It's been a while since I last posted.



Just a quick update on how I have been doing since Aug 2006.

Family: In Oct 2006, there was a major upset in the family as my mother started suffering from sudden twitches and uncontrollable shaking of her right arm. At first, we thought this could be due to work-related stress spasms, but after a visit to the doctors and a brain scan, it was diagnosed that there was a tumour in my mother's brain. It was benign, though, but its positioning meant that it was pressing on the nervous system and causing my poor mother all those fits.

I remember the day (16 Oct 2006) when my mother went into the operating theatre. Singapore is very advanced in the medical sciences, but still that day I felt as if the entire world was about to collapse and the fate of the world hung by a thread.

You can imagine my and my family's relief when the surgeons removed the tumour successfully. My dear mother now walks free of fear, although the functions of her right hand are not fully recovered.

Still on behalf of my mother, I like to thank all those friends and acquaintances who sent their well wishes.

Work: I joined the call centre of a general insurance company in April 2007. Although the pay was not much higher, but the travelling distance between home and office is a lot nearer. Plus, I was really, really sick of my old job, and I needed a move to a new operating enviornment.

It was tough adapting in the beginning, no thanks to a training system that was not well-planned. It was like being thrown into the deep end of a pool, without a proper life-vest.

To me, that is poor management. My view is that for a multi-national company, the employees are actually an important asset (ok, minus those loafers and good-for-nothing goofers). They are the ones who keep the company going and generating profits.

That's it...good leadership will bring you committed followers and together you can win the war.

That is my little management blurb for now.

I cannot be defined...

More on what i started off in the last blog...

As some friends mentioned to me recently, they detected a change in me. A change?

I guess I will be the last person to admit that I am changed. Look at me, I am a Taurus guy...and Taurus people are known to be stubborn, and tend to be inflexible in dealing with change.

Well, at least that is what the horoscopes say. In reality, it does not necessarily work out that way.

Sometimes depending on the circumstances, one has to adapt to the evolving rules of the world, it's that pragmatic. (Another Taurus trait)

Yes, in some ways I am still the same old Markus, people take note.

But after some gross disappointments that happened this year, I think it calls for a tweak in my thinking, my mentality, my viewpoint of how some things operate.

Oh don't worry, you will still hear the wry remarks and subtly humourous criticism of the world that is present in my speech. But I have to look at the world with a graver viewpoint from now on.

Life is never a bed and roses...not to me...anyway...not at any rate. (And I have never given roses to anyone just yet!)

Yes...I am Markus...but with some changes...don't be surprised.

Because if even my parents cannot explained my changes in behaviour, neither can my closest friends...this is because no one can really know me....

So don't define me because I cannot really be defined.

Full stop.

"No one can define who I am, because I cannot be defined."

OK, so what is the meaning of this post?

It's has been sometime since I last updated this blog. So what is this about?

Some friends had been asking what had happened to me. It's been too long since I had sent out my half-yearly email updates, as I used to do.

Some noted a change in me. Others still call me the "same old Markus".

"Same old Markus". A change in me.

Well, all these are true, things in the world are changing, the situation around us is changing, the stakes and rewards in life are changing, people around us are changing. Even ourselves, we are changing, not in just body, but mind, soul and heart as well.

When surfing the Hardwarezone Eat-Drink-Man-Woman forums, when counselling fellow forum members, I had often "blessed" them with the words "Peace be with you in heart, mind, soul
and body."

So what is all this change about? The entire human civilisation, from a macro view of society, down to its very component units, the individual, is facing change. Not just facing it, but also trying to adapt to it (what we call "go along")...or in some cases, indirectly resisting the changes.

Aye, back to ourselves, we all have our ways of dealing with change. You change when you encounter something different, something unpredictable, when you have choices, when something crops up that cannot be defined in the usual terms.

So it is with me. I remember back when I was always described as the "studious chap" in school. True, my focus then was ensure that I score well in any of my subjects. Yeah, back then, I was always diligent in handing my homework and with good handwriting. I take pride in my handwriting (have to thank my mother for that, she enforced the discipline that made me learn how to write so that people can understand what I write)

Alas, I can never do well in major exams...because I lose focus sometimes and did not study enough to be able to tackle tough questions.

That was probably the first sign in why I cannot be defined.

Good in the normal course of studies but always struggling to pass exams? What kind of situation is that?


More to come...

On an off-duty day

Never has the feel of water on bare skin felt any nicer...

It has been ages (almost 6 months) since I went swimming. The new work project which I took on, was part of the reason, not to mention my own laziness sometimes...

Since Oct 2005, I have not really experienced so much off-time to myself. Participating in the setting up of two new call centre projects...in the short space of 8 months. That is something valuable learnt. Think I really owe myself a breather.

Now I have the time, it is time to plan my next step. I need a new direction because I cannot stay forever in the call centre industry. It's time for a "Reformation"... a "Renaissance" whatever you call it.

(note: the use of those classical and "chim" words is deliberate.)

By the way, the 2006 FIFA World Cup has started...enjoy yourselves!

The Horse, the Ox and the Wolf

The golden plains beckon,
a rolling sea of grass,
The horse gallops past,
a spirit of freedom.

The fields lie barren
Yet to be fertile.
The ox ploughs the earth,
in wait for the seeding.

The night over the hill,
a shadow falls over
The wolf prowls the woods,
hunting for his prey

Yet the plains are unending
The earth is hard
The woods are forsaken
Whither shalt they find their rightful abode?

Perfect Score!!!...well almost...

Can you believe it? I scored 48 out of 50 on my first shoot after a break of 2 weeks...that was 4 bulls' eyes out of five arrows!!!

Elvish skill, one might say...

But things simply deteriorated after that. I got too tired and my aiming went haywire...i guess fatigue had a part to play in it.

I am certainly no "Legolas"... who can fire 6 shots in 30 seconds...*chuckles*

Oh well, the Call Centre just launched on 29 April. The thing is...well...what can I say?

A problem in the design process of converting the users of the website led to many problems. 2000-3000 calls per day.

So many users complaining: the website is lousy lah, the hotline is lousy lah, cannot get through to the customers service officers lah, the customer service officers lousy lah, the attitude lousy lar, the service lousy lah, the company lousy lah, the Ministry (our client) lousy lah....

These callers complain...but have they ever thought WHY?

Sometimes, THEY are the problem! In our call centre, we call these problematic callers..."USER PROBLEM!!!"

*chuckles*

Busy busy...

Now the work project in which I am heavily involved with for a few months now, is reaching a climax...we are getting operational this Saturday (29 April 2006)...wish me and my colleagues good luck!