Last week, when I blogged about people dropping dead due to stress; KGC, someone in his early 30s left this comment:-
“Hi Zewt, I have been diagnosed by a qualified physician that I am under lots of work stress – been having difficulty breathing and high BP. When I produced the letter to the HR in my office, they just refused to accept the diagnosis. Can you believe that?”
Firstly, my answer to his question would be a plain and simple “yes”. I have actually heard of a case from my friend where her boss denied my friend MC when my friend was diagnosed with suspected cancer. With such story, how surprising can KGC’s story be?
When you are face with such situation, it is no a matter of whether how you are treated is believable or not. I think a more important question would be… what are you going to do about it?
My next follow-up check up is due and I am staying home the whole of today to collect my urine for my 24-hour urinalysis. Yes, I have a kidney condition and the cause, till today, remains unknown. Was it my diet? Was it genetic? Or was it due to over-work? I don’t know. Some have more probability than the others.
While I don’t know the cause, and probably never will; I know that if I don’t look after myself well, I can expect the worst. And then, I know what I need to do to look after myself… watch my diet, have enough rest and exercise regularly. Having enough rest and being able to exercise regularly means I will not slog in the office till ungodly hours. I am sure you know what I mean by ungodly hours.
With that, I have actually made it clear to my superior and the people I work for and work with. People will sympathise initially, but when they see you going off at 6.30pm almost everyday while they have to stay and slog till ungodly hours, the sympathy will soon disappear. You will begin to hear things. Perhaps your increment, bonus and promotion possibility will be affected. That’s reality.
So am I supposed to slog it out like the rest? Slogging the hours means I will not be able to exercise after office. This tends to lead to me skipping dinner and eating mamak food just before I sleep. All in the name of career?
Indeed, in most times; we have no choice. For the sake of your pay, your bonus, your increment… you have no choice. Indeed, you have no choice, or so you think.
Hey… ya’ know what? I have no choice too. For the sake of my healthy… my life… I am also in a position where I have no choice. But it is a different type of “no choice”. It is a kind that you would rather not be in.
Hence my friend, before your type of “no choice” becomes my type of “no choice”, you better give yourself a choice.
1 year ago… Absolute boleh-ness… A take at the E-scandal
2 years ago… No topic?
“Hi Zewt, I have been diagnosed by a qualified physician that I am under lots of work stress – been having difficulty breathing and high BP. When I produced the letter to the HR in my office, they just refused to accept the diagnosis. Can you believe that?”
Firstly, my answer to his question would be a plain and simple “yes”. I have actually heard of a case from my friend where her boss denied my friend MC when my friend was diagnosed with suspected cancer. With such story, how surprising can KGC’s story be?When you are face with such situation, it is no a matter of whether how you are treated is believable or not. I think a more important question would be… what are you going to do about it?
My next follow-up check up is due and I am staying home the whole of today to collect my urine for my 24-hour urinalysis. Yes, I have a kidney condition and the cause, till today, remains unknown. Was it my diet? Was it genetic? Or was it due to over-work? I don’t know. Some have more probability than the others.
While I don’t know the cause, and probably never will; I know that if I don’t look after myself well, I can expect the worst. And then, I know what I need to do to look after myself… watch my diet, have enough rest and exercise regularly. Having enough rest and being able to exercise regularly means I will not slog in the office till ungodly hours. I am sure you know what I mean by ungodly hours.
With that, I have actually made it clear to my superior and the people I work for and work with. People will sympathise initially, but when they see you going off at 6.30pm almost everyday while they have to stay and slog till ungodly hours, the sympathy will soon disappear. You will begin to hear things. Perhaps your increment, bonus and promotion possibility will be affected. That’s reality.
So am I supposed to slog it out like the rest? Slogging the hours means I will not be able to exercise after office. This tends to lead to me skipping dinner and eating mamak food just before I sleep. All in the name of career?
Indeed, in most times; we have no choice. For the sake of your pay, your bonus, your increment… you have no choice. Indeed, you have no choice, or so you think.
Hey… ya’ know what? I have no choice too. For the sake of my healthy… my life… I am also in a position where I have no choice. But it is a different type of “no choice”. It is a kind that you would rather not be in.Hence my friend, before your type of “no choice” becomes my type of “no choice”, you better give yourself a choice.
1 year ago… Absolute boleh-ness… A take at the E-scandal
2 years ago… No topic?
22 comments:
Time management is important.
1. Eat less rice, eat more veggies/fruits.
2. Drink plenty of water, at least 2 litres a day like me. I have smooth skin and I don't look my age. :-P
3. You can exercise 15-20 minutes after you get home, daily. Just run/jog statically in wherever you're comfortable with in the house.
I have started adapting myself to this new regime/diet and I am considered lean at 65kg and 179cm with 32 inch waist.
Eat less, live longer!
Hey Zewt,
I notice your mention of watching your diet and eating healthily to keep your kidney condition at bay..
You may be interested in reading the book 'The China Study' by Colin Campbell.
http://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Comprehensive-Nutrition-Implications/dp/1932100660/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234704304&sr=8-1
It's a book on health and nutrition. I read it recently and its quite revealing about how our diets are controlled by economists and law makers. You can get it in Malaysia by ordering from KinoKuniya or Borders I think.
Zewt, not surprising with the superiors not accepting the fact that we are down due to stress. While I was doing my internship in one of the EMS company, i was down with a pain and till down yet to find out the root cause. I was then diagnosed by a consultant surgeon and one of the suspected syndrome or possibility was taking too much stress. So I told my supervisor about my condition and the only thing she told me was everywhere is the same and didn't want to believe me nor try to understand me. I am so happy my internship ended and why would I want to go back to work although the salary is quite high but their is no humanity.
the best tO AVOID THIS IS TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS!!!!! im not exactly in the real harsh world yet coz my part-time bosses were super duper nice... but some of the points you mentioned are real outrageous... guess we don't really know how to use the tribunals well huh?
What r u goin to do? I am just curious.
Its funny how young ones are willing to throw their health away for career. We all know that its not worth it for the long run, but still i wonder what made us all do it.
To me, health is No 1. Everything else including money and career are secondary. Cos without good health, how are you going to enjoy your money and success?
So yes, taking good care of your kidney is of vital importance.
I always have to remind myself of this every time I am under stress in my job. We must know where our priorities are.
Gee, thanks zewt for such great reminder! I am going for my first PT training later. YAY YAY YAY :)
If I were KGC's boss, I'll ask him to look for another less stress job if he couldn't take the stress.
In this world, we always emphasize about equal rights. So what was he thinking? Come on! He carries a medical report and hoping for what?? That he could work less and get treated the same way as the rest of his colleagues? Please!
Sorry for being mean here, but my opinion is that he needs to do something for himself instead of getting this company do something for him.
Zewt, I wish you everything well. Be optimistic... everything has a solution.
Then these companies are just slaving their employees! If your official working hours end at 5pm, I see no reason why they should discriminate those who leave at 5pm sharp! Sadly to say, this is the working culture here. There will always be people trying to show off by slogging in the office for hours.
i agree with purple mushroom. if u wan less work..then expect a less pay! that's how it works around here isn't it?
what caused us to work our health off for work? i think it's our lifestyle..well mine anyway. now that i have WAY less pay..i'm dying financially. but heck! i love my job! =P
* sorry i meant work our health off for money
80% of ppl around your will definitely say 'no choice'. Only if 80% of the ppl in the company don't have such mentality, the superiors will not question you. In a developing country like Malaysia, everyone is desperate to keep his/her job plus to have a career. That's why, who cares whether you're sick or what... there's always someone who is desperate enough to take your place and work more than the ungodly hours you worked.
Hey Zewt, am starting to try to eat more than 2mouths per-meal(really just 2mouths and I'm full now), just recovered from a bad sick recently which leaves me bedridden for 3days. My family and few friends are worried bout me d.
Before this, I would always be the last person to leave the office (working approximately 13-15hrs, 6days a week)
before my energy and health (so is my relationship) are drained out of my soul and where does all the dedicated work attitude get me? No where. I wasn't being appreciated, no OT, no bonus, no angpow and no increment. You must be wondering what the hell I'm still staying in my present company. Trust me, I don't know why either. But now for me, if I'm sick, I'll just take a rest at home instead of dragging myself to work while being sick. Also trying to leave office earlier (even though there is a underlying statement that 'thou shalt not leave till he does') but whatever because I know if one day I collapse and die, it's not going to make any difference to the company.
Some colleagues are giving those stares too these days because it seemed like I've turned rebellious or bad attitude but .. oh well, they are so much higher pay than me and my health is important to me. But of course, there is the underlying pressure because the company always use 'silent threat' of recession to us.
hey zewt...my take is, no matter what, health is above anything....
think of jules!!
wish u luck bro, take care!!
Hi zewt, since you have given the priviledge of putting my comment as your topic, I shall shed more light.
There have been a few premature comments from readers, I would say. And perhaps I did not explain my situation clear enough. Having work for a company for more than 6 years, I have become an asset. I am not priding myself in saying that, because there are many times time that I decided to throw in the towel but only to be persuaded to stay and promoted.
Someone mentioned that when the employer is not sensitive to its employee's need, the employee should find another job. Now, with the shriking job market, is it that easy to find a job overnight? One that suits your CV and your lifestyle? Not only that, there are other issues to be thought thoroughly before one decides to resign. Like me, I have mouths to feed, family to take care of and not forgetting commitments to pay. We are talking about serious money sense here and honestly, the family does not splurge. It if a different story when one is single....
I know I might have spark some debate here, but just my humble opinion. :)
I definitely choose health over career, judging from my job now...
ShadowFox - i dont care about your 32 inch waist ok! hahahahahahahaha...
theodwyn - thanks... will check it out :)
BossCat - well, the reason why there was an economic boom was simply becos there was a huge bunch of ppl willing to be exploited by money...
Binn - i also wish lah.... not that easy... u give me capital?
JenniJane - in which situation? KGC? i will most probably tell my boss and if my boss is inhuman, i will resign.
3POINT8 - human lives are journeys filled with mistakes... the same ol mistakes.
foongpc - well, i hope you will keep reminding yourself that.
Aoki - hahaha... do those push ups and sit ups!
purple mushroom - not all things have solution... if you have always been able to find a solution, it means you have not really found the problem yet.
-eiling - slaving employees... that has been happening for the longest time... sigh.
huei - well... i am glad you love your job... hope they dont slave u too much.
Kimmy - yes... only if majority of the ppl in the company have the same mentalit... the right mentality... employers will have no say. the thing is... there are too many willing slaves out there.
Swee Ping - heyyy... sorry to hear about your condition. i am glad you're better now. yes, if you are not well... you have to just make the decision and go rest. if anything happen... nothing else matters. remember that.
jacss - yes... thinking of her! :)
KGC - hey... no worries man. you surely have the right. and you shoudl really make youe feelings known to your boss. you need to know whether you are slaving for the a worthy company or not.
jam - good choice bro...
Hey, haven't been here or even posted for a long time, saw this and had to write up about some recent experiences at work. We have some clients now who are Malaysian and Singaporean, most from audit background. At first was happy to be in contact with fellow countrymen here in China, but afterwards i remembered why it was no fun working with them in the first place. Constant calling on my cellphone on weekends with no respect for personal time, changing of work scope, making some issue seem very small when it fact it is a massive change, always saying "can, can right",just a total lack of efficiency... even the mainland Chinese are nowhere near as bad as Malaysians..sigh
friendfromtaiwan - hey!! where have you been!! yes, malaysian chinese are one of a kind. sigh... they have many, and i mean many many peculiar attributes.
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