Kuala Terengganu will be a city?!

Weather: Cloudy

Temperature: 11 c

I must be too busy for the past few weeks until this news slipped from my radar, or maybe my informants in Malaysia might have thought that this is not important enough to alert me.

To my readers who know little about me, though I always talked about Klang, I originally came from Kuala Terengganu (KT) – the land of turtles (though not many left, even the fake turtle on the roundabout near Ladang has been mercilessly removed).

This morning as I was going through my daily routine of browsing Malaysian news before I start my work, I spotted this incredible news: RM10 millions will be spent for the declaration of KT as a city. The reason for me to choose the word “incredible” is 2 fold: (i) KT will be made a city; and (ii) RM10 million will be spent for the celebration.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am actually happy for KT. It’s just that I find it hard to believe that KT will be a city! The last time I checked, KT was still in the same state and condition as it was 15 years ago. I am really confused about what has improved since then.

Allow me to summarily audit KT based on whatever I have in mind right now. Ok, let’s start with the general hospital (GH). The structure of KT’s GH is the same as Klang’s TAR Hospital (I won’t be surprised if they used the same blueprint to build the hospitals). It was there ever since I remember anything about KT. Did any new hospital being built lately? Not that I know of, but I stand to be corrected. Anyway, I think Klang definitely has more hospitals than KT (taking into account the private hospitals).

Now, let’s talk about public transport. One thing I love about KT which neither KL nor Klang could offer: no traffic jam. Further, KT has airport. I was told by my dad recently that KT has just built a brand new airport called “Magnificent White Elephant”. That makes KT somehow “more advanced” than other towns/cities in the west coast. Why does KT need a new and big airport is beyond my comprehension. How many planes that take off or land in KT a day? Don’t be surprised but I think there may be more planes in Kandahar airport, Afghanistan. There are cities without airport, take Petaling Jaya for instance. Klang doesn’t have airport either, but Klang has commuter train which KT doesn’t have. Of course, KT has another thing which Klang doesn’t have: trishaw.

What about entertainment? When I was studying in primary school, there were cinemas in KT and the ticket price was only RM1 to RM2. Now, there is NO cinema in KT, not even one. There used to be some night clubs in KT but I was too young to patronize them then. Unfortunately, before I am old enough to pay them a visit, they were all closed down. I am not sure what the people of KT expect their young adults to do during their leisure. Do they seriously expect the young and energetic ones to go jogging and fishing everyday? I am not a fan of Karaoke or nightclubs, but let’s be honest, I would wish to occasionally spend some time doing something stupid and unproductive too. That’s what young people do! It is not surprising that KT is unable to keep its young people. Many young Anak Terengganu have left KT to seek greener pasture else where. The people in KT are aging to the extent that I was told that some associations were not able to continue with their youth wing: there is no young member! But somehow, KT will be a city soon.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am proud of KT. Regardless of where I will be in the future, KT will always have a special place in my heart. Which team do you think I supported when Selangor played against Terengganu in Piala Malaysia final? The answer is Terengganu no doubt.

But loving KT is one thing, declaring and accepting that KT is a city is another. If KT is a city, why Penang is not? This is another supporting proof that Malaysia will be a developed nation in 2020.

Another supporting proof that Malaysia is really “boleh” and there is “hope” in this country is that RM10 m has been budgeted for the declaration and celebration. I know there will be fire works, there will be “tarian tradisional”, there will be kompang, there will be “kenduri”. Let’s not kid ourselves. After the glorified celebration, the people in KT must still get back to the reality.

I can call myself Clint Eastwood, but instead of Dirty Harry, people could only see me as a Cina pek. Think about it.

Dr Lee has left us for 365 days

Weather: Fog

Temperature: 11 c

Today, the whole world celebrates Christmas. Even in country like China where religion is almost non-existent, the air and joy of Christmas are everywhere. Shopping malls and high end commercial buildings have been very busy with Christmas decoration. Christmas trees, fake snow, Santa Claus, Jingle Bell are seen in every corner. I am not sure whether China is the only country that celebrates Christmas purely from commercial perspective without any form of religious element.

Having said the above, while my friends in Malaysia, USA, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong etc, are enjoying Christmas holiday, I am sad to say that: maybe, China is also the only country that celebrates Christmas without an official public holiday! Yes, regrettably, I am working now: First time in my life doing something non-leisure related on Christmas. Though I am not Christian, I have always thought that Christmas holiday is something I deserve.

But today’s article is not about Christmas; it is about a friend of mine who has left this world exactly 1 year ago.

His name was Dr Lee. He was my classmate. After SPM, he pursued his study in medicine and in 2005, he successfully became a doctor. He once told me that he applied job in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, and ironically, only Malaysia turned him down. Apparently, Malaysia had enough qualified doctors already. So Dr Lee went to Australia to start his career: another sad story of Malaysia’s brain drain. I have had enough of telling the brain drain stories so I would not elaborate here.

I must admit that Dr Lee and I were not close in class. I belonged to the group that created the most noise but made the least revision; while Dr Lee belonged to the group that made no nonsense but fully concentrated on studies. Naturally, our worlds were poles apart. He couldn’t stand me cracking up jokes which he found not funny thus disrupting the class and similarly I couldn’t stand him raising his hands so often to ask the teacher questions, which I found unnecessary.

After we finished high school, we went our separate ways. There was a long period of time that we have lost touch with each other: until one fine day in June 2006.

I was watching movie at home when I suddenly received a call from Dr Lee. I intentionally used the word “suddenly” as I was in no way expecting a call from him. I did not even have his number in my mobile.

Dr Lee sounded ok. He told me that he got my number from another classmate and knew that I was practicing law in Klang. He needed a favor from me: he wanted me to draw a will for him. “May I ask why?” I curiously asked. Dr. Lee definitely didn’t fit the profile of a client who wanted to draw a will. He was only 25 that time. Which young adult at the age of 25 would have thought about writing a will to dispose off his/her assets when he/she is not around?

Dr Lee did not try to avoid my question; he answered me honestly without any hesitation. “I am dying. I got Leukemia and there is 70% chance I would not make it.” He told me calmly.

I did not know how to reply. I was shocked. But more than being shocked, I was sad. I have lost 2 classmates since I graduated from high school: one died of brain tumor, and the other drowned in the sea of Taiwan. I really could not take the news of a third one.

I tried to sound as professional as possible with little emotion. I thought it would not be appropriate to probe further on his health over the phone. I said surely I would help him and we would meet up to discuss the details. He said ok but the meeting would have to wait until he came back from his Chemo.

A week later, Engtee, Lloyd and I went to Dr Lee’s house. Engtee was scared by the presence of 2 dogs. Dr Lee slowly walked out of the house to lead the dogs away. We became speechless when we saw Dr Lee: he was bald, thin, and weak. He appeared tired when he greeted us.

3of us proceeded to his bed room. Instead of talking about the will, we were generally talking about his medical conditions (which initially we tried not to bring up). He was happy to tell us about his conditions. Being a doctor, he was able to explain to us clearly what Leukemia is, the symptom, the treatment, the side effect and the chances of survival. Once we were done with the medical jargons, we reckoned that it was time to discuss something more formal: his will.

I have drafted a few wills for clients before but this was different: I was helping my classmate to draft his own will in anticipation of impending death. The feeling was very bad. Even until now, I am not able to forget it.

After that Dr Lee went through a series of Chemo, including a bone marrow transplant. He was getting weaker by the days. We went to the hospital to visit him. He was cheerful to see us. But because he was too weak, we could not go into his room in one huge group; we had to be divided into groups of 3 and took turn to see him.

On Christmas last year, I received a sms informing me that Dr Lee has passed away. It was just a few days before my wedding.

I was prevented from going to his funeral to pay him the last respect due to some Chinese traditional “pantang” – I was about to get married and it would bring bad luck to my marriage if I were to attend a funeral. Of course I was not educated and brought up to believe in all these “pantang”, but I felt that I would be very selfish if I were to upset my wife and my in laws and place them in fear. Additionally, I did not want to give them the opportunity to say, “na na na I told you so.” if my marriage does not work out.

365 days has gone by since Dr Lee left us. I would remember him as a brave person who could face his own death fearlessly, calmly and with hope.

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” – Bertrand Russel.




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Welcome to the club!

Weather: Fair
Temperature: 14 c

I really wish I was there.

There are events in our lives which we really wish we were there – my great pal Bom’s wedding was certainly one of them.

Bom was the third king among the 4 heavenly kings to get married. I was the first, then Lan Tat, then Bom. Borrowing the words of my former boss, Bom has been inducted into the Married Men Club without knowing the rules and regulations.

Fate must have played us both. Almost a year ago, Bom was not able to attend my wedding and be my best man in Malaysia because he was in China. A year later, I couldn’t attend his wedding and be his best man because I was in China. 2 great buddies who failed to attend each other’s wedding. He was not in my wedding photo album, and I was not in his.

Fate also must have played tricks on us both. Bom and I were classmates while our respective wives were also classmates. Bom has chosen his future in China while I later followed suit. I must admit that without Bom’s selfless assistance during the initial period of my stay in China, things would have been 10 times harder.

Bom and Stella, I am not sure you will be reading this because probably now you are enjoying your honeymoon in Bali. This article is specially dedicated to both of you, newly married couple. Bom and Stella, we have walked together the path of growing up, now together, we will walk together in China into the future. “不管世界尽头多寂寞，你的身边一定有我，我们说过不管天高地厚！” – 信乐团.

When a man holds his lover's hands before wedding - it is passion

When a man holds his lover's hands on the wedding - it is formality

When a man holds his lover's hands after wedding - it is self-defence

Good luck brother!

Who is the 阿灿 (Ah Chan) now?

Weather: Fair

Temperature: 12 c

I remember in the 80s or even early 90s, there were many Hong Kong series or movies that made joke of the Mainland Chinese. On top of my mind is the movie called “花花公子” (or Playboy) played by Chow Yun-Fatt and Anita Mui. The Mainland Chinese were rudely referred to as “Ah Chan”. In those movies or series, the Chinese people were usually depicted as stupid, off-fashion, square minded and dirty.

During the 80s and early 90s, apart from portraying the negative image of the Mainland Chinese, the Hong Kong movie and series also frequently touched on the fear of “97” i.e., the return of Hong Kong to the Mainland. Everyone was talking about migrating to avoid falling into the hands of the Communist Government. Almost everyone was crazily saving money for migration. On top of my mind is the movie called “富贵逼人”. Hong Kong people saw no hope after 1997, only a few were optimistic about the future of Hong Kong after she was taken back by Mainland China. It was as if Hong Kong would sink on 1st July 1997.

In the 80s and early 90s, a few would have thought that China will be the future, especially after the Tiananmen incident in 1989.

This phenomenon was not only found in Hong Kong, Malaysia too has the similar feelings towards Mainland Chinese, even until now. When we saw a man from China in Malaysia, we immediately thought that he must be a con man; when we saw a lady from China, she must be a prostitute or “Little Dragon Girl”. Allow me to digress a little. Once, I witnessed that a lady from China selling DVDs to a group of Malaysian Chinese men who were enjoying their Bak Kut Teh. This group of men obviously has no intention to buy the DVDs but since the Chinese lady looked “ok”, they decided to “spend some time” with her. They made fun of her, some even bordering on sexual harassment. One guy said, “Your DVDs defective or not? Can be played? Or can only be played by made-in-China DVD players?” The group burst into laughter. The Chinese lady coldly replied, “at least China manufactures DVD players… You Malaysians don’t even have Malaysian brand DVD players.” The guys continued laughing but her point was taken.

Against the above background, let’s see our Malaysia in the 80s and early 90s. Malaysia was one of the 4 tigers in ASEAN. In the early 90s, Malaysia’s economy was booming. Everyone was making money, particularly through the stock market. There were so many things we wanted to build, KLCC, Airport, MSC etc (later, all these became magnificent white elephants). Those were the glorious days of Malaysia. The people were thinking that Vision 2020 was well within our reach, or we may even achieve developed state sooner than 2020. Let’s be frank, 2020 is just another 13 years away. Do you see Malaysia leaps into the club of developed states in 13 years time? Well, judging from what happened to Selangor in 2005 (Selangor is already a “developed state” since 2005 based on the criteria imagined by our Menteri Besar), I am quite sure the government will declare that Malaysia is already a developed state in 2020, despite the rest of the world not recognizing it, as long as we still have roads, hospitals, schools, commercial buildings, residential areas, “independent” judiciary and a so called “democratic system” then. Or you think that the Malaysian government will eat the humble pie, face the truth and announce to the people that we have failed the Vision 2020? You want to bet? Since we are on that topic, can someone tell me whether the Vision 2020 thingy is still on, since it was the brainchild of the old man?

Now, back to our original topic. I could tell you the different image between Shanghai and KL. I could also tell you the way Shanghai people live. But, instead of talking about my own observation or my opinion based on my own perspective which could be bias and inaccurate, let’s talk numbers.

From 2003 to 2006, Malaysia real GDP growth floated between 5% and 6.8%. Of course, our mainstream media will tell us that were good enough. After all, we were not looking at negative growth, right? Let’s see what happened to China’s GDP growth. From 2003 to 2006, China’s real GDP growth was continuously in double digit i.e. from 10% to 11.1%. It was an economic miracle that the world has never seen.

In 2006, Malaysia’s export of goods was USD160,814 million; while China’s was almost 8 times larger at USD1,212 billion. In 2006, Malaysia’s GDP at market price was USD572.6 billion; while China’s was almost 40 times larger at USD22,049.8 billion.

Now, who is the Ah Chan?

p/s:-

Hi Vincenzo, nice to see you again. Thanks for the good comment. Hope you could share with us more on your thoughts.

Hi Hong Seek, what a pleasant surprise to see you here. Your comment could already be made into a blog : ) Thanks for sharing your idea with us. Hope to see you more often here.

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Money Printing Machine

Weather: Rain
Temperature: 9 c

At last, I have the opportunity to sit before my laptop in my apartment with a peaceful mind to blog. Blogging during leisure has been a privilege. I really enjoy writing articles for this blog: it is my private time with my dearest readers (some of whom I may not even know).

This morning, I was looking at my timesheets for the past few days. Just in case you are not an animal in the corporate zoo, a timesheet is a document lawyers use to record time spent on clients’ matters. Of course, the primary purpose of timesheet is to bill clients based on the number of hours recorded on the timesheets.

When I was working in Klang, the concept of timesheet was so foreign, it was almost non-existent. We need no timesheets. The clients will negotiate for the fees at the outset; they want to know how much they will have to pay at the end of the day. For example, the clients want to know exactly how much you charge (in total), say, for handling a divorce. They want a fixed fee, so they know for sure whether they are able to pay you. If you tell them you charge on an hourly basis, they will run with their tails between their legs. Timesheet doesn’t work well for small individual clients. You really can’t measure your fees by the hours you spent. So, the earlier you could close your file, the better. Because the fees have been fixed, so the lesser time you spend on the file, the better. In addition, individual small clients will not trust your timesheets. They will ask, “how do I know whether you really spent that amount of time? How do you prove that the time recorded by you is accurate?”. Trust me, I have tried to introduce the concept of timesheet in my previous law firm and it was a disaster.

Yes, this morning, I was looking at my timesheets for the past few weeks. If you think that a lawyer charging RM300 per hour in Malaysia is obscene, try that in US dollar. Yes, you are right, in China, we charge clients in US dollar. A lawyer needs to bill clients certain hours a day to meet the so called “quota” or target. Now, looking at my timesheets again, I really look like a money printing machine. I start printing money the moment I finish my coffee and turn on my computer. And this money printing machine runs non-stop for a few hours before lunch time. On certain occasions, this money printing machine failed to stop for lunch break. Sometimes, this money printing machine didn’t even stop for toilet break: it was printing money in the toilet (I do not wish to elaborate further, please use your imagination).

On top of that, please note that I am not the only money printing machine here, we have more than 2 dozens money printing machines here, diligently printing moneys non-stop. That’s how big money was made, I guess. Certainly not by assisting an individual client in writing a letter of demand to his debtor and thereby charging RM75 per letter.

All this hours spent on certain clients’ matters will be recorded and sent to the accounting department at the end of each following day. The accounting department will collect the timesheets from every professional (here, they are referred to as wage earners), compile it into statistic and publish it at the end of the month like our results slip.

Fortunately, even though I am a junior in the firm, my billable hours ranked third in Shanghai firm for the month of September. No, not because I was good. It was because of my peculiar position, i.e. being bi-lingual. For the reason that I could read and write both Chinese and English, I was roped into many different projects. Each email to clients would have to be read and edited by me before it was sent out. Where a Chinese contract needs to be explained to US clients in English, the firm will find me useful. Some even gave me a nick name “Window Vista”, because they only need to give me instruction in Chinese and I will be able to type it out in English. Of course, through reading other people’s emails and contracts, I learned a lot about practicing law in China, not only about the law, but also about how to deal with Multi-National corporate clients.

p/s:

I am really tempted to write something about Malaysia, especially the current chaotic state of Malaysia, i.e. invoking the draconian ISA to arrest the Hindraf 5. The government said again and again that they have enough evidence to prove, among others, that Hindraf has links to the terrorists. If so, my simple question would be: if you have enough evidence, why not charge them in court of law and let them defend themselves? Why lock them up in Kamunting for 2 years without trial? Hey, we are not looking at just 2 years; we are looking at least 2 years as the government is entitled to continuingly extend the 2 years detention.

Are we still going to believe the propaganda that our PM is a Mr. Nice Guy? That he has big ears? That he vows to fight corruption? That he will walk the talk? That he is different from his predecessor?

I really wanted to write more about Malaysia, about Hindraf 5, about Hindraf 31, about the full version of Lingam Tape, about the 19 Dec “illegal” assembly, the Statue of Sea Goddess in Sabah, but, my good friend Harley reminded me this morning of my own words: why kick a dead dog?

Dear Vincenzo, it is nice to have you here. I wish to see you more often in this blog.

Engtee enjoying a Karaoke session in Shanghai. Yes, behind Engtee was my Angmo friend.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty... yeah right

Weather: Fair
Temperature: 10 c

As I was browsing Malaysian news, my heart dropped deeply into the South China Sea.

31 Indians, who allegedly took part in the Hindraf rally on 25 Nov, were charged in Shah Alam Sessions Court for attempted murder. From the report, it appeared that they threw stones at the police officers, which resulted in the injury of a policeman. Of course, what the report did not say was that the police fired tear gas and water cannons into Batu Cave, a sacred place for Hindus.

On the date the 31 were charged, our honorable Attorney General, who is the Public Prosecutor, was in the court to handle the charge himself. I have no idea why the AG had to handle this case himself; I have seen other more serious cases being handled by his DPPs, e.g., the bombing of one Mongolian case. Why he has to come all the way to Shah Alam Sessions Court to handle the charge? From the available reports, I could not see any explanation.

My immediate thought was: will not the Session Court Judge be intimidated by the presence of the AG? If AG is the one on the prosecution side, can the Judge handle the case fairly? That was my fear.

In case you still don’t know, as far as the lower courts in Malaysia are concerned, there is no real separation of power. A DPP may be transferred to be a judge, a magistrate may be transferred to be a DPP, and a deputy registrar of the High Court may be transferred to be a federal counsel. They are all basically in one same basket: one day they may be a prosecutor, the next day they may be a judge. In other words, the AG, being the number 1 legal officer of Malaysia, is directly or indirectly the boss of the Session Court Judge. If your boss applies for or object to something, do you have the gall to tell him no?

My fear tuned out to be reality. The 31 were all denied bail: they will have to be locked in the jail until their case finds its day in the court, i.e., may be 2 to 3 years later. Being part of the system before, I can tell you the speed of our court system. Even tortoise runs like Carl Lewis in our court system. Can you see the sadness in our legal system? The 31 are being punished even before they are convicted. Liberty is sacred, which could not, shall not, and should not, be taken away without solid reason. Liberty is not something “main-main”. A lot of people, since the time immemorial, had sacrificed their lives for liberty.

When I was studying criminal law, my lecturer told me that the most terrible, unacceptable, despicable thing under the criminal law system is to put an innocent man behind bars. Therefore, the law always presumes innocence, and the burden of proof is always on the prosecution, for anyone must be presumed innocent until proven guilty, which means no one should suffer any form of punishment until being convicted.

The 31, although being charged for attempted murder (the merits of this charge is another big controversial issue, which I decide not to discuss here), are still just “accused”, they are not convicted murderer! Why put them behind bars for several years even before their trial begins?

To my readers who still can’t see my concerns and worries, please imagine this: if you were charged for something which you did not do, e.g., you may just be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and you were denied bail. After several years staying in jail, finally your case finds its way to the courtroom. After a lengthy trial (trust me, a postponement can range from 3 months to 1 year), you were found not guilty and acquitted. All you get after years in jail is: "Oops, we got the wrong guy, sorry". How would you feel? It really doesn’t matter how you feel, for your family, future, dreams have completely been ruined and torn into pieces. If it can happen to the 31 Indians, I see no reason why it can’t happen to ordinary citizens like you and me.

Please, free the 31.

Turning to another piece of news, I learned that a human right lawyer, a bar councilor, was arrested for stopping DBKL from removing bar council’s banners. The banners were on private property, so why there is a need to apply for permit?

I am really worried. Tomorrow the world will celebrate human rights day. Yet, in Malaysia, we see inhumane things happen every now and then. “Disappointment” cannot aptly describe my feelings towards Malaysia now. I initially was hopeful that with the exposure of the Lingam Tape and the setting up of the royal commission, our judiciary will be completely revamped and will one day become independent like it once was. I was too ambitious and childish, it seems. Zaki, the former UMNO Legal Advisor, who was appointed straight to the Federal Court 3 months ago, had been made the President of the Court of Appeal, bypassing everyone. Rumor has it that in 10 months time, Zaki, the most junior superior court judge, will be made a Chief Justice. An UMNO man has been planted into our judiciary, and I was hopeful that the judiciary would one day be independent again: how naïve.

As you can note from the tone of this writing, I am not in a mood to make jokes. I don’t find Malaysia’s current state of affairs funny at all.

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Corporate 101

Weather: Fog
Temperature: 13 c

Again, sorry for not blogging for the past few days. The truth is: finally I have the time to sit before my laptop with a peaceful mind to blog and reflect on my personal lifestyle.

For the past few days, from the perspective of my personal life, it was a disaster. Engtee and I could only communicate over the bed. Please do not think dirty. I do not mean that kind of communication. Every morning, when Engtee was about to leave the apartment, she would wake me up and remind me what had to be done, e.g. pay rental, bank in cash etc. I would listen to her while lying on the bed half-asleep. When I came back after work (usually 10.30pm, sometimes even 1am) Engtee was already in bed, sleeping soundly. She would normally wake up once I opened the bedroom door. Lying on the bed, she will ask me how was my day. I would summarize my one day activity and work while getting prepared for shower. By the time I finished shower, Engtee would be sleeping again. So, the next routine of our communication would start after a few hours of sleep.

This was how we communicated as husband and wife. We only managed to see and talk to each other in bedroom for about few minutes per day. That’s why I called it a disaster. I was being robbed of my personal time. Even weekends were not spared. I had to cancel my karaoke session with my angmo colleague due to work-related reasons.

Like I always say, when G gives me shit, the good stuff is on its way (or already being delivered).

Career wise, I learned a lot of new things during the past few days. I was assigned to a team to handle a Merger and Acquisition (M & A). When the partner approached me whether I was interested to join the team, I told her I knew nothing but I was willing to learn new stuffs. Initially, my role is minimal: basically, reading the offshore documents (which are in English), editing the emails, editing the English reports, drafting emails to client etc. Nothing significant or substantial. I was just a higher level typist cum editor cum secretary.

The deal was not supposed to be sealed until after the New Year. So the partner took a few weeks off to focus on her PHD exam. It was during her absence that the deal was suddenly moving, and was moving at light speed. We were informed by the client that they expected to sign, seal and deliver all the legal documents within 3 days. As for our team, we only have 2 players: a senior associate and me (who knows nothing about sealing a contract the size of Mount Kinabalu).

Of course we were panic. The partner could not come back to help us close the deal because she has to take her exam. She could only advise us by using the remote control, the actual field works would have to be done by us. “Harnniann, you have to play an important role in this deal, including negotiating with the target and their counsel. They speak English! You have to help us.” said the partner.

Can you imagine the pressure on my shoulder for the past few days? It was like asking a monkey from the Amazon to swim in the seas of the Philippines. Drafting contracts was never my cup of tea, and my father could testify that I hated corporate works. Now I was caught in the battle zone. It was either lifting up the weapons and fighting the war or taking off my white colour underwear and surrendering. Am I a quitter in this situation? No way, I told myself. I didn’t fly a few thousand miles to China just to waive my white underwear and quit without a fight.

I must admit that I knew really nothing about M & A. My good friend YB Teng of Sungai Pinang told me that corporate work is about compliance. Well, he was partly right. But at that moment, I would rather be a litigator.

The Chinese say there is opportunity in every crisis. It was this crisis that provided me a platform or opportunity to jump start my learning of corporate stuffs. I was given a crash course on Corporate 101. Without this crisis, it would probably take years before I was given the knife of the surgeon, to be in the co-driver seat.

I am seriously deprived of good quality sleep. I was working until a few minutes ago (the time now is 12.30 midnight). Finally, all the documents have been negotiated, discussed, revised and finalized. They will be signed tomorrow. Once executed, the deal is officially sealed: well within the timeline. Of course, signing the contracts and other documents only marks the beginning of another phase of works. More works are definitely coming. If I can survive this assault, I think I could survive another one.

I am going to sleep now. Shanghai is getting colder by the days. We have to wear socks at home and maybe we have to change our blanket (we bought the cheaper one which was for Summer, oops!).

p/s: Harley, thanks for the update on the Tasik Banding Collapsed Building. Tasik Banding is a nice place to visit. It has nothing else to offer except for the beautiful tasik and scenery. We shall see what will happen to the collapsed building. Tutup kes?