LIFE IS A PROJECT

Ramadan as a Personal Project Fasting during the month of Ramadan is fardu ‘ain—a personal obligation—for every Muslim and Muslimah. While it returns every year like a familiar guest, I choose to embrace Ramadan not merely as a routine, but as a personal project—one that requires intention, planning, and reflection. Each Ramadan is unique. The act of fasting from dawn to dusk remains constant, but the spiritual journey, physical challenges, and emotional growth differ from year to year. By approaching Ramadan as a project, I begin with setting clear goals—goals for worship, personal development, and acts of kindness. I outline the activities I want to focus on: improving the quality of my prayers, deepening my relationship with the Qur’an, helping others, and refining my character. I monitor my progress weekly—not to be overly strict, but to stay mindful and consistent. This structure helps me remain focused and engaged throughout the month. InsyaAllah, by the end of Ramadan, I aim to ...

House Renovation: A Personal Project Renovating a house is one of the most personal and impactful projects anyone can undertake. For many of us, it becomes necessary once we buy our own home. In my case, I was fortunate—the house I purchased had been renovated less than two years before by the previous owner. Still, it wasn’t long before I found myself planning upgrades of my own. Some of my neighbours are passionate about home design and seem to renovate their homes every five years or so. I admire their enthusiasm, but my situation was different. At the time, most of my funds were tied up in building my business, and to make matters more complex, my office also needed renovation. Thankfully, house renovation isn’t rocket science—especially if you approach it like a project. I had a distinct advantage: I’m an engineer with over a decade of experience managing multimillion-ringgit projects. Compared to those, a home renovation is a relatively small-scale exercise. But what makes it spe...

Life is A Project #18: Business of Property Development From Government Engineer to Project Manager of Property Developer: My Personal Transformation During the 1980s, Malaysia experienced a significant construction and property boom. This period saw many of my peers in the engineering field leaving the government sector to join the private sector, either as employees in consultancy and construction firms or as business owners. It was a time of opportunity and bold decisions. I began my career with the Public Works Department (JKR) in 1976 under a government scholarship that required me to serve for ten years. However, in 1984, before fulfilling the full term of my contract, I made a life-changing decision: I resigned from government service, settled my contractual obligations, and joined a government-linked company (GLC) in the property development sector. That marked a major turning point in my career and, in many ways, my life. This move was more than a change of employer—it was the...

LIAP #17: Making a Photobook is a Project I got my first digital camera, the Olympus 750UZ, in late 2002. Before that, I wasn’t actively involved in photography. My earlier photos came from a film camera, and the process was straightforward but limited—I had to develop the film and manually insert the printed photographs into plastic photo albums. Those albums were the main way I preserved my memories. With the arrival of digital cameras, everything changed. I stopped printing photos as often because I could now view them instantly on my PC—and later, on my smartphone. Over time, especially through my cycling adventures and overseas travels, I accumulated more than 100,000 digital images, most of which I store and organize on Flickr. Occasionally, I still printed some of these digital images and arranged them in physical photo albums, much like the old days. The process was simple: select the best photos, get them printed at a local kedai gambar, and slide them into clear plastic sleev...

In 2018, I wan invited to give a two-day lecture for INCIEF Master Students. THe objective is to give basic knowledge of Project Management and how to use it in their jobs.I was told to use Learning By Doing methodology. To prepare and come out with a two-day on project management for students in finance is itself a project. To deliver the course is an operation because I repeat the same course for each group of students. This is no easy task. I need to know the requirement of the stakeholders-the university and the students and at the same time I need todig up from past experience to share my tacit knowledge to share and guide the students. The key thing is not limited to knowing the subject matter. It is more how , where and what to apply the knowledge. Herewith I share a draft of the contents. The real one is not for public disclosure. Project Management for Financial and Business Projects: A 2-Day Intensive 🧭 OVERALL COURSE GOALS:    •   Introduce project manage...

  About 25 years ago, my company was awarded a government project to replace six small bridges along JKR road. It is a small contract costing less than RM10m. As a project manager, you will undertake the planning of the construction by a normal process according PMBOK.  For me as the business owner of the company, my first priority how to maximise my project profit and finance the project. Both plannings are important-first the technical aspect and second the commercial aspect of the project. It is the two sides of one coin. How do I maximise my profit? First I do a work breakdown Structure(WBS) of the scope of work.  List all work packages according to margin of profits. Anything above 10% , do it yourself and sub-contact the rest to others. The major cost components are concrete beams and piles.  I took over the supplies and let my subcontractors do the installation work. About 60% goes to me and 40% to them. All minor works like access roads and temporary bridges ...