One fine day, my boss suddenly invited me to go along with him to VEE Member's guest day where our MD's friend invited us to. I saw the brochure attached and found out that Anas Zubedy will be speaking on that day. I knew Zubedy, the company which advertises very meaningful advertisements in TheStar - full page ad and always featuring a figure and the texts that come with it actually made me learn something. I always wonder what Zubedy is and now I have a chance to see this guy.
While my boss left shortly after accompanying me in the hall, I enjoyed the session so much that I stayed till the end. Just last month, a full page advertisement came in TheStar:
Dear Malaysian Politicians,I did not catch the ad but was informed that this superman has done his stunt!
Please stop the power chase, call for a truce and focus on the economy.
I do not claim to speak on behalf of all Malaysians, but I have strong convictions that many share my sentiments.
Our concern today is not who rules the country or heads the state governments but the looming bad economy.
Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat leads, it is meaningless if Malaysians have no job to go to, no money to pay rent and no means to put food on the table.
I am a business owner, like other business owners and managers of corporations I have a responsibility to ensure people under my care and payroll continue to have jobs and a decent income to take home. We work hard and willing to go the extra mile to make sure our nation not only survive this crisis but come out stronger and wiser. We need your help.
Let me explain. I am in the business of Training, Development and Consultancy and have 20 people in my team.
Saedah is 42. She keeps the office clean and helps organise the training rooms. She has four children and her husband is unemployed. She was first hired on a part time basis, because she is very hard working and has a great attitude, we offered her a full time job to help provide a stable income for her family. Even then, when her third child started school this year, it was a struggle for her to buy new school uniforms and other necessities. Saedah lives on a ‘kais bulan, makan bulan’ basis, so, if she is jobless, her tap runs dry.
Samsuri is 27 years old. He lives with his sister and her family in a low cost government flat in Sunway. He does our despatch, helps with various clerical works and occasionally acts as a driver. During the first week at zubedy, we learned that he not only did not have money to buy new clothes and shoes for work, he had no money for lunch. Like Saedah, if he has no job, his tap runs dry too.
Alicia in Client Servicing turns 26 this year. She lives with her dad who is 71 years old and retired. Her mom passed away when she was little. Alicia is a hard-working team member, has a gentle caring outlook and fun to be with. (We like to poke fun at her as she blushes easily). Last May her dad went through a major operation, thank God he has recovered well. Alicia needs a job, both for herself and her dad.
Sudesh, 38, is one of our facilitators. When his father passed away last year, he moved back and lives with his mother in Seremban. He shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban daily, leaving home sometimes as early as 4 in the morning and returning late at night. He is no stranger to hard work and sacrifice, he knows what he needs to do to survive and to care for his mother, but he too needs a job.
Like fellow Malaysians, every one of us in zubedy needs employment, those that live from hand to mouth like Saedah and Samsuri and others like Alicia and Sudesh with family to care for. We Malaysians need the Malaysian economy to be strong. We need you, our leaders, to work hard and to work together to make our economy viable.
So this is my plea.
Pakatan Rakyat, please stop your attempts to take over the federal government and persuade BN’s lawmakers to join you. Stop all legal proceedings, no more 916 and let go, just let go. The nation can wait till the next general elections if they want change. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and gracious and give you their support in the next elections.
Barisan Nasional, please stop any attempts to take over PR states and win over PR’s lawmakers. You have proven your point with Perak. The nation can wait for the next general elections if they want your party. Focus all your talent, energy and hard work in steering the country out of an economic downturn. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and smart and give you their support in the next elections.
BN and PR! Call for a truce. Get together and compromise. Someone has to give in. Or has hate consumed your heart till it blinds you? You can do it. You have enough intelligent people between you. I am sure you can find solutions. Take the nation to heart. That is why you are in politics in the first place.
Focus on the people.
Focus on the economy.
Anas Zubedy
Managing Director
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd
(Source: here)
Anas spoke and first he introduced himself saying he was 45 years old. This guy looks so much younger. Yet, his topic that day was pretty serious and he knows what he was talking about. His knowledge abundant, ask him a question, he can tell you everything. He is a very knowledgable speaker as Zubedy also teaches courses for change, leadership, management and soft skills. Interesting.
He spoke on innovation and marketing, also management. He also launched a book "Have a Meaningful Malaysia" which is a collection of all Zubedy ads. BUY IT! It is a worthwhile read and I like it very much. (What? A collection of ad into a book? Huh?) The book explains cultures, meaningful introduction to people in each religion and some lessons.
The book, launched on May 13th will turn that date into a unity date. He will have books to unite people in the series. His main topic is always on unity. While I thought I am bangsa Malaysia enough, he is even more bangsa Malaysia. Thanks to his brought up in a village where his family was the only Malay family there. Anas is a person who knows every culture and religion in his fingertips. Ask him, he can answer you! Or the book, Have a Meaningful Malaysia, is a great start!
I have a chance to meet him again during his book signing session last week. Apparently, I emailed him to ask for his assistance to help in the marketing part of my book. I was glad he agreed to help. Look, he is a MD of his company and now a celebrity! How can he not be a celebrity when he writes ads like the above, launch books and have book signing sessions, appears on radio and TV so often now..? Talking about having a celebrity helping me in my book, what a blessing!
So we had tea in Sri Hartamas. I forgot when I emailed him, I was supposed to give him a treat of teh tarik for a full year. Yet, I didn't bother to pay for the makan. Paiseh =.=" (see what my memory has done to me)
He is very direct, asked many questions which I think many people dare not ask at first meet. I could answer questions frankly and don't mind to tell but I find myself couldn't ask questions on family and relationships so well. Why? I do not have a good family background and my relationships s**k, so I am afraid to ask people these things afraid if they may not want to even mention it. So in our meet up, I think he understands me better than I understand him because he knows what questions to ask, while I am not sure what I want to know about him.
Anyway, Anas was born in Penang - everytime I see him, he spoke about Penang to people so he is very Penang la... He speaks English, Malay, even HOKKIEN and also some Tamil. The University Malaya graduate was in marketing for a big company (multinational) and then he started Zubedy in 1994.
He blogs at http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com and reading his blog is very inspiring, motivating and is like a knowledge hub, too. One of my fave is this. It motivates me to work harder while all these while I have been working smart!
Googling on Anas made me encountered some nasty comments on him, too! However, in a world of human beings, we could not get all positive feedbacks la, brother. I only came to understand this deeply when working with Dato' Sri Ong Tee Keat, whether he is good or bad, there are still good and bad feedbacks on him as a politician. In the past I could not tolerate bad feedbacks or negative comments (I am young, OK?) so working with DS OTK is a blessing for me to learn more.
Anyway, for Anas, is way to go! Those who threw nasty comments, go find out the truth before saying anything. Well, people are subjected to their own opinions because of their own experience anyway. This guy got the guts to do it and spent his own money for it. I believe the ad has made a wake-up call for politicians, too.
In conclusion, I leave readers to know this guy through his blog, and do read "Have a Meaningful Malaysia".
You are cool. I am glad I bumped into you at Let's add value. Look forward to reading more.
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