Its almost coming to end of 2010. It has been a roller coaster year for my career. Peak of it was the process of my departure from my previous employer.
It has been a wonderful 4 and 1/2 years for this company. Though it may have been my first job after graduation, it has taught me a lot of valuable lessons and showed me an important part of the corporate world. Through the ups and downs faced during that time, it taught me to learn from experience, share my knowledge, set goals and importantly push myself and others to achieve goals.
My next career will be an interesting and challenging one. My dad has asked me to help out with his business. Having rejected him for 4 long years I felt that it was time to see how I can contribute.
My family's business deals with with construction; and yet I graduated from the field of Electrical and Electronics. Not quite a match up in expertise I should say. My ultimate goal would be to still make something of myself in the electronics sector. But for now, I would use whatever knowledge I know to help my family's business.
Through the 4 plus years that I have worked in the MNC, I learned something that is very valuable. 'Know what you plan to do. Plan what you want to do. Look in detail of your plan. Always have a back up plan.' These few lines has stuck with me in my job, especially in the final 2 years. They propelled me to think harder, plan further, study deeper and push my limits higher. It has helped me deliver respectable work for my employer and at the same time benefits my colleagues around me. It is a philosophy that works well. However, it seems that when it comes to family businesses, things aren't so clear anymore.
To be frank, I have no clue what lies ahead of me in this business of construction. I do not know the work required or the process of getting work done. But it seems like in the depths of such unknowns lies the beauty of doing business itself. The spirit of taking risks. But I am sort of person that prefers to take calculated risks, know the steps to take, plan the future ahead and head towards it.
And somehow, family businesses aren't so clear and I can say that they do not know what they want to do (besides making money).
However, I am going to see what the world ahead awaits me. Putting my philosophy into action in my new career and see what it takes me.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Chicken Rice Recipe
As promised, this will be a start to exciting food journeys to come. To kick start, I have decided to make something that I love to eat; and not too taxing to make as well.
Chicken Rice Recipe
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
Finely chopped garlic
Thin strips of ginger
2-3 pandan leaves
(5-6 persons)
The first step to most cooking (personally) is to select the best ingredients. Best does not mean the most expensive but means they are fresh and well-prepared. In chicken rice, the chicken would of course be the star of the dish. It is important that you select a chicken that you like to eat. Some prefer Kampong chicken, some Sakura chicken, some Halal chicken, some prefer fresh chicken. It’s a matter of preference; but an advice would be to choose whole chicken and not get chicken parts. The taste is just somehow different to me.
Once you bought the chicken and other ingredients, it preparation time.
1. Wash the chicken. Cut away the excess fats and head and feet. Remember to wash the inner of the chicken and remove the unwanted stuff. (The fats may be used as an extra ingredient for the rice but if you are health cautious then it can be omitted. Remember to cut the fats into very small pieces.)
2. Use 2-3 small cloves of garlic and chop them up fine.
3. Cut 7-8 thin strips of ginger
4. Get 2-3 pandan leaves and wash them thoroughly
Firstly, get a soup pot that would be able to fit the whole chicken and fill the pot with water. The water should be at a level where it could cover the chicken when its placed in the pot. Bring the water to a boil (you can add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of cooking oil into the pot). Put the chicken into the pot once the water is boiling; then turn the flame down to moderate low and put the lid on. Cook for 20-25min.
Thereafter, take the chicken out of the pot and put it on a plate and rub some salt around the whole chicken (not too much; just a little will do); wait for it to cool. (Do NOT throw the chicken soup away.) In the meantime while the chicken is cooling down, you can prepare the rice.
For the rice, you can use 3-4 cups of rice. Wash the rice once to rid it of impurities.
After that, take a wok or a saucepan and put it over a small flame. Put some sesame oil (about 2 tablespoons) into the wok and let it heat up. It should take less than 20 seconds. Put the garlic into the wok and stir fry the garlic to expose the flavor, then add the ginger slices and stir it evenly. If you are using the chicken fats, you can add it in as well. Reduce the flame to a very small one and stir the mix evenly for 30 seconds or so. You know you are done when you can smell the various flavors.
Pour the mixture into the rice and mix the rice evenly. Tie the pandan leave into knot and place it into the rice pot as well.
If you look back at the chicken soup, you would notice that the is quite some oil floating on the top of the pot. Use a soup ladle and gently scoop the oil together with the soup and pour it into the rice pot. Try to remove as much oil as possible from the soup for the rice. This makes the rice flavorful with the chicken soup as a base for the rice. Use your own measure of soup for the rice as you would when cooking rice normally. **Note: If the soup is still hot, do not cook the rice immediately. Let the rice pot mixture cool down a bit before cooking.)
We are pretty much done. Now all that is left is to cut the chicken and serve it up on a large plate. My preference is to have my chicken rice meal with a dash of light soya sauce + sesame oil mix and superior dark soya sauce. I am not a big chicken rice chilli fan, hence I don’t know the recipe for the chilli. (Consult my mom if you want to know. :P)
Chicken Rice Recipe
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
Finely chopped garlic
Thin strips of ginger
2-3 pandan leaves
(5-6 persons)
The first step to most cooking (personally) is to select the best ingredients. Best does not mean the most expensive but means they are fresh and well-prepared. In chicken rice, the chicken would of course be the star of the dish. It is important that you select a chicken that you like to eat. Some prefer Kampong chicken, some Sakura chicken, some Halal chicken, some prefer fresh chicken. It’s a matter of preference; but an advice would be to choose whole chicken and not get chicken parts. The taste is just somehow different to me.
Once you bought the chicken and other ingredients, it preparation time.
1. Wash the chicken. Cut away the excess fats and head and feet. Remember to wash the inner of the chicken and remove the unwanted stuff. (The fats may be used as an extra ingredient for the rice but if you are health cautious then it can be omitted. Remember to cut the fats into very small pieces.)
2. Use 2-3 small cloves of garlic and chop them up fine.
3. Cut 7-8 thin strips of ginger
4. Get 2-3 pandan leaves and wash them thoroughly
Firstly, get a soup pot that would be able to fit the whole chicken and fill the pot with water. The water should be at a level where it could cover the chicken when its placed in the pot. Bring the water to a boil (you can add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of cooking oil into the pot). Put the chicken into the pot once the water is boiling; then turn the flame down to moderate low and put the lid on. Cook for 20-25min.
Thereafter, take the chicken out of the pot and put it on a plate and rub some salt around the whole chicken (not too much; just a little will do); wait for it to cool. (Do NOT throw the chicken soup away.) In the meantime while the chicken is cooling down, you can prepare the rice.
For the rice, you can use 3-4 cups of rice. Wash the rice once to rid it of impurities.
After that, take a wok or a saucepan and put it over a small flame. Put some sesame oil (about 2 tablespoons) into the wok and let it heat up. It should take less than 20 seconds. Put the garlic into the wok and stir fry the garlic to expose the flavor, then add the ginger slices and stir it evenly. If you are using the chicken fats, you can add it in as well. Reduce the flame to a very small one and stir the mix evenly for 30 seconds or so. You know you are done when you can smell the various flavors.
Pour the mixture into the rice and mix the rice evenly. Tie the pandan leave into knot and place it into the rice pot as well.
If you look back at the chicken soup, you would notice that the is quite some oil floating on the top of the pot. Use a soup ladle and gently scoop the oil together with the soup and pour it into the rice pot. Try to remove as much oil as possible from the soup for the rice. This makes the rice flavorful with the chicken soup as a base for the rice. Use your own measure of soup for the rice as you would when cooking rice normally. **Note: If the soup is still hot, do not cook the rice immediately. Let the rice pot mixture cool down a bit before cooking.)
We are pretty much done. Now all that is left is to cut the chicken and serve it up on a large plate. My preference is to have my chicken rice meal with a dash of light soya sauce + sesame oil mix and superior dark soya sauce. I am not a big chicken rice chilli fan, hence I don’t know the recipe for the chilli. (Consult my mom if you want to know. :P)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Change is good. The way it changes is more important.
Time waits for no one.
Its almost approaching a year into my 2 role stint with my current company. It has been an enriching yet eye-opening year for me.
Handling 2 department is certainly challenging both mentally and physically. It has made me learned that things may not always go the way you want it; and sometimes even well-laid plans can play out with a turn to the cynical.
Management is just one word. However, when you put the management word into a company, the whole ballgame changes. So many factors contribute to the way management applies to running of a company, e.g. business climate, talent, structure, etc. Lets face it, it is not easy.
But knowing that managing a company is not easy, it should propel leaders to grab the bull by its horns and tame the wild beast. The key here is that if one leader is not able to tame the beast by himself, he could and should influence the environment around him to conquer the beast through team effort. On paper, at least, this sounds like an easy task to do, i.e. select the right talent, delegate to bright managers, implement the right structure and model, etc. In the real world, its easier said that its done.
But even with the right people, the right attitude, the best of business climates, things can still go wrong. Can we handle all possible scenarios? I do not believe so. But can we manage a company in a way to be versatile in handling unforeseen scenarios? I firmly believe that it can be done.
How to achieve so? I guess no leader or manager can give you a straight answer on the 'sure-win' low level implementations. It depends on so many factors. But having the foresight to see that a company requires to have the versatility to handle unforeseen circumstances (even within the company itself) would make the leader make better decisions.
My goal is to be able to be able to achieve such foresight with a good management attitude to lead my future to a brighter tomorrow.
Its almost approaching a year into my 2 role stint with my current company. It has been an enriching yet eye-opening year for me.
Handling 2 department is certainly challenging both mentally and physically. It has made me learned that things may not always go the way you want it; and sometimes even well-laid plans can play out with a turn to the cynical.
Management is just one word. However, when you put the management word into a company, the whole ballgame changes. So many factors contribute to the way management applies to running of a company, e.g. business climate, talent, structure, etc. Lets face it, it is not easy.
But knowing that managing a company is not easy, it should propel leaders to grab the bull by its horns and tame the wild beast. The key here is that if one leader is not able to tame the beast by himself, he could and should influence the environment around him to conquer the beast through team effort. On paper, at least, this sounds like an easy task to do, i.e. select the right talent, delegate to bright managers, implement the right structure and model, etc. In the real world, its easier said that its done.
But even with the right people, the right attitude, the best of business climates, things can still go wrong. Can we handle all possible scenarios? I do not believe so. But can we manage a company in a way to be versatile in handling unforeseen scenarios? I firmly believe that it can be done.
How to achieve so? I guess no leader or manager can give you a straight answer on the 'sure-win' low level implementations. It depends on so many factors. But having the foresight to see that a company requires to have the versatility to handle unforeseen circumstances (even within the company itself) would make the leader make better decisions.
My goal is to be able to be able to achieve such foresight with a good management attitude to lead my future to a brighter tomorrow.
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