Life Of A Typical Malay - July 2000
Saturday 1/7
To Puchong Jaya at 3-00 pm to pick Dominic up, drove to Pantai Hillpark to have a look at the project site. Not so huge as what I had imagined. I have yet to decide whether to just rent a condo unit there at Phase 2 or to commute daily from Shah Alam. I know it's going to kill me, driving back and forth to Shah Alam.
Works starts at 8-00 am and will not finish until 6-00 pm, then I will have to endure heavy traffic to drive to Subang Jaya. Exchanges open at 9-15 pm but I have to be there at least half an hour earlier, just to check news and reports etc. And I don't think I will stay until closing time (1-35 am during winter season, 2-35 am during summer), I need to have some sleep. Or maybe I'll just take a nap at the office, anything can happen especially during this frost season in Brazil. Besides, other Traders need my help, sometimes the connection is not good so we rely on
bridgechannel to get latest info, data etc.
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Traffic was heavy (as usual on a Saturday) with a few roads leading to Merdeka Square and jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman were closed for traffic. So we decided to go to Sungai Wang Plaza. Parked the car at the back of Menara Genesis and we just walked through the back lane of Fortuna Hotel. And there were a few police officers chatting away at the end of the narrow street. Suddenly they stopped us and asked for our IDs and licenses. What puzzled us the most, they took down our details (address, ID # etc). But why? I asked one of them. No, not to worry, just to show our Superiors that we are doing our job. he replied.
Mike, I know this is a notorious area but do we look like pimps?
Maybe they think we both are gays.
We just laughed.
After spending about an hour at the plaza ( I bought a few magazines) we left for Teater Eksperimen for the 8-30 pm show of Merchant Of Venice. The play was quite heavy, we did not really understand the storyline but the setting was so damn good. Paula Malai Ali, Patrick Teoh, Jit Murad, Iskandar Najmuddin and a few new faces gave a splendid performance.
The play did not last until about midnight, it was already 1-30 am by the time I reached Shah Alam.
Sunday 2/7
I spent almost the whole day on the internet today, tomorrow onwards I'll be a busy man.
Monday
Heck, it was so damn difficult to bring myself to sleep last night. Was in bed at 10-30 pm and at 1-00 I was still awake, staring at the ceiling and pleading with God to let me sleep. I wanted to watch Euro 2000 (live between Italy and France) but I needed some sleep.
My alarm clock woke me up at 5-30 am, and by 6-15 am I was already
driving on Federal Highway which was, surprisingly, not too heavy with traffic.
Had breakfast at Pantai Halt, about a stone throw away from the project site. Waited for the Project Coordinator (Mr Kong) for almost 2 hours, and there was no one at the site office. Heck, what time do they start work?
We had a small meeting at the Contractor's conference room.
"First impression lasts, but this whole thing doesn't look too good
to me" I said that to the other staff.
There are 6 supervisors (Mechanical, Electrical and Civil & Structural)
to assist me, one of them is, as what the manegement warned me earlier on,
a bit difficult to handle.
That's the purpose of having you here, the project is in dire need of a Resident Engineer. answered Mr Kong.
But there's no computer here, no telephone
extensions to our office blah blah blah.
Made a quick tour to Block A & B until about 2-00 pm, then drove off to Pantai Dalam
Mosque for Zohor. Had lunch at one of the many stalls along Jalan Kerinchi.
Did 2 site inspections (Block B) in the evening,
steel reinforcements to staircases No 6 on 4th floor and part of floor slab
(10th level...or, was it floor 7?, oh, I'm confused now...heh..).
Left at 8-00 pm, concreting works which started at 5-00 pm was scheduled to complete by 5-00 am.
Tuesday 4/7
Reached Pantai Hillpark at 7-00 am, parked my car within Pantai Dalam mosque area and managed to get a few minutes sleep. Wonderful. Then went for breakfast at one nice little stall not far from the office.
We had a Site Meeting at 9-30 am, attended by a few Consultants, the Contractor,
Architect and Client's representatives. Lasted for just over an hour.
Spoke to Mr Kong (he's a General Manager, not a Project Coordinator
by the way) and the Architect. after the meeting.
He asked me about the a-bit-difficult-to-handle
Clerk-of-Work in which I relpied, "Look, with or without us,
the project will be completed, maybe way ahead of schedule.
But that's not the point. I have the feeling the Contractors have
been doing their works with a very minimal supervision from our side.
Yesterday for example, he (the C-o-W) promised me
to be here at 5-00 pm to supervise concreting works
(Block B, 10 th floor) but he did not turn up.
He can cheat the company, but he can't cheat me. No.
Look Zainal, the project is all yours now, just observe him and we will not hesitate to have him removed from the site if that helps.
No, I don't want you to do that, we have a project to complete, what I will do now is to get really involved with that Block and I will slowly take over. The same applies to the other block, I know it's going to be a mammoth task but that's my responsibilities"
That's a very good idea, you have to initiate something, main thing is, let them follow your system. This is your baby now by the way.
My baby? Oh please, my baby is worth RM 9000-00.
Had another meeting with the Contractor (and their sub-contractors)
at 2-00 pm, I chaired the discussion.
Briefed them on my system, rock on baby!...*lol*...well,
just to get to know them better, to see how their system goes,
their procedures etc. I stressed a lot on safety and health issues,
issues that I don't really like to deal with. I made it a point to
have biweekly meeting to discuss these 2 sensitive issues.
Left at 6-30 pm, reached Shah Alam just about Maghrib, took a shower, logged on the internet and went out for dinner at 9-30 pm. In bed by 10-30 pm.
Wednesday 5/7
The MD asked me to attend a meeting with top guns from DBKL, Bomba and a few other local authorities. They discussed on items like issuance of temporary certificate of fitness (CF) to 160 link houses at Phase 1 (my project is at Phase 2)
because the squatters that are now occupying long houses on government land need to be relocated as soon as possible, there's a big construction project going on at the settlement now and the developer/contractor have been complaining to the City Hall. Not much surprise, the company "belongs" to Tun Daim, the Minister of Finance.
Left for lunch a bit early today, at 12 noon, instead of
going for lunch I drove to the mosque trying to have a quick nap but I just could not force myself to sleep. Stayed there until Zohor and then had a quick lunch.
Afternoon was a bit busy, site valuation with the Quantity
Surveyors and site inspection to Block A (10th floor, zone B).
They are going to do concreting works tonight (it will last until 5 am at least),
I'm thinking of
dropping by (after trading hours) just to see if the C-o-W turns up tonight.
I doubt it though. It all depends, I still have to be in Shah
Alam after trading, I need to have reports etc printed. That means I have to drive to KL around 4 or 5 in the morning to catch a few hours sleep.
Wherever I park my car, that's my home....
Thursday 6/7
It's only 11-30 am but I'm already feeling like a zombie, hope I don't look like one...heh...
Last night was okay, left the site at 6-15 pm and said my Asar at
Kampong Kerinchi mosque, even took a shower there.
I have to make sure I'll give monthly donation to the mosque. Traffic along Federal Highway was not too heavy but driving to USJ was hell, took me almost an hour to get from SS15 to Taipan.
Office was still closed when I arrived, went to one bakery shop
across the road . Had tuna sandwich for dinner.
Market played within a very tight range, it gapped lower but closed higher than the
previous session. There was this news about polar air mass of
1030 milibar approaching coffee areas in about 10 days.
A bit too early to tell whether this air mass will bring/cause
frost or not. INMET report showed that the pressure will weaken
somehow and chances of frost is almost zero.
I could have left early but I choosed to stay until closing time.
It was a bit quiet, Halim was not there last night, Abang Wan, Kak Anis, Din and Yati
left at about midnight.
Reached home at 2-00 am, packed my things and about 10 minutes later left for KL, driving very slowly indeed. Damn it, I was tired, sleepy and exhausted.
Concreting works was still progressing at 3-00 am but I did not go up to 10th floor. Because I didn't want to surprise them, I merely honked - the guard was a bit puzzled to see me there.
And I'm not telling where I "parked" my car last night/this morning....
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I think 3 rounds of daily site inspections are more than enough,
I can just stay at the office doing some paper works but that's not
my style.
.....well, I'll continue tomorrow, my "today" doesn't end yet...
Friday 7/7
Left a bit early yesterday, 5-45 pm, reached Shah Alam about an hour later.
Wanted to have a quick nap but I just couldn't force myself to sleep.
So I logged on to the internet - LIFFE London gapped lower
and moved in negative territory the whole morning session.
Apparently, that news about polar air mass was dismissed by traders as
a bit too premature. That same news (arrival of polar air mass) was the reason why prices
in London, New York and Tokyo closed marginally higer on Wednesday.
Had dinner at En Ngah's Delapan Cafe, ordered chicken soup and a glass of iced-tea.
As expected, New York CSCE opened lower by 0.70 point
and within just about an hour it tumbled to a new active-contract low of 85.25.
It retraced a bit but the strength just wasn't there. We decided to leave early, Bob and Halim were not there, not much fun. Kak Siti was a bit too worried, told her to be more patience and don't just enter positions when there's no clear indication of price movement.
But we have to keep track of latest informations and news, this coffee market tends to swing violently during this winter season. No frost means price will keep dripping but a mention of frost possibility will spike up the charts. As I see it, there's no possibility of frost within the next 6 to 10
days.
Since it was only 12-30 am, I decided to spend the night in Shah Alam,
went straight to bed and didn't wake up until 6-30 am. Gosh, I thought
I would be late but managed to be at the office by 8-45 am.
Zuraimi (one of my C-o-Ws) dropped by and we chatted quite a bit,
he's now taking care of Phase 1a.
Did one round of site inspection in the morning, spent most of the time at Block B.
I was about to climb Level 11 when I saw a few workers dismantling and
striking off formworks and props to slab and beams of Level 10 without leaving any
supports to the structure which was casted only last Monday night.
According to contract, props and scaffolding have to be left for
10 days (beams) and 14 days (slab) respectively. I usually allow props
to be taken out after 7 or 8 days (when the structure has already "matured" ) but 3 days?
Rushed down to the office and caught him, the (Contractor)
Project Manager having drinks at the canteen with a few other supervisors. Good opportunity
for me. They tried to "bargain" , I said, with a slightly-raised voice, prop the structure back,
just get it done. Now! and left. Prepared a memo and carbon copied to other Consultants, and to their head office too.
About lunch time, the Project Manager and his trade-supervisor (carpenter) came to my office inviting me to have lunch with them outside, at "some nice restaurant". Thanks, but I have to go for Friday Prayer.
Nak bodek aku lah tu....
I noticed the other supervisors tried to avoid seeing and talking to me this afternoon, maybe because of that incident. Lantaklah, asalkan aku tak jentik telor bapak diaorang dah...heh...
It's too early to tell whether I got my message accross, this
contractor is a very typical china-man contractor, they need
someone to kick them from the back. That's what I'm here for,
to protect the company's name (Developer). I promise I'll do
my level best.
Evening was spent doing another inspection, both Block A and B.
I didn't feel that comfortable with so many eyes watching
my every move. Drattttsssss!!!
later...
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Left for Shah Alam at 5-15 pm and it took me just under 50 minutes to reach home. Managed to get about an hour of much-needed sleep. Only logged on to the internet at 7-30 pm, just to check on London LIFFE before leaving for work.
Teoh (the Consultant and part-owner of the brokerage house) called for a meeting at 9-30 pm, it appears he's having some problems with Zainal S and Hashim. We just listened to his side of the story and wanted his assurance that our accounts will be protected. I have the feelings something will happen in the next few weeks, it's either we have to move to another brokerage house he's going to set up or we keep on trading at USJ under new management.
Coffee plunged again making new contract low, 82.55 point, lowest in 6 years. London LIFFE recorded 7-year low at USD 808.00/MT basis September contract. With bearish
fundementals and technicals, coffee looks like a sick puppy.
Saturday 8/7
Made a lengthy site inspection at Block A this morning, infact it was my only inspection for the day.
Halim called up at 11-30 am asking me to wait for him at Putra World Trade Center for Pikom PC Fair 2000. Drove to Pantai Dalam commuter train station at 12 noon and caught the 12-15 pm train to Putra Station. Bob arrived about half and hour later. We (the 3 of us)
had nice lunch at Riverside Restaurant,
PWTC and spent about an hour there. The next 2 hours
saw us visiting almost every booth at the computer fair, we did not
buy anything, merely collecting quotes and brochures. It was almost
impossible to spend more than 5 minutes looking at various pc
products being displayed without being pushed by the crowds.
Anyway, it was an enjoyable afternoon, I really like being with theses 2 guys, Halim and Bob.
Halim gave me a lift to Pantai Dalam Station, showed him the short-cut to getting to Federal Highway without going thru' always-heavy-with-traffic Jalan Lembah Pantai.
Evening was spent surfing the net, watched TV3 Buletin Utama and there was a snippet about snow falling in some parts of Argentina. I quickly checked some weather sites to confirm the news. Wow. Why not Brazil?....
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