Monday, August 31, 2009

MERDEKA

You know, I'm not too hot on the concept of Merdeka for two reasons.

One, if British colonisation didn't happen in this country, I probably would not have happened myself. And neither would my cousins and our mums/dads and grandmum.

Two, I have always thought that we have the British to thank for opening our eyes to modernisation and giving us a headstart to a good education system, and the rest of the penjajah for teaching us how to fight for ourselves.

My cousins opine that celebrating 31st August as Merdeka Day for 1 Malaysia is an incongruity because Sabah and Sarawak only joined Malaysia 6 years later and thus to make a big deal of it is unfair for the East Malaysians. Well what is obvious is there is still a huge gaping canyon of understanding between Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia and it's high time something is done to close it if the country is honest about 1 Malaysia. If there is a point in all that song and dance celebrating independance, whatever the date, where is it? People in Peninsular Malaysia still do not view East Malaysians as equals.

Not to mention the knowledge and awareness levels of some Peninsular folks about East Malaysia is pathetic. Some think Kuching is in Sabah. Buduh.

Year in year out I hear and read people debate about "negara merdeka tapi adakah minda sudah merdeka?" and truth be told I'm bored to bits about it. Get up and do something about it then if you think we're not merdeka enough. Don't just sit and wait for other people to get things done. This is the problem. It's always been and always will be if everyone keeps waiting for the tipping point.

Other than that, I keep my thoughts to myself. I sit and shut up like I always do, and enjoy my public holiday.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

NOTHING

I spent today doing absolutely nothing.

It is not too common for me to spend my weekends doing nothing. My typical weekends would either be half spent at the office and half running household errands like grocery shopping, or going on roadtrips for various reasons.

Once in a while it feels good to do nothing.

It clears your mind off work worries and lets you recharge for the next dose of work worries in the coming week.

It's where you are free just being you, alone with yourself, to do what you want, eat what you want, wear what you want and just use up your time how you want. It is a liberating feeling and makes you feel good about yourself.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

THE LITTLE STORY OF A YELLOW SILK BAJU KURUNG.

I have kept this baju kurung for three years. It is too precious for me to wear.

It was originally presented to me as a piece of 4-metre pure silk batik, together with a chocolate-coloured selendang, by my ex-colleagues in one of the companies I worked for before I came to JB.I served the company for almost 4 years.

I do believe that we are fated to work where we work. Today, we may  grumble and grouse and complain about our job and our employer. We would do anything just to get out. In our anger, we forget to remember the blessings that we are given with the job. We forget that the mere fact that we can put food on the table is a blessing. We forget that the lessons we learn through our hardships there is a blessing. We forget that each and every face we meet through the job is also a blessing.

Tommorow, when we look back, we will see how it all falls into place as one perfect picture of our life's journey thus far. Whatever has happened along the way, whether good or bad, had left no adverse traces on us, only made us grow up.

Today, I am working for the passion. I no longer worry about the money, because I hold a simple thought: a lack of it is my failure in planning, an abundance of it is God's gift.

This silk baju kurung reminds me of one fact. The job itself had no chemistry with me, but I held on to my belief that I should be there until such time when God says it's time to move on. And when I did move on, many of the friends I made were treasures I took with me throughout my journey. This baju kurung, in all its splendour, is a testimony of how people around me appreciated what little contribution I made to their work and their lives.

I have a saying. "When we stop becoming colleagues, we become friends." That doesn't always hold true of course, but when it does, it's a very nice thing indeed.

And so I never had the guts to wear this baju kurung, for fear that I will spoil it, because it is a treasury of my memories.

Maybe someday.

Friday, August 28, 2009

UNEXPLAINED.

Recently before the fasting month there were sightings around my office premises of a woman in white. She was seen at night by the night shift employees, sitting on the grass verge between the canteen and the administration building and by the window of the training room overlooking the driveway. She seemed to be waiting for someone.

At another time, I personally saw someone, or something, standing by the production building stairwell window looking out at the parking lot. It was about 6.40pm and I had just started my car to go home. The thing was just standing there motionless looking out at the parking lot and I sat there in my car trying to focus on what it was. For a few seconds I thought it was staring back at me, and we somewhat locked gazes. I couldn't really make out exactly who or what it was because the window was far and very high up. So I started my engine and left.

The second time I saw it was rather creepy. It was on another day, and as I started my car engine I thought of the thing I saw at the window. I sat there and thought about it, and somewhat willed for it to appear. It did. This time there were other movement, like other things prancing about behind it. Then everything faded away. After that I thought I saw something hiding under the window ledge, as if peeping at me from beneath the window. It was all very strange.

A couple of months ago we saw some bubble-like things from the CCTV camera at the production area. It was like someone blowing a gush of bubbles across the camera dome from nowhere to nowhere.

When I come to the office on weekends to finish off work, sometimes I'd be the only one in the entire administration building. But I'd hear a lot of racket, like the sound of doors banging, things bumping against the wall and the sensation of movement as if there were many people around. Once as I was leaving the office on a Saturday afternoon, I heard a very loud crash coming from the toilet area as I was going down the stairs. I went back up and checked around. Nothing and no one.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

GOT PEANUTS, BETTER THAN NO PEANUTS.

We in JB watch this on Singapore's Channel 5 every night, and would like to share it with everyone else.


And one more for my friends.


Here's to waking up to a good Friday, folks.

ANOTHER PEANUT STORY.

Read this.

Do you agree?

In my humble opinon, the pay should commensurate with the job. That’s all.

If a PhD holder wants to do the job of a clerk, then he should be paid for doing the job of a clerk, not for being a PhD holder. If an SPM holder does a brilliant job as a manager, perhaps due to the experience he has garnered over the years, by all means he should be paid in pari passu with the current market rate for a manager in his field, and the fact that he does not have tertiary qualifications as most managers are expected to have should not prejudice this.

There is some justification to wanting an employee to prove his salt before enhancing his remuneration package. I certainly would be hesitant to recommend my teammates for a raise or a bonus if they have not shown accomplishments of agreed targets, or initiative to make visible improvements in weaker areas, or have not completed a project/probation period. A carrot should just be dangled in front of the employee, not served him on a silver platter with salsa dips.

There are also people who do love the work they do and money becomes a secondary consideration, if at all. As long as they are paid enough to bring food on their table, they are content. They may be willing to forgo monetary compensation if their job brings spiritual fulfillment, such as working for charitable organizations or NGOs that serve the community. Some look for job security or a happy working environment, and once they’ve found it, whether or not they get a raise or a bonus becomes less important. Not everyone is motivated by money, and not everyone gets up in the morning to go to work because of it. There are other pursuits in life which people seek to feel and become richer, and the concept of rich is wider than just fiscal opulence.

What about you? Why do YOU work?

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I'M A HR SIMPLETON, DOWH.

I don’t do fancy HR. You know the sort. The ones using big words and lots of rhetoric and not much real application to the real world of real HR.

The ones where you have to pay through your nose to go for their training courses only to end up sitting in a freezing conference room listening to the trainer grandstanding for three whole days and not really making much sense let alone giving you the practical answers you seek to your everyday situations at work.

Some of these fancy HR people will frown and say, ah but then, your HR methods are passé. Some, may even angkat their bakul even higher, let out a mocking snort and tell you that they are way past that “everyday HR manager” level and solving your inconsequential problems are just a waste of their time. Others may just tell you blatantly that your approach is wrong. The rest are just plain conmen.

I tell you what works. Being a traditional people manager works. Anything swankier than that is pointless. Majority of Malaysians still have not departed from the traditional ideology about work i.e. work = pay. I’m sure the colleague sitting beside you does not equate work with enhancing his ability to draw colourful trees with felt pens to plot his sequence of thoughts. So to manage him, you need to apply methods that he understands so he can do what you want him to do. If you start going all Freudian on him, it’ll just petrify him and you won’t get anywhere with your job. Not to mention the Management will soon find you a nonconformist and nonconformists are non-team players. And you do know what happens to those.

I like my humble no-frills existence in the corporate world. And I can see through you conmen, too.

ODE TO A DIVA

Photo copyright Tahirah Manesah Abu Bakar, 2009

This is a special blog entry for my friend Zaila, who celebrates her birthday today.


When we first met, back in 2006
I knew back then that we would click
Underneath that prim and proper attire
You were wild and full of fire
Just like me, and what a surprise
Born in the same year, how very nice!
You were not like the average PA
Not sombong or eksyen or nyey-nyey-nyey
Working with you was a lot of fun
Remember when we formed Rombongan Pak Man?
Those Starhill memories stay fresh forevermore
You singing Jaclyn made everyone drop their jaw
The karaoke and makan sessions over the years
We’d monkey around and laugh till we had tears
I just want to say what a good friend you’ve been
And what a lousy poet I am, so you can trash this poem to your bin.

Anyway, just want to add something here: that if one day you decide to leave your profession, you can always become a HR practitioner as you have all that it takes to be a very, very good one.

I purposely put this ice-cream eating pic of you up here. I caught you on camera being simply you, and that’s a beautiful thing, more beautiful than the beauty queen crown you’re wearing.

Happy birthday Zaila!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

JUST SAY NO.

You know what’s one of the most annoying thing for a HR manager? It’s when a candidate sends you multiple emails in response to your job ad, each time shoving his or her resume in your face, practically on his or her knees begging you for at least “an interview at your convenience”, even though he or she is so blatantly obviously not the kid for the cut, then one day you finally have a matching opening for this candidate and you call him or her for interview and finally, perhaps more out of sympathy than good judgment, you make an offer to him or her, when suddenly all that singing-for-supper dies down and you are left going “halloooo….” to a hollow void left by the candidate who apparently has had a change of mind about working for you but has depleted of his or her stock of manners to actually tell you he or she has decided to reject your offer.

That’s right. The candidate has made you look stupid.

Here’s a word to the clueless (and to those who may just have committed the above HR capital offence). Let me tell you what the hiring process is not.
  1. It is not easy. Filtering through sheaves of application forms and resumes is not like mengayak tepung. Filtering humans take up time and special skill to do it so as to avoid square pegging. A hiring mistake can cost the business much adverse repercussions later.
  2. It is not something you can do while doing some other task. You need to focus and be meticulous in your candidate selection.
  3. It is not cheap. Print ads, online job portal subscriptions and headhunting fees are very expensive, sometimes more expensive than a month of your take home pay.
  4. It is not done by machines.
Number 4 is very important, hence why it is stated last.

So what can HR Managers do about this situation? Well, you can’t technically blacklist the candidate. Technically, the candidate is not wrong to reject you. But of course the fact that he or she rudely omitted to manifest to you his or her rejection makes you scream because you have done No. 1 -3 and he or she conveniently forgets No. 4.

Well, you can “grey-list” such offending candidates by pre-warning all your HR friends about him or her so that they won’t be made to look like suckers too. It’s not the same as “blacklisting” because other companies whose HR Managers are not in your circle or your Facebook list won’t know about it.

Other than that there’s nothing much else you can do. It’s not your fault anyway.

To all jobseekers out there, if you receive any offers which you have to reject, do have the courtesy to make a simple call or send a simple email to politely refuse the offer. Don’t leave the companies hanging in a limbo. It looks bad on you, and may cost you your future. It may also boomerang back to you one day when you have forgotten about it. It’s simple. Just like smoking, “katakan TAK NAK”.

IT AIN'T QUITTED 'TIL IT'S QUITTED!

Yo folks! Today I share with you a very good article by Bhag Singh on your obligations after you quite your job. Worth thinking over, for those who are contemplating making the leap.

You can view the original version here.

Quitting your job

ARTICLES OF LAW WITH BHAG SINGH
Where an employees is engaged for a fixed term, refusal to continue does not always bring the contract to an end. The employee may leave but other obligations remain.

THE days of slavery are long over. Today a person only works if he wants to. Increased protection of the rights of employees has gone hand in hand with development and progress. A vast array of laws protect employees.

However, does that mean that an employee can do whatever he wishes?

An employment relationship is a contract between the employer and the employee. The employee must be at the stipulated place and time to perform his work. On the other hand, the employer must remunerate him. Failure to do so would be a breach. This would entitle either party to terminate the employment.

The law requires an employer to give due notice unless the breach warrants instant and summary dismissal. Even then, the law expects the employer to give an employee opportunities to rectify shortcomings.

What if an employee walks out of his job and does not turn up for work thereafter? Can an employer stop this or do so if the employee seeks employment with a competitor next door? Such a situation would be a cause for concern to the employer.

An employee who joins a competitor next door can give the competitor an advantage because he takes along with him knowledge and information which will be useful to the new employer.

Specific performance

An employee who does not wish to continue employment cannot be compelled to do so. This is because the remedy of specific performance is, as a matter of law and policy, not granted against an employee.

Specific performance would be an order directing the employee to continue to work for the employer. Failure to comply would be contempt of court.

Courts have long acknowledged that it would be impractical for such an order to be made. As was noted by Sir Robert Megarry in Howard vs Pickford Tool Co Ltd: “If without just cause a servant who has contracted to serve for a term of years refuses to do so, it is easy to see that the court is powerless to make him do what he has contracted to do.”

His lordship added: “Neither by decreeing specific performance nor by granting an injunction can the court make the servant perform loyally what he is refusing to do, however wrongfully. Such an order quite apart from its impracticability would also be self-defeating if carried out to its logical conclusion.”

The judge said that if such an order were to be made, the ultimate sanction for disobedience being committal to prison would far from forcing the servant to work for his master, effectively stop him from doing so.

But why should the court’s inability to make an employee work for his employer mean that as soon as the employee refuses to do so, the court is disabled from restraining him from committing any breach however flagrant his other obligations during the period of his contract?

The manner in which the employee’s departure is dealt with can have significance. If the contract allows the employee to terminate the contract, then his doing so brings it to an end.

However, where the employee’s resignation is not accepted, it is a repudiation which on failure of the employer to accept, results in the contract subsisting. In such a situation, the other obligations under the agreement continue though the employee leaves.

There is the view that an employee cannot thereafter be restrained from working elsewhere. Such a belief is founded on Section 28 of the Contracts Act 1950 which provides that “every agreement by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession is to that extent void.”

Although the court is unable to order specific performance, it could restrain the employee from committing a breach of an express or implied negative undertaking because the contract of employment is still in being (as the repudiation of the employee in refusing to work has not been accepted by the employer).

This is because Section 54 of the Specific Relief Act 1950 states: “Where a contract comprises an affirmative agreement to do a certain act, coupled with a negative agreement, express or implied, not to do a certain act, the circumstances that the court is unable to compel specific performance of the affirmative agreement shall not preclude it from granting an injunction to perform the negative agreement”.

However, this right to apply for an injunction is subject to a proviso that the applicant himself has not failed to perform his obligations under the contract. The existence of this proviso clearly contemplates that the contract is subsisting.

If it were the law that a contract could be terminated merely by the repudiation by one party without acceptance by the other, then because the contract had come to an end, there would not remain obligations under the contract to be performed.

Case of restraint

In Broom (Selangor) Rubber Plantations vs R.H. Whitley, the defendant, Whitley, entered into an agreement to serve the plaintiffs as an assistant on their rubber estate for a period of three years and eight months. Whitley unilaterally terminated the employment saying that he had been offered a much better position.

The plaintiff sought an injunction which was granted and it was said: “The plaintiffs have performed the contract so far as it is binding on them. The defendant threatens to break his affirmative agreement with them. I find that there is on the part of the defendant an implied negative agreement, viz not to enter the service of any other employer until the expiration of his period of service with the plaintiffs until the end of the contract period.”

It will be seen that whether an employee can be restrained from working elsewhere will depend on the terms of the contract. It also involves a consideration of the manner in which the employment contract is brought to an end.

Monday, August 24, 2009

NEVER BETTER THAN LATE

At a recent HR group meeting in JB, we discussed the recent case of Automotive Manufacturers Sdn Bhd v Ahmad Mohd Som (Award No 361 of 2009).


The employee in this case was employed as an operator in the maintenance department of Automotive Manufacturers Sdn Bhd. The Company found that he had been habitually late and frequently failed to swipe in and out his attendance card at the barcode system on numerous occasions between January 2001 and August 2002.

In August 2002, the company issued him a show cause letter alleging 35 occasions of lateness between January 2001 and August 2002 and failing to swipe his card 31 times during the same period.

The claimant replied , inter alia, requesting for a DI to be convened because he felt that the show cause letter was unfair to him seeing as the offences alleged in it spanned over a period of more than a year.

A DI was eventually held and the claimant was found guilty and was dismissed. He appealed to the company but was turned down.

The claimant subsequently took the case to the Industrial Court and 7 years later the Court decided in his favour, awarding him more than RM20k in damages.

There are a few lessons to be learnt from this case.

Always take immediate action each time a breach of disciplinary policy occurs. In this case the Company accumulated 20 months’ worth of alleged offences and used that to slap the termination notice on the employee without a single warning, written or otherwise, being issued to him throughout the entire period the alleged offences were supposed to have occurred. The Court opined as such: ”The Court is of the view that by not taking immediate disciplinary action against the claimant for the aforesaid serious misconducts…the company is deemed to have condoned the claimant’s past acts of serious misconducts…” The Court only took in consideration one occasion of misconduct, which was the most recent one alleged by the Company, and threw out the rest. Based on this one single misconduct alone, the Court could not find the employee guilty of serious misconduct constituting just cause and excuse for dismissal.

All general terms and conditions of employment, including disciplinary offences and their corresponding punishment, must be made known to all employees. In this case the employee was not given a copy of the Company’s Code of Conduct, and the Company failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the employee knew the consequences of his misconduct.

Never terminate an employee because of personal vendetta or ulterior motives. In this case, the claimant contended that the Company purposely used the excuse of habitual lateness to kick him out because he was involved in the formation of an employees’ union. The Company had issued him a letter asking him to withdraw his membership of the union, which was wrong in law in the first place, and when the employee refused to sign the letter the Company began to find fault with him. In the end, they had to pay for it. Now imagine the damages if the claimant is a senior-ranking employee. I personally know someone who was awarded RM1.3 million in damages after he was unfairly dismissed by his employers because of political and racial motives. He was my law lecturer, and one of the reasons why I am specialising in employment laws.

If you really want to give someone the boot for reasons nothing whatsoever to do with work, make sure you get your own ass covered. In this case, the Company produced the MIS Manager as one of their witnesses during the Court hearing. The witness was asked why the barcode system printout showed that the employee did not swipe his card on certain particular dates. The witness’s reply? “Kemungkinan barcode rosak.” The Court threw the case out of the window.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

SALAM RAMADHAN

Salam, I'd like to wish all my Muslim friends Selamat Berpuasa. If you are looking for something special to serve your guests for buka puasa, or Raya cookies or cakes with a difference, do visit CRUMB CRAVINGS at http://www.crumbcravings.blogspot.com/ for a range of scrumplicious home made baked goodies!

Chocolate lovers will fall in love again and again with SHERA'S CHOCOLATE HEAVEN, a moist, steamed chocolate cake with chocolate inside and outside and all over your heart! Home-made by my friend Shera Azman, it's a simple creation that makes you salivate for more. To order, just message me and Shera will get back to you for your orders.

If you would like to buka puasa with Rosyam Noor, Hafiz AF7, Stacy and Adam, make a date with them at  Restoran Alicafe, Kelana Mall, KL on 29 August 2009 at 7.00pm. Tickets cost RM50.00 each inclusive of a four-course set meal, photo session with the stars, gifts and a chance to win lucky draw prizes! Plus kids under 12 can go in for free without ticket charges. Check out the details at http://www.powerroot.com/.

PUTTING THE REINS ON GUS

I woke up this morning and read this, and this. I'm not suprised, but still appalled, and very intrigued. The scale of society's gullibility has reached a sort of epitome, it seems.

I remember reading not too long ago about a couple being cheated in a sale and purchase deal involving a Mercedes Benz. Apparently the deal between the couple and the man selling the car was done at a roadside along the Kota Tinggi road. The consideration was RM19k for the car, which was a 2nd-hand model but relatively new. In the end, the couple never saw the car nor the man and their RM19k ever again. They lodged a police report only to be given an appropos lecture by the top brass in the district balai about having some common sense.

I call it gullibility, some people call it greed. Maybe the greed leads to gullibility.

I can understand if people who are not good enough to pass even their SPM try to buy a degree or even an MBA in order to increase their chances of getting a better job. OK, maybe they're just desperate to survive. (Now I'm beginning to wonder whether all the dunces I've met in the top dog seats of some companies were actually patrons of these "mills". Tee hee). But what happens when they can't do the job of a real MBA holder? And what happens when they get caught?

But prominent figures? What the...??? If you can't even be true to yourself, how can you be trusted to act as the representative of the vox populi? Those who said they were genuinely conned into this, there are only two things. Either they didn't bother to do their due diligence or they're lying. Both of which are just so hopeless. I mean, anyone can become a victim of confidence tricksters but on this scale? Doesn't it take just a call to JPA or the consulate of the insitution's country of origin to check it's legitimacy? Or is everyone in such a hurry to be first in the paper chase that all caution (and common sense) is thrown to the wind?

If the bijak pandai can become fodder, what more the bodoh kayu?

IMHO we all should just be thankful for what we have, it's the only sure way to avoid becoming someone else's dinner. If it sounds too good to be true, it most often is. A little bit of homework can save a lot of embarassment, difficulty and financial loss. Look at all gift horses in the mouth. If it smells bad, refuse it.

HR practitioners need to be vigilant when hiring key personnel who embellish their CVs with fantastic qualifications from equally grand-sounding institutions. Design your job application forms to contain a background check waiver clause that enables you to legally probe both employment and academic references. Be a little bit wiser and it may save you from making a big fool out of yourself for hiring a "mill" candidate.

THEY ARE, AFTER ALL, TOOLS.

Am so glad my company is open-minded about Facebook and Twitter. For me thus far Facebook has been a practical and effective implement for the following work-related purposes:-
  1. Headhunting
  2. Promoting the company's products and restaurants
  3. Networking with other HR and employment law professionals and Government officers related to HR and employment law
  4. Keeping colleagues in other branches abreast of employee relations issues through sharing of photos and notes
  5. Sharing articles and information related to HR and employment law matters with colleagues
I also have a Linked-In account which I need to update as I haven't visited it for quite some time.

Many companies still do not allow Facebooking during office hours. It's a pity. Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In and other social media can be very good for business when used properly. When not used properly, it doesn't make a difference. Bored employees will find other ways to kill time anyway. And wouldn't you rather they kill them fashionably?

FUN@WORK: EMPLOYEE RELATIONS 21 AUGUST 2009

Photo copyright Tahirah Manesah Abu Bakar, August 2009.

In my company, we organise monthly staff lunch parties, on a Friday lunchtime. HR Dept hosts the parties and makes the arrangements and everyone else chips in the cost of food. In the beginning the parties were hosted to celebrate staff birthdays. Eventually they evolved to becoming an employee relations event, where the office staff have junk food together as friends and forget all about work for 1.5 hours. In the latest edition, it became a noisy shindig, but nevertheless served the purpose well.

It all started with a little box with a little slot. Inside this box were 20 little rolled-up strips of paper with various actions printed on it, and everyone was to form a circle and pass this box around while the music played. When the music stopped, the person holding the box was to shake a little roll-up strip of paper out of the slot, and do what it said on the paper.

Now, every stressed-out workaholic needs a little hair let-down. And what better way to do it than on a Friday. So for a good 20 minutes everyone went back in time to becoming kids again, passing the little "poison box" around like we used to do at birthday parties when we were little. No one realised how much fun it was until we started tossing the box around. It was hilarious to see everyone getting "poisoned". The "poison" in the little paper rolls were really silly like "dance like a chicken" and "balance a pencil on your head and walk ten steps" and "hop on one leg while singing" and mid-way through the game some people even went and hid in the toilet until the game was over! We took the chance to take the mickey out of some "selected" colleagues by purposely making the music stop when the box came to them. The HR Dept turned into a daytime pub as everyone ate and drank and shrieked and clapped and hooted.

I don't think anyone cared about the time then as no one asked ;-)

After it was all over we uploaded the photos on Facebook and on the shared drive. It was apparent that we've become more than just an office. We've become a community.

Photos can be viewed here.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

FUN@WORK: CSR SK BANDAR PENAWAR, 19 AUGUST 2009

 Photo copyright Mohd Harris Haliman, August 2009


I have a series of albums on Facebook called Fun@Work. They are a collection of photographic memories of the fun I have in my job. It is very possible to have fun while working. But how to bring about that fun, and how long the fun will last, depend a lot on circumstances. But I do beleive that in any case, fun at work is up to you and how you make of it.

My company does a lot of Corporate Social Responsibility work, or CSR for short. In the most recent one, we gave away our chocolate and cereal drinks to the pupils of SK Bandar Penawar, Kota Tinggi, Johor. My Department was assigned to represent the company for this event and I brought along my staff Azizah and Harris, and my trusty Olympus E-520.

We pushed off from Seri Alam at slightly past 0600hrs. Harris gave us an early morning demo of his F1 skills with his Savvy, overtaking trucks and trailers and other sorts of big lugs slothing about along the Kota Tinggi Road, to make it in time for the school assembly at 0730hrs.

It was unnerving for me at first, not being very fond of little children. I had in fact a slight phobia of small kids, being an only kid myself. There were hundreds of them on the court in front of the school podium in their colourful co-curricular uniforms when we arrived. I tried to smile as I walked past but none of them returned my smile so I hid behind the podium by the canteen until the headmistress invited me to come and sit with all the teachers on the podium.

Meanwhile Harris and Azizah busied themselves coordinating the drinks boxes and snapping photos. I was pleased that the kids sitting on the court paid no attention to me, not a single pair of eyes were on me. There were a few school activities going on including the unveiling of the school's Merdeka Month celebration before my turn came to give the headmistress the token hamper we had brought with us.

After the assembly was over we started giving out the drinks to the kids. All my fears faded away as one by one the pupils came to take their drinks from us. The teachers were helping out as well and everyone was really excited about it. There's something about free drinks that makes everyone happy, and I was glad my company is doing this. I was told by the headmistress that some of the students were from poor families, so this may mean a big deal to them. The kids were game for photos too so Harris took the opportunity to put my Oly to maximum use.

We were then taken for a tour of the school and breakfast at the teachers' lounge. When the headmistress opened the door to the library we saw the pupils sitting on the cold floor without any mats or carpets with the aircon on. We decided to ourselves that we'd do something about this when we got back.

It was one of those experiences one doesn't forget. Children leave an impact on you, whether negative or positive. But if you have a heart, I doubt you'll see kids in a negative light for long. To the school, our company may remain in their archives for a very long time. But to the children, the faces of Harris, Azizah and myself will probably be etched in their hearts beyond each time they see or consume our chocolate and cereal drinks. We made a difference to them that day. So I'm glad we did what we did.

More photos can be viewed here.

ROCK MUSIC BOOSTS YOUR BRAIN POWER

I shared this article with my fellow members at Rock 'n' Roll HR. It was written by Camillo Fracassini and was published in http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ in 2006.

LONG suffering parents of adolescents might not agree, but scientists claim that listening to rock music can boost your brain power.

Researchers at a Scottish university believe that the sound of guitar-based rock such as Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers improves concentration and boosts memory. Contrary to received wisdom, children who listen to loud rock or pop music while swotting for exams are probably
improving their chances of success.

The finding follows claims that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, can improve performance in cognitive tests. Recent studies suggested that The Mozart Effect can lead to permanent changes in brainpower among young children. The findings have spawned a multi-million-pound industry in classical music CDs designed to boost children’s intelligence.

In the new study, Dr Leigh Riby and George Caldwell, cognitive psychologists at Glasgow Caledonian University, set out to find out whether The Mozart Effect applies to other types of music. The researchers monitored the brain activity of a group of 16 volunteers who were asked to perform a simple memory test while listening to rock and classical music. They were asked to do the same while listening to the
sound of static and again in silence.

The volunteers were played Beethoven’s 2nd symphony and a piece by Steve Vai, the virtuoso rock guitarist. While the classical music improved the concentration and memory of both groups, rock music also had a significant effect on the cognitive performance of the rock fans.

Brain scans revealed that they required far less brainpower to complete the test successfully. “We wanted to investigate whether more contemporary music would have a similar effect and chose rock as an extreme example,” said Riby. “What we found was surprising. While classical music appears to have an effect on everybody, we also found that there is a significant effect on people exposed to their favourite type of
music.“

Those played rock music required less mental energy to carry out the task successfully. I would expect to see a similar effect with pop fans played pop music or anyone else exposed to their favourite type of music. The music primes the brain to perform certain tasks more efficiently.

“What we are examining now is whether certain passages or certain instruments have greater effect than others. We will be examining every millisecond of the brain scans to pinpoint what it is about classical and rock music that is having this effect.”

Vai, who has performed alongside Frank Zappa, Ozzy Osbourne and the former Van Halen singer Dave Lee Roth, said he was delighted by the findings, published in the current edition of Consciousness and Cognition, the science journal. “What this test shows is that it’s important not to exclude any music having an emotional impact or educational value,” he said. “What we hear has the potential to change the way we think because it changes our moods.”

While both classical and rock music have been shown to boost brainpower, they have also been used to discomforting effect. Earlier this year Luton council began playing classical music in the town centre to drive away problem youths.

In 1989 the American army played AC/DC at high volume to force the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega out of hiding.

Previous studies have shown that rock music improved the work rate of people collecting stock market statistics and can have a positive effect on the brain chemistry of depressed teenagers.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ROCK

 Photo copyright of Tahirah Manesah Abu Bakar, May 2009.

I have a Facebook group for HR practitioners, studnts and the curious called Roll 'n' Roll HR. Feel free to be part of us. I run the group with some friends and we share articles, thoughts, frustrations, and allsorts in there.

So why do I call it Rock 'n' Roll HR? Because I think in the profession one needs to have a rocker mindset. To be cool, tp be unorthodox. To have a sense of self-gratification, always be willing to take on any shit, be confident and go out into the corporate world not just to play the game but to entertain. You know how good you are but you need to do it for the passion, for the sake of it. Because no one does the job like a HR practitioner does. And not everyone can.

I come to work in leather boots. That speaks a lot, at least in JB it does.

NOMADIC TRANSIT


I've moved Retrosis HR from Wordpress to here because I got tired of Wordpress and I want to start something new somewhere new. The only constant thing with me and Retrosis HR is change, and the irony is that's probably never going to change.