All Praise to Almighty
Allah for His Kindness and Mercy. Salawat and Salam to the Holy Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w.
Nothing much is happening in 2013, or is it?
I have made a forecast at the end of 2012 that I will not be
travelling much in 2013 compared to the previous years. And yes, the prediction
is true. Unlike past journeys to exotic places like Tokyo, Paris, Milan (and
Venice) and Istanbul, in 2013 I only went to a more sedate kind of places such
as Kunming, Hanoi, few times to Singapore and couple of times to Kota Kinabalu.
The reason for this self inflicted travel control is solely
due to EMBA, short for Executive Master of Business Administration. I’ve enrolled
to the EMBA program for 2 years starting 2013. My mostly sleepy weekends
usually after the sumptuous home cooked breakfast prepared by my dearest Jay,
will be quickly fade in a distant memory for these two exigent back-to-college
years. If that wasn’t sacrificial enough, I even had to forgo my favourite cricket
slogging afternoons at those serene green ovals.
Not entirely though, on the cricket thingy. Once in a while
I did play in a few matches both friendly and competitive in nature (albeit at social
club cricket level). As usual, I managed to strike 2 to 3 wickets per game and
hit couple of fours while batting, and won a medal or two.
2013 also saw the 13th General Election. I’m
deeply concerned on the sickening Chinese Tsunami voting trend. In my small
little circle of influence, I’ll do my best to offset that effect. The best
thing is to equip ourselves with the required knowledge, exercise constraints
and to always seize the opportunity.
The other thing about me is that I’m quite a complacent guy.
I’m the type of person who not normally concerned about changing jobs. It has
been a steady 8 years at my current job. Nevertheless, I have been hunted and
tracked down by Head Hunters (Talent Recruitment Agencies), twice in 2013. This
happened merely by just updating the word EMBA in my Linked-In info.
In the second occasion, I have been interviewed by many mat
sallehs with first names like Matt, Geoff, Joe, Colin, Brad and Sarah, either
face-to-face or via voice over half a day time zone difference. Who knows,
maybe I have the chance to end the 8 year stagnation.
My kids, the delights of my life, they are all grown up.
Ahwaz just finished his 5 year high schooling at STAR, which happens also to be
my alma mater. Awateef was really enjoying herself at SMK Bandar Sunway (SMKBS)
of which her mom was the form teacher. She did many marvellous things like
getting the highest marks in her English and few other subjects, to writing a
short story which then published in the school magazine etc. Wassem had a few
health issues and twice been admitted to the hospitals. He is moving to SMKBS,
hopefully he will gain some benefits there. And my Ayra is transforming from
the sweet adorable little princess to a beautiful and smart early teen age girl.
Meanwhile, my wife and I are enjoying
ourselves looking after them.
Adieu 2013. Thank you for everything.
May Almighty Allah
grant His Kindness and Mercy to us all for the coming 2014.
