Bubur Lambok.... The Cooking Competition

Yes... bubur lambok is a traditional dish that most people make during Ramadhan al Mubarak... Rice congee cooked and mixed with spices, prawns, meat or chicken... nyum nyum.. yummy...

But why cook it during Ramadhan? Who would judge it right away? People are fasting..Who is going to taste it? Hellooooo... Aaahhh yes.. because it is bubur lambok, a dish that is only cooked during Ramadhan... I see...

Yes... there are women who can't fast during this holy month and they can taste it, but do we need to expose her just because she can drink and eat during the day, unlike others who have to fast until dusk... It is still a stigma, eventhough it is known that women "on leave" from prayers every month can't fast during that time, but eating openly in front of fasting people is considered rude...

Yes... this competition is during office hours, class hours and yes the participants are mostly lecturers who have class today... Canceled the classes to join this competition and left the students browsing the campus as they pleased. They knew about this competition, but why they didn't bother to swap their teaching periods with other lecturers (who were not involved with the competition) so that the time can be used efficiently during the morning time. Everybody knows that teenagers study better in the morning, while their brains' are still fresh...

So... What is the outcome of the competition? What were the objectives of it? Does it benefit the students? Does it help the lecturer to improve their teaching abilities?

Yes... people may say that I'm being negative and anti social, but, please, I'm just thinking on this side.. the student's side... The time that was suppose to allocated for them was "bruised" by these kinds of "Social Affairs"... Is there no other time for it? Appropriate time? The weekends perhaps? Masya Allah... Laahaulawala...

A bit Frustrated...

Hi all... I'm a bit frustrated because every semester we change subjects that we teach and complementing duties.... These are the duties which I call "*T*^(**&*&%(*%*" duties which take away my preperation time to write modules, class notes, update and grade student's quizes, test and exams... ggrrrr....

In addition to this anxiety, when the previous people pass the duty to a new victim, they always forget to prepare a list of what has been done, what's still in progress and what the future plans, job scope, extend of the duties and to whom I report to... Hey Mr. Stingy! Make everybody prepare this list so the new VICTIMs can do their jobs better... So that we don't waste our time FIGURING it ALL OVER AGAIN!!! So time wasting!

I'm so exausted of all this nonsence. The work is not efficient, the time management is haywire, the quality of the students goes down the DRAIN...

Scolded...

Hi all...

Last two days I went on MC. That was the day I have to attend a meeting with the director of this institution... A senior colleague of mine handled the meeting and she said it went well despite some glitches...

1. The people who suppose to table financial report didn't turn up

2. I didn't write a memo to all the member's about the meeting

3. I sent an e-mail about the meeting in the evening of Friday

4. The director didn't turn up because of the non-existence of the memo

All my fault... But frankly speaking, all last week was a disaster in my career... People demand so many things from me... reports, class notes, meetings, site visits.. aaaggggrrrhhhhh!!! To me, these things are meaningless... I transfer here just to steer myself AWAY from these things!!!... The work for class and department, I can handle, but work with the superior is something I HATE...

You want to know why? Because they are big babies that need to be pampered and cherished all the time, they load you up with all sorts of rubbish today and expect you to turn them in the next day, wrongly evaluate your work, disearn your effort, break your heart... never feel appreciated... hhhhmmmm....

Well, so I just own my mistakes and I promised not to do them again... insya Allah... but the nature of a superior seems to me never change since the last place I work... The superior gave me bad evaluation after all the work I've done, broke my heart and stumped on it...

I'm moving on with life with the awareness of human makes mistake and not all human are perfect, including me... I forgive them.... I forgive myself... I pray to Allah to grant us prosperity here and 'there'... amin...

P/s... just blowing some steam off....

Headache... Stress... Time Wasting...

Hi all...

As you all know, I just got back from a really enjoyable course...

I came in to work this new week hoping to finish and get on with the assignments, chores, knick knacks and stuff to start the new semester's class and what not... I was hopeful... But hopeful I was... I don't anymore...

For starters, this semester start off with a mind numbing, time wasting activities that was not suppose to be done.... Who celebrates the 40th of anything other one's birthday... What would people call it? It is not Jubli Perak... Far off from Jubli Emas... So annoying I might say...

I was so annoyed because they took away lecturers from classes to play the 'host' role in a potluck party. They took away students from attending classes to fill a big hall of 500 seatings to listen to a lecture that not even have anything to do with the purpose of attending this institution to STUDY!!!!!!!!!!

I was so annoyed yet again because I had to cancel classes last week because I HAVE to attend this COMPULSORY course... Another week down the drain... And now, THIS WEEK, I have to make for all the classes, I have to make up for all the chores, assignments, knick knacks, they suck me in AGAIN for making and creating a layout for a new campus and to finish a postponed group project!!!! Who am I? Am I a lecturer? A construction worker? A Diplomatic Administration Officer? What do all these stuff have to do with lecturing, teaching, making sure my students get their diplomas, graduating with quality studies????? Sometime I think and I fell I'm like a ping pong ball... hit here and there as they please... So tiring...

Masya Allah...

Finally ... a Course that I Really Enjoyed...

Hi all... I just got back from a really interesting course...Odd... but I did like it... It is a required course and at first, since it is compulsory, I thought it was going to be boring... as usual... I still can't brush off the experience I had when I attended the Decision Making Course on the top of Cameron Highlands last year.. a waste of time and money... eerrrggghhhh!!!

The title was Outreach/Promotion Strategy for Life Long Learning... learning how to promote life long learning programs in our institutions... I thought it was going to be another marketing lesson and a routine morning till night sit-in but instead, fulfilling activities and games which interestingly serve the objectives of the course itself... Rarely happens... ha ha ha...

Maybe, I'm already on another level all together... or maybe I have so much experience that I need a more challenging tasks to inspire and elevate me to the next level. Ten years of working experience in the same field exposed me to different kinds, yet, routine tasks, challenges and people... Maybe I need to change...

I've transfered from Sarawak just recently, and people they really had me, and made me realized that not everything was easy, beautiful, sweet, happy and smooth... I was challenged to the maximum when I was there, that I realize the summit of my ability, patience and most importantly, the proximity between Allah and me... Subhanallah...

There, I realized, I achieved tranquility.... Have you? Do you guys know how? I sure did... and my life is calmer nowadays... ;o)

Close? Quarantine? When? How? What About Work?

Hi all..

Just now a friend informed me that there are already 40 students are being quarantine in the hostel and four of them are in the hospital for positive AH1N1 case...

When are we suppose to close this instition? Universiti Teknologi Mara Sri Iskandar closed its premis to all when they found out that there are 2 infected students... Now, there are 40 with 4 positive cases... SHOULDN'T WE START PANICKING AND GET OUT OF HERE???

This pendemic is spreading like wild fire here in Ipoh, and people still seem relax and waiting. Are they waiting for someone to die before taking any action? Yo Boss... are you not going to do anything?????

ROI????!!!!!!!

Hi all... a new day.. a new week... but I want to tell about last week's tale... he he he...

A friend from my old work place sent me smses telling about an audit they did for their cooperative stores... It goes like this...

The cooperative stores were just dust on the floors with nobody bothered to even take a quick glance... A few colleagues and I build up the stores, merchandised and set up the business from scratch.. from the dust on the floor into 2 convenient stores, 1 laundromart, 1 printing store, and we bought washing machines and dryer for the laundromart, gondolas, cash machines and racks for the convenient stores and merchandised all of them the best that we can with the help and trust of all the suppliers out there... We had good, in fact great rapport with them... We managed the stores and even bought a van for the cooperative store as well... I left that hellish place last year, July 2008 and left the stores to engineers and business "savvy"!!!!?????? people to handle... So that is the background of the story...

The audit report came in last week, and it shows that the stores has lost... And they blamed me for it... How convenient! Blame the person who's not there... When I was there, I BEGGED for help to manage the stores, but nobody responded... I run the stores the best I can with the help of some inexperienced staff!!!!! And now, the report showed some lost and they blame me... Let me ask you, is there any business of two years of lifespan gain profit within the first FIVE years of operation????? Crazy la they all ni....

What's so amusing is, they do not know the meaning of the ratios... Example... ROI.. return on investment.. they DO NOT KNOW what that mean.... Ha ha ha ha... business savvy aeeehhhh???? I made a lot of investments on properties and store needs to run the business smoothly, it is up to them to operate the stores sufficiently to make profit... We also ordered some inventories for them, but they didn't encourage their students to purchase them from the stores, now, who is there to blame as well??? THEY ASKED US TO GET THE STUFF FOR THE STUDENTS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!! STUPID A_ _ H_L_....

I really want to know next year's audit report... I want to see how they pull out from the MESS they said I made... They didn't remember the day I begged for help, but when they have to carry the burden I carried, they look for the black sheep to finger point the blame...

Putting my frustrations aside, I hope the best for those people... Allah knows what I did and what they did... I worked as hard as I can, and I do hope they are honest with their effort as well... I hope Allah will guide and help them as well, in what ever they do....

I forgave and I forgive them for slandering me... May Allah accept my repentance until the day I die and keep me out of hell fire... Amin..