culture

1 May 20072 September 2011

The YouTube generation cannot be ignored

i have long advocated that local organisations explore the use of internet to drive the development of content in the country (that’s because i am a tech geek and an entertainment junkie *grin*).

malaysia is a country that has limited opportunities from a traditional media point of view. this is possibly due to regulations, but more so due to the fact that economically there is simply not enough room for many traditional media organisations / platform for a country of 26million people, and very few in the necessary income bracket. furthermore, advertising revenue from local organisations and brands are rather limited due to relatively low establishment of local brands (though, i’d probably stand corrected for this).

but i do believe that there is quite a supply of local content, although one might argue that the quality of local content is not worthy of being in the supply chain. nevertheless, the recent video promotions by bmw shorties and nokia’s you make it reel shows that there are some very good local talent in the country. the sad thing is that these people lack the platform to show their talent and creativity. in short, there is no money for these guys… hence, the oft repeated complaint of artists “suffering for their art”.

so it is a question of supply exceeding demand… resulting in low economic value to the content owners… and sadly the very low chance of one of these content gems to be discovered by the general malaysian public.

with the internet, there are new ways that content can be delivered to the public without having to go through traditional platforms. to me this is a completely democratic process as the really good ones will truly shine.

consider the success of the likes of YouTube, and the likes. An article on The Star describes it well.

to me the internet has created a more inclusive and democratic process towards the content supply chain. what was previously the domain of a very few well connected and perhaps very commercial productions, is today open to everybody in the community.

web 2.0 is driving a revolution in the way content is being produced, supplied, shared and marketed. more and more community produced content will be available. large local organisations need to see this opportunity and be involved in the process of bringing these content to the houses and offices.

we will have to be daring, and take some risks. sure some will not work out well, but we need to recognise whether the venture has promise or is a dead horse. make the decision quickly, exit and move on.

this is the age of the internet.

8 February 20074 September 2011

Courses for toilet cleaning

Are we truly bad when it comes to toilet cleanliness?

Regardless this, it would appear that some quarters believe that we need to have special courses to ensure that we understand how to keep toilets clean. An article from chron.com highlights this amusing… and rather embarassing i must say article.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — It’s never too late for toilet training. Some Malaysian colleges may soon offer courses on how to keep public restrooms clean, the national news agency reported Thursday.

The effort is meant to help Malaysia’s public lavatories become as hygienic as those in countries such as Britain and Singapore, Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Robert Lau was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

“Clean toilets cannot merely be judged by the eyes,” Lau was quoted as saying. “This matter also involves the use of cleaning equipment, soap, fragrances and proper tissues.”

Courses would involve managing washrooms by the highest standards in design and sanitation technology, said Lau.

Malaysia’s government recently said it wanted to start a “toilet revolution” in a country where public restrooms have long nauseated citizens and tourists with their lack of basic items such as toilet paper, soap and sometimes even toilet seats.

Lau said his ministry plans to soon introduce a system for the public to lodge complaints about filthy toilets via cell phone text messages.

Other recent measures have included setting up modern self-cleaning toilets in popular shopping districts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s largest city, and scrapping the business licenses of restaurants found to have foul lavatories.

Now, self cleaning toilets. A bit of overkill huh?

10 June 200624 April 2017

A blown tyre and a ride with Kah Beng

A bit of an eventful day today.

Caught the first half of the Germany vs Costa Rica match and did not wake up in time to make my way towards Sepang for the 2nd High Performance Challenge structured track day event.

I got up realising that I had to rush to the sepang circuit. I suppose in the rush I picked up a puncture (on my right rear) along the way to the Sg Buloh toll plaza. Once on the highway, the puncture got worse and resulted in a tyre blow-out. Luckily I was driving within the speed limit, and the bimmer was well within its limits.

The blow out was a bit of an inconvenience. I had to replace the shredded tyre. The spare was not of the right size. Potentially, I had to replace both rear tyres if I could not get the same model. It turned out I couldn’t… not without waiting much longer. So… two new tyres today.

The new Dunlop Direzza’s do not seem as firm as the old Yokohamas. A little less surefooted around the fast corners. Well, I’ll use it for a while and try other tyre models when it is time.

Got to the track at around 12noon. The orphans from two foster homes had already arrived (invited by RMCC – Ronald McDonalds Childrens Charity). The kids had a lot of fun being taxi-driven around the Sepang Circuit in a variety of cars ranging from the Lotus Elise (driven by the always fearless Kah Beng) to an Opel Zafira.

I got my chance later in the evening to hitch a ride with Kah Beng (pic above – wearing cap) and to observe the man at work. The amazing thing about the Elise is the braking point… which was some 75m from the entry into turns 1 and 15. He would drive the elise very close to the limits of adhesion with many opposite lock corrections. Spun once. Interesting to note his line through turns 13 and 14. I would like to see a slightly different line through that complex to see how the exit into the back straight would be like. Also took a ride in Luen’s track car (a bare bones Satria). Good stuff all round.

For more information about the High Performance Challenge, please do visit the website… and also help contribute towards our Racing For Children initiative.

4 June 20064 September 2011

Creative thinking and problem solving

One of the challenges at the office is getting the workforce to generate creativity. Our company is in the internet business, and it is therefore necessary for all of us to be dynamic in our thinking so as to be ahead of the game – or at least at the leading bunch.

However, years of rigid education system, a culture of not challenging status quo & seniority, and an evironment of feeding information (as opposed to seeking information) makes creative thinking something of a curiousity than the norm.

The pity is that all this puts all of us at a severe disadvantage compared to other nations.

Yet, all is not lost. The first challenge is to foster this creative thinking environment at the workplace. There are many tools and techniques available.

The key to the adoption of creative thinking at the workplace is top management buy-in and sponsorship. Transforming an organisation from a passive to a creative one will not happen overnight. The changes will be painful. Some may be counter intuitive.

It is therefore also vital that everybody believes in the process. Not difficult given the existing cultural norms. Sponsorship is also vital given that the cost of change may be significant in monetary as well as human capital terms.

But these are the mere first steps. As usual, I have been doing a bit of my own research on the net – – almost randomly, I came across some material that could be useful. So check out mycoted.com – a site dedicated to improving Creativity and Innovation for solving problems woldwide, with that in mind, we provide a central repository for Creativity and Innovation on the Internet as a summary of tools, techniques, mind exercises, puzzles, book reviews etc, that is open to all – and can be written by all.

Feel free to share your thoughts here.

3 November 200525 January 2016

wasted!

Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for me. I have been practically wasted since Wednesday after being hit by a major virus. Not enjoying the Hari Raya today since I have lost my taste buds. Hopefully things will improve later today.