Employers Should Start Changing Their Attitude If They Want To Keep Up With Time

I know a lot of people grumble about fresh graduates. A lot of them are incapable of providing anything beneficial to the company at the beginning stage and yet they demand immediate rewards and demand unrealistic stuffs from the company. I now live amongst them and I can testify that is true and not at all exaggerated. Fresh graduates nowadays are not committed and are impatient.

But I think it's unfair to blame entirely on the fresh graduates' attitudes.

Have employers given themselves a reflection?

Sometimes there are employers who are acting as if the employees need the company, and they can oppress them and start exerting control and act as if they are afraid nobody knows they're the boss and start throwing attitude at all their employees to ensure their control is in check. I know the employees need the job, I wouldn't deny that. But bear in the mind the company also needs the employees.

Look at the company I'm currently working in. The big boss holds a Dato title. Impressive, you might think. But given how many people and what kind of people have been bestowed the title you can hardly agree that the title now holds any significance anymore. So he's a Dato, he's the boss. And as a boss, he likes to boss around. He likes to pinpoint a lot of small stuffs that aren't wrong, but simply ain't to his liking. He has a tendency to show authority over everybody. He likes to talk in a way that shines the authoritative character in himself and thereby draws a clear boundary between a boss and an employee in a casual conversation (yet he asks himself why people appear to be "shy" to talk to him. Sorry boss people are not shy, they simply do not want to put up with your attitude).

You know what's the problem with that attitude? Yes, you're the boss. You get to boss around.

But look at your company.

You are severely understaffed. You cannot keep your employees. Your employees are slowly resigning and moving to other companies. You should ask yourself: Why have you trained so many employees to be one of the tops, only to have them resigned a few years after employment to contribute to other companies? You cannot keep your employees, and the worse thing is there aren't new ones for you to hire because people don't approach your company anymore. Look at your current employees - how many of them are senior employees who have stayed long? Look at the figure in percentage, seriously it doesn't pass a single digit.

And the consequence?

Your current employee is being overwhelmed with extra workload.

And the bigger problem?

Even though you're understaffed and cannot deal with your current mess, you keep getting new customers. You know you don't have the ability to deliver, and yet you decide to "take the job and decide the outcome later". You're stressing your employees, and effectively you are pushing them away.

They are working from early morning to midnight virtually on a daily basis to rush the work. And trust me, some are considering resigning because they don't get much benefits from being this extra busy.

Please. I don't want to reveal much here, but how can you ask them to do triple the workload and not giving anything extra in return? I know you don't. I know a lot more than you could possibly imagine.

Employers like this who demand authority and allegiance are not going to stay long. The employees must contribute to the company, yes, but it is only right for the company to reciprocate. At least recognise that they are humans who are working extra hard.

Employers like these need to start changing their attitudes.

Change of Template

It has been a while since I have changed my blog's template, and I thought it's an appropriate time to change it now considering today is the last day of CNY.

I've been quite busy recently with my internship programme. I am under a supervision of someone only 3 years older than me but extremely pro and brilliant. Being brilliant comes at a consequence: you become the dependence of your superior if time is constrained. So I've been helping him whenever I can and this has resulted my working hour to be 12 hours almost on a daily working day basis. My internship is due to end in two years, and because I am bound by a confidentiality agreement, I cannot reveal much about what I do. All I can say is that engineering life is tough. To be frank, all jobs are tough. Daily bad traffic aggravates an already stressful day. I guess I just have to get used to it. Working is tough.

Donald Trump is Playing With Fire

I once said I rather watched Najib ascending Putrajaya for another five years than to watch Donald Trump be handed with literally an almighty power that would place him one of the most powerful leader in the world. People who know me - people who know exactly how much I despise Najib - would know that statement reflects a disgust to Donald Trump that is indescribable. 

Donald Trump is a dangerous man, not because he's making rash decisions, but because he is extremely ignorant. He has no prior political experience, and giving him the highest political power is a mockery of the politics that has given United States one of the most advanced democracy in the world. He treats politics as business, but politics is no business. You cannot deal with climate change, immigration bans, and international relation as how you deal with business. This is not something "it's either you get it, or I get it". You cannot go around and negotiate and boss around like you did with your Trump business. The world is not yours. Heck, America is not yours. You are entrusted with a vested, though misplaced, power to rule the greatest country in the world, not to owe it and disregard the people's thought and do it your way. Politics doesn't work that way.

The immigration ban is outrageous and preposterous. It's a textbook-unconstitutional executive exercise that ought to be trashed and the Supreme Court of the U.S. ought to have intervened in light of gross violations. It is my belief that if the three powers have been severely tipped to an abused side, then the other side must stand up on its own accord to balance the power. If the executive branch of this government performs such a heinous act to practise barbaric discriminations on grounds of someone's figment of ludicrous imagination, then the judiciary of the country, which has sworn to protect the nation and the sanctity of the country's constitution - must intervene.

It's been only nine days, and Donald Trump has opened the gate of hell and wrecked havoc at an unparalleled level. And we are expected to see him in action for another four years. This is unacceptable. The Americans need to stand up to protect their democracy. I'm not an American, but Americans please stay strong. Donald Trump is playing with fire, and the worst part is he doesn't realise it. 

The Year of the Rooster

And so it's the time of the year again! It's the time of the year where the definition of life is simply to eat, sleep, watch tv, binge on cookies and unhealthy food that give you unnecessary calories and fats, playing, and lastly, receiving angpaus! It's basically the only time of a year you are allowed to throw away your diet in favour of health-wrecking activities. It's the year of the rooster this year, and since I was born in the year of a rooster, this is basically my year! Well, there's really nothing much about CNY this year. My cousins are all spread over the year and since my mother's side of grandparents have long joined the angels in heaven, a reunion has not been held and sibling visits have been largely limited to those who live nearby. It's just a break for me, as my family isn't exactly traditional and we do not observe strict superstitious rules other people adhere to. Well, whatever it is, it's a new year nonetheless. And most importantly, it's a break from all the busy at work! Happy Chinese New Year guys!

Revisiting High School

I went back to SMJK Jit Sin yesterday after my friend invited me to return for a visit. Things have changed a lot. The school now has its own 24 season drum society and a Chinese traditional dance team. The toilets have been upgraded. Restaurants and kopitiams outside Gate 3 have mushroomed and students are now literally spoilt with choices. Back when I was studying there barely was a shop operating outside Jit Sin. Lots of teachers have retired, and those that haven't are showing some changes - ageing. We are all ageing. Going back to my high school in 2017 wearing 2011 Graduation Year shirt just hit me how much time have elapsed. Teachers who have become my friend because I was doing temporary teaching there, thankfully, remembered me and it was always great to catch up. Time has changed. Things are different. But it always feels home at a place where it once was your home.

Penang traffic Needs A Major Overhaul

I'm currently doing my internship on Penang Island, and even though I am a Penangite, I still hate Penang traffic with every fibre of my being. I was born and grew up in Bukit Mertajam, on mainland Penang, which is quite a different world from Penang Island even though both are in Penang - the result of the geographical divide. I understand that Penang is mostly lauded for its effort in history preservation, and old buildings are preserved, well kept, maintained and protected by law. And I'm not complaining that - Penangites ought to be proud of the state's history. The problem here is, most of the roads and buildings in Penang were built a long time ago before cars were expected to be a common household item. Thus, roads are painfully narrow, buildings are close together, densely built, and constructed without parking facilities. Finding a parking is difficult most of the time. These all cause the current traffic woes in Penang because, as mentioned, roads in Penang were not built to cater to today's traffic volume, and Penang's population was never expected to increase to today's digits. Exacerbating the situation is the poor public transport system that prompts people to drive their own car. An alternative has to be proposed, and the Penang government has rightly proposed MRT, but it now has become politicised because the federal government somehow refuses to allow it. Penang's traffic is really bad. Very bad. Something has to be done. And politics should be set aside in solving the woes. Seriously, what Penang needs is a traffic overhaul. BN should stop politicising everything - you won't win back Penang whatever noise you try to make - and start acting.

A new year, another new beginning

Time really flies, doesn't it? It's the second day of 2017 today and I felt like 2015 was yesterday and a year has gone by and now it's 2017! Okay, 2016 was a sucky year. It was bad politically, socially and economically. The world got much more unrest, tension kept piling up, and the world was dealt with a number of shocking blow from Brexit to an idiot who got elected to be the most powerful person of a very powerful country. 2017 wouldn't be much better - I just have to be realistic. But I do hope 2017 could be a better year for me.

For me? Well, I just hope I can leave me comfort zone permanently so that I could get a new life. Don't get me wrong - I love my life. A little bit too much. If I keep jailing myself in my comfort zone then I'll live my routine and I wouldn't have a change of life that I've always dreamt of. And I need a change - not because I like it, but because it is necessary as I am no longer the person I was. I guess changes are off-putting, but I guess the endeavours have to be met.