Friday, May 22, 2009
Drive Thrus
I love Drive Thrus, not only Mac Drive Thrus but every drive thrus that you can find. In Singapore , i think only Macdonald has it. But when i was in the US for business or holidays, i always make use of them. Every Fast Food restaurant you can find there has one ( unless they are within the malls ) , Starbucks has it too , and even pharmacies.
I love it because i do not have to park the car to get what i want. I love it because you do not have to stand up to queue and think what you should do while waiting. I love it simply it is convienient.
Lets have more drive thrus in Singapore. * the nearest one to me now is the Mac at the Sengkang Sports Complex, if there is one starbucks there , i will surely go and buy a grande Mocha with no whip every morning! *
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
在摩托罗拉剩余的日子 : 134 days
A follow up to the opportunities that was presented to me 2 days ago.
The talent sourcing guy call KS called me again for referral and i decided to ask him for the job description so that i can forward to my friends or colleagues who might be interested. Upon receiving the email, i find that the JD fits what i wanted and decided to give it a shot myself. If i managed to get into the position , i got to ask my boss for an early release . Anyway that will matter only if i am offered a position. This morning i got another call from KS asking me about more details if i am technically competent , and if i am a high performer in the organisation and many other questions. Well my doors are still open to them at the moment
The IOS ( Internal Opportunity System ) is still available, the new boss , also happen to be called KS . I was curious who he is and decided to pop by and see if i know him "by face". For me, there are a couple of things i need to consider before i took up a new job . $$$is definitely one of them. Who you are going to work for and the people you are going to work with matters a lot too.
Although technically you cannot control if you are going to a new environment. But if i am doing a IOS , i will like to find out first. After considering all these i decided i will not be taking this position for now.
The main reason is as follows
Andy " I like to know more about the position available and its job description.
Do I do that before or after the IOS ? "
KS "you can get the brief JD from the IOS or we can meet to have a quick chat. The only problem is my boss is in this week and I am quite full in my agenda. Let see…"
He doesnt even want to talk to me! Makes me feel like i am desperate for the job. I will not forgo my severance for this. Nor will i close my doors and shut my windows before the sun sets.
I have my first meeting with my 2 new partners on our business plan. A lot of brainstorm ideas and overall , it looks exciting. Internet advertising is really a boundary-less investment and you can do tons of stuff with it. I setup google docs to stored our meeting invites and i am impressed with what google docs can do. I dont really have high expectations of this business partnership, but what i really want to achieve through this is to take something away in this 4 months from this experience. I am sure i will be able to do that.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
在摩托罗拉剩余的日子 : 136 days
1. Got an internal opportunity to take up the position of a Project Manager in the other sector. However i am still having reservations if i should seize that opprotunity due to a couple of reasons.
a. accepting the offer will means my severance package is gone. Though some told me is better to get a secure job than to get the $$$. No one can guarantee anything especially within Motoorla based on the current situation.
b. I am not sure if i want to seal up my own opportunites so early. Taking this offer now will laterally means i am not going to look for smoething else outside ( i can still do it , but no point since i wont have the package anymore if i quit )
c. I am reading up on Business Plans. You never know if your business ideas will end up giving you houses, bmws and 6 figure revenue.
2. Head hunting company called me for a position as a software manager in a MNC company. I told them i am only available in October. Didnt really tell them it was a retrenchment. THey thought i am under contract. Didnt have any more details on it, so i just sent them my CV
3. I am still in thoughts about doing my own internet business. reading up a lot and doing a lot of research. Wasnt really putting my chips that it will make it. But , all great ideas always come from crazy ideas first. I have talks with a couple of colleagues and hopefully we can form a partnership to dive deeper into this area.
Whether it is (1), (2) or (3) , it looks interesting. I still havent feel the "pain" of retrenchment though i am only left with 136 days. In fact i quite like my life now since i haev a lot of time to explore the various paths that i can take after Sep30.
Cheers
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
在摩托罗拉剩余的日子 : 141 days

.
Over the weekend , Lalla announced his resignation. For those who do not know who is Lalla, he is the corporate VP for Mass Market segment. In summary, he is my boss 's boss. the one who call the shots for this market segment.
There is a little commotion when he left, i expected that. He moved to Dell, i also expected that. We have a discussion in office about his resignation impact to our fate. Basically there wont be much changes. In fact , I think i am glad we already know what will happen to us , there is just too many changes happening in the organisation. With 6% market share only, lets see what miracles will happen to turn around this household brand.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
在摩托罗拉剩余的日子 : 147 days
Through K.T, i get to know that C.B. is also looking around for business opportunities. I spend an hour talking with him today. As he mentioned , the higher you are in the rank , the higher you are paid and the harder you will find to get a job outside especially in the current global situation. C.B. is looking at partnership and see if there is an opportunity to do something we can really call our own. I am quite interested in his vision and decided that well maybe i should not get myself tied to a job now first. Moreover Mrs Chan indicated a very strong interest to take a break in europe and states. In Fact she already done the planning and completed it for 12 days europe trip. Yippee!
Starting a Business isnt tough, running a business is the challenging one. If i dont try, i will never know if i will like it or not. Even though it fails, it probably will be a valuable lesson in life and i believe i will definately learn something out from that experience. I wouldnt consider myself a late starter. In chinese they call it 迟来的春天 . having been working for the past 9 years, i have gained enough experience to venture on my own and not too late to afford any major failures i hope. Giving myself 12 to 18 months of time span, even if it doesnt work out, i can still go out to look for a job , dont forget i will very soon be PMP and ITIL certified. Haha.
Maybe i should really start thinking about this seroiusly. A couple of actions i should start doing
1. Get the proposal template from C.B. and start working and identifying on "opportunities"
2. Get some good books on business proposals and startup.
I hope this isnt another "三分钟的热度".
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
你会如何决择呢??
在一个暴风雨的晚上。
你经过一个车站。
有三个人正在焦急的等公共汽车。
一个是快要临死的老人,他需要马上去医院。
一个是医生,他曾救过你的命,你做梦都想报答他。
还有一个女人/男人,她/他是你做梦都想嫁/娶的人,也许错过就没有了。
但你的车只能在坐下一个人,你会如何选择?
我不知道这是不是一个对你性格的测试, 因为每一个回答都有他自己的原因。
老人快要死了,你首先应该先救他。
你也想让那个医生上车,因为他救过你,这是个好机会报答他。
还有就是你的梦中情人。错过了这个机会。你可能永远不能遇到一个让
你这么心动的人了。
在200个应征者中,只有一个人被雇佣了,他并没有解释他的理由,他只是说了以下的话:
'给医生车钥匙,让他带着老人去医院,而我则留下来陪我的梦中情人一起等公车!'
每个人都认为以上的回答是最好的,但没有一个人一开始就想到。
小哲理:
是否是因为我们从未想过要放弃我们手中已经拥有的优势(车钥匙)? 有时,如果我们能放弃一些我们的固执,狭隘,和一些优势的话,我们可能会得到更多。
Monday, May 04, 2009
A Picture A month - April 2009
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Social Responsibilty @ the library
All the people going to the libarary need to hv their details scanned in case they need to be contavcted if swine flu is detected. Seems like this is getting nearer and nearer to us. There is a site that gives up to dates on the areas that are infected. You can find it here . http://www.swineflu.sg/
They even have a map that shows which area is already affected. This is the current outlook
What will you do if you have to be self quarantined for a week at home as part of being socially responsible ? Well if it is me, quaranting at home isnt really a bad thing since
1. I can work from home to get my work done.
2. I can finished up all my tvb series which i have been lacking behind the past few weeks due to Mrs Chan late working schedule ( i usually wait for her to watch the shows unless i cannot resist the temptation )
3. Play my Healmemoto . There are a lot of achievement titles i wanted to get but i didnt have time to do it
4. Finished my books. I am reading the Last Lecture. I still have 2 books in my shelves i havent find time to read ( Both by Sophie Kinsella )
5. Study for my PMP exam. The exam probably going to be in July. Time to get back into the study mood.
6. Work on my business plan. I havent start penning down those thoughts,but self quarantine means i can work on it
Staying at home probably means i need to cook myself or keep callling Macdonald for my meals. Also that will mean i got to think of other ways to continue my AHM training. Maybe round around the house. Haha.
What does Android 1.5 have to offer?
- Availabitly of onscreen keyboard - This doesnt really ring a bell for me since i still prefer the slide out keypad. Makes my typing easier. I tried the on screen keyboard on ipod Touch. No doubt it is better than the onscreen on my android ( the chompSMS has a onscreen keyboard that looks exactly like the ipod version ) , i cant really "feel" the typing.
- Video Recording! -> this will be moderate useful for me. I dont do a lot of video recording , but if there is one available and i need it , it will come in handy. And it allows direct upload to youtube which is a cool feature especially when you want to share it immedately after you have recorded it.
Home screen widgets And Live folders -> probably gimmicks and depends on what apps are written for it.
Copy & Paster within the browser -> Never really notice that 1.1 doesnt have this. I guessed i havent found the use for it yet. Haha.
Specific Date & Time stamp in call log - ANOTHER Thank God improvement
在摩托罗拉剩余的日子 : 151 days
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090430/bs_nm/us_motorola
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Training for AHM : Time to get serious
在摩托罗拉剩余的日子 : 153 days

The calm sea before the storm ? Motorola is expected to do the Q1 earning reports this week or early next week. We know the handset business is not going anywhere , and the company has decided to shift the focus to "smartphones" and prioritised America, China and Latin America market. The share price has been climbing steadily in the last 4-6 weeks. Does that indicate recovery sign ? or is just 回光返照 ?
The invasion of Swine Flu
1. It is worst than Sars.
2. It is believed to be originated from Mexico
3. One in three victimes does not show any symptoms.
4. The flu is most contagiuos 24 hours before any signs surface
5. The virus is discharged through saliva, nasal secretions and faeces.
Time for everyone to be socially responsible..
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
美食天堂 - 客家酿豆腐
My Letter to New Horizon
With regards to our phone conversation earlier this morning, thank you for arranging the change of classroom for today. Room 10 is much much better in terms of environment and furniture compared to Room 11. please continue to arrange Room 10 for our lessons for the remaining 3 weeks.
There are a few incidents which I hope you can work with your team next week because it has given us some very bad impressions on New Horizons
A. Jack Ooi
Being the sales consultant, i would expect Jack to faciliate us even after we "signed" the deal. it has been very disappointing. Jack fits the image of a "insurance agent" who just want to clinch the deal and forget about everything after that. On April 18th, i requested your front desk to contact Jack ( i was told he is out of Town ) anytime during the week to help us make arrangement for a change of class room. To date, i have not heard a single response from him. Jack is forever missing, maybe he is SO BUSY with his clients that I am not too sure. Considering we have signed education courses with New Horizons for about 30 students on an average of 2 courses each , I would expect at least some post-sales follow up. It could be your operations manager. Whichever the case, we are left stranded on our own figuring out what we should do when we are stuck with problems on the facilities.
B. Classroom facilities
Room 11 is not siutable to be a classroom for textbook teaching based on the following reasons
1. The table space is occupied by the CRT monitor and the keyboard and leaves very little space for the file and textbook that we are supposed to use for the lessons
2. The hydraulic chairs are creaking whenever you moved or lean back. This causes everyone to be focusing more on their sitting position rather than the class because the creaking noise is really very distracting to others. Some of the chairs seems like they have been around since 1980 if you look at the condition and the stains on it.
3. Because of the CRT monitors, students sitting at the back of the class has portion of their views blocked. The best way is to stick their neck up high or peak in between 2 CRT monitors.
C. Course Materials
We just got to know the course materials have a few chapters missing. Is this part of Sales Consultant Job Scope or Operations Consultant? Jeffrey Loo promised to fill in the missing parts to us by email today. I have yet to checked.
D. Receptionist on Duty April 25th.
When i got to find out that the classroom this morning is going to be Room 11, i was a little bit annoyed and requested your front desk for assistance. I find a few reasons she give me a little too hard to believe. This is what she has mentioned
1. I was not here last week , i am not sure who follow up with you. ( Am i supposed to remember everyone in the education organisation ? )
2. We dont have name cards of our sales consultants. ( I requested for Jack and Tracy name card, i was told there isnt any name cards on the front desk. I find it surprising. How do you handle walk in sales in that case? )
3. I couldnt get Tracy on the phone . ( But 30 seconds after she tried , i asked for the number and i got her the first time immediately )
All in all, it is a very bad experience. We are seriously considering if we should proceed with ITIL with new horizons or engage another Education provider. Jeffrey Loo is a terrific instructor , if the facilities and your service staff can treat us like REAL customers , I think the overall experience with New Horizon will be an enjoyable one for everyone. We are really expecting better facilitation considering New Horizons is a Nasdaq listed company, has 300 locations in 60 countries and is a world leader in computer training.
This email is sent by me but at least 15 out of the 19 people have the same thoughts.
I await for your response .
Regards,
Andy Chan
A dissatisfied PMP Student






