Happy New Year!

This must be my longest break from blogging since I started. The truth is I have been on "leave", but kept getting distracted by work-related matters. And when I am not, I well, do other stuff I had initially wanted to during the so-called break.

The year 2008 will end in a few minutes, and looking back, I must say that it has been one helluva year. I remember around this time last year, I updated my Facebook's status message, fervently hoping that 2008 would be a personal watershed year.

Indeed it has. I moved from the only field I ever knew into a fairly new one. This could not have happened if not for the watershed March 8 general election, without which, ironic as it sounds, I would not have been an aide in Putrajaya.

And the past few months have been great - warts and all. It was hard to give up on an opportunity to peek into the inner workings of the government. And it is satisfying to be able to provide whatever little input I can muster. No regrets so far.

In 2008, I started blogging, realising something I had always wanted to do for some time. And I just found out that I was also named Malaysiakini's Newsmaker of 2008.

I do not know what to expect in 2009, but hopefully it will also be great. On a personal level, the first-born is going to kindie on Monday. It must be a rite of passage, not only for the kid, but also the parents.

The economy is a cause for concern next year, but hopefully we will all be able to weather it. And here's to a blessed 2009. Happy New Year everybody!

Toilet Break

I need to walk quite a bit to get to the common toilet in my office. With the air-cond temperature set quite low and me downing several cups of coffee a day, the walk to the loo can be quite a chore.

Sometimes, we are tempted to use the washroom in the Minister's room, simply because it's much nearer. The only access is through the boss' work area. Needless to say, we can only use it, if at all, when the boss is not in.

Like today, I left my chip-embedded name tag at home. Without the ID, I could not get out of the office area to get to the common toilet, which is located near the lifts.

I have always had this phobia about using the VIP loo at the wrong time. Sometimes, my imagination runs wild thinking that after being done with the toilet business, I would bump into the boss, who makes an unscheduled trip back to the office.

And in between wiping my hands with the handkerchief, hair nicely combed and the running WC water still audible, I would be too dumbstruck to explain what I am doing in the boss' room.

Ah... no reason to let such nightmarish ideas get the better of me. It's time to flush out such thoughts by NOT using the toilet in the first place.

Happy birthday to you, happy...

As I type this, it's still Dec 13 here in London, although it's already Sunday back home. And it's my second son's first birthday!

Should have posted this blog earlier, but well, "Happy Birthday, kiddo". Would have been better if I am back home to mark the occasion (we had a small do before I left). Well, work is work.

Will be seeing the family soon...

The Italian Job

Over the past few days, together with the boss, I visited several Italian corporations in Rome, Florence and Pistoia, many of them linked to a giant conglomerate in the country. Now, this is a mega-huge entity we are talking about, producing anything from helicopters, radar systems to trains. And of course, it is a government-linked company. It's not a very accurate comparison, but the size of that said parent company is like Malaysia's Gamuda, Maybank, YTL and Sime Darby put together. Ok, you get the picture.

Now, when you are that huge and well-connected in Godfatherland, that is a huge advantage - for the businessmen as well as the politicians or even the country. Picture this: a leader of a third-world country, say Zimbabwe, goes up to the Italian government asking for more landing rights for its national-carrier.

And the Italian official responds, (imagine using Marlo Brando's tone in Godfather): "Yes, we are interested to grant you the rights. But we also have top-of-the-class Italian helicopters you can use to weed out rebels in your own country. We can also do some technology transfer on your rail infrastructure."

Never mind the "technology" is 20 years old by Italian standards as long as the Africans find it to be state-of-the-art. Never mind the poor Africans will be paying through their noses for decades to come on equipment and infrastructure which may be decades old. Never mind the companies (and therefore, the country) rake in sinful amount of profits, some of it channeled into certain individuals' campaign funds.

Now, I am not saying that the Italian companies that I visited resort to such tactics. In fact, the conglomerate is rather respectable. I have not heard of anything of that sort. Neither am I accusing the Italian government of being underhanded. Italy has a vibrant democracy.

I am just saying that the politics-businesses nexus is a very powerful one. It's really a jungle out there where it is common to scratch each others' backs. It's brutal, unforgiving and downright dirty.

On the micro level, yes, similar things are happening in the country. Yes, it is not right. Yes, we are not alone. And yes again, such things are even taking place on a global level.

Caio!

Remote control, working remotely

I have no idea how Ministerial aides survived on working visits overseas during the pre-Internet and handphone days. I am now in Europe following the boss on an official trip and have come to realise just how dependent we are on technology.

Upon switching on my handphone after touching down in Heathrow early Saturday morning (local time), I received 13 SMSes, mostly about the tragic landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa. In no time, the boss was briefed and instructions were relayed back home through phone. In about three hours after we landed, we not only went through Immigration clearence, collected our luggage and checked-in to the hotel, some 30 minutes from the airport; my boss also posted a blog on the landslide.

The next day, still groggy from jet lag, I woke up to about eight unread SMSes (I usually put my phone on silent if I go to bed in a different time-zone from home). This time, it's about the bus accident near Tangkak, which claimed 10 lives. Besides a blog posting, the boss also conveyed instructions back home, besides being briefed by Ministry officials.

In between these, I also did some fire-fighting on work-related matters, all using my trusty but highly irritable Nokia E61i. Of course, these are all on top of following developments back home, sometimes piggy-backing on free wifi, whenever I can find one.

Today, colleagues in Putrajaya asked to pass to boss some super-urgent documents for his immediate endorsement. Couldn't have been possible without access to the Internet and a printer.

When you think about it, in the past, aides probably had to wait beside a fax machine to keep track of news back home. Or they would have to learn the Morse code or something.

But then again, being incommunicado with home, they probably had more time to visit the English countryside or tour the city ruins in Rome.

Flying off tonight...

I'll be on the move again. It'll be my longest-ever official trip (10 days) since I joined the Ministry of Transport.

It's a trip I look forward to, simply because I need the change in environment, a sort of "break", although it's a working visit. I have been working non-stop since June, save for a one-day's leave. And I work on many of my weekends too (but must thank my diligent colleague who had volunteered for many Saturday and Sunday jobs, otherwise I'd have spent less time with the family).

Hopefully, I can upload some postings from abroad (probably try doing it using my phone). I am gonna miss the younger son's first birthday on Dec 13 although we had a small family do last weekend.

ABCs in MOT

More than 6 months as a civil servant, I have come to realise that gomen-speak is littered with acronyms. It is something which one needs to get used to. Coming from a journalism background, I thought it wouldn't be all that difficult. How wrong I was.

Sure, some journalists have caught on to the commonly used ones. Like KSU (Ketua Setiausaha or sec-gen), or KP (Ketua Pengarah or director-general). The less common ones I took a while to get used to. They include SUB (setiausaha bahagian or undersecretary, a fairly senior post in the service) or PSU (Penolong Setiausaha). Others are like KPSU, PT or LO, which I am not bothered to translate.

I had no problems figuring out that YBM stands for Yang Berhormat Menteri but it took me a while to realise that YBTM referred to the Deputy Minister. I had to ask a colleague to find out that PUU stands for Penasihat Undang-Undang.

Sometimes, English acronyms are preferred, despite Malay being the official language. We hear "MOT" everyday, never "KP" for Kementerian Pengangkutan. I guess it due to practical reasons as the "P" can refer to anything from Pertahanan to Pelajaran. In the same way, "MOF" is more commonly used to refer to the Treasury, not "KK" which can also be taken as the Health Ministry.

Letters and internal memos are littered with these acronyms, making the documents appear more "official" than they already are. Even we staff are known by acronyms. Sometimes, we say: "SUSK has gone out for lunch", without even referring to the person's name.

True, acronynms are also used in the corporate sector, like MD, CEO or CIO. Or even in journalism (GE, EIC, OC). But the use there is not as widespread as in the civil service.

:-) father-son talk on a Tuesday morning

What a start to a Tuesday. Unlike the day before, today I feel like I can take on the world. It's amazing how a kid who just turned 3 last month can brighten up your day.

Me: Ok, daddy going up(stairs) to bathe already.

Son: Why?

Me: I need to go work mah...

Son: (sighs and complains) Why?

Me: So got money mah...

Son: But whyyyy?

Me: So that I can buy toy-toys for you and go piang piang (the kiddie amusement centres in shopping malls).

Son: Why?

Me: Because you happy (when I do those things).

Son: Ok.

Yessssss, I am so ready to take on the world.

&*#^!$ call on a Monday morning

Someone called the office this morning to ask about an event taking place next year. Here's the gist of the conversation:

Caller (with fake English accent): Good morning. There is this (XXX) transportation conference taking place next year.

Me: Ok, cool. This is the one the Minister is going to officiate right?

Caller: Yes, he is. You are the Special Task Officer. So, you are involved in planning for public transportation, right? It'd be great if you could come along.

Me: Yes, I usually follow the Minister for Ministry-related events.

Caller (sounding excited) : Great. We have this early-bird discount. Now, here's how it works...

Me: NO, I am not going to attend the conference proper. I'll just be accompanying the Minister, that's all.

Caller: Ohhh... (silence). Errr, if that's the case, lemme check with.... errr (rummaging through some documents) Mr Ong.. Tay.. Keart. Thank you.

What a way to start a Monday morning.... And I have no inkling how someone who doesn't quite know the Minister's name intend to get in touch with him.