There's a start time and an end time for everything.

One can have many reasons to start anything. For the love of money, passion, ambition, or the people around. However, there can only be one reason to end it all: the lack of motivation, or rather, [insert any of the antonyms for the word 'motivation' here]. Without motivation, a responsibility to stay has just become an agony too much to bear;

2 years have gone by...

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my being in this company and damn, I lost my eye candy yesterday. What a way to "de-celebrate". Anyway, I still believe one should not stay in one place for more than three years lest one gets mentally stagnant (unless you really have new things to learn), so I shall start planning what I want to do from now on. So what shall I do when there are so much I want to do:

1. Pursue a path in academic, perhaps in another field of study?
2. Start a small business, Food-For-Thought maybe?
3. Work in a different environment or a different scope?

Will I be despicable if...

I decide to quit my job during the start of a project due to the fact that I dislike the project manager? Actually, I sort of no longer like my working environment anymore and hope to plan my life differently. Can you tell me whether what I want to do is proper?

What is important is to be happy at work...

Thanx Alana for your encouragement and advice. A happy work environment with the right people has always been my top priority in finding a job and I will continue to use it as my search criteria. However, I am not going to lose to my present predicament just like that. I will still do my job while keeping my eyes and ears open for any opportunity. Feel free to drop me a note if you happen to have one for me...

I am extremely unhappy…

My work environment is no longer the same. Another colleague has left and she has been one of the few I can trust. The new project manager is micro-managing me and I no longer work as freely using my method. I want out…

“Trust No One, Not Even Me”

How much trust can you have for your manager? Apparently not much. In fact for my case today, I will say none at all. My counterpart at my company’s customer’s side has been a nice friend and she had told me some news regarding her employment and work environment. I know the news were given in confidence. However, when I had to inform my marketing manager about her resignation (as it will affect a project we are working on), the manager actually wanted to call her immediately to query. I let slipped the news to the manager in good faith that the manager can be prepared. But the result was that I was made to look bad. The manager’s character is definitely flawed and I swear I won’t lift another finger to help unless ordered to. Now my problem is how can I make up to my friend…

It's so unfair!

I admit I haven't been handling the project well but to say that I haven't been handling the project properly is so unfair. How would I know what is proper when I don't even know what to do? This kind of project is totally new to me! I don't know what are the processes and deliverables needed in a testing project and then expect me to give you whatever report you want just like that? Said I should have gone and asked people but how was I able to ask without the slightest idea of what and who to ask? Idiotic...

What constitute happiness at work?

I often came across this question, most of the time asked by myself. Finally, I am able to come up with a pseudo-formula I am satisfied with. It's a bit hard to explain in words so I have drawn the following diagram to answer those who asked this question.


Work Happiness = People + Environment + Job Scope

People: basically refers to colleagues and supervisors here;
Environment/Location: the morale and spirit in the office as well as physical distance and place;
Job Scope/Work Nature: concern learning opportunities and exposure to new knowledge;


Well, you must have by now called me a hypocrite or something. I know, there is no mention of the "most important" component called "money" in my diagram. Don't worry, I didn't forget it. I just feel that its importance pales when compares to the above three after a certain point.

Money is the ultimate criteria when it's at the amount you need to survive. I still need to pay for my bills and loans so I won't want to work if my job can't pays for them. However, I don't believe there is a high enough amount of money that can compensate for the lack of any, and definitely not all, of the three components.

Off-site meeting

I have just reached home about two hours ago, having been in my company's off-site meeting held in Sofitel Palm Resort, Johore Bahru, Malaysia. We arrived there the day before to stay overnight in order to start the meeting early the following day.

The meeting was an annual affair for employees, especially 'blur' ones like me, to listen to the management talk about the company's current status, future expectations, and strengths and weaknesses. There was also a session on motivation of individuals in a team.

Though the off-site meeting was held on a weekend and was exhausting, it was nonetheless necessary for the company to communicate important information to the employees. Besides, we were rewarded with an environment away from the office that was conducive for the employees to bond.