The 'Conversational Attitude'

Living in a different country means you face a different culture. Living in a different culture would require one to change their habit.

Welcome to London where half the population may not be local Brits but a diversity of people from Europe, America and Asia. Working in UK made us realised how ‘shy’/ ‘quiet’ Asian people are. While the Westerners talk much about anything during a conversation, Asians just sat at a corner and listen. There is very little of contribution to the group conversation (I do note that there a limited number of Asian that could blend into the group conversation though).

Some of my friends complained of their colleagues, “The people here only knew how to talk but there is not substance”. Then they added “If they are back in Kuala Lumpur, my ex-manager would ‘fark’ them for talking too much”.

Sadly, most of the Asians had difficulty in adapting what I – Bob the Blogger would term “Conversational Attitude”. Some of the people I’ve meet continue to live in the past rather than at the present. I am not saying I could blend in well. I too had my problems considering the way we Malaysians were brought up.

Unlike Malaysian education system, people here are encouraged to talk and ask questions since young. Parents and teachers encouraged young kids to ask… even if the question sounds stupid. A teacher from LSE once said “There is no such thing as stupid question. The only stupid question is when you ask none”. I couldn’t agree more.

But people in Malaysia were brought up in a very different system. It is an education system that instills discipline among young students but at the expense of addressing the enquiring mind. Imagine a school where you do not ask questions but only listens/ you sit when you are told to and you are not encourage to debate with your teacher. In other words, forget about curiosity and asking question. It is all about putting in information into the brain.

Alas – the system adopted yesterday produced mixed results today.

At best the product of yesteryears education produces young ‘citizen’ with successful career …

A successful Malaysian businessman as depicted by Lat

But there are some that end up not what as we had expect…

Mat Rempit on the loose...

Or maybe this…

The infamous Ah Beng/ 'Si Ham Chai' (Cockles Boy) attempting to be cool

Okay, maybe I went too far on blaming the education system. I agree that the product above wasn’t the fault of the education system alone. There are other factors to consider. But I would still hold on to the fact that the way Malaysians are taught had resulted lost of the very essence of ‘Conversational Attitude’.

Take the following snippets of my younger year’s memory as examples:

‘Why can’t you shut up’?

I remember when I was 8 in Junior School. While the teacher was teaching, a classmate of mine raised up his hand and asked some question about the subject taught. You guess it right! The teacher replied “Could you shut up”? The teacher could have answered, “Yes you are right, but maybe we could discuss another time or after class because time is almost up for this session”. Noooo… the teacher got to show who the boss in the class is. The student must be disciplined and the teacher is always right!

‘I don’t understand’

Once (forgot how old I was) in class the teacher asked if there any question. Another classmate of mine raised his hand – he was a slow learner to start of with. The teacher walked over to him and said ‘Why are you so stupid? Can’t you understand anything”? – I guess no one wants to ask any question thereafter.

‘Jual satu sen pun tak ada orang beli’

This one happened to me. I had the passion for art (but not a very good one though). Nevertheless, I had always looked forward for art class until this eventful day. That day, we were asked by our art teacher, Mrs Lee to weave a craft mat using…I forgot what. But the important thing is, I was struggling and when Mrs Lee came to me and saw my pathetic artwork she said something really encouraging “Jual satu sen pun tak ada orang beli (Even if you sell for 1 cent, no one is going to buy)”. With her ‘encouragement’ – my heart melts and never enjoy art class the way I used to like. Anyway, Mrs Lee, I just want to say ‘Thank You for your encouragement!’

Nah!

Unfortunately, most of the teachers had the lack of passion to teach or are just a bunch of lazy ass. But I don’t blame them. I mean if you put yourselves in their shoes, their pathetic pay do not compensate any further effort. So why take the trouble to answer or encourage an ‘enquiring’ mind of a young when you could have gone home watch TV or take a part time direct selling job to boost your income? Of course, not all the teachers are described above because I personally knew some really good teachers who encourage us to pursue our knowledge further beyond the classroom (Mrs Lee is not one of them in the list)

What I am trying to say is, because we are taught that asking question would reflect our stupidity and that we just need to shut up and listen, most of the people today fail to acquire the ability to control a conversation or to debate upon what we had in our mind. I guess unless we cultivate the young to build an enquiring mind, I could only imagine the next generation being as reserved as the last generation. - Yes, I am blaming the past but I am working at present to make a better future.

The above represents my memories which built upon to the conclusion of this article and may not represent the view of the general. If you don’t like it, I couldn't care less.

Malay: Al-Kisah Si Lembik dan Muka Pantat; English: Tale of Softie and Pussy Face

Whilst I was online recently, someone that I knew, drop in over MSN to say ‘Hi’. Although we used to work together I am not even sure if I would consider her as a ‘friend’. Not trying to be rude, I returned her greetings. Then we began our usual ‘bullshit’ chat about life in London and her life in Asia.

After a 5 minute ‘how is your life – bullshit’, she asked “So have you been drinking a lot in London”.

To dispel the myth about my alcoholism in London, I answered “Actually, I haven’t been drinking lately. Only unless when a project is completed, I would go out with my colleagues for a beer”

Then she answered “Beer is good. I love beer. You owe me beer!”

“Don’t remember owing you anything?” I answered.

“Yes you do! And you did not inviting me to your wedding and your farewell party!” she pushed on.

What the f*ck? Don’t remember owing her anything in life! Her statement then struck me and reminded me of her and her friends’ ‘punanism’ behaviour. You see, this woman, let’s called her ‘Lembik’ had a history of being a party crasher. Like pirates, she and her bunch of punani friends would usually attend other people’s party without being invited, consume all the alcohol and food, then leave without even contributing a single penny. And I had my fair share of experience with her barbaric behaviour!

Once, Vulture (good friend of mine) and myself held a dinner party with some of our close friends to celebrate our promotion. Unfortunately, our private party became a nuisance when Lembik arrive uninvited with her friend Mr. Pussy Face (the name is self-explanatory - a guy with spiky hair and an imaginary crack on his face). Pussy Face, as we understood, is some rich kid in town who runs his own business. Despite his wealth status, he and Lembik are infamously known to eat, drink and party at other people’s expenses.

Lembik and Pussy Face walked to our table on the pretext of saying ‘Hi’. Then they sat down and started drinking our beer. Next thing you know, Pussy Face ordered food. Biggie, being a gentleman cracked a joke with Pussy Face “Brother! Remember to leave money on the table for your food and drinks!” It was a nice stark reminder that he is welcome but do pay for his own meals.

Alas, Lembik and Pussy Face’s skin is much thicker than a crocodile’s skin. Either they’ve got no brain or played dumb, they continued on the night drinking our alcohol and eating our food. And when the night end, we took the bill and Biggie ask for their share of money. Unfortunately, they walked out pretending to be drunk and pretend not hearing Biggie. They didn’t even have the courtesy to leave any money for their share. I was made to understand this is not their first time. I guess maybe Pussy Face may be having trouble with his business and need to beg for food and drinks by crashing people’s party.

Anyway, what is loss is loss. We didn’t want to make a scene. But what annoyed me was Lembik had the cheek make a statement about not inviting her to my wedding and farewell.

Well, here is a message to you Lembik if you are not crashing other people party and happen to read this blog: My wedding and farewell party is a private function. It is for my family and close friends. It is for people I respect. It is for people with integrity and represents the best of social behaviour! People like you and Pussy Face are not the best kind of people I had in mind to give my respect. I would however suggest that you and Pussy Face sign-up for ‘How not to be a Punani’ classes to improve your ill-behaviour. Maybe then, I may change my perception of you.

And here is my last famous last word for you Lembik:

When barbarians knocked on your door…

$25 billion – that is how much it takes to secure the biggest prize in Wall Street in 1989.

‘Barbarian at the Gate’ is not a computer game as some had mistakenly assumed. It’s a book published in 1990 by investigative journalists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar which depict the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco in 1989.

The story described the greed and the power hungry of men in the 1980s which followed through Ross Johnson – his origins up to his rise as the CEO of RJR Nabisco, an American conglomerate formed in 1985 as a result of the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tabacco Company. By mid-1980s, RJR Nabisco was sitting on a $1 billion cash flow with a battered stocks performance on Wall Street (due to potential tobacco lawsuit liabilities). The cash pile that the company sitting on began to attract the attention of players in Wall Street – which later eventually became an epic battle.

Whilst the first part of the book described the history of the conglomerate and Johnson’s rise, the later half of the book centers on Johnson and his management’s team attempt to acquire RJR Nabisco. The management team together with Shearson Lehman Hutton announced their proposal to take RJR Nabisco private at $75 a share. The announcement was followed by the entry of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (‘KKR’) with their team of bankers and advisors at $90 a share, thus setting off a fierce battle for the control of RJR Nabisco.

For Wall Street a $25 billion deal would mean ‘fat’ advisory fees and a raised profile that differentiate themselves among other competitors. This represents a stake – too high to lose for anyone in Wall Street. As all the players circle around RJR Nabisco, an obscene amount of money was raised from junk bonds and PIK notes to fund the deal. As greed and power comes into play, the bidding war raised from ‘take shareholders a ride’ $75 dollar a share to the ultimate final bid from KKR of $109.

Despite the book being published since 1990 (I was never a bookworm during the early part of my life) it is nevertheless a good read for anyone with the appetite for corporate battles. My take - 8 out of 10 for this book.

Old habits...

Old habits never die...

Kay is out of London for two weeks. Out of boredom, I decided to be a child again and watched this: Gundam 00





Now I am hooked-up and addicted to anime again.

Hey, like some of the old wise men used to say, there is a child in everyone of us.

Amsterdam, May’08 – The Good Side

This is an entry following my earlier posting on ‘The Wild Side’.

If you put the sex and cannabis aside, you may be able to see other beautiful aspect of Amsterdam.

Like all European cities, Amsterdam boasts old European-style architecture. It has a network of canal, all connected by beautiful bridges. There are various ways to explore the city. We could just walk along the clobber stones roads or along the canals to appreciate the architecture designs.

Alternatively, we could go on a bicycle, where it is not unusual to see locals and tourist going along cycling around the city. There is also a ‘bicycle tour’ available where tour guides will take you around the city on a bicycle and describe the history behind the city.

If you just don’t want to walk and can’t move on two wheels, you could always go on a city cruise. The cruise takes about 45 minutes tour and it would take you around the city comfortably while the tour guide provides you the history lesson.

For a small city, Amsterdam has lots of museums. If you are a museum enthusiast, this would be paradise for you. However, if time is what you don’t have, you could just keep your visit to Van Gogh Museum. There you could find large collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawing, his career and other artist’s works.

Here are some of the attractions in Amsterdam –

Take a stroll along the city and relax

Explore the city's architecture

More architecture..

Walk along the canal

Another piece of architecture...

Rain won't stop this guy from going on a bicycle tour..

Bloemenmarkt, the city's floating flower market

Tulip seeds

Moving outside of the city

Roads outside the city...

Zaanse Schans - the Dutch village

Take a trip out of the city to Zaanse Schans – a village-like museum. The area is filled with shops, cottages, windmills and houses, which people live and work. You can take a stroll and visit each building where the local community recreates the traditional Dutch way of life to give us a flavour of their culture.

The windmill is a key feature in The Netherlands. Traditionally, it was used to drain land of lakes and extend the shoreline to create fertile farmland. Of course, there are other uses as well such as grinding corns, crushing seeds to make oil and driving sawmills.

Amongst some of the Dutch ‘things’ you would find in Zaanse Schans –

Cheese storage

Cheese tasting

Guess where all the cheese comes from?

More cheese

Another well-known product of the Netherlands - clogs

Wooden tulips

Another place which is worth visiting is Volendam, a small fishing village with beautiful yachts and boats ‘parked’ around the harbor. When there take your time and stroll along the village and mixed with the locals (who still wear traditional Dutch cloths). Make sure you try some of their local delicacies – seafood.

Take a stroll along the harbor

Fried seafood stalls are found along the harbor