Friday Aug 30, 2013
I visited Khin Khin
Employment agency at
3 pm as I am off
work during the
weekday afternoons
and wanted to help
organise her
management of this
business which was
not my cup of tea. I
have no share in
this business but it
has many management
lessons for my
veterinary practice.
.
"No internet
connections," Khin
Khin complained.
"Singtel pushes us
to contact the modem
maker who passes the
buck to Singtel!"
She needed the
internet to connect
with the Ministry Of
Manpower to submit
forms for job
applicant. Owing to
her persistence and
aggressiveness, the
Singtel girl phoned
back and said they
would send somebody
the next day.
This was a problem
as she could not
wait. I had a little
knowledge of modem.
I advised "switch
off and on" for the
modem or "reset".
My advise was
useless. Her
manager put a pen
into the "reset"
point but there was
no effect. The "red"
light still
remained. "It should
be green if the
modem is working,"
he said to me. So,
nothing could be
done.
"Check the network
connections," I
said.
"Done. No use." the
manager said. He
liked to tell me he
is a computer
graduate from
Myanmar and he does
know much more about
setting up websites
than me.
"Try again," I said.
He clicked the
various names of
wireless network
source. The
neighbours had
security password
and so there was no
hope of connecting
to the internet
without knowing
their password. But
there was one called
"Gateway". Clicking
on it connected the
computers to the
internet. So work
could be done. As to
who "Gateway" was,
we don't know.
Somebody who had not
inserted a security
password to log on
or a hacker?
A second problem
came as I was
advising Khin Khin's
manager to keep
proper records. Next
year, the MOM wants
all accounts to be
audited. More money
for the auditors and
economic hardship
for the employment
agencies as the
bureaucrats demand
more compliance and
dictate the amounts
of fees to be
charged to job
applicants instead
of letting the free
market work.
The manager did not
know how to devise
an Excel formula for
the balance of
profit and loss in
the accounts. I
asked him to check
the internet forum.
No use. Finally I
asked him to
subtract the "sum of
column of profit
from the sum of
column of expenses".
The formula worked.
"The loss figure is
in 'brackets'" I
told him as he
expected a "minus"
sign.
Read widely about
financial statements
and you will know
that bracketed
figures represent
"minus" or loss in
accountancy.
Suddenly a stocky
Myanmar man in his
50s, looking like
one of those cooks
came with a bag of
goods. "What's
inside this bag?" I
asked Khin Khin.
"They are presents
for the 'pretty
girl,'" she said.
Khin Khin knows I
have difficulty
remembering Myanmar
names and so called
her the "pretty
girl". She is in her
mid 20s and dresses
quite well whenever
I met her.
I had mentioned
about her in one of
my previous Myanmar
stories. Khin Khin
and she had gone to
the famous temple to
thank the Gods for
her getting
employment
successfully. She
lost the job
subsequently and
went back to
Myanmar. But she
found a better one.
The employer was
setting up an office
in the Philippines
and wanted her to go
there. She found
another good
employer working 5
days a week. She is
staying with Khin
Khin sharing the
house with other
Myanmar people. I
believe she is a
draughtswoman. Her
conversational
English is good. I
believe she is hard
working as well as
being good looking
and so the boss
likes her. Good
looks are unfair
advantages in the
office if the
employee is
industrious.
"This man does not
charge for the
courier services
because she is a
pretty girl," Khin
Khin said to me.
"Yesterday, I had
free dinner as the
other tenant cooked
for the pretty
girl."
"How come you have
to pay for courier
charges to send
things to Yangon?" I
teased her as she
seems to fixate on
looks and condemn
those Myanmar job
applicants who are
not in good physical
shape.
"I am old and ugly,"
she remarked.
Actually this man is
a sailor and
collected the goods
from the mother of
the pretty girl.
Unlike many
Singaporean mothers,
this mother wanted
her to work in
Singapore.
"Why?" I asked Khin
Khin one day as
Singapore mothers
will not want their
daughters to be away
from Singapore if
given a choice.
"So that she will
not be near the man
whose family
quarrelled with her
mother. This man is
very persistent and
wants to marry her.
But her mum will
disown her if she
does that." It seems
Myanmar mums are
quite strong
personalities. Khin
Khin would take all
her husband's salary
when he was working
in Singapore and
dole him an
allowance. How many
Singapore husbands
will do that I
wonder. Probably
none.
The pretty girl's
mother was said to
make several
thousands of dollars
on flipping
properties in
Myanmar as presently
there is much asset
appreciation in
Yangon. "If it is so
easy to make money,"
I said to Khin Khin.
"Why don't you sell
your apartment in
Yangon and make
money instead of
struggling in
Singapore? Now your
office of 250 sq ft
is reduced by 50% as
you rent to another
sub-tenant. The
office now is so
crammed that 5
people would fill up
the room!"
This Friday was
memorable in that I
felt dizzy at around
8 pm as I sent the
two RI interns to
the Bishan subway
and nearby
apartment. I quickly
drove home thinking
I would be getting a
stroke. Fortunately,
it was food
poisoning as I had
diarrhoea with lots
of gas and recovered
the next day. The
two RI interns had
produced an
excellent movie on
the 15-year-old
closed pyometra and
uterine torsion case
as they enacted the
true story well. It
is difficult to
produce the dialogue
but they did it.
See:
Video Part 1:
Closed pyometra & uterine
torsion - Part 1
Video Part 2:
Closed pyometra & uterine
torsion - Part 2
TOA
PAYOH VETS
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