Gong Xi Fa Cai

恭禧發財, here we are, celebrating another new year, the Lunar New Year.

In Malaysia we had New Year and Maal Hijrah earlier and now we celebrate what is known here as Chinese New Year. Xin Nian Kuai Le, 新年快乐. The new year will be the year of the snake. If I'm not mistaken, I was born in such year as well. Hmmm, interesting.

Many of us are excited when starting something. Even for golfers, a great t-off would make a golfer very happy. However, when we look at how performance of golfers are measured, it is about how a game ends. How many stroke does one need to complete a round of golf. It is about how things ended rather that how they started.

While we certainly deserve to celebrate the coming of any important milestone, we should not forget the essence of the milestone itself. A new year is a new beginning although it does not necessarily erase whatever misfortune or tragedy which happened in the year before. In fact we should reflect whether any misgiving that we experienced in the past was totally fated or it was due to our own doing. Electing a wrong leader would consequently result in us suffering the leadership of somebody who should not be there in the first place. So, rather than complaining about the person, in a new year we should try to learn how to select a person that could be trusted while being competent in the first place.

The way we choose the paths of our future would influence the future. I hope by this time we should have learnt that if we are not careful in deciding the path that will lead towards prosperity, don't blame others if we don't get what we want. If we want things the short cut way, don't blame others if the sense of achievement is only for a short while. In the age and era where many things could be faked, we need to be able to differentiate between sustainable achievements from fake sense of success.

Let me give you a simple example. If we fancy something, we could buy the stuff. We can buy the stuff using the money that we earn or we could borrow the money from somebody else. Therefore, being given money per se does not mean that we are a successful person. If we borrow, we need to pay back. If we are unable to pay back in the future, we will suffer the consequences. So money here money there does not make a society a successful society. Beware of salesmen with offer you products which could disappear as soon as you provide the sales person what he or she wants.

So much of ranting, I hope I don't spoil your mood to celebrate. Remember, celebration  is normally shorter that the period which we experience real life.

I pray to Allah all of us will be accorded prosperity, success and good health in the new Lunar New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Are We Moving Backwards?

The news about 14 pigmy elephants poisoned in Sabah recently really bothers me. While the facts behind this unfortunate incidence are still being investigated, the fact that people do not have any feeling of guilt to commit such despicable act reflects the truth about how low we could go as a society.

Source: CNN

When we talk about achieving Vision 2020, many would be talking about the target GDP per capita or the wealth that will be enjoyed when the target is achieved. I believe, many do not really know the real aspiration. I tried to Google the vision but could not find the link to any official source. Perhaps what is recorded by Wikipedia here would remind us about the vision.

One of the challenges envisaged before we could achieve the vision is to establish a fully moral and ethical society (Challenge 4). The poisoning incidence certainly does not reflect a society which observe high moral values. If endangered animals could be killed, perhaps for profit motives, then we are really sinking towards the dark side of humanity. This is what Allah revealed in the Quran "We have certainly created man in the best of stature; Then We return him to the lowest of the low, Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for they will have a reward uninterrupted (AT-Tin: 4-6).

Certainly I am not the expert to identify the root causes of this moral decay but as some had said the past, a fish roots from the head. Maybe those who are looked upon by the society have not been walking the talk when it comes to moral and ethical issues. Some say nice things on the advice of their media advisors but behave the opposite, reflecting the real values that they believe in.

As a society, we cannot fault our leaders. They are up there because we sent them there. Their values reflect the values believed by the majority of our people who are eligible to decide. So, if we feel the society is sick, it could be because we are sick ourselves, maybe not physically but values-wise.

Have a great day!

Lemah Temir - A re-visit

Malaysia is a multi religious and cultural society. It celebrates many special occasions which coincide with the religions and cultures of its citizens in addition to the more global holidays such as the New Year. While this could be considered a challenge by many employers, employees consider the many holidays as opportunities to take a break from their stressful daily routines.

Over the Thaipusam holiday, we had a family trip to Lembah Temir, around an hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. Located within a palm oil plantation in Raub, Lembah Temir provides visitors with a serene environment, with trees and streams within the compound. This was our second trip to this privately owned place. It is only available to friends and relatives of the owner who built a number of chalets for the benefit of his guests.

I hope the photos and videos here would provide you with some idea about what you could find in this peaceful place.

One of the streams at Lembah Temir

Water flowing down from the waterfall

A symbiotic relationship

One of the native inhabitants of Lemah Temir

Audit value is key to resolving issues of retention of accounting talent

MIA
23/01/2013

Transforming the perception of audit value is the key to optimising accounting talent in audit firms, says the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Communicating the true value of audit and assurance services, and closing the audit expectations gap that separates clients and audit firms is the key to resolving the on-going talent retention challenge for the accountancy profession, said the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) in its initial feedback to the 'Optimising Talent in Accounting Firms' recent survey jointly released by the Audit Oversight Board (AOB) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Malaysia.

MIA CEO, Ms Ho Foong Moi

Unsurprisingly, the survey found that factors like opportunities to gain diversified experience, high future earning potential, job security, competitive compensation, career development support, and optimum work-life balance are pivotal to talent attraction and retention.

"MIA is well aware of these expectations from many years of engagement with its members and stakeholders. Nevertheless, we welcome these findings which reaffirm the challenges and shortcomings facing the profession in the Malaysian environment," remarked MIA's Chief Executive Officer, Ho Foong Moi.

However, the talent challenge cannot be addressed in isolation. In MIA's opinion, the issue of attracting and retaining talent in accounting firms cannot be resolved without concurrently addressing the perception of audit value among stakeholders, particularly audit clients.

"Industries are typically reluctant to pay competitive fees for audit and assurance services. In the experience of local audit firms, companies usually negotiate to bring down audit fees, treating audit and assurance like a commodity rather than a value-added service. Indeed, it is commonly believed that the level of audit fees in Malaysia is the lowest audit fee structure among ASEAN and Asia-Pacific markets," explained Foong Moi.

"Inadequate fees are one reason that audit firms are constrained from investing in talent and are unable to pay competitive salaries to retain staff. This results in inequitable distribution of work. In the long run, audit quality may declines."

However, the profession too is partly to blame for perpetuating the low-fee and low-value audit model.

"Audit firms should refrain from undercutting one another to win market share. They should also refrain from accepting low-fee low-value compliance assignments to educate the market that audit and assurance services are high-value services which deserve competitive fees," said Foong Moi.

"Value, not volume, is the key to erasing this mismatch between auditors and clients."

"MIA firmly believes that the solution to talent sustainability boils down to transforming the perception of the value of audit and communicating the value of audit in order to close the expectation gap between clients and audit firms," stressed Foong Moi.

"If audit firms and the profession as a whole are able to convince corporations about the value of the audit proposition, the entire audit eco-system will be able to move up the economic value chain," she said.

Promoting audit and assurance services as high-value and high-quality premium services should generate higher revenues and enable firms to invest more resources in competitive compensation and defined career development paths, two of the `wants on the bucket list' in the AOB-ACCA report.

This would spur a virtuous cycle whereby more talent can be recruited and retained to increase the audit talent pool. Augmenting audit talent would enable more equitable distribution of work and thus, a better work-life balance, another key factor for talent retention highlighted in the report.

Currently, MIA has embarked on key initiatives to rebrand and differentiate audit and assurance services. Internally MIA has set up a special taskforce which is responsible for creating awareness and communicating the true value and benefits of audits in order to raise the market perception of audit and assurance services.

At the same time, MIA is actively collaborating with our stakeholders such as fellow regulators, institutions of higher learning, professional accountancy bodies and firms to develop a sustainable talent pool. One key focus area is uplifting accounting education in order to produce higher numbers of qualified and competent accountants.

"This is critical because the demand for qualified accountants remains buoyant and is anticipated to increase over the next few years. The Government and the economy are in need of highly competent accountants and financial talents to support Malaysia's economic transformation programme (ETP) towards becoming a high-income and developed nation by 2020," said Foong Moi.

At present, more than 29,000 MIA members are working in a wide spectrum of businesses and industries, both in Malaysia and cross-border.

"Our country is not short of young talents. What is needed is a concerted effort by all quarters to nurture and develop these talents into a competitive professional workforce," she concluded.

Asean audit regulators need to work together prior to AEC

KUALA LUMPUR: Asean audit regulators are increasingly working together to create consistency and address industry challenges in the region.

According to Malaysia's Audit Oversight Board (AOB) executivechairman Nik Hasyudeen Yusoff, collaboration among audit regulators is crucial to improve audit quality in the region.

Pointing to the imminent formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), when regional markets were supposed to be more liberalised, Nik Hasyudeen said it became even more important for regulators to work together to ensure information shared across countries is properly audited and adopts consistent standards.

In an exclusive interview in conjunction with the 2nd Asean Audit Regulators Group Forum held in Malaysia recently, Nik Hasyudeen, together with Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority chief executive Juthika Ramanathan and assistant chief executive Julia Tay, and the director of the Accounting Supervision Department of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand Thawatchai Kiatkwankul, spoke to StarBiz on some of the critical issues faced by the industry.

(From left) Nik Hasyudeen, Tay, Juthika and Kiatkwankul speaking to StarBiz

Below are excerpts of the interview:

What are the priority issues for improving the work of audit firms in your respective countries?

Nik Hasyudeen: In Malaysia, one of the things we always emphasise is the tone set by the leadership of audit firms. We recognise that for a good, high-quality audit to be performed, the leadership must be committed.

They have to invest in the necessary resources such as human capital, and the leaders have to make sure they are independent of their clients.

Every year, we conduct inspections on audit firms and engage the larger ones to discuss critical issues facing the industry, including setting the right tone and implementing a monitoring system to ensure quality.

What we're trying to do here is ensure that audit firms develop a very strong tone and culture on a quality that is supplemented by a sound framework of monitoring system.

All stakeholders (and not just the regulators) have a role to play in ensuring a healthy financial reporting ecosystem. Directors and preparers at company-level, for instance, have to ensure that their financial statements are prepared in compliance with the required standards.

Juthika: In Singapore, we are also looking at the tone set at the top and the emphasis on quality work.

The other area that we're looking at is improving professional scepticism. We want to encourage greater engagement between auditors and their clients to ensure that there is better contribution to the work that is being audited.

We also put a lot of emphasis on compliance with financial statement standards, and we are looking at educating company directors on their responsibility to prepare good sets of financial statements.

Kiatkwankul: Our priorities are pretty much the same as what Juthika had just mentioned.

The audit oversight system is new for our country, but we concur with the fact that the tone at the top is very important. 

What do you expect to come out of the collaboration among Asean audit regulators, and what are the key issues to address?

Nik Hasyudeen: One of the main objectives is ensuring consistency among audit regulators. This is important to facilitate business, as many companies nowadays operate in more than one jurisdiction. For instance, we cannot have several different rules and definitions on the same subject.

It's important for regulators in the region to work together, especially with the AEC coming into force in 2015.

When markets become more liberalised, and information has to be shared across countries, it becomes even more important to ensure that the financial statements are audited with the same rigour and adopt the same standards.

Juthika: We can share best practices and learn from each other the developments in each of our jurisdictions. There's a lot of learning and sharing which we find very useful.

Sometimes, different issues surface in different countries at different points of time. By sharing with each other developing issues, it helps us to understand what is on the horizon and how to tackle it based on the experiences of other regulators.

We also play a role in trying to encourage our fellow Asean countries to set up similar oversight bodies. By getting them to participate in our workshops, they then shorten the learning curve, as they would learn what is to be expected and the issues to be overcome in the early days of setting up such a body.

Tay: In the longer term, we hope that with the larger number, we can have a bigger voice at Ifiar (International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators).

(Ifiar is a global body of regulators based in London. It currently has 44 member countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.)

There may be certain issues that are unique to this region. We think that if we have a combined view, we can bring that to Ifiar and across the global leadership of the firms we regulate. In a way, we think that the issues we face can then be brought to a higher level of attention and the speed in which it can be addressed can be improved.

What are the most common challenges faced by the regional audit industry?

Nik: One common issue that we face in the industry, especially in Malaysia and Singapore, pertains to the availability of talent and the ability of firms to retain talent. As in many industries, having the right talent is critical because in order for a good job to be done, the firm must have good people.

Another issue that we are concerned about is the level of professional scepticism among auditors in the region. This is one thing that we're currently discussing. We hope our auditors can exercise their professional judgement better when it comes to auditing clients' financial statements to enhance reliability of the information given.

Tay: The point is for auditors not to take things at face value, but to probe with a questioning mind. Professional scepticism comes with experience, and therefore, we are concerned about talent. Accumulation of experience gets one to a higher level of scepticism.

Juthika: Many of the issues that the industry faces are inter-related. Professional scepticism, which is a key element of quality audit, is an important issue, but it could be linked to the talent issue.

We are concerned about whether firms here are able to retain people with the right level of expertise and experience, as the business environment here becomes more and more complex.

Talent is a critical foundation for good audit work. You must have people with the right experience and capability to support critical issues like professional scepticism to provide quality audit.

We hope that an independent survey that is being done in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand (in collaboration with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or ACCA) will help firms understand why people remain or leave an audit firm, and what they should do to manage talent effectively.

What are some of the things firms can do to address the issue of talent?

Tay: From our experience, we can see how firms are trying to innovate and find new ways to improve the workflow.

For example, many firms have gone into electronic work papers to reduce manual work and save time. This is because one of the factors that drove talent away from the industry in the older days was the mundane nature of the work and the long working hours.

Another thing that we see firms trying to do is put into place a standardised methodology training so that everyone in the firm thinks consistently and people do not have to rework what another colleague has done.

Nik Hasyudeen: We need to know how to tap the female talent pool. We now have significantly more female accounting graduates than male. Firms have to be realistic in terms of the talent pool that we have.

At present, there are not many women at the higher levels of management in audit firms.

Maybe we should encourage firms to admit more women as partners to attract talent and retain experience.

Golfing Around Jakarta

To some golf is only for "Golongan Orang Lemah Fikiran" or those with weak minds. Well, maybe I am one of them but somehow I am attracted to the sport. This is one of the sports where you are competing with yourself rather than with your golf partners as your performance is determined by you and you alone. Off course the course you are playing will also influence your game as some courses are tougher than others. Some are well kept and designed while there are golf courses where improvements could be made.

Indonesia is one of the golf destinations in this part of the world. There are many golf courses around Jakarta alone. We can have courses near the city and there are many nice and challenging courses around greater Jakarta. Some of my friends do go to other provinces in Indonesia such as Surabaya and Bandung.

Emeralda Golf Club

The guards of the Par-3 hole at Emaralda

Most of the courses in Indonesia are well kept. I suppose the availability of labour and their cheap cost allows many courses to be maintained very well with nice landscaping. I like the mountain courses. Although they are normally tougher, the geography and scenery would certainly provide you with some peace of mind, even when you are not playing that well.

Landscaping at Kelub Golf Modern

Golf is very important for business in Indonesia. Many deals are conceived and agreed on golf courses. This is the reason why many Indonesian executives play golf. I believe this is also happening in many other places.

Other then golf courses, you can find many places offering a wide range of Indonesian food which are mouth watering. I went to play at Emeralda Golf Club, just at the outskirt of Jakarta, towards Bogor. A part from playing at a world class course, this club is attractive because you can find a specially grilled Ikan Patin at one of the restaurants near the club. Even at 4pm, the restaurant was full with locals enjoying themselves there.

Patin fish grilled in bamboo!

The grill section at Rumah Ikan Bakar Kalimantan

I played my last game for 2012 in Jakarta and played my first game in 2013 there as well. Looking forward to more golfing opportunities there this year.

Have a great 2013!

Opportunistically Sympathetic

Many of us are concerned and sympathetic towards any human misery. While we may not have any blood relation with them, our human spirit simply does not allow us to look the other way. When tragedy occurs, our thoughts will be with those who ensure difficulties and challenges arising from natural disasters or disasters arising from our own conducts or behaviours.

We all know the Palestinians have been suffering from calamities for many many years. We may have different views of their situation, the fact remains that they are deprived of their rights in their own land and they world stood by watching as if there is nothing more that they could do.

In Muslim countries such as Malaysia, issues relating to Palestine would certainly evoke emotional reactions, especially from the Malays. While they themselves may not necessarily behave like good Muslims, they will go very far when it comes to dealing with Palestinian matters. 

Baitulmaqdis is the first Qiblah for the Muslims and any attempts to change the status of this holy land would not be accepted sympathetically. It is interesting to note the three Abrahamic religions have many things in common about this place but somehow the followers are not able to reconcile their differences even until today.

Unfortunately, this is also a weak spot that is exploited by people who need to be popular. By being champions of Palestinian issues, crooks will be seen as heroes. The emotional attachment of the society towards Palestinians will make them forget the behaviours and conducts of these champions who could be behaving similarly with those who causes the Palestinians to suffer.

In seasons when popularity is important, we will see people wearing Keffiyeh around their necks. Many people will be organising fund raising events to help the Palestinians although they could be lending tacit support to the other side through their misbehaviours. Are these people opportunists? Only Allah knows!

When Faiths Intersect

Christmas is about celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated in many parts of the world. Jesus is also one of the prophets in Islam who propagated the faith to Allah amongst the people at his time. Thus, Jesus is believed by both Muslims and Christians although there are differences as to who Jesus is/was. 

In a country like Malaysia (actually many other countries share the same situation) where the people are from different races and religions, the ability to accept differences is very important. As the foundation of faith is belief, there will be situations where people from different faiths would have to agree to disagree as the Quran reveals "For you is your religion, and for me is my religion" -  Surah 109; Verse 6.

What makes things more complex in the Malaysian context is the constitutionalisation of Islam. As a Malay is defined to be a person who practices the Malay custom and is a Muslim, Islam is normally viewed not from its original form but from the context of a Malay society. Therefore, some of the beliefs which are considered Islamic could very well be more of Malay values instead. Since a person cannot change his or her race, the issue of Islam, Malay and as what we fondly refer to in Malaysia, "Others", become more challenging to address.

While I could accept that many other societies in the world have similar challenges, we somehow fortify the differences through many policies and institutions instead of trying to accommodate the many differences that we have. It is quite funny that while Muslims in particular believe that Allah created people in many races and colours, they can't accept that everybody should be entitled to similar rights and respect. On one hand they want to be religious, on the other hand their actions do not reflect the faith they believe in.

While today should be a cheerful one to many of us, I hope we should also try reflect on the challenges that we face as a society. Hopefully, the new year will bring more cohesiveness amongst ourselves, irrespective of our races, religions and beliefs.

2012 IFIAR's Global Survey of Audit Inspection Findings

Key Messages

• This is the first International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) global survey of inspection findings summarising issues identified by:
  • Twenty-two IFIAR Members’ inspections of audit engagements for 961 public companies at 98 audit firms;
  • Ten Members’ inspections of audit engagements for 108 major financial institutions at 28 audit firms; and
  • Twenty-three Members’ inspections of 109 audit firms’ internal quality control systems.
• There are common audit findings among Members in a number of areas (inspection themes), including four that have been discussed by IFIAR with representatives from the six largest international audit firm networks since 2010: professional skepticism, group audits, revenue recognition, and the role of the engagement quality control reviewer.
• The survey results identify and rank the Members’ most commonly identified audit findings by inspection theme.
• The survey results suggest that audit firms need to do more to improve the consistency of performance on individual audit engagements, including remediating the inspection findings and determining the possible root causes underlying these findings.
• The survey data indicates that the scale of Members’ inspection activity at the largest international audit firms varies by jurisdiction.
• The information in this report may be of use to audit firms, audit regulators, other regulators, policy makers and standard-setters in their efforts to improve audit quality. It also may be of use to investors and audit committees as an indicator of the current status of inspections of auditors of public companies, including major financial institutions in jurisdictions around the world.

The full Summary Survey could be downloaded here.

2012 PRESS RELEASES

Kuala Lumpur, 19 December 2012

AOB participated in the first global survey of audit regulators 

Auditors and audit firms need to do more to improve their consistency of performance, noted by the first global survey on audit regulators' inspection findings released by the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) yesterday. 

Audit Oversight Board (AOB) Malaysia has been an IFIAR member since September 2010. AOB took part in this global survey carried out IFIAR as it is important for audit regulators to bring together issues commonly faced in the course of carrying out their duties, said Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff, Executive Chairman of AOB. 

"This is an eye opener for all stakeholders in the financial reporting value chain as the exercise to highlight the strength and weaknesses of the audit industry which could help to enhance the reliability of financial statements. While auditors are expected to do more in enhancing audit quality, other stakeholders such as directors and preparers need to ensure financial statements are prepared in accordance with financial reporting standards before they are audited," he said. 

"Board of directors should be interested to understand whether audit firms that they hire had been inspected by the AOB. This includes understanding the process the firms adopt to enhance audit quality. Another question that they should ask is whether the auditors could perform quality work given the scope and fees which they quoted," Nik added. 

The survey is the first global survey which summarises audit inspection findings identified by independent audit regulators, which are members of IFIAR, located around the world. The survey was designed to identify the level of inspection activity and common inspection findings related to the audits of public companies. The survey also responds to a request from the Financial Stability Board to provide information regarding findings from the inspections of audits of major financial institutions. 

The survey results confirm that many global audit regulators are noting common findings across the different jurisdictions. It indicates that the largest number of inspection findings in audits of public companies occurred in the areas of Fair value measurements, Internal control testing; and Engagement quality control reviews. 

That so many findings recur year after year suggests that audit firms should continue to improve their auditing techniques and their oversight policies and procedures. Audit firms also should take steps to develop a robust root cause analysis to gain a clearer understanding of the factors that underlie the inspection findings and take appropriate actions to remediate those findings.
Many members who responded to the survey also noted that a lack of auditors' professional skepticism on audit engagements was a significant performance issue as well as a possible cause underlying many inspection findings. 

The full summary report could be downloaded at the IFIAR website (www.ifiar.org).

AUDIT OVERSIGHT BOARD

Yogyakarta, Revisited Again

Somehow I visited Yogjakarta again. However, for this trip the theme was environment and culture. Off course, we can't resist the lovely local cuisine which are very tasty and reasonable priced as well.

As a snapshot, I went to Mount Merapi again. This time around we could see the  villagers working hard to rehabilitate the area. The government is encouraging them to plant trees which facilitate the efforts to make the place liveable again. 

A villager planting new trees around Mount Merapi

As we travelled back towards the city, we stopped at a Salak plantation. I never knew how many varieties of Salak were there but definitely they were very tasty and sweet. 

One of the varieties of Salak in Yogyakarta

The next stop is the Kraton which captures the history of the Hamengkubuwono dynasty. From where the palace complex is located, we could appreciate the place of the royal family in the hearts and minds of the people in Yogyakarta.

The Kraton in Yogyakarta is the centre of culture and history

Not many foreigners visit the coast of this smallest province in the island of Java. We went to Perangtritis beach which is naturally located in the south. This place was hit by earthquake in the past but the people seemed to have recovered pretty well. There were many activities on the beach for visitors but I will have to go there again to experience the underwater rivers hidden in  many caves located near the beach.

Perangtritis beach, a place with many options for visitors to choose

The city of Solo is where the other royal family resides. The Pakubuwono family lives in this city in Central Java. The palace complex is smaller but retains the character which reflects the stature of the royal family in the Javanese society.

The kraton of the Pakubuwono family in Solo

The Tawangmangu waterfall is located the Grojogan Sewu national park. The journey to this place was certainly exciting as we had to pass paddy fields and mountains. It was worth a visit although it rained when we reach the tourist spot.

A majestic natural scene 

A visit to Yogyakarta would not be complete is we do not visit Malioboro street. This is where tourists could buy souvenirs and closely observe the life of Yogyakartarians.

The Old Market at Malioboro street, the ladies will love coming here

Adya Nelendra is a boutique hotel which provides excellent accommodation and tourism related services. Each room at this beautiful hotel has its own character  which symbolises the culture of the people of Yogyakarta. You are welcome to consider this hotel which I had stayed twice.

A pool in the middle of Adya Nelendra

More stories to come soon!

Break and Performance

Over many years, the lifestyle in Malaysia has changed considerably. When I was in business, I could felt the shift especially towards the end of the year. Not many people will be around and hence, in organisations which do not have clear level of authorities or delegation, no decision will be made.

One may wonder whether such change is necessary? Well, for those who had been slogging throughout the year, a fairly long and meaningful break is certainly something that they deserve. We are all human beings and the body and mind need a break as well. The idea is that when we go back to work after our holidays, our minds will be fresh to engage issues and challenges at the office, resulting in higher performance.

I suppose with proper planning, we could minimise business disruption and maximise the refreshment process of the people in organisations. While this could require significant efforts, proper planning helps to ensure business could continue unhindered while people could have meaningful time away from work demands, even from their Blackberries. In fact, organisations need to develop policies which address the issue of how much a person who is on leave should be connected to the organisations virtually. Sometimes, being on holiday could be more stressing if the blackberries keep on beeping.

Delegation and clear authority levels would help those who are left in the office to respond to unplanned situations. This will not only ensures customers or stakeholders to experience continuous service, but free those on leave to enjoy the break they deserve. However, I am sure we are used to being told that the person in-charge of the issue is on leave and we have to wait for the person to return before the issue could be attended.

Given that Malaysia celebrates many holidays, some people are questioning whether a total shutdown of business at the end of the year really helps. Given that Chinese New Year will be celebrated in January/February, we have many new years in a short period of time. Sometimes, the start/stop situation could also cause disruption to business and people need to shift into many gears in a short span of time.

Enjoy the holiday season and have a meaningful break.

Langkawi in Pictures

Some pictures of Langkawi, an island on the North West of Peninsular Malaysia.

Photos by Nik Hasyudeen, Nurul Aliah and Hanna Yasmin using Nikon D90 and iPhone 4S.

Cows grazing grass with luxury yachts in the background

The rich man toys, Teluk Burau

Locals trying their early morning luck

Fishing boats resting

A mean to life

The mangrove

The cave

An eagle or "Lang", perhaps how Langkawi got its name

Pulau Kasut or Shoe Island

Sun setting over Teluk Burau

Idaman Suri, where people get their duty free stuff from

People enjoying Power Laksa, very rich and tasty

The Danna, Teluk Burau, Langkawi. Great service.

View from the swimming pool

Firefly will fly you to Langkawi