Year End Review

Today has been declared a public holiday to celebrate Malaysia's victory in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup championship. Today also coincide with the New Year eve. We will definitely celebrate the holiday in the Malaysian way. It is also a time of reflection of the year 2010 as a whole.

Looking back, we saw the developments in the following areas:

Development of Little India in Brickfields
There was both positive and negative feedback in the Little India project in Brickfields. The residents and the stakeholders are still raising their feedback in turning Brickfields into a one-way traffic. The residents and the stakeholders may have to adapt to the new transformation of Brickfields.

Demolition of Pudu Jail
The iconic building of the Pudu Jail has to make way for new development and also an underpas which is part of the road widening project. The demolition of Pudu Jail will be a historical event.

The facelift for Pudu Raya
Pudu Raya will be given a new coat of paint and will be upgraded in terms of the facilities. The building was in a terrible state of condition and also it lacked ventilation. As such, the facelift for Pudu Raya has received positive comments.

On a personal note, we have to reflect on our own achievements in 2010. We have to make new year resolutions to better ourselves in year 2011.

Happy new year 2011.

Christmas spirit

Christmas eve is a time for celebration. It is a time of reflection on the year as a whole when it is drawing to a close. The Christmas story, as we know embodies the very best of attributes: love, truth and grace. In the spirit of Christmas, gift exchange is inevitable.

I have had my fair share of joy when we had gift exchange on 23 December 2010 at my office. The value of the gift was fixed at RM15.00 and above and we were expected to go green as the gifts are to be recycled. It was not so much the value of the gift but rather the joy of receiving and giving. We also incorporated the lucky draw of the balloon snowmen as consolation prizes. The spirit of Christmas was truly reflected in the attitude of forgiveness, happiness and joy.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

The Art of Managing

The art of managing human resources in an organisation is definitely easily said than done. Managers want feedback, be it positive or negative. Praise can be easy enough, however managers shy away from constructive criticism. Yet without critique, it is hard to improve. Managers at large refuse to acknowledge their flaws and their constant micromanaging style.

Managers should encourage their staff to give positive feedback on their managing style. Managers sometimes tend to be very difficult or the impossibly complicated procedure involved in getting day leave. Some Managers even go to the extent of penalising their staff and blaming them squarely for certain issues. Instead of motivating the staff, these Managers are demoralising the staff by their derogatory remarks. These Managers lack management skills and are not people centric. Instead of finding solutions, these Managers are letting out on the staff.

Something for sharing.

Negotiation

Negotiation is not about winning, it is a win win situation. More often than not, it will be with a client you cannot afford to lose. It is also about getting the best deal with the client. As the cliche says, they may have won the battle, but they won't have won the war.

Negotiation can be very tense affairs. Understanding the other side's agenda can be the formula for success as we can put forward a proposal best suited for both parties resulting in a win win situation. Negotiation is not only for the exchange of money, it has a much deeper meaning than just about financial benefits. Having clarity about the best alternative to negotiated agreement gives one the ability to follow through with the deal which is beneficial to both parties and to know when to walk away.

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Sleep

Lack of sleep can have grave consequences and also it affects the health. How much sleep is considered adequate? It is determined that seven hours of sleep is optimal for maintaining one's health. There is a saying `Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise'. Having adequate sleep will lead to a healthy life, however wisdom and wealth do not really equate to sleep regime let alone the lack of it.

Each night we go through three distinct stages of sleep ranging from light sleep to deep sleep and finally to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. A complete cycle consists of REM and non REM cycles. REM sleep helps in mental consolidation while non REM helps in cell growth, physical repair and rebuilding.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non REM. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type. To be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important.

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Change

`Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.'

Change is inevitable and is not a constant. Change is affecting each one of us. We experience change as we move on in life. Some people resist change for reasons best known to them. Some people readily accept change as they dare to venture out and move out of their comfort zone. It is easily said than done to move out of comfort zone as we tend to be complacent.

On a personal note, we desire improvements in life. We start first with our mind. By changing our minds, we change our life. We are master of our own destiny as we ourselves can only change our minds. It begins with the thought in the mind and we see for ourselves the mind is indeed a powerful tool. Whether we are receptive to change depends a lot on our mind as to how we view change.

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