Consolidated with NoSurplus

On this day, I have merged all the posts from this blog to my current blog nosurplus.blogspot.com.

This blog will remain live and will not be deleted. However, if the current reincarnation of Kampus Sejahtera in USM is interested to take over this domain name, I am prepared to release it. No strings attached.

Adios

Lee Lik Meng

Kampus Sejahtera is now the USM Sustainability Office

Long story short, "I'm out of a job".

But don't fret, I wrote myself out of the job.

I prepared or rather drafted two papers (I didn't see the final version). The first one was to redesignate Kampus Sejahtera as the Sustainability Office. If you are a little muddled, yes, there was actually a Sustainable Office created about 2 years ago.

"What? You mean Kampus Sejahtera was not THE Sustainability Office? But it was doing all those stuff on sustainable campus, The White Coffin, Say No to Plastic Bags, etc etc etc."

 Well, Kampus Sejahtera was never set as a sustainability office. And I have always maintained that it never had a mandate from the University to be the office responsible for sustainability. In a sense, the Penang people would say I was "keh poh chee" (loosely translated to mean "busybody"). No one was doing it, so I adopted the baby.

At the height of it's "popularity", KS was the place to get some funding for projects. Students especially liked to work with KS. But it was never a proper office, per se. Sometimes it was referred to as a Secretariat, sometimes just a Programme. There was just one coordinator (with lots of funding) and a clerk who also did other things.

I would say, with I hope, some modesty, that my work with KS made a (huge) impact on the University, in particular in helping its successful bid to be anoited the APEX University. OK, if you want to quibble, "selected for the APEX University programme".

I do remember writing to the then VC (Dzul) not to reappoint me as the coordinator more than 2 years ago, giving various reasons, amongst which was my very modest achievements. And I hated the administrative hassles (I was not given good support).

Then the new VC (Omar) came along in September 2011 and at one meeting he looked at me, so I said "Kampus Sejahtera is dying. It's a shame because it is a uniquely USM brand". He asked me to go see him. But I avoided him. And he didn't bug me or give me a hard time.

I cracked my head on what to do with KS without abandoning it to die, slowly. It's just too precious to let it dissolve into oblivion.

So, I thought. And I strategised. And I talked to key people. And I waited (this was towards the end of last year). For the concept to slowly work its way up. Basically, my idea was to merge the Sustainability Office and Kampus Sejahtera, with the former taking on the brandname of the latter. The crux of it was to institutionalise Kampus Sejahtera. To make it part of the administration. Of course, anything created in the University can be dissolved or disbanded when a new VC takes over (except those institutions or bodies created by Statute or approved by Senate).

Central to the idea was it would also be a tribute to our former VC Dzul who initiated Kampus Sejahtera 10 years ago when he was the Deputy VC. The ideals of Kampus Sejahtera will live on long after we have all served the university (I hope).

I have become more patient these days. So, I waited and then about 2 months back, the verbal greenlight was given to pursue the concept. So, I wrote a concept paper to be put to the highest management committee in the University chaired by the VC. And waited some more. The paper still hadn't gone up.

Along the way, we talked about what should be the focus and flagship project for KS to help the University in its APEX agenda. Very soon, a bunch of people are going to descend on the campus to demand that we show proof that we are indeed a sustainability-led university. So, I gently pushed for the revival of the Green Office programme. This was eventually embraced and I volunteered to write another concept paper and I called it "Pejabat Alamiah, the greening of USM offices" (ah, something like that). Funnily, when the paper went up, no one recalled anything about Pejabat Alamiah. The term was actually coined by Mohamed Salleh (Poet Laurete) after Dzul consulted him. So, that will now be out flagship project to operationalise sustainability in USM.

Eventually the two papers went up together sometime last week. And both were accepted (I was told). Technically, I won't be sacked (but who can say for sure). I wrote it such that when my current term expires at the end of the year, the post of coordinator will automatically become redundant.

So, who's in charge of Kampus Sejahtera. Well, there's a Sustainability Officer already appointed (Mahfuzah). We wanted the VC to be the CSO (Chief SO) but he thought it doesn't have to be him. So, the Director of CGSS (where KS is located) has taken on the role of CSO.

Me? I wrote myself a new job. I will (continue) to be Senior Fellow of CGSS attached to Kampus Sejahtera. (Hey, I already have an office there). I will not be doing all the running around anymore. I will stay in the background, visualising, thinking, dreaming, strategising, pushing, writing, documenting ... and generally continuing my role as "keh poh chee", without the stress. 

Huh, I went to the clinic after the meeting to check my blood pressure. The nurse got a shock from the first reading, something like 158/???. The second reading was 147/???. The third reading was 127/77, pulse rate 68. The nurse was shocked at how fast my BP recovered (I said the high BP must be from the walk to the clinic but generally, my first readings are always high).

This blog will still be maintained as the KS blog. I will be inviting others to contribute.

In the meantime, if you really miss me, visit my more personal blog if you have nothing better to do.

Lik Meng

http://nosurplus.blogspot.com/

The new team at Kampus Sejahtera this morning

Relic from the 1970s

Music, light and easy, playing softly from speakers in front. But there's only one listener. Me!

This used to be THE place to hang out in the USM Library. Those were times when students didn't have smartphone which plays music.

I'm guessing hardly anyone comes here now. Yet the music goes on. I wonder what the cost is? Especially the carbon emission from electric consumption.

What should we do with this?

Low hanging fruits

The concept is that there are frutis which are within easy reach, you can harvest without effort, just reach out or up a little, and pluck them. There will be those that are higher up on the tree, and therefore needs more effort to harvest. You might need to climb the tree (watch out for the huge red ants). Or use a ladder. Or use a long pole with a hook or net at the end to harvest the fruits higher up.

Appropriately, the concept says that the lower fruits are usually not so juicy or sweet. What did you expect?

Conversely, the fruits higher up are the sweetest or juiciest and best tasting ones.

This concept has been turned into a strategy. For instance, new salesmen are trained to identify and target the easy customers - but may not get the big commissions. We hear it all the time too in programmes implemented throughout the world. It's used to build confidence. To show results quickly. To appease the people above you breathing down your neck - "Show me the outcomes. Show me the results. Show me the impact. NOW!". They don't you the chance to work at it.They adopt a policy and then say "show me the results". And of course, you probably didn't work on it, until the last minute.

I had a conversation with a few young colleagues and there's one thing we agreed on. We hate low hanging fruits. We prefer a long-term perspective, working for a goal with results that will last.

No more talk of quick-wins.

These are passion fruits I harvested this morning, with a long bamboo pole with a hook. Actually, one of them dropped right down beside me while I was doing some yard work (to remind me to look up and claim my prize). I didn't wrap them. Some get stung by insects but are still good to eat when ripe. These five were perfect. Ever tried passion fruit blended with a little honey and topped up with some gin? OK, you can skip the gin. Passion fruits are rich in minerals, vitamins and is even an antioxidant. Stay healthy.

Are you smelling the "roses"?

About this time every year, spring is in the air. Usually it's April, so it's a little early.


Took this with my smart phone a while ago. The light wasn't too good. This is the angsana in full bloom. Stand below it ... Breathe in! Let your sense be free.


Men-at-work, encountered them near the USM guest house. They are chopping off the decaying branches of the host tree while leaving the parasite tree, the strangling fig, to grow. Taking care of trees is big business.


Bees have built a nest in the host tree, and killing it in the process.


The boss of the crew harvesting the honey. He let me have a taste. Nice.
So, stop, smell the "roses". Have a life.

The flame has died

Not so many years ago, perhaps 4 or 5 years at most, I received a report (through the VC) from a scientist in USM who conducted a survey of the trees on the main campus in Penang. One major finding was that more than half (if my recollection is accurate) of the trees surveyed were diseased or under attack from pest (ants, termites, bugs, insects, fungus). The prognosis was not good. There is nothing that humans can do to save the trees but to wait for them to die (maybe I am exaggerating abit). The recommendation? Don't plant these trees again. (I was kinda disappointed with the recommendation, to say the least).

Yes, when we introduce alien species into the local environment, often they can't survive. On the other hand, some alien species may be very aggressive and overwhelm the local species. So, it's generally a good idea to plant local species of plants. I remember visiting Monash U a long time ago and read about their effort to dig up the foreign species of grass and plant them with the more resilient and drought-resistant local grass or weeds (they looked like lalang).

One particular species on campus which is probably going to die out is the flame of the forest. The pests slowly eats away its core and ultimately it crumbles, unless the maintenance people chops it down first - usually because someone will complain about the dying tree.

First, let me show you how beautiful they are when in full bloom. Some pictures were taken as far back as 2003 (from The University in a Garden coffeetable book), one in 2006.

 School Education, 2006

 School of Social Sciences, 2003

 The Post Office, 2003

The then Centre for Translation and Languages, 2003

School of Art, 2004

This is what has died recently. Actually, not dead but chopped down, presumed dead.

 This picture is in The University in a Garden, 1st Edition. Picture taken in 2003 from the top of Canselori Building. The building in the picture on the right is where students used to pay fees and not in the picture on the left the then Corporate Office, now BPI. See how big a spread of the crown?

 Picture taken in 2009. See the big scar on the trunk? That's where the pests will attack (the weak link). If the plants are healthy, this won't happen but often human intervention for human safety reasons results in branches being trimmed improperly leading to rai water collecting at the cuts and then nature takes over.

 Taken on 3rd Feb 2012. Only a stump left behind.

 It's not dead, just presumed dead.

This is from The University in a Garden, 2004, School of Art.

I once had a "stand-off" with the people who kept asking the VC for permission to chop down the tree because they say its dead. I "advised" no because I argued that even a dead tree has a place in our garden. One day they got smart and asked someone else (a landscape architect) who confirmed that it's dead and gave the go ahead. So it got chopped.

The way things a going, we will see the last flames dying in perhaps 5 to 10 years.

Oh, BTW, there's a very healthy flame of the forest towering over other trees at the Durian Valley. What does that say?

Not a green CNY celebration

Can't we have a celebration without eating?

Just look at these pictures from last night's celebration at the George Town HERITAGE area.







Well, at least they didn't throw them on the floor.

Yes, eating street food is a heritage. But if we want to live up to the tag line ' cleaner, greener' Penang, we really need to put in more effort.

It's quite simple. Use only bio-degradable containers and collect all used containers for composting.

Otherwise bring your own containers.

Goodbye ...

3 November 2011 at the foyer of Canselori.

On the day when Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said goodbye as Vice-Chancellor of USM after eleven years at the helm.

Wheel Clamp Zone extended

Be warned, whether you are staff, student or visitor, if you park outside the designated parking bays, you are liable to be clamped. I wish I could tell you the "exceptions", but they probably don't apply to you.
The penalty is RM20 to get the clamps off.

Devine Intervention

7:38 pm, just after light dinner of duck rice at SuperTanker food court at Lip Sin Garden.
Waiting for my 8:30 meeting. It's too long a ride to go home and come again.
Earlier in the afternoon, a colleague phoned me  : "Are you going? I thought our work already done, taken care of by the various DVCs? If you're not going, I'm also not going". I said my intention is to go ... for reasons best not revealed here.

But after dinner I took a walk around the two lakes on campus. Over the weekend, it gain notoriety in the local press. Everyone pointed their fingers at the USM retention pond for causing the floods along Sg. Dua. There was a huge downpour and the ponds overflowed.

A few chaps were quite happy because along with the flood water came the tilapia and jelawat fishes struggling in the shallow water along the road outside USM. They got their nets and got free fish for dinner. Ah, but some biologist told me once the fish in the lake is really not fit for consumption.

One apartment just outside of the campus also got flooded. Pictures in the press showed a car submerged up to its roof. Poor guy. Usually, the guards at the condo would alert the residents to remove their cars to higher ground after one hour of rain.

Residents there too blamed USM for not taking care of the problem. They said they complained before.

Some elected member of parliament or state assemblyman immediately jumped in and said USM should dig another hole. And the DID chief seemed to think its USM's problem too, saying that the university should deepen the ponds.

And what did USM say? The public relations guy said the only thing that would not get a good public lashing. "We will work with the relevant departments to solve the problem".

Looks like another bigger headache on top of the alga bloom.

Speaking of which, the green alga is all gone! The water in the two lakes are now earthen brown.

Wow, all it took was a few hours of heavy rain to get rid of the problem.

But don't be too happy. Just wait awhile. The alga bloom will come back. We still have not resolved the problem. Low water flow on most days. Rubbish and pollutants flowing in from outside. And wrong design - one pond has inlet but no outlet. And of course, one problem is that it is shallow and silting up.

But I think the biggest loser are the people who pumped in more than a hundred thousand to experiment with use of bio-enzymes to solve the problem. The experiment is all screwed up now. They will have to wait for the next alga bloom to come back and start the experiment all over again.

Or will they just claim victory.

Now I know one reason why the mouth of the river at Tanjung Bungah could miraculously become spotlessly clean.

Who are we?

 I was at the Red House having my usual vegetarian lunch. But now I have increased from 3 to 4 vegetables. So instead of the usual RM2 it's now about RM2.60 or so. Still damn cheap. with barley at 70 sens, it's still less than RM3.50 for lunch. That's a little over one US dollar. But there's a billion people who don't even have a dollar a day.

While I was in the room eating, a man in USM uniform and a lady came in to inspect the rattan table and chairs. The man was giving instructions to the lady (probably a contractor or sorts) to repair the chairs and tables. 20 chairs and 3 tables to be sent for repair. I said to myself, "well done, the message is getting through". Reuse, reduce, repair, refuse ... in whatever order you like.

Oh my the way, or BTW, if you like, the lady selling chap fun (economy rice) warned me not to go and eat there on Monday. I said, "monday is a holiday". Well, not just monday. "Don't come for the next three months". Huh, why? "They are renovating Red House, don't you know?". Oh. So, that repair of the tables and chairs must be related to the renovation.

After the quick lunch (I eat toooo fast), I came out and saw the above scene. My car is the tiny one on the right behind the big red car. B**$$????? It's an official USM car. So, I hung around, waiting. And a group of students also came to the other car. And we looked around. 

And then the earlier guy in uniform and the lady came around. The man said "sorry ah". I didn't smile. I just looked at him. If you can't read the words on the door of the car, it says that it belongs to the safety unit.

Now, if people in authority don't obey the rules, who should?

 Also today on campus. I had actually noticed this mouse trap in HBP yesterday and also saw the pestcontrol contractor's staff with a bunch of traps at the car park. So, they trap the rats (can you see them) and then exterminate them in the hot sun. I am not making judgment. In my old house, I used to trap the rats too. They have nest in the roof. And the crawl out at night to make a mess. Yes, I also put them in the sun to kill them. But then I felt it was really inhumane. Long slow death by baking in the sun. I did let some of them escape in the big drain but they will come back. So, I tried hot water but it just don't feel right.

So, who are we? We make a distinction between pests and other animals we don't harm.

I think the solution is to make sure that your environment is clean. Don't create opportunities for the rats to fester. Can we do that on campus?

Stretchhhhh

This was captured yesterday afternoon at Pusat Sejahtera, our Wellness Centre. One hour of very intensive exercise including some serious pilates stretching. The guru, Dr George Teoh, an academic, yes, lecturer, said that session burnt 200 calories. I think burning calories is over-rated. Haha, sorry, just being funny. But I think for me it was the stretching which old people like me have to take care of. Yesterday on my walk near the beach, I saw a lady do an incredible stunt. She was walking and imagine this. Now if you put your palms together and put it where your heart is, like you are praying. Got it? Now, imagine walking behind this lady. And you see the palms in prayer - behind her back. In the middle on the back! I was absolutely impressed.

George says a 30-minute brisk walk will take off 150 calories or so.

So, "burning" is not my problem these days. Over the last weeks, I have been doing walks in the mornings before going to campus, almost every day. Sometimes I do a slow soft jog for 30 or 40 minutes. Yesterday I stood on the scale next to my bed. Guess what? I lost about 2 kilos in the last weeks.

Hhhm, I am thinking tonight would be fried fish, fried belacan chicken, vegetables of course, and soup! And brown rice. I know, I know, fried food is not very healthy but I deserve a little treat for all the hard work, right?

Stay active guys. Stay healthy.

"Good Health" is not "Wellness"

In January, more than 2 months ago, I wrote "Are U Well?". At that time, I had no idea what "wellness" really meant. Yah, we all know that the USM Clinic used to be called Pusat Kesihatan (or literally, the Health Centre, or just Clinic). Now it has been renamed the Pusat Sejahtera (in English, it's supposed to be Wellness Centre), which got some people confused with Kampus Sejahtera. So they bracketed it with "(Pusat Kesihatan dan Pergigian)" - which kinda defeats the point of the name change because you now sort of tell people that it's still the same thing.

What would you expect when you walk into a Wellness Centre? Gym? Spa? Reflexologists and masseuse lined to crack your bones and relax your muscles? Doctors and nurses? emmmhh ....

I remember the first time I heard about the proposed name change was when VC mentioned it in passing (quite long ago), saying that "apparently there's a difference between health and wellness" (or something like that) ... but he didn't elaborate.

I did some googling recently and started reading. And I am still trying to get it into my bloodstream, so this is really tentative but hopefully instructive.

Firstly, even if you have a debilitating disease, it does not mean you cannot attain a certain state of wellness.

And I hear you go "huh, sick but still well? what kind of concept is this?".

So, imagine a patient who has to go for dialysis a few times a week. It's probably painful (I don't know, really, I'm assuming). It takes hours off your day. And of course, it probably also means you can't be very active the rest of the week. Within these limitations, wellness can still be achieved. Yes, it means that you accept the limitations imposed by your illness but you choose to live you life to the fullest possible.

So, the first idea or concept or principle, is that there are various levels or thresholds to wellness. It varies with your state of health. It varies with age, from childhood to old age. Various developmental stages are identified throughout your life. Within each stage, you should develop certain wellness tasks. For example, during infancy, one minimal wellness task relates to psychomotor skills. As you become aged (like me?) you need to learn to how to deal with your mortality (death), loss of income upon retirement and of course your physical abilities and strengths.

Some people are just lucky. They don't have to do anything and still don't get sick. That essentially means he/she is healthy. That's how we see "health" - the absence of illness. To understand wellness, imagine a sliding horizontal bar. On the left end is "illness" and on the right end is "wellness". Now, if you are ill, you get medical treatment, you work towards recovery and maybe rehabilitation and you will then arrive at somewhere in the middle where you will be considered "healthy", again.

Wellness requires that you continue moving to the right, learning about what it takes to stay healthy (education), then making lifestyle changes with the intention to maximise life satisfaction. Then, you will attain "wellness".

Wellness is a very personal and individual effort (with community and professional support, if necessary). You cannot have a KPI or standard measurement of wellness which applies to everyone. Wellness is not a static point or position. Wellness is a process. You have to keep working on it, to achieve personal growth. And that does not mean just getting rich. Wellness requires effort. You need to work at it.

Obviously, personal ambitions and goals plays a dominant role in determining your wellness. If you are constantly stressed and aggressively pursuing your first million or next big promotion you will neglect your family and friends, make enemies along the way and generally forget to take care of your health. All will not end well.

If you have access, try this article "The Wellness Process" (1977) ... yes, they have been talking about it for more than 30 years! I wonder if the ideas have evolved or change much since.

Quote of the week by Muhammad Salleh, Poet Laurete at the CGSS Dailogue at DPU, USM yesterday : "When I am not having nightmares about KPIs, I am a poet". See a connection to wellness?

Stay Healthy - and yee will be wealthy and wise

See something you like? Mark your calendar.

I think I will go for "Exercise for a glamourous you". I wonder if "glamourous" is only for ladies? Does "glamour" equate with "expensive" and "extravagant" lifestyle? Or is it just the looks? Perhaps its the "inside" which is important?

persuasive posters

I just happened to have my compact digital camera in hand. I was early for my lecture. So I walked around the Lecture Halls corridor (I think they call it the DK foyer, I call it Upper Penang Road, USM).

There are softboards along both sides of the wall. I was just wasting time, and started clicking on the flyers and posters.

The one on the left says its looking for "potential girls who is proud of their origins and is able to parade Malaysia's culture and tradition in style". Want to participate? Send in 2 photos, one a head shot and the other full body shot. Wait. You must be in a white T-shirt and jeans.

Hmmm, since when has white T-shirt and jeans been part of Malaysian culture and tradition? Ooops, sorry, am I living in the Dark Ages? I guess the organisers just want to "size up" the candidates.

The poster on the right? Something about a competition to promote domestic tourism using mobile technology. As graphic design goes, I would say the one on the left wins hands down.

 This one is obviously done by professionals. What jumps at you? The brand of course. And then? The ladies in silhouette as the four fingers. But I done get it - what does the hand say? Now, it stops you, make you read and you find out its a campaign to get students to recycle their deodorant plastic bottles.

Now pause a second. I get this idea that it's targetted at ladies. And suddenly, I a sense that female students in our local universities must be using lots and lots and lots of deodorant. Correct?

Well, at least they have the decency (or magnimity) to say any brand of deodorant is accepted. You stick a label with your name and stand to win a prize. I'm suspicious. I think it's a "scam" to collect data about brand preferences amongst students in the universities. Sorry, I seem to be in  sceptic-mode. I guess it's my bipolar character.

This one is a photo competition. Now if you look at it from far, what would be your first reaction about the theme? One of those catwalk or models show on reality TV, right? No, no, no. The theme is "Life in Penang". One thing I can say, good photographers do not a good graphic artist make.

Like this? A far as posters goes, right on the dot. Good use of white space. Unclattered. And the most important message jumps at you. "EXHIBITION". and then "Final Year Project". You can even continue walking without having to stop and still get the message. In terms of artistic design though - so so.

I would say this a reasonably good effort. You read the big letters and if you are interested, walk nearer to read the fine print. Doesn't cost a bomb to do or reproduce.

Put two posters next to each other and you double the attention-grabbing ability. One look and you can guess its related to something Chinese. Of course! But wait, I can't read Mandarin.

 The poster above and the one below are from the same campaign but obviously done by two very different designer. There isn't a "united front" here. I chatted with two of the organisers and essentially gave them a hard time but wanted to support their Charity Walk, if they could change some of the way they were going about it. Like giving a free t-shirt to every participant and I think water in plastic bottles, and so on. They promised to come back to talk to me. They didn't. I am guessing their advisor said "tell him to mind his own business".  Na, I think it was too late for them to make changes. So, anyway, good luck.

 This one is done by a designer who doesn't understand the concept of poster and graphic design. OK, ok, maybe it's just old school.

People who don't care where they put their banners or posters or flyers. Preferably "in your face". Irritates you like hell, don't they?

But there is hope ...

"Am I being cold storaged?"

Firstly, don't worry about ME. I know I have been cold storaged.  That's old news. This is not about me.

I debated whether this post should be on my personal blog or on this semi-official blog. I decided that whoever reads it may learn a thing or two. BTW, in case you haven't noticed, the counter is approaching 100,000 page views - after almost fours years of sweat. Bring out the champagne! I wonder how I can convert page views into impact factor?

Let me first point you to my post on March 4 - yes, it's related.

It started with an email, time stamped at 20:08 on friday last (11th March). It said RSVP. I ignored it.

And then the SMSs started coming about 9 pm until passed 10 pm. One. Two. Three. Four. I "ignored" them - meaning I didn't press "reply" but I said to me wife, "OK, I will tell them yes, I will come with my girl friend". And we went to sleep.

Next morning (yesterday), Saturday, we went to the market. About 9 something, my phone buzzed, my wife happened to be near the phone, picked it up and gave it to me. The conversation was something like this "hey, you didn't reply to the invitation .... blah, blah, blah". I said, "ok, ok, I will respond now" and shot off an SMS.

As usual, I leave my phone in the room and let it be. Later yesterday evening, I checked and ooops, 3 or 4 missed calls. I guessed where it was coming from (phone no. not on my list) but ignored them - didn't call back lah, already at night. Then this morning, I saw another SMS, saying, amongst others,  "... awaiting yr presence 2mrw ..." - timestamped 11:15 pm, last nite.

So, what's all the excitement (some may call it "fuss") all about? Am I really that important? Nahhh, I'm just a minor player in all this. They are all just good friends and comrades in urban conservation.

Maimunah on the left is an old friend, with my girlfriend next to her. Alex Koenig on the right - he attended our wedding dinner ages ago (oops did I say wedding?). He was one of the key players who had a frustrating time in the 1980s trying to get the conservation agenda on the policy-makers' plate.

Ah, here are the important people. Right in front of the picture is the Press Table. The VVIPs are at the other end of the room. This is the ground floor of the George Town World Heritage Inc. (GTWHI) office at Acheh Street.

Now here's the VVIP, the Honorable Chief Minister of Penang with Maimunah, the outgoing General Manager of GTWHI and soon-to-be President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. All those crushing forward are members of the Press - they seems very interested in this news, for obvious reasons (?)

Don't worry, what I'm telling you is not official secret because the Chief Minister himself talked about it in front of the Press and the guests. Yes, the CM was full of praise for Maimunah. He identified three qualities in Maimunah. She has the knowledge and skills in her area of expertise. She is able to communicate (hey, students, are you getting this?). And most important, she has the passion for what she does.

Ah, but then the CM told a little secret. He said that when he picked Maimunah for the job of GM at GTWHI, she asked him "am I being cold storaged?". (You gotta give Maimunah due credit for asking the boss that. Spunky lady, don't you think?)

What? Really? Yes, Maimunah confirmed the story. Remember this was the year 2009. At that time Maimunah was the Director of Town Planning at the Municipal Council of Penang Island. From managing 300 staff, she started out with 3 staff to create a brand new company called GTWHI.

But why did she ask that of the Chief Minister? Those of you familiar with the infant years of George Town World Heritage Listing would know that we almost had the carpet pulled from under our feet. The four controversial hotels in the heritage area was approved with heights exceeding the 18 metres stated in the dossier submitted to UNESCO. And guess who was the director of planning then?

And those of you who followed the blogosphere may remember a guy named Jeff Ooi, who was then the Chief of Staff of the CM writing in his blog, blaming and naming the two ladies (Maimunah and Patahiyah) for the debacle.  (I tried to google the article but have not been successful yet. As a personal note, I am not suggesting either ladies were responsible. Knowing how the politics worked back then, I am sure there is more than meets the eye.)

Guess what, both ladies are now heading the two local councils in Penang. What did they say about politics? "The art of the impossible." "There are no permanent enemies"

Well, for the record, CM denied he was cold storing Maimunah. In fact, CM told her that he could see her potential and capability (he said that this morning). Of course, which idiot would appoint a person to an important job and hopes that he or she fails? Hey, we are talking World Heritage here.

I will full-stop this post here ... and leave you to ponder your own paths in life.

In the meantime, here are more pictures.

Some of the guests. On the left is the current Chairman of MIP Northern Branch and the first lady, who is also the Branch Secretary (Michael Ong and Hui Lin)

Tourists all like to take this shot.

The lady in cheongsam is Lim Chooi Ping who takes over from Maimunah. There's also Amelia Neoh on the left, a town planner with the State. And lady who introduced herself as Teh, an engineer, who likes sweet things.

 

 This was after the GTWHI Committee meeting last thursday, 10 March 2011. The reason we are all holding the pieces of paper is because we were all "excited" about getting our letters of appointment to the Committee - one year and three months after we started serving! Talk about volunteerism and perserverance. Yes, none of us get paid for being on the Committee. Well, some do get projects related to GTWHI. Oooo, my pro-bono work on the Integrated Heritage Database merited a mention by the outgoing GM in her appreciation speech this morning.

 All passionate about protecting George Town.

From the left (each head in sequenc): myself, Hijas, Gaik Siang, Yoke Mui, Tengku Idaura, Gywnn, Maimunah, Koay (web developer), Neil (Thinkcity), Bok Kim, Khoo Salma, Yeow Wai

(A few of the photos in this post are courtesy of Hijas)