...remember when...

*lunch break*


I was glancing at my whiteboard as I typed. Something caught my attention. You know, I taped a piece of paper with a picture of a small kitten staring at its reflection on the mirror, but the reflection is of a lion. It simply says 'What Matters Most Is How You See Yourself".


So true.


Let me tell you a story about my dad.

At times when other friends' parents are the typical estate workers, teachers, policemen, *you get my drift*, my dad is the only one who work in the telephone company in that small town. He was away most of the time. Away for training in KL. Away for work, coming home late at night.

At times, we would have people knocking on our door at night, just to complain to my dad that his home telephone line is not working. And he actually went off to see to that. At that time, we don't have 100. No NOC. It's just, go to the telephone man (my dad) and he'll sort it out.

He picked me up from school using one of the company car (the one with the Jabatan Telekom logo on it), he sent me off to school with one of the cable truck (the big one for carrying the copper cable). Sounds like improper usage of company's asset. Hehe.


He introduced me to the communication technology at that time when I was in kindergarten. The first punch tape. Looks like braille but it's not. Then the old switchboard, flicked a few switches and I can hear my mom at the end of the line. Then he shows me the cabin, where all the telephone equipment was stored. Cold! All the computers.. so the canggih one. (At that time la.)


See, I was exposed to this company at a verly early age. How time changes. He instilled his pride for working in this company in me. He said, this company is being built by the Malaysian people. The taxpayer's money is used to build this telephone company, so we have to serve the Malaysian people. Give them what they need; telecommunication services. Work with intergrity.


My dad retired 1 year ago. He is still proud of the fact that he served the company for 30 years! 30 long.. long years... And guess what? He was not even being promoted! Yes, he's a bit bitter about it. But truth be told, what matters most is not the promotion...

Coming back to the motto that I taped on my whiteboard, my dad believe that what matters most is how he sees himself. Yes, he was not promoted. But he didn't see himself as an old, 'useless-to-the-eyes-of-his-boss' worker who was side-stepped so many times for promotion. He sees himself as an example to his children; that with perseverence, you will reap the benefits in the end. For him, there is no other pride than to see one of his child in a higher and better position than him, in the same company he has been working for 30 years.

How can I not have the same spirit that he had nurture within himself?