The Showdown

I can never compare myself to our folk hero, RPK. Seriously, what he is doing is something many of us who hide behind our pseudo names would think twice about doing in real life. Yet, deep down, who amongst us, given a choice, will not uphold justice and righteousness? Aren't we called to stand and help the weak, downtrodden and helpless?

Source: http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/

I pray that the good Lord will keep RPK and his family safe and sound while justice be served. That the high court proceeding on October 6 to 10 will bring about revelations and evidences for the court of public opinion.

Where is my country heading to? Perhaps it is right to say, we live in interesting times. But I sure hope RPK will be safe. If not, I am sure the rakyat will respond accordingly. Let's hope things will be sorted out and the cruel killers of Altantuya face the gallows. As a nation, we owe it to her family and her.

Meanwhile, I have my own little battle to wage. My boss came back to me today to tell me that after his discussion with everyone (READ: senior management), they came to a conclusion that my 2 weeks notice is insufficient and instead, any short notice will depend on whether he is satisfied I have "completed the work to his satisfaction".

"You leave me with no choice, I have to give my 24 hours notice then."

He was shocked to hear that. I told him the 2 weeks notice is a notice, not a request. He disagrees because it has to be consensual (huh? he thinks this is sex is it?). I had to quote the staff manual description of course and give him an English definition of what notice meant in case he misunderstood...:P

Source: http://intrance.in/news/2007-12-28

That was when he raised the new project specter.

Which I exorcised it by telling him, it is a straight forward project with 2 months deadline and he has sufficient resources to manage it. He wasn't too pleased when I use two precise words; resource management.

Well, it didn't end there but suffice to say he knows my new employer is involved in a common project and he threatens to purposely delay the project out of spite for depriving him of a staff and blames it on my new employer. He wants my new employer to explain to our customer, what caused the delay. Well, any intelligent person can tell you that no one is on a project alone, they have other team players. But tsk, tsk... he said it out of anger. Shows how mature he is.

My respect for him has dropped. Whatever his reputation is in the market, I am sure it is merely hearsay.

Anyway, I am serving my 2 weeks notice. The responsible me tells me that only flash the 24 hours notice card as a last option. Wait, I did flash to him, but that is to pull a Mahathir. I mean, Mahathir didn't exactly raise the water prices right?

Starting a new project while serving the notice?

I tendered today.

Leaving my present employment for greener pasture. There is no push factor but given the events that transpired today, I realised a push factor is in the works.

Anyway, I gave my current employer a 2 weeks short notice. Why 2 weeks? Why not 24 hours? Well I could leave in 24 hours. My new employer is paying for it. But they are unwilling to let me go. They cite various reasons why 2 weeks is too short of a notice. It ranges from need to do a proper handover (which is not a problem considering most of my projects are at the completion stage), informing the clients (again, I only need to call a handful) and training up the newbies to take over (yeah, apparently all they need is 3 months of training to catch up).

I spoke to the CEO. He said he is fine so long as my present boss is ok with it. My present boss said he will need to speak to my manager.

Source: http://www.pensabah.gov.my/dasar/isuair_bi.htm

And his conclusion?

I have to start a new project. And see to it until the end. Then only he considers whether I can go.

So that will most probably take at least a month. Yes, he wants nothing less than a month notice. But he is using another way to get it. It doesn't seem to occur to him that out of spite I might screw the project. Or that I will just dilly dally until the full notice are served.

The question is, what should I do?

Then came the realisation. Remember the part on Mahathir raising the whole issue we are selling cheap water to Singapore which he then up the ante by asking for an even higher price? Yup, I am pulling a Mahathir.

I am giving 24 hours notice.

You have to hand it to that guy. His wisdom applies even if it is not related to water. Afterall, my new employer is paying for it. Why not right?

A tale of two disgruntles

The first disgruntled customer, Myrrkat:

It is weird really. Imagine yourself being a happy and loyal customer to a telco provider for many years. In fact, it was your first and only one. It made you feel special, until one fine day you decided to try another telco provider.


You registered for a special prepaid number and decided to switch to postpaid. Then the bad news. You have been barred. You were flabagasted.

"Barred? Me? Why?" you asked.

"You were barred by your current telco provider, Maxis. Apparently, your name has been blacklisted." said the Digi sales consultant.

You dialed 123 using your handphone. It was spiral all the way down. You soon realised apparently you have been charged for a service you never use. You twist your brow and then a realisation struck. Your bent brow straighten.

Source: http://daringrocket.com/2007/10/disgruntled-cat

"The broadband bill? But I never got the connection. Your people said I don't have to pay and they will reverse it!"

It was downhill from there. You soon realised you can't register for a postpaid line with Digi. And you have to go to Maxis outlet at KLCC to sort things out. Damn! So you dutifully went anyway. You looked at the clock. Darn, 1.30 pm. Sigh. Oh well...

At the KLCC outlet, the friendly (yet bored and tired looking) sales consultant broke the bad news.

"Ma'am, your name has been blacklisted on CTOS."

That's the story of Myrrkat. Is this love? Is this the price of loyalty? No dear, there's no more love for Maxis. Yes, you can sing your Hotlink tune, you can also run your "It's all about communicating" slogan for Maxis. But you obviously couldn't care. And all for RM12.35 or RM12.36. Whatever.


The second disgruntled customer, Myop101 explains:

It was a usual weekend walk down the Carrefour Midvalley aisle. You noticed a Maxis stand. Then a guy in green t-shirt said, "Sir, Ma'am, would you like to register for our broadband service?"

And I was then thinking, Not interested. I am here for milk and cereals.

My wife pulled my arm. I stopped. She was listening to that guy in green t-shirt. Then we sat down on the chair. And the guy started explaining about the Family plan. Apparently, if we sign up for another supplementary line, we don't have to pay for anything. We asked about charges and such.

"Sir, you don't have to worry, this monthly commitment fees are waived if you don't use the line..." he said.

I interjected,"Free? Are you sure? What if I activated it and stop using it after awhile?"

"It's ok, the monthly commitment fees would be waived." he replied.

That was last year. I checked my April'08 bill. I have been billed RM50 commitment fees for it.

Source: http://disgruntledsid.blogspot.com/

I called. I was fuming. What is this? I thought the guy said it will be waived.

Spoke to Maxis customer care consultant. She wasn't too pleased from her tone of voice. Was kind of rude as far I care. I was fuming mad. I asked for clarification. She spoke and insisted she is right. I told her about what happened. She apparently couldn't understand my anger. I am telling her I felt cheated. She is telling me it is per the terms and conditions of the contract. I told her to strike off the supplementary number and revert my primary line to Value 50 plan.

She was happy when I was done of course. Imagine getting of the line from being yelled at by one angry customer. I am still fuming mad. Where's the love? Where's the recognition of loyalty? Where's the understanding? Well, that's communication ala Maxis style.

The interesting twist is, I got a call from Maxis today. Apparently they were concerned with why I cancelled my supplementary line. I told them what I felt. Yes, the word is cheated. But his question of course is to find out if I will do anything to my primary and the other supplementary line. Urgh...