My Dad and I

I sometimes wonder about relationships… I’ve had many good ones and a few not so good ones. But these days I’m beginning to think a lot about my relationships with the people who matter most of all; my family.

Friends come and friends may go. Friendship is something that is chosen, but when it comes to family, you really have no choice. You have to love one another whether you like it or not.

Today, I’m going to start with my daddy!

I often try to recall my first memories of him, but I’m not too sure. He was always “going into the jungle” for what seemed like weeks on end. He used to be a land surveyor and worked for the Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB). As such, we were normally stuck in some remote town or village and only had mum for company.

He took us all over Sabah! Pamol, Tawau, Sandakan… I also remember a stint in Miri. But this mostly ended when we started school. Tawau and finally Kota Kinabalu were the cities we stayed in most.

In Tawau, he spent more time with my sisters and I, teaching me things from public speaking and math to setting up a cocoa plantation and to do sales and marketing. I always tried very hard to make him proud though he never seemed to be.

Song for my dad…
I've never been

The one to raise my hand

That was not me

And now that's who I am

Because of youI am standing tall

My heart is full

Of endless gratitude

You were the one

The one to guide me through

Now I can see

And I believe

It's only just beginning

[Chorus:]

This is what we dream about

But the only question with me now

Is do I make you proud

Stronger than I've ever been now

Never been afraid of standing out

Do I make you proud

I guess I've learned

To question is to grow,

That you still have faith,

Is all I need to know,

I've learned to love,

My selfish part of me,

And I've learned to

Walk on the road I believe.

Everybody needs to rise up

Everybody needs to be loved

To be loved

Everybody need to rise on

Everybody needs to be loved,

to be loved

This is what we dream about

But the only question with me now Is do I make you, do I make you proud

This is what we dream about

Never been afraid of standing out

Do I make you proud

Stronger than I've ever been

Never been afraid of standing out Do I make you proud

Do I make you proud

If there is one thing I can safely say I know about my dad is the fact that he has always loved me very much. Even when my mother revealed deep dark secrets about me, it still did not seem to change the way he feels about me. I guess I’m very lucky to have him as my dad!

My Destiny!

Can you tell my race from this photo? Am I Malay, Thai or ...? This is the question people always ask me. They are always puzzled when they notice my name; Brendan Wong. Chinese? No, he can’t be. But then again, the minute I start to speak to them in Mandarin, everything is laid to rest.

Mandarin! If there is one thing that I am grateful to my parents for, it would be the fact that they insisted I go to a Chinese school.

Oh! I did not always feel this way! I grew up in an English speaking home. At the age of seven, I was sent to Primary One in a Chinese school. Tawau’s Sin Hwa Primary. Imagine the horror of being thrown into an environment that was totally alien to me.

I would beg my mum to send me to a national school but she insisted that it was for my own good. I really did not see it that way then. I was an idealistic Malaysian who thought that my destiny lay in this country (tanah tumpah darahku). I naively thought that I was a total citizen and that I only needed to know Malay, and maybe a little English to communicate with those who did not know "my" language. This was way before China had been accepted into the global community and way before communal politics of the Peninsular infiltrated ours. I stupidly thought we were all equal!

Fast forward to this day, the leaders of my country have forced me to accept the fact that I am a Chinese who is a "citizen" of Malaysia and I have to accept “ketuanan” (the mastery) of another race. (I shall not go into this here). I am however so glad I got the basics to accept my destiny of being a global Chinese.

I had six years of Chinese instruction before happily immersing myself into the national secondary school curriculum. If I could turn back time, I would have continued my secondary education in Chinese as well. I’m today re-learning the language of my ancestors. And I am determined to master it. For I am after all, an Overseas Chinese who happens to be Malaysian right now. This is my destiny!

I'm Back!

Boy! I had no idea so much time has passed since my last blog entry! I had all but forgotten that it existed until a friend of mine reminded me of it. So, yes, here I am again.

Today, I was listening to some very old songs and very new ones. Madonna and Mariah Carey have both released new albums. The fact is, I grew up listening to them. They along with Kylie, Debbie, Tiffany and Whitney provided the soundtrack to my life.

Today, I listened to Whitney’s Greatest Hits! You know what? No one else has such an excellent voice as the Whitney of the eighties. Yup! Not even the Whitney of today. It’s sad to see how drugs and booze robbed her of those irreplaceable vocal cords.

I was listening to “the greatest love of all” and it brought back memories of my own short lived singing “career”! Can’t believe I was able to sing! Well, that’s one dream I think I have sort of given up on. I don’t think I am ever going to be an accomplished recording artist now.

It’s funny how our goals and aspirations change with time! Apart from producing an album, I have achieved every other goal an ambition of mine. Now, I only need to put up new goals.
My motto now is simply “to achieve total happiness in everything I do”. To a large extent, I’m living my dream. I now want to change my motto “to make those around me happy”! Difficult! But hey, who’s going to stop me trying?

Wind Beneath My Wings

Aucland

I recently had the pleasure of going on a fantastic vacation! I went to Auckland in New Zealand.

Auckland is quite a nice place. The people here are quite friendly, I mean if you compare them with the people in Russia. However, I must say that I found the people here less friendly then the people of Australia.

New Zealand is a beautiful country especially if you are into nature and breathtaking sights and sounds. This is also the home for some EXTREME sports. But, if you know anything about me at all, you would know that I am a city boy! I grew up very close to nature and I think I’ve had enough for one life time.

Auckland for me was refreshing and relaxing. It was also extremely boring. I spent a lot of time browsing the three big bookstores there. I spent almost three days at Borders! Yes, I know, I’m crazy!

But I did go to Rotorua. Rotorua is the most popular and, inevitably, the most commercialised tourist destination on the North Island. I visited some of the most energetic thermal activity in New Zealand, saw bubbling mud pools, gurgling hot springs, and gushing geysers. I also got to see some interesting traditional Maori ceremonies.

Back Home

Yes! It’s been a while since I last updated this blog. The reason? Well, I was busy moving back home! No, not Kuala Lumpur, but the place I grew up in – Kota Kinabalu! I finally too the leap and left the comforts of my job of 5 years at the Dorsett Regency Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. A decision that was so difficult and yet so easy!

It was difficult because I had grown to love my life in Kuala Lumpur. KL offered me everything I ever wanted, excitement, comfort, convenience and friends. Leaving the home I made was particularly difficult. I had renovated and decorated my condo with everything I wanted. Just imagine, TV in the bathroom, radio when the shower was turned on… I had a tough time giving up my gold fish and my dearest dog CYRON. I went out of my way searching for good homes for both! I was lucky as I found both.

Leaving the Dorsett was also very sad! I had spend 5 of my 10 years in KL working here. I was now able to do my job blindfolded! I knew the product, its strength and weakness better than anyone. I loved my boss, my colleagues and my staff. Leaving all this was so difficult!! However, life gets boring when complacency sets in, and this was something I did not want to allow happen to me.

So, I left! I took up a great offer to work in one of Malaysia’s premier beach resorts – the Nexus Resort Karambunai in Kota Kinabalu. http://www.nexusresort.com/ I’ll tell you more about my life here in KL next time.

Sydney

There are many great cities in this world! Some I love more than others. My favourites include London, Paris, Rome, Honolulu and San Francisco. Australia, however has some of my absolute favourites, these include Perth and Sydney.

Melbourne has retained its position as the best city in the world to call home. Often derided as Bleak City by Sydneysiders, Melbourne topped a survey of 130 cities, narrowly beating out the other four Australian capitals surveyed - because its weather rated the best. Sydney lost ground because its crime rate was rated on a par with New York and London.


The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey ranked Melbourne, Vancouver and Vienna as the best cities for expatriates to live, with Perth fourth and Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney equal sixth.

The other Australian cities were all given a two for climate, while Adelaide also received two for housing, Brisbane and Perth scored two for transport and Sydney for its crime. Port Moresby received five for crime and an overall score of 80. While Perth was given an overall mark of 1.1, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney scored 1.2.

The heightened terrorist threat only had a minimal impact on western cities, even those in the United States, largely because of newly developed security measures.

The highest ranked US city was Honolulu in 19th on eight points, while New York was 51st with 16 and Washington was the lowest of 16 American cities in the survey at 57th, mainly due to a higher risk of terrorism giving it an overall score of 19.

London was equal 45th, along with Los Angeles, Madrid and San Francisco.

Kuwait fell the most places, dropping from 87 to 97 because of the war in neighbouring Iraq, while Harare suffered the greatest actual drop in living standards as a result of ongoing unrest and slid eight places to 118.

I Love My Dog

His name is Cyron!!! That's right. Why Cyron? Well, it was the name of my very first dog! I’ve always loved animals. Dogs and cats in particular! I’ve always had a dog while I grew up. My first very own dog was Cyron. He was the son of my mother’s dog which she named Lassie. I had so much fun with Cyron till it died. A really sad day in my life.

Later, I got another dog. Its name was Smokie. Smokie was a sausage dog. Oh! How we all loved Smokie. Even our “mother” cat loved it. Believe it or not, but mother cat would actually nurse Smokie! It was so small and cute and would always fall asleep on my lap. Smokie did not have a very long life, our bread delivery man ran over it with his van.

My father, not wanting to upset us, told the delivery man not to tell us (the kids) about it. However, the following week, feeling guilty, he brought us another dog and apologized for killing Smokie. What followed was loud and sorrowful mourning. We named the new dog “Hai Joo” After the bakery that made the bread. Mother cat was so excited to see Hai Joo, thinking it was Smokie! Poor, Hai Joo, as soon as mother cat smelt it, her clows came out and she attacked the poor dog.

Now, I have Cyron. My dear Cyron. Cyron is a miniature schnauzer. It was a gift from my dear friend Alvin. Cyron is such a good dog!! He lets me bathe him all the time and does as he is told. I truly love my new dog. I’m writing this blog all the way in Sydney and I miss my dog so much!! There is actually something I miss much more, but I guess I will not be writing about it here!

Filipino Culture

What is Filipino hospitality? I have often asked myself this question. People always talk about how friendly and hospitable these people are. I was indeed fortunate to have experienced it first hand! Yes, in general, the people in this land are extremely friendly. On arrival in Manila for our transit to Davao, I had asked the transit counter girl a few questions with regards to the procedure of our transit. Later, as I was in a Q waiting for immigration checks, she came running looking for me. The reason? She had given me some wrong information and wanted to make sure I got the correct information. I was impressed! The immigration officer on arrival was also very friendly and nice. I was quite sure that I was in for a good time!

Throughout my stay though, I found that people in general are friendly, courteous and helpful. This is especially true in the service sector. People here don’t seem capable of loosing their temper. They are always so calm and collected, even under extreme pressure! However, I must say that once in a while you do get the rude and less courteous person.

Point in note was my departure at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Both the lady who collects the terminal fee and the immigration officer bordered being simply rude. After being in a country where a smile is just a glance away, it was painful to look at the sour faces of these two ladies. When I had finished, I thanked them and they both pretended to not hear it! Well, maybe I’m jumping into conclusions! There is a possiblitity that they both did not speak English and had no idea what I said. I was just reading an article in the Manila Bulletin that talked about the declining standards of English in the Philippines and how it was getting increasingly difficult to find staff who were fluent I the language. I guess the two sour pusses were simply under a lot of pressure being in a place where you are expected to be able to speak English fluently yet not being able to understand a simple word like thank you. Oh! How my heart goes out to them!

Philippine Airlines

The Filipinos are world famous for their hospitality. During my long trips to the Middle East, I always look forward to being served by a Filipino service staff. They are always friendly and efficient. And more often than not, mistake me as one of their own.

As such, you can imagine my excitement to learn that I was going to be flying Philippine Airlines for my trip from Kuala Lumpur to Davao via Manila!

The flight started out pretty much the same, we had the usual boarding announcements requesting families with young children to board. I quickly got hold of my Friend Suan, and told her, “let’s board my overgrown daughter!” So we were the first to board. I was looking forward to being greeted by beautiful Filipinos on board the aircraft. To my utter disappointment, the crew turned out to be a bunch of elderly and overweight people. However a sweet but slightly plump stewardess happily welcomed me on board.

I found something very interesting on the flight. A senior stewardess and a tall and quite attractive (but slightly overweight) steward seemed to have a serious attitude problem. You simply had to see the look of utter disinterest on the steward’s face as he did the safety demonstration. He seemed more interested on what was happening outside the aircraft. He kept staring outside the window. The senior stewardess on the other hand looked more like a school headmistress than a stewardess!

To be frankly honest, there was nothing really wrong with this flight! Philippine Airlines is in fact so much better than many airlines in this world. During the domestic sector between Manila and Davao, the service onboard had improved tremendously! In fact the age and weight of the crew had dropped substantially as well. The problem is, I compare every other airline with our very own Malaysia Airlines. I travel a lot, and till today, I have yet to find an airline better than Malaysia Airlines.

I had the fortune of flying Philippine Airlines again from Manila to Davao and then back again to Manila. My perception of the airline this time totally changed. The crew were young, good looking and seemed to go out of their way to make our journey a pleasant one. A few drawbacks for the airline however was the fact that no inflight magazine or any reading material other than local newspapers were carried onboard. It’s times like these that I truly appreciate the little extras we get on Malaysia Airlines. The food on this domestic route too left a lot to be desired. The meal was served in plastic bags and comprised a bun, peanuts and chips. Really pathetic!

Traveling

Traveling! I both love and hate it! There are two types of travel I do, one is for work, the other for leisure! I’ve always loved to travel! Oh! the thought of flying, visiting new places, eating new types of food and most of all, staying in a “luxurious” hotel room. I was so glad therefore when I landed a job that provided me with ample opportunities to Travel.

My first “real” job, (by “real”, I mean a job I truly loved and wanted to keep.) was with Thai Airways International as a Passenger and Cargo Sales Representative. I was truly proud of my job! I had always wanted to work for an airline simply because I loved planes and the romance of flying.

While with Thai, I would fly off to Bangkok at east once a year for training and many more times for short holidays. Taking a plane was almost like taking a bus. I had a wonderful time working for Thai. There was absolutely no office politics. In fact we lived like one big happy family! It was a really sad day for all of us when it was announced that Thai would stop its services to Kota Kinabalu.

I sadly left Thai and went to work for a credit card company for another two years before landing a job with Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort. This is where I truly started traveling. My first destination was Hong Kong.

Three years later when I joined the Fairlane in Kuala Lumpur, I started traveling more extensively to Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore, Bangkok and Berlin! Today as Director of Sales & Marketing of the Dorsett Regency, the first half of my year is always spent traveling. The ASEAN Travel Forum, this year in Davao, Philippines in January, Australia in March and almost the entire Middle East for more than a month in April and May. Love it? Well, yes and no. I do love meeting new people. However, I do not enjoy the long flights in economy class, immigration, Customs, Security and living out of a suitcase. My waistline also constantly expands on trips like this.

Well, This Monday, I’m off to Davao and then on to Manila! I’ll keep you posted on what I think of these places.

School part 2

So, everyone hated me… Yes, life had turned into a nightmare overnight! The only thing I could do was to totally avoid everyone. I started going to school very early before everyone. At recess, I would rush up to the school library and lock myself inside the librarian’s room. After school, I’d wait for everyone to go home before leaving! This was the darkest moment in my life. I had no idea what to do. My only “friend’ was my classmate James. The few other friends I had in class totally avoided be outside the classroom. I did not blame them.

Things however started to change when I decided to stare my fear in its face. What I did next would surprise you! The following year (form 5) I ran for School Parliament Chief Minister (School Council President)! I knew I would never win. I used the campaigning period from class to class to actually eat a large slice of humble pie. I actually apologized for my arrogance and outburst the previous year. You know what? It worked!! I actually won a few seats and got about 30% of the votes. There were three of us running and I got more votes than the third person! I guess, I was finally forgiven. The name calling had stopped. I learnt to smile a lot. Most importantly, I was finally able to walk around school with my head no longer between my legs!

By the time I was in form 6. Everything had changed. I was chosen as Minister of Information! Basically, I was in charge of all the school announcements and the weekly school assembly. I mastered the art of crowd control without resorting to scolding or name calling. Today, my mastery of the art of public speaking, largely stems from the lessons I learnt here at La Salle.

I enjoyed form 6 thoroughly! I had the time of my life here! Realizing so many of my dreams, including; Editor of the school Magazine, President of the Career Guidance Club, founding the school Radio station, winning the school talent quest – Bakat La Salle and most importantly made some lifelong friends here including my best friend!

School

Someone once told me that I should enjoy my childhood and school because it would be the happiest time of my life. That thought made me miserable! Why? I hated my childhood and I hated school.

I was the only boy in the family until I was thirteen. I grew up in Tawau. In those days, Tawau was this little town in Sabah. Now it is a very big municipality! My dad built us a very nice wooden house on stilts in a quaint little village not too far away from the town centre. It was a lovely home with green creepers climbing up to the roof and then cascading down providing the home with a lovely natural canopy. It was built next to the Kuhara river. Later my dad did some expansion work and built an exercise cum yoga studio below the house. I had a lot of fun in this house.

Yes, I had a lot of fun. The sad part of it was that I had to have all this fun by myself. My mum would never allow me to play with the neighborhood kids. The reason? She did not want me to pick up “bad language” or play in the river like the other neighbor kids. I had quite a bad start in learning social skills.

To make matters worse, I was sent to study in a Chinese school where everything was taught in Mandarin. I hardly spoke any Chinese in those days. This, coupled with my poor social skills, forced me into isolation. I never made any friends until I was in primary six, by which time, I had already mastered Mandarin.

By the time I went to Secondary school, language was no longer a barrier. However, my social skills were at its all time low. I was very self absorbed and thought of myself as being better than everyone else. To make things even worse, I changed school secondary school four times! From Tawau to Petaling Jaya to Kuala Lumpur and then back to Kota Kinabalu.

Ask me now about my school life and it is all a blur. However, I must add that I had the best education of my life while in La Salle Secondary in Kota Kinabalu. This was the first place I learned to eat humble pie. The story is quite interesting…

When I was in form four, I was given the opportunity to organize the school English speech contest. I put in a lot of effort in organizing the event. I also represented my class in the contest. While delivering my speech, the entire school gathered in the assembly hall was not paying attention. Instead the jeered and booed. Half way through my speech, I stopped and scolded everyone. I told them that the school hall was not built for animals and if they wanted to make animal noises, they should step outside and do it. Then I calmly continued from where I stopped in my speech.

That day was the start of my learning curve… I won the speech contest but also won the wrath of the entire student body. In one short day, I had gone from a relatively unknown to the most hated student in the school. Everywhere I went, fellow students would chant “animal”!

How I overcame this? Stay tuned….

Soong Mei Wen

Her name is Soong Mei Wen. I first met her in lower six. There was really nothing special or outstanding about her. She seemed quite plain and to be frankly honest, I never really noticed her. But when I finally did take notice, it was clear that she was an outstanding person.

I the days of yore, I was not a particularly “liked” person. It’s only in the last ten years or so that I discovered that I was a self centered, manipulating person that was only nice to another person when there was something I could get from them. Of course, I still am very much this person. However, having realized this, I consciously correct myself and try very hard to think of others before me and be nice to veryone unconditionally. But this is a whole other story that I may write about another time.

To be frank, I never truly had a real friend (as if its such a big surprise) until Mei Wen came along. She was the first person who truly understood me and accepted me for who I really am. She has stood beside me even when it was not the “cool” thing to do. She was and still is the person I can simply pour out my heart’s contents without fear of being judged.

Micheal Jackson’s Ben. This is one of my all time favourite songs. I think this song embodied true friendship perfectly. The words go something like this…

Ben, the two of us need look no more

We both found what we were looking for

With a friend to call my own

I’ll never be alone

And you my friend will see

You’ve got a friend in me

(you’ve got a friend in me)

Ben, you’re always running here and there

(here and there)

You feel you’re not wanted anywhere

(anywhere)

If you ever look behind

And don’t like what you find

There’s something you should know

You’ve got a place to go

(you’ve got a place to go)

I used to say, I and me

Now it’s us, now it’s we

(I used to say, I and me)

(now it’s us, now it’s we)

Ben, most people would turn you away

I don’t listen to a word they say

They don’t see you as I do

I wish they would try to

I’m sure they’d think again

If they had a friend like ben

(a friend)

Like ben

(like ben)

Like ben

You know, I’ve always felt that Ben would be the song Mei Wen would dedicate to me. She’d change the words to Bren, most people would turn you away. I don’t listen to a word they say. They don’t see you as I do, I wish they would try to. I’m sure they’d think again if they had a friend like Bren. Yes, she was the one who stood by me when others would not. But seriously, I have been so lucky and blessed to have a friend like Mei Wen. In life, very few people get such friends. I’m so happy that I found mine! And you know what, I wish you will find yours too!

Oh! How I hate dentists

I can’t really remember the first time I visited a dentist. My only recolection is pain, pain and more pain! Oh yes, I hated my dentist. In the olden days, all they ever seemed to want to do was pull your teeth out!

I realize today, that a lot of my teeth problems stemed from sheer neglect when I was a kid. I remember a period when I got by without brushing my teeth at all! Oh, what a fool I was!

I started really taking care of my teeth when I was about fourteen. By then, I already had a mouth full of silver fillings! And guess what? I still hated my dentist.

My first serious tooth mishap saw me having a tooth extracted due to a terrible tooth infection.

I got my first bridge then and had "so called" perfect teeth for a little while. However, the day after Princess Diana died, I fainted (nothing to do with her death) in the gym, split open my chin and broke another tooth! Sigh! Till today, I have yet to mustered the courage to undergo another bridge.

I have been seriously thinking about it lately, and i just might go for it! My dentist today is Dr. Samuel Tseu. Believe it or not but this doctor is a childhood friend! Come to think of it, two other classmates of mine also became dentists.

Samuel was not even in the same school as I. In fact, I knew his sister before I got to know him. During my school days, I always represented my school in public speaking contests, and Samuel’s sister always competed against me. She always won! (Oh! How I hated that). I never got a chance to beat her. Her brother, Samuel however was a whole different story. I managed to beat him all the time! Ha ha! So, that’s how I got to know Samuel.

Until today, we don’t really spend too much time together, but when we do, I feel I can totally empty my mind. We seem to always be on the same wavelength! I always wonder why we don’t spend more time together. Today, Samuel is an accomplished actor and singer. Plus he is also my dentist.

So, do I still hate dentists? Well… maybe not all of them!

I Should Be So Lucky...

I should be so lucky! Hey, this was one of my favourite songs way back when I was in school. I would always say “I should be so lucky!” when I wished for things that seemed a little out of my reach. But still, there was never any ever any reason not to dream!

One of my dreams was to be able to “one fine day” present the news on TV! Now, those were the days when TV3 had first started its broadcast to Kota Kinabalu. I will never forget the glamour Wan Zaleha Radzi and Mahadzir Lockman brought to our news reading. I remember telling a friend of mine; “one fine day, it will be me whose presenting the news!” He gave me a look and said, “hmm! When that days comes I’ll sell my TV!” I gave him a nasty look and he quickly added, “and buy a bigger one!”

When I finally decided to leave Sabah and move to Kuala Lumpur, one of the reasons I gave my mum for the move was the fact that I had to move to the capital to realize my dream to present the news on TV.

So, it came as little surprise to my folks when I started presenting the news about a year after coming to this big city. First with the now defunct Metrovision and later with RTM. I now present the English bulletins NEWS ON 2 on TV2 and PRIME NEWS on TV1.

I should be so lucky? Hey, I AM SO LUCKY! This is why I always tell the younger generation to always believe in the “impossible” because what the mind of a man can conceive and believe, he will achive!

Nokia N70

I just simply love techonology, I think it is the best this that has happened to us! It has truly changed the way we live. I remember our family’s first phone. I still remember our phone number… 76123

That’s right! In the olden days there were only 5 digits to telephone numbers. I did not really have any friends who owned a telephone then. I was only about 7 years old. I remembered how excited we would all get to receive a call. We (my sisters and I) would all rush to answer the phone.

My dad on the other hand turned into the phone scrooge! Yes, he would not let us talk for more than three minutes at a time. I tried explaining to him that (in the olden days) the charge was the same irrespective of call duration, but he would not listen. Later I got my own line…

Today my cellphone is my lifeline. I truly love it beyond words. My latest phone is the Nokia N70. I took the photo on the right with it! This phone has very sentimental attachments to me. I am quite sure I will hold on to this phone for more than a year!

True Beauty...

There are beautiful people and then there the truly beautiful.

The first time I met her, I did not really appreciate her true beauty. Yes, I'm talking about the lady on the left. My dear HR Manager, Ms. Jusnewanwati Osman. Or as she likes to call herself Jus Osman.

This photograph is one of my all time favourites because it truly captures the essence of the person behind the smile.

Sometimes, at a glance, Jus may seem detached and uncaring. She seems to be always doing things befind you and it may irritate you. However, once you truly get to know her, you quickly learn that she is simply performing her duties as a HR Manager.

The one thing I appreciate most about Jus is her ability to listen to criticism and act on it accordingly. I have on many times high lifthted my frustrations to her and she has adapted herself to the situation.

There was a time when a family member needed some HR advice. I called Jus to see if she would talk to that person, she happily agreed and gave that person some solid advice!

You should be so lucky as to have an HR manager like Jus!

It's about Being nice

Ever wondered why some people are naturally nasty? I've always reflected on this. It seems to me that there are many people out there who are always looking for means and ways of putting another person down? Why do people do this? Is it a way to make oneself seem better than one is truly feeling inside? I think so. This is why, I always try so hard to to be nice to everyone around me. Before lashing out at someone, I always ask myself whether any good can come out of it. Only then will I act on it.