ONDEKOZA
Earl Of D
I was so boring when I accidentally found a clip in You Tube about Ondekoza (demon drum group), sometimes it also referred as “Za Ondekoza”. It is a Japanese troupe specializing in Taiko drums (a percussion instrument). I was so amazed with their spirit, dedication, discipline, self sacrifice and passion in playing the taiko drums, the rhythm and ritual are amazing; and most important how they appreciate and promoted their culture to be known worldwide. There are lot of sources for you to understand better on Ondekoza.


Ondekoza was formed in 1969 under the direction of its founder, Den Tagayasu. The group was originally created on the Japanese island of Sado, where a group of young men and women gathered to follow the ideals of Den Tagayasu. Since then Ondekoza has expanded across Japan and the rest of the world, popularizing taiko along the way. They are widely recognized as one of groups to have set the groundwork for taiko as a performance art.


At the foundation of Ondekoza’s activity is the principle of “Sogakuron”- that “running and drumming are one, and a reflection of the drama and energy of life”. For more information on Ondekoza, you can visit their official website and Wikipedia.

I hope you'll enjoy the clips as I am !




It's important that someone celebrate our existence... People are the only mirror we have to see ourselves in. The domain of all meaning. All virtue, all evil, are contained only in people. There is none in the universe at large. Solitary confinement is a punishment in every human culture.
Lois McMaster Bujold, "Mirror Dance", 1994


 

If you look through all the different cultures. Right from the earliest, earliest days with the animistic religions, we have sought to have some kind of explanation for our life, for our being, that is outside of our humanity.
Jane Goodall (1934 - )
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TEAM BUILDING @ KOTA KINABALU, SABAH
Earl Of D
On 18-21 Apr ’11, I had a chance to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the Land below the Wind, state of Sabah. I has attended 4 days 3 nights team-building program with all partners in Sarawak. This program has been planned for almost a year. My Regional Office has been entrusted to organize the program; which I have been appointed as a Team Leader. I’ve been assisted by 2 most reliable, hardworking and trusted colleagues. Thanks my friends!!

The program has been organized in Nexus Resort Spa, Karambunai, Sabah. Day 1 of the program is all about meeting and information sharing among the partners. All of us has shared on the operation best practices and achievement, but that excite me the most during Day 1 is jacket distribution. I felt the jacket which has been embroidered with all the partners logos and "Integrated.....Suppliers Committee" made us like an elite group (self proclaimed). Hehehehe..

During lunch, we has been served with a set lunch with a kiddie meal portion. Everybody look puzzled and surprised. I manage to made a complaint to the hotel F&B and they has compensate by adding 1 more extra menu during our evening tea break - banana cake. After the evening session finished, one of our partner request to have a special briefing to our Head of Department. The sharing session is all about planning process and cycle. Later, we had an internal section meeting due to all the executives and the boss were in Karambunai. We had discussed on the status of our big project which I am currently the team leader. For the first time, we had a heart to heart meeting!

In the night we had a BBQ dinner. It was awesome!! More than 16 menus been served but the venue arranged by the hotel was unbelievable - car porch. Everybody seem to forget about what happen during the lunch. Its kind of boring at first, cause everybody seem so quite. As usual as a good host I suggested to play a simple game. Charade!! Than the environment change. Everybody had a good time. 








Day 2 is all about physical activities. We departed from hotel @ 0730 to Jesselton Pier, KK. Than we departed to Bunga Raya Island Resort, Gaya Island by 2 boats to accommodate 25pax of us. It really a breath taking 15min journey to see such a beauty landscape that Malaysia has to offer. After having light refreshment, we set to go for the activities planned for us. We've been divided equally into 3 groups and decided to name our team as Ultraman Taro 3. The rest are Wild Boar and Ular Dalam Botol. All our instructors which been led by Ms. Jennifer (Sorry if I spell your name incorrectly) are friendly, patiently and well trained.



The first activity required us to wear a snorkelling gear and run while holding an egg with a spoon. It really tough to run on a beach with a pair of flippers, but it was a fun experienced. Then our second activity is kayaking which required each team to kayak about 500m from the beach and return. Most of the girls were awing and “drooling” to see our male instructor topless during this activity. Firm up my theories I started to take picture with one of the instructor and everybody started to take picture with him. Pity him! For those who don’t have the guts to take the photo with the instructor, they requested the pictures to be shared with them later. (Hope you will not angry with me Mr. K) Hehehehe…

Third activity required us to work as a team and the game called Back to Back. This game required us to sit back to back with a partner and stand up without holding hands and touch the ground. It seem easy but why don’t you try it, then you’ll know how difficult it is. After all the planned activities have been executed, we had our time to swim and enjoy water activity. I had a chance to snorkelling, kayak and surf. It’s really tough to balance my self on the surfing board, but with helped and encouragement from my colleagues and instructors. I managed it!!
After we clean ourselves and had our lunch. It is time for us to depart from the island to the mainland. Our next agenda is complementary massage at Austral Beauty Centre by our travel agent. Due to the limitation of masseurs and facilities we need to split our group into 2. While the first group had their massage, the second group had a chance to window shopping at KK city especially the Philippines Market. 2 hours later, the bus picks us up and it is our time to enjoy the massage and the first group to enjoy their shopping time.

At the spa while waiting my turn to be massaged, I managed to have my foot scrub (this is not complementary) with reasonable price. After 45min waiting it’s my turn to have a body massage. It feels so nice and relaxing especially after all the activities done in the island, and it reminds me of Holliday Villa Hotels and Resorts tag line “Let us manja you!” (Manja means pamper). Around 7pm, the bus picks us up for our dinner at Floating Seafood Market Restaurant. During this time I had a severe migraine which forces me to throw up all the food I consumed. As far as I remember from my colleagues responded, all the foods were delicious and fresh. We also been entertained with 1 Malaysia Cultural & Variety Shows and my migraine were killing me.

On the way back, I took the opportunity to thank all my colleagues and participants for their active and open minded participation. I’m really glad to have an opportunity to work with them. So, that was it, the summary of my life during the team building which took 4 days and 3 nights. Ciao!!
*All the pictures attached courtesy from Ms. E.T
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ANYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG
Earl Of D
I’m so boring at this particular of time; which currently our special project team having a meeting with our VP. This meeting is to update our VP on our special big project. The outcome of this meeting will determine either it is GO or NO GO for this project execution date. This meeting mainly to gauge whether we are ready or not for the project. In the middle of the meeting I received a massage on incoming email. The topic attract my attention “ANYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG” which reminds me on the ongoing meeting.

Our team leader were trying to cover as much as he can from the beginning of the meeting to impress our VP that he should nothing to worry, everything will be run smoothly. In reality it is opposite from picturesque display. In fact for your info, he called all team leaders for a meeting yesterday (Sunday). He was strategizing on the approach to be made during the meeting. All the info to show the opposite from what he expected will be nicely hidden.

This meeting was nearly ended, there are so many safety, reliability and integrity issue been brought up to surface via Q&A session. Our team leader face expression has changed!! His plan failed!! All the negative issues have been exposed and our VP started to ask one by one the team leaders on their level of confidence to execute the project. All the team leaders (including me) did not confidence on the execution part. We even ask for extension period. Surprisingly 1=0 said his unit is ready; which most of the team leaders disagree base on our observation and interviewed with his team members. I’m quite angry and disappointed with him, when he even tried to update our VP on my unit while he knows nothing about it.

Base on the meeting today, it seems the execution of the project will be deferred. I’m not sure for how long, but most of us hope and pray it will be extended for another 6 months. At one point, I do pity my team leader and 1=0 but as I mentioned earlier ANYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG…
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MY LADY BOSS..
Earl Of D
Sorry guys for not updating my blog recently. Well, there are several events happened to me which I would like to share with all of you.  Recently, I have watched a Malay film title Lady Boss (2005) staring Ning Baizura, Saiful Apek, Erra Fazira and Yusry KRU (all are Malaysian artists).  This film is a about Shiela a daughter of a successful entrepreneur in Malaysia. She has very strong personalities such as workaholic, efficient, strict and ego. She always pushes herself and her staff to the highest limit which she believes the only limit is the sky. Well, I not really wanted to talk about the film but while watching this film it reminds me of someone at my workplace. My Lady Boss! I’m going to share with you about my recent experience with her. The first event I would like to share with all of you!

On 20 Mar ’11, our section received a meeting invitation from our HQ to brief our VP on our status and commitment before meeting with other partners and customers. This meeting was organized on 31 Mar ’11 @ 04.30pm in KL. I had rejected the meeting because I has a meeting in Miri from 28 – 31 Mar’ 11 which our team believed (me and my two other colleagues) this meeting was also important. The meeting in Miri has been planned a month earlier with our partner, which I’m the team leader. On 29 Mar ‘11, my section boss, Mr. X, has gone to KL for another meeting. Since he was in KL, our team proposed for him to attend the meeting with VP. The next day he replied our mail by writing
I’m in Miri now unfortunately too late for the mail and I may not be available this week cause we have a program at Bintulu on the 1 April 2011 and our GM is also coming ..as for the pack I have not seen it personally but will check with the team on the contain..
After sending this email on 30 Mar ‘11, he manage to made a courtesy call to me and instruct me to go to KL on the same day by sending another email as follows

Earl OF D,

Please make yourself available for VP briefing, your colleagues can continue with the program..

I protested and informed him that all flights to KL are already full. I also mentioned the current program we attended is crucial and the progress of knowledge transfer been closely monitored by our VP. He accepted and we asked him to call Lady Boss to inform her. He said OK!

Next morning (the very same day to have a meeting with our VP) my colleague received a call from one of the manager. He asked one of us to go to KL for the meeting on 11.25am flight which I knew it is fully booked because I made an enquiry yesterday. So my team decided to make a call to our Lady Boss which both of us believes Mr. X has informed her yesterday. Still remember sharp at 08.31am she pick-up my call and we informed her about the issue. Suddenly, her “temperature” arouses and she scolds us badly like we couldn’t care less about the meeting. She even mentioned that currently only a junior executive been sent by another section. Me and my colleagues looking at each other with a surprise look and thought. 
Aren't we junior executive too!!

When she started to blame our team and not Mr. X, we really pissed off. After hang up I made a call to travel agency and I'm lucky there is only one sit available due to one of the passenger cancelled last minute. I reached KLCC around 02.00pm and straight away to join my colleague at Lvl 4, KL Convention Centre to meet our Lady Boss. My heart was pounding so fast! and did not know what to expect! Finally, Lady Boss appeared and when she saw me she just smiling and asking for high five. She acts like nothing happen and I speechless!

We managed to brief VP accordingly and she satisfied with my performance. After the meeting she approached me and said that is why I want one of you to be here because I did not know what to update! I also took this opportunity to update her on my project team (mentioned about this project in previous post) current progress. I managed to have heart to heart talk on a certain issue which I believe it is crucial and critical for the project. Our VP came out of no where and ask us to look into all the safety issues listed pertaining to the project. 

We will delayed the final execution project if the company need to take all the liabilities and responsibilities. All these issues must be resolved accordingly!

We nodded and speechless while looking to each other. Another issue to be highlighted for our regional office management!! 
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LOA AND LOV
Earl Of D

Starting 1 April 2011 all Regional Offices need to be restructured under new aspiration and direction of our Vice President. This restructuring exercise is made to meet the current business demand and essential to stream line all the regions. I would say this is a big scale exercise which involved the whole structure of regional offices. This exercise wills definitely involved Limit of Authority (LOA)and Line of Visibility (LOV).

The limits LOA designated to specify positions of responsibility within the Company and to establish the types and maximum amount of obligations that may be reviewed, endorsed and approved by individuals. The approval of commitments and transactions outlined in this policy must always be made by the parties that have been designated the responsibility for final approval.

The LOV is a processes of an organization and/or business area showing how the processes are organized cross-functionally. In a LOV diagram cross-functional processes flow horizontally across several functions and/or departments. It shows the relationship between the functions.

Pertaining to this exercise, I just received an assignment about restructuring LOA and LOV for my section. My head section supposed to lead this assignment, but somehow he managed to delegate to me! The main reason is currently I am a team leader for a big project which I’ve mentioned earlier in my last post. I supposed to restructure and strengthen my section functions. What worries me is not about the restructuring but the LOA and LOV. I’m afraid the decision made today will bring a big impact to the organization in future. What should I do?
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