Si Beri Hitam

Close eyes, open eyes (pejam celik, pejam celik) ... we are almost a week into the fasting month of Ramadan. Before we know it ... it will be Eid-Fitr. Unfortunately, I could not observe the fasting month properly with my dearest Muslim friends yet ... due to "circumstances" (wink wink). I am sure some "people" (you know who you are) might be raising the Japanese flag too ...

Anyway, I met some Penang bloggers last week discussing about a BIG project. As we were chatting and throwing out ideas for the project, they nicely pointed out that maybe I should update my blog too ... At least not to be left out from the "mainstream" hehehe. And it bugged me for days ... tu lah pandai-pandai mengaku blogger and siap bagi blog address lagi. Without realising that ideas don't come easily these days.

My schedule this past three weeks had been quite hectic again with the Goodwill Games in Narathiwat (27-29 July) followed by launching 1Malaysia Green,1Malaysia Clean Campaign in Penang on 7th August. Anyway, I am not going to talk about my works ... in fact I feel like telling the world about my Beri Hitam ... my Knight in Shining Armour.

To be honest, I was torn between an Iphone and a Blackberry a few months back. On "love at first sight basis", my heart belongs to Iphone (sampai termimpi2 lagi) but after I got the transfer news ... everyone in MOTOUR told me to get a Blackberry, which was totally unknown (and least appealing) to me. Being "Mie", whenever I am going to buy something I considered expensive I must ensure that I got the benefit to MAX. Something I picked up when working with Eddie Wee (now Howarth Eddie Wee).

I recalled the time when I "curi" our lab time checking reviews on Blackberry and Iphone with William (NRE). And how Encik Ghani of Jabatan Bomba tried to influence us to buy Blackberry instead of Iphone. He said that we will be at par with Dato' Idris Jala and President Barrack Obama if we own a Blackberry. The funny part is, after both William and I got our Blackberry we found out that Encik Ghani "rupa-rupa"nya never used most of the functions that he told us .. hehehe.

Dato' Idris mentioned in one of our lab session that he did most of his business on his Blackberry. I didn't quite understand then as most of the time I used it to check my Facebook, sms, receiving and making calls, check my emails and messaging on Blackberry Messenger (BBM) like any modern handphones. Until last month, on my way to Narathiwat ... somewhere between Grik and Jeli.

One of my staff stumble upon an article on a local Chinese paper on the "controversial arches". Wondering whether our KL Office picked up the news in the Central Region Edition I send a BBM message to our PRO. As expected the article was only published in the Northern Region Edition, but based on the translation provided by my staff ... damaging enough to create another sensation. Our PRO requested a scan copy of the article to be sent to them immediately.

For a moment, I was a bit stunned by the request as I already told her that I was on my way to Narathiwat. And we will only reached Kelantan Office in another 4 hours. Another problem was I brought the only person that can read Chinese with me on the trip. Then it was that very moment I remembered my Knight in Shining Armour ... I captured the photo of the article and MMS it to her.

Then I typed the translation of the article and emailed it to all of my bosses, which was a real challenge as the QWERTY keypad was tiny, on a moving bus and with data transmission coverage like CHIPSMORE. And as if God was testing me (or my Blackberry), there was another internal big issue going on in my office and require my decisions. Throughout the journey up until Golok ... I was hooked to my Blackberry. I had to give orders to my office, by call and sms. Discussing on crisis management with PRO and gossiping with friends on BBM. Checking and answering some important emails with my bosses and staff.

In short, I did all my work on this small gadget including managing my office affairs. By the time I reached Narathiwat ... everything settled! But what I am most satisfied about the phone was, despite the heavy usage ... the battery life was great!

Last but not least, I was not paid by Vodafone for this entry.