Micromanaging energy

When AddAudio Malaysia in Petaling Jaya was dubbed as the coldest office in the country, no one would have expected that the office’s perceived temperature is found to be 10.92’C[1]. As the lingo goes “Cold-cold for what? You tak payah buy jacket one if you switch off the air-cond”, Malaysians are quick to complain about electricity bill hike but ironically we take energy for granted. Who is to blame here? The profiteering Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), or our poor energy management?

                TNB is the sole electricity provider in peninsular Malaysia[2]. Being a regulated natural monopoly[3], one could easily assume that TNB has the power to overcharge their consumers. The perception is then strengthened with the fact that TNB has been consistently profiting for billions of Ringgit. Pressures to liberalise the utility market are becoming ubiquitous with politicians citing success stories of other countries’ market reform in Dewan Rakyat and public forums.

                But is market reform necessary? According to Prof Dr Ken Koyama, chief economist and managing director of Institute of Energy Economics Japan, there are no obvious positive effects that can be seen in terms of tariff rate reduction in fully liberalized utility market in Europe and in the United States of America[4]. Consumers in those regions can switch their electricity retailer, but the market competition is not able to drive the rates down. In fact, utilities are having difficulties in securing investments and achieving adequate energy mix[5].

                Macromanaging utilities have been a ‘social experiment’ since humanity learns to enact laws and lives in cities. Water in the UK, for example, has been reformed from complete privatisations to build-operate-transfer arrangements, to private management contracts, to incentive systems to state-owned monopolies. Regardless, regulating a natural monopoly is one of the best options to create a win-win formula for both the provider and consumers. With the Malaysia’s Incentive-Based Regulation (IBR) policy framework, TNB is able to obtain a fair rate of return (which could be translated to government income through tax measures), motivation to improve its efficiency and performance, and most importantly for us to pay a transparent and reasonable electricity rates.

                Unfortunately, electricity tariff is subjected to volatile fuel prices environment. One thing is for sure – fuel is finite and its price is increasing as supply is becoming scarce. The public need to understand that the government cannot afford to subsidise our basic needs forever. Effective macromanagement of utility will reach a point whereby a collective micromanagement of individuals are required to offset the ever-increasing challenge of electricity supply. If we feel that the price of vegetables is expensive in pasar malam, then surely ‘tanam kangkung’ is the best possible solution.

                ‘Tanam kangkung’ in this sense is to be self-sufficient. High electricity tariff should be an incentive to go green and be energy efficient as possible. The government has introduced mechanisms to mitigate our over-reliance to fossil fuels such as large scale solar (LSS) projects, net energy metering (NEM), minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) equipment and building energy audit. In the near future, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) will arrive on our shore too[6]. Renewable energy (RE) measures such as private solar panel installation might be expensive to most of us i.e. the B40 and the M40, hence being energy efficient is the way to go to micromanage our energy consumption.

                Education is the key. With the advent of big data advancements, it is about high time that the public need to appreciate the nation’s energy delivery system. Fossil fuels will be our main energy source for many years to come – for depending too many RE sources feeding into the grid will cause imbalances and ultimately jeopardizing our energy supply security[7]. Simple efforts such as domestic time-of-use (ToU) implementation, passive energy building construction, and using 5-star rated MEPS equipment e.g. LED lights will go a long way if done correctly and collectively nationwide.

     Being efficient in micromanaging our energy needs isn’t just about reducing our bill payment, it is about playing a part to make the world a better place to live. It is about self-reliant in sharing our kangkung to our neighbours.

[My article is previewed in the Bangi Management Review (BMR). Click the BMR magazine above to read other articles]

// ps: Do read my article in the BMR magazine with caution. The BMR editor had edited it badly that some of the points might be misleading. Saya tak boleh salahkan editor majalah ini juga kerana mungkin mereka bukan orang yang ahli dalam industri tenaga negara. Among the errors created by the BMR editorial team are;

1. The entire article should be read with 'micromanaging energy' title and theme in mind, not on 'ways to mitigate high energy prices'.
2. In the second para., the editor replaced the word 'cantankerous' instead of the original word 'ubiquitous' - thus implying that the liberalisation of energy is a hot debate around the world. It is wrong and it is not the reality. The pressures to reform energy market has been a harmonious and natural process and is a normal scenario all around us - this is the gist that I am trying to convey.
3. In the fourth para., the editor had edited the original conjunctions to show that water utility in the UK is a collective of management models. It is not true. My original sentence is constructed in a way to show the processes of management model reform from one point to another.
4. Also in the fourth para., the editor edited IBR as incentive-based regulatory, which is false. The IBR (abbreviation is removed from the article) is a specific policy in Malaysia of which it should be read as 'Incentive-Based Regulation'. You can read more about IBR in the Suruhanjaya Tenaga website or in many articles in newspapers.
5. In the sixth para., the editor had removed the abbreviations of all of Malaysia's energy policy. To avoid confusion, the specifics are as follows - large scale solar (LSS), net energy metering (NEM), and minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) equipment. You can find information about these LSS, NEM, and MEPS easily on the internet.
6. Footnotes aren't included in the article. So, if you are wondering about anything mentioned in the article, written below is the clarifications of the footnotes.

---

Footnotes:

[1] ‘We tried to find the coldest office in the Klang Valley. And you won’t believe the temperature we recorded’ – a social experiment featured on April 10^th 2017 in cilisos.my

[2] In regulatory terms, TNB is a public installation licensee for peninsular Malaysia. Sabah has SESB while Sarawak is operated independently by SEB.

[3] A natural monopoly is a type of monopoly that exists as a result of high fixed costs or startup costs of operating a business in a specific industry. Government vis a vis Suruhanjaya Tenaga, regulated the monopoly i.e. TNB to ensure the protection of public interest and sustainable competitive market environment.

[4] ‘Industry and Market Responses to Electricity Market Reforms’ public lecture in Suruhanjaya Tenaga, May 26^th 2017 by Prof Dr Ken Koyama.

[5] Energy mix is a combination of different energy sources to meet the demand of electricity. As of December 2017, Malaysia’s Grid System Operator recorded coal, gas, co-generator, and hydro contributions at 57.23%, 38.7%, 0.36% and 3.71%, respectively.

[6] AMI is an infrastructure of smart digital meter and wireless network to enhance electricity billing and improve demand-side management (DSM) of energy generation. Through AMI, consumers are able to micromanage energy consumption at home via recorded meter data reports. A pilot project of AMI has been successfully done in Melaka involving 1000 households and a selective nationwide rollout is expected in 2018.

[7] RE sources such as solar, wind, tidal and hydro are dependent on the Sun effects on the world climate. Intermittent availability disrupts the frequency of our national grid which could lead to national blackout if RE sources are not managed harmoniously.

Wacana Za'ba: Perangai Bergantung Kepada Diri Sendiri

Berkenaan gejala fikiran terpasung, Za'ba menjelaskan;

"Pendeknya orang-orang Melayu hanyalah menunjukkan pandangan yang buruk dan miskin sahaja rupanya pada tiap-tiap cawangan kehidupan. Orang muda-mudanya kebanyakan leka membuang-buang masa dengan kesukaan yang isa-sia, lucah dengan menjamu kesedapan syahwat dan hawa nafsu kebinatangan, tiada jimat dan cermat pada perkara wang dan belanja, dan tiada mengirakan untuk esok atau lusa, serta leka tonggeng balik dengan mencari jalan-jalan hendak bersedap-sedap dan bersuka-suka, orang tua-tuanya terpasung dengan kepercayaan bodoh-bodoh dan ketakutan yang bukan-bukan akan hantu syaitan, jin ifrit, pelesit manjangan."

Berkenaan pembaharuan pendidikan;

"Pelajaran hendaklah juga dijadikan 'kalimah syahadah' yang awal pertama sekali hendak dikirakan dan dilebihkan."

"Memada-madalah. Bangunlah segera daripada tidur kamu wahai sekalian ikhwan. Sanya telah kelamlah tipu daya kebodohan dan terbit cahaya pengetahuan. Tengok, lihat dan perhatikanlah apakah yang tidak diperbuat oleh kaum yang jaga itu. Meruntuhkan bukit yang besar-besar, membangunkan bangunan di padang yang rata, menjadikan lautan itu daratan dan daratan itu lautan. Padahal tidak bergeak ianya dari atas kerusinya dengan menggoyangkan kaki. Hanyalah digunakan telunjuk jarinya pada menyempurnakan segala kehendak kemudian daripada telah berpengetahuan ianya pada menggunakan tabiat barang-barang sperti yang dijadikan Tuhannya bagi faedah-faedah manusia di alam ini."

Wallahu'alam.

Dah lama tak update blog. Jadi saya ingin menebus kesepian blog ini dengan memberikan pdf percuma tentang kertas kerja Wacana Za'ba yang Jejak Tarbiah anjurkan pada tahun 2016. Selamat membaca!

Klik link file di bawah (jangan risau ini bukan spam)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/193ZonMBTAx42bg3KgRQQC_pHzJ3YfB8R/view?usp=sharing

Mahar vs duit hantaran

Assalamualaikum wbt! (excited bagi salam sebab rasa mcm dah lama tak update blog)

I was triggered to write about mahar vs duit hantaran when one of my friends tanya dalam usrah, "duit hantaran kita kira niat hadiah atau niat sedekah? Ke paksa rela? lol"

Ok firstly we have to be clear in mind that niyyat or intention is an important aspect of ibadah (hence the hadeeth of niat as the first hadeeth in the 40 imam nawawi collection of hadeeth). And secondly, we have to be clear about the distinction between mahar and duit hantaran.

To those that are getting married now, anda wajib tahu hukum beri mahar kepada isteri - ia wajib. Manakala duit hantaran pula - atau juga dikenali sebagai belanja hangus - merupakan adat masyarakat kita yang perlu kita raikan dan ia tidak wajib. Justeru, adalah tidak betul untuk kita sebut 'aku terima nikahnya dengan duit hantaran sebanyak yang berikut' semasa akad nikah jika fahaman masyarakat tentang duit hantaran ialah suatu wang belanja hangus. Malah, menurut kitab2 fiqh, hanya beberapa perkataan saja yang boleh digunakan ketika akad e.g. mahar dan mas kahwin.

Going back to the real question, maka niat apa perlu kita guna untuk beri duit hantaran? Niat terpaksa? Niat zakat? Hahahah.

It's grey. Tapi aku cenderung untuk mengatakan bahawa niat duit hantaran ini sebagai hadiah. Kalau niat sedekah tu untuk asnaf pula. Insya-Allah ada bahagian pahalanya jika kita ikhlaskan hati untuk memudahkan urusan penyatuan dua jiwa.

Duit hantaran is a foreign thing for me, to be honest. Kami orang melayu kelantan memang tak ada konsep duit belanja hangus ni. Yang hanya difahami dalam masyarakat kelantan ialah konsep mahar. Sometimes we think that it is absurd that the groom pulak is responsible to execute walimah at the bride's side. Kalau ikut adat kelantan, ibu bapa, bapa-bapa saudaralah yang akan berhabis untuk walimah anak mereka. Bukan pengantin lelaki. Malah, bagi sesetengah orang Kelantan, jatuh air mukanya kalau pihak pengantin lelaki nak bagi wang belanja hangus kepada mereka.

Now the next question that you may ask, ‘berapa jumlah yang paling okay untuk mahar atau duit hantaran?’

Well, according to Raheequl Makhtum, Rasulullah SAW beri 20 ekor unta betina as a mahar to Khadijah. Which, if translated into current value would easily reach RM100,000.00. Masalahnya mampu ke kau RM100k? Tak mampu noks. Sebab tu setiap negeri ada minimum amount untuk mahar dan Rasulullah SAW pun galakkan mahar yang rendah nilainya. Keypoint dia; ukur baju di badan sendirilah. Kalau kau tanya aku berapa jumlah yang ideal untuk duit hantaran, aku honestly tak tahu sebab orang Kelantan dan perkahwinan Baginda Rasulullah SAW memang tak pernah come across this concept.

“Apa yang Khadijah buat dengan 20 ekor unta yang Rasulullah SAW beri?”

I do not find any historical context to this question due to my limited reading. But we can correctly assume that Khadijah r.a. had ultimately used them in the path of Allah – assisting our beloved Rasulullah SAW in the early years of Islamic struggle. Do remember that Allah says in Surah An-Nisa’; the bride has total ownership to the mahar, but if the bride is willing to give part of it to the groom, then consume it with hanii’an marii’a (gratitude).

Dan kena ingat, fiqh juga ada membahaskan tentang pemulangan mahar dalam kes-kes cerai di mahkamah syariah. Contohnya jika si isteri dicerai dalam keadaan dia belum disetubuhi (technically the insertion of penis into vagina), si isteri kena pulang separuh mahar kepada suami. There are many cases more but I am not going into the details here. Blog ni bukan blog fiqh hahah. Tak perlu tahu, but it is obviously good utk org yang nak kahwin study dan hadam perkara2 ni sebelum kahwin.

“Boleh tak lelaki guna mahar isteri?”

This question has become more relevant now than ever, kan? Aku paham je korang kerja macam nak mampus, sacrificing many desires along your way for years – demi menyunting bunga di taman larangan. Lagipun mahar ni macam nasi lemak. Sepertimana nasi lemak, standard harga mahar pun naik exponentially walaupun graduate salaries tetap sama je macam dulu. Duit hantaran in 90s was like RM3k at graduate salary of RM1500. Now graduate salary baru RM2k tapi standard duit hantaran dah RM15k! Nasi lemak betul.

And yes, lelaki boleh guna mahar isteri dengan syarat isteri redha dalam suasana komunikasi yg harmoni. Kalau kau dapat bini yg tak memahami, aku bersimpati dengan kau. Bawa bersabar dan jangan jemu menarik isterimu perlahan-lahan dari neraka. Berkomunikasi dan berbincanglah dengan baik. In this age of austerity (this was the word for 2015 kan? Haha) and being thrifty, financial planning is a must, especially bila semua savings kau digunakan utk mahar.

Ada one of my friends that I knew yang guna mahar isteri untuk bayar downpayment rumah. Quite a smart move since renting constrains your cash flow and there are affordable government homes everywhere now. Ada yg guna utk honeymoon expenses, investment in banks, and support parents yg warded at hospital with hefty bills. You can obviously have many options to use the mahar to survive dalam dunia serba mencabar nowadays according to your preferences and circumstances.

One rule stays; allocate some mahar for savings is a must. And you must not necessarily share them planning details to your parents. Kadang2, generasi baby-boomers ni tak dapat terima hakikat bahawa mahar dah jadi a trust fund, dan diorang tak paham apa cabaran yg generasi Y hadapi dlm dunia kerjaya. So keep your mahar planning with your partner je. Perhaps bolehlah kongsi pengalaman amongst your close friends atau dalam usrah juga.

Wallahu’alam. These are all my opinions from my observations je. Semuanya bergantung pada niat kita mcm yg saya sebut dalam awal2 posting ni – that correct niyyah leads to ibadah, which then leads to Allah’s blessings. Both suami isteri kenalah ada basic financial literacy, and aim clearly to build your marriage with compassion and love. Amboi lovey-dovey je aku sekarang ni hehhh.

Alhamdulillah it’s T-20 days to my solemnisation ceremony insya-Allah. Semua benda dah hampir setel kot, kecuali bengkak kat mata aku ni je yg dah mcm kena buat chalazion surgery huhu. Doakan saya juga ya.

Umiku Guru

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2017/05/14/why-may-16-is-teachers-day-in-malaysia/

The article by the star above is quite interesting and it offers a lot of things to be debated. But let’s just hope that this blogpost gonna be a santai one, from umi’s perspective.

Umi is celebrated every year in May as a teacher, as a birthday girl, and as a mother. Tapi selalunya kitorang wish sekali harung je in a single occasion hahah. Umi’s gonna reach 50 next year, and as long as I can remember, she is a very dedicated (and tegas) teacher. The stories that umi told us were aplenty – about students, teachers, Bahasa melayu syllabus, and even gossips from the bilik guru pantry.

A story that I would like to share today is about umi’s transfer from SMK USJ 12 to SMK Alam Megah 2, Shah Alam. Umi requested for transfer some several years ago due to mobility reason (and also ehem the stress that the teachers had to endure in usj 12 ehem). Both schools are merely 10 km apart from each other, but boy, they are totally like 10 years apart.

Leaving USJ 12 for Alam Megah 2 is like entering a new Malaysia’s education situation altogether. I am talking about jurang Pendidikan here. The number of students who got straight As in the recent SPM exam is like heavens and Earth; 4 to 70 if I can recall correctly. There are even SPM candidates of SMK Alam Megah 2 who cannot read and write, let alone writing a whole essay. Only 2 students got A+ for Bahasa Melayu (including my little sister), and failing the said subject is normal in the school. Apatah lagi subjek lain kan.

SMK Alam Megah 2 students are mostly Malays. There are only a handful of Chinese and Indian in the school and yes you may guess it right, they are the top students there. The Malay students are like the Gempak Starz Under 18’s comic characters. They are wild, truant often, smoke in the toilets, scratch teachers’ cars, puncture their tires, vandalise school equipments, and use foul language even to the teachers that they hate.

They come from troubled families e.g. divorced single parent, fakir miskin, parents involved in gangs, and families hunted by loan sharks. There’s this one occasion where a student was caught not fasting in the blessed month of Ramadan. Umi enquired his action and the boy said, “ayah saya kat rumah pun tak puasa, cikgu.”

“Kenapa awak dan ayah awak tak puasa?”

“Sebab mak saya masak tengah hari.”

Handling students like these on a daily basis is indeed taxing. Umi being a lovely mother she is, often take extra care to approach them with empathy and not judging the book by its cover. So, it’s a different ball game altogether in this new school. Kalau dulu umi selalu fokus meningkatkan bilangan pelajar cemerlang dalam peperiksaan, kini umi lebih menekankan pembangunan modal insan.

If a teacher tries to inspire these kids to be a successful doctors and engineers (sebagai contoh), their responses are somewhat similar;

“Penat la cikgu belajar rajin2. Kitorang nak lulus je.”

“Saya nak kerja kilang kat belakang ni je.” (Note: SMK Alam Megah 2 is surrounded with factories)

“Tak payahlah paksa, cikgu. Cikgu pun tahu kitorang bodoh.”

“Saya insya-Allah sambung bawak lori ayah saya, cikgu.”

There are always a lesson to be learnt and reflected from these children’s stories, to be honest. It made us think about how well our country is progressing in terms of education equality and family’s welfare. SMK USJ 12 might be only 10 km away, but the set of challenges that these teachers are facing is truly humbling.

I am very proud of umi. She decided to stay at SMK Alam Megah 2 because she believes that these ‘unfortunate children’ need their second parents at school. Cuba bayangkan, alamat rumah ibu bapa ada didaftarkan di sekolah, tapi sebenarnya tiap2 hari budak tu balik rumah dan hidup seorang2 di rumah itu dengan adik-beradiknya.

From what we can observe, their emotional bank account is almost zero and that is one of the reasons some of them enjoyed staying at school and lepak borak2 dgn cikgu. Some of them even came at our house at wee hours sbb nak tumpang tidur sbb tak tahan dengan perbalahan ibu bapa diorang kat rumah. And yes, they slept in my room downstairs -.-

May Allah bless umi, and towards all the teachers in the world.

Teachers, keep your faith strong. Sesungguhnya, amal jariah kalian tak terhitung banyaknya.

Selamat Hari Guru.

Kecek 6: Bahaso

Baru-baru ni ambo ke kursus bahaso perundange. Saloh seore tenago pengajarnyo iaitu Dr Syed Nurulakla daripado UPM adalah sangat unik. Walaupun kepakare beliau ialah bide bahaso melayu, tapi beliau jugo mampu utk bertutur dale bahaso inggeris, mandarin, dan bahaso arab. Pado ambo, hal tersebut adalah super awesome.

Berbalik kepado tajuk blogpost kito kali ini, ambo teringatlah suatu peristiwo hok berlaku lebih kure 7 tahun dulu. Nok dijadike crito, maso kelik rayo di klate, ambo menghadiri walimah anok sepupu mek. Bulehnyo nok kato dunio ni kecik jah bbena, rupo-ruponyo anok sepupu mek tu ialah senior ambo di kyuem. Patutlah raso macei ‘eh supo rajing kkelih dio ni’. Haha.

Bilo ambo perkenal diri hok ambo ni sebenarnyo junior dio di kyuem, dio pun surprised. Pahtu dio tanyo, “eh buleh kecek klate kow?”

At that moment, ambo nge umi ambo pulok hok surprised, lol. “Buleh jah... kecek klate sokmo kito,” balas ambo.

To our further surprise, dio tanyo lagi, “eh tapi kei awok duduk di Subang?”

Pahtu ambo senyak jah laa padahal dale hati nok jah balah ‘doh tu apo bezonyo kalu duduk di London sekalipong?’. Kehkehkeh.

Kesimpuleinyo, ado jah ore klate hok tokleh brain/terimo bakpo ambo adik beradik buleh kecek klate walaupun kami ni branok di kolupo dan membesar di Subang Jaya. Malah, ado hok lebih bodo – toksir lasum nah dengar anok-anok dio kecek klate walaupun keduo-duo mok poknyo ore klate.

Ore-ore laguni umi ambo kato jenih ORE TAK SEDAR DIRI. Adapun tersangatlah rugi sebenarnyo kalu dialek turun-temurun tidok diperturun kepado anok-anok. Tak kisohlah bahaso gapo pung – kalu tak diguna mako bahaso tu akan pupus dan hile. Loloni pung, ado beberapo bahaso di dunio hok cumo ado soghe duo jah penutur. Kalu penutur tu mati, mako habih hile lah bahaso tu.

Pernoh tak demo jupo ore bukei klate hok buleh kecek klate molek? Ambo ado rama saing gini. Ado soghe tu dio asalnyo ore Perok bbena tapi kalu dio kecek klate, kito mesti akan kato dio ore klate. Punconyo sebab dio ado rama saing klate di uni dulu. So it somehow blends in slowly to her tongue.

Tapi ado jugok saing ambo hok tokleh lasum kecek klate walaupun mokpok dio berbuih nah kecek klate di rumoh. Jadi adik kakok, kade2 tu pengaruh saing di skoloh lebih mempengaruhi budok2.

Pengaruh kecairan otok pun penting jugok. Ambo maso kecik2 dulu, meme bebuih nah kecek English dengan saing2 di school. Tapi bilo kelik di rumoh, otometik pulok ambo switch ke klate dengan adik-beradik dan umi abah. Jadi adik kakok, ado budok hok buleh switch inter-languages, dan ado jugok hok otoknyo slow sikit utk kecek banyok bahaso.

Ultimatenyo ia bergantung pado kemahire dan kepandaie ibu bapo lah sebenarnyo. Haaa jadi loni ni kito akei masuk ke persoale baru iaitu ‘bagaimano membesarkei anok dengan Multilanguage skills?’

Kalu kito baco website http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-wong2/raising-bilingual-childre_b_9558006.html , ado 6 model according to research hok buleh dijadike pandue utk membesarkei multilingual children. Setiap model tu pulok bergantung pado kekangan hok ado dan researchers pun ado bagi suggestion utk setiap model tersebut. Cool gila.

Ambo adik beradik personally tak sedar pun ado model2 ni tapi hok paling dekat dengan pendekatei umi abah ialah bokali model nombor 2. Basically di internet pung meme ado banyok support group hok membantu ibu bapo membesarkei anok2 dgn banyok bahaso especially di US. Di Malaysia takdok kut sbb ramai parents hok gong hok nok anok2 dio kecek English sajo kahkahkah.

Ikut panda puok mg lah nok guno teknik/model mano deh. Oghe klate kato, ‘If there’s a will, there’s a way’. Pepatoh Arab pung ado sebut من سار على الدرب وصل 

Sekian. Kito jupo semula di sesi Kecek akan datang. Assalamualaikum wbt.

What to do after grad?

Cari kerja, obviously.

But allow yourself to relax for a while. Pesan murabbi aku dulu, “berkelanalah selepas grad. Ambil masa beberapa bulan untuk relax sebelum antum masuk bekerja.”

Sambungnya lagi, “bila dah bekerja dah beranak isteri nanti, antum akan menyesal tak gunakan peluang masa yang ada sekarang untuk berlibur.” Berlibur tu aku tambah sendiri. Haha. Tapi lebih kurang beginilah maksud ucapan beliau.

Berlibur tu tak semestinya keluar berkelana/backpack. Bagi yang kesempitan wang (sebab berjoli sakan tak ingat dunia masa zaman belajar), berlibur tu pun termasuklah berbakti kepada kedua-dua ibu bapa atau bercucuk tanam di belakang rumah atau membaca segala buku yang kita kumpul dahulukala atau melayan anak saudara ke zoo negara atau apa-apa sajalah. Yang penting, kita kena imagine unknowns yang kita tak sempat nak buat bila dah kerja nanti, dan buat unknowns tersebut semasa kita lapang.

[Nota: Unknowns adalah tertakluk pada kecenderungan eg. Hobi, dan kekangan eg. Kewangan masing-masing. Anda sendiri yang lebih tahu.]

Lepas aku grad, aku volunteer jadi fasi untuk program persediaan juniors yang akan ke luar negara eg. WOW, MOC. Tbh, aku ada merasa generation gap sikit apabila bergaul dgn juniors. Terasa tua bhai.

Kemudian, aku melawat sahabat2 di universiti (sebab aku konvo awal gila). Dapatlah merasa takjubnya berada dalam library UTP, UCL, dan macam2 lagi. Bertanya khabar, berbual ttg jurusan pelajaran org lain, berkongsi perancangan masa depan, etc. Semuanya tak lain tak bukan adalah utk membuka minda aku yg selama ni tertutup je dlm dunia engineering. LOL

Kemudian, aku melapangkan masa aku selama yang boleh utk bawa family jalan2. Asal weekend je keluar makan ke restoren best, main boling, tengok wayang, pergi library, melawat sanak saudara, jalan2 makan angin, dll. Mencari masa dan aktiviti utk dibuat pun merupakan satu jihad sbnrnya. Haha.

Kemudian, aku rajin2kan diri membaca segala peluang kerjaya dan post-grad studies yang ada. To prepare for the interviews and all, haruslah practice dan baca tips2 resume/interview yang ada. Aku apply je mana2 tempat yg kosong (tapi tak banyak pun sbb aku study electrical power sobs3) dan attend interviews sebanyak yg boleh supaya dpt biasakan diri ditemu ramah seperti artis.

Lo and behold, aku pun join lah graduate program under MAHB.

Maka berubahlah atur cara hidup aku yang selama ni carefree dan ikut suka hati aku nak bangun pukul berapa. For a few months, aku jadi zombie kapitalis – masuk 8.30 balik 5.30. Kadang2 tu aku dipanggil masuk kerja malam utk supervise installation sampailah lepas subuh. Penat dia Ya Allah taktau la aku nak describe mcm mana.

Antara perangai yang paling obvious apabila berada dlm dunia korporat ialah ego. Ada bos yang tahu je dia selalu kena umpat tapi entah kenapa bos tu tak nak pulak ubah sikap dan buang ego. Aku selaku fresh grad agak tak biasa dgn work culture ‘nak nampak hebat’ mcm ni, tapi lama kelamaan aku terbiasa pula. Macam-macam perangai manusia ya. Di pejabat aku hanya mampu diam dan follow the flow.

Amacam? Dunia korporat bunyi macam tak best kan?

Memang kurang best pun. Ramai dah yang keluar dan buat bisnes sendiri, termasuklah sepupu aku. Beliau founded Cotton Pines dan aku lihat beliau semakin sukses kini. Dan ada juga member ofis yang keluar dan fokus pada bisnes takaful consulting. Pun berjaya jugak. Semoga Allah terus merahmati mereka dengan kejayaan insya-Allah.

Tapi aku percaya kalau kita sabar dan berpegang teguh pada prinsip, insya-Allah suatu hari nanti kita dapat mengubah suasana dunia korporat sedikit demi sedikit. Ceyyy lewah jew. Bergantung atas kita juga untuk menukar negativity kepada positivity dalam ruang kerja. Berikut merupakan antara mindset yang kita boleh reset;

      1) Pergi kerja untuk belajar. Tak kisahlah belajar benda baru atau revise the same job scope, yang penting kita kena selalu upgrade diri agar menjadi modal insan yang lebih baik.

      2) Muhasabah diri. Fikir semula, “aku ni layak ke dapat gaji sebanyak ni? Adakah aku menyumbang kepada kenaikan GDP yang tinggi setara dgn sumbangan yang aku dah bagi?”

      3) Bersyukur. Jangan kejar wang dan pangkat. Malah wang dan pangkat akan datang kepada kita kalau kita selalu bersyukur dan perform productively.

            4) Kalau workplace tu stressful, cari platform to vent our anger and cool our composure. Contoh: gym after work, ambil cuti for travel, atau pergi makan. Yang penting, cari platform tersebut.

Aku ni macam dah lari topik je. ‘what to do after grad’ ni dah patut tukar jadi ‘reasons to not get involved in corporate world’. LOL. Malas aku nak taip buat post baru so aku rangkumkan sekali aje.

Jadi kepada adik2 yang baru grad, ingat pesanan abam ni (poyonya, haha). Lepas grad, relax dulu. Masa kerja nanti boleh je slot in the things that you want to do, tapi nanti kau akan tertakluk pada annual leave and commitments. Unless kau buka bisnes sendiri, maka hal itu lebih terbuka untuk anda. 

Dah. Sekian rungutan abam pada kali ini.

Assalamualaikum wbt.