or new changes for Brunei to adopt and help the future generations of graduates.

All the best CSPS.

Wasalam,
Mr G

Alhamdulillah... what next?

Assalamu 'Alaikum

I mentioned in my previous post I moved to a new job, now looking after Health, Safety and Environment Data & Reporting (HSE).

I was also required to attend a NEBOSH Certificate course (to do with Occupational Health and Safety), which I attended dry, yes, dry with no previous experience in safety at all.  It was quite surreal and intimidating to be sitting amongst others who have years of experience under their belts.

The course dates couldn't have been worse - it was during my last 2 weeks as Insurance Advisor and during handover to my successor.  The routine for the first week of studies was: wake up at 6, drive kids to school at 7, attend classes 7.30 to 4, back to office for handover from 4.30 to 7.30, revise from 10 to 2 am.... and repeat seqence all over again.  The second week, I couldn't even do the handover, my brain just refused to cooperate.  And I had to rely on 2 cans of Red Bull every day. Yes, 2. Every day.  It made me alert and hyper, but the energy level shot down by 6pm.

Since the final exam on 1st April till 3rd week of June, I've been nervously checking my mailboxes - email and the red box - so worried about what the result would be.  I finally received my results via email on the 3rd week of June and I passed!  Alhamdulillah.  And a couple of days ago I got the official slip via snail mail, and it is now confirmed: I passed with a D... YES!  I passed, with a D!

My wife was so happy for me.  She had been there for me, handled the kids all by herself during the 2 weeks, well, except for me sending the kids to school and look after my meals and everything.  The kids were also ecstatic to hear their daddy passed.  It was a huge relief.  My colleagues were surprised when I told I passed with the D, and were very generous with their compliments.

Alhamdulillah.  I've spoken to the boss, what next?  Diploma is next, possibly.  For the mean time I just need to get my hands dirty.  Get busy.  So far so good, that I think I got my name crossed out from a few people's Hari Raya mailing list, one example was my post on Just a thought.

Well, that's life.  But Alhamdulillah.  All the efforts and sacrifices paid off.

Wassalam & Have a Great & Safe Weekend All,
Mr G

Kaseh Ibu... Rindu Babu

Assalamu 'Alaikum

8th July 2004.  My beloved mom Hajah Millie Haji Mohd Noor left us forever.  Allah has given me the pleasure of 30 years being with my mom.  Affectionately called Babu in the household, she passed quietly in her sleep.  I accepted the Will of Allah, much as I love to have Babu to look after my children the way Mama, my dear grandma, did as I grew up, I couldn't bear to see Babu suffering from her illness.

37 years ago. Safe and Secure in my Babu's loving hold

Growing up with my grandparents, my brother and I only see Babu during the weekends.  Life was not difficult then but jobs were generally available in the capital, 2 hours drive from our kampong.  So Babu and my dad, striving to ensure our lives are well and equipped had to be away from us for 5 days every week.

Lovingly bathing me. Me not-so-loving the water

The other night, listening to the song I Want To Hold Your Hand by Kurt (Glee), I cried and cried and recalled memories with Babu.  I just want to hold her hand that night, as I always did when I visited her at hospital.  Babu was a tough disciplinarian and a perfectionist, I guess as she was an only child, and I attribute where I am now partly a result of that.  Despite all that, Babu had always been there for me, in pain, in glory, in sadness and in happiness.

Look at that proud face holding Muhammad :-)

I've been unlucky a few times on the road, once a victim of careless driver and later due to false assumption of the tyre condition.  Both were more than half hour drive from our family home.  Despite her condition, breathlessness and having to bring her oxygen tank around, she insisted for my brother to drive her to be with me. My two brothers were also unlucky on the road then, and even in the middle of the night, the motherly instinct brought her to the scenes.  She rarely said the I love yous but her actions showed that.

Babu a proud granny, again, here holding Iman

The last few memories were of Babu frequenting the ICU's for her condition, most of the time due to excess fluid in her lungs.  There was one occasion, a doctor saw my wife and I, Babu told him that I was her son and my wife is her daughter in law.  The doctor asked her if she had any grandchildren, she proudly said in her perfect English, "I do, I have a grandson and a granddaughter".

This was her last Hari Raya in 2003 with  Muhammad and Iman. Look at the twinkle in her eyes.

I miss Babu.  Muhammd was fortunate enough to be around Babu when he grew up.  He was three then.  At times he would say that he missed Babu and we would drive down the road, and prayed at her grave.

Al-Fatihah to Babu, O Allah Almighty, please bless my mother for all her sacrifices and her love for us, please grant my mother a beautiful place in paradise. Amin.

 :'''(


Wassalam,

G

Good read my lord!

Assalamu 'Alaikum

Everyone loves reading.  At least that is what I know in my family.  Like I've blogged before I grew up with my grandma, and before she sleeps every night she would read her kitab ugama (religious books) or the malay newspaper.  My late mom would have stakes of magazines.  My Abang loves to read as well, the same favourite author as mine even.

My wife loves reading too, again the same favourite author as mine and now Muhammad loves reading too (Wimpy Kids.. David Copperfield), Iman (Wimpy Kids & Enid Blytons) and Asha, feedback from the teacher is there is no problem with her reading, so there.

Yesterday, I received two packages that arrived in the same day, one from acmamall and the other from Amazon UK.  The thing is, the latest Jeffrey Archer (oh did I say my favourite author is Lord Archer?) arrived in June and I fought with the missus to read the book :-)... not literally fight of course.  Once we finished that book, we got withdrawal - reading is like a drug you know!  So we wanted to read Lord Archer's other books, I knew I had these books before but must have lost them when I moved around in the last 20 years.  So I got these new 'old' ones... they're good read and thriller, and I highly recommend Kane and Abel, it is the best!

Wassalam,
Mr G

Just a thought..

Assalamu 'Alaikum

First and foremost, this is the first blogpost I've ever made from my year old iPad... Exactly a year old today - Got it during my 10th year anniversary honeymoon at Leeds UK, on July 5th 2010.

About my thought.....just to let it out, I spent wasted a good 10 minutes last Friday afternoon listening to a graduate complaining and refusing to do something that the grad is qualified to do, just because some of the others aren't qualified. The grad felt it is unfair that he/she ended doing a bigger share of the task.

I was at lost at this kind of behaviour.... I mean, why miss such good opportunity to shine & sell yourself? Instead of trying to get extra brownie points, the grad ended up painting a bad picture which possibly will be etched in not just my mind but the other leaders.

I enjoyed coaching others, much like Ed did to me, and I had coached a few grads in Finance where I'd been before... But in this case, I tried to talk some sense into the grad but there was no chance, the grad kept on repeating the words 'unfair' like it's the only line rehearsed before that call. On a Friday afternoon, that's the last thing you want to waste your time on, so I gave up.

My words of advise, sell yourself. Try your best and don't you ever shoot yourself in the foot. Take every opportunity that comes your way. Me? I am still working on it, trying my best... Heck, i've just completed 3 months in my new job and enjoying every minute of it. Please pray for my success. Thanks.

Wassalam, G

Catching Up... Farewell to Ed and the Three Musketeer$

Assalamu 'Alaikum

As promised, another catching up post... This time an event in February for the farewell of my boss, Ed and two other leaders Mark N and Mark T, the trio aptly nicknamed the Three Musketeers.

Edwin Bolton or Ed to close colleagues, had been with the company for 4 1/2 years since October 2006. His boyish looks belied the talents, the sharp mind underneath and took some of us back, especially that he was a couple of years younger than me.  But Ed was like a sponge - within weeks of arriving he's got grip of what we're doing and within months steered the ship well. 

Ed work late, at times over the weekend, sometimes I'd call him dull Jack as he's always avoided any non-work company events.  It's not that the work was getting too much, he'll find work to do when he's free!

For Ed to suddenly inherit 30 people when he arrived was a huge shock for him, more so all his 4 direct reports were older than him.  How he handled it become my very own personal thesis - I now lead a team of only three but I used every tricks that Ed applied to win us all, to help me take my own ship out of the harbour.  I am not there yet, but I look up to him for inspiration if there seems to be rough waters ahead. 

Of all the bosses that I've had in my 15 working years, I'd have to say Ed shaped me to who I am now and who I wanted to be.  When things got so bad for me, he picked me up and helped me turn around from worst to best performance within a year.  Thanks Ed.  You're my inspiration.

Ed had been married to Emma just over a year when they arrived in Brunei, and he left Brunei with Olly, one and half years old then and Toby at the end of his second trimester. Toby was safely born in UK last month. 

Ed was only one of the three, they weren't even called the Three Musketeers during their time in the company, it was only coined when all three were to leave the company in quick succession Marc N left early Feb, Mark T left end Feb and Ed left end March, Ed in the same time that I moved on to my new job. 

Adios you Mu$keteer$... All for One, One for All.  We wish you the best in all your future endeavours!

Ed getting his 'Kain Songket' frame from Ralph

The Three Musketeer$... Marc N, Ed, Ralph and Mark T.

Ed receiving gifts from Zainee on behalf of the team

Wasalam

Azmi

Tora.. Tora.. Tora....

Assalamu 'Alaikum

Waiting for lunch on a very warm and humid Saturday yesterday, I got into FB to kill time - looking at the rants, the love messages, the complaints and all that what my FB friends had to offer.  Suddenly I got an FB message from a dear old friend.

We were in the same class from kindergarten in 1979 until Form 5, minus a couple of years during lower secondary when I moved to Government school and he followed suit a couple of years later.  Tora and I went to the same sixth-form college in 1991 but he lasted only three months - his GCE 'O' levels result the year before was so good the government sent him abroad to do his A levels and subsequently his medical studies in Ireland.

During a motivational talk for the government scholarship students three years later, I was so proud I had goosebumps when the Director of Studies mentioned, "Tora is not only the best Bruneian student in Ireland, he IS the best student in Ireland". That was MY friend Tora Leong.  Today he is Dr Dr Tora Leong Sun Fu - he is a medical doctor and got his PhD last year. He brushed it aside as nothing - that is Tora.

I graduated in 1997 and has worked for 2 companies in 14 years. In contrast, Tora is STILL practising / specialising in Ireland and London, with the last leg in Paris later this year, before he is due to return to Brunei in 2012. By then he will be one of the few local cardiologist Brunei has to offer.

The thing I remembered most about Tora is his big handwriting (he claimed being a doctor, that is now long gone), he plays piano very well (he said he has little time for that now) and the best one, he's very very smart yet very down to earth.  He enjoyed having meals at the gerai (stalls) and loved local coffee (Kopi kampung) that he'll bring back to UK following his short trip home. At school he mingled with everyone, and make time to assist us on the math and sciences... including my wife and I.

So, Tora came home on Thursday and will fly back to UK this coming Thursday.  Mr Leong's two elder sons came home especially to celebrate his 7th decade of life.  In between, as is his usual practice during his trip back, Tora had personal audience with the Minister of Health on his specialization and catching up on old friends, including yours truly.

Tora's FB message to me was to check if I would have time for coffee with him.  Who wouldn't.  So I agreed immediately and spent the afternoon baking my wife's favourite - Cinnamon Rolls - which my wife assured me would go well with coffee.  She wasn't lying.  I am sinfully hooked.

Tora came around half eight and we chatted until well after 11 about everything: his life, his studies, our childhood friends, my kids, his dad's 70 years birthday, also the fact that the mother still remembers me despite haven't seen me for the last 20 years!

It has been a pleasure having you Tora, and we look forward to have you around again.

Coffee with Dr Dr Tora last night

This was taken 2 years ago, after another short trip.

Wassalam,
Azmi

Catching up.... Asha is 5 @ 11.1.11

Assalamu 'Alaikum

I had a very long couple of days at work. As I said, new job and I loved every minute of it and the challenges.  It's two days now that I could only leave after 6.

But I am trying my best to keep to my promise (to myself) to get back to writing, or blogging rather.

I am catching up to those missed posts, to start with, my Baby Princess's birthday.  Before going further, let me explain why I am posting 'old' stories:  Well, the Gembo Juniors surf the net everyday and they question their Babah on the static Gembo blog.  They love and enjoy seeing their 'stories' on the web.  Iman surfs on her iPod touch, Asha on daddy's old MacBook and Muhammad on any of the two.

Asha, my Gembo Junior #3, turned 5 about 5 moons ago on a very nice date, 11.1.11.   Apart from sharing with you that she had two parties - one with the family at home and another one with her friends at school, I won't say much and let you enjoy these well preserved photos. 

Ancu Leeja baked these nice cupcakes. They tasted as good as they looked!

And we got this for her birthday at home too... 

That's Baby Princess Asha

Getting her first steps (or rolls rather) with her Kaka Iman and Abang Muhammad

And here's Asha going solo

Now, this is Asha's cake at school. Ice cream cake, mind you.

Teachers made sure Asha's kindy classmates lined up and sang her Happy Birthday 

A proud looking Asha

And a happier smile next to her darling Mummy

Every classmates greeted her, including the prince of the class, Danish 

Now that's the widest smile I'd seen in any of her birthday photos

One of Asha's all time favourite, water/soap bubbles

Asha and her beloved Kaka Iman, with the gifts from her classmates

Wassalam,
G