public amenities

its has been a few days from my last posting. I was in capital city for an official business. the city has more than 1 million population in an area of less then 250 km square. I studied undergraduate there about 20 years ago. however during my visit few days ago I'm shocked.

the picture above is the pedestrian walkway for commoners. below it, on the right, is a major road. above is the line of light rail transit (LRT) and a major highway. you can see the LRT at the top, right hand side. this dark and dirty walkway connects the LRT station to the other side of the LRT lane and highway. it quite remote and I could see there was not a single bulb is installed along the pathway.

of course, at least there is a walkway for a commoner. at least ...

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

sports

this is the biggest stadium in my state. is has a seating capacity of 40,000. the stadium housed the football pitch as well as track. it is not as popular as Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge.

I still remember that in my younger years, sports was quite popular among commoners' kids. they played all sort of sports be it modern (football) or traditional. but now the situation is different. I noticed that my kids too are infested by the disease. yes they do play sports sometimes but now they have computer games as an alternative. I tried to justify by saying that this is the skill that they need in the future, but is it true. looking at the colourful but dead PC, communicate with the inanimate object and let time passes... is it a correct way? how about the content of the games? its scary.

so far I managed to have a control on the time spend by them on the PC but so for how long?

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

earth day

earth day... listen to earth song... for us and future

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: negligible

listening, '8 Barriers to Communication & How to Overcome Them' by Kevin Hogan and Ron Stubbs

above is a picture of a cassette player courtesy by getty image. once I had that kind of player. my friends and I love to listen to it. we listened to all sort of music from death metal to richard marx. we also listened to political and sports event broadcast by radio station. yea, we listened.

right now I'm reading a book by Kevin Hogan and Ron Stubbs, '8 Barriers to Communication & How to Overcome Them'. one of the chapters, 'the forgotten art of listening', they write about the different of 'listening' and 'hear' and about 'already always know' person: the person who always cut in while we're talking and they give their own version of OUR ideas/ stories.

frankly though I developed a love to read books for the past a decade or two, I never like to read about communication, psychology, motivational and the likes. not until recently. if only I read those books earlier... ok, back to the topic. 

we had this deputy director whose style of communication exactly resembles the 'already always know'. try give out ideas and all you get is "we've already think about it" before you can finish you words. at one time (during a discussion on legal electrical matters) I was so sick of his style I had to say "look, I'm a professional  electrical engineer and I'm also doing an exam in legal-related for electrical engineer. and if you don't trust me let me get a copy of the (Electrical) Act now". I felt disgusted. at the other point of time when he expressed his demoralise due to lack of participation from other meeting members, I stood up and said "it's only once and you feel to back down. we've been all the while have to talk to you with your ...... style of communicating". it's really bad. I wish I read books on communication earlier...

I read that World War I was a product of, among others, miscommunication! http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=524

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

school, life

the picture above is the building where my dorm was more than two decades ago. it was a boarding school about 400 km from my home. I was in early teenage when I was sent there. the journey to the school was an epic one. we left home in the midnight at reached there early in the morning and didn't sleep. I was not only accompanied by my parent and siblings but also my grandparent. it was just an alien place for me: I've never been outside 200 km radius from my home.

I visited the school last two weeks with my kids. not much is changing. in fact the outside condition of the buildings were about the same when I left them: faded and not conducive. I suspect they lack of maintenance. I mean they do repaint the buildings but not as frequent. there are several new blocks but the I also noticed that the fence are very nice. I wonder why the fence, not the buildings.

I believe since it is a school, they government should make the school 'alive'. the kids who live there will spend five years living in such environment. during my last year at the school I was lucky to have a 'live' experience on what is democracy. the school was chosen as a polling station. I managed to see how people working day and night to put on their campaign banners. I also witnessed how the people taking turn to cast their vote. I slept less during the period.

so give the kids some 'life' to live in.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

work II, 'I, Robot' by Isaac Asimov

today I went to an industry park to seek for a job opportunity. and guess what, I saw there were several others patrolling the place looking for a job. so much for the government announcement few days ago that job openings are larger in number than job seekers.

looking at those factories I remember about two decades ago I had a conversation with an old man in a train. it was a journey to the capital city where I did my undergraduate. the old man told me about his observation on the factories' workers. "the way the factories work produce a 'robot' workers", he said. "this is because with all the system in place, human being are no longer required to think but just follow". of course he referred  the 'workers' in his point is at the production level.

later I developed an interest in reading. one of the author who I like is Isaac Asimov. 'I, Robot' is one of his books. inside the book, one can find the famous 'three laws of robotics'. the laws are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

today I wonder whether that old man read the book and made the observation. I can see now the resemblance of the ideas he uttered to me and the writings by Isaac Asimov. perhaps the old man that I had the chance to converse to was not an ordinary 'old man'. it is only at this age I started to realised certain things that I've already faced in the past.


I hope that I can also can have that kind of power and accuracy of observation.


GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

work

the picture above is very refreshing, isn't it?

story I
about 12 years ago, I was a junior electrical engineer. despite that, I was ordered to handle a procurement of 'furniture' at the tune of millions dollar. so being junior, I took the responsibility. with me to finish off the job was a clerk. and only him. I worked very hard. one day before I was forced to send the document to the headquarter, I worked very late. about at 5 a.m. the next morning I was already at the office. finally it was noon and I started my car and drove for a 200 km journey to the HQ. but less than 50 km, I got very tired and my hands were shocking. it was impossible for me to drive. I went back to my office, called HQ and continued to work. I drove to HQ that evening.

story II
six years I was again experience the same thing. this time it was a technical tender but still not in my field. and I'm still alone doing the job because my assistants weren't familiar with the scope. two days before I was supposed to send the tender document to finance department, I was told to prepare several copies. I believe the number was around 20. to save budget, I was told to go to HQ and get the documents printed. upon reached there I was told that their printers were out of toners. to procure the toners, a procurement officer must do that and that officer was on leave. what a mess. so I went back to my office and was told to get a printer to print it. I sent the document on the same evening. early in the next morning I went to the printer but the documents weren't ready. the very same morning I need to send my wife for a job interview but I need to wait for the documents. I finally got my documents later that day and sent them to the finance department at the HQ. my wife missed the interview.

story III
I was transferred to the HQ 8 years ago. within few months there was a big project scheduled to be handed over to us. one day we had a site meeting with all the technical consultants i.e. architect and engineers. I had a bad day that day and I refused to shake hand with any of them. I told them that I want the buildings to be perfect in safety, security and basic needs in addition to what ever the contract wants. and I got my lesson. few weeks after that, I went to the site just to found that buildings' fire panels were 'switch on' yet.

story IV
no job.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.3 kg

engineer, 'The Existential Pleasure of Engineering, 2nd Edition' by Samuel C Florman

as a member of an engineer society, I receives a magazine on monthly basis. recently, there was an article by the title of 'trends in professional engineering practice'. inside the article, one of the interviewee said "we must be willing to admit that the profession is not where it should be ...". I believe one of the reasons of this admission is told earlier in the article by the same person "the problem arises when the original engineer chooses to sacrifice his professional integrity for the sake of job and the money that comes with it".

I've been in such a moment when, 3 or 4 years ago, my professionalism is at stake. at that time I declined to oversee a job which was 'wrongly' designed by party beyond my organisation. please be careful that the word 'wrongly' doesn't only mean 'wrong design' but also some other administrative meanings. I did complain but in returned I was labelled as 'negative person'. it was a complete surprised considering the person I that I complaint to was also a professional engineer. the irony was that the same person was the one who strongly urged me to go for professional title.

Three years ago I bought a book entitle 'The Existential Pleasure of Engineering, 2nd Edition' by Samuel C Florman. the author himself is an engineer. for me it was a heavy book, quite difficult to comprehend. in one of the chapters, the author noted that "it should be apparent that engineering's Golden Age ended abruptly about 1950, and that the profession, for all its continuing technical achievements, finds itself at the present time in a Dark Age of the spirit". so it was 1950... if the scenario was globally true, than in my country the engineering society has never been in a Golden Age!

in my country there was a joke: "here, a finished building collapsed, building during construction collapsed and even (old) building which is in the process of demolition collapsed". the joke burst when an old building under demolition collapsed, allegedly because of human mistake, and killed few persons.

I want to close this writing with a speech in 1902 by president of American Society of Civil Engineers.

"and in the future, even more that in the present, will the secrets of power be in his keeping, and more and more will he be a leader and benefactor of men. that his place in the esteem of his fellows and of the world will keep pace with growing capacity and widening achievement is as certain as that effect will follow cause"

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.14 kg

giving back to the society, 'Get Real, Get Rich: Conquer the 7 Lies Blocking You From Success' by Farrah Gray

the picture above is a bridge to a ferry berth. it has been there longer than I've been living in this world. I guess that the people who involved in completing this work, if they still alive, will smile of their accomplishment. millions of commoner have used this bridge and they are still using it.

once I worked with a local electricity company. we engaged a Japanese giant company to make a repair on a damaged submarine cable (electricity cable laid undersea) not far from the bridge. after weeks of tracking the cable route, we managed to hauled it up on a barge. we cut the cable and we could see on its inner paper layer, the manufacturing year of the cable. out of a sudden, one elder Japanese worker, who oversaw the barge coordination, smiling. as he cannot speak English, one of his fellow asked why he smiled. then explained that he involved in laying the cable more than 40 years ago. that was a smile of accomplishment.

in 'Get Real, Get Rich: Conquer the 7 Lies Blocking You From Success', the author, Farrah Gray, writes about obstacles and ways to get around them. one of the lies, is the 'Worked Hard Lie'. under the chapter, he tells about seeking for job that we would like to do. there three questions:
1. what comes easy to you but harder to others?
2. what would you do non stop even if you never got paid for it?
3. how can you be on service & give back to others?

note point number 3. I talked about that in several interviews. but they kept on telling me that that was an idealistic kind of words yet unrealistic. it is also just another bombastic words to catch people mind.

is commoner like me cannot have that kind of idealism? go figure.

CARBON FOOTPRINT: 0.117 kg

carbon footprint, PAS2050 standard on greenhouse gas

above is a picture of a caterpillar with camouflage. it looks like a leaf and I almost hit it while I'm scaling the railing. frankly, I've never seen such beautiful caterpillar after decades wandering on earth. however my kids have the opportunity to experience the beauty of nature.

then I remember that I have a copy of PAS2050 - 'specification for the assessment of the life cycle green house gas emissions of goods and services' and its guide notes. so starting today I'll put the carbon footprint calculation on every blog. from the guide I found that for every kWhr used in our house, we actually contribute equivalent to about 0.5 kg carbon dioxide to atmosphere. in PAS2050, they are talking about certain period. but for my purpose, I'll just calculate the carbon footprint that I left into the atmosphere during the period of writing the blog.

I calculate that for half an hour writing the blog, with the ceiling fan is on, the emission will be 0.14 kg or 140 gram. that's more than what Honda Insight contribution of 101 gram per km. even Peugeot 308 is lesser at 123 gram per km.

I plead to all of us to save our world. reduce our carbon footprint. because no matter how much our money or how powerful we are, if it comes to the devastation of nature we are all commoner. I wrote that in my blog about the earth quake in Japan. help us to help us.

CARBON FOOTPRINT: 0.14 kg of greenhouse gas has been released to the atmosphere

technology

above is the picture of one of the many communication towers in my country. this one is more than 500 feet high, towering a small capital city of one of the states. the tower has two elevators that will bring us to an observation deck. it is said that this tower is 19th highest telecommunication tower on earth. statistic.

with such achievement as the background, I had my mobile phone blocked 4 times: twice on 6 April last week and twice today. the culprit: I paid my bill through an agent counter. the agent made a mistake on the account number. it's funny to note that the agent is actually an outlet of the parent company of my mobile service provider. but I understand that they are separate entity.

what made me 'more' felt as a commoner was that I need to keep on calling several times to have my story heard by the 'customer' service personnel. the 'story' was also recorded 'for our improvement process', or so their answering machine claim. finally my wife, whose name is used as the registered owner of the number, asked the money whereabout. and as what we were expected, the money is now in the mobile provider company's pocket but they need a long time to do the correction MANUALLY! so much of their self claim "Customers are always on top of our priority list". to rub salt to the wound, they need to do it MANUALLY. remember the tower in the picture? it is owned by the parent company of the mobile service provider. what a joke. don't get me wrong. I'm not live in a troubled country such as Libya or Yemen. I'm a citizen of a country which GDP (nominal) is at the top 40 (statistic for 2010, IMF).


so what ever the numbers on the economic scales (GDP, per capita, what ever), once you are a commoner, you are doomed to be a commoner to the bunch of people who claim "customers are always on top of our PRIORITY list". good heaven.

leptospirosis, environment

last Saturday my kids and I went to search for a recreational area last visited by me 25 years ago. we are commoner, so we need to go where commoners go. no Bahamas or the like. so I asked several people the route to the place. to my shocked one man told me that the place was closed due to the contagious of leptospirosis. later I got the information that the place was reopened after the disease was cured.

so we got there (as in picture). however I noticed that the water was not as clear as 25 years ago. there were people having their good time in the water though I was reluctant to let my kids to go into the water. there were plastic containers and other rubbish being dumped all over the place. the coolness was still there but so was the danger.

so once again human being are able to destroy their own planet. due to their inability to keep the world clean, the disease comes and kills. and how on earth human being prefer dirty water compare to clear water to dive in? my kids, who born just 15 years after my first and last visit to the place can no more cool themselves in the cold water. they just only 15 years late to be born.

people, help us all to help us all, including our kids. you don't need a damaged nuclear power plant to spoil the earth. you need just your hand.

Fukushima nuclear power plant leak plugged

I read about engineers at Fukushima nuclear power plant have finally plugged the radioactive leak. in my country, currently there is no such power plant though the is a plan towards building one in a decade or two. I'm in favour for nuclear power plant for one reason - its technology. someone told me that aeroplane is the safest transportation available. but of course if something (fatal) goes wrong, the result would be catastrophic. I believe that nuclear power plant is somehow the same. such advanced technology will certainly spin-off to other field. I hope I can contribute in realising the idea.

in the article, the most interesting paragraph is this:

"In order to stem the leak, Tepco (the Tokyo Electric Power Co) injected 'water glass', or sodium silicate, and another agent into the pit. Desperate engineers had also used sawdust, newspapers and concrete in recent days to try to stop the escaping water".

so the engineers have tried with all sort of method before they were able to conquer the problem. Mahatma Gandhi once said "freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes". I don't know the background from which he delivered such statement. but common human being do make mistake.


I believe by advocating nuclear power won't make me an aristocrat or a technocrat. I'm just a commoner who want to delve into such an advanced technology which until now is evolving in the hand of elites. 


what ever it is, hail to Fukushima's engineers for teaching the world.

freedom

I made a mistake! after I wrote about "freedom is all what the commoners want" yesterday, I was burdened by the meaning of 'freedom'. I believe freedom is the last thing oppressor will give to us. they would bribe us, threat us, demean us etc just to rob the freedom from us. make no mistake.. I'm no politician or aristocrat. I'm a commoner.

I remember lyric from a song called 'Civil War' by Guns N' Roses on freedom. it says "That you can't trust freedom, When it's not in your hands". on this note, Martin Luther King Jr. said "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed". on the same tune, Ronald Reagan once said

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same". and so many thoughts  on the meaning and desire for freedom. it is an easy desire, but it is not an easy struggle.


so when does a commoners has his or her freedom given all the oppression. I guess I must turn to a speech by one of opposition figures in my country "they can jailed my body but not my mind".

pretty heavy stuff, eh?

Ivory Coast

I read in www.bbc.co.uk that several generals representing Laurent Gbagbo, the defeated President who didn't want to step down, is currently in surrender talk. I hope that everything will be ok and ended in 'happily ever after'. please give us, the commoner, the life that we want, freedom. we want no more. when two giants collide, the tiny people will eventually suffer. whether the people is on giant A side or giant B side or even just don't bother, they'll suffer.


happily ever after, what say you?

partner, 'Partnering in Design and Construction', Kneeland A Godfrey Jr.

above is a picture of dinosaur sculptured by my son. I bought the kit so that my kids can practice their art skills. by the way, dinosaurs are prehistoric, extinct creatures. we know them only through bones.

I have a partner in a business. I have long suspected that my partner need me only because I have certain qualification so that we can register the business. but our company never carry out any business activity because my partner himself tied to other kind of business. recently he made friend with someone whose wife is going to get that certification. so got I side lined and I was even told that I can leave the company once the company is well registered. my partnership will be replaced by that woman. that partnership is broken now. what I'm afraid most is that a friendship will also be broken soon.

two years ago I read a book entitled 'Partnering in Design and Construction' by Kneeland A Godfrey Jr. it was a good book in about construction. it give a new meaning in working through people in construction industry. once (while I'm working in Project Management Organisation), I talked about this idea to my MD when he kept on talking about the need to get tough in construction industry. he replied "ok, you try first. I want to see it happen". of course I not dare to practice it. to practice the partnership I need to revise the working frame work within the company and may be also need to break certain clause in the existing Condition of Contract.

so is it safe for me to say that partnership in its pure definition is like a dinosaur. you can see and touch its teeth and bones but you will never see, touch, smell and feel its body and soul. we can only imagine to have all that only in movies.

lesson: how to get a good partner in business?

belief, 'The Fearless Executive - Finding the Courage to trust Your Talents and Be the Leader You Are Meant to Be', Alan Downs

last Saturday my family & I went to this nice park by a river. We brought two bicycles along so that my kids can ride and have fun. it was raining before we arrived so the condition is fresh. while on the way to go home, I noticed the lamp post in the picture. the park was opened to public about 4 or 5 years ago. so I suspect that the lamp post has been there ever since, giving its service.

I left my jobs because of belief (the other word for principle). not religious belief, but professional belief. some says I'm "stupid", "wait for your turn", "don't expect perfection" etc but for me it was a plain principle. if I believe the situation is not conform to my system of belief, which I'm pretty sure right, than what else. 

last year I read a book entitled 'The Fearless Executive - Finding the Courage to Trust Your Talents and Be the Leader You Are Meant to Be'. the author wrote that he was a highly successful HR manager but he quit his job because of something about principle. but he advised other people not to follow his step. however at that point of time, I found my self done the same thing that Alan Downs advised not to do.

in one incident or example about principle, I was accused of breaking the team spirit only because I'm promoting (actually urging) a system in which every unit in the organisation need to play their part 'actively'! (later I was actually forced the idea to go on unilaterally without the consent of the organisation. why should I stopped if the idea is right?)

may be the system of belief is not as important? or may be only a 'selective' system of belief is important?

to believe or not to believe. it's your choice.

Japanese

yesterday I saw in the news that the Japanese government has launched a massive deployment of personnel in finding victims of tsunami. suddenly I remember that more than 20 years ago I was taught Japanese language by two Japanese teachers. I couldn't remember their names but I really wonder their whereabout.

they were very dedicated teachers in teaching Japanese to us. but it were us that, at that time, never realised the importance of learning new language. I was once expelled from the class for making noise! I learnt the language for 4 and a half years but it was a missed opportunity. The teachers and the Japanese government are, as far as I concerned, were very keen to get us to learn Japanese. I remember that there was a language lab in the school which was, someone told me, donated by Japanese government. we were also shown animated movies in Japanese (at that time Japanese animated movie was not as popular as it is now) and then we got a crew of Japanese television visited us and taking picture while we were learning. some of my friends who were good in the language were even invited to the Japanese embassy.

I hope that my Japanese teachers are in good health. and I want to tell them that "arigato, sensei" for teaching me the knowledge. I never had the opportunity to say that during that time.