For the past few months, I have been working hard on closing a deal on website advertising with a third-party system provider in Singapore. Working hard means I have scouted around for the service providers, got in touch with them, provided and collected data, met face-to-face, proposed layout design, discussed with web agency on integration works, and then became the middle person between Legal department and third party to finalise the agreement. And this A-Z works are just a tiny part of my work.
Finally, last Friday I was ready to show Trump that my department is not just a cost-centre. We are BOTH cost centre and revenue-generating unit. Perhaps, he won’t be so hard in giving his approvals, which will be good news for my successor once I am ready to re-hand in my resignation letter. On my part, that’s something to gloss up my resumé. ‘Despite being a cost-centre, I succeed in contributing monthly revenue for the company.’
With flushed face and thumping heart, I sat in front of Trump and said, ‘I bring you good news, Datuk. We have managed to get in website ads in our website, which translates into a revenue forecast of RMXk per month.’ I can hear Trump’s brain gearing into motions as he comprehended my rushing words. ‘What is this Carneyz talking about? Revenue? More RM? Cost centres don’t generate any revenues…’ and I had to explain in bits and pieces of how I started the whole project, how does the mechanism work, and showed him the memo & the finalised agreement.
He was, undeniably very pleased at this news. ‘Very good. RMXk? Good work.’ Were his two replies. He signed the agreement and studied the memo intently for a minute.
Then…
‘Don’t you think our website looks too cluttered? I find things all over the place. Don’t you think so? Why isn’t the Business section updated? Didn’t you ask from the related departments for feeds? I want it updated by end of this month!’
Suddenly he shot all these questions to us endlessly. It was as if we had wrestled the compliments out of his mouth, of which he had regained the control of his brain from our evil clutches and back to being Trump. The Trump who criticizes and then gives us the axe, and our heads roll out of his office back to where they belong. In a lowly ghetto.
This is probably my 1,865,394th reason to quit and look for a real job (instead of acting like a slave) - the fact that getting appreciated verbally is already hard enough, let alone getting salary increments.
Pening kepala#1
Baru jumpa Trump. Seperti biasa, ekspresi muka dier boleh buat lutut menggigil woo... tapi lepas satu demi satu memo taruk atas meja sambil explain,'As a way to cut cost...
To help to trim the cost..
A cheaper alternative...'
mungkin menyebabkan cuping telinganya terasa lebih 'sejuk' dan 'nyaman'.
Tapi satu je memo dia sign. Hampehs. Whatever la Datuk, as long as gaji I tak kene trim. OK?
Pening kepala #2
Aku: 'So, can I conclude that you are interested to be our main F&B sponsor?'
Aku: ??
Encik X: 'I can sponsor the mascot, the decorations, bla bla...'
Aku: !#$%&*?? Kata nak jadi main F&B sponsor, apakejadah nak sponsor mascot??
Pening kepala #3
Bos kiteorg tanya, 'You all nak sponsor apa, ya?'Aku dan Ira, assistant aku tengok each other dengan pandangan, 'What the...??'
Later...
Yes, Ira. Whatever is better than just asking whether they mind giving us a pen as sponsorship.
Pening kepala #4
Hari ni baru hari Khamis?? I can't wait for Saturday!!!At 3.30pm:
'Carneyz, this is an urgent task. Can you find an agency to print a mock cheque?'
'Uhuh.'
'We need it Monday. Please design the mock cheque.'
'Now?'
'Yes.'
'That means I'll have to email them the artwork before 5.30 pm.'
'I supposed so.'
'I just love this place. It's so... at the spur of the moment thing.'
'Stop being sarcastic and get the job done.'
5.30pm: Sent. Artwork. Above.
In the past even when I walked I had planned what to blog whenever I came across something worth to share. Nowadays, I logged on, stared at the blank space, then logged out. Even 'Today I attended a meeting' became too much of a trouble.
Anyway, today I'll attempt to be less boring by telling about my boring job:
Today, I woke up to my very encouraging alarm ringtone of 'Doa Pagi' (Morning Prayer) which had repeated itself for I dunno how long. I set that alarm tone because it is becoming harder to wake up for Subuh prayer nowadays - when I was in JB, I can always depend on my housemates to wake me up for prayer but here in KL, it is self service or DIY kinda arrangement. Sometimes I still can't get used to the DIY arrangement over here.
It was drizzling quite heavily. After solat, I sat down on my comforter, trying to decide whether I should take my bath (cold!) or tidy up my room a little bit (messy), or continue to do my web design (I didn't sleep for the whole nite on Saturday because whenever the Inspiration hit me, I could never do anything until I have 'drawn' it in the Photoshop). Somehow, in the midst of debating which option to take, I had slid down on my side and dozed off, no thanks to the awfully cozy weather and warm comforter. I woke up at 8am, and it was still raining.
I reached office at 9am (the 8.30am new working hour doesn't work on rainy days), made myself a mug of hot Milo and started work while thinking with envy that my colleagues in JB are most probably still snuggled under their warm, cozy blanket (why did I transfer to KL??) since it's Johor's Hari Hol. Envy, Envy. Today I worked on the newsletter. We had finally (thank God) gotten our KDN license and I had painstakingly compiled the contents from scratch. I had completed the cover story which still needs a good photo shot (which I don't have and I'm trying think hard how should I get it). It took me four hours to write the editorial.
Many, many times I wish that I can write like Magic. Magic writes as flawlessly as she speaks. When she writes about food, she describes it so temptatingly delicious when it's just a bowl of mee rebus. What took me four hours to write, she could probably whip up something 10 times better in a friction of that time. Magic, Magic! Oy, are you reading this? Give me some tips on how to write a good article! Thank you!
I had actually given the contents to the publisher and the Creative Director has come back with the layout and pagination of the newsletter. But I'm not too happy with it which is through no fault of her. I did ask her to use her imagination. I need to re-layout and re-paginate it again. She is right. The photos provided are so not exciting. Those photos were taken by me whenever I made my trip to JB so they are very amateurish shots.
By the way, I am not handling newsletter publication per se. The newsletter is published quarterly and this issue is very slow in progress because of numerous problems and we are extremely busy for this quarter of the year. Whenever I had finished editing something, it'll take a few days more for my manager to clear it off pulak coz he has to oversee a lot more other things. For the moment, Magic's articles are still in my boss' PC. I'd be very glad when the printing's started.
When I was re-doing the layout, the Finance GM stopped by to ask, 'So, 007, what are you doing right now?' I grinned when he referred me as Bond's famous ID. The reason is because he caught me closing all work files when he stood nearby. I had been asked by Trump to keep my projects confidential that not even my manager knows why I would frown the whole day deep in thoughts of things I have to work on for the projects. I never really like working on the projects because it's more to what Chairman is doing. While he has the patience to slowly but comprehensively construct his reports, I have not even an ounce of that patience.
I guess I prefer work that requires quick, creative and dynamic thought process rather than complicated, technical and factual report. My favourite project so far is the website. Website is cool, funky, dynamic and (in our case) colorful. Details are updated frequently, and I can always pick up the phone to change / add on something that I think would make the web more fun to browse through.
The keyword in being a web project keeper is FUN. Writing newsletter may be tedious, but the contents must be FUN. Whereas, any design job is a favourite of mine coz I think the work process and the output is FUN.
At the end of the day, I just like to see a job well done and include the FUN factors to keep me enthusiastic.
So now, I've finished my work and I'm going off for jogging again so I'd better sign off now, change and pray Asar before I make my way to Titiwangsa Lake. Ciao!
'If I told you I want it yesterday?'
'I'd have to go back to yesterday to give it to you.'
Huhu.. Tak bestnya. Bilik aku dah la kat hujung dunia, lepas tu kejap2 kena telefon maintenance / housekeeping untuk baiki TV dan hantar tuala mandi. Akhirnya pukul 12 barulah aku setelkan mandi / iron baju /solat. Ces. Cakap hotel berbintang2. Tapi entah haper2.
Tengok TV sekejap sebelum tido. Yang puas hati ialah katilnya yang 'King sized'. Sayangnya Survivor dengan Ainie tak boleh join pulak malam tu.
Besoknya, Ainie amik kat hotel pergi ke ofis. Lepas tu aku arrange pas keselamatan untuk videographer dan pergi temankan dieorang buat shooting. Dalam pukul 12.30tgh, pergi ke ofis dan pujuk Survivor pergi lunch. Lama tak lepak2 sesama. Tak lama lepas tu, Ainie join kiteorang. Mulalah sesi 'gelak macam setan'.
Malamnya, tumpang rumah Ainie. Kiteorang tido lewat sebab tengok bola. Germany vs Argentina. Ainie terlompat2 bersorak untuk Argentina. Mungkin sebab permainannya yang membosankan, aku kurang emosional. Hehe. Kalau tak aku pun akan lompat2 sama. Akhirnya Argentina kalah. Sungguh tak disangka. Agak bengang dengan keputusan tu.
Hari Sabtu. Bangun agak lambat, borak2 lepas tu turun dan cuci muka. Mak Ainie ajak breakfast. Dia masak gulai tulang. Sedap. Mak Ainie memang pandai masak. Sesambil tu dia dok bercerita pasal kawen2 ni. Aku geli-geleman sebenarnya nak citer pasal benda2 cam ni, rasa dah nak terkeluar balik roti, hash brown dengan gulai tu. Tapi layan je la.
Tengahari, janji dengan Survivor lunch kat Arked Meranti, UTM. Rindu nak makan ABC Special ;) Lepas borak2 dengan lamanya, Survivor balik dulu sementara aku & Ainie naik keta Chairman ke Skudai Parade, gi main archery. Best gak tapi sakit tangan pegang busur panah tu lelama. Lepas dua game, dah cuak giler tengok jam dah pukul 5.30 ptg (flight kul 6.30pm), kiteorang bergegas keluar. Chairman pecut ke Senai. Nasib baik dia bawak BMW. Dengan confident nya dia cakap akan sampai ke airport pukul 6.15 pm. Tengok2, memang tepat sangkaannya. Oleh sebab aku sangat lega in time untuk flight aku, aku puji la mamat ni:
'Dahsyat la you. Camane you boleh agak ye? I wish I boleh jadi terer macam you.''Apa? Ulang sekali lagi? Tak dengar la?'
Ainie dan aku buat muka boring.
'Takde2x! Nanti you jadi poyo.' Mamat tu dah tersengih2.
Menyesal pulak aku puji dia.
Lepas check in, Ainie belanja strawberry smoothie sementara tunggu boarding flight. Then barulah naik ke departure lounge. Huhu.. Sedihnya tinggalkan JB!!! Tapi, what a fun weekend :) I miss my friends.
When Trump ticked me off for submitting something less satisfactory, he said, 'You got to buck up. You're not doing fine nowadays.' I felt like throwing up my hands and told him, 'How? How do you suggest I do that??'
'In my department, I'm doing EVERYTHING. It's fine a year ago, I don't have that much responsibilities. We haven't started the website project, the customer feedback is handled by another department, the newsletter hasn't started, the corporate video was still screwed up.
Today, I'm up to my neck with all these. The website needs to be updated every week, the customers need their enquiries answered, the press releases must be written and sent out, and somebody has to write the contents of our newsletter. And you just asked us to do TWO corporate videos, for cry-out-sake!
Fine, it's ok a month ago. I can cope and throw in a few design works when I'm not even the graphic designer for this company. The next day I can submit that report you want, sure as eggs are eggs sir. But when my colleague's baby popped out, I've to take over HER job as well! Somebody has to process that publication payment, and source for new souvenir items, and submit monthly progress report. That someone is ME! And on top of that, we need to launch a campaign to protect our company's interests, well, guess again it's MY department consisting of ME and my boss. If that is not enuff, you have ME sit in meetings and stuffs...'
'I can do everything (semangat 'can do' @ Malaysia Boleh) but don't expect great momentum when the landscape keeps changing. Plus, I need an extra pair of helping hands. Why is my department only having one staff when others have two or three? Yet I'm doing work for three persons at one time.'
Wah, basuh Trump bersungguh2! But, macam biasa, it never got out of my mouth. I just keep silent but I guess the expression I wore reminded Trump of that very rebellious, devil-may-care me who started to update Jobstreet account the moment I submitted that report he yelled for a few months ago. Sorry Trump, one more toe out of the line I will let go of everything. For real this time.
Hari Rabu tu, aku bawak balik la kertas kerja tu untuk siapkan di rumah memandangkan ofis aku sejuk macam dalam freezer. Aku nih, kalau sejuk memang tak boleh berfikir dan menaip sebab jari dah kebas!
Tapi memandangkan hari tu aku banyak kerja jugak jadi aku pun keletihan teramat sangat. Bawak motor pun separuh sedar. Hehe. Bila sampai di rumah, aku terus tido. Nasib baik aku tak boleh solat lagi :p Sedar-sedar je, dah pukul 11.30 malam (padahal aku nak tengok South Korea vs. Togo, tapi dah terlajak tido plak). Aku bangun dan mandi, lepas tu aku pun on laptop dan mulalah bermain Spider Solitaire :p Hehe. Warm up otak dulu...
Selama 4 jam 1/2 aku berhempas pulas menyiapkan bendalah tu. Sebenarnya aku nih lebih cergas berfikir waktu malam. Tak tau naper. Siang aku cepat hilang fokus. Waktu study pun most of the time aku study malam, tapi siang aku buat la notes ke, gi kuliah ke. Kalau study siang kompem aku tak boleh masuk.
Akhirnya pukul 4 pagi, aku pun menghabiskan rumusan. Aku save dalam MP3, pastu aku shut down dan terus tido.
Aku mimpi Trump tengah mengamuk. Huhu, takutnya! Tapi dia mengamuk kat tengah padang bola! Aku kompius jap. Aku tengok team Holland tengah buat warm up sambil menyanyi. Tetiba dari satu sudut aku tengok Shebby meluru dari sebelah kiri dan terus menyumbat satu gol ke dalam gol Holland! Huh? Aku kompius lagi. Kenapa Shebby sumbat gol sedangkan game belum mula?? Aku tengok jurulatih Holland memarahi goalkeeper dieorang sebab biarkan Shebby sumbat gol. Erk.
Trump dah hilang ke mana entah. Pastu aku pun tak ingat apa dah jadi. Bila aku bangun, masih terngiang2 lagi team Holland menyanyi. Hahaha!
Itulah, kempunan tak boleh tengok bola. Kan dah termimpi2 pulak! :p
But unfortunately, this nature also pops up whenever I DON'T have the time or THE MOOD to tidy things up. My hands will automatically reach out to store that paper in that file / folder, and that pencil into that pen holder. And that newspaper ought to be put elsewhere but my table. In the waste basket for instance. No matter how my brain screams, 'Oh, leave it for tomorrow, you idiot! I'm tired already!' It just didn't work, my poor, poor brain.
Yesterday, I had a little bit of free time since I've finished with Trump's speech and other things are just not that urgent matter to be attended to. So I decided to organize the payment documents.
For several months now, payment was totally out of my hand. When I first joined my department, I had set a certain procedure of filing things to make it easier to locate that particular item immediately. The same thing goes for the payment file - whenever the department purchases anything, the first process is to fill in the Purchase Requisition form (PR) and attached together with a memo to justify the procurement. The memo being approved and the PR signed, the order is then placed. Once the procurement department released the Purchase Order form and the supplier has given their invoice and verified, the PO and the invoice is submitted to the procurement team so that payment can be processed. To simplify, the process goes like this:
PR + Memo + quotations --> PO (released by procurement dept) --> PO + invoice (submit to procurement dept) --> payment released
So, all those documents make up one transaction and these are made copies to be filed by the procuring department to refer to at the end of the year (how much of the budget has been spent).
I then moved out of the department and several people came aboard. Eventually, I am back in the department again. Suddenly, payment comes under me. And suddenly, I have to sort 3 piles of jumbled up and mixed up documents which had never been filed since I left the department.
It was mind-boggling. It was a huge confusion. It was a tsunami experience. My table was buried under hundreds of pages, pages, pages forward, more papers than I had ever read and I felt so alive.
Yup, I felt an euphoria at the thoughts of having to organize these papers according to date / transaction / agency / status of payment... When Trump came to tell me to add something in his speech, I had 2 hard cover document files covering half of my table, and papers all over the place - on the floor, on tissue box, on the monitor, on the telephone, on document tray, on my mug, everywhere except on me. Even my keyboard and my handphone were buried under these avalanche of papers.
Trump doesn't like to see messy tables (which is why, I have the suspicion, that he had overlooked Chairman's capabilities because Chairman simply haven't learn to tidy his own desk despite numerous times I taught him how to be more organized. Luckily, now he has someone more permanent to do that for him *wink*).
However, Trump likes to see his staff at hard work. So he was rather indecisive whether to reprimand me for the state of my table, or to encourage me to stay back 'because you have a lot of work to do.' So he settled with a remark, 'You like to work under that condition is it?'
So now I have managed to clear one pile of the documents comprising of 4 months of transactions. The documents are meticulously stored according to date of order, items, and status of payment. The rest of the documents which are waiting to be filed, are tidily placed at one corner of my table to be tackled tomorrow. Everywhere is a picture of perfection.
The same goes to documents in my PC. They are organized together according to subject matter, and kept in separate folders. So I have many folders which I kept together under one folder so it doesn't look too messy. The next time somebody ask for a picture from my image databank, all I have to do is to ask specific questions and quickly retrieve the correct image :)
It is a wonderful, wonderful experience to think in neatly compartmentalized mental.