Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by ipohmali70

An insecure candidate

ipohmali70 — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 20:55:54 +0800

A candidate was called for interview.

He brought along his mother.

In the main office he was heard arguing in loud hushed tone.

It seems he doesn't want to attend the interview and wants to return home.

His name was called and his mom persuaded (pushed) him to come into my office.

She stood outside, waiting.

The candidate appears really really nervous and uncomfortable.

Voice barely audible, he cannot maintain direct eye contact.

To calm him down lest he breaks down, I called his mom in.

They sat together.

A presentation was given on the work scope.

His mom politely answered most of the questions.

Usual stuff like how you come to work etc.

He doesn't seem to be a sociable person, let alone being able to thrive in a challenging industrial environment.

At the end she asked me what are his chances.

Out of earshot of his son, I said not good.

Give him a chance to mix around first, otherwise he might end up like the proverbial nail.

Sadly, she understood.

That was the last I see of them.

I wish I can do more for her and her son.

Drug addicts in your company

ipohmali70 — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 13:04:22 +0800

Sometimes there will be criminal elements or drug users in your company or in your workforce.

What do you do? How to weed them out?

Job reference

ipohmali70 — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 15:54:52 +0800

Someone emailed me asking for job reference for one of my past employee.

Apparently this guy is applying for a job in a financial institution. Per existing law background screening is mandatory for any candidate entering the financial field.

So I typed out a reference letter and filled it with facts and figures. Unfortunately it's not very good. He had poor attitude and had absconded from our company one fine day.

So I emailed to this company my official letter. I wish this former employee all the best.

A con story

ipohmali70 — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 12:07:43 +0800

A candidate applied for a position. The resume looks great. So I called him over for interview. He says he can come over right away. I asked aren't you supposed to take leave first? He says he's already on leave. Hokay.

So he came over and filled up his application form which includes his sales and projects achievements, which looks great. However, he provided 2 referees, one was his university lecturer, and the other was his colleague in the same department as him.

So we had a great interview and adjourned it. I will get back to him.

After he left, I called his company for reference. I was first connected to HR, who initially mistook my inquiry as wanting to talk to him. The HR said he's on a sales call today visiting customers.

I see.

I clarified I'm not calling to talk to him, just to request his character reference as he just came over for an interview.

Kantoi! The cat is out of the bag.

What they said is not good, not flattering. He's basically a kaki EL and they dismissed all of his performance claims with a scoff.

Needless to say I never called him back. I don't know what became of him.

I wish him all the best.

A sob story

ipohmali70 — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 11:18:42 +0800

A candidate came over for interview. She's currently studying in a UK university and looking for internship.

She's poor in every way and couldn't do basic math when tested.

So I interviewed her and asked basic questions.

Where do you live, how would you come for office, what car do you drive, that kind of stuff.

Don't know why but she trembled and her eyes moistened and got red. She answered in a low voice, barely audible. The she lowered her head and started sobbing. Quietly at first.

I paused the interview. Her sobbing gradually got louder. Tears glistened down her face. She wiped them with her hands. I handed her a box of facial tissues. Then the heavens opened and she bawled her eyes out.

I left my office and went into the project department. My staff heard her sobbing and crying and asked me what was going on. I shrugged. I honestly don't know what set her off.

I remained outside with my staff for about 10 minutes. By that time she's stopped or so I hoped. I reentered my office. I guessed she must be embarrassed over the whole episode.

I asked whether she'd like to continue the interview. Head down, she shook her head. So I said thanks for coming over and wished her all the best.

Phew.... What an eventful morning.

A very rude candidate

ipohmali70 — Sat, 28 Dec 2019 23:57:23 +0800

Received a call from a job seeker. Sounds agitated and wants to meet me. Says very urgent. I said please email me your resume. He said no need as he's already at my office. WTF. I was outside at the time, on the way back to office. I said ok let me get to the office first. It'll take 20 minutes.

So I met him and interviewed him. Turns out an unemployed fresh grad, and a very impatient one, if a bit rude, brash and ill mannered. Still I was ok with that. I said I don't hire fresh grads, having stopped since 2015. But since you're here might as well we go through the procedures.

I showed him a video presentation of our activities. He looks impressed. Then I gave him a test on simple mathematics and general knowledge which he did extremely extremely poorly. He was totally uncomfortable with basic math. So I sat down and gave him good advise on the requirements of the company and industry.

What he did was to brush me aside and asked me brusquely whether I want to hire him or not. He was direct to the point. I said - No. He got up, left and slammed the door.

In my heart, I said good luck to you, and have a nice day.

Why babylonmonster48 hates ipohmali70

ipohmali70 — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:28:16 +0800

Discuss.

Gsem is a boss megathread

ipohmali70 — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 17:00:56 +0800

By popular request.

3 more weeks

ipohmali70 — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 23:08:21 +0800

In the blink of an eye, we will move forward to the next decade.

The year 2020 is the target date for Mahathir's grand Vision 2020 or Wawasan 2020, first espoused in 1991, almost 30 years ago.

At the time, we have yet to have the:

Plus highway
Putrajaya
Nilai
KLCC
KL tower
KLIA
KL sentral
LRT, MRT
KTM Kommuter.
Private universities.
Internet.

KL then was a noisy chaotic city with smoky pink minibusses speeding every which way to pick up passengers for a fixed rate of 50cents each. KL Sentral has yet to exist, and express busses picked up and unloaded their passengers in grimy and choking Puduraya. An express bus ticket to Ipoh costs M$7.90. The city's main airport was Subang and KTM was still using outdated diesel locomotives pulling passenger cars; third class passenger cars are without air con.

A typical drive from KL to Ipoh, would pass through the towns of Rawang, Tanjung Malim, Bidor, Tapah and Gopeng. On a good day, this would take about 6 hours stuck behind slow moving lorries and tractors, with a 1 hour stop for lunch and rest. On a bad day, like CNY or Hari Raya exodus, that'll be about 10 to 12 hellish hours. And that's just to Ipoh. Don't talk about Penang or worse, Alor Star.

Air Asia would not exist for many years. Despite this MAS operated regular flights from Subang to Ipoh via the venerable Fokker Friendship F27.

The government of the day was still run by BN with the major component parties of UMNO, MCA and MIC. The then presidents of MCA and MIC were Ling Liong Sik and Samy Vellu respectively. While Mahathir was PM, Ghafar Baba was DPM while Anwar Ibrahim was a young ambitious man.

The most popular cars on the road are Proton Sagas while the streamlined Proton Wira was introduced two years later. Probably half the cars on the road are Protons. Perodua at the time has yet to exist. Popular motorcycles are Honda C70, Honda Fame C90.

Since the late eighties, there were few companies offering cellular services but there were generally two systems, ATUR 450 operated by Telekom and ART 900 by Celcom. Despite this the handphone was out of reach of the average Malaysian and invariably only high level businessmen would be able to afford these newfangled gadgets. A typical handphone would retail for about M$3,000. One has to pay fixed monthly rental of M$60 on top of call charges. A typical monthly bill would reach M$300, 400 or more. SMS or Short Messaging Service, has yet to be introduced.

In technology, PCs fitted with Intel 80386 chips reign supreme, though 5 1/4 floppy disks are still pretty standard. The internet had yet to exist but enterprising hobbyists can cobble together LANs, or local area networks to connect computers together. Printers of the era are generally of dot matrix technology, able to only print in black.

There being no internet, information flowed primarily through television, radio and newspapers and other periodicals. Television then comprise only of three terrestrial channels, RTM1, RTM2 and TV3. No Astro. Popular daily newspapers were the New Strait Times and the Star, costing about 50 cents a copy.

The country at the time was still highly dependent on the exports of rubber and palm oil, ever since the tin market crashed in the 80s. On top of that Malaysia was an economic powerhouse, manufacturing various goods for the world, many thanks to investments and technology transfers from foreign companies, notably the Japanese. Due to the strong fundamentals, the ringgit was traded at about 2.50 to the greenback. Our factories then were filled with local Malaysians of all colour and races. Foreign workers were completely unheard of, though Indonesians were beginning to enter the construction workforce.

A good double storey terrace house not too far from KL averages about M$100,000 to 120,000. To rent a similar house would be about M$300 to 400. A bank cashier's starting salary is about M$500. Economy rice was M$1.50, including obligatory iced tea. Kopi or teh ais about 50cents. A fresh grads salary would be about M$1000 to M$1300.

On the international front the world stood transfixed when the 41st President of the United States threw down an ultimatum to Saddam Hussien, President of Iraq, whose armed forces invaded and occupied Kuwait to withdraw. US and British forces then launched Operation Desert Storm which succeeded in repelling the Iraqi forces back to their border, killing and destroying much personnel and equipment along the way. Malaysian viewers enjoyed their 8 o'clock news on television showing General Norman "Stormin'" Schwarzkopf detailing achievements of US forces in routing the Iraqi Army. As a young man that was the first time I saw a modern war broadcast live of television, with stealth bombers and surgical strikes.

So there's my take on events in 1991, a full 29 years ago. What do you think of Vision 2020?

Old 1970 video of Malaysia

ipohmali70 — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 17:17:18 +0800

[YOUTUBE]ilfjqjk-OVc[/YOUTUBE]

Emperor College?

ipohmali70 — Sun, 17 Nov 2019 11:35:44 +0800

I got a phone call recently for a job application.

Turns out to be a fresh grad asking for engineering job.

She has a degree from Emperor College, if I heard correctly.

Emperor College? Where's that? Somewhere in KL, I thought.

She asked if we have vacancies. I said yes, would you please send me your resume, which until today I have yet to receive.

Anyone heard of Emperor College?

A sad story

ipohmali70 — Sat, 16 Nov 2019 18:43:41 +0800

Ding dong!

Someone pressed the bell on the door of my office.

My assistant spoke to him and ushered him in.

Turned out this is a not-so-fresh graduate looking for a job.

I see applicants like this a few times a year.

They just turn up at the door uninvited to ask for a job.

Courtesies aside, he is a fresh graduate who graduated some two and a half years ago. Now driving Grab full time to support himself.

Why is he applying for a job now? Why not continue with Grab? I believe the money is good.

Although he works hard (6 to 8 everyday) and the money is decent, he felt that he is basically driving in circles. There is no professional development. He has reached a plateau in life. He can continue into his 30s and even 40s, but what is there to look forward to in terms of career progression?

The last month was the worst as his car was in the workshop for major repair due accident.

He has a girlfriend and looking to get married in the near future. But he is facing opposition from her family due his status as a Grab driver, which they don't look too kindly upon.

Hence the need to enter the industry.

He hopes that he is not too late.

Tunnels

ipohmali70 — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 18:57:46 +0800

Never occurred to me that there are people living in tunnels under Las Vegas.

[YOUTUBE]DRrxFX1wfFg[/YOUTUBE]

Employment Reference

ipohmali70 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 18:18:36 +0800

Today I got a call and a subsequent email from a company requesting information about an ex-staff of mine.

I remember this ex-staff, a below average person with a chronic absenteeism problem.

So I duly replied with what I honestly think of him and attached an old showcause letter which was issued to him.

My advise to you existing employees is to take utmost good care of your conduct, lest reference be drawn to it by your future prospective employer.

ICU, Hospital Serdang

ipohmali70 — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 22:12:08 +0800

Now I'm in ICU Hospital Serdang after my relative was admitted early this morning. 4.50am.

Still here. Keeping vigil. Close to death. Survival doubtful.

Other than that, nothing to do here. Just keeping her alive for as long as possible.

Here it's a very busy and active department. Plenty of nurses, doctors and orderlies around. All very business-like, very busy, very professional.

Help needed.

ipohmali70 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 09:20:15 +0800

After every few minutes of surfing, an ad like this pops out.

The browser address line just says "Ad"

The ads are pesky and are annoying as hell.

What could be wrong? How do I neutralise this? How can I kill it.

I clicked on my settings and affirm all pop up blockers are presently enabled.

Any kind soul, please help.

Thank you.

Educated youth take up 3D jobs, too

ipohmali70 — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 08:31:35 +0800

GEORGE TOWN: If you think young Malaysians will not do the 3D (dangerous, dirty and difficult) work, just look around and see who are keeping the city clean.

Dressed in yellow shirts and sweating under the sun with brooms in hand, young men are taking their task seriously to keep our city clean.

Out of the 887 general workers in the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), 291 of them are below 30 years old and quite a few are degree and diploma holders too.

One of them, Mohammad Zulfadli Mohammad, 28, is an electrical engineering degree holder.

He joined over a year ago and his first task was to sweep the roads and clean the drains in Minden Heights, Gelugor.

“At first, I felt a little embarrassed,” he said with a laugh.

He recalled feeling self-conscious when passers-by looked at him as he lowered himself into a large drain to clear up the rubbish.

“But after a while, I got used to it. And now I love it,” he said.

Mohammad Zulfadli said he found great satisfaction after sweeping up a dirty street or clearing a clogged drain.

“I try to sweep up every little bit of rubbish on the road. After I am done, I love to admire how clean everything looks,” he declared.

He reports for work at 6.30am and ends before 4pm. On Fridays, the work ends at 12.15pm and they are off on Saturdays and Sundays.

“I am healthier and stronger since I became a council worker. We get to sweat it out five days a week.“The task is different each day. Sometimes, we sweep. Other times, we are cleaning street litter bins or washing something. We never get bored,” he grinned.

Mohammad Zulfadli said on top of his basic salary, he gets three allowances for housing, cost of living and public service. Add overtime to it and he said his income is enough to help him and his sister care for their aged parents.

He said those who are willing to wade into monsoon drains and clean up the filth get an extra 3D allowance.

MBPP disallows public disclosure of its staff income, but the take-home pay of MBPP general workers revealed to The Star, including overtime, is more than the typical pay of a fresh graduate.

Mohammad Zulfadli said after graduating, he could not find a job that matched his degree, and he could not stay jobless because he had to support his parents.

“When MBPP has a vacancy that needs someone with electrical engineering knowledge, I will surely apply. But for now, I don’t mind this work,” he said.

His colleague Mohd Anuar Mat, 38, joined nine years ago when he was 29.

“I was a bank despatch clerk before this. I joined MBPP because of the added benefits. Road sweeping is honest and satisfying work,” he said.

MBPP Urban Services Department executive officer Mohamad Ariff Azhar said in the last two years, he began seeing more youth applying to be general workers.

“This boils down to the council’s efforts in changing the perception of 3D jobs, providing opportunities for general workers to climb up the career ladder and helping them with self-development.

He said technology has made urban services work more appealing to the younger generation.

“In the past, all the work was done manually. Now with machines and better cleaning chemicals, the work is less exhausting and council workers work efficiently and with fewer hazards,” he added.

Mohamad Ariff said the worker’s medical care is extended to their family members too.

“They can also get a low interest loan to buy a motorcycle,” he added.

Three times a year, he said MBPP takes some of the general workers on trips to visit other local authorities in Malaysia.

“This is to expose them to the different systems and methods that the others use,” he said.

Mohamad Ariff said the council also tries to create a good environment for its workers.

“We have many sports clubs that are active in football, futsal, hiking, biking and even dancing,” he said.

Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said the council was glad for the dedication of the general workers.

“But I want to remind Penangites not to take them for granted.

“Our environment and cleanliness are everyone’s responsibility. We have great general workers, but that doesn’t mean you should expect them to clean up after you,” he said.Over at the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) on the mainland, 856 of its workers are below 30, from the total workforce of 4,035 workers .

Its president Datuk Rozali Mohamud said the rest of the 1,746 workers were aged between 31 and 40, 977 workers aged between 41 and 50, and 456 workers aged 50 and above.

“The youngest is a 21-year-old woman. We also have 36 people who are disabled and aged between 35 and 54,” he said.

Life in prison

ipohmali70 — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 19:51:39 +0800

[YOUTUBE]8BnIyHuZ7I8[/YOUTUBE]

When and where did this happen?

ipohmali70 — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 22:24:52 +0800

[YOUTUBE]oBRdIg-gFVY[/YOUTUBE]

8.50

How did they bring P Ramlee

ipohmali70 — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 10:07:04 +0800

[YOUTUBE]nfvRmbS0QcI[/YOUTUBE]