Scoot And Enjoy Your Holiday…

Singapore and Malaysia have a high number of public holidays and they often result in long week-ends. Coupled with the school holidays in March, June and December there are thus ample opportunities for travel. The young and the energetic have many travel hotspots that are within a 3-hour flight time to choose from. So off they fly on Friday evenings and return late Sunday nights or even early Monday mornings and straight to office. Scoot off as the new airline Scoot proclaims.

Scoot – Scooting Out Of Singapore

Driving North Of The Border…

The bulk of travel is really between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It’s like the tale of two cities, London and Paris – well almost. The much cheaper premium petrol price (gas to my friends in the US) at Malaysian pumps (MYR 2.80 per litre which is just SGD1.10 as compared to the SGD 2.39 per litre in Singapore) and the good North-South Expressway attract many Singaporeans to drive north to Malaysia. There are cheaper prices for the lower-octane petrol, but all foreign-registered cars are required by the Malaysian government to buy the more expensive (RON 97) petrol. I should also like to remind drivers leaving Singapore to ensure that their fuel tanks must be at the 3/4 mark (the three-quarter tank rule) so that they can help the government preserve tax revenues.

Entering Historic Melaka -Driving Towards Kuala Lumpur On The North-South Expressway

Enjoy KL And Experience Its Topical Traffic Jams…

With the vast exchange rate difference in favour of the Singapore dollar versus the Malaysian Ringgit, currently at 1 MYR = 0.39 SGD or 1.00 SGD = 2.56 MYR it is obvious that the VFR (Visiting Friends & Relatives) traffic is directionally biased.

Once you’ve reached KL, the bane of driving is the massive traffic jams. These topical traffic jams are a way of life for KL residents and may be difficult to resolve as public transport is grossly limited. As a visitor you can chose and plan when to drive. In particular, my advice is to avoid driving during the morning and the evening rush hours. It’s no-go on a rainy day, particularly on a Friday evening. One rainy Friday evening, I experienced taking one hour and 15 minutes to drive from Jalan Perak to Berjaya Times Square in Jalan Imbi, a road distance of only 2.8 km. Walking with an umbrella and using a more direct pedestrian route would have taken me just 25 minutes, about the same time as the cow below could:

Walking Speed –  Cow with Milk (from the Web, unable to Credit)

You Don’t Need To Be A NASA-Trained Astronaut If Only You Have…

For me, the other bane is the way friends and relatives there give you road directions! They are so accustomed to giving road directions as if you live there and know the whereabouts of petrol stations, shopping malls, markets, buildings etc. These are used as reference points for you to turn right, turn left or go straight. And when you’ve missed a turn or when road works forced you into diversions, you must be a NASA-trained astronaut not to be disoriented.

My simple solution is to do a screen shot of Google Map to the desired location and use basic tools to add text and instructions. Voila! You have created a user-friendly location map. Print it and you avoid data roaming charges too. Or take a shot with a smart phone, save it and send it to subsequent requests for directions. I have an example below to illustrate.

Wisdom Books at Wisma Methodist in Lorong Hang Jebat (Errata : Jalan Sultan should be Lorong Sultan)

Whilst I was fine tuning the Facebook Page for my brother’s Wisdom Books & Stationery store I overheard his phone conversation. It was rather obvious that my brother was giving instructions to a customer on how to come to the store. That was the reason why I created the location map for book lovers and gift hunters to locate his store.

My Z-Diagram For Effective Communications…

My Z-Diagram For Coaching Effective Communications

The location map for Wisdom Books & Stationery was an inspiration from a communications workshop which I attended years back. During a role play, two persons were asked to seat with their backs towards each other. Let’s name them Mr.A and Miss B. Only Mr.A had a sketch of the tri-colour Z-pattern (shown above). His task was to communicate instructions clearly and effectively to Miss B so that she can duplicate the same Z-pattern.  Miss B was given three similar rectangular pieces of blue, red and green and her task was to carry out Mr.A’s instructions and create the same tri-colour Z-pattern.

Simple? I suggest you try it out with someone – a peer or your boss. Remember this when you hear complaints that bosses don’t give clear instructions. Another question is “How clearly can they communicate”. Ask yourself too “How well do I listen.” You decide 🙂