Garmin in Volvo

My car us presently in the workshop for some bodywork and I have been driving one of my sister’s cars these last few weeks. A fortnight ago, I was driving around in her Volvo and found that my Garmin GPS was acting up and constantly losing touch with the satellites.

Just to be clear, the same GPS works well in the other cars that I’ve driven – Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, etc. It just does not work very well in the Volvo. I don’t know for certain why but I am just guessing that the already weak GPS signals are being weakened further by the thicker skin of the car.

Whatever the reason, I now know that it’ll be a small concern for me if I ever plan to buy a Volvo in the future but that’s unlikely to happen as I didn’t like the drive.

Of Scrubbing Toilets

I just read an interesting blog entry, which I felt that I had to comment on simply because some parts of it caught my eye:

…in the early stages a CEO needs to keep the fridge stocked and the bathroom clean. They create a cool office environment. They are the Janitor, Caterer, Secretary, Executive Assistant, and more. A startup CEO handles PR, HR, product management, recruiting, marketing, investor relations, accounting, and anything else that needs to be done to keep the gears of a startup moving smoothly.

I can testify to the fact that the above statement is 100% entirely true, in my case. Let me list down some of the things that I do for to make the office conducive for my staff to work in.

  • Scrub the toilet and bathroom.
  • Stock the pantry with 3-in-1, snacks etc.
  • Buy air freshener for the lobby and toilet.
  • Vacuum the carpets, wash the glass door.
  • Take out the trash bags.
  • Write the official letters.
  • Run the random errands.
  • Find and hire the best people.
  • Take care of the ledgers and books.
  • Go around giving talks to raise awareness.
  • Signing agreements with partners.
  • Find revenue sources.
  • Sign the cheques.

And on top of that, I do the CTO stuff too:

Technical Co-Founders are building the product. We’re pulling late nights so that demos run smoothly the next day. We’re building what will be bought and sold. Investors are attracted to our efforts. Customers find value in what we build. We are the VP Engineering, Project Manager, Product Manager, QA Engineer, DevOps, UX Designer, UI Designer, DB Engineer, Recruiter, etc. We’re responsible for performance, security, stability, front-end, back-end, training, technology roadmaps, patent filings, and more.

  • Draw up the technology roadmap.
  • Design hardware and software.
  • Manage all the engineering projects.
  • Stress test the products built.
  • Optimise the designs.
  • Interview potential hires.
  • Setup the various software systems.
  • Administer the technology infrastructure.
  • Set up physical and data security.
  • Train partners and staff.
  • File for IP protection.
  • Work late nights.

And much more.

I do the CFO stuff too – planning budgets, keeping tabs on the finances, assets, etc. Heck, I do the COO stuff too – ensure that people come to work, the tools needed are available, do the payroll, etc.

Shite. How do I cope?

I try not to.

1Malaysia Book Vouchers

I went to pick up my 1Malaysia Book Vouchers at the university today. I was the first person to collect the voucher (talk about kiasu). These are some things that I have learned about the voucher.

  1. The RM200 comes in four vouchers worth RM50 each.
  2. Each voucher has a serial number on it, which is recorded against my name at the university register.
  3. The vouchers have my name and IC number hand-written on it by the admin staff (they are for Malaysian students only).
  4. The vouchers are non-transferable (as they have my name and IC number on it).
  5. The vouchers are good in all book-stores nationwide (I have yet to test this out).
  6. The vouchers are only valid until 31 March 2012 (Why?).

So, I guess that Kino will benefit from my visit soon. I need to spend the RM200 by March anyway. I was hoping to be able to give it as angpow to my niece and nephews but it is non-transferable. So, I’ll still need to give them cash.

However, I’m not quite sure how the book-stores are going to enforce the non-transferable policy. I guess that they would need to insist on verifying my IC with my purchase.

Also, there are a number of security features built into the voucher. One that I spotted was that the lines in the voucher are not lines per se but tiny continuous prints of the title “BAUCER BUKU 1 MALAYSIA”. The same phrase is on the bit that looks like a scratch area on the right.

3R Service

I found this article extremely sad that, there are so many people who are unable to even master the basics of 3R – Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic – at the end of high school. It is a sad state of affairs when our high school leavers are not even able to do the basics needed in everyday life.

Who do we blame for such a state of affairs?

Teachers
More specifically, the quality of teachers in our schools today. While the teaching profession used to be a seriously respected and sought after profession, such is not the situation today. From what I have heard, many of our teachers today enter teaching because they were not able to secure better options.

Something needs to be done about the scenario where people apply to teacher training if they are unable to secure a place in a public university. Teaching should be a first port of call for those with a passion to teach, and not the last chance at earning a decent living for the desperate.

Of course, this is a generalisation, but a surprisingly realistic generalisation.

While remuneration is often cited as the main issue, it isn’t. Money is important but teachers today are not that badly paid anymore. The situation has improved a lot in recent years. Except in KL city, teachers are actually earning a decent amount and can survive fairly well.

Syllabus
From my many years of teaching experience, I have come to realise one thing about the syllabus – it is not important. The reason is because the syllabus merely tells you what topics need to be taught but not how. In my opinion, the how is far more important than the what because it is the how that will inspire.

That is why we need good teachers – it’s the how that is important, not what.

System
The grind kills more than anything else. I would say that this is the most important aspect and determines whether a teacher stays a motivated teacher or becomes a tired old crone. The issue at hand is whether or not the current system supports good teachers and motivates them to grow into great ones.

If our students are unable to even master the 3R, I feel that this is the main problem. If the system is flawed, even the greatest teachers would not survive it. Therefore, I think that it is the system that needs the most fixing. The process of fixing it would include ways to encourage our best to teach.

Would I teach?

I am already doing so, at various levels. I would encourage others to do so too. Volunteer to work with kids if you want to. There are so many out there that need some good adult supervision and guidance.

Do not give up on our kids as they are our future.

Hardwork does not Scale

This thought caught my attention on someone’s blog recently. It interested me because I was thinking just the very same thing a few days ago, that I need to take things easier. Working hard does not scale.

I am taking a break this week – as much as I can possibly afford to.

Much Ado about RPK

There are all kinds of comments about RPK these days. Personally, I don’t think that he has changed his course because he has generally stuck to his guns. He’s always gone against the status quo. I don’t know why people expect him to do anything but. If the status quo swings to the opposition, you can bet that he will go against them too.

He has his right to see things his own way and write about him. While we may or may not agree with what he has to see, we must respect his freedom to express his opinions.

Grow up and stop building this personality cult around RPK.

He is neither infallible nor god-like.

Big deal.

2012 Resolutions

I have been thoroughly busy these last two weeks of the year and have not gotten round to writing down my new year resolutions. Not to worry, as I already have them but I have just not gotten to writing them down.

They are just extensions of my resolutions last year.

  1. Professional Engineer

    My resolution last year was to earn my Chartered Engineer (CEng) registration. Now that I have done that, I will want to earn the Professional Engineer (PEng) registration too.

  2. Profit

    My company seems to be moving positively last year but the fiscal year has not ended yet. Next year the goal will be to graduate from eating ramen noodles to eating steak.

  3. Pass 1st Year Law

    Since I have started studying law, my resolution is to completely pass first year law. Notice that my target is to just pass it, which I think is tough enough.

  4. Write a book

    This is carried over from last year. I failed to write a book last year and so, I will have to write one this year.

I hope to be able to hit some of them this coming year.

Wish me luck!