The LAB That Change Mie

I had difficulties to update my blog since last week. Firstly, my "moving forward" mission means I had to go to war with many "people" and I did not expect to be selected for the Property Development Lab under PEMANDU (lead by Dato' Idris Jala) beginning 1March 2010. Secondly, the WIFI in PICC and MAXIS Broadband coverage around Putrajaya and Seri Kembangan was slow. So getting even a web page load took centuries (lebih-lebih lah pulak).

Just as an introduction, the LAB was organised by PEMANDU after it was revealed in Doing Business Report 2010 by the World Bank Group that Malaysia rank at 109 out of 183 countries in Dealing with Construction Permits, a drop from ranking 105 in 2009. Hong Kong and Singapore took up the no 1 and 2 spot respectively. So the "experts", the industry players and representatives from various related agencies were called to study and find solutions to the problems, plus what the Government should do to improve the rankings.

I will not elaborate on what are my roles and functions in the Lab as many still do not understand what "THE LAB" is all about or want to know how I do my work. But the from the bottom of my heart, I thank God the Almighty for this chance. The Lab not only open up my mind on my career building but whatever "uncertainties" I had over my decisions and "the attachment" feelings that I still had for my current position in the Ministry of Housing and Local Government completely vanish!

At first I offered to pull out from the Lab after finding out that what the Lab wanted to achieve contradict with what I can contribute from my field of expertise. But after 4 days into the Lab, I could see why my participation as well as my team members are vital. Our team approach are more on seeing and doing things differently and from another perspectives. So facilitators tend to like our ideas as it is in line with PEMANDU objectives pun. But of courselah ... other teams will not give up their ideas without an "intellectual fight".

That was when I realised no matter how good I am in my current job, my area of expertise is just peanut compared to the land experts, building experts, health and safety experts and of course lah industry players. My knowledge in those fields is piecemeal here and there. In fact I could not be considered "property expert" yet despite 8 years dealing with various housing issues. Sedih kan ... 8 years of commitment rupa-rupanya peanut sahaja ... Satu je lah my consolation ... when it come to consumerism, housing law or property business practice... semua pandang kat I.

The LAB also ignite my interest to further my studies in property development ... in particular "Redevelopment" and maintenance/restoration of historical or heritage buildings. In fact, one particular person ignite it so much that I am considering to extend the plan until PHD .... huhuhuhu. Boleh kata lah ... I am seeing the future Semin and Meli in this person. Funny, I am also seeing Norzah in this person. Perhaps because sama-sama ex-KSU and ada PHD kot hehehe ... BTW that person is Professor Datuk Dr Nik Mohd Zain Bin Nik Yusof, ex-KSU NRE.

I memang respect lah when he could identify, recite and explain provisions in the National Land Code dengan ketepatan yang luar biasa. Even the number of provisions in the Housing Development Act 1966 is only 1/50 of the NLC. Terbuka jugaklah mata dan pintu hati "akak" untuk terus belajar and memperbaiki diri. Anyway, learning is a lifelong process.

BTW, my "Googling" found quite a number of senior and high ranking civil servants "dulu-dulu" have PHD. Sekarang mcm lebih ramai yang ada PJK, PPJ,PPM hehehe