electricity fuel, my country

after weeks of speculation, our country's electricity tariff is finally increased. the reason: increase in global fossil fuel price. another reason: previous tariff is not good enough to promote renewable energy development!

and I also noticed that there will be 1% surcharge on certain class of consumer. the statement by the national electricity company is as follow:

'In line with the Renewable Energy (RE) Act which was passed in April 2011, the Government will impose 1% as Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) for RE Fund, effective 1st September 2011. The fund will be utilised for promotion and development of RE projects and initiatives and will be managed by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA)'

so are we going to see a leap in renewable energy in my country? it's going to be excited development, in the coming months. I hope.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.04 kg

nuclear fuel Germany

so Germany is going to phase out all of their nuclear plants. may be it's political decision, but I really want to see how are they going to fill in the about quarter of their energy source. I read about the possibility of going efficient may contribute to 10% reduction of electricity usage.

this is very excited. as an electrical engineer I really want to see how this advanced country overcome the 'opportunity'. last week, the UK announced that they will stick to nuclear power plant. this week Germans is doing the opposite. I'm still waiting announcement from the Japanese government.

once I went for a course on electricity. the speaker said "no one need electricity. you can get electrocuted. if anyone can figure a different way to light a bulb, electricity is history". I don't know whether the quote is worth but it's a challenge.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.02 kg

kids

my daughter wearing a hand-made mask. she's very proud with what she could make. she got all the support from her parent on her achievement.

I love my kids very much. time is pretty much short.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: negligible

nuclear fuel UK

I heard that UK won't scale down their nuclear reactors development despite what happened in Fukushima, Japan. perhaps the UK has some solutions to minimize any haphazard on their plants. I found it interesting because it is Japan will announce their energy fuel policy.

for my country, the decision whether to go for the nuclear power station is on hold. may be they wait for further announcement from other countries as well. in the case of my country, it is even dramatic because recent news of rising the electricity price was largely unpopular. the government claimed that the increment is unavoidable because of the rising price in oil, gas etc.

either way my car will be sold in short time.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.02 kg

interview II

the interview yesterday was one of the tough one. they surgically dismantled me with very detail questions on everything that I wrote in the CV. they even asked me to design some electrical circuit. there you go, another interview session which I suspects will go into the drain.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: negligible

interview

I will have another interview today, the third within this month. I have no idea what is the outcome for the other two interviews. it has been more than three weeks and nothing come up. what is going on with me?

again I'm asking for help.

performance assessment, '360 Degree Feedback, The Powerful New Model for Employee Assessment & Performance Improvement', by Mark R Edwards and Ann J Ewen

currently I'm reading a book entitled '360 degree feedback, the powerful new model for employee assessment & performance improvement', by Mark R Edwards and Ann J Ewen. the book was published in 1996. I read this book because my friend who is working with a government agency told me that they might be using the system.

under the scheme, an employees  will be assessed not only by his supervisor but also his peers, customers, himself etc. in 2006 or 2007, I was experimenting with that kind of system. as a head of unit, I chaired the assessment sessions which also comprised the employee and his direct supervisor and supervisor's supervisor. we talked frankly about the employee performance. in my hand I also had the data on the employee achievement for that year. on top of that, I also gave the employee the chance to rate his/ her peers.

I got the idea of doing that from all the reality shows on TV, particularly 'The Apprentice'. now that I've read the book, I'm feeling great. not that the system is perfect that I'm actually can do or think something. I've always complained that the current system of appraisal was non-objective, that the supervisors tend to remember one or two events (good or bad) of that year and that is it. I'm great!

but who cares? I'm jobless now.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

river

one of views in the capital city. the river with polluted water is very significant in the set up of the city. with the development of the city, the river becomes polluted. it's clearly the man-made pollution.

I hope that they can do something to clean the river. I hope one day I can travel to the city with my kids and see fished swimming in a crystal clear river. if Rhine and Thames river can be rehabilitated, I believe this smaller river should pose no big problem. however I realised that the most important factor is human behaviour. unless people starts to know their role, we will just simply pouring the money into the river. then those people will curse government of wasting their 'hard earned tax money', again.

what a paradox.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.02 kg

lost

I'm a couple of weeks from losing my car. well, I'm no longer can afford to pay the monthly commitment. I've tried to get a job but to no avail. I guess I'll keep on losing from now on.

green

this is a scenery on part of train rail network while in my journey to the capital city. yes, I went to the city once again last week for a job interview.

the picture shows a green area. but believe me it is not a jungle. though the rail took me through a supposedly jungle area, this one is definitely not a jungle. this place was cleared by human despite its remoteness. one can clearly see the terrace and trail on the hill. now the place is probably abandoned. there is not commercial plants but only bushes. I wonder what happened.

I learnt through a TV documentary that only 12% of forest in this country can be considered a virgin forest - a forest which was never cleared by human. that is a very small amount. I don't know what happened to the other 78%.

green our earth.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.05 kg

profit

for maximising the profit, the owner of a garbage collector used an unsuitable garbage truck. the stench and even liquid from the garbage flow out from the truck.

I believe there must be a regulation on this kind of business operation. but I also believe in the responsibility of every sane human being on not to injure the fellow human. I don't really believe that we need to blame the 'lack of enforcement' every time this kind of situation takes place. sane human being will not do this. but greedy human being will and he will doing 'other bad things' as well.

good luck.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.04 kg

lying, 'The Truth About Lying: How to Spot a Lie and Protect Yourself from Deception', by Stan B Walters

according to this book, lying is actually a burden to those who commit it. the person is burdened with mental process of how to maintain the lies. thus give rise to verbal and non-verbal clues.

among the situation in which we must be aware before assessing people:

• relationship - intimate, personal, social and public
• reaction to environment - mental level and emotional level

look out for 7 keys to detecting deception

• constant - establish a person normal behaviour/ constant before looking other significant behaviour
• change - look for a change
• cluster - no single clue will show that one is lying. look for cluster in verbal, non-verbal cues
• consistency - a consistent reaction to a specific issue
• preconception - observation based on preconception is not reliable. conversation must be with open minded
• contamination - don't contaminate the other person by your conduct
• cross check - cross check the observation before jump to the conclusion

things to look:

• verbal communication
• minority in message broadcast by human
• look for voice quality, voice clarity and speech content
• voice quality - pitch, volume, speech rate
• voice clarity - speech dysfunction (mumbling, pausing, nervous laughter, sigh, unclear thinking)
• speech content
• non-verbal communication
• represents 2/3 of human communication
• head - position, facial, hands on head
• eyes - contact, appearance, tears/ crying, deliberate eye contact, blinking
• arms - shoulders, hands, emblems, illustrator, adapters
• legs - movement, position
• body postures
• response behaviour - look for verbal and non-verbal sign
• acceptance - punishment statement, debt-service statement, blinking, eyes turn skyward, dropping shoulder & roll forward
• bargaining - attempt to disguise reality, soliciting sympathy, religious statement, morals, pitiful look, excessive courtesy
• denial - rejection of reality, memory lapse, denial expression, modifiers, blocking statements, bridging statement/ omission statement, displacement (e.g. everybody is doing that), stalling mechanism (question with question, rephrase question, pause etc)
• anger
• depression

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

project management

picture above is a product of a public project. even though it's not big but still it need some project management.

I worked in a large organisation for more than 10 years. my department managing both the facility and project for the organisation. a year after joined the organisation I had the opportunity to get involved in a hundred million facility development. the next two years was like a crash course in project management for me. I was proud. then I grew up and learnt...

two years ago I switched to other large organisation specialising in project management. here I had my proud shredded into pieces when I really 'exposed' what was project management. I spent my life there more then a year and I felt like going to an open university. I started to thinking why my previous organisation was lacked in understanding the concept and implementation of project management. this was despite the department was headed by an all-know director and assisted by an all-know deputy. and we also had two of the engineers with Master degree in Project Management, one with MBA and a score of certified professionals.

may be I can enroll into project management post grad course and make a study on the issue.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

Fukushima

I watched our local TV news last night. there was a news that the radiation level at Fukushima power plant's reactor no. 1 has been declined & they'll send workers inside to do some cool down job. well I guess they managed to overcome the situation there. I really hope that the situation will be put under control soon.

and then I read in the internet about the Japanese government is to look at their energy strategy because they're now too dependent on nuclear plants. this is an exciting event. I would like to learn how an advanced nation like Japan will act on this situation. revert to fossil fuel-fired power plant? I hope not. green energy technology? I really hope so. I really hope to see a real green technology power plant in action. from my reading, the biggest solar power plant produces 97 MW in Canada. while largest wind farm generates about 870 MW (US). but just compare to the largest power plant, Three Gorges, China, with the capacity of 18,460 MW. even in my country the biggest power plant, fossil fuels fired, is more than 2000 MW.

I really hope to learn from the Japanese on this issue.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

risk

this is the first home-made bread ever tried by my wife (about a month ago). she just tried it out from a recipe. the result: nice bread. there were enough bread for three days and they're still good.

about 4 or 5 years ago, I stumbled with the words of 'risk management' while looking for jobs in newspaper. so I read more about the subject. in my opinion if it is really practised in financial sector why not in construction. in construction we (architects, engineers) have to handle not only the financial aspect of it but also the built environment and contract not to mention project management.

so being as innocent as I can, I proposed it in my department's meeting (of course chaired by the all-know head of department, HOD). I explained my logic and concept that we're not running from risk but to understand and to manage the risk. after none of the members commented, the HOD turned to one senior officer who did attend the risk management course previously. he comically replied he didn't know anything. the meeting burst into a laughing contest. I was stunned! did I propose something wrong.

the answer came 2 years ago when I joint a big government company which oversee a very large development area. yes, risk management is very well alive in the construction industry. the Project Management Institute even have the concept in its famous 'project management body of knowledge' (PMBOK). and there are a lot of books on the topic in construction industry. I'm satisfied that I'm right.

listen to the song 'return to innocent' by Enigma. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Hwc54UVbM

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

my daughter's wish II

this is a picture of the entrance to the old palace of ruler in one of the states. the gate must have been there for centuries and witnessed to million of events: good or bad. some of the events are well documented in the palace (now museum, opens to public). there was one particular event exhibited in the museum which attracted my attention. it was a royal event happened in the early 20th century. the event was subsequently critised in the mid 20th century by an influential politician.

but I'm happy that though the event was painted as bad half a century after it was conducted, the museum still displays them. this is despite that the royalty is still around. now that is what I call speak the truth. tell the truth even it is bitter. currently local people are again subjected to incite. I don't really want to write about their intention but why incite? I have my daughter's wish to fulfill. if this incite flame into bigger event then can I fulfill her wish?

don't they have children of their own?

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.03 kg

my daughter wish

here is a picture of a bicycle lane in a park near to my house. I brought my daughter to cycle here about a month ago. it was raining heavily that morning so there were several water 'ponds'. nevertheless she's very happy and asked me to bring her to the place again.

until now I've not yet able to fulfill her wish. I wonder why. stranges

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.05 kg

help

I took this picture while my family & I having a diner last week. the stall is located along a river bank near to a 100m long bridge. the other side of the river belongs to another state. the river is not really healthy, the water is quiet muddy. I don't know is it because of we're quite close to the sea (lot of mud on the banks) or it is simply the doing of human being. luckily the river is not smelly.

I don't know how long this whole episode can stand. the stall might not be long on its current place before some big company acquire the place. the river, if people aren't changed, it will be polluted soon. my family, the kids will grow up and may leave this place. or it may be me who leave this place again to find a better job. the last time I traveled, I couldn't bring along my family. sure I'm a little bit negative today.

help.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

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

according to '8 Barriers to Communication & How to Overcome Them' by Kevin Hogan and Ron Stubbs, these are the barriers:

1. failure to make a great first (and second impression)
• mirror the other person style
• the lead
• lead with your tune of talking
2. flubbing the story
• what is the intention in telling the story
• why
• would the story create misunderstanding
3. forgetting the art of listening
• listen instead of hear
• let the person speak his version of the story
• help someone create himself by listening to him
• know the audience, use discrimination and avoid jokes
• a good listener is a a brilliant conversationalist
4. arguing with the intent to harm
• discuss the issue with fact
5. criticism & being too 'honest'
• destructive criticism is meant to hurt/ humiliate, manipulate/ control, blame/ create gain, get attention
• criticize the behaviour
• don't demean: first empathy then critic
• critic on behaviour which can be changed
• create a conversation which show 'togetherness' to solve the problem
• make sure people know that you're criticize at
• don't belabor the point
• look for non-verbal communication
• avoid comparing people
• ask for specific change
• don't set a tone of anger etc
• show you understand how's the other person feeling
• reread writing on critic
• start of with something good
• reaffirm your support and confidence to the person
6. hostility and contempt
• labeling
• non-verbal
• covert insults and humiliation
7. ignoring the non-verbal communication
8. ignoring the cycle of effective communication
• make people special
• create a safe environment
• let a person have a moment of spotlight
• treat people as you want people to treat you

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.117 kg

sky crappers

this is one of sky scrappers in the capital. the height is around 150 m and was built in 1985. I went there before while working with an engineering consultant firm. we were labelled as 'stupid' by the company's deputy GM for development (the same company which owns the building).

Commoners can enter the building but of course at limited areas. the company which own the building is actually is a custodian of commoners money. but several years ago there was a case where some of their senior officers took away some of the money. I don't know what happened exactly but it is a sad episode. a commoner who works in an institution which keep another commoner money has the heart to do such an evil doing.

so you cannot even rely on another commoner, I guess.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.05 kg

public amenities II

I was again went to the capital city hence the silence of my blog. above is the latest picture of one of the most important transportation for commoners - bus terminal. the last time I went there was about 2 years ago, the situation was the same as 10 years ago (while I'm still studying in the city). it's now fully air-conditioned and no more the fume from buses get into the terminal.

the terminal was built 35 years ago and only now the commoners have the feeling of being in comfortable as in an airport! the whole waiting lounge is air-conditioned. the fume from buses exhaust is no more get into the terminal. there is no more foreign-operated food outlets and no more young men hunting for customers (which occasionally bogus). the floor is now cleaner than previous and the bus counters' staffs seemed more happy. the bus berth area (basement) is now more sparkling and there is also a working exhaust system to suck out fumes. last time, whenever I went down to the berth area, I always feel to throw out.

from what I leaned from a kiosk operator inside the operator, the rent of their outlets are now increased. and I also told that buses heading to south are now have their own, separate terminal. so their sales dropped. however from my opinion, as users, the separation is a good move. last time it was packed with people. once I witness a young women was hit by a man by a crash helmet. the women passed out. then two men came and dragged the women out from the place. a man tried to help but was warned by the hit-man that it was a family matter. yes, there was a police bit. but may be because of the situation, crowded, hot, uncomfortable, chaotic, etc., the incident was just another happening in such area.

finally, the commoners get some good facilities. of course after 35 years!