Project 500_Part 1

Got a mystery invitation last week to attend the launch of something called Project 500. I told someone I met there, it was like that television series of 4400 where the number connotes the people who were abducted by alien one time or another then suddenly came back all at once. So, maybe we are going to be experimented upon.

It was not far off than the truth...

The registration

Four days before that there were a gathering of bloggers to watch the movie Ninja Assassin courtesy of Nuffnang and those who got invited like Nigel of Rant of Orang Terbang fame,  Chris of Perpetual Tockism and me were talking about it. Those who didn't get an invite were asking around and wondering what it was all about. As were we. The email only states the place, the time, and there will be a free movie screening of New Moon. Those who couldn't attend the screening was even given a choice of to just attend something they labelled as 'The Briefing'.

Then, 18 hours before the event, we got another email stating that we can bring another person who would want to come to watch the movie and to join the Project 500 itself. Within that 18 hours, those of us who were in touch with our Twitter-self, we sent out nearly every hour invitations for anyone to come with us to at least watch a free movie. As it was a long weekend. No such luck. Everyone was out of town or in the middle of coming back to town. There was no one to give them too...

Look at the leftover New Moon tickets up for grabs....

That is bboyrice making a scarf out of the tickets...

I did suggest some of the single guys or gals, go and give out the tickets to those who were going to watch a movie that day. No one did and the tickets were wasted just like that. There were those who were there on their own initiative when they heard the news through Twitter but from what I heard, there were only 170+ people who were the original Project 500 invitees.

To be continued...

I’m a Sherlock Holmes in the Making

I am so a fan of Sherlock Holmes that when I was in my primary school, I went to the public library in Seremban to read the book which show how Arthur Conan Doyle published it  more than a hundred years ago. In the newspaper. As it can't be signed out, I have to make it a point to stop at the library nearly every day.

And now Nuffnang is giving 60 bloggers and their partner to watch Sherlock Holmes earlier than anyone. I am not going to miss this chance. So, they asked us to look for clues. I found mine in KYSpeaks.com :

Hope it shows them how Sherlock Holmes I can be...

The mystery of Ninja Assassin

If you like the Korean singer Rain as a macho looking handsome man. Or even as a beautiful man who set your heart aflutter. Then, Ninja Assassin is not the movie for you.

Ninja Assassin is so violent that the blood will be flying off the body count like only Wachowski brothers can do it. The Wachowskis love to be mysterious that they never give any interview anywhere. They are unlike the Coens of Fargo fame. They are here just as producers but you can see their trademark everywhere in this film.

They pushed the envelope again in special effect and this time they make ninjas, well, more ninja-like. Like the ghost they are and as potent. There are mysteries in the movie which my wife and I never really solve. Like who was feeding the character Rain is playing with information from the inside of the 9th Clan. Or why the 9th Clan cannot defeat modern weaponry if they are invincible.

Some questions alike that are best left unanswered. One thing for sure. If you are like me. Who love violent kung-fu actioner, Ninja Assassin is it. It is one of the action movie of the year which I really enjoy. I consider it as the extension of the kung-fu dojo scene which Wachowski showed in The Matrix.

 
Where Keanu declared "I know kung-fu"

Discretion of a boss

Every eve of Eid, be it Eidul Fitri or Eidul Adha, if it is a working day, I will get request from my staff to be let off early. I know it will seems to everyone I am a scrooge as I rarely allow this, it is something which I detest as I consider my staff will be saving up their holiday for long holidays. Sometimes, they even ask me to be let off early for New Year or whatever holiday which will allow them to reach their destination earlier than they have planned.

Again, I rarely allow this. As I rarely get any reprieve from my staff about anything, I consider these requests as merely the staff way to see what they can get away with. My staff are not the type who stays back until late. No one will knowingly volunteer for more work. They even do not completely do their own work. They are very much different from some of the friends whom I know who stay back in their office until late. We are actually watching them and just finding an excuse to get them to leave. As they love to read this blog (some of them), I just hope the message will be clear.

I always believe we can't really cheat in doing our work. Somewhere, somehow, your lackadaisical attitude will bite you back. Eidul Adha is about making sacrifice. If only one party do the sacrificing then the other just reap the benefit, we do we stand? Maybe time for reassessment has come....

As it is a long weekend either in Malaysia or USA (and with Black Friday coming), have a great one guys....

They don't make them like they used to...

I was greeted by a sour face of my business partner this morning. As everyone was busy, I didn't know the real story until it was lunch time. It was about the attitude of those girls who are currently in our office doing their attachment or more popularly known as internship with us. They were sent over by their university as a government initiative for new graduates to get some working experience before they started to work in the real world. We don't even have to pay them. They got an allowance paid for by the government. Convenience huh?

Until you hear what we have to deal with....

As they were under supervision by their university, we have to deal with a supervising professor who assigned us whom to send to our office. There were 4 changes of students who were supposed to attach with us ranging from 4 to 5 persons per batch. At long last, after delaying for nearly 3 weeks, 2 girls came to report for duty at our office. One of the girl straight away for two days off as her grandmother had just past away and she needed to attend to family matters. As they are attachments and we are actually giving them a chance to experience working life, we were not too strict and allow it.

Then within the space of 2 weeks, at least one of them would do a disappearing act with excuses ranging from family matters to no excuse at all. One day, when both of them did not turned up, we called them over the next day. Their answer was the dumbest answer any staff could ever give. Ever.

They were stuck in traffic due to some mishap on the road and as they were late, they decided to not come and they couldn't call the office as they did not have the office phone number. That really take the cake.

My business partner who had assigned them some real work was angry at her job, which has a dateline, are being left being half-done. She straight away asked them to be aware of the reason they were sent there and to really act like those who have been given responsibility.

After all that, the straw that broke the camel back for my partner was when today one of them came into her office and asked to not continue the internship at all as she find it hard to get to office everyday as she live quite a bit far from our office. She asked my partner to allow her to do this while she still receive her allowance. And to confirm with her professor that she finished her internship on time.

That was when my partner gave it to her like any good boss can. What really riled her up was when she asked her to take a bus or even a taxi, with the firm paying the fare, this girl said, she never used any public transport and she really doesn't know how to use one.

And these are the product of our local university? No wonder they say there's a brain drain in the country.