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small thoughts by christopher tan
no thoughts are too small
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August 1, 2011
November 12, 2011
Row, row, row your boat
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Chris in 15 seconds
An IT graduate-turned-photojournalist, Chris has been actively involved in the areas of editorial, publishing and corporate communications for much too long! His current capacity as the Associate Editor of MALAYSIA SME media group entails being involved in the conceptualisation, planning and management of the group’s publishing and editorial operations, which include amongst others, the MALAYSIA SME newspaper and the MALAYSIA SME Business Directory. Chris’ journey had taken him from being a reporter with leading Malaysian newspapers, a writer with various business and lifestyle magazines, to being a news editor of an overseas-based newspaper publication. The hundreds of articles lying inside the closet are beginning to get on his wife’s nerves! He also spearheaded a prominent Malaysian hotel chain’s group communications and public relations department prior to his current position with MALAYSIA SME. Along the way, he has also incorporated several technological accomplishments into his online editorial portfolio, such as being amongst the pioneers of the country’s first e-grocery web application, starting an award-winning Malaysian tourism site, as well as managing an e-commerce trade portal. The author of ‘.Coming Through .My Eyes’ – a non-fiction book released in October 2010 about the Malaysian way of life – is also regular columnist…
You’re book-ed!
.COMING THROUGH .MY EYES Distributed by MPH Distributors Sdn Bhd and published by A2 Communications, Chris’ first book was released on October 2010 and is available at all leading bookstores throughout the country. The book depicts a Malaysian’s perspective about things taking place around us, including our behaviour, way of life, the nation’s progress, as well as the good and bad parts of being a Malaysian. Reflecting on what we have gone through over the last 53 years and what a ‘Dream Malaysia’ could be like, the book is written in a humorous and light-hearted style. “A very well written book to open up our eyes to the charming as well as the unpleasant Malaysian way of life.” – Blind man walking towards open manhole. Excerpts from the book: … “We have 28 million people and if you walk around town, seemingly 25 million of that total comprises Indonesians with PR cards, wouldn’t it make practical sense to have a national anthem that comes from both countries?” … “First it was the grand plan of vision school; next came the smart school; then it was cluster school. But now, looking at the behaviour of our youths, it appears as…
Bonus Thoughts
Purr-fect communication skills wanted English chemist and clergyman Joseph Priestley must have seen the future when sometime during the late 1700s he said, “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” Pertinently so in today’s gadget filled lifestyle, I was thinking aloud while casually taking in the whiff from the cup of hot chocolate held under my nose. As I glanced around the café and at my lunch companion who was trying his best to discreetly reply an SMS – he was once enlightened on how much I detest people tending to their phones during meals – patrons were either tapping away on their BlackBerrys or staring trance-like into their laptop computers. On my right, the over-tattooed boyfriend was occupied with memorising the arrangement of the latest tunes on his iPod shuffle while the girlfriend was seemingly engrossed with the latest fraternity gossip via online chat on her striking red netbook. To my left, the jaded-looking wife was more interested in plastering her face into the five-year-old, no-longer glossy fashion magazine instead of speaking with her life partner. But then, the husband was not doing much to encourage verbal interaction either as he was presumably busy replying…
Even older thoughts
Stories worth celebrating over There were still a couple of hours to go before the dawn of Hari Raya. The soothing sound of rain falling on the zinc roof above me coupled with the roosters’ rendition of popular Raya tunes emerging from the surrounding trees kept me company. As I uncomfortably discovered that over-indulgence of beef rendang, lemang and spicy satay sauce doesn’t go well with sleep, I was thankful for the 34 Raya greeting SMSes awaiting my reply, including one from a Datuk that came with a charming poem and appreciation of my regular jottings through this column – indirectly reminding me of this issue’s deadline regardless of festivity celebrations! Amid unfamiliar limbs and snoring bodies spread all around me on the kampung house’s living room, I found myself reflecting – and scribbling in near darkness on the ensuing inspiration – of the many heart-warming tales shared by fellow Malaysians on the multi-cultural diversity of our adored home aired recently over Astro’s MyStory channel. Most of these short homemade videos were entertaining and puts a smile on our faces; many were pleasantly creative; some sang better than the rest; a few seemed exceedingly focused on themselves rather than on…
Thots b4 blogs
Wrinkled and old, but smiles like gold! There’s an expression that goes something along the line of “You know you are doing something right when others start to disapprove of you.” While I’m infinitely appreciative for those who have enjoyed my thoughts shared through this column all this while, it was a welcome change when I received my first critic to last issue’s jottings. Two weeks ago, I wrote about why entrepreneurs should consider hiring or retaining the more experienced but older segment of the workforce, and that the government should extend the age of retirement beyond 58. The reader bemoaned my lack of consideration for the younger generation of workers and the pool of fresh graduates that are struggling to land a job. He or she also noted that if the older folks were to be kept longer in an organisation, the younger workforce would also find it tough to climb the corporate ladder. Since it would take five full pages of this newspaper to share my views about why our fresh graduates are choosing to remain voluntarily unemployed, I would focus my response around how doing something out-of-the-box can often bring added benefits to our organisations and to…
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