Hasannudin Saidin

Onward Pak Nan -- cycling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing!

Pic: On flag off day, 27 May 2008, Adnan Osman with Dato' Dr Low, Commander-in-Chief of St. John Ambulance Malaysia

My uncle, Pak Nan (Adnan Osman) is 65 years old. He's cycling all 9,000 km from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China! This will take him 2 months, from Malaysia through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and into China for the summer Olympics.

Datuk Johan Jaaffar first highlighted Adnan's quest in the New Straits Times early this month. Datuk Johan said a duo will be cycling to Beijing, but no, when I called Pak Nan last weekend to wish him well, he said he and his partner will cycle to the Malaysia-Thailand border town of Bukit Kayu Hitam; from then on he will ride alone!

You can read updates on his adventure at his own blog: http://oadnanxtreme.blogspot.com -- please post your comments there and lend your support!

Update 1 June 2008: Join the Facebook Group: Adnan Osman Cycling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing

God, and all people meeting him in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China, please take care of Adnan Osman. When I was 21, I cycled from KL to Langkawi. That was not even 1,000km. But my uncle is making history. It's arduous, but I know he will make it. Safe journey, Pak Nan.

Onward Pak Nan -- cycling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing!

Pic: On flag off day, 27 May 2008, Adnan Osman with Dato' Dr Low, Commander-in-Chief of St. John Ambulance Malaysia

My uncle, Pak Nan (Adnan Osman) is 65 years old. He's cycling all 9,000 km from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China! This will take him 2 months, from Malaysia through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and into China for the summer Olympics.

Datuk Johan Jaaffar first highlighted Adnan's quest in the New Straits Times early this month. Datuk Johan said a duo will be cycling to Beijing, but no, when I called Pak Nan last weekend to wish him well, he said he and his partner will cycle to the Malaysia-Thailand border town of Bukit Kayu Hitam; from then on he will ride alone!

You can read updates on his adventure at his own blog: http://oadnanxtreme.blogspot.com -- please post your comments there and lend your support!

Update 1 June 2008: Join the Facebook Group: Adnan Osman Cycling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing

God, and all people meeting him in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China, please take care of Adnan Osman. When I was 21, I cycled from KL to Langkawi. That was not even 1,000km. But my uncle is making history. It's arduous, but I know he will make it. Safe journey, Pak Nan.

For life

We experienced a life and death situation and were in shock for the next hour. After the video above ended, I made a u-turn and Azis, the car salesman sitting bedside me was inviting me to try the manual option of the gear/transmission but I ignored him, deciding to focus on the driving, now that this is my first drive of this wonderful new machine. Up ahead we saw a big truck that had diagonally parked at the side of the road reversing into the road. I looked back to the lane on my right to confirm it was clear for me to change lane to avoid the slowly reversing truck. Azis helped hit the horn while I passed the truck seemingly about to hit us, and then Azis said, "There's no driver!"

Nugget said that we were almost under the truck and we had passed it by a whisker. We looked behind and saw the car on the right lane stopping, and the truck was stopped by the road divider.

What a close shave, us with the brand new car just out of the showroom to buy petrol. Hopefully, though, if something bad had happened, we should have been protected by this touted safe vehicle. But as we recovered from our shock, we were just grateful we escaped, thank God.

And so it was, a memorable event of taking delivery of my new car. This time it is really new, as my previous one from 2005 was a used car, let alone the one before that from 1991! Yeah, most of Cin's cars over the years have been brand new, but all mine were used. So this time, the purchase of my car is special.

See the photo album of us taking delivery of the automobile.

4 crucials

Kelly Poulos talks of the 4 crucial characteristics of leadership as: 1. Compelling desire, 2. Solid belief, 3. Effective action, 4. Iron will.

I lived out those 4 crucials to get a new job for myself in late 2004. From the point of almost being sacked, to focusing on getting a change of job in the company – facing the arduous obstacle along the way of my managing director (MD) refusing to give me the new job that I wanted.

In October 2004, I was going to lose my job. The position I held for almost 3 years was one that I did not excel in – “bad job fit” my managers said. My local manager recommended me to pursue a certain position within the company which he was convinced I was best at. I worked on getting this 1^st preference job but could not make headway as the boss of that position was lukewarm to accepting me.

I said to my local manager that for my new job I should consider a 2^nd preference job – i.e. the old position I was in before I got to this current position 3 years ago. My local manager was of the opinion that the old position would not be lasting – if 3 years ago the company could make the job go away that I needed to change position, it’s bound to happen again.

Then one night with friends MY and W, I did a visualization exercise that made me 100% sure that the 2^nd preference job was what I really wanted. From then on, there was no turning back. The compelling desire was already there – I wanted this job because I felt passionate about the job because it would directly touch society, and thus I would be making a difference to society, and to the development of the nation!

I had solid belief that I can do the job well. I did the job before, and I now became confident that I am the best man for the job. Despite changes that would have happened between the last time I held the job and now, despite not knowing how I would be approaching the job now, I just believed that I can use the past experience and talent to be even better this time!

From then on, I convinced my local manager that this was what I wanted, and he began supporting me. That was the first effective action, i.e. getting his support. I acknowledge my local manager because once I convinced him, he was 100% behind me.

The next effective action was to justify the return of the job position that disappeared on me 3 years before. The company headquarters had planned on reviving the job here in 2006, not 2005! The justification paper to bring forward the revival of the job was something that I spent days and nights drafting, working with my ally of a headquarters person in the department of the job function, including customizing past justification papers I got from him. It became an excellent justification paper that my managing director submitted to the regional president.

Next, no accident, the regional president was coming to town! With the support of my local manager, he and the MD spoke of the justification paper to the regional president and illustrated the need for revival of the job through an important meeting with a VIP that I worked hard on arranging for the regional president. My local manager, hosting the regional president’s visit also used the opportunity at the airport as he bade goodbye to the departing regional president to compose the last words to become another strong plea for the revival of the job.

Within the next two weeks, the regional president approved the job. What had usually taken about 6 months to approve took only 6 weeks!

And I thought that the job was mine. Then I discovered through my local manager that the MD did not want to give me the job! The MD had not experienced any spectacular results from me when I last held the position. Worse, in the last 3 years I had not performed well on the job. Worst, I once had a falling out with my MD (I wrote about it in Breakdown 1) – he thought that I was doing one project so bad that I should be sacked! So why would he want to give me an important revived position now?!!!

Despite this demoralizing obstacle, I had iron will to go on pursuing getting the job.

My compelling desire had created the passion to pursue the job that I wanted, having taken the personal initiative to lead in getting the approval for the return of the job. My solid belief further sustained my passion to pursue getting this job. The initial effective actions had worked, and it was clear now that I needed further effective actions. With my iron will, I persisted.

I requested for an appointment to see the MD to state my case. The request went through my local manager, but the MD did not want to meet me. My local manager supported me for the job, but the MD would not budge. I then personally requested to meet the MD by directly sending him email and SMS, pleading with him that I wanted to commit myself to the job. He did not reply me. Instead to my local manager, he kept on repeating his points that I was not suitable for the job, and he wanted to explore hiring someone from outside the company. I requested my manager to keep on pleading – he did, face-to-face to my MD, through email and through SMS. Still the MD would not change his mind. This time I asked my manager to again (3^rd time) request the MD to see me. The MD relented.

I must say that especially through the part of the struggle when the MD resisted me, I propped my iron will by reaching out to several friends to coach me. These supporters, including my local manager, reflected upon my strength and passion, encouraged me to go on and gave their viewpoints on how I should proceed.

One day before seeing my MD, I did all the effective actions I could, up till the night before, including getting urgent appointments to see 2 VIPs in the country so that I was well researched to commit for the various areas of the job, and putting effort to write my talking points for the half-hour meeting with the MD.

The moment of truth came. In that half hour with the MD, I re-committed. I acknowledged my past lack of performance but spoke with authority what I can achieve in the coming 60 days and 90 days in the specific areas of the new job. But I found that I did not talk smoothly at all! There I was stammering and mixing words and tenses, sounding not like a suave presenter, but man, I was emphatic!

For 25 minutes he listened. He then just asked, “What’s going to be different this time?” I answered simply that I am committed. He closed the meeting by saying he’d ask a couple of people and think about it.

Along the way, I had formed allies with the headquarters people in the department of this job function, who had been familiar with me when I once held the job. I knew they’d support me if the MD spoke to them.

Two days after my half-hour meeting, he called me back. He told me he’d spoken with a couple of people, and he’s giving me a second chance for the job. His word was then just, “Execute!”

He walked me to the door and said, “Good job!”

 

 

(Back to afflatus blog)

24 years, 364 days

I steal from Bob Sutor the blog post title, "24 years, 364 days". The day I joined IBM was officially 1st. January 1983. 1st. January was a public holiday, so I started work on 2nd. January 1983. Tomorrow I complete my 25th. year as an employee of IBM! In the company we say I join the "Quarter Century Club."

Like Bob, I applied to IBM because I had "worked" there, as an industrial trainee for two months. Since I was a known quantity, I was accepted to start work quite immediately after my final exams and before the results of my Diploma in Electrical Engineering (Electronics) at ITM (Institut Teknologi MARA, now UiTM - Universtiti Teknologi MARA).

I started as a Customer Engineer for the then popular System/34, which was a mid-range (is there such a category now?) system. The PC was not invented yet. More than half my career in IBM were in the services division, supporting other hardware including banking terminals and mainframes. I went on to be managers of various support and services units.

In 1998 I began working with the Government, being a member of the National Y2K Working Group that helped the critical sectors of the country become "Y2K ready." Now I continue working with Government, on other important national IT policy areas.

I started in services, and my latest interest is also in services -- SSME (Service Science, Management and Engineering).

I had met my wife in ITM. My first "bonus" (13th. month contractual  salary) helped fund our wedding in January 1984. We were to be wedded in the evening of that Saturday, and there I was working in the morning, installing a hardware upgrade for the System/38 at Colgate-Palmolive. Our two children (girl and boy) are responsible young adults now, and our additional child in the family (youngest sister of my wife, from another mother) begins her high school life in a boarding school. I owe my family everything for the 25 years. My wife and I will celebrate our 25th. anniversary in just over a year's time -- any suggestion of how we should celebrate is very welcome!!!

25 years have breezed by! I continuously excite myself in work and family.

I did my part-time MBA 15 years after work and have just been accepted to study part-time again 25 years after.

Will I retire in 5 years' time (that'll be when I am eligible to retire)? Or 10 years' time? I don't know. When the time comes, we will know. "Retire" in this case means retire from this company. I don't know what retire means in other aspects of this exciting life.

Fly Like An Eagle by Steve Miller Band

Appreciating Ms. N

Pic: the painting (with Grace blending in)

I was the first to arrive at Ms. N's farewell lunch. When all 14 of us were seated, one of the first things we did was to interpret the painting on the wall. From the insights of OKY and others, we saw a cliff, with a soul at the edge there, perhaps going to take the plunge, to enter the sea, but not for harm, as the bright sun signifies a bright future. The black theme of the painting was not "dark" but starkly "bold."

And so Ms. N had her favourite, unagi. A sumptuous meal was had by all. Ms. N gave her farewell speech and it was from heart that  we saw her sadness of parting with friends.

I gave my speech. The following captures most of what I said.

"This afternoon is about Ms. N. It's a farewell lunch but it's not really about farewell. It's about celebration, and appreciation, of all her successes and achievements with us.

So Ms. N, I thank and appreciate you for the partnership and teaming you have had with me, especially in the committee we are in.

I acknowledge and appreciate you for for making my work easy. You have always been a self-starter and did not need much guidance from me.

I appreciate the passion and dedication you have put into your work.

I admire you for your patience with me with my last-minute changes. For example one day before that one event last year when I said I did not like the door gift -- you took it upon yourself to go all the way to not only change it but also put in your effort to do the needed work with the merchandise provider to prepare the gifts on time.

I appreciate you for your willingness to risk and to venture into something new that you had no idea what to do but in the end made it successful. For example the Merdeka (Independence) Day Parade -- from a feeling of resistance ("I'm not that patriotic"), to happily leading and coordinating so many people for our organization to be in the parade, and not only was it a success, you ended up excited and enjoying it!

I know you'll do well because of these qualities of yours that I have mentioned.

I know we will still be friends and our paths will cross again.

I appreciate you and THANK YOU!"

And as I looked at the painting, I saw Ms. N having boldly taken the plunge, with the bright sun shining. She flies!

"Albatross" by Fleetwood Mac

Back to school

Went back to MSS (Methodist Secondary School -- as we fondly remember how it was called in our time) in my hometown over the weekend. The school had its 100 years anniversary dinner in the school square on Saturday night. A special occasion for us classmates to fill two tables.

Reunion, nostalgia and memories.

When they played the school anthem, our two tables sang along and we made sure we loudly sang the original lyrics which had the last line, "Hail to MSS" -- now they changed it to "Hail to Methodist School" which does not rhyme with "...success" in the preceding two lines!

Several of us reunited for the first time after more than 30 years. We had to put our memory cells to maximum work to remember the faces and the names. Photos tremendously helped, from one photo album taken along by Norizan Wahid that had our photos during those years, and from many photos of members of our batch in the special edition magazine released during the dinner, that included photos of us as schoolkids and our present day photos.

Still, we did embarrass ourselves by not remembering. One of us thought a classmate, Noraini Ismail was our Bahasa Malaysia teacher, Cikgu Habsah. Two of us fondly reunited with a Rubiah Haniff look-alike who played along. Confession -- I thought Noraini was Badariah but kept quiet.

With KH, then with Md. Nor, I walked the school compound checking out our Form 1M1 classroom (where's the stage and where's Miss Norjan?), the door that slammed with the wind to take away KH's finger nail, the staff room which is now a co-op shop, the art room behind the canteen which now has murals all over the exterior wall, the same exact canteen, the bicycle shed which is no more,..., etc. Yes, there are more buildings now, the wooden walls concreted, and freshly painted, but the character of the old buildings I still felt. This is still my school.

There were delightful performances by the present students, and there were guest speakers who reminisced the schooldays and most of all praised the dedication of our teachers. I met a few of these dedicated teachers. Mr. P Subramaniam, who was the Principal when I was there, was happy to meet us again. As was Mr. Thanaseelan, our Geography master who said that he's mostly relaxing these days -- all of us remember how easy he made Geography for us.

Cikgu Habsah, always the smiling teacher who made learning fun, amazingly remembered more of me than I of her -- that I lived in Kampung Melaka, that I was lazy at homework but did well, and that I went overseas for further studies and I returned without finishing to continue in-country -- she's got better memory cells. And now after retirement, Cikgu Habsah is still teaching -- English language tuition.

I wanna teach, too. It's probably in my DNA. My grandfather, Cikgu Dollah whom I lived with in Kampung Melaka was a teacher and headmaster. Mum wanted to teach but didn't get round to it. My two younger sisters teach. Many of my cousins teach. Eventually I will be a teacher, too, I think. And over the last couple of weeks, I've been working to enroll to do part-time studies for a doctoral degree, majoring in higher education -- I am going back to school.

Those Were The Days My Friend by Mary Hopkin

Martyr

Dear A,

I am sad. You took a risk, fighting for what you believe, going against what they said should be, and then they removed you.

I am devastated. What you did was right. But it was not to their liking. So they quashed you.

Integrity has a price to pay...

You knew it would be perilous. Yet you stuck to your guns. You'd had similar consequence before. Yet you did not waver. You were nervous but you stayed courageous.

Despite instructions from the powers that be to the contrary, you exercised your leadership to go against the grain. For that I respect you.

I do not know how you were able to muster your strength. But I guess that just sticking to your principles was the simple approach you took to weather the storm. For that I am awed.

Your way of battling did not have to be forceful. You won the day with grace and reason. For that I am grateful to learn from you.

I am appalled that they sacrificed you for that. I am ashamed that they halted you in midstream. I wish you didn't have to go. But I accept it. I get over it.

I know that you live on. You move on. There are other battles to fight. You stay with principles. You stay poweful. I pray so.

I am inspired by you.

Luv always,
Afflatus.

Part of the song "Shahid" - a forthcoming single by TuLanG

From His house

Pics: physical transformation...

I am back from His House.

I had gone with no judgements, no expectations.

I observed and faced what I observed and faced  --  the differences of others' behaviours and practices, the tests, trials of performing the rituals and just being in unfamiliar yet holy surroundings --  and I accepted them all. I stayed cool in the physical heat of the desert weather.

I experienced what I experienced, not knowing earlier what I would get -- and I got a lot by doing the rituals in His house and by immersing myself in all the history and holiness of the land.

I felt closer and closer to Him as Day One of being in His house went on to Day Seven. After Day One's first umrah ritual, the mark was giving up most of my hair, signifying a wish for enlightenment. By Day Seven's completion of the umrah ritual for the seventh time, I gave up all my hair to signify seeking total enlightenment.

Seeing and touching the physical grandeur of His house gave the intense realization of smallness of this mere mortal, especially after getting to kiss the Black Stone from the beyond  --  I keep the handkerchief to remember the emotions that went with this servant's feeling that one night.

Completing the ritual a seventh time was accompanied by another handkerchief on Night Seven.

I travelled Day Eight from His house in Makkah to the mosque of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in Madinah.

By Day Ten and Eleven, I twice paid homage and wished my salam at the tomb of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in his mosque. The first handkerchief came back to work as I engrossed myself in The Sacred Garden (Rawdah), also in this mosque.

In Madinah, too, as in Makkah, visiting or passing by the mosques, mountains and sites the Prophet had been through brought me back more than 1400 years into solemn history.

A visit to the site for Stoning of the Devil gave me a glimpse of another ritual I will go back to do when I undertake the full pilgrimage (Haj), which I shall surely now undertake in the near future.

I know that this passage I just took is part of a longer journey for me. I may or may not eventually get the enlightenment I wish for in my life time, but I feel now that I am well on my way.

As I took to the sky leaving Madinah for home on Day Twelve, the first handkerchief was in my face again, feeling grateful to Him for His invitation which I have fulfilled, and looking forward to His invitation to go back to now my two favourite cities in this world.

The Great Gig In The Sky by Pink Floyd

To His house...

In a week's time, I'll be at His house.

It does not matter that it has taken till now that I am making the passage for the first time, but it feels special.

Ever since I made the decision and invited Cin and Mum to be with me at the Holy Land, I have been feeling a glow of happiness. A friend said it is because I have accepted His invitation.

I go simply knowing just that -- it is His invitation -- so I go, with no expectation. I go zero. I go clean. I go.

I go as self, but I do not claim to know self.

I go physically, but it is not just physical.

Astral Weeks by Van Morrison