Why We Should Go Home by 5.30pm?

[KH EE]

By trade minister Rafidah Aziz (Malaysia)
KOBE, March 18 (Bernama) --

With a reputation for her strong stamina despite arduous and hectic schedules, it was not surprising that someone had to ask the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, where her source of almost boundless energy came from.

"In my job, you have to be cheerful because it's about wanting people to invest. Can you imagine if I come to Kobe with a sour face and no smile? You will not want to come to Malaysia," she said when asked by a Japanese businessman to reveal the secret of her staying power at a seminar on Business Opportunities in Malaysia here today.

"You're great. You're so dynamic and cheerful. We don't see
such a character in our Japanese ministers," said the businessman who was obviously an admirer of Rafidah's dynamic personality.

In reply, Rafidah said she was a naturally cheerful person. "I am not making it up (in being cheerful). I laugh a lot and so it's easy for me to be cheerful. It's not like I'm pretending to be cheerful. My nature is like that," she said in a matter-of-fact and yet lighthearted manner.

The minister said her energy also came from the fact that she
liked her job."I've been in this job (her present position) for 16
years and I have been in the government for 27 years," she said,
acknowledging that she was no longer young as she would be 60 years old this year and already has three grandchildren.

"It makes me happy. You must always do what that makes you
happy. If you're not happy, you don't do it. That's very simple... If you don't like the thing but you have to do it (anyway), you'll get the sour face," she said.

Rafidah said she usually did not bring her work home with her. But if she really has some work to finish up, she would wake up at 5.00 am to complete it. "If I go home late, my driver will have to wait for me, my security guard will have to wait for me and my other staff also has to wait for me.

And they will curse me because they want to go home (early),"
she said.

Rafidah said if she did not leave for home by 5.30 pm, there was a likelihood that there would be five or six people who could be angry with her. "Angry people are not productive," she said, admitting that she was also not productive in her work after 5.30pm.

"After 5.30 pm, I'm not productive. So five unhappy staff and one
unhappy minister is not good (at all)," she said.

Rafidah felt that working very late in office was a waste of time. "You would be better off at home, (or) go out for dinner or play... happy and the next morning you're fresh," she said.

"If you go home late at 11.00 pm or midnight and you don't
look at your family and tomorrow you go into the train to go to office, in the end you're not happy and your family is not happy," she said.

"The world will go on even if you go home at 5.30. The world will
not stop if you go home at 5.30 pm.

"Why must you go home at 11.00 pm? What's the point and how
much work can you do between 5.30pm and 11.00pm?"

"Enjoy yourselves and be happy. I find that I work more
when I'm happy," she said. -- BERNAMA
==========
your thots...?

[chsum]

Where do you stand on this KHEE?

[KH EE]

I go back at 5pm unless it's a badminton day or unless there's some urgent job to be completed... so basically i agree with kak pah but i don't agree when she said, "... how much work can you do between 5.30pm and 11.00pm?"

I can a lot of work-lah in 5 1/2 hours! :o

[chsum]

I think she's talking like we have already achieved first world status. For her, she can afford to go home at 5.30pm everyday but for most of us working ppl, we just can't afford it.
A minister lost touch of the real world.

[jeya]

"After 5.30 pm, I'm not productive. Quote

On the contrary I beg to differ she was productive..;)

[satish]

Originally posted by jeya
"After 5.30 pm, I'm not productive.

This will mean that after 5.30pm, even Family Life is [not]
productive ?

[Cindy Kee]

Staying back after 5 pm is just bad time management. You are employed to do 8 hours of work a day and if you are productive and have been diligent, you should be able to complete the work that is required of you within the time frame. If you cannot or will not, then it is either or all: 1) you have not been working as you should, 2) you are a bad time manager, 3) your boss has overloaded you, and 4) you stay back to suck up and impress your boss.

I leave at 5 pm on the dot. If my boss does not like it, he can shove it. I have my own life to live.

[orchipalar]

Err...Hi:) - Ahem..what happens when there are deadlines to meet..err...like...functions...road shows...promotions...shopping hours..deliveries of services or goods....?

Err...not everyone is a minister...n it depends on one's profession right?....:)

[satish]

Heh,

That means the Ministers "opening buildings/highways/seminars & so on"..they must be working "overtime"..are they claiming to work exceeding the 39 hours per week?

3 sens

[Cindy Kee]

Irregardless, Orchipalar, in your case, my four pointers still apply. Perhaps if people would do their work as they should instead of posting in usj.com forum during their office hours, then they can finish their work and go home to their families and loved ones!

:)

[isarahim]

The problem I have is that if I leave office at 5 PM or 5.30 PM I will have to spend the next hour+ in traffic. Lots of people are spending more than 400 hours in traffic per year! That's an awful lot of time lost in your life.

So I alternate. Either I leave at 10-11 PM or I leave at 3-4 PM and do some work from home. Sometimes I'm lucky to have a late afternoon meeting somewhere in the Sunway-Subang area.

[Cindy Kee]

I still maintain it is all about time management and getting your priorities in life right.

[orchipalar]

Err..Cindy:) - Erm..if your boss were to request that you stay back for urgent matters at the end of your working day...n he be willing to compensate you accordingly....ahem...would you still tell your boss to..err....shove it?....:D

[isarahim]

Originally posted by Cindy Kee
I still maintain it is all about time management and getting your priorities in life right.
Couldn't more agree on that.

[isarahim]

Originally posted by orchipalar
would you still tell your boss to..err....shove it?...
Perhaps she's her own boss, strong viewed and minded as she is...it's easier to tell yourself to shove it...

[fRaNkY]

It is sad to note nowadays in my working place |(at the moment|), that people come early and go have breakfast and lepak and past 30 mins past start office day , 8.30. unfortunately that people still follows old govt time, then the people will missing for another 45 minutes around 10am and missing again for lunch around 12 noon to 3 pm. tea again around 3.30 and dissappear around 4.30 pm.

people still dont work as efficiently, same 50 years ago.

people still gossip and play office politics.

people still dont get their work complete, due to the long breaks

people enjoys 30 annual leaves.

people work 5 days week

How is malaysia going to compete with the mat salleh and jappo?

We want to become "Malaysia Boleh' but still unable to discipline ourselves. how to compete when we didnt make effort to compete.

[orchipalar]

Originally posted by Cindy Kee
Staying back after 5 pm is just bad time management.
I leave at 5 pm on the dot. If my boss does not like it, he can shove it. I have my own life to live.

Hi Saudara IsaRahim:) - Err...Orchi couldn't be thinking she is her own boss at work....:)

[jeya]

For me when I used to work in this huge privatised utility board, time mangement wasnt a big issue or relevent to gain a promotion or to be patted by our boss.

There were other sinsiter reasons for promotions which I dont want to dwell , it would only add to my frustations.

Most of the staff who stayed back after 5.00pm were for personal reasons or to claim overtime.

In the last 15 to 20 years it is obvious in Malaysia with our laid back society work ethics is slowly eroding away.

[Cindy Kee]

Err..Cindy - Erm..if your boss were to request that you stay back for urgent matters at the end of your working day...n he be willing to compensate you accordingly....ahem...would you still tell your boss to..err....shove it?....

Orchipalar. Put it this way. If my boss asks me to stay back for urgent matters on short notice and if I have already made plans to go out with my boyfriend for a dinner, movie, theatre, concert or even a walk in a shopping mall, then I would ask my boss to shove it. On the other hand, if I have nothing better than just sitting around waiting for my nail vanish to dry, then I would stay back and attend to the urgent matters. As I have said, it is a question of priorities.

Orchipalar. Perhaps let me put this question to you. When I am on my death bed and with a few minutes to live, what would I be thinking of? Would I be thinking that I should spend more time with my loved ones, my parents, my siblings and boyfriend (or in future, my husband and children)? Or would I be thinking that I should have stayed back more days to work on urgent matters in the office?

There is no right and wrong answer. It is a question of priorities. The choice is ours to make.

[orchipalar]

Err..Cindy:) - Hmm...err...when you have put it that way....OK..now where is today's paper...gotta have a new merdeka morning resolution to look forward to....gotta look for the prospect for a more easier 9 to 5 job...ahem...that pays the same....or a prospect of finding that kinda boss....err....who doesn't mind being told to....err....shove it....after trying to get his or her workers to put up with the additional hours at work....:D

Err...then again...the one other person being most happy after reading your views on the matter...ahem..would be wifey...err... she is going to really dwell on Orchi this time....to finding that prospect soon...ahem..rather than staying up late...err...or early...almost always with the single excuse of OT....:D

[Cindy Kee]

Orchipalar. You still do not get it, do you? I am saying that you ditch your job (or even if you are the boss, you neglect your responsibilities). I am talking about getting your priorities right. A person who constantly finds that he does not have the time for his loved ones or doing the things he enjoys doing, has a real serious problems. It is back to my statement of getting your priorities right and good time management. Our Creator gives everybody the same 24 hours a day. You decide what to do with your 24 hours. Posting in the forum, even though it promotes integration and good feelings, at 4 am in the morning, in my view, is not getting your priorities right and is sheer bad time management. Of course, unless you have good reasons to avoid your husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, children and your loved ones. As at now, I still cannot think of a single good reason.

:D

[Cindy Kee]

Orchipalar. Actually finding 'that kinda boss' is very easy. You prove your worth and you also tell him that if he expects you to continue to perform at a high level and remains loyal to the company, he must respect you for your own time with your loved ones. It is called cultivating mutual self respect and understanding and in doing so, you get your self dignity as a human being. I have been told that employees in many Asian countries work well after official office hours for reasons best known to themselves. Hours do not equal productivity. So back to the original post in this thread, Rafidah, if she really means what she says, is absolutely correct.

[Cindy Kee]

Sorry. Orchipalar. Correction to my post:


I am saying that you ditch your job (or even if you are the boss, you neglect your responsibilities).

Should read 'I am not saying that you ditch your job.....'

[Timo]

I actually find it strange that so many Malaysians (at least that I know of) work so many hours per week. And here we are discussing whether we SHOULD go back at 5.30pm. I say, why not discuss why we SHOULD NOT go back at 5.30pm? It is (probably) stated in our work contracts that we have to work a X amount of hours per week, say 40 hours, which translates to a 9-5 job. No less, no more.

Having said that, I do dislike fixed working hours. Micro management of time like that is unproductive for me. Some days I might have a brilliant day, so I may want to work longer because I am 'on fire'. Another particular day I may feel like crap so I would prefer to go home early and rest. For companies to implement such a system that will alllow flexible individual time management, I suggest the company set long term deadlines (which they do anyway), and employees should stick by them. For example, a company may want you to produce an environmental impact assessment on a particular new production line, and they want it done in 3 months. Regardless of whether you go home at 5.30 or not, you should be able to finish it by then. This of course assumes that the company is not over burdening their employees, and good companies always find a good balance between workload and employee satisaction. Why else would we need a human resource department?

[orchipalar]

Err...it has been quite a loooog time...since Orchi has had to glance thru career opportunity ads in the papers....err....tried it today...ahem...but seems to have gotten lost....as most ads that Orchi came across...were about looking for almost always...err..certain qualifications or experiences....which are beyond Orchi's scope of capabilities....:(

Ahem...however...quite noticeably...quite many of these ads stated....'be prepared to work overtime....'

Now...perhaps...the bad time management...hasn't just been relevant with the employees only....?:)

[jeffreychay]

You should get more sleep and go for a doctor early in morning since your headache looks serious...Take my advice!

[orchipalar]

Ahem.....Dear Lord(bro..:))..err...thank you for answering to Orchi's prayer...erm....to weed off the potential headache coming...since last night....ahem....now Orchi feels much much better.....thanks to you again....err....silly Orchi...who said you were never around when needed....:D

Now...Orchi could then concentrate...better...to manage time...:)

[orchipalar]

Err..BTW...Mr. JeffreyChay...since there might be a strong possibility...err...that you might wanna sign in with another nick..ahem...or wanna get one of your assistants...to do it all over again in here?...just in case you could be reading this....ahem...Orchi took your advice!....went home around midnight...bang the shiitt out of Orchi's head against the wall....err....Voila!...the headache has just amazingly vanished.....:p

Having said that...Cindy:) ...ahem...took your advice too....err...told boss everything there is to say...about how Orchi dreads the late hours also....guess what...Orchi could be looking forward to another raise....ahem....very soon:)

[Cindy Kee]

Orchipalar. Everything in this world is a big joke to you. Yes?

:D

[orchipalar]

Ahem...Cindy:) - Err...purely circumstantially so...:)

[lady-o-leisure]

My hubby used to work late hours during summer when it was the peak in sales.. i got sick of waiting at home for him to come back for dinner.... So i either travelled for holiday with the kids.. or joined him at work. Lucky for us.. it's a family-run business so i could go upstairs to the living room area and let the kids hang out. Any other time of the year.. he would be expected home for dinner before 6pm so that we could all eat together. All staff at their business who are not relatives, left at 5pm. Customers or no.. my late hubby always left promptly at 5.15pm.

See, even now.. the kids and i always eat together during dinner. Some things continue on... and i will never have any complaints that he was never home or didnt spend enough time with us.

[Cindy Kee]

Lady-O-Leisure. Sitting down for dinners is a very important togetherness for families. My family always make it a point to do that. Even if my mother does not cook for that particular evening, we would wait for each other to return from work and then go out to eat together. Well, apart from some rare moments when I have dinners with my boyfriend. When it comes to meeting up for a dinner, movie or just a coffee, he is as consistent as an out-of-order wind-up old clock.

:)