Euphoria Blossom CK & Homesickness

For those who love sweet smell... this perfume is definitely worth every penny. I finally got mine today! ;)

OK that's the good part. The bad: I am officially homesick :( I was watching today's Diary Akademi Fantasia 5. In this season, Astro brought a "mum-figure" called Tok Wan for the students so they won't miss their mum so badly. So ok i do miss mum. Oh sugar. My microphone is kaputt so i can't use my Skype just yet. I miss home. I terribly do.

Why Asian Don't Speak Up? (Part 2)

Continuation... Why Asians Don't Speak Up? (Part 1)

• We normally do not say no directly. This is considered rude. If a person says "I'll think about it." or "Yes, but...", this normally means NO. So be prepared to get a rejection by email, phone call or sms. As we are indirect, you could even receive a long email but if you read again and again, you know it only means no. We do this because we do not want the other person to lose face.

• We usually make friends, do project or business together ONLY if we have the trust, good relationship and we believe that we can work together as an in-group. Without these elements, the result would be negative red. So relationships come first and once we trust, it's hard to break it. Remember this when you want to invest/negotiate in Asia.
  
  
• This also explains "why you won't be left alone" if you live in Asia. Employers would even treat you like a family member. They will invite you to meals, bring you out, play sport together, call you just to know how you are doing etc
  

• If you invite your friends for dinner/lunch and they are quiet, it is okay. This is not a bad thing or insult especially if you cannot stand silence. For us, you being there is enough and hence, talking is not so important.

The above only explains one aspect of cutural dimensions. Maybe i will write more next time. Hopefully, you can understand more now. Thanks for reading.

Why Asians Don't Speak Up? (Part 1)

Back in Brunei, i never noticed this as an issue because everyone acts the same way. You usually do not know how to describe your own culture and values until you see what other people do and have the chance to compare. Being in Germany, we all have encountered some problems when dealing with the locals and other foreigners. Hence, it is always crucial to understand. Cultural differences should not lead you to make false judgements.

I once had an experience where an American lecturer tried to encourage students to speak up. She said, if we don't... it will badly influence our grades. Ofcourse, this method was not very effective. She was also very prejudice where she favored only those who were very outspoken. We usually felt uncomfortable in her class because keeping quiet was a serious crime.

If you haven't read any books about international cultures, here is a summary on why we behave such way:

• We are born and raised with one principle: Speaking up or talking back to parents, family, teachers, manager etc is considered to be impolite. Where parents in the western countries encourage their kids to express their opinions, it is not normally the case in East.
  
• To speak up, be direct and express opinions straight to the face is considered to be good and honest in most western countries. In Asia, however, bad statements will make the listener lose face. The impact is a lot worse if you do it in public.
  

An Iranian student was very upset after she received an email from her professor asking her "why did you ask silly questions in the class?". It's not surprising if she stops asking questions altogether. In general, we all need to be very careful when working with people especially those who do not have the same cultural background.

One way to encourage your students/subordinates to speak up is to put them into smaller groups and have one person as the group's representative. This is one effective way to have results. It does not matter where you are - whether you work locally or sent to one of the Asian countries.

To be continued... Why Asians don't Speak Up? (Part 2)

Mirwana - Aku Tanpa CintaMu

Telah ku mungkiri janjiku lagi
Walau seribu kali
Ku ulang sendiri
Aku takkan tempuh lagi
Apakah kau terima cintaku lagi
Setelah ku berpaling
Dari pandanganMu
Yang kabur kerna jahilnya aku

Mengapa cintaMu tak pernah hadir
Subur dalam jiwaku
Agarku tetap bahagia
Tanpa cintaku tetaplah Kau di sana
Aku tanpa cintaMu
Bagai layang-layang terputus talinya

repeat 1

Masihkah ada sekelumit belas
Mengemis kasihMu Tuhan
Untukku berpaut dan bersandar
Aku di sini kan tetap terus mencuba
Untuk beroleh cintaMu
Walau ranjaunya menusuk pedih

This song kalau kita betul2 hayati boleh rasa sedih and insaf :) Jangan tah ketawa nah :p

Suriname

Ever heard of a country called Suriname?


I was reading a book today for tomorrow's discussion in class and in a countries-survey, i came aross the word Suriname. I never heard of it actually so i googled it just to find out about it's location. Here are 10 quick facts about Suriname:

1. Located in northern Southern America.
2. Gained independance from the Netherland on 25. November 1975.
   
3. The smallest sovereign state in terms of area and population (around 440,000) in South America.
4. Used to be under the Dutch Colony.
5. Used to have a system of slave labor until 1863. After the abolishment, labourers were imported from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India.
   
6. The country is made up of 10 districts (Brunei only 4).
7. Economy - mainly denominated by the bauxite industry (aluminium ore) which accounts for more than 15% of the GDP and 70% of export earnings.
8. Demographics - its population is made up of several ethnics group including East Indians, Javanese, Africans, Chinese including Europeans.
9. Religion - Hindu, Islam, Christian.
10. Language - official language is Dutch, own language is Sranan Tongo.

Here are some photos of Suriname:






If you are interested to read more (i do mean Suriname and not the image on the left), please click this link: Wikipedia - Suriname or Here

Pusat Ehsan Special Tribute Video

Dedicated to the beautiful and special people in Brunei and worldwide



Credit goes to Borgkingkong for the video :)

Music: Adibah Noor - Istimewa (Special)

This video is so beautiful.... *sigh* Created to increase people's awareness of "Pusat Ehsan".

Interest, Brunei's future King & Names.

News of the week

(image taken from Brudirect.com)

Bandar Seri Begawan - A 47-year-old Chinese man got the shock of his life when $90,000 in cash he had kept inside a small wardrobe in his bedroom went missing recently. More

My comment: Local Veterans should be given briefings about the importance of saving money in banks and financial institutions। If that $90K is saved in TAIB, i wonder how much interest could the old guy earn... oh well, lesson learnt!

Today I just found out that i need to re-elect 2 more electives!! The electives that I am currently taking is not included in the list of acknowledged electives. I can't seem to decide what to take! So i need to think it over again later. Luckily it's just the end March so I still have time to catch up. I hope my life is better this year. Don't we all hope so ;) Im guessing this is way better than losing 90K in one night erks

His Majesty's new Grandson

(image taken from Brudirect.com)

Daulat Tuanku!! (Hail to the King!) In this case, our future King YTM Pengiran Muda Abdul Muntaqim :) Born on the 17th of March 2007 at 3.50pm. Congratulations to HRH Crown Prince & his wife! Bruneians should be happy to know that the future of our monarchy is secured. My children and grandchildren will live during his reign InsyaAllah. Let us all pray that he will grow up to be a great King & Warrior! (ok, this part is the side effect after watching "300" lols)

Al-Muntaqim means "Yang Memiliki Mutlak sifat Maha Penyiksa" or in English "The Avenger". As Muslims, it is always better to give arabic names to our sons and daughters. For the sons, one of the 99 names of Allah could/should be chosen. We muslims believe that our sons would be more blessed if he has one of God's name. It's up to you to think of it as ridiculous but personally, arabic name sounds better. FYI my name means "The Protector". So if you are interested, please check out this link for the list of Asmaaul Husna (99 Names of Allah)

Visit Brunei 2008 (2)

Royal Brunei Holiday Report

I am seriously speechless. What a beautiful travel documentary on Brunei! I loved it!

More short clips like these should be posted on streaming TV such as Youtube. Make it featured! There are millions of visitors each day and i think it does not cost a penny...yet ;) Keep it Up!

My eBay Frustration

I am frustrated because, for the first time in my online shopping experience, the goods that i bought got lost in delivery. Maybe I was tricked. Maybe someone stole it if it was simply left on the doorstep, i don't know. It costs me around 55 euro so yes i admit, i was really dumb to get the normal postage delivery. OK Lesson learnt and as personal punishment (lol) no retail therapy for 2-3 months (Yeah right lol) :( Always purchase the Insured Postage especially for expensive items. I want my CK Euphoria Blossom :( :( So here is what i decide to do to ease my mind:

Just Posting Pics

Translation: 1st Text - Pull down your pants!
2nd Text - Who are you actually??

I honestly hate this advert. The other one is a girl wearing white panty and definitely won men's attention. Why? Because you can clearly see her wonderland leaves...if you know what i mean hehe :p



You will not believe me if i tell u that this was taken before 9pm lol! yes this is Reutlingen ladies and gentleman।

I think I just returned from my retail therapy in Stuttgart.



One of my favourite places to ease my mind when time gets rough. This is the short cut to the UNI and the nearest mini supermarket.

Other places include the mini park near the Town Library and the public park 10 mins walking distance from my place.


I saw this on my way home. I had to walk since I didn't have my semester ticket for transportation (i just got it today! Yipeee). Yeayyy it's spring seasonnn and there will be flowers soonnnn and more sunshineee! I love spring hehe =)



STARBUCKS One of the main reasons i love Stuttgart :) The magic of marketing and brand awareness esp. among youths, don't you agree? If Starbucks is opened in Brunei, I dare say Coffeebean, Coffeezone, Twelv....get ready to think of new strategies!

Money Matters on a Monday Blues

Today is pretty quiet. It's the first day of our new summer semester n hopefully, my final semester in Reutlingen :) So today, i met a few friends. Some (used to be my IB-Juniors) just returned from their internship semester n some js returned from the holidays. Surprisingly, there were no classes today lol. It's good exercise though kekeke

As soon as i arrived home, i logged into my MSN. My brother got me busy wf his Skype. My sis couldn't stop rambling about "Skim Cepat Kaya" ("Pyramid scheme"). Yes, i have stumbled into a few websites such as Forex, Google Adsense etc and I have to admit, they are superliciously tempting! Thousands of US$ per month..who can resist that?? The secret of such scheme is mostly its ability to attract students like myself or even employees who are in need of extra cash. All you need to do is find people who are probably spendthrift, have loans to pay, big family to take care of and so on. The more friends you invite and the more people they invite, the greater the income you will get! Simple isn't it? Unlike Amway, Tupperware or any other membership, you don't even have to sweat to earn extra income!

Oh btw, i finally bought Ralph Lauren Romance "Sensual Note". Its a limited edition from 2002 i think. I have to admit, the original Romance smells better but it's nice though and the smell stays! One spray is enough to make a man falls inlove! I wish lol. I have been experiencing weird dreams lately; old friends, family but mostly old friends.... almost everyday!! Does that mean anything? sigh.

Visit Brunei 2008

yes it's our turn next year :) I am wondering what will our strategies and plans be in order to lure visitors from all over the world. From marketing and promotion viewpoint, what are the measures taken by the government so far? Have we learnt anything from the previous dissapointed tourists and try to improve our mistakes?

I once asked a Korean businessman during his business visit here in Germany if he would be interested to come to Brunei. His answer was a straight NO. I was not surprised by his answer. In fact, I believe there are more out there who think like he does. My dream is to change their minds one day. Therefore, we must take action!

Here are some suggestions i could think of:

1. Know your target consumers! From statistics, where do most tourists come from? Which countries have the highest no. of tourists? Who are our new target tourists? From there, we can limit our commercials to these countries - enough to represent other countries as well!
   
   
2. Commercials and advertisements on international TV, Magazines (Travel, TIMES n other business mags, National Geographic etc), Publications, international newspaper, internet (YOUTUBE, yahoo, google etc) and so on must Be creative. There are a lot of professional photographers (or even hobbyists) in Brunei. If necessary, employ professional companies for TV commercials from other countries. It's definitely worth the investment. Oh by the way, whoever produced the Jerudong Park commercial made a great job! Include also in adverts a six months schedule plan on what will take place in Brunei during the whole year. It helps travellers to plan and make Brunei sound interesting at least lol.
   
   
   
   
3. Jerudong Park, if not the maintenance... please consider the pricing policy! Does it make serious sense to pay $x for a certain game played? There are Disney Lands and Sunway Lagoon to be taken as examples. The adverts really lured me (yes i haven't been to JP since 2000 i think) Went in 2004/2005, I was really dissapointed.
   
   
4. More interesting programs and further improvement for the recreational parks, historic places and shopping centers. However, we must be aware that Europeans are different from Bruneians. They travel not to shop but in most cases trying to escape from the chaotic workplace and living environment.
   
   
5. Transportation system. Taxis from the APT are ridiculously expensive. Bus system are not properly organized. I admit that I do not know the progress in Brunei since the privatisation. Seriously, what is the point of having more hotels if it is very inconvenient for tourists to travel? Even Holiday Inn in Edinburgh has a bus stop in front of it and Brunei Hall has a metro station nearby.

For now, thats all i can think of kekeke

Brunei's 4 Billion Budget

I was reading brudirect.com this morning. The 4 billion budget for 2007 is approved. I hope this will be used in the right way. I think for SMB, their hope for success is to export abroad esp for consumer products & other services. I believe Brunei need more experts esp in the area of supply chain management and marketing. We need more consultants in all areas to assist the management. We need more professional auditors to make sure the accounts are clean and tidy. Companies need to be encouraged to comply with the international accounting and auditing standards.

We need more engineers to figure out ways to invent products that we can produce ourselves. If we lack skilled labour now, what can we do to reduce this problem, say in 5 years time? It is true that to import is cheaper but the time will come when we need to be self sufficient. And because our market is too small... exporting abroad is one of our main solutions. Ofcourse, i do not deny that it's a very complicated task to accomplish. Obstacles include large capital and financial investment and high level of international competition esp those companies which have already enjoyed the benefit of economies of scale.

I believe that the performance of the companies (large or small) that the government assist must be monitored. There is absolutely no point to continue supporting companies which continue to make losses! Bankruptcy can be avoided by other measures such as better management and new strategies.

I believe that not many in Brunei are impressed with students including myself who are sent abroad to study business. This is due to the fact that UBD offers the same course. However, here we have the possibility to learn from large companies such as IBM, HP, BASF, Mercedez etc. I do feel intimidated at times and hence my goal is to prove them wrong! We are the creative thinkers, strategist, the decision makers and believe me, businesses help the economy grow. And in this modern world, the need for economic, finance, marketing n management knowledge in all areas is almost inevitable.

I hope the above will not offend anyone and for opening up my mind, I hope i will not be tracked down lol! But yeah, that's Brunei :)