Snippets about travelling to Malaysia (based on our travel in April 2024)

If you have decided on a Malaysian holiday, you need about 10 days to two weeks to cover all interesting places, and there are very many.  Because all Air connections in and out are mostly through Kuala Lumpur, you may end up the entire day in the airport shuttling between the cities. Malaysia is a big country East to West separated by a sea. Also, from what I observed, Malaysia does not seem to push tourism hard – there is little effort to sell Malaysia as a tourist destination to the outside world, but I may be wrong. So, in many attractions, there are much more local crowd than foreigners. My point become validated when you see the

The country itself seems safe and clean overall. We did not observe any garbage on the roads or roadsides. Even in China town and Little India in any cities we visited, we did see the area to be generally clean and hygienic. It was a pleasure to drive between cities and it was green throughout. With this greenery, surprised that it does not rain every day, but when it does, it pours.

Majority population are Malays who are Muslims, other races being Chinese and Indian, and they seem more of the moderate kind, like Indonesia, at least for a visitor’s eye. Almost all shops are manned by Malay women in scarfs and everywhere English seems to be understood well.

When it comes to vegetarianism, it is a disappointment though. Eggs are part of a vegetarian dies. Even Vegan is not understood well in many places – we got a Vegan pizza in a star hotel in Kuala Lumpur, and what we got was a cheese loaded Margarita pizza with handful of veggie pieces on it. We also ate in a Vegan place in Langkawi, but I would not fully certify the place as vegan. Also, nowhere I found they put a GREEN dot for a dish that is vegetarian – so you need to ask. Although you would get pastas and other dishes that sound vegetarian, their base is made of either chicken or fish broth and they are very transparent about it up-front, which I liked.   Other than Subway, even McDonalds or Burger king does not carry anything vegetarian. And in Airports, there is nothing vegetarian (only one we found in KL). But if you are a meat- eater, Malaysia may be a great fit.

Since we are talking about the food in Malaysia, for Italian lovers, sorry, the only pasta that you would get is Spaghetti – no other pasta varieties like Penne or Fettucine are available. It is also hard to find natural or fruit Yogurts – they have some yogurt drink but not much for yogurt eaters. Airport’s food, coffee and desserts though are reasonable throughout all Malaysian airports which is a good thing – they do not try to rip you off like in other airports– the prices are the same as what you would find elsewhere. And surprisingly for a Muslim country, alcohol is available everywhere and prices are reasonable.

For their population, they have lots of restaurants which do not seem to be busy at all anytime. Street food during peak hours seems to be the happening place. Even in Langkawi, I was surprised to see lots of restaurants not having enough patrons – surprised to see how they survive. One cannot get good coffee anywhere – I mean either bean based strong coffee or Indian filter coffee. They use something that is Nescafe based called White Coffee which is the combination of coffee powder, whitener and sugar. Their diluted Kopi seems to be OK, but you get them only with sweet, condensed milk. Malaysia does have a lot of 7-11s and mini-marts that are open through the day and some in night too.

And now about shopping in Malaysia. They do not mind showing you anything and everything, but they (mama and papa stores) would not go out of their way to make a sale happen and satisfy a customer. The economy, we observed, works on cash transactions mostly as many international debit and credit cards are not acceptable in many places. I also saw something very strict – if their store timings say it closes at 6 pm, they would close at 6 pm sharp – this is for both big stores and small outlets. Even small private shops in downtown areas which I guess would love to make money selling once the evening sets it, the timings are 11 am to 6 pm and only handful of shops may be open after 8 pm as well.

Now the traffic and driving in Malaysia -it is smooth, and everyone respects the lane rules and goes by the local law. Because of this, I guess, I never observed any road patrol cars anywhere except may be near tolls. Penang is definitely a challenge to drive in – more congested than Kuala Lumpur as I think they have too many cars for the space they have. Kuala Lumpur was a pleasurable experience driving in cabs and taking the trains and metros.

GRAB as a taxi app is everywhere and is quite efficient – in our 40 odd rides, never did we have any cancellation, no talking on the phone by the drivers, cars were clean and spacious, lots of female drivers and they exactly come to the pickup place. They bought out UBER earlier and seem to be quite OK on pricing as well, except their surge pricing during peak hours is insanely high – 3x more than normal many a times.

Now more points on tourism. There are lots of places for Hindu & Buddhist tourism – especially in Penang, we saw a lot of temples that are good and well maintained. Their two Murugan temples in Batu Caves and Penang which are famous worldwide are extremely enriching in experience, but both these places have lot of monkeys on the way, so one needs to be careful climbing the hills. They keep observing your hands and what you carry and so you snooze, you lose. We even saw a small Ganesh temple in Sandakan. As for Buddhism, some fabulous temples are all around the place in all cities which is very soothing to watch – they must be a tolerant society, and it appears so.

Hotels are generally affordable and well maintained. They have a wide selection at various price points, and even five-star hotels are not too expensive compared to global rates. But in smaller hotels, expect a basic breakfast only but a fulfilling one.

Couple of things did put us off – first their dinner or river cruises are too expensive for what they show you. And secondly, the foreigner fees in tourist attractions are quite expensive as they vary from 2 x to 5 x even that of a domestic local guest. We felt the pinch in Sandakan area where the sanctuaries are – the government one for Orangutan was 2.5x and the private one for the Sun bear was about 5x. This was hard on our wallet, and in many cases, seems to be a rip-off. Although I personally do not like this entrance fee differences, if they want to add more for a foreigner, it is better they just add RM 5 over the local entrance fees. But this differentiation makes me validate my earlier comment that Malaysia is not necessarily sold as a destination for foreigners. Before I sign-off, one thing that folks should not miss in Kuala Lumpur is the Pewter Factory in Selangor, one of its kinds where they even allow you to make a pewter dish and take it home. Overall, a fascinating experience.

Four things critical for any professional life

Four things are important to life for any professional, however big or busy they are:

  • You need to belong – everyone belongs to a community, and one needs to contribute back to the community in terms of time (more than money). For every food wasted, think about a deprived child who does not have any good for days together. Get a sense of responsibility and let your actions speak a lot about yourself, without expecting anything in return.   It is not only about you and yours but others as well, care about them.  Volunteer at a local school, or a community centre or a specific interest group.
  • You need to be available – always have time for your family and closest friends who would be with you through your life. Never say no or delay meeting up with them.  Drop that ego and always have an ear and eye for them. It is said that people who socialize more have a healthier life.   Go on vacations, short or long with these folks regularly – at least twice a year.
  • Stay healthy – how much ever money one has, it cannot bring back your youth nor can it guarantee your life. Dedicate ten hours each week for one sport you love to play and one passion or hobby you love to pursue (can be even music). Once in a while, do an activity that is hard, provided your health agrees, like hiking or rafting, so that you satisfy your adrenaline rush properly.
  • Reward yourself – if a dog deserves a treat for doing something nice for you, then you need to reward yourself to having achieved something – small or big. Do it often, even at a small scale like indulging in an ice cream or a Cheesecake, upon achieving something credible that you set out for. If you manage a team, yes, have some small kudos functions often to highlight the achievements of the team – I call it an energy booster. AT the end of the day, we all work for getting something, money or otherwise.

Chief Operating Office (COO) – Responsibilities

     A COO is a Master tactician of a diverse organization managing complex operations on a day-to-day basis, with multiple stakeholders (and potentially Unions), that supports and oversees all organizational functions, but still not directly responsible for any product or solutions development, or sales and marketing.

On a daily basis, the COO:

  • Develops, implements and monitors key operational and performance metrics (and KPIs) of the organization to achieve desired and optimal outcomes and results, and also prepares key forecasting reports.
  • Manages projects, resources and risks.
  • Manages all the support functions like program office, HR, Legal, recruitment, and procurement managers.
  • If it is an NGO, startup or a government organization, leads the fundraising efforts by securing funding rounds and carefully manages capital.

   Ideally, he always reports into the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or President and is an integral part of Executive Leadership Team (ELT).  He collaborates with the President/CEO in setting and driving organizational vision, operations strategy, and achieving organizational results.  Some organizations (mostly Government and a few education institutions) use Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) as an equivalent role, with very similar responsibilities.

List of Responsibilities – a Cumulative collection of many Cs:

  • Compliance:  Maintains full compliance to local and state laws, regulatory bodies and industry standards by establishing robust policies, procedures and controls, and by staying updated on any regulatory changes.  Risk management and mitigation is an integral part of this exercise for the entire organization.  One must be aware of all political, social, economic, environmental and technological risks and effectively manage them.   In some organizations, this role is exclusive to a Chief Compliance officer who may or may not report into the COO.
  • Commercials:  Manages all end-to-end commercial engagements, with all customers and stakeholders
  • Capital Management: Oversees and manages all local and global facilities and fleets (if any), plans and manage all capital projects, and leads all procurement and logistics support.
  • Commitment to Operations Excellence:  Upholds commitment to OpEx by adhering to financial targets, driving operational strategy, enhancing brand reputation and ensuring prudent resource allocation and cost control.  Aggressively manages the investment and expenses to ensure company achieves intended budgeted revenue targets and margin– this includes ensuring revenue and cash flow by negotiating contracts and meeting all settlement and collection targets (Business Development activities).  Develops budget forecasts and operations plans, assesses, and analyses operation capabilities, variances and ensures adherence to budget.
  • Change management – Develops and implements appropriate systems, identifies areas of process optimization and implements necessary changes to maximise efficiency (and productivity) and minimize costs.
  • Communications: Oversees all Corporate Communications through professional presentation, facilitations and interpersonal skills, thus delivering a consistent and clear messaging for the organization, both for internal and external audience.
  • Customer: Creates and executes the customer experience framework and is also responsible for the customer relationships and customer service delivery. A key metric (s)he drives is the CSS – Customer Satisfaction Survey.
  • Culture: Fosters a culture of employee engagements, continuous improvement, transparency and teamwork, thus building a corporate lifestyle of high performance and core values, accountability   and employee growth
  • Community:  Fosters community relationships by establishing grievance redress mechanisms and social safeguards for the organization’s work with local communities, if any.
  • Care and Confidence: Facilitates and respects the employees and cares about the infrastructure of the organization.  Inspires confidence to the internal and external stakeholders, including partner relationships and vendor management.  
  • (Working) Conditions: Accountable for the Occupational, health and safety (OHS) of the organization by assuring safe working conditions for all teams globally, including emergency/disaster planning and response, first-aid and emergency-response training and employee safe-behaviour training.

So, what is role is NOT?

  • Not a Chief Financial officer who analyses and reports everything financial, but a COO supports financial monitoring, planning, forecasting and budgeting, by receiving key inputs from CFO on a regular basis.
  • Not a Chief Marketing officer, but a COO does monitor all the key customer metrics including the Satisfaction scores.  IN some organizations, CMO reports into the COO.

Not a Chief Product (development) officer and not responsible for actual delivery of product or solutions to customers, but a COO does monitor all the programs that run within the organizations and ensures compliance to resource and cost budgets.

Select your leaders well

Many in their career have an ambition to get someplace high , that too quickly. No issues with that. They want to be somebody big at any price, which does become an issue. The guys who talk better and present well usually are more heard and hence fall in the radar for any promotions- if (s)he is backed by their credibility, great, but if not, this becomes a situation for the company. The cost encountered by the organization though may be disenchanted employees, attrition of the good ones, and definitely a lack of loyalty to the organization. I always say ” Coaches do not play, they need not have been great players either, but they need to bring the best amongst their players in the team – they must though know how to play “. Careful selection of the deserving does make this better. 

Tips on Time Management

Here are some tips on Time Management :
– Manage by planning priorities well, and reduce or eliminate non-priorities
– Ensure you know the value of time and respect it. Be on time for appointments (call ahead if delayed). Don’t waste your time or others time. Times flies (but you can still be the pilot) and once lost, cannot be got back like Money. Time is limited (just 24 hours a day) unlike money, and hence utilize it and take care of it for good returns and happiness
– Invest more in Planning it right before executing anything – do a good risk plan (what-if scenarios) so that you are better prepared. As a Chinese proverb goes : ” It takes more hours to sharpen the axe than to cut the tree “. Think ahead for contingencies. Planning, they say, is to document the future into the details of the present.
– There is always time for everything important to you but you need to ‘find and allot’ . “No time” is never an excuse. Distribute the limited time to be more meaningful to you and to serve your purpose. Enjoy the present moment. Make your time, and take your time in things that give you happiness.
– Tomorrow never comes or comes late after many hours, hence do it NOW. Do not regret waiting for another day if you can achieve things today. Achieve more or something else tomorrow.

TREAT TIME with VALUE – it is PRECIOUS. MASTER your TIME through Discipline and Control

Define success for an entrepreneur

In a recent discussion with a few just-out-of-college future technologists, we got into something interesting – they all have a dream to become a successful entrepreneur.

Usually a dream is the first step, with that belief to accomplish what you are likely to set out for is equally important. Once you have this belief, then there should be prospective intent ( in terms of goal setting and high level planning ) with a first end result in mind. Then comes the passion to achieve is critical – many people cook, only few are renowned as Chefs – the passion is what separates them from the ordinary and they take pride in what they cook – I always says they know what the food lovers would relish. These are the few ingredients of accomplishing what you set out for.

Dream + Belief + Intent + Passion = Achieving Intended Results -> Success

Tamil History reinforced

Ponniyin Selvan – great Tamizh movie, well done and comes close to what Amarar Kalki had written. After seeing it, I did come to a realization that we had been forced to learn only about Mughals and Britishers in our History classes in middle and high school, rather than know and understand our own heritage and rich history. Raja Raja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola had the world’s largest naval fleet in and around the 12th century when they went to many SE Asian countries and established Hinduism there. This movie should be the wake-up call , we need to start redoing our school’s history syllabus to know and understand more about our rich heritage and culture and know more about the conquests and the cultural side that were nourished during that period between 5th and 14th century. I hope we have the inscriptions for this or we need to start discovering them and put the real story together in an authentic way. Time to wake up is now, know more about our local and Indian History and not to read more about the invaders who plundered us.
I will certainly like the TamilNadu government to look into this and change the syllabus to reflect our pride in the middle and high school history lessons. By the way, why are the Nagapattinam copper plates in Leiden Museum – time to bring them back here. Time to act and change the script is NOW.

Sponsorship JINX

The jersey sponsors for Indian Cricket team since 1990s like Wills, ITC, Sahara, PayTM, Star, Oppo and now Byjus have paid top dollars to get their branding across through most watched sport in India – they used Indian cricket to market their name. Now I notice Sahara is no more there, PayTM is in trouble with competition recently(I love this wallet though), OPPO is just an also-ran mobile company, and BYJUs seem to be exposed bare. Not sure if the intended RoI has been gained or they had established themselves as the key player (let alone be the leader) of their pack, and certainly does look like a Jinx to me most of the time. Any other inference?

FIFA world cup 2022 management lessons

FIFA 2022 World Cup finals: France vs Argentina. What a game. One of the best finals ever witnessed. There are few management lessons that can be inferred from the match:
1) Big players deliver during the big games and this is why they are paid the big bucks. All 11 played well but the big guys deliver more. There is always commotion amongst the rank and file in your organization about pay disparity on the same grade. One or two may get paid higher based on potential and delivered results or past achievements. But if you do not perform to potential or not delivering consistently, then you are shown the door (case in point C Ronaldo). Michael Jordan was paid big bucks because he delivered consistently for Chicago Bulls.
2. It is always the team that matters first. Both Messi and Mbappe not only scored goals but also were involved with many assists that went into the goal post. This is the trademark of great team player, however big they are. Individual greatness is not revered if the team fails.
3. Around 10 minutes before the first half , the French coach did two substitutions. Till that time, it was all Argentina. France were just in the field, doing nothing much. It take a good coach to recognize the inertia being built up to re-organize the team. Constantly re-balance your team for optimum and desired results. After that, the last 10 minutes of the first half France came back strongly and for the rest of the game.
4. Always look for the right moment to strike, especially when the competition is sitting on glory- after about 80 minutes of play, Argentina was slightly relaxed at 2-Nil and seeing this lethargy, MBappe strikes twice within 100 seconds to equalize and drag it to extra-time. And they did it again near the end of second half. Always be aware of your competition and suit your response accordingly. This is why organizations do competitive analysis but this has to be done regularly to change your game.
5. When it comes to penalty kicks, it can be anyone’s game. But anticipation is key. The better goal keeper either by plan or by luck anticipates where the striker would hit and goes to that side. It happened during the second hit of France – it was prevented by the Argentinian goalie. Take informed risks, and have mitigation plans in place.
6. Pressure makes one choke. Experience does matter when it comes to handling pressure. All five strikes are doing the same job – hit the ball to the goal. Some people freeze (like the third hit by France which hit the goal post and went away) and others deliver.
7. Incidentally, Argentina lost their first league match to Saudi Arabia. Many pundits started writing them off. Two things : (i) Never under-estimate the opponent – even the weaker team can cause an upset (ii) It takes will and effort to bounce back and eventually win it. Yes, it is possible. Never let setbacks ruin your day. Keep on trying till your succeed.

Great to see two equal teams fight till the end.