Pengalaman di Indonesia 2000 - 2001

Pada bulan Mei 2000, bermulalah kerjaya baru saya di Q Telecell sebagai "Regional Sales Manager, APAC". Saya meninggalkan PERNEC selepas 9 tahun 6 bulan. Keputusan ini amat sukar dibuat tetapi saya menurut cita-cita untuk bekerja di syarikat mult-national dan regional.

Q Telecell beribupejabat di Berlin Jerman dan merupakan serpihan syarikat Krone setelah "Management Buy Out (MBO)". Syarikat ini memfokuskan teknologi Wireless Local Loop yang juga merupakan bidang kemahiran saya. Q Telecell telah membuka pejabat di Malaysia setelah kejayaan mendapat kontrak dari Telekom Malaysia dengan kerjasama Syarikat KUB Telekomunikasi. Saya tidak terlibat secara langsung dengan kontrak kerana tugasan ialah untuk melebarkan sayap di negara Asia Pasifik.

 Boss saya, John Heugle, seorang Jerman tetapi bercakap slang Amerika kerana duduk lama di sana. Isteri beliau keturunan India dari Singapura. John memberikan kebebasan sepenuhnya kepada saya menjalankan tugasan.

Selama 1 tahun setengah, saya menjelejah pelbagai negara termasuk Indonesia, Thailand, Filipina, Vietnam, Myanmar dan Bangladesh. Selain itu saya sempat menjejak kaki di Jerman. Indonesia merupakan negara yang paling kerap saya lawati. 2 kali sebulan saya ke Jakarta, Bandung dan Semarang. Di Jakarta, saya menjadikan pejabat Krone Indonesia sebagai "base" kerana telah ada kerjasama sebelum ini. Saya berkawan rapat dengan Mr Wolfgang .... Pengarah Urusan PT Krone Indonesia. Pak Bambang Setiawan merupakan wakil Q Telecell Di Indonesia yang di bayar gaji oleh Q Telecell melalui Krone.

Bersama Mr Wolfgang & Bambang, saya berjumpa pelbagai pegawai PT Telkom Indonesia. Q Telecell juga telah mengadakan ujian percubaan sebelum ini. Saya melawat tapak ujian di kawasan desa dan berjumpa pihak Risti untuk proses sertifikasi. Bagaimanapun PT Telkom tidak bersedia untuk melabur WiLL kerana belanjawan yang besar serta suasana politik yang belum stabil sepenuhnya.

Kerjaya saya dengan Q Telecell tidak lama. Saya meninggalkan Q Telecell pada Okt 2001 selepas saya menerima tawaran pekerjaan baru. Di waktu itu juga syarikat mengalami konflik dalaman menyebabkan kerja pemasaran saya terhenti.

Saya masih berhubung dengan teman2 di PT Krone malahan mereka ada membeli barangan fiberoptik dari Malaysia. Malangnya beberapa tahun selepas itu,  PT Krone di bubarkan setelah percantuman dengan ADC USA. Kilang PT Krone telah ditutup dan yang tinggal cuma Pak Yan dan setiausaha Rita. 3 bekas karyawan PT Krone, Oki,  mengambil keputusan membuka perniagaan syarikat sendiri, PT Lentera dan  meneruskan apa yang mereka lakukan di PT Krone. Syarikat berkembang pesat

Pelbagai pengalaman menarik bertandang ke Indonesia. Menariknya, saya dapat menguasai bahasa Indonesia dengan baik dan dapat membuat presentasi dalam bahasa mereka. Disamping itu juga saya dapat memahami bahasa jawa yang dituturkan mereka. Kantor, lantai, jam, kota, desa, macet, mobil, gedung, toko, karyawan, cewek, kepala, berjuta rupiah merupakan perkataan yang kerap.

Perbedaan ketara yang pertama saya perhatikan jika dibandingkan dengan Malaysia ialah budaya mereka. Semua rakyat Indonesia bercakap dalam bahasa Indonesia tidak kira Jawa, Sunda, Aceh, Cina Sulawesi dll. Cara pakainan pun sama. amat sukar membezakan keturunan Cina. Begitu juga penganut Islam dari yang lain. Hanya ketika waktu solat Jumaat, barulah saya mengetahui mereka yang beragama Islam kerana pergi ke Masjid. Banyak masjid di sekitar Jakarta malahan ada surau hotel dan di bangunan dijadikan tempat solat Jumaat. Khatibnya bebas membaca khutbah tanpa teks.

Dipejabat, karyawan wanita tidak memerlukan ruangan khas untuk melakukan solat didalam pejabat. Mereka tiada masalah untuk bertelekung dan bersolat walaupun ada pekerja lelaki dan non muslim melihat mereka. Apabila saya berkunjung ke Musolla di Gedung perniagaan ataupun kantor, terasa pelik melihat ramai orang perempuan berskirt masuk ke mussola dan mengerjakan solat. Agak jarang kita melihat fenomena ini di Malaysia. Ternyata, amalan Islam di Jakarta lebih terbuka dibandingkan di Kuala Lumpur.

Siri lawatan 1992 - 1999

TRIP TO GENEVA OCT 1999

I was selected by my company, PERNEC to attend Telecom 99 exhibition in Geneva. This was one of the fourth event that I represent the company. Others are Guinea/Sweden, Nepal and Sudan business visit. The Telecom 99 event was organised by ITU, an International body who responsible for Global Telecommunication standard. It was the biggest Telecom event in the world and held every 4 year.

It was great to visit Geneva and Switzerland in general. It was a dream come true. I really wanted to see one of the attraction in Geneva, the flower clock. I saw the photo of this clock when I was a kid. Since then, I dreamt to come to Geneva.

The flower clock remind the flower mickey mouse in Disneyland Japan. Below is the photo.

We rented a resident house in Geneva city for the whole week. The house owner purposely went for holiday and rented their house during large exibition. All hotels were fully booked. 

Telecom 99 exhibition was really HUGE. The exhibitors constructed large multi level booths. There were three storey booth. Each large booth easily took 15m x 15m floor space, bigger than a double storey house. These companies really spent money. It could be more than RM1 million. At that time, telecommunication was profitable business. I felt dwarf. I've to walk looking up to the booth surrounded by tall Mat Saleh. 

I did have a mission in visiting the event.  I was studying new technology trend and identifying new strategic potential technology partners for PERNEC. At the time, NEC was losing market share due to strong competition from Europe and American companies. There were emergence of new players. Some of them were just small companies.

 I discovered the new trend in Telecommunication. The technology was converging from every angle. The most obvisous convergence was voice and data technology. At that time, transmission and switching already converged which benefit Transmission group. The trend would also continue with the convergence of Telecommunication and broadcasting. After 10 year (2009), this prediction was true!!!

It was time for company to make change. . Upon ny return, I submited a proposal recommending for company to make strategic change.I recommend new techonlogies and potential strategic partners.  One of the pontential partner was Huawei. In 1999,, Huawei was unknown and did not have any business in Malaysia. I was close to Huawei Business Development Manager. He was based in Malaysia for 2 years  to study local market and develop business strategy. I introduced Huawei to PERNEC before I left the company in 2000. Huawei was struggling to penetrate Malaysian market at time. Nevertheles, they were agressive and never gave up. Now, Huawei is a big name not only in Malaysia but globally.

After my return, I organised a technology workshop for Transmission division. I guessed it was eye opener. Later, my proposed business plan was adopted as the write up for Budget 2000.  I felt good that the ransmission Division did make big changes in adopting new technology. I was happy that the Division were successful and become the flag-bearer of PERNEC until now.  

Before my departure from Geneva, I did sight seeing. Many International body have headquarter here. One of the notable global organisation was United Nation.

Moving around city, I saw UN building and  other  International Association. At one area, there was this big chair with three legs. I had no idea about this image.

I also didn't miss to visit the Geneva lake. Here, the flower clock was located. In the middle of the lake, there was the famous fountain. 

Another interesing attraction was the 4 seasons Park. Here, there were 4 big glass buildings which housed plants from different countries including tropical and desert trees. We can see tropical tree even during winter as the building keep the relevant climate temperature.

I took bus and tramp around the city using one ticket. The city was not big and less crowded. I guessed many of the people were actually visitors to the event.

I did enjoy the trip. I thought this was the only chance in my life to visit Switzerland.  I never thought I would join a Swiss company later and visited the countries almost annually since 2003.

siri lawatan 1992 - 1999

LAWATAN KE KATMANDU 1998

still under construction

Suasana bandar Katmandu adalah seperti bandar Koboi. Keadaan berjerebu dan orang Nepal berpakaian lusuh

Semasa lawatan ke Katmandu, Banjaran Himalaya dapat dilihat melalui kapalterbang. Tetapi apabila berada di Katmandu, keadaan berjerebu menghalang penglihatan ke Banjaran Himalaya.

Raja Nepal yang masih berkuasa tetapi telah digulingkan

Ramai orang Nepal mempunyai rupa seakan akan orang Melayu. Bila kami berjalan di Katmandu, tidak nampak perbezaan. Orang Nepal menganut Hindu. Rasanya merasa begitu taksub. Semua kedai mempunyai bau yang kuil Hindu. Saya tidak sanggup berada lama dalam kedai mereka.

Orang Nepal menggemari muzik Bollywood. Agak pelik, bila orang Nepal bergaya Hindustan kerana rupa mereka lebih kepada Cina.

Monyet banyak kelihatan di bandar KAtmandu. Saya tidak pasti kenapa.

siri lawatan 1992 - 1999

Lawatan ke Paris May 1997

I was a bit lucky to be able to visit Paris for the 1st time. Thanks to my new friend, Yazaki san from Japan, I was able to utilise my transit in Paris Airport to visit the city. I arrived early in the morning and was only scheduled to fly back to Malaysia at night. Yazaki flown together with me from Conakry, Guinea after our meeting with Sotelgui. He planned to stay one night in Paris before flying back to Japan. Upon arrival, we travel to Paris together. After giving me some tips, we split.

The shopping area in Paris is an attraction by itself. At the end of the Boulevard,

The Arc de Triomphe  is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées.honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806

The monument stands 50 metres (164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m (72 ft) deep.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is known as "The most beautiful avenue in the world. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strips of real estate in the world. Several French monuments are also on the street, including the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde. The avenue runs for 1.91 km through the 8th arrondissement in northwestern Paris, from the Place de la Concorde in the east, with the Obelisk of Luxor  to the Place Charles de Gaulle  in the west, location of the Arc de Triomphe The Champs-Élysées forms part of the Axe historique. 

The Eiffel Tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, he tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.

The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years,The tower has three levels for visitors. The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France.

948 Day before the World Cup.

Eifel Tower is one of my favorite place



siri lawatan 1992 - 1999

LAWATAN KE SUDAN - DEC 1999



Lawatan ke Khortoum Sudan adalah satu yang menarik bagi saya. Saya menyertai rombongan delegasi dari PERNEC di ketuasi Ketua Pengarah Urusan, Tuan Hj Shaharom Shariff membawa misi untuk mencari peluang perniagaan di Sudan. Rombongan juga di sertai oleh En Ahmad Danial, COO International Business. Kami dijemput oleh oleh seorang ahli perniagaan Sudan. Beliau telah berjaya menjual set telefon buatan PERNEC di Sudan.

Saya nyaris ketinggalan kapalterbang kerana kesilapan masa. Tiket menunjukan waktu 21.30 yang saya ingatkan pukul 11.30 mlm. Kapalterbang terpaksa menunggu saya setelah Hj Shaharom meminta pegawai kapalterbang mencari saya. Saya tidak sedar langsung akan kesilapan sehinggalah saya mendaftar masuk dan pegawai syarikat kapalterbang membawa saya tergesa-gesa memasukki kapalterbang syarikat Jepun. Barulah saya tahu yang saya tersilap masa. Terima kasih kepada Haji Shaharom.





bersama Hj Shahrom di Souk - beli madu & kurma

Kami transit di Dubai (kalau tidak silap). Kami segera bersolat dan Hj Shaharom terus ke depan menjadi Imam di surau di airport. Jemaah dari negara lain terus menjadi makmum oleh jemaah di situ. Kami melakukan solat jamak. Satu contoh kepimpinan yang baik oleh Hj Shaharom.** (tribute untuk beliau di bawah)
Kami berurusan dengan SudaTel. Operator Telekomunikasi Sudan.. Selain berjumpa dengan pegawai tinggi, kami juga bertemu dengan Menteri Telekomunikasi. Kami mencari peluang untuk menjadi rakan kongsi perniagaan payphone di sini. Tetapi kami menghadapi cabaran untuk membina jaringan payphone disin. Masalah terbesar ialah nilai wang mereka yang rendah dan tiada duit syiling. Menggunakan kad bukanlah alternatif terbaik.

Saya tertarik dengan Sudan kerana ia negara Arab Islam yang berkulit hitam. Mereka berbahasa Arab dan pasrah dengan kehidupan sukar mereka kerana ekonomi yang ditekan oleh kuasa barat. Ia berlaku sejak penawanan dan pembunuhan diplomat Amerika pada 1973 dan serangan udara Tentera Amerika ke kilang farmasi pada tahun 1998. Peperangan dengan pemberontak Sudan Selatan yang beragama Kristian serta perlarian Darfur menambahkan alasan untuk Barat menekan Sudan. Walaubagaimanapun, Sudan mempunyai potensi untuk maju kerana mempunyai simpanan minyak yang banyak. Menurut pegawai Petronas yang berkhidmat di Sudan, keadaan lapangan cari gali di padang pasir adalah seperti kem tentera. Tentera menjadi lapangan dari serangan para pemberontak. Mereka mengalami beberapa serangan tetapi dapat dipatahkan oleh pihak tentera.

Terdapat beberapa masjid yang sudah berusia lebih beratus tahun tetapi indah pembinaannya. Dapat dilihat, rakyat disini taat beragama. Kita dapat merasakan suasana Islam di sini. Apabila tiba waktu solat, para peniaga terus mendirikan solat di kedai  atau di tapak jualan mereka. Saya merasa ketenangan berjalan-jalan meninjau bandar Khortoum. Kami melawat Open Market di sini yang dipanggil Souk. Kelihatan, kenderaan lama menggunakkan masih ber ada di jalan. Keadaan Souk seolah-olah tahun 60 an. Kelihatan agak berusia. Kami membeli kurma kering dan madu padang pasir. Kurmanya agak keras. Madu yang saya beli tidak ramai yang mahukan kecuali sahabat saya Rusli Daud. Alhamdulillah, berkat dari Allah, madu yang diminum olehnya dan isterinya membantu isterinya mengandung anak kedua setelah lama berusaha

Kami duduk di Hotel Holiday Villa milik syarikat dari Malaysia. Harga bilik hotel semalam agak mahal, RM 800. Saya mencadangkan En Ahmad untuk berkongsi bilik. En Ahmad juga seorang tawadhuk. Alhamdulillah,  lawatan kali ini ada berkatnya.

Khortoum terletak di pertemuan 2 sungai Nile, Nil putih yang mengalir ke utara dari Tasik Victoria dan Nil Biru yang mengalir ke barat dari Ethiophia.  Nil merupakan sungai terpanjang di dunia megalir sejauh 6,650km dan melalui 10 buah negara di Afrika. Ia mengalir ke utara ke negara Mesir dan berakhir di laut Mediteranean. Sungai Nil memain peranan besar membangunkan tamadun Mesir berkurun-kurun lamanya.

Perjalanan ke Sudan tidak menghasilkan peluang perniagaan yang dihajatkan. Mungkin Allah lebih mengetahui dan kegagalan itu mungkin ada hikmah untuk kami. Tetapi berada di sebuah negara Islam yang pasrah dengan kesukaran kehidupan memberi satu kenangan menarik dan pengajaran bagi saya untuk sentiasa bersyukur kepada Allah s.w.t.  

Tuan Haji Shaharom Md Shaharif

Beliau ialah seorang pemimpin yang mempunyai misi, bijaksana dan sentiasa menunjuk teladan yang baik, "walk the talk".  Di atas kepimpinan beliau, PERNEC berkembang dan berdaya maju. Bukan sahaja dari segi perniagaan bahkan beliau menitik-beratkan kerohanian.  Saya mendapat banyak pengalaman di bawah pimpinan beliau. Saya terlibat beberapa program khas syarikat bersama beliau. Saya terpilih khas untuk misi perniagaaan khas di luar negara dan dalam negara. Selain Sudan, saya terlibat di Guinea, Nepal dan beberapa feasibility study di Malaysia. Ketika saya meletakkan jawatan, beliau kecewa dengan keputusan saya dan menyatakan yang saya punya potensi untuk menjadi orang penting di PERNEC. Saya mengucapkan terima kasih tetapi saya punya cita-cita sendiri dan lebih selesa bekerja dengan kumpulan kecil.

siri lawatan 1992 - 1999

TRIP TO DENMARK DEC 1998

The trip to Conpenhagen Denmark was part of a factory visit and inspection to Zone System A/S, a Danish company for TM Special Network project. The trip was an agreed term for the Contract to supply and Install  Network Management System for Navy landline Telecommunication Network. Zone System was founded on 1995 by Niel Zibrandsten to provide telecomunication specialising on network protection.  

 TM also conducted other factory visit such as to Andrew Corporation together with Trisilco Folec. The person in charge for Trisilco Folec at that time none other Suhaimi Meor Hassan, the popular singer with poetic songs. He was a nice and relax person. Everytime, we met, he could still remember me despite we knew each other in a short period. We did have tough time together negotiating with TM especially with the Manager in charge, Puan Hamidah.

Puan Hamidah and En Yusni represented TM Specialised Network whilst I represented Pernec. Martin from Zone System was the host. The CEO, Niel Zibrandsten was also peresent during our visit. We visited Conpenhagen at wrong period which was end December 1998 right after Christmas. It was really cold almost 0 deg C. It was also holiday period that many shops were closed at that time. Conpenhagen was like a ghost town. I was suffering from rhinitis allergy but I took wrong medicine, clarinase which was effective to dry the nose. I end-up having irritating  and itchy nose until I stopped taking the medicine.

 The visit to Zone System office It was  eye opener to me. The company proved that a company with only 20 employees can still do global business worldwide. They were one fastest growth company in Denmark. The business operation was kept to minimum. They did not have any production but developed own products. They employed Sales, R&D also Testing team and Technical  support. The R&D team design the products. Once finalised, they will engage another Contract Manufacturing to produce the equipment for them. The R&D team would do the final test after receiving the goods from the CM.

We took opportunity to visit interesting places in Denmark. One of the them was the Conpenhagen icon,  "Little  mermaid,  a statue of a mermaid in Langelinie, Conpenhagen. It was based on the fairy tale by Han Christian Andersen. It was with a height of 1.25 metre.

The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen's Royal Theatre and asked the primaballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. The bronze statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913.

Another interesting location was the museum. Here we learnt about the Scanivadi and medieval history. One of interesting dispaly was the boat of the

siri lawatan 1992 - 1999

TRIP TO LONDON 1996

Upon returning from Guinea, the PERNEC delegation managed to squeeze  a 2 day 1 night trip to London on our own cost. They planned the trip while staying in Guinea. The trip certainly a pleasant one except for one incident. I don't have a complete note compared to other trips so I just jot down based on what I can recall.



infront of the entrance to subway



We stayed at a budget hotel but the cost was equivalent to RM400 a night. It was quite expensive considering a 4~5 star hotel in Malaysia cost only RM150 net at that time. There was only shower cubicle in the room. The toilet was located at the staircases. I shared the room with NoorAzizan.

With Rahmatullah at the Trafalgar Square

 

Big Ben

We spent the days visiting interesting places in London. The first place was the famous Oxford street. Although it was shopping area, we didn't shop at all except for the incident. Next, we took the opportunities other attractions in London. We visited Trafalgar square where there were the tame birds and other places; Big Ben, 10 Downing street (really?), the famous Thames river bridge. It was easy to move around using the subway. It was like rushing around from one place to another place. Unlike the business trips, we were like tourists. I bought souveniers from roadside kiosks. The price was not really bad. We moved quickly from one place to anothers that the memory didn't stick to my mind.

Others than these landmarks, double decker bus, London taxi, telephone booths and the subways were the icons of London .

There was an unforgetful incident. All of us got cheated a few hundred ringgit (in values) by a group of  cunning auctioner. I couldn't imagine this could happen in London. Initially, we were attracted by a large crowd in one of shop. There, an auction was taking place. They auctioned expensive items at low price. The auctioners were so shrewd dragging to raise hand and agree to purchase the auctioned items that no-one saw what was coming at the end. I couldn't remember exactly but we ended up paying a large sum of money for low cost products. Everyone got shocked!  





 

Not sure whether this is 10 Downing street

London is located in England. Together with 3 others countries, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island, they made up the United Kingdom. It is also known as Great Britain. These 4 countries shares the same Queen and Government. As such, the Prime Minister rules the 4 countries. The flag of "Union Jack" is a combination of flags from these 4 countries.  Within this Great Britain, the people from England is called English. Scottish for Scotland people, Irish and Welsh for Ireland and Wales. However, outside UK, they are known as British. All of them speak one language, English. When come to the sport, England is the dominant team whether in Football, cricket, athletics  and other popular games. Rugby is the only sport that other country can match England. I just get these actual facts only yesterday (10th Feb 2012) when my colleague from London, Drew Martin told me.  When come to European event, these 4 countries will participate individually.





 







Double decker bus in the background