I love Marketing

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I used to be a Marketing person. I did not start out as one but it was always in mind to be in Marketing. I started out in advertising and production work. After several years, I made a career change and join an MNC as a Marketing Executive. I stayed in Marketing since the early 90s until I left my previous job as a senior manager. Why Marketing? Maybe you have heard of this popular phrase … “Marketing people are the “rah rah” boys whereas Sales do all the running and Operation gets all the shit.” The rest of the company gets to watch all the “hoo hahs”. Or some may put it this way … Sales people are sitting in the front of the bus getting whatever that are coming straight at them (be it good or bad … mostly bad) whereas Operation people are sitting at the back of the church doing all the boring stuffs and Marketing people are always at the centre of attraction enjoying the limelight. And again, the rest of the company watch all the “hoo hahs”.

So, you see why I love Marketing? Marketing people gets all the good stuffs. And there is more … Marketing people have authority and power. They probably have the largest spending budget in the company. They have in their hands the big A&P dollars to spend and this is why you see so many people running after them … suppliers, agencies, media owners, event managers and a lot of those ABCs (Assistant Balls Carrier).

The question is … “Should Marketing managers alone be given the full authority in deciding the where marketing budget goes to?” Well, good and bad with the Marketing managers having such authority to award contracts, production works, advertising retainers, media buys or sponsorships that is millions of dollars worth. There are good managers who are fair and square in open tenders adhering to proper guidelines and procedures in awarding jobs and contracts to suppliers. Then there are also those to have vested interest in “under-the-table” deals, kickbacks and personal interests in whatever jobs and contracts they gave to their cronies. This abuse is happening everyday in many companies.

I had the opportunity to worked with a Swedish car manufacturer and I must say they do have a very good procedure of monitoring the awarding of contracts, tenders and jobs to suppliers, not just by the Marketing managers but from every department of the company. The procedure involved a few key people who each must provide their approval in an open evaluation and comparison of all key components in A&P contracts, tenders and jobs before the they were finally awarded. Key components involved were cost, quantity, quality, concept, expertise, company’s background, timing, reliability, credibility, testimonials and deliverables. All these were cross-compared and justified accordingly before an approval was given by each key people involved. Apart from that, there was also something called SRM (Suppliers’ Relationship Management) which ensured that all suppliers get an equal share of jobs and amount of contracts were divided accordingly. There was no one single supplier that get a lot more jobs that the others.

As a Marketing manager with the company, I must say it was a bit of a struggle at times going through this procedure but it was certainly a very cost efficient, effective and productive formula to monitor large A&P spend. It provided me with a strong understanding of “check and balance” on spending when I moved on later to join other companies.

It is my personal opinion that there must be some sort of procedure to run “check and balance” on whatever spending by whichever department in a company. To avoid abuse, it cannot be only one manager that holds the authority to decide who gets the contract or tender. Many will agree and many will disagree with me on this. I wonder who will disagree?

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Another peak conquered

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Many are familiar with the Klang Gate Ridge. As you drive along Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) passing Melawati, you can see the whole stretch of the ridge. It looks like a back bone of a large fossilised creature. From Google Earth, you can see the whole ridge from a bird eye’s view. One side of the range is facing the hustle bustle side of KL and the other side is facing the serene Klang Gate Dam. What a contrast! One cannot trek from one end on the top of the ridge to the other end because it is split up by deep ravines and valleys. If you look at the whole Klang Gate Ridge, basically you can split it up into 3 sections. On the left is the very popular section (aka Bukit Tabur) where you find a lot of trekkers during weekends. This is the same section where the 2 doctors fell to their death not too long ago.

Then there is what I call the mid section where trekkers access it via the main water pipes that run out from Klang Gate Dam and there is a small river running across. This section is not as popular as the left section but still you find some adventurous trekkers on this part of the ridge.

And lastly, the extreme right section (almost near the National Zoo side), which is the highest of the whole range.

After trekking both the left section and the mid section of the Klang Gate Ridge numerous times, a small group of us decided to tackle the extreme right section. We do not know of anyone who have trekked this section so we did our own recce and found a way to access this section.

So on the morning of July 11, 2009, four of us, myself (EM Shiek), CK Lim, ML Lim and newcomer Edry Wong packed our trekking gears to conquer this highest point of the Klang Gate Ridge. To get there we have to go to the Rapid KL bus depot in Melawati. Beside the bus depot, there is a small road that leads into a new housing development. Currently the land is being cleared. Across this open land there is a private gravel road that leads into an orchard. This private gravel road is about 1.5km long. We can’t drive into this private orchard so we parked our car aside and walked into the orchard.

View of the highest peak of the Klang Gate Ridge from the clearing of a housing development. The gravel road on the right leads to the orchard.

The gravel road that leads to the orchard.

View of the peak from inside of the orchard

We walked into the orchard and met two Indonesian men who were employed by the orchard owner to look after the private 30 acres of land. We brought a carton of eggs for them as a token to allow us to allow to go through the orchard.

We walked pass the orchard and headed into the small forest at the base of the ridge that we intend to trek. Initially we saw a good visible trail most probably left by people working in the orchard. After about 500m, the trail ended. From here we started to cut and clear a new trail to trek up this ridge. It was tough trekking up this ridge. We can’t go straight up. First we have to go thru a valley to the other side of the ridge facing the lake. From there we then move to the right along the side of the ridge slowly ascending as we move. We walked all the way heading towards the National Zoo side. Of course we dropped papers as we trek up so that we can follow the same trail out when we descend.

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ML Lim (front) and CK Lim slowly cutting out a trail amongst the thick vegetation

On all fours carefully trekking up the rough terrain

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For 3 long hours, we were faced with tough slippery terrain, stubborn bushes, thorny plants, swarms of mosquitoes, troops of ants and various tricky obstacles as we trek our way up the ridge. Finally we managed to cut and clear a trail all the way up to the highest peak of the Klang Gate Ridge. On the very top, the shrubs, bushes and tree branches were quite low. As we move along the top of the ridge, we have to stoop down and walk carefully. View of KL city and the lake were blocked by the overgrown bushes and plants. Only in a few areas on the top of the ridge, one can have a clear view of KL city and the serene lake.

Newcomer Edry Wong making his way like a seasoned trekker

In some areas, we have to use ropes to help us negotiate our way while ascending and descending

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Even though we were bruised (by the stubborn bushes and thorns) and bitten (by mosquitoes and insects), we were very happy to make it to the peak. The sense of achievement was absolutely wonderful. Looking at the overgrown vegetation at the top of this section of the ridge, we can say that people have not trek up this peak for a very long time. We were glad to place our footprints on it again.

CK Lim, Edry Wong and ML Lim at the peak


View of the lake from the peak

ML Lim, myself & CK Lim at the peak. The other sections of the ridge are at the back.

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We spent about an hour at the peak to savour our achievement and then our stomachs were telling us it is time to descend to look for a good meal. The descent was a lot more dangerous, tricky and tiring as we were all left with very little energy. At a few points of the trail, the terrain was quite steep and slippery. I slipped and suffered a deep gash on my leg. Though a bit painful, I was still able walk without assistance. We followed the paper trail that we created while coming in and finally lo and behold, we made it out safely.

Descended safe and sound albeit tired with bruises and scratches


Edry Wong having a cool fresh shower. The cool water is from a nearby stream.

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Absolutely tired and with painful toes, we walked to the hut where the two orchard caretakers stay. They were kind enough to let us shower with the cool fresh water they collected from a nearby stream. After a good cool shower we were like renewed immediately and fully charged again. We rested for a while and then make our way out of the orchard. The two caretakers even asked us to help ourselves to the rambutans that were growing in abundance on the orchard. So, like little school children again, we were running around the rambutan trees in no time. Had a feast and after that we headed out of the orchard looking for food.

We help ourselves to the rambutans in the orchard (with permission of course)

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Somehow someone suggested McDonald’s Value Meal and without any hesitation we headed straight to the nearest McDonald in Melawati. It was really a value for money meal as we all took full advantage of the free re-fill of the soft drink. A Big Mac, large fries and a few re-fills of soft drink for just over RM8 (including tax) … what a bargain!

After that we headed home with a full stomach and a good trekking story to tell our friends.

Remember the gash I suffered? Maybe I did not take good care of the wound properly. A day later it was infected and swelled up. Quite painful and I could hardly walk. So, it was time to pay a visit to Dr Lee (my good family’s doctor). An injection and a course of antibiotics solved the problem. I am already up and hopping while writing this with a good feeling knowing that we have trekked the highest peak of the whole Klang Gate Ridge.

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Age is mind over matter

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An old friend sent me an article about growing old. A very good article indeed and I thought I should share some very good points from the article as well as some of my own views about growing old.

One fine evening when I was taking a stroll with my son around our neighbourhood, one of my neighbours, a retired “uncle” in his 70s saw us walking by his house. With all good intentions, he waved and said “Good evening Mr Shiek, taking your grandson for a walk?” Grandson? Hmmmm, do I look that old? Well, maybe I do look as though I should have grand kids. Was I offended? NO, not at all! I don’t mind actually.

“Uncle” or “Uncle Shiek” is what I am politely called now. In the next few years I will be hitting the big 5. I cannot deny I am getting old because when I see a beautiful young girl nowadays, I would say: “Wow, her mother must be very beautiful”. Get it?

I don’t mind that when I laugh I may show a lot more wrinkles and that my hairs have turned grey. I will never trade my wrinkles and grey hairs for anything. I have seen so many that have never ever laughed and died before their hairs turned grey.

I don’t mind that the years may have wrinkled my skin. As long as I don’t let the years wrinkled my soul. I don’t mind that the same wrinkles won’t let me keep the beauty on my face anymore so I just moved it to my heart.

I don’t mind that the world seems to slow down as I grow older. I have seen too many dear friends leaving this world too fast before they enjoy the privilege that comes with ageing. I don’t mind that my heart have been broken so many times as I have lost so many loved ones along the way. Broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding and compassion. A heart never broken will never know the joy of imperfect.

I don’t mind that when I walked on the beach showing my weathered body despite pitying glances from young ones. I actually pitied them. They may not have a chance to grow old like me. I don’t mind that I may shuffle my cards a bit slower. Not many people still have a full deck of cards to shuffle.

I don’t mind that I will have more candles on my birthday cake. The more candles I have, the longer I live. As time moves on, I may even get a bit forgetful but I don’t mind that too. Some things in life may very well be forgotten.

I don’t mind knowing that I will finally die. I am glad that I have found what I am willing to die for. If you have not found what you are willing to die for then you are not worth living.

I’ll say this: “Age is mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter”.

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Love your enemies ...

Love your enemies just in case your friends turn out to be bastards! I heard this while watching a British spy drama series sometime ago. Then recently in a conversation, I borrowed this phrase to reflect on how true it can be nowadays in the dark side of the business world and on shadowy behaviours of the people involved. On the surface we see nasty confrontations with names calling, back stabbing and finger pointing that resulted from greed, betrayal and irresponsibility. Deeper below, there are those who smile at you but are already executing their cunning scheme. These people stretch out to shake your hand while holding a knife behind their back ready to stab without feeling any guilt. In today’s “dog eats dog” world, I personally witnessed so many incidents of betrayal and greed with plots that came right out of some Hong Kong drama series.

Sad isn’t it? People mislead people and friends deceive friends in stories of corrupted business dealings, malicious office conflicts and high handed dirty politics. Many are so caught up in the process that they forget very easily. They forget about loyalty and friendship.

I am not sure about others but I am still the very “old school” type of people where we place loyalty and friendship with very high respect. I am one of those who still appreciate the saying “internally we depend on family and externally we depend on friends”. I still believe in “tai kar pak chi seong” (we support each other to move up) but that is not happening anymore now. Today it is “ngor chai chi lei seong” or “lei chai chi ngor seong” (I step on you to move up or you step on me to move up). Words like friendship, trust, dignity, honestly, hard work, fair, responsibility and loyalty are often purposely ignored. And talking about loyalty, “old school” people like me are still very much about loyalty but we are a fast dying breed. Someone said this to me “if you want loyalty, go and get a dog”. Well, I like dogs but I also like to believe there are still many “old school” people like me who believe in the values of loyalty and friendship. As a matter of fact, I am lucky to have a bunch of these very good loyal “old school” friends around me.

So ask yourself, do you have real good friends around you? I hope you do. If you don’t, could it be that they rather love their enemies because you turned out to be a bastard?
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Try harder.

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When I first started working in the advertising industry, I remember a case study of a unique advertising campaign launched by Avis (the car rental company) many years ago. The campaign tagline simply goes like this “We try harder”. You see, back then Hertz was clearly the leader in the car rental business. But what Avis did was to put the message across to the public admitting that they are only No. 2 in the car rental business and that is exactly why they are going to try harder. This tagline stayed with me until today.

I believe in trying harder… always. Once in a job interview, I was asked a very common question “Where will you like to be in 5 years time when you join this company?” My answer was “I don’t know but I will try hard to do my best and wherever it is going to be, it will come naturally”. Then I was asked again “What if, it doesn’t come?” And I said “Then I will have to try harder”.

Throughout my working life, I met some very good people who believed in me and gave me a lot of opportunities to build a career in the corporate world. Due to my lack of paper qualifications, I have to try very hard to carve out a good career in the corporate world and I have to try even harder not to let these people down. I hope I did not let them down.

It is good to place things at the No. 2 perspective and see how to make them better. There is always room for improvement. We just have to try harder.

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You complain about your shoes ...

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You know, I thought I was very poor when I was growing up. I used to tell people that I only have 10 cents for pocket money when I was in school. I told many people on how the 7 of us (5 siblings and my parents) stayed in a rented room until I was 12 years old. We can only afford chicken a few times a year during festive days and so on and so forth.

Well, if that was what I called poor, then I do not know how to describe the situation of the family in the video below (I am sure many have seen this video before).

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte

This is a true situation that is actually happening now. It shows a really poor family living on the waste that we threw away every day. When I saw this, it makes me think how wonderful my life was while growing up. I had proper food on the table. I had school. I had good clothing. I had a lot more things compared to them.

I remember my ex-boss once said this to me: “You complain about your shoes, some people don’t even have legs”. Those exact words reflected clearly on my mind when I saw the video.

Let me tell you now, I won't complain about my shoes anymore.
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Pain In The Ass

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Now, I am not talking about someone irritating that I dislike. I am actually talking about myself. For the last 2 weeks, I literally suffered from pain in the ass. What? Hemorrhoids (aka piles) … you see, I had piles for a while already but just did not want to do anything about it. According to statistics found on the internet, 50% of people above age 45 have piles. Surprise? I was surprised too when I read this. Many people got this problem but are just too embarrassed to talk about it. Like me, when it did not cause any pain or discomfort, I could not be bother with it. It went on for a while and finally it reached a point that I can no longer ignore it and have to go for treatment. I was recommended to a good doctor and was advised to do a “rubber band ligation” procedure by the doctor. Let me share my experience so that maybe it could be a big help for those who are too shy to discuss it.

“Rubber band ligation” procedure is a fairly simple procedure where the doctor uses a device to tie a rubber band around the base of the pile. This will stop the blood feeding the pile and naturally (over a few days) it will shrink and fall off. Simple? Yes, I had 5 piles ligated in about 30 minutes. Everything’s OK? NO … immediately after the procedure, the trouble starts. First the pain kicks in and not just the pain, also the uncomfortable feeling around the rectum. The rectum starts to swell and it feels like you have several marbles inserted inside. I also got this terrible urge to go to the toilet. But as the doctor said, it is not that the bowel is full, it is due to the swelling. Then I find it difficult to urinate. This was due to the urinary muscle being affected by the swelling. But after a few hours, I manage to pass urine and you can imagine how relived I was.

The first couple of days were absolutely hell. I cannot sit, cannot stand, cannot lie down and cannot sleep. The pain killers did little to ease my misery. The pain, swelling and urge (to go to the toilet) was really bothering me. I lost appetite and did not eat much. I was also afraid of eating too much and then have a difficult bowel movement. Every time I have bowel movement, it is painful and causes a bit of swelling again. And you get this feeling like you did not completely discard everything and still have some lumps in it. It was quite uncomfortable.

A few days went by and it got a bit better but the swelling still did not subside. I felt less pain and have better bowel movement every morning. Since the procedure, I stuck to a very strict diet of soft food, fruits, vegetables and high fiber supplements. That kept the stool soft and easily discarded during bowel movements.

By the time I finished the two weeks of medication prescribed by the doctor, I was a lot more relieved that the swelling and pain subsided considerably. I was told that for full recovery, I need another 2 weeks. I lost a total of 7kg. But I don’t think anyone would like to lose weight this way.

I am not trying to scare you with the gory details but I believe it is good to share this information. For those who are suffering quietly from piles, get it treated as soon as possible. Do not wait (like me) until it get worse because it will be a lot more painful when you go for treatment then. I suggest you find out what types of piles you have and what stage they are in. Also, very importantly, seek out various treatments that are suitable for you. There is a lot of information on piles and the treatments available on the internet. By all means, consult a specialist on what is the best treatment for you.

Strain, constipation, stress and pregnancy are a few main reasons that cause piles to form. Watch your everyday diet and ensure that you have enough fiber intake and proper bowel movement. I hope you will not have to be a “pain in the ass” like me. Stay healthy!
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How much is enough?

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How much do you need? Ever asked yourself how much is enough? The chinese words in the above carricature literally means "the less things you have, the less desire you have". I think I can relate to these words very well.

When I resigned from a permanent job sometime ago and decided to take a long break, many people said that I have made enough already and probably have a big pile stashed away somewhere so that I do not have to work for the rest of my life. They said: "Wah, so young can "tui yau" (retire) already". I just turned 47 and a good friend actually presented me with two sticks on my recent birthday and told me that I can "tar pai keok, ng sai lou" (whack my legs ... one stick for the left leg, one for the right leg and stop working) for the rest of my life. Of course it was meant to be a joke.

Well, have I made enough? YES, I can afford what I NEED to live life decently. I have no problem getting all my "need to haves" from Carrefour, Giant, Tesco and occassionally Jusco or Parkson. But I cannot afford the "nice to haves" from Pavillion, KLCC and Starhill.

Can I stop working for the rest of my life? NO, I cannot and I do not want to stop working, at least not yet. BUT I would like take it a lot easier and work at my own pace now. Even though I do not expect to earn as much as I did, what I really want is to have a lot more time. The real "nice to have" for me is the quality time for my family, my friends and myself.

There is a good story that someone told me long ago. In short, it goes something like this:

There was an old man who lived near a river. And the river is full of fishes but everyday the old man only goes out for a while in the morning to catch a few fishes, just enough for his family.

One day a young man came by the old man's house and asked the old man why he did not catch more fishes from the river. The young man told the old man that since the river is full of fishes, he could start a big business. He could catch more fishes and sells them for a profit. With the profit, he could buy more boats and hire more people to catch even more fishes and sell them for a bigger profit.

The old man then ask the young man why should he do that. The young man says that with all the money he does not have to work anymore and then he can spend more time with his family. The old man then tells the young man that it is exactly what he is doing right now. He just spend a little bit of time to catch a few fishes so that he has more time with his family.

Of course the "need to haves" and "nice to haves" are different for every other people. So the question of "How much is enough?" really depends on each individual. The sad thing is that many people do not know how much is actually enough for them. Even sadder is that they think that with more to show off materialistically, the happier they will be. And engrossed in the mad rush to chase after materialistic gains, many do not realise that they ignored their own well being, their family and their friends in the process. I hear many people say "You know, I spent so much time and worked so hard to make a lot of money and buy the best things for all so that I can make everyone happy". Sounds familiar?

So what is the meaning of happinesss? I do not know about other people's definition of happiness. Mine is just very simple. I am happy to cook for my familly. I am happy that I found a nice book for just RM7.90 at a bargain store. I am happy to have time to read the book. I am happy to be able to fix the broken back door in my house. I am happy to go trekking and enjoy the nature. I am happy that I just spent RM10 a week on petrol on my motorbike. I am happy that I see my friends more often. I am happy that I wake up before the alarm rings. I am happy to pluck the coconuts I planted in front of my house. I am happy that I managed to book cheap tickets from a budget airline. I am happy that I have time to learn music at 47 years old. I am happy that I have time to write my blog.

You see, simple things make me very happy. Earlier when I said that I can relate to the words in the above carricature very well, it is very true. I do not want a lot of things so I have less desires. But you know what? I am a lot happier this way.

So how much is enough for you? And are you happy?



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