60,000 Unemployed Malaysian Graduates…and Counting

If you Google “unemployed graduates” you’ll find a string of blogs, news archives relating to Malaysian unemployed graduates. According to Wong Chun Wai in his article “For our kids’ sake check the slide” (Sunday Star, Nov 16), there are 60,000 unemployed Malaysian graduates.

There are some quarters who sympathize with these graduates and even blame corporate companies for not making available more opportunities. The numbers are crazy, ridiculous and ludicrous – as is all the sympathy being showered on these graduates. As the number increases, the attitude and ability of the graduates go downhill.

Let me share some figures with you. Since the beginning of the year, ATCEN has had 16 interns/fresh graduates. Out of this, only FIVE completed their internship and received jobs – two at ATCEN itself. We do give them opportunities – but most of them can’t take the heat. Ask them to work until 9pm and they don’t turn up the next day. Couple this with zero initiative plus no common sense and it equals a recipe for unemployment.

Due to this affliction, most companies would rather pay a lot more in salaries and get better qualified people on board than to literally squander their time with these graduates. Time is wasted because these young people are trained, nurtured and in some cases mentored only for them to leave without even so much as a thank you.

Fresh graduates should realize that a majority of them have bad attitudes towards life and work. They are too picky and choose jobs like they are selecting fruits at the pasar malam. Most are also stupidly unaware of the position they are in, which is NOT a position to be fussy.

These graduates also want instant gratification, make lots money but not willing to put in the effort. What they need to learn is delayed gratification. I will keep telling them to wake up by slapping them on their face and make them suffer to learn the reality of the world.

The Setapak Kopi Experience

I used to wonder why so many people have such a connection with Starbucks Coffee. The answer came to me one day while I was having a cup of coffee at a kopitiam in Setapak. Although it obviously was nothing like Starbucks, the experience was just as nice if not even more special because it’s the only one of its kind.

There are virtually countless Starbucks outlets around the globe to serve the multitudes who love the concoctions sold there. However if you have been reading, you’ll also know that Starbucks has frappéd itself by multiplying and duplicating at warp speed.

To date, Starbucks has closed down 600 stores, laid off 13,000 people and has reported that it will put on hold 40,000 new stores. Would you like whipped cream with that?

The Hope Called Obama

It’s finally happened and I am so pleased. America has her first Black President and what was once thought of as impossible is now a reality. I still remember my Principal Consultant telling me that the Whites in America will never let this happen.

Well, this man has gone against unbelievable odds to silence millions who thought he would never lead a predominantly white nation. I am a believer that anything can happen if we just Desire it, make a firm Choice, have unwavering Belief in this thing that we want so badly and take the right Action to make it happen.

Barack Obama’s deserved victory has dispelled the notion across the world that nothing is set in stone and anything is possible.

My Air Asia Experience

I’m sorry to say that cheap flights or not, Air Asia is big flying ad for: “you get what you pay for”. During a trip to Kota Kinabalu, I experienced what would go down as one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in my life.

For starters, the flight was delayed. Surprise, surprise. Next up, the seats were cramped and this made for an incredibly uncomfortable flight. If the client had not purchased the tickets in bulk, I would not have chosen to fly Air Asia.

There is no denying that the fare is cheap, and yes, everyone can fly now. But this is a case of a great concept but poor execution. And while it’s quite inspiring to watch an airline everyone thought couldn’t trying to make it happen, perhaps it would be wise to really look into these problems before lowering fares any further.

You need to maintain your brand’s image in everything. And even if prices are kept to an all time low, but if the airline is nothing more than a bus in flight, no amount of ad wars can resurrect a tarnished image.

Our Country’s Brain Drain Problem

In addition to the various shortages scaring the pants off the world’s billions, do you also realize that there is also a shortage in clever people? This scares me most of all. Imagine years and years ahead living in a world populated by mindless dimwits? Great plot a horror flick if you ask me.

Many of the good ones don’t come back after getting the degrees abroad – they get jobs and stay on. There are very few (like myself and some others I know) who have decided to resist the lure of overseas abundance by toughing it out here, trying to bring about a positive change.
We experience brain drain for two reasons:

1. Inequality
   
   
2. The Package – or lack thereof: this includes compatible pay, good perks and the possibility of advancement and growth based on merit.

Those who can, take note: you can do something to change this by evolving in the way you run your businesses and companies. You have a responsibility to create opportunities and ensure that you are fair when writing paychecks and giving promotions.

Here’s a new era of Brain Gain. Let’s hope we are smarter from past mistakes and are wise enough to see that we can make this nation a melting pot not only of races but of minds teeming with innovation and brilliance.

Money Politics and Corruption!

At this point in time, I feel the ACA (Anti Corruption Agency) should go into the business of hot air balloon tours. Why? Because the amount of hot air they spew about doing this and that about corruption is enough to fill many hot balloons for tourists thus increasing the country’s revenue in leaps and bounds.

Everyone is playing the holier than thou card – the finger pointing is dizzying to say the least and no one wants to be accountable. It is no my intention to sound preachy, but what I am is disgusted and annoyed because of the countless times corruption has been addressed, but nothing done.

This is a great example of all talk and no action. What’s more it’s certainly a testimony to how some quarters really do not fear what awaits once they step off the earth. It really doesn’t matter what faith or religion who practice – you will be held accountable in the big ledger in the sky. Seeing this is so, you’d better change your ways, or make sure that there are plenty people to pray for you.

You’ll probably choose the second option for two reasons: one is that it’s easier, secondly it’s because you’re most likely to bribe them into doing it. You’ll just die like how you lived – unjustly and corrupted.

The CEO that Tuned Out

Sometimes, we meet people who place themselves on high horses. They seem to like the view from up there – but remember, the higher you are the harder your fall will be – especially if you’re too full of yourself.

Now, about a year ago I met Tengku Zafrul Aziz, who was at the time CEO of Tune Money Sdn Bhd – for the uninitiated, he has since resigned. When I read about this resignation, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud and hard. This was particularly humorous to me because in 2007 when I met him during a recording of The Firm, Tengku Zafrul decided to tell me about the top, middle and bottom lines about generating revenues.

The impression he gave me was that he came from wealthy stock, but uncertain of his standing in the business/entrepreneur circle. The papers stated he declined “…to elaborate further” about his resignation. Convenient isn’t it? Take what you want when you want it and then wash your hands of it when things get overwhelming. It’s probably better off this way.

Tune Money, like any other company needs a CEO worth its salt – a brave and bold captain to steer the ship away out of treacherous shark-infested waters. Not someone who, instead of bailing water out of a sinking ship, chooses instead to bail himself out. The last time I checked, captains went down with their ships – those with integrity anyway.

Honesty is still the Best Policy!

Say what you like – but the most important qualities you can ever develop that will enhance every part of your life, are the values of honesty and integrity. When you have integrity, it means being totally honest and truthful in every part of your life.

Integrity is a value, very much like persistence, courage, and intelligence. It is your choice of values and resolution to live by those values that form your character and personality. And it is integrity that enhances all your other values. The quality of the kind of person you are is determined by how well you live up to the values that are most important to you. Integrity is the quality that locks in your values and causes you to live consistently with them.

Want to spot those with integrity? Look around you and see the ones that give the highest quality of work in everything they do. They are the people who are always totally honest with themselves in everything they commit themselves to, and strive to excellent work on every occasion. People with high integrity realize that everything they do is a statement about who they are as a person.

Your integrity is manifested in your willingness to adhere to the values that are most important to your. It's easy to make promises but often very hard to keep them. But every time you keep a promise that you've made, it is an act of integrity, which in turn strengthens your character.

The Power of Being Competent

Robert Anson Heinlein was one of the most influential authors in the science fiction genre. In his book novel titled Time Enough For Love, “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long” states his idea of what a competent person should be able to do.

He writes: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, *conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

In the increasingly demanding world of business, leaders need to have a range of skills knowledge and experience. While all of these are vital foundations, what is clear is that success is no longer just about skills and expertise.

Our personal competence is all about how effective we are at managing ourselves. It includes how much self awareness we have, our ability to self regulate our behavior and our personal motivation.

In truth many people have never really spent much time building awareness of themselves and what makes them tick. Imagine the insights that you could gain if you just spent a small amount of time on this area.

Social competence considers how well we handle relationships. These days, it is hard to imagine many roles that are not highly dependent on relationships. The success of any organization is dependent on building relationships to secure business, manage challenges, overcome obstacles to name just a few. Social competence is also about being aware of the feelings and concerns of others.

Sadly many people struggle when they move into management and leadership roles, not because they lack skill or knowledge but because they lack the softer skills essential for success. So what's you next step in developing your emotional competence? Come to think of it, we can’t just focus on being competent but instead on the power of strategic competence and the need to focus on form.

*Conn: to direct or conduct the steering of a vessel; to give orders to the helmsman on steering the ship

The Insignificant, Insecure & Egoistical Professor

I met someone last Saturday who was very pleasant at first, but then turned out to be one of the more insecure people I’ve met the moment he opened his mouth. This man, Prof. Dr Something Or Rather, introduced himself saying, “I’m Malaysian, but I’m from US?”!! What on earth is that supposed to mean? If this were an oxymoron, it’s pretty clear where the moron part is.

Anyhow, he was just supposed to accompany some MBA students to meet with me for a session on entrepreneurship. From the get go, he constantly interrupted me, his students, just about everyone he could vehemently stating his point – not like he had one to make.

I was very cordial and pretty good natured about everything until he started bombarding Malaysian entrepreneurs. He reiterated that he isn’t just an average professor and knows a lot more than many of the entrepreneurs around. I mean, come off it – what’s the point of raising your voice above everyone else’s – is it just to prove what you know? There’s no need to do that.

Part of me wanted to say to him, if you claim to know so much about being an entrepreneur, then why is that you aren’t in business? Why are you not an entrepreneur? Surely, if you are as good as you say you are, you’ll be minting money in no time and running the world’s most successful company.

But then I decided not to. One because it would have been of no use, secondly because an old adage came to mind, “Those who can’t do, teach.”