CTRL V

I am sure IT people will recognise this function immediately.

A real novice (where IT was concerned)  when I started with a consulting group working on a HRMIS project. The Project Manager however appreciated that gap. So being a faster "typist" he would sometimes typed while I dictated the documentation requirement off my head. Especially when 'due' was becoming "critically urgent".

Mostly, I was slowed down by the "Edit" function. To make changes, I would click on "Edit". For instance, to COPY and PASTE, I would click on EDIT, COPY, and PASTE.

I was watching him using the faster method. How did you do that ... I asked.

Easy ... he said. To COPY you just highlight the sentence, then press Ctrl C. To CUT, same but press Ctrl X

Okay, that's easy to remember ... I responded. Ctrl C for Control Copy. Ctrl X for Control Out - X for unwanted.

Then to PASTE must be Ctrl P ... I extrapolated cleverly ...

No, no, no ... he quickly denied my intelligent extrapolation.

To PASTE, you use Ctrl V ... he answered ... fingers meanwhile busy on the keyboard, mind on the completion of the report ... while teaching me the inconsequential at the same time ... multitasking of modern professional.

Ctrl V? ... I was puzzled ... why not Ctrl P for Control Paste? I was not happy with this anomaly.

Okay ... Ctrl V ... for ... CONTROL VUT (rhyme with Control Put) he answered.

Now, do you think, I will ever forget this lesson? ...

*HRMIS - Human Resource Management Information System

What Else? I Can Do It! ...

My ABC is a book. It shows pictures along with simple sentences on how to make a bowl of mixed iced drink. A very popular drink in Malaysia. In Bahasa Malaysia Air Batu Campur (ABC). Literal translation: Air Batu (ice) Campur (mixed). It is one of six books in a series entitled ... I CAN DO IT! for Early English.

I was showing a 5 year old - this book, page by page, while asking her questions in both Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Writer:  What's this (Ini apa?) ... I asked, showing her the ABC picture.
Girl: ABC ... Air Batu Campur ... she answered confidently.
Writer: Pandai! (Very Good!). Tengok kita boleh buat ABC (See ... we can make ABC).
Writer: We need many things. What's this (Ini apa?). Showing her picture of a bowl.
Girl: Mangkuk!
Writer: Yes, very good. Mangkuk ... Bowl. Turning the page ... What's this? I continued.
 Girl: Air!
 Writer: Yes. Air ... Water. Pandai ... Very good! (I praised enthusiastically). What else? ... What's this? Ini apa? (I turned the page)
Girl: Sirap! ... (I could see that she was pleased with her ability to answer)
Writer: Very good ... Syrup. (Sounds almost the same in both the languages). Now ... What's this? ( I plodded on)

Girl: Ummm ...AIR LEMBU! (she blurted)

Writer: (Now ... Friends and families who had been watching had already burst out ...Praised be to ALLAH SWT ... I kept my straightmost face and said. ) ... VERY, VERY GOOD! Air Lembu (literally: cow's water). Betul ... air dari lembu. Kita panggil SUSU .. MILK. (Right ... water from the cow. We call it SUSU ... MILK ...) I explained gently.

...Now ...with this answer ...from a 5 year old ... How could I say that I know many things!

A New Student in Town

She was shopping for this and that. New in town but not new to foreign lands. She had been to other countries before. She had served overseas for a decade. So moving around in a strange place was not unusual for her. In fact she loved it.

New place, new adventure. She was enjoying her exploration of a new place. A small township in the middle of England. She was not afraid of getting lost in a foreign land. Which was extremely funny ... considering she had a phobia of getting lost in her own country. It took her a long time to learn to use the commuter train in Malaysia. And her only reason was that she might be lost in another station. And that to her was scary, and a hassle. In a foreign land, her rational was, she is already "lost". So it did not matter. Weird but ...

So there she was, picking this and that ... for her small need. And unbeknownst to her, she was being observed by a young lady and her mother.

She must had have been observing for quite a while, when finally she came over. " Assalamu'alaikum Sister." She greeted with the most friendly and sweet smile. "Wa'alaikumsalam." the new student answered. So happy that a stranger had just said salam. For her ... salam from a stranger was the most beautiful thing, especially when you are in a new land.

"You must be a new student in the University." she said. Surprised, the new student asked,"Yes, and how did you know I am new?"

"Oh, I saw your basket. You have a plate, a mug, a piece of everything ...!" She answered cheerfully.

Stunned, the student laughed... And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between two sisters from two faraway nations.

On Competence

I was reading some work on quality issues in education today, when I came across this statement by John Gardner.

He states:
" In a society of free men, competence is an elementary duty. Men and women doing competently whatever job is theirs to do tone up the whole society. And the man who does a slovenly job - whether he is a janitor or a judge, a surgeon or a technician - lowers the tone of the society ..." (John Gardner, Excellence, New York: Harper & Row (1961), 2nd edn., 1971, p.193).


Suddenly I found myself asking, "Am I a competent person?" My answer surprises me. Yes ... in many areas... and NO ... in many, many more areas... oh, oh I thought. I should list my incompetencies separately for my own perusal and see if I can work on it.

Yang Mak Cik Pula

Mak Cik yang ini diketemui duduk terjelipok di tiang besar di depan pintu bank yang sama. Di sisinya  sebiji beg gendong lusoh yang sarat. Saya fikir agaknya itulah harta Mak Cik ini. Tidak seperti Pak Cik yang nampak kemas dan bersih, Mak Cik kelihatan lebih dhaif. Seperti Pak Cik, dia juga menghulurkan sesuatu kepada sesiapa yang lalu.

Kesiannya ... bisik hati. Saya perhatikan dengan sayu hati. Mungkin seusia emak sendiri. Lalu bertanya. "Mak Cik dari mana?"
"Dari Kuala Lumpur." Jawabnya pendek. Kuala Lumpur adalah lebih kurang 70 km dari sini.
" Jauhnya ... macam mana Makcik kemari?" saya menyibuk lagi.
" Naik bas ..." jawabnya. Seperti tiada apa yang 'special' nya hal itu, makanya saya ini sibuk sangat bertanya. Orang lain begitu juga. Turun naik antara dua destinasi ini naik bas juga. Bas ekspress. Hari hari pergi dan balik kerja dengan cara yang sama.
"Hari-hari Makcik?" saya meminta kepastian. Macam orang tak berapa faham. Perkara mudah pun tak faham!
"Iye." jawabnya. Dah bunyi macam menyampah pula Mak Cik tu dengan saya. Tak apalah.
"Jauhnya Mak Cik. Kenapa?" saya mencungkil lagi.
" Saja suka!" jawabnya selamba.
Saya melongo.

Menoleh kebelakang, seorang lagi pelanggan yang baru keluar dari bank sedang menunggu untuk menghulurkan sumbangan kepada Mak Cik. Saya tersenyum. Dia pun tersenyum. Tak apalah. Mak Cik berusaha... Kami pun sumbangkan apa yang patut ...

Pak Cik dan Mak Cik Di Depan Pintu Bank

Biasakan kita bertemu Pak Cik atau Mak Cik yang menjual kad-kad yang mengandungi doa atau ayat-ayat terpilih dari Kitab Suci Al-Quran?

Pak Cik yang ini sudah beberapa kali saya ketemu di depan bank yang satu ini. Keluar saja dari bank saya ditahannya sambil menghulurkan sesuatu untuk saya ganti dengan derma.

Sebelum itu dari dalam bank sudah saya perhatikan Pak Cik ini. Berbaju batik, kemas. Tinggi dan sehat nampaknya. Sehat orang tua, beberapa gigi hadapannya ada yang hilang.

Saya menyapanya ... kenapa Pak Cik. Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat tak bantu Pak Cik ke?

Inilah jawapan yang memeranjatkan saya:
"Oh mereka tak boleh bagi seribu!"
 Dia ketawa dan saya pun terpinga. Saya hulurkan juga sehelai kertas biru yang boleh diterimapakai oleh Bank Negara Malaysia.

Ini bukan pengalaman saya yang pertama bertanya pada Pak Cik Mak Cik ini ...

REAL LIFE in MALAYSIA

What you see is not always what you get. Real people. Real life. Questions. And surprising answers ...

This blog is about sharing those surprises. In Malaysia particularly, and anywhere else ...

Let us share the reality of this life, here and everywhere ...