OutSyed The Box

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Pelanggan Kita Bukan Musuh Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:25 AM PST Last nite I attended a dinner where VVVVVVIPs were in attendance. Obviously I was also invited to attend otherwise I would not have gone. The invitation came by email and I RSVPed not once but twice.   Despite all that, upon arrival at the dinner my name was not in the seating arrangements. (This has happened before). So there was no table number. I was actually invited by folks close to last nite's function who insisted that I sit with them. (Thats what friends are for).  Then even the names of the folks who I was to be seated was not on the right table. Three different tables were mentioned.  To cut a long story short, we eventually got seated. But what was perplexing is the attitude of people who are charged with sorting things out at the registration counters. In Malaysia there is a distinct lack of friendliness among many (many means majority) towards people on the other side of the desk. This is more true if the other person is of a different colour, race, religion or language grouping. Sometimes the attitude is almost of enmity.   There is no realisation that the 50 year olds or 60 year olds wearing suits and ties, with the ladies all dressed up were their guests, their clients who had come there upon their invitation.   I see this problem throughout Malaysia (and the Islamic countries) and I have written about this before.  Dont believe me? The whole Arab Spring began after Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia set himself on fire because he did not get good counter service. He could not get a license to sell his vegetables - possibly because he could not afford the bribes that were needed. So he ran an unlicensed vegetable stall. Then when his vegetables were confiscated by a woman enforcement officer, it broke the final straw for Bouazizi. He set himself on fire. The Arab Spring followed thereafter.  People do not realise that to do anything in this world you need human beings. We cannot organise dinners for Bonabo chimpanzees. Neither can we sell electric ovens to kambing Jamnapari. Whatever we do, we do it with human beings - our own species.  So if you are not friendly or nice to your fellow human being - especially your clients and customers - you are going to lose your business or whatever venture it is that you are managing.  You will fail. If you cannot understand this simple point - then forever you will be poor. If you are not nice to them, people will shun from interacting with you  - especially in business.  Since time is limited and life has to go on people will take their business elsewhere. You will lose out.  Here is another example - when the Rear Admiral was running in the Permatang Pauh By Election (after his release from jail) a friend and I drove from KL to Permatang Pauh to scout around and see what we could do (obviously for BN). I recall when we reached the UMNO campaign centre one guy looked at us with a sideways glance and said, 'Nak apa?', as though we were alien intruders. This was the most unfriendly guy given the task of manning the BN information counter in the middle of a By Election.   This is another example of  the 'pelanggan kita musuh kita' or 'our clients are our enemies' philosophy that is so prevalent in this country. And we see this behaviour hundreds and thousands of times at restaurants, service counters, some Gomen departments (not all - some Gomen departments are fantastic. EPF, Immigration,  GLCs like TNB provide super excellent service at the counter).   A friend describes how the waiter disappeared after taking only a partial order, while my friend was still talking to the waiter.   Before we think about Blue Ocean Strategies, competitive advantages, comparative advantages, creating a commercial and industrial community etc I think we should teach this simple one line philosophy in all our schools, starting from Primary 1 : 'Pelanggan kita bukan musuh'.   To expand this a little more, maybe we could teach them this one liner also : "Human beings are not our natural enemies". This seems to be the attitude everywhere : The customers are actually our enemies. Pelanggan kita adalah musuh kita. Or human beings are our natural enemies.  So we dont have to be friendly towards them. Neither do we have to serve them. Hence we remain poor.

My Tok Guru Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It... Posted: 22 Nov 2012 09:08 PM PST My comments : Today is Friday. Muslims go and listen to the sermons. By the time you have read this, the Friday sermon would be over already. Just a few questions for my fellow Muslims.  Can you recall what you heard just now at the Friday sermon? Please be honest. If you cannot recall what the preacher was saying then what was in your mind: a. what is for lunch b. how is the stockmarket doing today c. what that sob said earlier in the day d. what your wife / husband said e. all of the above. Was the man preaching to you more knowledgeable than you or do you think he chose his career as a preacher because he ran out of other options? Is that why you were pondering a. to e. above? How much of the sermon that he read to you was from the Quran? Or did he forget to mention any verses from the Quran at all?  This is usually the case.  A few years ago I organised an Online survey on every Friday with  a large group of Pakistanis and Indian Muslims (in the US, UK, Pakistan and India). The online survey was 'How many verses of the Quran did the preacher use in his sermon today?' The answer was always zero or close to zero. It is most unlikely that you would have heard anything useful from the Quran today. (If you did you must be very fortunate). Please read the following article. Someone sent it to me. None of the items on that list are found in the Quran.  A Statement That Is The Epitome Of Ignorance Whenever I hear a believer state, in one fashion or another, "God said it, I believe it, that settles it," I know that there is an impending breakdown in the likelihood that a reasonable, rational, intelligent and diplomatic conversation is going to take place. Those oh-so non-judgmental patrons of Christianity, Islam and Judaism who believe that their god has given strict, unbending, draconian, bronze-age commands on certain issues land them squarely on the flat, worn-out faces of the brick-walls we know as ignorance and intolerance. Throw in a dose of hatred and bigotry, for good measure. Many times these beliefs, indoctrinations and superstitions end up with horrific results against humanity, either directly or indirectly. I've got permanent palm prints on my face from my own hands as a result of being told by some of these kooks that, under no uncertain terms, they fervently believe that: Homosexuals should be killed Cross-dressers should be killed Adulterers should be killed Members of other religions should be killed Members of no religions should be killed Children should be beaten with sticks Television is the gateway to hell The Internet is the gateway to hell The movies are the gateway to hell Women are the gateway to hell Dead babies will burn in hell forever Mentally ill people will burn in hell forever People who drink alcohol will burn in hell forever People who drink coffee or tea will burn in hell forever Eating certain foods will send you to burn in hell forever Everyone "else" will burn in hell forever A blood transfusion will get you and your soul annihilated Women should not be allowed to own property Women should not be allowed to vote Women should stay at home and have babies Women should always be submissive to their husbands A husband has the right to beat his wife A husband has the right to rape his wife A husband has the right to have more than one wife A husband has the right to a pre-pubescent wife Pedophilia s the fault of atheists and secularists Obama is the Anti-Christ and should be destroyed The United States was founded as a Christian Nation The is the only true word of god The earth is 6000 years old, Satan made it look older The earth is 6000 years old, God made it look older Evolution was invented by Satan, evolutionists worship him Members of other religions are insane and deluded Members of no religion are insane and deluded There is no such thing as mental illnesses; it is just the results of living in sin Only god and faith can be trusted for healing (thousands of children die each year as a result) The earth is really flat (yes, these people still exist) Black people are cursed by god to forever be servants and slaves Some people should be burned alive Some people should be tortured, then burned alive If their god tells them to kill strangers, they are compelled to obey If their god tells them to kill their friends, they are compelled to obey If their god tells them to kill their family, they are compelled to obey If their god tells them to kill someone for drawing a harmless cartoon, they are compelled to obey If their god tells them to kill themselves in the process, they are compelled to obey I think you get my drift. Now, mind you, there are not very many few people who hold all of these to be commands from their god, as they represent a few different aspects of all the Abrahamic religions. However, while holding any one of these beliefs signifies a possible breakdown of the ability for rational thought, there are some Judeo-Christian-Islamic sects and cults that can (and do) claim most of these as part of their dogma. Some of them are considered mainstream. Church And State... Many of the people who hold a significant amount of these beliefs currently occupy seats in the United States Senate and House of Representatives as well as key White House cabinet positions. A couple have recently held the office of the President. Worse yet, there are hundreds and thousands who hold local offices, are teaching in our public schools, are responsible for the careers of subordinates and many walk around with guns and badges. The number of people in our military who hold many of these beliefs is simply frightening, because they hold positions all the way up to the rank of General. It is toward these people that many of us non-theists draw the line of diplomacy and tolerance, and where we insist on pointing a finger in the direction it belongs. The unwillingness of the extreme right wing Christian/Muslim/Jew to budge from these horrific beliefs, no matter how many times they have been proved utterly and incontrovertibly wrong, is reason enough for us to be decidedly undiplomatic in our discourses. Due Dilligence... I have received a fair share of admonishments from fellow unbelievers about my polemic attitude toward these nut jobs. Some of them still believe that it does more damage than good to hold the positions that I do, and that my attitude does not engender in these whackos a desire and willingness for them to listen to our side of the discussion. Well, they are right. However, what they fail to understand is that I really don't care. When it comes to these people, I see no other way to communicate with them. I interact with perfectly normal believers all day long. My family consists of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Deists and even a Buddhist or two, and I've got news for my fellow "diplomacy only" minded atheists; most of them are just as equally fed up with these wingnuts as we are. There is no diplomacy with these individuals, and very often their reaction to just being in the presence of an atheist warrants our undiplomatic, intolerant finger-pointing. Besides, I am not out to win a Nobel Peace prize, nor am I out to make friends with anyone who holds the beliefs I listed above as truth. I don't give one, single iota of credibility to their beliefs and I will continue to make it my mission in life to make it as difficult as I possibly can for them to be perceived as anywhere near resembling normal people. They are dangerous, ignorant, uneducated, hate-filled, narrow-minded, bigoted, intolerant, self-righteous fools that have been brainwashed into believing that committing some of the most horrific acts of inhumanity toward their fellow men, women and children are the want, will, desire and command the sick, twisted, perverted, megalomaniac of a deity that they have turned their god into. A huge other "think" needs to be foisted upon anyone who is under the impression that these whackos deserve to be treated diplomatically or with any tolerance for these toxic beliefs. Likewise to anyone who thinks that these individual's points of view even deserve to be included as equal in any sense of the word with rational, reasonable discourse.

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