Ervan’s Weltanschauung

Note, it has nothing to do with Memoirs…

余計な物など　無いよね
yokei na mono nado nai yo ne
すべてが君と僕との　愛の構えさ
subete ga kimi to boku to no ai no kamae sa
少しくらいの嘘やワガママも
sukoshi kurai no uso ya wagamama mo
まるで僕 を試すような
maru de boku wo tamesu yoo na
恋人 の フレイズになる
koibito no fureizu ni naru
このままふたりで 夢をそろえて
kono mama futari de yume wo soroete
何げなく暮らさないか
nanigenaku kurasanai ka

愛には愛で感じ合おうよ
ai ni wa ai de kanji aou yo
硝子ケースに並ばないように
garasu ke-su ni narabanai yoo ni
何度も言うよ　残さず言うよ
nando mo iu yo nokosazu iu yo
君があふれてる
kimi ga afureteru

言葉は心を越えない
kotoba wa kokoro wo koenai
とても伝えたがるけど　心に勝てない
totemo tsutaetagaru kedo kokoro ni katenai
君に逢いたくて　逢えなくて　寂しい夜
kimi ni aitakute aenakute samishii yoru
星の屋根に守られて　
hoshi no yane ni mamorarete
恋人の切なさ知った
koibito no setsunasa shitta
このままふたりで　朝を迎えて
kono mama futari de asa wo mukaete
いつまでも暮らさないか
itsumademo kurasanai ka

愛には愛で感じ合おうよ
ai ni wa ai de kanji aou yo
恋の手触り消えないように
koi no tezawari kienai yoo ni
何度も言うよ 君は確かに
nando mo iu yo kimi wa tashika ni
僕を愛してる
boku wo aishiteru

迷わずに SAY YES 迷わずに
mayowazu ni SAY YES mayowazu ni

愛には愛で感じ合おうよ
ai ni wa ai de kanji aou yo
恋の手触り消えないように
koi no tezawari kienai yoo ni
何度も言うよ 君は確かに
nando mo iu yo kimi wa tashika ni
僕を愛してる
boku wo aishiteru

Say “yes”

Few facts.

You will not see me going for any Malay movies in the cinema. But I was curious. After all, it’s Afdlin Shauki and the usual suspects in the Malaysian comedy circle. And you know, I just love going to the Actors Studio for my dose of comedy….

And I was not disappointed. For once, our very own funny man is very creative in presenting the story. Perhaps, I am being bias, being a fan of Pulp Fiction. But, the effect was good, and the flashbacks, I just love the way they incorporate our own traditional style of storytelling in the flashback. I did not laugh as much as I wanted to, but, I came out from the cinema smiling….

There were some slapstick comedy, when Leman (Harun Salim Bachik) was supposed to attack Bob (Awie) with a knife, or the really tingling part of Leman swindling RM 100 off Bob when Bob only offered him RM 50. But some scenes were rather memorable. Na’a Murad with his Kelantanese English accent. And who can forget Wak (AC Mizal) telling of Uncle Wong that he can’t make up his voice to be like his daughter, Lina (played by the elegantly stunning Carmen Soo)? Silly really. But I wonder if the current 20 year olds would remember AC Mizal belting out to the tune of Fiona? Come on, admit it, I am sure you 20 plus year old remember that 4U2C….

But I am digressing. Apart from some technical glitches, I would say BPC is a good effort. After all, making comedy movies is quite serious, and tough work. So hats off to the gang.

It’s been a while since I watched a good comedy, a good Malay comedy that is. Was it 25 years ago, when I last watch a good Malay comedy in Mekanik? Like BPC, it had the who’s who in the Malaysian movie scene, it even had an appearance by the late Mokhtar Dahari.

….. the current state of affairs reminded me of a scene from Sepet…

“Why Malay movies are not like it used to be, back in the P Ramlee days?” (sorry, unlike Star Wars, I don’t remember the lines in Sepet”)

Perhaps, there will be a renaissance of Malay movies. I pray for it…. for a nation still needs its creative side for it to move forward….

On a side note, anyone know where can I get Mekanik, VHS/VCD/DVD format?

I thought I heard the announcement of “Abdullah Hukum” on the LRT as I was listening to James Blunt this morning. First of all, it is not the normal “Next Station, Abdullah Hukum” voiced out by Yasmin Yusoff. It is a male voice, and rather loud I must say….

And I continued listening to my music. The LRT train arrived at Abdullah Hukum station. After a customary 30 sec stop, the doors closed and it moved slowly towards Bangsar station. As we passed by the PETRONAS service station along Jalan Bangsar, I could have sworn to hear a man shouting “Bangsar”. The thing is, I took the train from Taman Jaya, and I only started to hear the announcements from Kerinchi onwards. On top of it, right after the voice of man saying “Bangsar”, I heard the normal announcement voiced out by Yasmin, “Next station, Bangsar”.

I looked around, and turn down the volume of my mp3 player. Standing next to me, is an old man that I normally see every now and then on the LRT. I looked around, everyone seems to be pretending to be minding their own business. I turned the volume up.

The train arrived at Bangsar station. People came in, and the train continued its journey to KL Sentral.

“KL SENTRAL!” The old man shouted. And I found the source of the announcement. I chuckled to myself. And the train stops at KL Sentral. Some of the passengers in the train, moved away from the old man. I stayed put. The doors closed, and this lady stood in front of the old man, facing me, and was very engrossed with her book.

“PASAR SENI!” The old man screamed right behind her.

And man, you should see her face when she heard that! And how I struggled to control myself from laughing. The old man might be a little bit crazy, but he certainly knows how to have fun… hahahaha

Never to come back….

Sometimes we take life for granted, thinking that the people around us will always be around. But, people come and go. They move jobs, move houses, move to different cities for many reasons. And some, leave us for good….

Gone, but not forgotten….

“Hi, Ervan? This is A*** from *S*****”

So that’s how the conversation started. At the end of the call, I found out, a certain high level delegation is contemplating to visit Kuala Lumpur. My gut feeling told me that this is more than just any visit.

On top of my head, I remembered that this company recently got a license to source a certain product into their country. I alerted my colleague who is in charge of the products. We prepared ourselves and did the necessary….

When the visit was finalised, my suspicion was correct. Among the delegates was a Vice President in charge of that certain product. By then, my colleague was ready, and I proceeded to welcome the delegation to Kuala Lumpur….

They left this morning. Despite the limited supply of the products, there is a good chance that we will try to meet their demand. After all, it is a promise from one CEO to another….

That gut feeling, not many are blessed with it. And it can be very useful if you learn to trust it….

I found this story, Jessie’s Glove, very enlightening.

I do a lot of management training each year for the Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our seminars is the retention of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants, “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a $19 baseball glove.”

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check.

When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

by Rick Phillips
as Appeared in Love at Work

Hope you guys enjoy it, and learn a thing or two from this.
Any Tom, Dick or Harry can join any company, and make the company good.
But, only the few diamonds in the rough, they are the ones who can make the company great….

Are you one of them?

I just can’t remember where I found that quote. But those three simple words hold plenty of truth. This week, it became more obvious. The character of people who reallly rock the boat.

I remember the Ah has I got recently. Excuses is just another word for failure. And only you can decide what you want to do, and not the world. Well, you can let the world decide for you, but then, you might feel frustrated, eventhough you are trying to hard to deny it.

Recently I made a decision. One, is to decide that I should decide what I want to do. Only me, and I must not let others to influence me. And Two, not finding excuses to keep me in my comfort zone, and of course preventing me from achieving what I want in life. I felt free, released from my frustration that I was not in control of what I want to do.

It takes courage to venture into the unknown, to overcome fear. I know that I got this fear of drowning. Always have this nagging feeling. According to many, it is a natural fear. But, it did not prevent me from doing kayaking, sailing, and of course, succeding in the training of helicopter underwater escape training (HUET). It’s just me overcoming my excuses, and believing that I can do it. By the way, the HUET was fun!

Destiny favours people with character. Destiny favours people who take action. Destiny favours people who doesn’t give excuses so that he or she does not need to do something that is hard. And your character can shape your destiny.

Applying it to the Malaysian Corporate and Public world, I can see why we are in a mess. Most of us, prefer the easy way out. All the time. And when things are not going their way, they tend to blame it on somebody. The favourite fall guy? The Government. For me, it’s a joke. Stuck with the Jaguh Kampung mentality, they rather grab whatever they can within their reach in Malaysia. And when the market demands to open up the competition. Or when the Government do not have the money to finance their projects. They cry foul, giving excuses on why it should not happen.

Frankly, I believe, I have made the right decision.

December 1998, in a Starbucks somewhere in Mercer Island, Seattle.

A Malaysian is interviewing a local white American for a position in his company, a leading company in it’s field in the state of Washington.

And I was there to witness it. And my parents too witnessed the same person interviewing some white Americans a couple of years before. My mum remembered it too well as she reminded me recently. The one thing that struck my mind is when she mentioned, her father, my grandfather was chased by the Dutch all the way to Johor from his village, Silungkang, in West Sumatra. Who would have thought, his descendant, will decide the future of some whites in America?

How different it was for my brother, and of course myself. My brother, despite his brilliance, got through university on my dad’s expenses. My dad has always believed in education, and rather pay for the education expenses. Unfortunately, when my turn came, he was broke, so I had to compete with other people for a place in university, and of course, scholarship. And I thought I deservingly got the scholarship, although, was rather surprised that I could not get the subject I wanted when others who did not do as well can get the subject that I wanted. But hey, it is Malaysia. Got to live with it…

At least my brother had the choice to do what he wants to do. As for me, being bonded means, I have to come back and serve the nation. Things look different for me and my brother. But recent events, will help me to be on the right track. It’s not being as, or more successful than my brother. But, by being in the right track of what we should be, successful Malaysians in the global world. I was trapped in this mentality of to serve the nation and then leave, not willing to pay back the money spent on me. But, it is a very detrimental attitude that I have, or rather had. What’s a small sacrifice in losing some money compared to learning to be a better person?

Survival of the fittest. Darwin is spot on. And to think, almost every day for 3 years, I walked down Gower Street, where he used to live, and where a building was named after him. And I never appreciate and learn what he is trying to say in his theory. Stuck in the mindset that I should always help others. But I forgotten the bit where I should help myself first, then I can better help others. Thank you Nazrin. You did enlighten me with the book “Revolusi Mental”, a book banned by that Old Man. I have yet to read it, but I’ve captured the jest of it. You have always guided me from our days in London. That’s what you do best.

The past few weeks, I had interesting lunches, dinners, coffees, and ice creams with both old and new friends. These people has helped me to see my vision clearer. And the Ah-has I get..

1. A little sacrifice does not mean I lose something, but I can also gain from it
2. Excuses is just another word for failure
3. Getting out of my comfort zone will put me in the deepest ocean. Even if I don’t survive, at least I learn a thing or two…
4. Only I can and should control my destiny
5. I can’t fail if I seek knowledge…..

Yes, I will be a succesful Malaysian…..(and yes, I do mean Malaysian!)

The following words help me to prepare for it…

“The pieces are set, the positions are known, the consequences thoroughly thought up, the intentions are obvious….

And now, we just have to wait, and weather the storm……”

I feel good.
It’s the new year, and I got a call from my friend saying that he got tickets for the Actorlympics at Actors Studio. Best of all, we got some discount, so it was cheaper. And even better than best, all nine were present for the last show of Actorlympics.

Afdlin Shauki, Harith Iskandar, Ida Nerina, Nell, Rashid, Jit Murad, Na’a Murad, Gavin and Edwin. And they really rocked the house. And they had a really good interaction with the audience, especially Edwin with one member of the audience, Kevin. They are totally hillarious. And Ida commented to Kevin’s girlfriend that she got a sick boyfriend. I have to agree, but then again, I can say, Malaysians are a sick lot indeed….hahaha

I felt really good after the show ended. Perhaps this is what I need. A good laugh to recharge myself, and to get ready for the new year….