Been doing those a lot the past couple months, and even more intense this week, and obviously lots of out-of-home/pajamaworking. Heck, I even had two steamboats just this week, one in Balik Pulau last Sunday and another just now in Gurney Drive. And tons of seafood too yesterday in Batu Maung, and between the eatings and occasional breaks for the photo shoots to feed Facebook and Picasa, I lost count of how many pieces of tiger shrimps I feeded myself - like Bubba Forrest Gump said - shrimp grilled, shrimp fried rice, shrimp steamboat etc. And then the excessive nite stays till wee morning hours past Subuh to complete posts like this and on four other blog sites (not including Facebook social network, Picasa photo blog, YouTube etc. video blog, Yahoo & Google Groups, Twitter etc. microblogs bla bla...)!
And like all addictions and craves, this must stop! Gotta stay home more, eat less and actually getting long-overdue work (and sales) done. Gotta start climbing those hills in Bukit Jambul and Teluk Bahang again... ;) Wait, there's Raya again this Monday nite, and looks like there will be more more activities involving meeting people and feeding tons of food again! The week after Eid al-Adha and program Usahawan Rakyat Deputy Chief Minister Fairus then... Gotta start thinking of plans for 2009 & 2010!
Happy Holidays and New Year this coming January 2009/Muharram 1430H everyone!
Showing posts with label work from home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work from home. Show all posts
Saturday, December 6
Sunday, June 1
Women power!
Got SMSes this morning from a couple of friends. One a lady and one gentlemen. It's about a news article on the today's paper -- Just have to remember to buzz me when seeing news like this I suppose...
It's Sunday morning, and I'm finishing a web development work for a client (My "off days" are usually on weekdays). Once finished, and I can happily go to a Amir's wedding ceremony ("kenduri kahwin" - he had gone through the "nikah" solemn last Wednesday which I forgot to attend -- missed the correct date, but he ended up showing up at my house that very night introducing his bride from my Ayer Itam kampung), and perhaps do some shopping this afternoon before meeting a business partner preparing for tomorrow morning's deal with a local university -- we're supposed to commercialize a visual media enhancement software product, the long 6+ month of negotiations and planning (and acting for the press)!
The few shops selling newspapers are just two-minute away from my house, including a 7-11 (although it only carries The Star, not the New Straits Times), but I figured I can check the specific article out faster by checking out the paper's website. Cool, it's there! "Why waste women power?", the article asks.
A positive start from the local government!
[Dr Subramaniam's deputy is a woman BTW, a famous one too - chief of Puteri Umno, Datuk Noraini Ahmad]
Now, we need to work on reviving the Pajamanation initiative... But reading Andy's blog post, I wonder too, "What's Walter up to these days..." (He's now with OLPC, another good cause on getting cheap laptop for kids around the globe, btw... but his personal website and blog are off at the moment!)
Heck, if I can make a decent earning at home, full time (I only go to my office some 20 minutes away once or twice a week - I hate the peak hours traffic!), many more can too, perhaps...
(working while at the same time not missing SUKMA (website is down!) live coverage on my LG LCD TV, catching up with MacBreak Weekly on iTunes and entertaining guests who arrived from Sepang last night - my sister with her daughter...)
It's Sunday morning, and I'm finishing a web development work for a client (My "off days" are usually on weekdays). Once finished, and I can happily go to a Amir's wedding ceremony ("kenduri kahwin" - he had gone through the "nikah" solemn last Wednesday which I forgot to attend -- missed the correct date, but he ended up showing up at my house that very night introducing his bride from my Ayer Itam kampung), and perhaps do some shopping this afternoon before meeting a business partner preparing for tomorrow morning's deal with a local university -- we're supposed to commercialize a visual media enhancement software product, the long 6+ month of negotiations and planning (and acting for the press)!
The few shops selling newspapers are just two-minute away from my house, including a 7-11 (although it only carries The Star, not the New Straits Times), but I figured I can check the specific article out faster by checking out the paper's website. Cool, it's there! "Why waste women power?", the article asks.
KUALA LUMPUR: Picture this: your secretary is typing your correspondence and handling your calls and appointments -- but from the comfort of her home.
Is this possible? Yes, if management takes up a suggestion by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.
Dr Subramaniam, who took office on March 18, wants to increase women participation in the workforce and does not want family responsibility to curtail their involvement.
"Sixty per cent of our university students are women, so they must contribute to the country. Women, of course, do face a dilemma once they have a family. And many choose to stay at home because of their responsibilities," he said.
So Dr Subramaniam is calling on the private sector to take jobs, through outsourcing agencies, to women who choose to be homemakers ."Another successful overseas concept is 'home office'. This means people take work home and work from there."
He hopes the private sector will lead the way.
"Industries and management have to change their mindset. They must, for instance, say, 'Yes, the secretary will not be in the office tomorrow but she will be doing the job from her home'."
Flexi-hours are another option.
..."
A positive start from the local government!
[Dr Subramaniam's deputy is a woman BTW, a famous one too - chief of Puteri Umno, Datuk Noraini Ahmad]
Now, we need to work on reviving the Pajamanation initiative... But reading Andy's blog post, I wonder too, "What's Walter up to these days..." (He's now with OLPC, another good cause on getting cheap laptop for kids around the globe, btw... but his personal website and blog are off at the moment!)
Heck, if I can make a decent earning at home, full time (I only go to my office some 20 minutes away once or twice a week - I hate the peak hours traffic!), many more can too, perhaps...
(working while at the same time not missing SUKMA (website is down!) live coverage on my LG LCD TV, catching up with MacBreak Weekly on iTunes and entertaining guests who arrived from Sepang last night - my sister with her daughter...)
Monday, June 18
Two is better, more than two is the best!
Looking at the mainstream media - the Malaysian TV stations, the locally published newspapers and the popular magazines, one would think that Malaysians don't spend that much time online. What I continue to discover however: there seem to be so many Malaysians out there dominating Web 2.0 communities. Friendster, a social network is one of them; Ryze and Ecademy for business network.; So are MyBlogLog, SpicyPage, Technorati etc. And the millions of Malaysian Internet users "dig" big media too -- songs and videos. They flock YouTube and along with Filipinos and Singaporeans, they also become one of the biggest audience of Imeem, the latest YouTube-meets-Friendster craze for Malaysians.They surely do talk about everything, including work. But will most of us pajamaworking at home continue to work alone, or explore the possibility to actually work in a group of many -- not just 2-3 collaboration, but in a corporation-like manner: say, six or more on a project.
Can tools like Pajamanation.com be one of the platform for such net-WORK-ing?
Sunday, June 17
Happy Belated Work-At-Home Father's Day (15 JUN 2007)
Today, 17 JUNE 2007 is a secular Father's day as celebrated in dozens of countries including Malaysia which amongst its 'noble' purposes is to enrich the corporation called Hallmark, as clearly again, remarked by the Time this month:
"The folks at Hallmark are going to have a very good day on June 17. That's when more than 100 million of the company's ubiquitous cards will be given to the 66 million dads across the U.S. in observation of Father's Day. Such a blizzard of paper may be short of the more than 150 million cards sold for Mother's Day, but it's still quite a tribute. What's less clear is whether dads--at least as a group--have done a good enough job to deserve the honor.", Sarah Blaffer Hrdy and Mary Batten to start their article entitled "The Psychology of Fatherhood" (TIME, 7 JUN 2007).
Hence a Google search on "Father's Day Malaysia" would pull a first page result linking to gift-retailing sites like All99.com, BambooFlorist, FlowersGiftMalaysia, Flowers.com.my, WorldCard (for a trip to Genting for Dads, again!!), 123greetings.com etc.
As a pajamaworker however, I'm more interested in how work-at-home fathers are celebrated? After all, they get to see their spouse and kids almost every single day, not just the minimal hours every early mornings or late nights. Jeff Zbar, the self-appointed "Chief Home Officer", for instance, claimed to have created the "Work At Home Father's Day" to be celebrated annually on Friday before Father's Day. Zbar wrote, "(It's to) honor fathers who have chosen to work from home in order to improve their family lives or job satisfaction.” ... to say “kudos” to dads like us. ... In an effort to embrace all work-at-homers, entrepreneurs and teleworkers alike are welcome to celebrate."
Another blog worth to read about the celebrations of work-at-home fathers is RebelDad.com, by Brian Reid.
And heck, these guys even have an annual convention for At-Home Dad, its 12th time this year to be held in Kansas City, Missouri on 3 NOV 2007... Coming soon to Malaysia, I hope.
"The folks at Hallmark are going to have a very good day on June 17. That's when more than 100 million of the company's ubiquitous cards will be given to the 66 million dads across the U.S. in observation of Father's Day. Such a blizzard of paper may be short of the more than 150 million cards sold for Mother's Day, but it's still quite a tribute. What's less clear is whether dads--at least as a group--have done a good enough job to deserve the honor.", Sarah Blaffer Hrdy and Mary Batten to start their article entitled "The Psychology of Fatherhood" (TIME, 7 JUN 2007).
Hence a Google search on "Father's Day Malaysia" would pull a first page result linking to gift-retailing sites like All99.com, BambooFlorist, FlowersGiftMalaysia, Flowers.com.my, WorldCard (for a trip to Genting for Dads, again!!), 123greetings.com etc.
As a pajamaworker however, I'm more interested in how work-at-home fathers are celebrated? After all, they get to see their spouse and kids almost every single day, not just the minimal hours every early mornings or late nights. Jeff Zbar, the self-appointed "Chief Home Officer", for instance, claimed to have created the "Work At Home Father's Day" to be celebrated annually on Friday before Father's Day. Zbar wrote, "(It's to) honor fathers who have chosen to work from home in order to improve their family lives or job satisfaction.” ... to say “kudos” to dads like us. ... In an effort to embrace all work-at-homers, entrepreneurs and teleworkers alike are welcome to celebrate."
Another blog worth to read about the celebrations of work-at-home fathers is RebelDad.com, by Brian Reid.
And heck, these guys even have an annual convention for At-Home Dad, its 12th time this year to be held in Kansas City, Missouri on 3 NOV 2007... Coming soon to Malaysia, I hope.
Saturday, June 16
Nothing speaks to freedom louder than a halfsuit
Need that nice looking designer suit for an important business video conference from home? BusinessBib's Klosk might have a solution for you... half of it that is, but that should cut it for you if all you'll be doing is sitting on that chair and flaunt your upper body up to the video camera.
Businessbib™ on Good Morning America on 22 SEP 2006
Here's a press release from BiB dated 17 Sep 2006:
Talking heads on our televisions have delivered the news, commented on our favorite teams and sold us snake oil for decades. Video conferencing is poised to completely change the way we look at people on our screens. It’s becoming so much easier and ubiquitous that in the not-so-distant future, we will be able to have face-to-faces on almost every surface. Whether it’s calling a friend, watching a webcast, or showing up for a board meeting, the format has been established. With all of this in mind, Klosk is proud to announce the Businessbib- a new take on your video business persona.
The Businessbib allows you to look perfectly put-together in a fraction of the time it takes to boot your computer. You can work from home in your underwear while presenting a polished appearance to the people that matter most. Using a simple abbreviated design of the traditional business suit eliminates the time and effort that goes into primping for more formal meetings. It frees your time and allows you to continue uninterrupted with your casual lifestyle.
In a word, the Businessbib is a halfsuit. Each sturdily stitched ensemble is stylishly appointed and hand made from recycled materials. No two Businessbibs are the same. In fact, each one is christened with it’s own name based on it’s overall aesthetic. With its split back Velcro-sealed design, the short-sleeved Businessbib can easily be worn and removed with comfort and ease. Just slip it on over your tee shirt and shorts- no one will ever be the wiser. Appearing to others in your video domain to be fully prepared for the business at hand with little to no preparation may soon be considered the most important freedom of all. Take#47 for the first web commercial. Chick Cashman models the businessbib™
About Klosk
Klosk is the side project of Tucson-based designers Brad Denboer and Jeff Adkins. It operates under the philosophy that many objects can be re-invented; that their design lifetime can be extended by revisiting their function in a more modern context.
Previous projects include the Western-Electric 2500 USB handset and a 900 MHz Cordless 2500 phone.
The Businessbib is the first project that Klosk has released in a production-level scale.
Inquiries can be directed to information at klosk dot com.
Want to buy one now? Unfortunately, due to overwhelming response to their initial marketing, the Klosk shop is completely out of stock at this moment. It'll be a matter a time before local suit maker in Malaysia will come up with similar fun attire for pajama workers. If you're one of the entrepreneurs, or if you've spotted one, do let us know, and we'll feature it on Pajamanation Malaysia sites. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 13
PajamaFuture: Some Joost for your Tube
A sister site of PajamaNation called PajamaFuture among others predicts the scenario for micropreneurs of 2030 (some 20+ years from today)... Yes, we're young, but we are as visionary as Malaysia Vision 2020, and we're upbeat about technologies...
PajamaFuture on "2030: THE WORLD DIVIDED IN CLANS":
John Naisbit was right:the more we integrate structures at the top (EU, WTO, OECD), the more elements disintegrate at the base. The boundaries of 150 nations will no longer matter in 2030, because the world will be a grand reservoir, in which the European Union only plays a minor part.
Likewise, TV has no borders anymore... YouTube became a phenomenon in 2006 having been bought for USD 1.6-Billion by Google. In 2006 alone, YouTube consumed more bandwidth than the whole world combined in 2000! Since 2004, there have been plethora other YouTube-like services, and some even tried to revive the streaming services as popularized by the likes including RTM back in 1996! And in case you haven't heard, YouTube has indeed gone to TV beginning this month, thanks to its integration with the iTunes that powers the Apple TV.
From Apple PR: CUPERTINO, California–May, 30, 2007–Apple® today announced that it’s bringing the Internet’s most popular originally-created content from YouTube to the living room with Apple TV™. Beginning in mid-June, Apple TV will wirelessly stream videos directly from YouTube and play them on a user’s widescreen TV. Using Apple TV’s elegant interface and simple Apple Remote, viewers can easily browse, find and watch free videos from YouTube in the comfort of their living room.
Yes I know... C'mon Steve Jobs: Can you let us Malaysians have the Apple TVs for well under RM1K each? (They retails for RM 1,259 a piece today -- more than the amount of moolah many Malaysians make, per month). And bring iPhones quick to Malaysia!! You're killing us with all these teasers... For now, we Malaysians have to settle with burning torrented MPeg4s onto DVDs (flying coasters) and play 'em on our archaic TV sets.
In January 2007, I started learning about another tube of the future called Joost (from the founders of Skype, another billion-dollar acquision for tech giants -- eBay specifically in this case), off the posts/emails in SlashDot. Three months later, an invite from Joost arrived in my mailbox to become a member of its small but fast-growing community of beta testers. My poor broadband package from Streamyx however can't seems cope with the connectivity requirement throughout April and May 2007, even after I upgraded from the 512Kbps to the "1Mbps" plan back in March -- the shows were pausing/buffering erratically, so, I gave up and settled with other streaming services, particular Malaysia-based ones or predownload-based iTunes because even YouTube and the many streamings from overseas were too NOT-LIVE for me.
Today however, after I downloaded the latest release of Joost Beta, the Joost runs just like how a TV of the future should be! It's worth mentioning that there's another VOD service offered by a Malaysia-based company offerings streamings including live shows from TV in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand -- which I really love by the way!, but Joost simply is a completely different innovative animal. The user interface seems to come from the future lab of Google, and the channels are aplenty, and seems very customizable, unlike the ones from traditional TV stations of RTM, Media Prima etc, or even of Astro Satellite TV subscription! The full screen version is also very interactive complete with add-on "gadgets" capability including Google Chat that lets you chat with other Googlers while enjoying your shows.
[My Streamyx is still "kejap laju, kejap merangkak" though these past couple days, after my complaint made two-weeks ago likely have brought some technicians to my little hometown to fix my under-50Kbps Streamyx Broadband]
Is the world ready for borderless Tube? Not for some governments indeed. Several countries have blocked YouTube on separate incidents. Late last month, I've heard that SingTel blocked Joost... Wise move by these fearful-of-things-you-cannot-compete-with corporations and governments? Very argumentative indeed!
As long as the government and broadband providers will honor their words to bring decent broadband to citizens/customers like me, I'll continue enjoying what YouTube, Joost and their likes have to offer...
From Joost.com:
PajamaFuture on "2030: THE WORLD DIVIDED IN CLANS":
John Naisbit was right:the more we integrate structures at the top (EU, WTO, OECD), the more elements disintegrate at the base. The boundaries of 150 nations will no longer matter in 2030, because the world will be a grand reservoir, in which the European Union only plays a minor part.
Our cities will have become a brand. For some time, the power used to be in the hands of the cities (the heirs of the industrial revolution) and the villages (home-ground of the farmers), but their power has flown into a new form of über-space: the ‘community’. Pioneers of this process were the ‘hoods’ of New York (short for ‘neigbourhoods’), the ‘arrondissements’ of Paris, the ‘zones’ of London (short for postal zones) and the quarters of Amsterdam. The community can be a street, a domain, an apartment building, a company department (corporate hoods) or a virtual community. There are microgeographic area maps full of numbers for future use: telephone zones, satellite footprints, internet addresses, wiring and cable infrastructure. There are ten thousands of such community disctricts over the world and every second another one arises.
These communities have developed their own identity. They have a residence network (urban grids) on a large broadband cable that they divide over several neighboorhood habitants each with their own large antennas and beamers that supply them with wifi. The communities, primarily consisting of homeworkers, are governed by community committees, the so-called ‘guilds’.
Faith Popcorn (the Popcorn Report) called this phenomenon ‘clanning’: ‘belonging to a group that represents common feelings, causes, or ideals; validating one’s own belief system.’ There are communities solely for seniors which have been extra secured with surrounding parks; there are areas for women that don’t allow men; coming-out neighboorhoods for gay people; artist neighboorhoods with an evening curfew for non-artists; and youth areas where parents are not allowed in university campus grounds.
Likewise, TV has no borders anymore... YouTube became a phenomenon in 2006 having been bought for USD 1.6-Billion by Google. In 2006 alone, YouTube consumed more bandwidth than the whole world combined in 2000! Since 2004, there have been plethora other YouTube-like services, and some even tried to revive the streaming services as popularized by the likes including RTM back in 1996! And in case you haven't heard, YouTube has indeed gone to TV beginning this month, thanks to its integration with the iTunes that powers the Apple TV.
From Apple PR: CUPERTINO, California–May, 30, 2007–Apple® today announced that it’s bringing the Internet’s most popular originally-created content from YouTube to the living room with Apple TV™. Beginning in mid-June, Apple TV will wirelessly stream videos directly from YouTube and play them on a user’s widescreen TV. Using Apple TV’s elegant interface and simple Apple Remote, viewers can easily browse, find and watch free videos from YouTube in the comfort of their living room.
Yes I know... C'mon Steve Jobs: Can you let us Malaysians have the Apple TVs for well under RM1K each? (They retails for RM 1,259 a piece today -- more than the amount of moolah many Malaysians make, per month). And bring iPhones quick to Malaysia!! You're killing us with all these teasers... For now, we Malaysians have to settle with burning torrented MPeg4s onto DVDs (flying coasters) and play 'em on our archaic TV sets.
In January 2007, I started learning about another tube of the future called Joost (from the founders of Skype, another billion-dollar acquision for tech giants -- eBay specifically in this case), off the posts/emails in SlashDot. Three months later, an invite from Joost arrived in my mailbox to become a member of its small but fast-growing community of beta testers. My poor broadband package from Streamyx however can't seems cope with the connectivity requirement throughout April and May 2007, even after I upgraded from the 512Kbps to the "1Mbps" plan back in March -- the shows were pausing/buffering erratically, so, I gave up and settled with other streaming services, particular Malaysia-based ones or predownload-based iTunes because even YouTube and the many streamings from overseas were too NOT-LIVE for me.
Today however, after I downloaded the latest release of Joost Beta, the Joost runs just like how a TV of the future should be! It's worth mentioning that there's another VOD service offered by a Malaysia-based company offerings streamings including live shows from TV in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand -- which I really love by the way!, but Joost simply is a completely different innovative animal. The user interface seems to come from the future lab of Google, and the channels are aplenty, and seems very customizable, unlike the ones from traditional TV stations of RTM, Media Prima etc, or even of Astro Satellite TV subscription! The full screen version is also very interactive complete with add-on "gadgets" capability including Google Chat that lets you chat with other Googlers while enjoying your shows.[My Streamyx is still "kejap laju, kejap merangkak" though these past couple days, after my complaint made two-weeks ago likely have brought some technicians to my little hometown to fix my under-50Kbps Streamyx Broadband]
Is the world ready for borderless Tube? Not for some governments indeed. Several countries have blocked YouTube on separate incidents. Late last month, I've heard that SingTel blocked Joost... Wise move by these fearful-of-things-you-cannot-compete-with corporations and governments? Very argumentative indeed!
As long as the government and broadband providers will honor their words to bring decent broadband to citizens/customers like me, I'll continue enjoying what YouTube, Joost and their likes have to offer...
From Joost.com:
Joost isn't just about watching TV on your own. We've built in some cool features that let you chat with other channel viewers, talk to your friends in our instant messaging program (compatible with Gmail and Jabber) and even tell the world what you think of shows by rating them while you're watching. With Joost, you can share the TV experience in ways never possible before.
We also want to make it easy and fun for you to share Joost with the rest of the world. If you've got a blog or website, you can add Joost logos and screenshots to it easily. Soon, we'll have lots of other ways to spread the word. Become a Joost evangelist today!
Sunday, June 10
Work in Pajamas, Holiday in Smart Casual
It's weekend. For most parts of Malaysia that is. Time to switch from pajamas at workplace and don a smart casual look for some recreational outings (play)...
A hardworking pajamaworker needs some rest, and leave home sweet home some time... Today, My family and I are going to check out AutoCity Carnival 2007 (and International GT Series 2007) in Juru, Karnival ICT in Alor Star, and a play by Actors' Studio "Anak Bulan di Kampong Wa' Hassan" in Balik Pulau. These kinds of social networking meets are actually business networking opportunities though!
...Isn't it ironic? (Alanis, 1996) . Well, at least, I don't get to be often late for work for reasons like traffic jam anymore...
A hardworking pajamaworker needs some rest, and leave home sweet home some time... Today, My family and I are going to check out AutoCity Carnival 2007 (and International GT Series 2007) in Juru, Karnival ICT in Alor Star, and a play by Actors' Studio "Anak Bulan di Kampong Wa' Hassan" in Balik Pulau. These kinds of social networking meets are actually business networking opportunities though!
...Isn't it ironic? (Alanis, 1996) . Well, at least, I don't get to be often late for work for reasons like traffic jam anymore...
Saturday, June 9
Blogger's Gathering in Penang - Sat, 23 JUNE 2007
Got the following announcement in my email inbox yesterday... Looks like a worthy event for Pajamaworkers to join:
Best Regards,
Samantha Wong
Marketing Executive
Nuffnang Malaysia
I've signed up to attend it, so, if you'll be coming to Penang for this one, see you at Gurney Plaza that Saturday noon (for free lunch, hehe -- who says there's no more free lunch..)!
And the promotional poster:
FELLOW NUFFNANGERS!!!!!
It is time for another bloggers’ gathering.
Though this time for the sake of the North Malaysians who missed the Pirates event in KL, we’re holding one for over 100 Nuffnangers at Food Loft, Gurney Plaza.
Along with a panel of Nuffnangers like Cedric and Project010, we have put together an event where the lovely guys at Food Loft have offered to sponsor us the venue and food for our bloggers’ meet.
For those of you who’ve never been to Food Loft, it is the trendy and chic restaurant at Gurney Plaza with a breathtaking sea view of Gurney Drive.
Nuffnangers from all over Malaysia are welcomed to attend and mingle with bloggers, Nuffnang advertisers and some of the Nuffnang team members themselves.
There will be a mingling session with lots and lots of photos and even a contest with prizes sponsored by Exabytes.
Not only that, in the show of support for our Nuffnang Community, Kenny Sia himself will be flying over all the way from Kuching to meet up with the Nuffnangers at this meet so sign up now before all 100 places are filled.
For more details of the event, click here.
http://www.nuffnang.com.my
To sign up for the event, click here to sign up.
http://www.project010.net
Best Regards,
Samantha Wong
Marketing Executive
Nuffnang Malaysia
I've signed up to attend it, so, if you'll be coming to Penang for this one, see you at Gurney Plaza that Saturday noon (for free lunch, hehe -- who says there's no more free lunch..)!
And the promotional poster:
Thursday, June 7
Pajamaworking at home... where in Malaysia?
BALIK PULAU: For many Malaysians, the idea for pajamaworking might sound foreign. After all, how can a person earn a decent income working in pagoda t-shirt (or any other comfy shirt), matched with a pelekat/batik/sarong or a short/track-bottom? But we sure do know that in the United States alone, there are well over ten million home-based workers, with some millions of them rely primarily on the Internet to earn their primary monthly income (with at least 700,000 of Americans using primarily eBay to trade).
The truth however, for hundreds of years, there have been 100,000s of micropreneurs in Malaysia (at least four times more than SME & corporations), many of whom are in trade and retail business of products and services, running mom and pops shops/offices and warongs, in cities/towns, colleges and villages, even until today! Take a look at the hundreds of pasar malams (night markets) held every single day (except during Eid) throughout Malaysia, and the shops where the workers practically are wearing 'pajamas' during the mornings, afternoons or even late nights. But every Malaysian knows that, right? Not many Malaysians can possibly be using ICT to earn any decent monthly income at home! Or so as some might have argued! (We however do know that they are thousands of "All Malaysian" bloggers and Internet marketers out there with hundreds of whom, have claimed to currently make quite a whopping income, even exceeding RM 20,000 a month!)
When I first imported this very pajamaworking idea to Malaysia, I knew that I wasn't alone... I've earlier gotten acquainted with many pajamaworkers and micropreneurs (throughout the 10+ years I've been operating several IT businesses from home), who are indeed earning handsome income through the use of ICT (be it the Internet or mobile communications technologies) at their home/SOHO . In 1999, I hired my first Malaysian pajamaworker working in Troy, NY, while I was running a web solutions company in Ann Arbor, MI, some hundreds of kilometers away. Today, from small towns of (non MSC-status) Balik Pulau and Sintok (MSC-status in some sense), with effective crowdsourcing tools like Pajamanation, I'm hiring even many more pajamaworkers in Malaysia and also in foreign lands including in USA, Germany, India and Uruguay.
_Page_1.gif)
Today, Pajamanation is already a network spreading across borders, starting with 53 nations by end of its inaugural year, 2006 and to be grown progressively. By June 2007, the largest audience of Pajamanation come from Venezuela, Belgium, Germany, United States, Israel, Portugal, Malaysia (#7), Hong Kong, Kenya, United Kingdom and 80+ other countries. Pajamanation.com is also one of the most visited web destinations in Kenya (Top-60!), Malaysia (Top-3000), Venezuela, Singapore, UK, US and 20+ other countries. -- SEE Google Analytics map above marked with more than 700 cities where Pajamanation's visitors come from (led by Caracas, Brussels, Lisbon, Petah Tiqwa, Dusseldorf, Kuala Lumpur (#6!), Hong Kong, Nairobi and Haifa)!
As one of the dozens of Pajamanation's business partners since 2006, my task is to grow this new global business venture particularly in its marketing & public relations in Malaysia. The goal is to empower tens of thousands of micropreneurs & home-based workers in Malaysia to connect to a local or even worldwide pool of micro projects offered by similar entities or large organizations. Let's see how Pajamanation Malaysia is doing so far after just slightly over two months since local launch: We have reached at least fourteen cities including.png)
Kuala Lumpur, Alor Star, Kuantan, Batu Pahat, Petaling Jaya, Kajang, Kelang, Georgetown/Pulau Pinang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kota Bharu, Kulai, Shah Alam and Miri. And we're going to more states and cities over the next few months, and we'll be needing you! Help us, help Malaysia be #1 in this new, thrivingly bold industry, which will revolutionize the way people in the future, WORK! Pajamanation will make the traditional all-employment culture, obsolete... And soon, small nations like Malaysia can really compete, globally!
Welcome to the World Wide Work! The whole world is mine. Check us out & REGISTER TODAY, FREE. And help us spread the words... Thank you in advance!
Together, everyone achieve more -- that's T.E.A.M. by the way!
Regards,
Nasir Sobri
Pajamanation Malaysia
The truth however, for hundreds of years, there have been 100,000s of micropreneurs in Malaysia (at least four times more than SME & corporations), many of whom are in trade and retail business of products and services, running mom and pops shops/offices and warongs, in cities/towns, colleges and villages, even until today! Take a look at the hundreds of pasar malams (night markets) held every single day (except during Eid) throughout Malaysia, and the shops where the workers practically are wearing 'pajamas' during the mornings, afternoons or even late nights. But every Malaysian knows that, right? Not many Malaysians can possibly be using ICT to earn any decent monthly income at home! Or so as some might have argued! (We however do know that they are thousands of "All Malaysian" bloggers and Internet marketers out there with hundreds of whom, have claimed to currently make quite a whopping income, even exceeding RM 20,000 a month!)
When I first imported this very pajamaworking idea to Malaysia, I knew that I wasn't alone... I've earlier gotten acquainted with many pajamaworkers and micropreneurs (throughout the 10+ years I've been operating several IT businesses from home), who are indeed earning handsome income through the use of ICT (be it the Internet or mobile communications technologies) at their home/SOHO . In 1999, I hired my first Malaysian pajamaworker working in Troy, NY, while I was running a web solutions company in Ann Arbor, MI, some hundreds of kilometers away. Today, from small towns of (non MSC-status) Balik Pulau and Sintok (MSC-status in some sense), with effective crowdsourcing tools like Pajamanation, I'm hiring even many more pajamaworkers in Malaysia and also in foreign lands including in USA, Germany, India and Uruguay.
_Page_1.gif)
Today, Pajamanation is already a network spreading across borders, starting with 53 nations by end of its inaugural year, 2006 and to be grown progressively. By June 2007, the largest audience of Pajamanation come from Venezuela, Belgium, Germany, United States, Israel, Portugal, Malaysia (#7), Hong Kong, Kenya, United Kingdom and 80+ other countries. Pajamanation.com is also one of the most visited web destinations in Kenya (Top-60!), Malaysia (Top-3000), Venezuela, Singapore, UK, US and 20+ other countries. -- SEE Google Analytics map above marked with more than 700 cities where Pajamanation's visitors come from (led by Caracas, Brussels, Lisbon, Petah Tiqwa, Dusseldorf, Kuala Lumpur (#6!), Hong Kong, Nairobi and Haifa)!As one of the dozens of Pajamanation's business partners since 2006, my task is to grow this new global business venture particularly in its marketing & public relations in Malaysia. The goal is to empower tens of thousands of micropreneurs & home-based workers in Malaysia to connect to a local or even worldwide pool of micro projects offered by similar entities or large organizations. Let's see how Pajamanation Malaysia is doing so far after just slightly over two months since local launch: We have reached at least fourteen cities including
.png)
Kuala Lumpur, Alor Star, Kuantan, Batu Pahat, Petaling Jaya, Kajang, Kelang, Georgetown/Pulau Pinang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kota Bharu, Kulai, Shah Alam and Miri. And we're going to more states and cities over the next few months, and we'll be needing you! Help us, help Malaysia be #1 in this new, thrivingly bold industry, which will revolutionize the way people in the future, WORK! Pajamanation will make the traditional all-employment culture, obsolete... And soon, small nations like Malaysia can really compete, globally!Welcome to the World Wide Work! The whole world is mine. Check us out & REGISTER TODAY, FREE. And help us spread the words... Thank you in advance!
Together, everyone achieve more -- that's T.E.A.M. by the way!
Regards,
Nasir Sobri
Pajamanation Malaysia
Monday, May 28
TM Net Streamyx Super Duper Deal ending in three days (31 MAY 2007)
Say, Pajama Workers... Are you on broadband yet? If not, why not? We'd like to hear your say on broadband connectivity in Malaysia...
I've been a broadband user for almost 15 years to-date, from the fast connection of 100 Mbps (in computer labs in the USA -- now some of these labs have 1 Gbps (1024 Mbps) and many residential houses have connections as fast as 30MBps) down to as slow as 384Kbps (maximum speed using Digi Edge GPRS on through a mobile phone, but only at hi-speed in certain locations like in Penang Island, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur etc).
Some of these connections are highly reliable, and some are not. TM Net Streamyx works okay for me supplying me well over 1Mbps download speed and over 300Kbps upload speed most of the times, but very slow connection to offshore sites, irritatingly as low as under 50Kbps (maximum PSTN non-broadband dial-up speed) at certain times.
Oh well, at least it's good (or bad?) to know that my home Internet connection is usually much better than the connection at some local MSC-status universities (I've publicly told Dato Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis about this irony at a recent global technopreneur seminar in Penang but he must have misheard/misunderstood me, and immediately dismissed my allegation as non-constructive -- it seems that MOSTI thinks that it's better to spend millions of ringgits each year to bring broadband to remote villages where not many people use the Internet anyway than to increase its annual budget significantly to give our dire higher learning institutions the best the world/MSC could offer, where at least 600,000 students are using or want to use the Internet actively each year -- He was putting his full bet on WiMAX instead which is still nowhere to be seen in Malaysia after two years now!!).*** [see notes below]
I've heard horror stories about Streamyx, but after using it for over three years now, I have little to complain except during very few incidents, and my continued disappointments on its billing policies and lack of decent customer support. But, what other good choices do we have here in Malaysia, especially when you live in areas not covered by hi-speed Digi Edge or 3G?
All thoughts considered, Streamyx is still one of the best choices for many, and TMNet has just announced speed bump to 4Mbps (and Metro.e for business for a speed up to 1Gbps) at a promotional monthly subscription fee of just RM188. If you are still delaying to get Streamyx for your home or office, keep in mind that present Super Duper offer which is practically the best ever, is ending soon on 31 MAY 2007. (Read on below -- and we wouldn't mind at all if you'd send the applications through us -- you'd get some surprise tokens of appreciations from us! Many already have!). More information at latest broadband offers at eStreamyx.com.
It's not too good to be true. It's good and it's true. Just sign up between 1 April and 31 May 2007!
To subscribe, email or fax us your completed form (download application form here: small (186K) or big (288K) and (or at least) a copy of your MyKad (and company registration if for business account). A stamp duty for RM10 is also now required prior to processing. (Payment can be made thru bank deposit/transfer or Paypal)
For details please contact us.
[** NOTE: Consider that millions of students at US colleges are getting 10 Mbps or better dedicated Internet connection from their dorm rooms, for at least fifteen years now! Wonder where the multi billion-dollar giants of Google and Yahoo came from? If you've guessed dorm rooms, you're right! If you've guessed the same for Microsoft and Dell, you're right too, except that they were driven to business because of the new trend for personal computers in college and there were no commercial Internet then. Need more examples of world-class ICT products from universities? How about Sun (who coined "network is the computer"), Cisco (the networking leader), Silicon Graphics (one of the earliest network-centric high-end workstations), Netscape (world's first commercial web browser which was bought by AOL), HP, Intel and the long list goes on. So, would anyone dare telling me again that universities are a second or third priority in Malaysia? I think, it's about time the Ministry of Higher Education and MeCD start slow talking with KTAK, MOSTI and MDeC! I'd like to point out our successes from local universities in the field of ICT arena, but I'm having a hard time... care to help me with some decent examples? How do I know that we're in deep trouble? Because I'm taking a "technopreneurship" Master course at a local university that seems to have almost zero sense of teaching ICT entrepreneurship besides the fact that the technologies and ICT cultures in the campus are extremely poor! Finance and management, yes, but entrepreneurship and innovations, think again... TM Net however, has since, been working with several higher learning or exclusive educational institutions in upgrading their Internet connection - i.e. at UNIMAS (8->34Mbps by June 2007), UUM (9Mbps -> 45Mbps in 2006), UTP (15Mbps for campus-wide Wi-Fi in 2007) and as many as 88 smart schools (512Kbps->4-Mbps, expected in 2007/2008) -- still, there's still much to be desired with regards to the speed bump to make it much higher, or it's just not enough during present era of Wi-Fi, YouTube and miscellaneous Web 2.0]
I've been a broadband user for almost 15 years to-date, from the fast connection of 100 Mbps (in computer labs in the USA -- now some of these labs have 1 Gbps (1024 Mbps) and many residential houses have connections as fast as 30MBps) down to as slow as 384Kbps (maximum speed using Digi Edge GPRS on through a mobile phone, but only at hi-speed in certain locations like in Penang Island, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur etc).
Some of these connections are highly reliable, and some are not. TM Net Streamyx works okay for me supplying me well over 1Mbps download speed and over 300Kbps upload speed most of the times, but very slow connection to offshore sites, irritatingly as low as under 50Kbps (maximum PSTN non-broadband dial-up speed) at certain times.
Oh well, at least it's good (or bad?) to know that my home Internet connection is usually much better than the connection at some local MSC-status universities (I've publicly told Dato Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis about this irony at a recent global technopreneur seminar in Penang but he must have misheard/misunderstood me, and immediately dismissed my allegation as non-constructive -- it seems that MOSTI thinks that it's better to spend millions of ringgits each year to bring broadband to remote villages where not many people use the Internet anyway than to increase its annual budget significantly to give our dire higher learning institutions the best the world/MSC could offer, where at least 600,000 students are using or want to use the Internet actively each year -- He was putting his full bet on WiMAX instead which is still nowhere to be seen in Malaysia after two years now!!).*** [see notes below]
I've heard horror stories about Streamyx, but after using it for over three years now, I have little to complain except during very few incidents, and my continued disappointments on its billing policies and lack of decent customer support. But, what other good choices do we have here in Malaysia, especially when you live in areas not covered by hi-speed Digi Edge or 3G?
All thoughts considered, Streamyx is still one of the best choices for many, and TMNet has just announced speed bump to 4Mbps (and Metro.e for business for a speed up to 1Gbps) at a promotional monthly subscription fee of just RM188. If you are still delaying to get Streamyx for your home or office, keep in mind that present Super Duper offer which is practically the best ever, is ending soon on 31 MAY 2007. (Read on below -- and we wouldn't mind at all if you'd send the applications through us -- you'd get some surprise tokens of appreciations from us! Many already have!). More information at latest broadband offers at eStreamyx.com.
Press Release from TM Net: |
CYBERJAYA, March 30, 2007 – As part of its ongoing efforts to increase the take-up of broadband Internet access in the country, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM ) introduced its new Streamyx Super Duper Deal - an extra value, all-in-one package to attract more consumers to adopt broadband. The offer is available for only two months from April 1 to May 31, 2007. Puan Zainab Hashim, General Manager, Integrated Marketing, Malaysia Business of Telekom Malaysia Berhad , said “We have put together a convenient super value-packed package that will allow new subscribers to get online instantly to start experiencing the wealth of online information and entertainment as easily as possible. So in addition to 1.0Mbps Streamyx at a reduced monthly price, we have bundled in a number of our other online services and applications at ‘100% discount’.” The Streamyx Super Duper Deal, which is being offered to all new subscribers who sign up between 1 April and 31 May 2007, has been designed as a complete “digital lifestyle” package, offering Streamyx broadband Internet access for only RM77 per month as well as a free ADSL modem, Voice-Over-Broadband (BB Phone) communications service and unlimited online games at no extra cost. Puan Zainab said that TM was also addressing the growing interest in wireless broadband by including a 3-month free subscription to tmnet hotspot. She said, “There is clearly a demand to be online while on the go, outside the home or office, and right now the best solution is tmnet hotspot, which is Malaysia’s largest and most established wireless access network, offering broadband speeds at over 1,100 selected locations nationwide, including F&B outlets such as Pizza Hut, Secret Recipe and Burger King.” She added that TM is responding to consumer concerns over threats from viruses, spam mail and pornography through the bundling of the Safe Surfing Solutions package, which includes security applications such as X-filter, Online Guard & Virus Shield & Anti-Spamming filters. The features of Streamyx Super Duper Deal package include:
Puan Zainab said “In line with the national agenda in increasing broadband penetration, TM aims to get as many Malaysians online as possible, and now with the Streamyx Super Duper Deal they can do so with our extra-value package. I hope those who still have not subscribed to Streamyx will take advantage of this great offer and start experiencing the best of broadband today... About TM Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), a leading regional information and communications group, offers a comprehensive range of communication services and solutions in fixed-line, mobile, data and broadband. As one of the largest listed companies on Bursa Malaysia with an operating revenue of more than RM16 billion, TM is driven to deliver value to its stakeholders in a highly competitive environment. The Group places emphasis on continuing customer service quality enhancements and innovations. Currently, with investments and operations in 13 countries around Asia and globally, TM is focused on sustainable growth in both the local and international markets. On the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, the Group has always been a major corporate contributor towards responsible activities in the belief that these practices are a fundamental tenet of good corporate governance. The Group promotes 3 major platforms i.e. education, sports development and community/nation-building. Under education, TM has spent some RM800 million to develop Multimedia University with more than 20,000 students. TM has also provided scholarships to over 10,000 graduates pursuing academic programmes locally and overseas. On the sports front, TM is actively contributing towards the upliftment of football at all levels while under the community/nation-building platform, the Group contributes towards causes that bring value to the community and nation at large. For further information on TM, visit www.tm.com.my |
For Malaysian users, myPajamanation.com recommends TM Net Streamyx as your broadband connectivity of choice.
With plans as low as RM20/month serving either TM prepaid or postpaid line (new applications also accepted along with Streamyx application), at home or office. Unlike some other broadband providers, NO MONTHLY TRANSFER LIMITS !!
With plans as low as RM20/month serving either TM prepaid or postpaid line (new applications also accepted along with Streamyx application), at home or office. Unlike some other broadband providers, NO MONTHLY TRANSFER LIMITS !!
Enjoy unlimited access hours with plans starting RM66 (or just RM77 for 1Mbps Super Duper Special Offer below) and speed up to 2Mbps (for just RM188/mth).
It's not too good to be true. It's good and it's true. Just sign up between 1 April and 31 May 2007!
To check streamyx in your area send "STX fixed line number" via SMS** to 33535, for instance
i.e. Replace 048666769 with your TM fixed line number, either postpaid or prepaid line. * Terms and conditions apply (see below). Speed is at best effort. Subject to service availability.
|
For details please contact us.
[** NOTE: Consider that millions of students at US colleges are getting 10 Mbps or better dedicated Internet connection from their dorm rooms, for at least fifteen years now! Wonder where the multi billion-dollar giants of Google and Yahoo came from? If you've guessed dorm rooms, you're right! If you've guessed the same for Microsoft and Dell, you're right too, except that they were driven to business because of the new trend for personal computers in college and there were no commercial Internet then. Need more examples of world-class ICT products from universities? How about Sun (who coined "network is the computer"), Cisco (the networking leader), Silicon Graphics (one of the earliest network-centric high-end workstations), Netscape (world's first commercial web browser which was bought by AOL), HP, Intel and the long list goes on. So, would anyone dare telling me again that universities are a second or third priority in Malaysia? I think, it's about time the Ministry of Higher Education and MeCD start slow talking with KTAK, MOSTI and MDeC! I'd like to point out our successes from local universities in the field of ICT arena, but I'm having a hard time... care to help me with some decent examples? How do I know that we're in deep trouble? Because I'm taking a "technopreneurship" Master course at a local university that seems to have almost zero sense of teaching ICT entrepreneurship besides the fact that the technologies and ICT cultures in the campus are extremely poor! Finance and management, yes, but entrepreneurship and innovations, think again... TM Net however, has since, been working with several higher learning or exclusive educational institutions in upgrading their Internet connection - i.e. at UNIMAS (8->34Mbps by June 2007), UUM (9Mbps -> 45Mbps in 2006), UTP (15Mbps for campus-wide Wi-Fi in 2007) and as many as 88 smart schools (512Kbps->4-Mbps, expected in 2007/2008) -- still, there's still much to be desired with regards to the speed bump to make it much higher, or it's just not enough during present era of Wi-Fi, YouTube and miscellaneous Web 2.0]
Friday, May 18
NASE - National Association for the Self-Employed
In 1993, when I published my first web page (using text-based pico and nedit editors an browsed it using MacWeb, NSCA Mosaic or Netscape 0.9b), I came up with a web site called"NaseWeb" -- My UNIX username at the time was "NaseCorp". Friends from my old days, especially in my alma mater in Ann Arbor, Michigan would remember the weird email address I had. I was also one of the first who used the nickname "NasiaQ".
My Internet marketing career however started before I found the Web, a year earlier to be exact. I first sent out my marketing email and BBS post in 1992 from Bloomington, Indiana (one of the pioneers indeed!). [In 1993, I also started marketing using Compuserve, Prodigy and AOL because the Web wasn't a defacto medium yet and direct dial-up from homes was still scarce.] Today, these type of messages are called spams, and for many years now, I no longer use them as my main marketing channel.
It wasn't until I graduated from college that I decided to self-employ myself full-time. I had the skills and good knowledge. I lack sufficient experience though. So, I went through ups and down in my quest to become a professional worker, on my own. I got cheated by several potential partners, and I lost some money. I've also made some good income, and survived all these years, having passed thru the dotcom and stock market crash in the USA (I was still in the USA during 9/11), and Asia's slow growth when I returned to Malaysia in 2002 (broadband connectivity is still pathetic in Malaysia, and many aspects for running a micro enterprise in Malaysia can still be improved significantly -- we're still 10 years behind compared to developed nations like the USA, European countries and Asian tigers like Japan, South Korea and Singapore).
Today, NaseWeb.com is a web domain for National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). Among the missions of NASE is to provide affordable health-insurance, various benefits and other useful products and services for self-employed workers and micro businesses. We lack these kind of organizations or government bodies dedicated to such causes in Malaysia.
Pajamanation Malaysia, as part of a global team encompassing over 50 countries, aims to become a supporting entity for the cause of micro entrepreneurs. Our members might not reach 200,000 like NASE has, but we hope to build at least 10,000-member strong in Malaysia. We've come up with at least 40 political agendas to make Malaysia more condusive for over 400,000 micro businesses in Malaysia (80% of all active business entities, according the UNDP report published on January 2007). This group has been ironically overlooked by many government agencies and corporations (more favors are given to the SMEs (19%) and corporations (1%) including GLCs).
Join us at Pajamanation Malaysia. Help us, help you!
Partnerships and assistances are welcome... (Email me please, don't call! Thank you).
My Internet marketing career however started before I found the Web, a year earlier to be exact. I first sent out my marketing email and BBS post in 1992 from Bloomington, Indiana (one of the pioneers indeed!). [In 1993, I also started marketing using Compuserve, Prodigy and AOL because the Web wasn't a defacto medium yet and direct dial-up from homes was still scarce.] Today, these type of messages are called spams, and for many years now, I no longer use them as my main marketing channel.
It wasn't until I graduated from college that I decided to self-employ myself full-time. I had the skills and good knowledge. I lack sufficient experience though. So, I went through ups and down in my quest to become a professional worker, on my own. I got cheated by several potential partners, and I lost some money. I've also made some good income, and survived all these years, having passed thru the dotcom and stock market crash in the USA (I was still in the USA during 9/11), and Asia's slow growth when I returned to Malaysia in 2002 (broadband connectivity is still pathetic in Malaysia, and many aspects for running a micro enterprise in Malaysia can still be improved significantly -- we're still 10 years behind compared to developed nations like the USA, European countries and Asian tigers like Japan, South Korea and Singapore).
Today, NaseWeb.com is a web domain for National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). Among the missions of NASE is to provide affordable health-insurance, various benefits and other useful products and services for self-employed workers and micro businesses. We lack these kind of organizations or government bodies dedicated to such causes in Malaysia.
Pajamanation Malaysia, as part of a global team encompassing over 50 countries, aims to become a supporting entity for the cause of micro entrepreneurs. Our members might not reach 200,000 like NASE has, but we hope to build at least 10,000-member strong in Malaysia. We've come up with at least 40 political agendas to make Malaysia more condusive for over 400,000 micro businesses in Malaysia (80% of all active business entities, according the UNDP report published on January 2007). This group has been ironically overlooked by many government agencies and corporations (more favors are given to the SMEs (19%) and corporations (1%) including GLCs).
Join us at Pajamanation Malaysia. Help us, help you!
Partnerships and assistances are welcome... (Email me please, don't call! Thank you).
Like working in pajamas, but still need all the perks of employment?
Working in Pj's sounds good, doesn't it? But this "professional" self-employment is not for everybody, all month long however. Spoiling yourself by not having to wake up early, take shower in the early morning, wear clean and nice-looking clothes, attend mandatory meetings, listen to everything your boss says, spend hours on commuting everyday etc. also means that you'd have to force yourself to work smart for money, enforce yourself some good disciplines, and find other ways to socialize because working alone, in a small room or in your living room (even with plethora of electronics and weird house mates or family members), will bore you to death! And for many micropreneurs who are starting to self-employ themselves, it's tough...
So, you keep your day job... And pretend you like it (to death!). Or you can bitch around and everybody who have heard you would care less about hiring you or recommending you to become one of their colleaguess. So, you shout out loud: is there any fun workplace in Malaysia, like the ones you've seen on TV? You know, like those Friends who make jokes all day long, yet score decently, in life, career etc.
Well, one employer may have heard you. And it's suprisingly, MSC-status! Check out a job posting by MindValley Lab at Craiglist. This company is based in KL, or Bangsar more specifically. And if you're lucky, maybe they'll send you off to Palo Alto or Las Vegas where you can kill yourself faster with even more fun -- just kidding about the suicide note. Jobs don't kill people. Unemployment and poverty do.
Say, folks at Pajamanation don't promote jobs, do they? Well, we don't normally, but for a company that's founded and run by my alma mater's alums, I'll make an exception. (After all, we'll employ people in Malaysia too, soon!). In fact, I myself was tempted to join them, except that I don't like programming much these days - I'm a computer engineer who doesn't really like to technically build computers. (I like others to build them for me so I can sell them as my own though.)
So you think, you're up for this one?
Well, you'd have to answer yes to these sets of questions first:
And now, the exciting part: what will I get?
All the best to the jobseekers out there! Who knows, we'll heard about you soon... (all employers of this company will be treated as celebrities, so you must like the limelights!).
Don't forget to tell people that Pajamanation "connects workers and entrepreneurs".
If readers of this blog knows of any other companies that offer truly fun workplace that comes close to the comfort of your own home, do let us know. We'd like see more people working from home, but we think that jobs can give people ample entrepreneurship skills for later decisions in life. When you're ready, you'll know it!
So, you keep your day job... And pretend you like it (to death!). Or you can bitch around and everybody who have heard you would care less about hiring you or recommending you to become one of their colleaguess. So, you shout out loud: is there any fun workplace in Malaysia, like the ones you've seen on TV? You know, like those Friends who make jokes all day long, yet score decently, in life, career etc.
Well, one employer may have heard you. And it's suprisingly, MSC-status! Check out a job posting by MindValley Lab at Craiglist. This company is based in KL, or Bangsar more specifically. And if you're lucky, maybe they'll send you off to Palo Alto or Las Vegas where you can kill yourself faster with even more fun -- just kidding about the suicide note. Jobs don't kill people. Unemployment and poverty do.
Say, folks at Pajamanation don't promote jobs, do they? Well, we don't normally, but for a company that's founded and run by my alma mater's alums, I'll make an exception. (After all, we'll employ people in Malaysia too, soon!). In fact, I myself was tempted to join them, except that I don't like programming much these days - I'm a computer engineer who doesn't really like to technically build computers. (I like others to build them for me so I can sell them as my own though.)
So you think, you're up for this one?
Well, you'd have to answer yes to these sets of questions first:
- Consider PHP your "mother tongue"? (me, me...)
- Get so addicted to a programming project that you went 2 days without sleeping?
- Consider people "un-datable" if they don't know HTML?
- Get complaints from your family that you spend way too much time on the Internet?
- Let relational databases get in the way of real-life relationships? (shit happens!)
- Intense Drive and Ambition.
- High Creativity and the Mind of an Inventor.
- A Solid Interest in Technology
- Strong Skills in CSS and USer Interface Design
- The Ability to Create Beautiful, Elegant User Experiences.
- You've written your own internet or desktop apps and shared this on the Web with the General Public.
- You have made money through your website, through selling your own internet apps or through your own IT related consulting business.
- You constantly check out new internet startups, mashups, and blogs to learn about the latest Ajax, CSS, API releases and JavaScript hacks.
- You were considered one of the brightest kids in High School/University.
- You speak fluent English.
- You look at websites and think "this sucks, I could re-design this site to make it more elegant, friendly and easier to use".
- You love challenging authority, are not afraid to question your boss and look down on average programmers. (who doesn't... hehe! Malaysians are sons and daughters of Hang Jebat -- wait, did Hang Jebat got married?)
Vishen, the company's director said, "We don't care about your field of study, grades, age or work experience as long as you're a brilliant coder, hyper creative and a team player. (although we have found a strong positive correlation between grades and coding ability)."
- You must speak English - fluently. No other languages necessary. Although we're based in Malaysia our market is strictly North American, Europe, and East Asia.
- You can be from anywhere in the world. We recruit bright people from universities worldwide and bring them to KL. Our company 70% international, and 30% Malaysian.
- You must be in love with the Internet. No we don't mean, reading the news online daily. We mean you must be excited and up to speed with the latest emerging trends in Web 2.0, Ajax, PHP, RSS, OPML and other new buzzwords making their way through the Net.
- Bonus points if you're an avid user of eBay, Craigslist, BlinkList, Del.icio.us, Digg, or are an active Blogger.
- Major bonus points if you like hanging out at Mamak's, debating User Interface over pints of B***, going on team bonding trips to Redang and have a wicked sense of humor. (hmm... any International trips??)
And now, the exciting part: what will I get?
"If you make our team, we'll provide you a high-end laptop you can take home, a dedicated server, all the sugary, caffeinated beverages you need, a docking bay for your iPod (does it comes with an iPod, Vishen?) and a beautiful office. You'll work in a Silicon Valley style environment with amazing people from around the world, and help us build the next great Internet business.
We'll also pay you competitively plus grant you stock options."
And finally, the serious part:
- Compensation: RM 2500 - 5000 (fair enough, but hmm.. in KL??)
- Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
- Please, no phone calls about this job! (I once posted this note, and one wrote angrily -- "If you won't answer phone, I have no time for you". So what? Me neither, if you don't bother to read and answer emails!)
- Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
All the best to the jobseekers out there! Who knows, we'll heard about you soon... (all employers of this company will be treated as celebrities, so you must like the limelights!).
Don't forget to tell people that Pajamanation "connects workers and entrepreneurs".
If readers of this blog knows of any other companies that offer truly fun workplace that comes close to the comfort of your own home, do let us know. We'd like see more people working from home, but we think that jobs can give people ample entrepreneurship skills for later decisions in life. When you're ready, you'll know it!
Saturday, May 12
NST Spotlight :Casting the Net for money
If we've heard in the past of many entrepreneurs who advocate pajama working by organizing seminars throughout the nation, only recently have these actual pajama workers or pajamapreneurs been featured in the mainstream media, initiated by the following article by one of the Malaysia's premier english-language newspapers - New Straits Times. If you're a reader of traditional newspapers, both online and offline, most likely you've stumbled on ads by Fione Tan's eOneNet and Dr Irfan Khairi's or even Shaun Tan's (aka. Sen Ze) who famously came up with the tagline "Make US Dollars in Your Pajamas". Although each of these personalities claimed to have been or are still making a great deal of income through the Internet, we must have realized that they are now making even more money by being an SME (vs. being a one-man show, working from bedrooms/own home), hiring many staff, complete with at least one lavish office and advertising heavily in mainstream media -- TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.
Not popularly known however, except by the growing community of bloggers and internet suffers/marketers for at least two years already, are the many hundreds of individuals who are actually making a decent life-supporting income or even a small wealth each month working literally in their pajamas (or shorts/kain pelekat/batik) at home or anywhere the Internet is accessible. How much money are we talking about? Is RM2,000/month enough to make you quit your day job? (This is VERY POSSIBLE BTW, but in some cases, you'd have to wait six months or longer to collect a monthly income of this size -- so, keep your day job when you're about to start your first Internet-based business). How about RM5,000 or even RM50K per month, for a full year or longer? Wouldn't that make you a pajama-working self-made millionaire in two years or less?
Forget auto-surf, and forget high-yield investment programs that presented more risks than benefits. There are many legitimate business/work than can be done by Internet-accessible workers, and some are even simpler and better than joining and promoting products thru an MLM system.
Perhaps to be politically correct, the following NST article features three home-working micropreneurs representing three major races in Malaysia - Malay, Chinese and Indian - SZAB, LiewCF and Gobala, each of whom operates quite a varied business activities, namely, "directory systems", "a dedicated publication on ICT and gadgets", and "an internet marketing blog as well as many sites selling infopreneur ebooks/products".
There are many others, for instance the eBay Taiko, the eLance Superworker, the Domain Web Lords, the Million-Pixel Millionaire, the World Traveller, and perhaps the mainstream media will soon catch an eye on them. (Psst: Author of this Pajamanation Malaysia blog is another net-centric pajamaworker, since 1992, but he's not ready to reveal his full resume. Though, there's this little devil called Google, you know!). Over the past many years, Pajamanation Malaysia has been following this trend of Generation C finally starting to invade Malaysia and many are shouting, "Show Us The Money!".
With success stories like this spreading like fireflies, Pajamanation Malaysia has projected that the number of pajamaworkers and micropreneurs in Malaysia to grow fast to exceed 100,000 (that's only 20% of existing active business entities in Malaysia) in two years time, and to surpass ONE MILLION net-centric workers by 2012. The question is, are the government and the local SMEs & corporations ready for this rise of the knowledge-centric amateurs? And, will the broadband and telco providers in Malaysia ever keep up?
(Note that there are 40 million home-based workers/businesses in the USA alone today, another 10 million plus in Europe and in China, India and Pakistan: prepare to be shocked soon!).
Read on the following newspaper article to learn more...
Samsul Zamzuri Abu Bakar, who works up to 12 hours a day on his laptop, has a monthly five-figure salary.
A popular Internet income generator is through the sale of advertisement space in websites and blogs. Others sell anything from e-books to software, either authored themselves, or through an affiliate programme.
There are no statistics on the number of Malaysians who have gone full-time into online money-making ventures, although anecdotal evidence suggests more are doing so.
However, before Malaysians start jumping on the Internet income bandwagon, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has a word of caution: Beware of online scams.
"Surfers should not fall for get-rich-quick scams that are aplenty online. MCMC continuously monitors and acts on them," said a spokesman from the regulatory body from the communications and multimedia industry.
But for those who have struck gold online, the returns are generous, not only in terms of pay.
Most work from home, which means they do not have bosses breathing down their necks, don’t have to get stuck in traffic jams and can spend more time with their families.
Liew Cheon Fong, who runs a technology blog (www.liewcf.com), claimed he was the first Malaysian to go into blogging full-time in 2005 in what started out as a hobby to share computing tips with friends.
The Kluang-based 27-year-old computer science degree-holder posts a few entries in his blog daily. He needs to keep his entries interesting to attract web traffic, failing which his income could dip.
One of his sources of income is Google Adsense, an online advertisement programme run by Internet giant Google. Liew gets paid whenever visitors click on advertisements placed on his blog.
Website operators who sign up with Google Adsense display advertisements related to their websites. For example, a blog on pets may feature ads on dog shampoo or pet grooming services.
Often, revenue generated online is in US dollars and credited into e-commerce facilities like PayPal. While Malaysians cannot withdraw money from PayPal accounts, many use them to make online purchases instead.
Unless you earn a monthly five-figure salary like Samsul Zamzuri Abu Bakar, 32, a Sungai Buloh-based Netpreneur (see accompanying story). He has opened an account with a United States bank which allows him to withdraw earnings credited into PayPal.
Then using his ATM card, he withdraws his money here.
But Samsul, who co-runs several blogs on gadgets like handphones and digital cameras, said many people have the misconception that entrepreneurs making money over the Internet involve "just working a few hours a day and spending the rest of the time watching their money roll in".
Samsul spends up to 12 hours in front of a computer, either liaising with his co-bloggers, marketing his blogs or simply surfing the Internet for ideas or to keep abreast with the latest developments in technology.
There are also drawbacks when your sole income is derived from such unconventional means. A common complaint is erratic income.
In Samsul’s case, revenue peaks during the Christmas and the US summer seasons when sales of technology items go up, while for the rest of the year, earnings can be slow.
Last June, Liew’s income was badly hit when Google dropped his blog’s ranking, resulting in a drastic reduction in the number of visitors to the site. Liew has since recovered after Google upgraded his ranking. Now, almost a quarter of a million visitors go to his blog per month.
Gobala Krishnan, 27, who sells e-books and software online, said it was more important to plan ahead and follow it through. Otherwise, his earnings would be affected in the long-run. He claimed to be making RM20,000 to RM30,000 per month.
How does one identify online cheats, especially since some of the operators are based overseas?
Krishnan offered his rule-of-thumb: "If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Just like any business, Internet business takes capital, time and dedication."
SOURCE: NST Online: Local News
Not popularly known however, except by the growing community of bloggers and internet suffers/marketers for at least two years already, are the many hundreds of individuals who are actually making a decent life-supporting income or even a small wealth each month working literally in their pajamas (or shorts/kain pelekat/batik) at home or anywhere the Internet is accessible. How much money are we talking about? Is RM2,000/month enough to make you quit your day job? (This is VERY POSSIBLE BTW, but in some cases, you'd have to wait six months or longer to collect a monthly income of this size -- so, keep your day job when you're about to start your first Internet-based business). How about RM5,000 or even RM50K per month, for a full year or longer? Wouldn't that make you a pajama-working self-made millionaire in two years or less?
Forget auto-surf, and forget high-yield investment programs that presented more risks than benefits. There are many legitimate business/work than can be done by Internet-accessible workers, and some are even simpler and better than joining and promoting products thru an MLM system.
Perhaps to be politically correct, the following NST article features three home-working micropreneurs representing three major races in Malaysia - Malay, Chinese and Indian - SZAB, LiewCF and Gobala, each of whom operates quite a varied business activities, namely, "directory systems", "a dedicated publication on ICT and gadgets", and "an internet marketing blog as well as many sites selling infopreneur ebooks/products".
There are many others, for instance the eBay Taiko, the eLance Superworker, the Domain Web Lords, the Million-Pixel Millionaire, the World Traveller, and perhaps the mainstream media will soon catch an eye on them. (Psst: Author of this Pajamanation Malaysia blog is another net-centric pajamaworker, since 1992, but he's not ready to reveal his full resume. Though, there's this little devil called Google, you know!). Over the past many years, Pajamanation Malaysia has been following this trend of Generation C finally starting to invade Malaysia and many are shouting, "Show Us The Money!".
With success stories like this spreading like fireflies, Pajamanation Malaysia has projected that the number of pajamaworkers and micropreneurs in Malaysia to grow fast to exceed 100,000 (that's only 20% of existing active business entities in Malaysia) in two years time, and to surpass ONE MILLION net-centric workers by 2012. The question is, are the government and the local SMEs & corporations ready for this rise of the knowledge-centric amateurs? And, will the broadband and telco providers in Malaysia ever keep up?
(Note that there are 40 million home-based workers/businesses in the USA alone today, another 10 million plus in Europe and in China, India and Pakistan: prepare to be shocked soon!).
Read on the following newspaper article to learn more...
Samsul Zamzuri Abu Bakar, who works up to 12 hours a day on his laptop, has a monthly five-figure salary.
by Chow Kum Hor, 11 MAY 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: Fed up with day jobs and measly pay, a small but rising number of people have become full-time Internet entrepreneurs, some raking in five-figure salaries, often in the comfort of their living rooms.
There are no statistics on the number of Malaysians who have gone full-time into online money-making ventures, although anecdotal evidence suggests more are doing so.
However, before Malaysians start jumping on the Internet income bandwagon, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has a word of caution: Beware of online scams.
"Surfers should not fall for get-rich-quick scams that are aplenty online. MCMC continuously monitors and acts on them," said a spokesman from the regulatory body from the communications and multimedia industry.
But for those who have struck gold online, the returns are generous, not only in terms of pay.
Most work from home, which means they do not have bosses breathing down their necks, don’t have to get stuck in traffic jams and can spend more time with their families.
Liew Cheon Fong, who runs a technology blog (www.liewcf.com), claimed he was the first Malaysian to go into blogging full-time in 2005 in what started out as a hobby to share computing tips with friends.
The Kluang-based 27-year-old computer science degree-holder posts a few entries in his blog daily. He needs to keep his entries interesting to attract web traffic, failing which his income could dip.
One of his sources of income is Google Adsense, an online advertisement programme run by Internet giant Google. Liew gets paid whenever visitors click on advertisements placed on his blog.
Website operators who sign up with Google Adsense display advertisements related to their websites. For example, a blog on pets may feature ads on dog shampoo or pet grooming services.
Often, revenue generated online is in US dollars and credited into e-commerce facilities like PayPal. While Malaysians cannot withdraw money from PayPal accounts, many use them to make online purchases instead.
Unless you earn a monthly five-figure salary like Samsul Zamzuri Abu Bakar, 32, a Sungai Buloh-based Netpreneur (see accompanying story). He has opened an account with a United States bank which allows him to withdraw earnings credited into PayPal.
Then using his ATM card, he withdraws his money here.
But Samsul, who co-runs several blogs on gadgets like handphones and digital cameras, said many people have the misconception that entrepreneurs making money over the Internet involve "just working a few hours a day and spending the rest of the time watching their money roll in".
Samsul spends up to 12 hours in front of a computer, either liaising with his co-bloggers, marketing his blogs or simply surfing the Internet for ideas or to keep abreast with the latest developments in technology.
There are also drawbacks when your sole income is derived from such unconventional means. A common complaint is erratic income.
In Samsul’s case, revenue peaks during the Christmas and the US summer seasons when sales of technology items go up, while for the rest of the year, earnings can be slow.
Last June, Liew’s income was badly hit when Google dropped his blog’s ranking, resulting in a drastic reduction in the number of visitors to the site. Liew has since recovered after Google upgraded his ranking. Now, almost a quarter of a million visitors go to his blog per month.
Gobala Krishnan, 27, who sells e-books and software online, said it was more important to plan ahead and follow it through. Otherwise, his earnings would be affected in the long-run. He claimed to be making RM20,000 to RM30,000 per month.
How does one identify online cheats, especially since some of the operators are based overseas?
Krishnan offered his rule-of-thumb: "If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Just like any business, Internet business takes capital, time and dedication."
SOURCE: NST Online: Local News
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Latest Feeds
