Career hop

Career or jobs that we do are often seen as mundane, daily tasks we carry out under an agreement done with companies. We agree to give 8 hours of our time in exchange for doing favours for them. If we are an expert in what we do, we are often hired easily to do this. There are also professionals who are in high risk positions, who are paid a premium for carrying out their daily tasks as they face the risk of many uncertainties in carrying out their duties. As an example, a lawyer can risk being sued for being perceived as being unethical or unprofessional while a doctor can be sued for failing to save the lives of a dear one. As for me, no one shared or told me about this career economics growing up. I went with the flow, and pretty much stayed on course (with the flow) for the rest of my career years. I started my first job in sales, earned shit loads of money (in 5 digits for some months) and never had enough financial education to guide me on what to do with all that money. So i spent them on myself, travelling, expensive gym memberships etc. Even so, I still struggled to pay off my loans for education and car. I still had dreams though. I wanted to own my own home, pay off all loans and live a debt-free life and that's what I have successfully achieved for myself at the ripe age of 40! I was officially debt-free (or semi cos the house loan is still being serviced). But here's my reflection on what helps a person move up. Imagine yourself facing a moving lines of ladder or ropes. You are still slightly short of reaching that next step up and you need a helping hand. For some, ther is a ready hand waiting to help. For the rest, they need to try and find a way to hop onto the steps and hopefully manage to climb up and keep moving up the next fleet of steps. So the lesson in this is - build your network! Contacts help people they know. How often do you see Good Samaritans today? Take me for an example. I managed to secure employment because a non-asian leader decided to take a gamble on me. She trusted me and empowered me to be who i ended up becoming. How many leaders/ managers today are willing to do that. All that employers are looking for are- performers. I can perform but whether they like me or otherwise is another question altogether. So the next time you are in an interview scenario, apart from being yourself, build that network sitting across you so that you will start growing your own list of contacts who can then lend you a helping hand when you need it the most!

A visit to acupuncturist

So today was one of those days I counted my blessings for being able to be free and available at home to run my own schedule as I need to. And it was a day when I had to take my mom for a detailed check up on her head-ache which has been lingering about for awhile now. Just like the rest of us, she prefers not to go see any other doctors but her own so it took quite a bit of convincing to get her to come along with me today to see an old TCM practitioner at TungShin hospital. I managed to convince my sister as well since she was also facing some issues that needed to be treated. So the catch was to tell them - it's only RM30 for consultation and so it was! Well RM35 because it was our first time there but otherwise it's usually RM30 i heard. The doctor was very patient, thorough and holistic in his approach, allowed them patients to be able to speak and share, feel comfortable and I was won over by the hospitality as well. And not to mention the efficiency of their dispensary and the entire works. Total cost for everything we did today was within RM100 but the outcome is worth way more than that since both of them said they felt much better, now that cannot amount to any dollar value. Hopefully their issues will be treated over the next few days while they complete their tablet medicines. I would strongly recommend anyone to go visit this clinic and specifically this doctor for his services is indeed commendable. We were done in 1.5 hours and back home to rest and for me, to run my other errands. Which included running around from shop to shop seeking for mandarin oranges to fulfil a customer order I had which had to include 2 oranges in the bags. All in a days work, we managed to complete all pending deliveries (outsourced from 2 locations) and Friday is free for rest. Also today marked day 2 of being vegetarian, was super tempted to taste the pan mee i ordered for the kids but decided against it to keep with my goal to a 40 full days of being vegan.

Travels

So the year 2020 was supposed to be THE year I did my SOLO travel. If you knew me personally, you will also know that I LOVE to travel! Solo travelling is something I had not done for more than 10 years now. I am used to travelling for work alone but for leisure and to another part of the world, nope the last of such a trip I did was to Nuremberg to visit a good friend while I was working in Singapore. So yes, it is more than 10 years now. However, given the current circumstances, I don't foresee borders opening anytime soon. It is rather touching to learn that my good friend still based in Germany had been exploring ways to return to Malaysia to wade off the pandemic, just to get some sun! I would have loved to have her around as well if not for the additional ridiculous charges to be paid to the immigration to get in during this time. So my advise to anyone who misses travelling, miss their spouse or other halves, please get yourselves distracted. Don't kid yourself with timelines anymore or wait for government releases on borders opening or travel bans lifted. This pandemic has no timeline to it, no end at the moment. Some predict it mid year, end year but honestly only GOD knows! So the best way to manage our mental health during this time is to be realistic and stop keeping up false hopes. When it opens, it opens aite. Even then you will be risking everything to travel out. Hence find a distraction. Pick up a new hobby if you need to, join a new group of common interests, online classes, heck start an exercise club if you need to. Dump your anxiety and energy into something that will result in a better outcome for yourself. Get selfish, invest in your own health and wellbeing. If you have not been eating well, start doing so. Miss the gym? Start running around your neighborhood. Miss your spa sessions? DIY a mask for yourself. Or buy a korean one from Shoppee. A simple pick me up mask is cucumber, aloe and honey. Especially on a hot weather as we have in Malaysia, it works great to rejuvenate our skin. So as for me, I have decided to not look forward to travelling for awhile now. But I am keeping a travel list of my own which mostly has Indochina and other parts of Asia in it for the shortest term. I honestly miss the Angkor Wat more than the Eiffel Tower. Kebabs more than croissant and the sun more than snow so Asia it is for me for now until the world comes to a stable point. Also, since i have technically covered quite a huge chunk of Asia and a small part of EU, I will have a good few years during retirement to travel the countries I have missed. So that plan has to also kick in somewhere over the next 10 odd years (IF i am still around that is). Therefore, fret not, fight not, flee not. Stop on your tracks, smell the fresh air you have, the flowers and sand around you and enjoy it while you have it. It's not a cliche statement when they say - Live today as if there is no tomorrow! As the scriptures have also affirmed this, do not worry about tomorrow, let it worry for itself.

February 2021

So the pages of calendar has flipped so fast and we are already into the 2nd month of the year. Having just finished celebrating the Lunar New year, which also marks the first year anniversary since Covid was born, this year has been another locked-up and lonesome year for some, since the inter-state and cross border travels are still not allowed yet. As for me, I have had a rather busy past 2 weeks, rushing out CNY gift packs and honey orders. It was overwhelming, THANK GOD! As the sole source of income, I was grateful for every opportunity that came my way and I fulfilled it. Including taking over another new state to manage the sales and stockist there- Klang! Now what I started as a running list of new things I wanted to accomplish by end of this year must average out to a minimum of 3 items per month if i wanted to ensure I reached my target. I know some might say that's a tough goal to achieve but as I told myself, some of the "mini projects" were personal, not to be shouted about, and for some, it may even be a passe. So far we are in the midst of February and the few things I know I had done differently were 4. Got my other half & the kids a gift (couple mugs & a family puzzle), acknowledged Valentines day, ordered lunch, and just chilled the day away. It ended up with a disaster unfortunately but my main motivation of doing this was to practise selfless giving without acceptance and I managed to achieve just that. So that's item 4 ticked there! 5. I also missed out another item I ticked off in January - reached out to someone who was in need of something, grouped a few friends together to join in and successfully sourced and delivered the items to the children in need. I have not done this in more than 10 years and that was another major tick! 6. I've always wanted to donate hair to charity and I successfully cut Nadine's hair and kept it to be given to the cancer society once the travel restrictions are relaxed. 7. I have also started my compost bin project since Feb started and this time, will be taking this a notch further and checking with the local community on a common area setup to create this for the community garden project. 8. As LENT starts this Weds, I am also going to challenge myself to remain a vegetarian for 40 full days and not compromise or give in to my carnivorous side. I have also stopped drinking alcohol for the past 2 weeks, as I was on a continuous drunk session from December until mid January. This item is not a checklist YET! Will update again on the 28th of March. The journey of LENT is not just about abstaining from meat per se. In the world of today, it also means giving up something dear to us, something that cripples or numbs us, addictions of many forms, obsession, and the whole works. This is also part of our complete journey of understanding our existance on earth, they why and the what to do. It's also a good time to journey with Christ in the desert, the same way he did and coming out of it as a stronger, firmer rock than the rough form we started. And then we can truly shine like a diamond in the rough. Besides, what fun is there if we go through life being normal/ numb/ regular right? We need to question, challenge and most importantly understand things from many point of views. One persons journey is very different from another, and the first step to understanding one is to acknowledge this. Not everyone has the same shoe size of taste. I for one still prefer my flip flops for walking and heels for dancing! haha digression right there! There's still another 14 days to go before I can tick off another 1 or 2 items for the month, the race to out-do myself continues.

the B-I-G 4-0

So i turn 40 this year! OMG seriously 40 years since I came into existence! For some, it's not a big deal. But for me it SOOO IS! WEll, first of all, it's the year of pandemic. Officially started the year with so many Covid cases and the numbers keep rising, no thank you to the muppets running the administration today. So if we were Covid-free, I should have been in Amsterdam in March 2020! Like that's going to happen anymore? I chose 2020 instead of the year I turn 40 for the simple reason of wanting to do it during my 30-s. I did make a Europe tour but with the whole jingbang and this time I wanted to do a solo-trip and it didn't happen. Anyway, I ain't going to let that or anything else come in the way of my biggest tipping point year ever! So first off, I started the year job-less. My contract with Coty ended on the 31st of Dec 2020. Due to the pandemic, the headcount for HR was sacrificed like a lamb and so I was laid off. After 2 unsuccessful interviews and 2 unsuccessful assessment, I decided to stop looking for a job and that the right role will find me when the time is right. So I decided to dedicate the time I had to pursue my own interests, sort the kids out, clean my home and finish some of my passion projects. One MAJOR plan I've devised for myself is this - for the year i turn 40, I will be carrying out 40 different things I've always told myself I wanted to do but have not done it. AND the good news is, for a start, January has been extremely fruitful, here is why: My 40 passion projects have started off successfully so far with the following: 1) I enrolled myself into a Toastmasters club (been wanting to join one since year 2000! but never had the guts/ time to do so) 2) I started this mini-kill with kindness-motto for myself and been reaching out to people who crossed my paths in a different way, helping/ supporting them in one way or another AND that has given me a HUGE lesson in gratitude and fortitude *something i truly truly thought I always had but finally learnt! 3) Started to exercise to get back my pre-pregnancy weight. I have no weight loss goals but just want to finish what I started and started short 7-min exercises and v-logging my journey too. It's been like 2 weeks now and i'm already feeling like a million-dollar bill! :) There you go! These were done in January 2021 and we have 11 months to tick off another 37 items from my 40-yo-bucket-list. Some others I have planned out: - 101 cooking book for super busy asian mommies that don't cost a bomb or years of preparation - plants and their benefits / cook book (still figuring out how to marry the above point with this one) - start Soapxpress - a bespoke/custom made soap service for your customized soap needs for gifting - start to sell actively on Shoppee (not just to clear stock) AND MANY Many more to come! I cannot wait to start each of the items on the list and the only rule i have for myself is to complete what I've started! Can't be that hard can it?

9 January 2021

So it's 9 days post New Year today. Here are the current status updates: - I've officially completed my Masters in Organizational Psychology in Aug 2020. - I started working at a beauty giant company called Coty as of Sept 2018 on a yearly contract, got renewed thrice and finally ended on 31st Dec 2020. - 2 kids = Nayden 7yo and Nadine 4yo this year - VJ runs his own gym - I am officially jobless for 9 days - WE are in the 1st year anniversary of Covid19, it's a pandemic which started last year around this time from China, Wuhan - The entire world has changed in the past 1 year, trees started growing again, mountains more green, we started getting fresh breathe of air, families were either closer or grew apart due to differences. THe pandemic has made most parts of the world go into a state of lock down, with limited travel across state, cities, borders, countries and worldwide. Yet the entire world got closer and more connected via the internet. We are at a super advanced internet age and while most human and social values were starting to diminish, the pandemic took place. Everything started to make sense in a way, and not in another. From being very distant from one another, being locked in like zoo animals, everyone started too look within them for answers and parents began spending more time with children, which brought families closer together. More babies were made, more fights were created and families began to see differences and learn more about one another. Most interestingly in a unique way, we started to get closer to God as prayers were made accessible online, daily, hourly from all over the world. Our weekly masses were looked forward to as a family, at a time when papa VJ would be available to join along too. For Christmas mass, we were able to view mass from any part of the world yet we still watched our own church mass. For the first time in our lives we didn't attend mass in person or receive the body of Christ in the form of communion for more than 6 months. Perspectives were changed and mindsets shifted. Where corporate work is concerned, what used to be a taboo of is applied with no choice - the option of working from home. Some companies have started to implement work from home options by default, while some others stil gave this as an alternative option where applicable. MOST if not all companies were implementing some form of cost control, be it hiring freeze or retrenchment, downsizing or cutting office overhead costs. I, for one am one of those impacted by such actions, due to hiring freeze, my contract as local HR was not approved to be renewed so in my last weeks of work I was preparing handover to my Singapore support team, lead by the HR Director of SEA who will act as the business partner for Malaysia as well. Such is life, a decision I should have taken in Sept 2020 was eventually done in Dec 2020 by force. I am happier now, spending more time at home, sorting out things for the kids and our home life. I am able to do anything I want as I had the freedom of time. And I am excitedly looking forward to what the year has in store for all of us.