Intro

If you’re Spongebob Squarepants who hurries to your Krusty Krab restaurant extra early every morning, happily singing “I’m ready, I’m ready,” then you’ll be wondering why you came to this blog.

Hello I’m Luke, Malaysian, a professional bummer after 20 years of gainful employment. Yeah work can be a bitch when your mind is anywhere but at work. Been there done that, as an employee and as a tight-fisted boss.

Well ain’t life a bitch. I bet given half the chance, most of us would rather sleep through the morning and party all night long 5 days a week. But we owe, we owe, so off to work we go. If we have to put up with this necessary evil, then I reckon we deserve a place to rant. I mean minus the alcohol.

So why Malaysia? (Actually Singapore, my other place of work, applies too.) Because where else in the world do you find yourself among truly diverse ethnic colleagues - Chinese, Malay, Indian, native Bornean and the occasional Kwai Loh (white man) under the same roof, all trying to out-jostle each other, all sharing the same fine curse words. We’re truly Asia, heh. But is that the only thing that makes us unique? Try this: kiasuism, saving face, office feng shui, labor laws that make it virtually impossible to fire anyone, and my favorite... the Chinaman company syndrome.

One thing. I agree with Marie McIntyre when she said office politics is like having sex. Everybody does it but nobody is comfortable describing exactly what they do, although we gleefully talk what other people might be doing. Typically for us, its they who are “playing politics”. They are sucking up, scheming, and manipulating, but we… why we are building relationships, developing strategies, establishing dialogue. Sound familiar?

So there we are. Why not call a spade a spade. Amidst all the blatant self-promotion and devious plotting, I try to look at the issue from both sides. Maybe there’s something there. Or maybe not. With a little bit of thought and role play, you just never know what you might find.

Luke