let there be a hung parliament: Italy

last time the UK had braced the hung parliament, sort of resolved it and they still hang to it. few days ago, it was Italy. 10 cabinet members are from PD, 5 from PdL, 2 from SC and few others from other parties AND 4 are from independence. Independence! that's why I want a hung parliament. go get it people!

creation of a nation: let there be a hung parliament

1:1 - In the beginning the forefathers created this nation

1:2 - And the nation was firstly without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of nation moved upon the face of them.

1:3 - And I said, let there be a hung parliament: and there was a hung parliament

1:4 - And I saw the the leaders of the hung parliament, and it was good; and the nation no more in the darkness

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1:30 - And to every man in the nation, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creep upon the earth, wherein there is life, they must be given their right fairly and it was so

1:31 - And I saw every thing that took place, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning of the hung parliament were the good day

Kudos to hung parliament (if the leaders a wise, otherwise...)

office politic and politic

yea, you don't read it wrong. it is the office politic plus the politic. then what will you get at the end?  a corrupt organisation is the answer. I had the experience. just imagine. I work with the owner of a facility. I was involved in a plumbing work that worth a peanut. but due to the office politic and the 'outside' politic, the project was really a stupid one. it was reported some of the users staged a protest. what the hell? all of this because the person who rented one of the outlets was a political man. that's a double stupid. and I just felt to throw out just because I told you this story.

the invincible sword

yesterday I was given a news that I need to rearrange my life. I'm now need to be different and those people have expressed their confidence with me. today I get a headache. may be that sword is now hung on my head. really, suddenly I remember about the story when a friend of a king wanted to be a king. he was given the opportunity. and in one night he left the throne. he saw that sword: a sword which will fall unto the head whenever the king make a mistake.

who want the sword?

value of a teacher

I went to my kids' school to get a glimpse at my kid's exam paper. the result was announced but the exam paper was not returned back. so I went there to get the clear picture on the weakness of my kid. after telling the teacher that I want to see the exam paper, she replied "why? you don't satisfied with the result?". what the heck...? so these negative-thinking teachers are moulding my kids! no wonder each and every day the social problems become bigger and bigger.

if you found that a government is corrupt (in a democracy world), you can vote them out. but if the (government schools') teachers are corrupt, what should you do?

teachers' corruption

sometimes I wander that teacher has a very low possibility in fall into the trap of corruption. isn't it? well, after 5 Feb 2012, it is not. a teacher submits himself to corruption if he does not fulfill his duty. his duty is an utmost one: as a 'mould' for the next generation. in our society, teacher used to have a special position. but slowly teaching becomes only a way of earn a living: to drive fancy car and to wear expensive cloth. they no longer guide a son or a daughter about life, but just 'teach' them numbers and facts. they systematically chose pupils who are already excel (academically), to be excellent (academically). leaving the more needy to, I don't know where. when these kids revolt, they will be known as criminals.

negligence is corruption but not a crime. because a legal system says so.

new or used?

one of my responsibility is to check whether the material used in a new construction is new (it is always must be new due to contract's condition). two days ago I did exactly that. the picture above shows the material exhibits sign of being 'used material'. it is quite obvious, isn't it?

why in the world the constructor ever wanted to do this? is everybody else is blind? really I was disappointed. had the material had been installed, I would asked them to remove everything and redo it again. it was a foolish attempt of doing thing. foolish.

comment vs complaint

yesterday I went to have dinner with friends. my food was not so tasty, so I gave my sincere comment to the owner while we're paying the dish. to my shocked, her face turned to 'very unhappy'. even at that point of time she was to receive the money. couldn't she differentiate the 'humiliating' comment and sincere comment? nothing in my comment could be misunderstood as 'complaint'. what happened to maxim 'customer is always right'?

Japan, the PM resigned

so the Japanese has a new prime. 5 in 5 years. what a record. from my perspective, that shows the high accountability of those politicians. for example the out-going Kan accepted that he had some problem in handling the huge post-tsunami event. but he still lead the country during the crisis and quit when the time is right. kudos Japanese.

Japan, nuclear waste and sunflower

so they are planning to plant as much sunflower as they can. it's a symbolic, they said. after renouncing 'live by principle' axiom, I believe what we should do is more effort and thinking to minimise what ever risk we face. why symbolic? this kind of thing reminds me to my previous boss who always said he's talking in symbolic and expecting people to understand. what the meaning of that? could he just got straight to the point instead of 'symbolism' which people may not understand due to 'poor or stupid symbolism'.

heaven and hell

the story I'm going to tell you was told by one of end user of a large construction project I involved about ten years ago. he was a pious person and this Ph.D on his name. the story may be an old one. but at the time I heard it, it was my first time. and I've never heard that kind of story again after that.

"after a while, people in the heaven decided to pay a visit to their friends or relatives who had been thrown to the hell. but of course, they cannot cross into the hell. so they decided to built a bridge from heaven to hell and meet each other at the boundary of the two places. so they communicated this idea to the hell's inhabitants and they agreed to do it together. but after a while, the idea of having the bridge did not materialised fully. only bridge's on the hell part was finished. there was none from the heaven side. the reason: 'all contractors live in the hell, none of them live in heaven. so who are going to build the bridge for the heaven residents?'".

I was shocked when I heard the story particularly when it came from the mouth of such person. I don't know what his attention or whether he booked a place in the hell as well. but why can't he respect others?

nuclear fuel Japan - underestimate the risk

so there was report from United Nation saying that Japan has underestimate the risk of hazard by tsunami to nuclear power station. however the praised the Japanese response as 'exemplary'.

I hope I can learn that 'exemplary' steps. such an effort towards such a serious event can be easily adopted into solving other lesser problem. and about for the last one or two days senior citizen of Japan are volunteering themselves in fighting the radiation. they gave their reason but saying their mission is no 'kamikaze'. kamikaze, according to them is a weird strategy where 'people go and never comeback'. but their effort is 'go and will come back'.

I should go to Japan, work there and learn.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: negligible

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

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

earth day

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

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: negligible

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

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.

boundary

yesterday someone from my previous 'life' called me telling about work. it was like a carpenter is told to do goldsmith's work. multitasking, right?

however my mind flew back to about 10 years ago when i was assigned to be in a committee that do the audit for built-up facilities in a piece of property. the audit was designed to capture all the existing condition of the facilities. i was, and two other guys, representing the seller, which was also my employer. in the committee there were also representatives from the buyer.

so we did the audit. however the buyer representatives had in their hand the sale & purchase agreement while i'm not allowed to even to see the agreement from my employer. it's confidential, my employer said. oh, ok, so let it be. the audit finished, documented and presented to both parties.

though it was a good experience, but something else struck my mind yesterday. the audit that i went through was actually to set a boundary on which both parties could turn into if they were involved in any dispute later. and they were got into dispute later on. i actually got that idea about 10 years ago, diminished and only to be rediscovered yesterday!

perhaps it is a good practice to draw a line from which we started something. put it on record and periodically check for our progress. and document it. in the case of a carpenter who is told to do goldsmith's work, i need to take a deep thinking. should it be done? is the boundary need to be crossed?

life is somehow hard enough and don't make it harder.

professional duty of care

four years ago, on the way to be a certified professional engineer, or PE, i was introduced to the word liability, negligence. then there was a concept of duty of care. now i'm in trouble. i've never heard any of those words during my study years nor before i decided to get a PE. i mean, i've never heard in the context that i'm now facing.

luckily, by that time i've developed interest in law (i've even finished several books on constitutional law, e.g. a book written by Michael Allen, Brian Thompson and Bernadette Walsh). but i'm not going to be some kind of lawyer or what but it really an eye opener. an engineer must be careful in discharging his role as, an engineer. it says when i offer my service, i owes duty of care to the man on the street. if i fails to discharge that duty (or they called it, breaches the duty) reasonably & that man suffers, so i may be in trouble. and all this can arise even if there's no formal contract between me and that man. and i may even liable if a third party suffers because my conduct. and this conduct may in in term of my action or inaction (or omission, they said). i'm not offering any advice here, and any law man out there please help me if i'm wrong.

in order to refresh my mind the following cases have great influence on what ever things that i've wrote.

• Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 - duty of care and who is your neighbour test
• Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 1 WLR 582 - duty breached and the standard of care test
• Hedley Byrne and Co. Ltd. v Heller and Partners [1963] 2 All ER 575 - damages

all those cases were laid well before i was born and i believe they are now have stand the test of time.

i wonder is it good if all those concepts and what the history behind them be taught during the study years? i don't really know but i'm really glad if i had the opportunity to learn them during my study. those things should be able to prepare the undergraduate to be kind of 'prepared'.

so for those undergraduates, please dig deeper in what ever your field of studies. ask people around you. some say asking correct question is sometimes more important than answering correctly. i've already had my lesson for not thinking out of the box.