Unhappy Birthday

There is so much to say.

I am not a religious person but I must thank (whoever) God for helping me to make my day. My goal and mission were completed eventually with determination and fury.

It has been told that the annual dinner will be held on my birthday since November. I have requested to help planning this one of the greatest functions of the year for the company. It was approved with high expectation from the Broad of Directors (basically my family). I have set one simple goal: Make sure our big boss will not shout at all of our employees at the end of the function to make them stay while giving way for our honored guests to leave the site. It sounds funny but that was what a practice for years. The annual dinner supposed to be a happy event but always 衰收尾. We need, and it is time, to make a change.

I was in Japan when the organizing committee of the function held their first meeting, so I assigned our IE, Ann, to attend the meeting on behalf of IE/me. I supposed that we will be rather involved in planning and preparing the function, but our greatest Admin Dpt has assigned us to:

1. Plan the flow of the function
2. Plan the seating arrangement
3. Look after the prizes and gifts during the function

I was disappointed when Ann provided me the report. Oh well, if that is what has been decided in the meeting with all the departments, and in reality our IE Team was already loaded with normal work and was understaffed, I had nothing better to say but to accept.

There was no further news after that meeting, not until I urged the Admin Dpt twice to pass me the programs that they want to put in the function so that we could plan for the flow. By the time I received the information it was already a week away from the annual dinner. They gave me nothing related but their plan in arrangement for the preparation. IE Team’s job was greatly reduced to only plan for the seating arrangement. I must admit that I got little bit frustrated but well, I still sacrificed a morning and discussed that with my team.

We used what the Chinese people like to call “Scientific Management” to plan for the seating arrangement. In modern Industrial Engineering our method is more commonly known as “Common Sense”.

I passed that to the 王馬褂 of the Admin Manager and he agreed to follow/arrange accordingly. I walked up to the Admin Manager the next working day and wanted to discuss with her if there should be any modification to the seating arrangement. She said our plan was not appropriate and she already had her own plan. I told her I understood our Team might not have come up with the best plan and that was the reason I wanted to talk to her, but she simply rejected harshly and asked me to say no word. I really wondered who and what the 4v(k she thinks she is. It really got to my nerve and I told her that if that was the case our Team would just step out of the function planning from that moment onward since our work was not appreciated and that we had our own work to do. I walked out of the room and accidentally slammed the door loud. I swear I have never intended to do that purposely. I would apologize for that if it was another time, but I did not think it was necessary and so I just left that as it was. By the way, I later found out that even though she said she had her own plan for the seating arrangement, but her Admin Dpt used our plan from the beginning to the end. I really wondered what she meant by “her plan”.

Admin Dpt has made one of the greatest arrangements for the flow of the function in years: allowing our employees to bring the dinner back to their dorm so that the Admin Dpt would have more than enough time to clear the canteen and transport all the benches to the site of the function. This could of course result in messing up the living places and to clog all the drains and toilets. I brought that up in the Management’s Meeting. Our big boss instructed me to work with the Admin Dpt to think of a better way to do that while the annual dinner was just 4.5 days away. I led my Team and worked out what we thought the feasible plan with fine details after 算完又算, and went though it with the Admin Dpt the next day. The Admin Dpt regarded the fine details of our plan had gone too far beyond. They had every reason why the details of our plan were not necessary without giving our Team a clear view of what they had planned and would do to ensure that everything would run smooth.

We did not have a happy ending as annoyance filled up the room. Eventually both Admin Dpt and IE Team agreed that IE Team would list out all the milestones and time constraints for the preparation of the function. Admin Dpt promised to post that onto the public notice broad together with their corresponding detailed arrangements that would go with ours.

The IE Team worked out our job and put that in our formal meeting minute according to our original plan. In the other words, those milestones and terms are achievable if the preparation was organized and completed in our way, even though the schedule would be a little bit tight. I signed it at the corner to show that I have confirmed the content is true with my best knowledge and understanding. We want the preparation to be well planned so as to reduce the possible hardship brought to our employees due to unpreparedness. I did not expect this piece of paper just turned out to have a negative effect with an opposite approach. The Admin Dpt trapped us and posted only our meeting minute without their corresponding plan. Without their corresponding plan our meeting minute appeared to force every department to work out their each and own individual plan to accomplish my Team’s arrangement. In the other words this publication misled the whole company and brought about complaints to my IE Team. I was so annoyed and the excuse that the Admin Dpt replied me was that they were just too busy. Who was not busy at that moment, huh!?

If it was a trick, then it would be my time to play mine. I sent out an email to all departments telling them to get ready and to expect the detailed arrangement from the Admin Dpt would come soon. In less than half an hour the Admin Dpt sent out their original plan with slight modification that was insignificant to be considered as a change. I was totally disappointed and started to worry about it.

To add on to the bad coming over, the weather forecast had been giving us bad news. I had raised that to the Admin Manager that we need a backup plan but she said 大不了just cancel it. What can I say? The Admin Dpt is the official department responsible for planning the function but they are giving it up. I could not stand her 4v(king attitude so I asked our JIE, Compass, to check the feasibility of moving the venue of the function into our canteen block instead of having it outdoor. He checked but his reply was simply not what I wanted to hear.

It was less than 18 hours before the function should start when it was freezing and showering outside. The official weather forecast of Dong Guan at that time stated that there would be shower. I quickly made a screen print and sent that to the respective personnel, no one ever replied.

It was my birthday, but I found myself in 谷底when I got up. The shower turned out to be heavy rain and that 617(^, Admin Manager, started to be nervous and worry about what she could do as she did not have a backup plan. If the annual dinner were to be cancelled I bet the 1200+ employees would get very disappointed and upset, especially for those who had practiced so hard for the shows/performances for that night. I purposed to move the whole function to an outside indoor venue to ensure the function could still go on and the rest of our plan would not be interrupted. She agreed right away and dragged me to sell this idea to our big boss.

Chinese people have 奴性思想. Unlike what people in the other countries would work on their own to complete their given tasks, Chinese people always rely on the management, or the Head, to give every instruction to tell them what to do step by step to complete their given task. Before we reached our big boss’ office that 617(^ asked me if we should discuss with him instead of proposing our idea. I told her that he had already been buried with workload and it was our responsibilities to give him options instead of giving him questions.

Our big boss had been emotional for the time due to the poor performance of each individual in the company in general, so when we first introduced and talked about we need an alternative plan, he was already mad and came up with his own pessimistic plans- to cut the function into halves and to let the shows/performances done sometimes the next week (but who would be there to see the shows/performances if the lucky draws were drawn after the dinner that night?), or just to postpone the whole function till after the Chinese New Year. Any of these would directly affect the mood of every individual of the company as they all have their expectation for that night. I told him my idea but his reply was simply discouraging, 撥我冰水. At the end I asked how much the budget I could have if I could make it my way no matter what. “Limitless” was what I heard in a gloomy tone.

In less than 15 minutes the 617(^ and I found ourselves in a theatre nearby available for that night. In the following 45 minutes we had the Management’s Meeting back in the office and confirmed to move our function there. Every people in the Admin Dpt from the CFO to the clerks worked around to get the transportation settled and I ordered my team to quickly come to their office to work out the transition together. I have requested/demanded that the IE Team to plan out the details of every step of the function. Compass was sent to the site to help set up while Ann and MQ would help to plan for the revised seating arrangement and transportation procedure. I travelled back and forth to the site and the company to obtain what my Team needed to know before they could plan and act.

By the lunch time we got the seating arrangement revised and we agreed that we would meet again after lunch at 1:15pm. At 12:50pm when I was still having lunch with Emama, that 617(^ called and demanded me to appear in the Admin Office right away in a rushing tone. I asked what happened and she told me that her people need to get to the theatre to tell the people about our revised seating arrangement. I said that should be done in no hurry since the chairs we needed to add had not even been transported there and I was still having my lunch. That 617(^ said there was no time to relax but to work, ordering me to drive her people there. Anger just filled my brain and I shouted through my phone that she could just call instead of sending someone there just to pass the seating plan; and we need her people to stay in the company to help organizing the transition. I slammed my phone then called Compass and told him the plan then called back the 617(^ telling the people on that side had already known about the seating arrangement so just gave me time to finish my lunch and I would appear at 1:15pm sharp.

There was already a crowd outside the Admin Office when I got there before 1:15pm. I walked in and the situation inside was in chaos. That 617(^ complaint and that made me to scream at her. She wanted to send my IE Team and everyone in Admin to the theatre to help setting up while she would stay behind and “take care the rest”. I said we need someone to stay in the company to plan and help organizing every detail of the transition, she shouted back saying no plan was needed. I did not mean to start a fight but I shouted that all the chaos we had for that day was a result due to no plan/unpreparedness; and I did not want that to happen anymore. I told her that I only want to have a smooth and happy night so I did not what anything to happen again to hinder that. I am going to 遇神殺神遇佛殺佛if anyone or anything stops me. She shut up and I continued to instruct the people what to do next.

When I got to the theatre the first thing I did was asking if the people I sent there before had their lunch yet. Then I passed them our revised seating arrangement but added that 將在外軍令有所不從, as they know the best about the situation at the site and our plan was for their reference only. I did not want our plan to make anything unrealistic to them.

I quickly returned to the company to work with the rest of my team for the transportation procedure. Luckily Ella was there to help them before I got back. We did not only plan for how many rounds we need to transport all the people there but which department would go on which bus and the sequence of which department should go first according to the seating arrangement that we computed earlier so that there would not be chaos when the people arrived the theatre. By the time we completed it was only 45 minutes away from the first round of people to gather and get transported to the theatre.

After a bowl of hot soup Emama and I travelled to the theatre and I started to help around after settling her down. The crowd started to move in in a little bit chaos at the beginning, but that was quickly settled. Our transportation procedure worked out fine and the first group of people moved to the front seats, while the second took the top and the last took the back of the theatre. Everything seemed systematic and just worked out as planned and desired; I only heard about complaints from Ann that she argued with that 617(^ when that 617(^ asked the people to有位就上 while Ella and her tried to arrange people to get on the bus as planned. I assured her that as long as what we did was for good we needed not to care about courtesy at that moment.

Our big boss was the last one to get there. He did not complain anything and I was glad about that. Everyone was ready for the function to start but the lighting professionals from Shao Guan arranged by that 617(^ did not get the lighting and audio set up in time. Everyone waited for at least 40 minutes and the function was forced to delay for 10 minutes. By the way the lighting that night was really bad as the audience was always irritated by the strong lights shining straight into our eyes. What kind of lighting professionals they were!?

We planned the path for our guests to walk through to the stage but that 617(^ told them the other way, making them to walk past a narrow way and behind the AV control station. That was simply and definitely dumby dumby dumb.

All the performances were great excepted for the one featuring that 617(^’s 王馬褂. I just 睇唔過眼 all the performers where there to perform as background for him during his singing. What the 4v(k!?

Compass came to me during the show saying that he had not packed his stuff since I sent him there but he must get back to HK that night. I asked the CFO what the plan was for the HK employees and he told me everyone would leave at 9:30pm sharp. I told him about Compass’ situation and he said just to ask Compass to get a taxi back and forth and tried to get back by 9:30pm on his own. It was already 9:05 pm and I fully understood his decision was for majority but I did not respect that. I quickly got back to Compass, pulled him onto the car and I drove him back to the company. It was 9:07pm when I started my car and we got back at 9:24pm just in time for the closing of the function. As I knew I had to go up to the stage for the lucky draw, I asked Emama to do that for me so that I could take care of Compass. I did not and would not want to have somebody to work so hard but got left behind. That is not my style of managing my people.

The MCs started to call the managers to go up to the stage for photo taking, although I am not a manager I should be in the photo as well as a 工作人員 at least. But since Mummy was not there and I just did not feel like taking pictures with the group as I did not like the whole function even my Team and I had worked so hard for it, I stepped aside.

Before the end of the show I repeated again and again the moving out procedure would be FILO, but that 617(^ announced it would be the same way as the crowd moved in, that is, FIFO. That would of course cause chaos so I grabbed a mic and took care of the moving out announcement. Everything was smooth until I took a picture with our big boss and that was when that 617(^ told everyone it was free to leave the theatre. I got so angry and she made me shouted at her in front of everybody. I grabbed back the mic and told the crowd it was cold and raining outside so please stay as we did not want anyone to get sick, especially for those returning home for the holiday who needed to travel on crowded trains for 10+ hours. However I did not have to shout and our big boss did not have to shout to ask the people to stay behind. My goal was accomplished. At least we had a happy ending and my mission was completed.

I really appreciate everyone who had worked for the function except for that 617(^, so I declared that I would buy them a dinner after the Chinese New Year as a token of appreciation.

When we got back to the company I asked our big boss if he would join us to 飲夜茶, he recommended in a demanding tone to stay and get some congee at the canteen. I basically ignored and drove off. He did not understand me that I knew I should be eating at the canteen with everyone but I just did not want to see that 617(^ that night anymore. It was my birthday so just leave me alone so that I did not have to do anything that I did not like to do for that night anymore. Anyway, our big boss had never verbally said Happy Birthday to me that day as a father, he just sent me an email and I did not feel any warmth from his words. Real sad…

I am really proud of having such a unique Team. They managed to work with me through difficulties that seem “impossible” enough for many people and I could see 150% teamwork in this function. Thank you so much, my Team! In contrast that 617(^ only spoiled our plan, she is really成事不足敗事有餘. I really 放長雙眼睇天點收佢.