Challenges Awaiting Graduating Secretaries

I was at a Faculty Annual Dinner organised by the Corporate Administration Student Society of UiTM last week. Being an Alumni member, I was asked to deliver a short talk on the challenges awaiting the students once they graduate.

This was what I told them :-

Prof Madya Dr. Jasmine Ahmad and members of the Faculty, the President and Exco Members of the Corporate Administration Student Society, the Director and Exco Members of the Majlis Makan Malam Fakulti, graduating students and everyone present in the august hall this evening.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah hiwabarakatuh and Good Evening.

I wish to express my utmost thanks to the organising committee for having me here to celebrate this joyous event and most importantly allowing me to rekindle the strong bond that I have with the faculty as well as with the several personalities that I have known for a quite a while.

Prof Madya Dr. Jasmine Ahmad was actually my classmate during my Diploma days here in UiTM, then known as ITM way back in 1981 to 1984. Even back then, she was the one whom most of us relied on for the complete set of notes. She was never stingy and had always volunteered to depart her knowledge and understanding on any matters that was difficult to us but never so to her.

I am glad to note that she has climbed the ladder of her career path in UiTM and I sincerely hope that she will keep on climbing the ladder to be the No. 1 in UiTM one fine day.

Enough of pet talk, I was actually given (or more accurately asked) to deliver a short insight on the challenges waiting for graduating students the minute they step out of the faculty.

While I might not have the legitimate authority to talk on the matter as I am no motivational speaker nor a career counsellor besides being a not senior enough person to talk on the matter, but being a person who has been working for some 24 years, I surely did face various challenges that might just be applicable for all the rest.

To start it off, let me remind you that the challenges that you might be facing are tremendous, starting from the very act of you finding a job. But no two persons would be facing the same challenges on the same degree, in fact some of you might not even have to face some of challenges that I would be listing down shortly. But please bear in mind that the stories I’m about to tell are of basically what I had faced or at least based on my observations.

Let us start off with the first challenge, getting a job.

I went into the job market in 1984, right after completing my Diploma in Public Administration. And my first job was as an Asst. Personnel Officer with the then retail giant of Malaysia and Singapore.

That was my first ever job, but to land with the job was no easy affair as I had to face several challenges.

It all started when I saw an advertisement in the local press for that position.

As I felt I had all the minimum requirement for the position, I proceeded to make a visit the office to lodge in my application. At the office, I asked for the application form for the advertised position but to my surprise, the receptionist just simply refused to even give me the application form.

She asked, “What job are you applying for?”. I said, “Asst. Personnel Officer”. She then said, “Oh, that job is only for Chinese. “Didn’t you read the Advertisement”, she added.

I then said ”Yes, I read the advertisement but it didn’t say that only Chinese may apply”. “Where got”, she then said, “See, candidates with Mandarin will have an added advantage”, she added.

I then said “That’s exactly my point, it doesn’t say only Chinese may apply but simply candidates with Mandarin will have an added advantage. To me, anyone can apply for this post but those with Mandarin will have greater chances of getting the job. And based on that I want to apply for the post! And for your information, I do have knowledge of Mandarin, I studied it for three years!”

“Really ah, let me ask my boss” she then said. After a while she came back with an application form. She the said “ Okay, please fill up this application form. My boss will see you after this”

I then filled up the form and at the column asking for “Name in Chinese (Where Applicable”, I wrote my Chinese name as well.

Impressed that I even have a Chinese name, the receptionist just smiled at me and soon after I was called for an immediate interview with the boss.

And believe it or not, the interview was conducted in part English, part Mandarin. Just to test whether this guy really know Mandarin or otherwise.

I answered each questions asked but it came to a point that I simply could not make up what he was saying. So I politely told him that my Mandarin vocabulary is very limited to what I’ve learnt at school, but I do know basic Mandarin. "If you give me a chance of working here, I’m sure I could brush up my Mandarin and be as good as anyone else in the Company", I told him convincingly.

He bought my rationalisation and come about two weeks later, I was called for another interview with five other shortlisted candidates.

All the other four are Chinese and I’m the sole Malay. And I got the job!

So there goes your first challenge, to get a job, a job that was originally beyond your reach due to certain pre-requisites.

And your second challenge is that the fact that employer don’t look at what everyone has but they look at what the extras that you might have.

And these extras might not even be of academic credentials, like me, if they look at my CGPA, even I won’t be employing my own self as there are those with better results than me. But they look at my Mandarin and they really believe that I could blend in comfortably.

Along with the extras, first impression also counts. Therefore, please make sure that the image you want to project is an image that if you’re the employer, you would be attracted to. Self-confidence, ability to articulate and knowledge are some of the attributes that employers would always look at. And the minute the like you, they’ll find every reasons there are to bring you in and vice-versa, they’ll also find every reasons not to bring you in when they have made up their mind of not liking you. So ladies and gentlemen, that’s your next challenge, a challenge to project an image that would have an everlasting effect.

In forming a first impression, you would have to be true to yourself also. Please don’t project false impression as if you do, you would have difficulties in gaining acceptance as your employer would actually brand you as someone who had successfully fooled the organisation into believing something that was not you at all!

The next challenge would be blending in. Each organisation has distinct organisational culture. The retail giant uses Mandarin sparingly, even in meetings. The government departments on the other hand uses Malay, complete with the adoption of Malay culture in the organisation. Everyone are address Encik this, Encik that, Puan this, Puan that, etc etc. And organisations who adopted American culture would address everyone on first name basis, no such thing as Encik this, Encik that, Puan this, Puan that etc. etc.

Though sound really insignificant, but it is indeed a challenge for us to acclimatise especially if one belongs to a totally distinct corporate culture.

I was in the public service for about 6 years, and though young, I was holding a General Manager’s position with a handful of direct reports. Naturally, I have always been addressed as Encik Jasni wherever I go, but when I joined this American linked IT company, my Encik title vanished. No one calls me Encik Jasni anymore, just Jasni. Trust me, it is not easy to adapt initially as you might feel that your “dignity” has been stripped! But once you have fully adopted the culture, whatever feeling you had before would slowly vanish as well.

In other words, you have to be versatile, able to adopt fast and therefore be practical instead of being very idealistic, a trade that is normally true to some students.

I remember when I was a student here, there were groups of students who insists that we can’t do this, we can’t do that, all based on their idealistic beliefs. And worst of all, they want to impose their idealistic beliefs on others who don’t share the same beliefs as them.

This approach in life is, trust me, out of place in the real world as in the real world, everything goes and in managing this you would have to juggle them properly and appropriately.

Board behaviour, for instance, this is for those would be in the secretarial line, is diversed. From a culture of full compliance, complying everything in the Companies Act, Memorandum and Articles of Association, cover to cover, to a culture that totally disregards the rights of other directors and shareholders which gives you another great challenge of executing your role as a Company Secretary.

And in executing your role as a Company Secretary, you must first attain the trust, confidence and respect from the group of people closest to you, the Board of Directors.

The trust, confidence and respect would not come easy. To attain those, you would need to secure some level of maturity hence the reason on why you need to get the so-called experience of between one to three years before being able to practice as a Company Secretary.

So the challenge is whether you can sustain the minimum experience period as if you were to opt to get a job somewhere else that has got nothing to do with Company Secretarial matters, you would then will never be a Company Secretary.

And to secure the mandatory experience requirement, you would have to make yourself available at management companies for instance, doing much of the technicalities of company secretarialship, very much clerical in nature, mundane but necessary. How many of you are willing to take that course, isn’t it easier to use the degree that we have just got as a platform to gain entry to the work market but with no prospect of you ever becoming a Company Secretary.

Being a Company Secretary is a challenge by itself. Not many of us (the public I mean) have a clear understanding over its function. Some takes a Company Secretary simply as a minute taker or someone who endorses his or her signature on certified true copy documents. Hence, the respect that normally accorded to lawyers, accountants, auditors are normally missing from the Company Secretaries.

With some Company Secretaries charging a mere fee of RM50 a month, the respect on that profession is simply going down the drain! There are many secretarial firms with cash flow cycle problems making them behaving like any other Class F Contractor, always chasing for accounts receivables.

Of course, there are exceptions. And the exceptions would on the Company Secretaries engaged by the bigger companies, especially the Public Listed Companies and other GLCs. These are the group of Company Secretaries who earn the most, the norm being at least some RM12,000 a month complete with a company car. But to get there is an uphill task, one must be able to stand the test of time and endurance.

But before you reach that stage, you would have to build up your career and one easiest way would be through Networking. Always keep all the name cards of your friends and new acquaintances. Trust me, you solve half of your job related problems by just making a call to your friends.

Be a socialite, as the circle would also be your pool of clients. To get someone to switch secretaries is not easy but through relationship, everything is possible. The same pool can also be your partner in business as well as you won't be able to sustain a profitable business if you depend on secretarial services solely.

You need tax agents, auditors, accountants or even lawyers in order to provide a comprehensive service normally sought by the public at large.

Continue to improvise the way you do things as your success would much depend on how well you manage your business (like cost cutting) rather than how may clients you accumulate.

Having too may clients is a headache by itself, for one, they are diverse, secondly, whether you have the resources to provide the best service to them.

A lot of these clients expect you to give personalised service, everyone needs attention, and attention is what you have to give to each one of them.

Imagine having to attend meetings after meetings everyday, you will be exhausted like what I am now!

Jasni AJ

Who wants to be .................... my Neighbour?

My neighbour Jimmy had his business base transferred from the Klang Valley to Muar, Johor recently. As it is quite clear that the new base at Muar would in most likelihood be a permanent arrangement, he has decided to let go his house to any interested buyer.

Completed in Year 2000, this 22 x 75 Double Storey Link House, located at Bukit Rimau, Shah Alam, Selangor is now being offered for RM 300k.

The House is moderately renovated and the owner intends to sell the house as it is, meaning by leaving all fixed appliances like the 4 sets of Air-Conditioning units etc. intact.

Bukit Rimau, if you need to know more is currently a fully residential estate, easily accessible through the Shah Alam Expressway (or also known as the Kesas Highway). With an interchange of its own (Interchange 505), the Expressway links motorists to Port Klang at the coastline and to the City of Kuala Lumpur and all those places beyond.
The Chinese Taipei "International" School is also located here. The school caters to the children of Taiwanese community in the Klang Valley.
For Malaysian children, there is this SRK Bukit Rimau, touted to be the "best" primary school in Selangor in terms of infrastructure and amenities.
Pre-schooling kids also have their own top notch kindergartens all over the neighbourhood.

And lastly, Buddhists should be glad to note that it is here in Bukit Rimau, one of the most modern Buddhist Temple is located. A surau is also in the drawing chart and it's construction is due to commence very soon now. For the time being, Muslims in Bukit Rimau are utilising the school's surau for their main religious needs.

For more information on the neighbourhood, please visit here. The township servicing Bukit Rimau is Kota Kemuning. Besides the several parcels of commercial areas, Kota Kemuning is also well known for its lush landscapping and public parks. Visit here to learn more of Kota Kemuning.

Drop me a line if you're interested to secure a landed property here in Bukit Rimau. Alternatively, you can just e-mail your interests to jasnijalil@yahoo.co.uk

One thing for sure, you're not only going to get a value for money landed property, you're going to get the best other asset as well, you're going to have us as your new neighbour. The best neighbour anyone would hope to get. We don't make much noises, we sleep early and every year on a day in the Raya month, we hosts a Hari Raya Open House Reception.

Write in fast, the longer you wait, the slimmer the chance of you getting a piece of its action.

Jasni AJ

From Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok : Tales of Day 6

There were still more of Bangkok yet to be discovered and today we started the day by paying a visit to the the complex of Vimanmek Palaces.

Consisting of various palaces and mansions, previously homes the Thai royalties, these extravagant palaces and mansions are now converted to become the exhibition venues of various antiquities, each mansion specialising on one theme, from collection of the king's personally taken photographs to the king's collection of watches and clocks, firearms, china wares and porcelains, carriages, royal attires etc etc etc.

The grandest of all would be the 90 over rooms of Vimanmek Mansion, once home to King Chulalongkorn of which half of them are now accessible to the public to ogle.

Stepping into the Atana Samakom or The Throne Hall was simply a breathtaking experience. Largely influenced by the Roman architecture, the Throne Hall was definitely a place not to be missed by any visitors to Bangkok.

It is unfortunate that no photographs were allowed to be taken inside the place as all that I depend on now is only the memory of it as what was registered and continue to be registered in the mind solely.
After spending almost half a day at the Vimanmek Complex, we headed next to Thewet Flower Market. The Market, lining up stalls selling flowers and potted plants was a good place to admire the beautiful tropical flowers and plants, all of which were of excellent quality.

The Flower Market was the last in our itinerary for our Bangkok's excursion as later in the day would be time for us to head home. So right after the last meal at another Halal Restaurant around Petchaburi, we then got a taxi to take us the Bangkok's grand new airport Suvarnabhumi Airport.

If this was how the first cab looked like when we started our journey 6 days ago, ...... ... this was how the cab we took to head to the Airport looked like. Noticed the boot that just could not be closed? Why and How, I'm sure you can can figure it yourself!























And our luggage had to be checked-in through a different channel, the Oversize Baggage Check-in Facility instead of the normal checking in at the check-in counter.

Kuala Lumpur was calling, and from this notice, calling for the "last time". Bon Voyage Bangkok, Hello Kuala Lumpur. Till we meet again, the fond memories of Bangkok would definitely be registered in the mind for a long time to come.

For the visitors of the blog, thank you for sharing our experience, I sincerely hope that for those who have never been to Bangkok would have at least seen and felt Bangkok through the reading of the 6 part series of our experience and for those who had been there, I hope your own fond memories of Bangkok would be recollected and relived.

Jasni AJ

From Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok : Tales of Day 5

After experiencing the various modes of transportation from taxis, aircraft, ferry, train, tuk-tuks, "skytrain" and buggy, all within a span of 4 days, today, the Bunch was introduced with another mode of transportation widely being used in the City of Bangkok. And the mode of transportation is none other than the Long Boat.

Though the Long Boat we took was not really kinda public transportation but it is popular among tourists to Bangkok as a river cruise along Menam Chao Pharaya would normally be in the itinerary of any visitors there.

A river cruise is one thing but a visit to the famous "Floating Market" is just another reason for the boat ride.

Like any other tourists, we also had our river cruise along Menam Chao Pharaya and along with that a visit to the "Floating Market".

Venice of the East, that's what some people have called Bangkok as historically the rivers were the highways then. Houses faces the rivers instead of the roads. And now though the roads have almost taken over the then role of the rivers, traces of houses facing the rivers are still pretty much evident in Bangkok, especially along the main Chao Pharaya River.

We were astonished to see the beautiful "jetties" built by each owner of the houses along the rivers. And these beautiful "jetties" are evidence that the rivers are still pretty much in good use as "roads" just like the yesteryears.

We were pretty disappointed on the "Floating Market" as there simply wasn't one. Perhaps due the wrong timing, all we could see were two or three sampans waiting to approach their tourists when the boats got near.

The only sampan that approached us was merely selling bananas, bread and some souvenir items. And the floating trader seemed to be only willing to move away only after we have something from him.

And we got two of bread and a miniature floating sampan from the floating trader.

You might wonder why on earth did we buy two of bread. Well, the bread was not for us but the fishes residencing along the river.

And the fishes were huge, so "gemuk-gemuk" (fat), perhaps due the constant food supply from the tourists.
Our initial programme was to visit The Grand Palace upon berthing at the jetty near it. But our plan changed as the minute we "landed", we were approached by three persons volunteering telling us that the Grand Palace was closed to public at the particular time due to a religious observation taking place within the Grand Palace premise.

Mind you, not one but three, one at the pier, one along the road leading to the Grand Palace and another one at the supposedly entrance of the Grand Palace. All three with the same line of story, that the Grand Palace was closed to public and only to be re-opened at 3.30 p.m.

What choice do we have but to follow along with an idea by the last person to visit to some other interesting location while waiting for the Grand Palace to be re-opened.

So off we went to a supposedly grand shrine that was supposedly opened to the public for free only fo that day. How lucky we were to be there to enjoy a visit the grand shrine for free!

But we were brought there by a Tuk-tuk driver. And as I have told you before, a journey by a tuk-tuk would not be complete without a detour to none other than a "gem jewelry" outlet.

So there we go again, glancing the the precious stones and beautiful jewelries to kill time.
But the tuk-tuk driver kept on insisting to take to more "gem jewelry" outlet! We have had enough and politely asked him to sent us back to the Grand Palace no matter what.

Hesitantly, he WAS suddenly on a rush mode in sending us there. We can't really comprehend it at first but we eventually came to know the actual story once we got into the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace visiting hours was nearing its end. It closes at 3.30 and all that talk about the Palace being closed was simply a BLATANT LIE!

It seems that those people were agents of a syndicate whose main scheme was to divert visitors from visiting the Grand Palace but to other venues where they could get some form of commissions! Yuk! What is this?

We were very lucky to had that Tuk-tuk driver who had a change of heart by sending us there back before 3.30. He sent us at 3.20, just enough time for us to get the admission tickets. In fact, we were the last one who managed to get the admission ticket for the day.

Guided by a "instant" tourist guide for a fee of 500 Baht, we we brought to admire the magnificent Siamese architecture which was simply excellent and would definitely be a sheer pity if we had ever missed the opportunity of gaining entrance into the premise.

Oh what a day it was, glad to have had another picturesque day but at the same time feeling like punching the faces of the ridiculous con men.

Stay tune to the tales of Day 6 coming up next.

Jasni AJ

From Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok : Tales of Day 4

11th March 2008 - Our vacation was getting better and better each day. Today we joined thousands of Bangkokians commutting in their much prided Skytrain.

The Skytrain coaches are surprisingly of top notch quality, in terms of service, infrastructure and facilities. Just look at this picture, see how wide the coach is. It certainly a class above our much bragged about LRT (of both the Kelana Jaya Line and Ampang Line). Come to think about it, it is even better than some of the older lines of London's Tubes.

But just to be fair, Bangkok's Skytrain was just recently introduced in 1999 (more or less at the same time as our Ampang Line) while the first line in London would be 150 years old this year. So I guess the later you get the service, the better it would be as you would get the latest of the latest.

One thing that I liked about this Skytrain is their multiple number of coaches. The coaches are long, as long as our Komuter Lines and with greater frequency, the coaches would not be as packed as both our Komuter Lines or Kelana Jaya Line during peak periods. Well, at least was what I observed, I may be wrong but on that day, a ride in the Skytrain was a breeze ride, both back and fro our destination.

So where did we go to?

Yes, we went to Bangkok's Ancient City, known to the locals as Muang Boran.

A City where a visit there would mean that you have travelled troughout Thailand, from Pattani to Chiengmai, and from the territories bordering Cambodia to the territories bordering Burma.

It's 320 acres in size and shaped along the actual map of Thailand. In other words you would be entering the City through Pattani all the way up to Chiengmai.

And what do you see there?





Hundreds of scuptures. From recognisable images like these elephants of various sizes and postures .....

... to strange and mystical creatures like this part human part snake statue ...

... and to these eeery looking seven headed snakes ...

.... not forgetting the hundreds of Buddha images of every descent postures, from meditating ......

... to sleeping ....


























... to sitting, standing, walking etc etc etc all of which I just could not post them here for fear of consuming to much memory space.

Most amazing was the sight of magnificent reproduction of the hundreds of Thailand's historical structures, buildings, palaces, temples from all over the country, grouped into one city for all to admire.

And to reflect the real Thailand, there is a reproduction of an ancient mosque too on display. A reproduction not only for display but functional too as you are free to perform the solat without any problem.






















You would also be brought back in time of about fifty years once you enter the Old Market Square Enclave. Old Kopitiams, Barber Shop, Grocery Shop and all those that exist 50 years ago were carefully preserved. Entering this Barber Shop for instance would bring you back to the memories of the old Malay films and the experience of reliving in that era was simply tremendous. Imagine being at a place where your grandpa or even your great grandpa could be used to, something that is now extinct in our modern surrounding.

Getting around the huge Ancient City was absolutely not a problem. The management of the city was proactive enough by providing vehicles for rent. This buggy, for instance, was rented for a fee of 300 Baht an hour. But since the City is huge, don't ever dream that you can cover the whole City within an hour. In the most minimum, you would be spending about three hours there, the amount of time we spent there.

Other than buggies, you can also rent bicycles or if you wish, you can always join a guided tour of the City in a tram.
My elder son would be the happiest person when we chose to rent the buggy. After a few metres driving it, he politely asked whether he could get his hands on the steering. His request was duly granted and that day became history to him as the first time he ever drived.

Yes, we did had our scary moments with his driving, but for a first timer, I would admit that he was not bad a driver indeed. I guess it won't be not long now that he would be driving us around town, as I'm sure he would be scrambling to get his driving license once he reach the eligilibity age.

All in all, we were extremely glad that we managed to get our way to the Ancient City. For new visitors to Bangkok, do make it a point to pay it a visit and have a taste of wholesome Thailand. Like us, you won't regret it.

But not to confuse you, you can't actually reach the Ancient City by just taking the Skytrain ride. The Skytrain ride was only probably a third of the journey. The rest of the journey would be by taking a cab from Skytrain's last station On Nut. The taxi fare from On Nut to the Ancient City would be around 250 Baht (according to the meter).

Day 4 ended with a splash in the Hotel's swimming pool, a day well spent and the splash was simply refreshing.

Stay tune to our adventures in Day 5 coming up next.

Jasni AJ

From Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok : Tales of Day 3

10th March 2008 - At long last we arrived at Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Railway Station. Hua Lamphong Railway Station is Bangkok's main station, equivalent to our own KL Sentral, in role that is, as it serves as the station where train services to Thai's eastern, northern and southern territories commences and ends. Bangkok's MRT station also commences from this station, an underground line running for some 20 kilometres that went into operation since 2004.

Though slowly getting modernisation touch, you would not want to disembark from coach initially as you might not believe that you have actually reached the final destination upon seeing the rundown platform with groups of people peeling onions and potatoes there. I hate to say this but the station really looked so "kampung" not befitting the "city" image that we might be used to with. This is especially true when back home anything belongs to the city would normally be given greater attention in its maintenance, appearance etc etc. Just look at KL Sentral and I'm sure you know what I mean.

Right after "touch-down", we immediately hailed a taxi to head to our Hotel, the First Hotel. Well, we did not exactly hail a taxi but rather we had actually followed a taxi tout already there waiting for prospective clients.

There is no coupon system in place there so, it will all depend much on your luck of either getting a taxi driver whot would use the meter (as they should) or those taxi drivers who are cousins to the taxi drivers at KL's Puduraya, Subang Jaya's KTM Station, Subang Jaya's Carrefour and every taxi drivers at Penang, where pre-determined fixed price prevails.

The fare that I had to pay the cab driver (who didn't use the meter) for the short journey from Hua Lamphong to First Hotel at Petchaburi was 150 Baht, approximately about RM15. It's a bit on the high side, but as we were just interested to get to the Hotel fast, to check-in and and to freshen-up that slightly high fare didn't really bother us then.

And it was at the Hotel's Halong Restaurant where we first had our first real meal of the day. We did not take any meal on board the train as when looking at the menu, there were various dishes of "pork" being served, ending up us getting only Milos.

Halong Restaurant on the other hand is a full fledged Halal Restaurant that also caters to Vegetarian dishes making it a favourite among Muslim and Indian visitors.

Our first real tour of Bangkok started right after lunch when we took a cab to Jim Thompson's House, a house once belonged to an American Jim Thompson who fell in love with Thailand and decided to stay there until his mysterious disappearance during a holiday trip at Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.

He was attributed as the person responsible to revive and commercialise Thai's cottage industry, in particular, the silk weaving industry.

The House itself is a reflection of Jim Thompson's appreciation of local arts and culture. Maintained by a foundation that takes care of Thailand's cottage industry, the House is now turned into a museum displaying Jim Thompson's collection of local arts, antiques and handicrafts as well as those from the neighbouring states.

Right after the visit to Jim Thompson's House, our adventure with the Tuk-Tuks began. With cheap fares of between 20 to 30 Bahts, you can get the Tuk-Tuk drivers to take you to everywhere, especially to all the Gem Jewelry and Silk Outlets, willingly or otherwise!

It was fine for the first two days, visiting a number of Gem Jewelry and Silk Outlets, but it proved to be a bit to much to swallow when the Tuk-Tuk drivers kept on insisting to take us to other Gem Jewelry and Silk Outlets whenever you hailed them to transport you elsewhere on the subsequent days.


We were in a dilemma, a dilemma between hailing a taxi who doesn't want to use meters and charge exorbitant fare and hailing tuk-tuks which are cheap but we would have to follow their itinerary first before your own!

And Bangkok has tons of Gem Jewelry and Silk outlets indeed. And these outlets actually incentify these Tuk-tuk drivers with Fuel Coupons whenever they brought in potential clients, hence the reason for the over-zealousness of these Tuk-tuk drivers taking you to these outlets one after the other, until you buy something that is!

And we did get something for ourselves : a Ruby Gold Ring, a Topaz Silver Necklace and a two-piece suit from visiting of about 8 of such outlets all over Bangkok - all thanks to the Tuk-tuk drivers.



















We ended the day by having a taste of Bangkok's hawker food. Though there was no "Halal" sign, the sight of the lady in tudung was halal enough for us to have a bite on the Thai variant of our Roti Canai.

It's very sweet, extremely sweet indeed. Each roti has an egg each, a spoon of sugar and a spoon of condensed milk. So that's Thailand to you, sweet sweet Thailand!

Jasni AJ

From Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok : Tales of Day 2

9th March 2008, the day Malaysia changed. It was also the day when Penang got its first ever King, DYMM King Jasni AJ, installed exactly on his 45th birthday.

What a wishful thinking, but it does not deter me from donning the crown on my birthday and declare myself as the King of Penang for that special day. By sheer co-incidence, it was here in Penang where I was born some 45 years ago (you don't have to be math genius to figure this out as I have told you that it's my 45th birthday!). So basically, I was at the right place and at the right time to celebrate my one and only 45th birthday.

Though I'm just jesting and strictly just for a laugh, I sincerely hope that I have not offended anyone with the self-proclaiming as Penang's new King as from the last time I checked, the state is still without a royal ruler hence there is absolutely no Penang royal family.

And my first royal chore of the day was to pay a visit together with the new royal family to Butterworth Railway Station.

You may ask, why the Railway Station and not the Airport? Well, we were there to board the Thai State Railway's Butterworth - Bangkok Express Service.



Yes, we're getting to Bangkok by train and not by plane! A journey that would only take about 1 and a half hours if taken through a flight from Penang will now be a trip of some 20 hours trekking the padi fields of Kedah and Perlis as well as those in southern territories of Thailand and all the way up to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.

It was also a sentimental trip as I had taken the same train before, some 18 years ago, for my first ever visit to Bangkok with a bunch of friends, all of whom were OKUs of the Armed Forces.

So basically, as this visit to Bangkok would be the first ever visit there by the rest of my family members, I thought it would be nice to relive the excitement and experience I once had when taking the train trip to Bangkok then.

The fare was not cheap, that's if you're wondering, as it would cost more or less the same if you're to take an Airasia flight to Bangkok (provided that you can get the zero fare promotional tickets, that is).

If you're still wondering, well the fare is approximately RM100 for each passengers one way. Not cheap right, for a train ride, but it does have its own charm that would be registered in your mind for a long long time.

And the coach was not bad too. Fully air-conditioned, it was two seats facing each other with a table in between to allow us to play chess and scrabbles as as for having meals, each seat for a passenger. A seat that could comfortably seat two passengers.

Come evening, the seating arrangement changed when the personnel in charge start converting the seats to sleeping berths. One lower and one upper making them simply just comfy for a nice and good night sleep.



But something went amiss, something very wrong that had made me thinking that I had made a grave mistake by choosing to take the train ride instead of a flight.

These two pictures tell everything. Yes, you might be thinking that these two pictures were taken from the third class coaches where there would be standing passengers, passengers without assigned seats.

But the sad truth is that these two pictures were taken from the same "comfy" coaches I was bragging about just a couple of paragraphs ago.

It seemed that KTM finds it justifiable to load in passengers indiscriminately right from Bukit Mertajam station all the way up to Arau station, a journey of some two hours!

That two hours was simply beyond my comprehension as we were forced to be part of KTM's scheme of "profiteering", taking in passengers in a supposedly express service by turning the the second class assigned seated express coach into a third class free to all commuter service, much to the annoyance of other "paying" passengers. I say "paying" as I doubt whether all of these "tumpang" passengers were all paying passengers as well as no ticket inspector came over to check the tickets! In fact, we could have taken a free train ride from Butterworth to Padang Besar without anyone knowing as nobody seemed to be checking the tickets until we got into Thailand! Interesting isn't it?

But the Bukit Mertajam to Arau train ride was simply a letdown. An experience that will go down in the memories of all the other "paying" passengers of whom were mostly foreign tourists, a bad reflection of how KTM render its services.

I was dumbfounded, the coach were so full, packed to brim, especially for the journey from Sungai Petani to Arau. I can't even see my children sitting on the other side of the passageway and had to be on the look out every five minutes of so just to see that they were not harmed by anyone!

Fortunately the coach reverted to its actual status once it entered into Thailand territory and remained its status quo all the way to Bangkok. Thank god we were in Thailand!

And that's the end of our Day 2 of our family vacation to Bangkok, Thailand. Stay tune for tales of Day 3 tomorrow.

Jasni AJ