The Citi Sleeps

Citibank called me this afternoon to inform that there was an error in keying-in and they have adjusted the amount and waived the late payment charges. He apologised and I said, yes, and the person who keyed-in wrongly ought to be fired. And he replied, yes, yes, yes.
I just wondered, was the person keying-in then, sleeping? I would think that he/she would key-in RM12 or RM120 due to the fact the cheque was RM1,200.00. Citibank tagline is "the Citi never sleeps", I guess this time, "the Citi did sleep". ;)

The Missing RM1199.99 - Mystery Solved!

The same evening, the Officer from Maybank called me. She said that the cheque was wrongly encoded. And now they will make the necessary adjustment. I told her to inform Citibank also and to waive the late payment charges. When you request for the cheque image, there is also a RM10 fee. Maybank is waiving it.

The Missing RM1199.99

2 weeks ago, I received a sms from Citibank reminding me to pay for my credit card. My credit card payment is due on the 1oth and I was surprised with that sms and quickly checked my cheque butt to make sure I did pay. Yes, indeed I did. Then a week later, the statement came and instead of stating that I paid RM1,200.00, it showed RM0.01. Oh?
I went online to cheque my account in Maybank, it also showed that only RM0.01 was deducted. That's funny. Was I that blurr that I wrote wrongly? So I made a trip to Maybank and asked for the image of the cheque last week and today I got it. The cheque was written for RM1,200.00, figure written correctly and wordings written correctly. I even looked at it twice. I wanted to go back and I thot I better inform the officer why is this so weird. She too found it funny, maybe Maybank side entered wrongly. I told her no, Citibank too. Well, stay tuned while Maybank and Citibank sort this out.

Kara-oke, but I am not ok.

I dislike going to Karaoke. This is an “in” thing ever since I came back from the States in 1992. Most of the people who sings, sing so loud, out of tune and it is always smoky, cramped up in a room. I don't mean to boast but, for a music major and someone who teach a choir, I find it very irritating. By screaming they spoil the voice box and hurt their throat. If you want to enjoy and pay so much, one should sing the correctly and perhaps, practise and practise and hear the song over and over again. This is not asking you to be like the professionals but to make it more enjoyable. If not, you might as well go to the streets and scream, like those wild cats at the garbage cans or be thrown a shoe or rotten egg, like what happened to Garfleid.

I have no Time for Time Dot Com

A month ago, one of the service providers for my company had applied for a toll-free number and in future, to save us on calls , we were requested to call their hotline which starts with 1-700 ... I tried dialing the number many times, but everytime I called, it has a recording - "Terima kasih kerana menghubungi TT Dot Com. Nombor yang anda dial, tiada dalam perkhidmatan...". But when i use my handphone or when the people at the site called, it is no problem at all. And for the past week, we can't call outstation! So I called and complained - for the 1-700 number, the Technician said that Time has no agreement yet with Telekom on this new toll-free line. HUH????!!!! As for the outstation calls, they tried to push the problem to our PABX vendor... But common sense - who controls the line? Who gives the service?

And biggest joke of all - another technician called me and asked me to call 04-3701000 as a test call and he will monitor from his side. I was busy and didn;t think of it. When I called, obviously I can't call. He called back and asked if I have tried. I told him, how can I call when I complained to you that we can't call out? **@@@@@

Rabbit & Swan Meat

Do you remember from the Bugs Bunny show that Elmer Fudd always wanted to shoot Bugs Bunny and make "Wabbit Stew"? But he ends up injuring himself. Well, I got to taste stewed Rabbit for the 1st time... in Mt Wuyi, during my trip to Xiamen. I didn't know until I ate it and asked the lady what was it. I have seen it sold in US, but never have the heart to buy it. I only took one piece, so pitiful. It is stewed in the bamboo as shown below. Then I also tasted for the 1st time - sky swan. The meat is like chicken.

Pinky Almost Axed By X5

On March 30, while I was looking for an envelope for my boss in his car, my finger was slammed by the door of X5. Just imagine, if our finger is caught by a normal car door, it is already painful, what more can I say for BMW X5 - it's big and heavy. I didn't open the car door big enough as there was another nice car parked next to his - BMW Boxer. After I looked inside the car for the envelope, my head and upper body came out, but I didn't hold on to the door. So since the door was not opened wide and staying still, the door swing back. My right hand was place at the panel with my pinky half at the panel and half at the door frame.

Went to see the chinese doctor in the evening. He acupunctured two spots on my hand, but not at the finger. After that, he use a special needle to prick on the affected finger and he pressed the blood out. Whoa, that was painful. After that he wrapped it with herbs and that was how it looked like on the 1st picture. The 2nd and 3rd pictures were taken the day after treatment. Still swollen. I had to go for treatment the 2nd time so that it will be ok when I went to Xiamen. He squeezed more blood out. Pinky is ok now, but pain when I press. As long as I can play the piano then is ok ;)

Some of the Best CEOs/COO/GMs/MDs around

All my 16 years of working life in Malaysia, I have come across a lot of arrogant CEOs/Presidents/COOs/GMs/MDs. It is as if there is a few walls in between you. I really appreciate the fact that I personally have the greatest opportunity to work with people like Loke Heng Fatt, Adrian Loh, Yong, Stephen Wong, Rainer Althoff, late Herbert Huber, late Udo Goldenstein, Ling Chee Hoe, Yen Siew San, Joe Doering, ICN President, Ang Puay Yong, Adam Leitner, Mohan, KL Yong, Roslan Khalid. They are so humble and there is no "air" - you are down there and I am up here. Through them, I have learned a lot and we had a good working relationship together. All the future CEOs/COOs/GMs/MDs should learn from them. May God bless them and continue to add wisdom to them.

Spoilt Calculator or Spoilt Brat?

A new colleague joined us a few months ago. When there are extra stationary, then we just hand the things down. For example the calculator you see here. She was given the one on the left. She complained that what she keyed-in does not come out, or sometimes give her the wrong figure and said the calculator was spoilt. I let her use mind (Right) and it was alright. I took it over and use it several times. It was ok... why did she say spoilt? I then realised this. Notice the difference on the keys? The = sign is different, the x is different... and etc. Most people use the one on the right. And if you are so used to it, most of the time, you don't look when you key-in. So with another calculator, it is designed dfferently and if you are used to the way you press the keys as in the right calculator, it would be wrong. So don't simply blame. Understand before being understood.

Which One to Attend?

R is getting maried tomorrow. He didn't invite many people from our group as he doesn't know them well. He only invited 4 of us but 3 others can't make it. I could go, but then I prefer to go with someone, or else like a foolish fella sitting alone. So 3 weeks ago, I have asked E to come along with me and he agreed. But today, he called me and informed that he was asked by his girlfriend and her parents to join them to visit a temple in Banting. He has already told the gf about the wedding dinner. He asked me which one he should go. What would you choose - to go with your girlfriend or go for the wedding dinner?

City Got Punched!

On January 4, 2009, as I was packing my mini Hi-Fi after choir practice, two choir members came back to hall and said "Come quick, you car was hit...". I dropped everything, with just handbag, I ran out. To my disappointment, it was dented bad... and the choir members pointed to the guy who hit it. This guy, Thomas Cho, from Hokkien Church, Mandarin section, was driving the church van. He was in a rush, never bothered to come down or even said sorry. He said let him know how much and he would pay. He gave me his business card. When I went home, I took some shots and then called him if I need to make a report. He said no need. One week later I went to Soo Seng (Ah Aun) and Honda to get an estimate. Honda was double of what Soo Seng gave. Soo Seng is located very far and Honda is more convenient. I gave him the quotation from Honda and he said is quite high, asked if it can be negotiated. I told him he has to ask Honda then. He must be thinking that it will cost RM200 -RM300. I also think that he wanted to keep this quiet as the van is not his and the damage is not visible at all. I guess, no choice, he finally informed the church and I had a call from the church. They wanted to get another quotation. The cost is higher than Soo Seng's. I also thought, i will not know about the workshop they recommend and my car will be left there for a few days. So I thought might as well send to Soo Seng since they have done my car twice. They agreed and I made Hokkien church signed. Rev Ho signed. The cost will come out to about RM750.00. And I don;t have to drive all the way there. They will come and collect the car and send back to me when done.