The Dabbawallas of Mumbai

When I wrote about minimum wages and productivity, I could not help but recall a news reporting that I had stumbled across. The Dabbawallas story, was, still is a chronicle of achievement, and I was utterly impressed by their commitment, discipline and teamwork. They received a Six Sigma Performance rating of 99.9999%, or having only one error in 6 millions deliveries.

Six Sigma is a performance measurement strategy. It is an methodology that works on elimination of errors for better efficiency.

From the suburban homes, where the food is being prepared and delivered to the offices of Mumbai (Bombay) Dabbawallas work together as a team to bring food to the masses of office workers. Dabba meaning lunch box, and Walla meaning man.

What started out as a simple delivery service for catered food more than 100 years ago, is now a world renowned.

These very special, Dabbawallas, or lunchbox man started the day filling up their Tiffin carriers with the food ordered in the suburbs, identifying each customer by simple colour and codes. These tiffin carriers are then transported by bikes, rail, motocycles and finally delivered to the lunch recipients in their offices.

Each working day, 5000 Dabbawallas deliver 200,000 home make meals for less than $10 a month. They first leave the homes where these lunch meals are prepared heading toward the first railway station. They were then sorted at the railway station and boarded onto the luggage carriage. The 3^rd Dabbawalla will travel with these lunches to their nearest destination. These lunches were then picked up and delivered by another Dabbawalla and delivered to their various destinations. The empty lunch boxes are then returned to their original location in the evening in a reversal of the earlier journey. Each Dabbawallas travel approximately 70 miles each day.

Food for lunch anyone? Food for thought too for Malaysians to get ‘unstuck in the middle,’ and strive to become a high income economy.

Watch a Business Lesson by cbsnews.com on Dabbswallas, the Indian Lunch Carriers on youtube, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxfHB5wPWeQ

So Sad for The Little Birds (Yellow-vented Bulbul)

It is sad that the elements sometimes create havoc and parents have to do what they can to survive. I had on two occasions unluckily experienced the abandonment of two Yellow-vented Bulbuls nests, although under circumstances that the parent birds deemed risky and even life threatening.

These Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier, Merbah Kapur (Malay),

are a familiar sight in Malaysian gardens. They feed on fruit, berries, sucks nectar and insects. They thrive well in our current day small garden home environment.

The first nest was built by the parent Bulbuls, about 2 feet from my exercise bicycle among one of my potted Red Palm leaves, under the awnings, well camouflaged.     

I tried not to exercise anymore and make way for these feathered parents. Alas, that was not enough as the nest was also only about 5 feet from my front door. I noticed that the parents have not been coming to the nests anymore although I hope they would. Unfortunately, one rainy night some night predator consumed the 2 small eggs.

The second nest was built also about 2 feet from my exercise bicycle. We tried our best to stay away from our bamboo plant where they built their nests and the bird lay only one egg. Peeping from my curtained windows, I saw the parents incubate and kept the eggs warm for a couple of days. But alas, it must be the noise or the traffic flows through my front door, the parent birds decided not to take the risk and left, maybe to build another nest at a better location.

Yellow-vented Bulbuls’ nests are deep, cup-shaped nests that open skyward. That could explain why they have been trying to find a safe haven for their nests as the thunderstorms that we have been experiencing of late have been very heavy and unpredictable, that could easily ravaged a skyward nest. These birds build their nests with whatever that they find around the garden carrying strip by strip of different types of leaves, grass and even small twigs. They particularly like palm leaves, maybe because of its tensile strength and the availability of these lofty leaves from my garden. These birds, cleverly wove the nest, making sure the inner side is well lined, soft and comfortable for their young ones.

I tried to get some pictures of the adult Yellow-vented Bulbuls, but they are quick to take to the air as soon as you get to about 15 feet near them. The pictures are not very good with my camera from such a distance, but good enough for anyone looking at them to be able to identify them.

 

 

Compare with the other photos to see if you can identify the location of the nest in this picture.

A female resting on my neighbour's rambutan tree. No, it might be a male.

This is a better picture, isn't it? You can at least see the colour of its plumage.

If you like to find out more on the various species of Bulbuls found in Malaysia, kindly click on the link. http://www.malaysianbirds.com/bird-family/bulbul.htm

Wages and Higher Income for Better Distribution of the Economic Pie

After I had posted an article on “Minimum Wages, Productivity and Inflation.” I came across an article in the Star newspaper, (Seah Chiang Nee, Insight Down South) on a somewhat similar issue.

Singapore’s former National Wage Council chairman, Professor Lim Chong Yah was reported calling for a national wage strategy to close the economic gap. “To narrow the economic gap between the rich and poor, Mr. Lim had suggested a shock wave therapy, to raise the monthly salaries of workers who earn S$1,500 (RM3,680 or less by 50% over three years.”

Professor Lim’s proposal on raising salaries of those earning S$1500 or less by 50% and a simultaneous freeze on those earning more than S$1500 a month over a 3 years time frame created some commotion.

Some Singaporeans were happy, others not so happy. Professor Lim said that Singapore’s lowest paid workers has been underpaid because of the influx of cheap foreign workers.

Doesn’t that ring similarly for us Malaysians too? We need to have a more equitable distribution of income to raise living standards for our poor and middle classes too.

For my earlier comments on minimum wages, kindly click on the link :

Minimum Wages, Productivity and Inflation

Minimum Wages, Productivity and Inflation

Recently, there has been many discussions, and under the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011, we would have a minimum wage not long from now. The Council is empowered to review and recommend minimum wages.

You could very well say that as a retiree how would a minimum wage affect me. You are right on that. I had worked as a Human Resource Manager before, and I wholly support a minimum wage as I cannot believe that any worker, even an unskilled one could live meaningfully on a wage that has been lower than our proposed, supposedly minimum wage of RM800 to RM1000. I do believe an unskilled worker who is doing an unattractive job should be paid more and have the means to enjoy a better lifestyle too.

Much has been said about matching productivity with wages. Besides skills training that could help to improve productivity levels, having the correct attitude is imperative too.

It is also about being passionate and trying to do a good job whatever your career call or job.

If we are to be a high income economy, we could not afford not to start with better pay for our unskilled labour. Relying on foreign workers is not good for us in the longer term.

When their home countries progress and develop further, these foreign workers will find better home opportunities than what we have to offer if we do not progress and move up the rung to a developed nation status. We definitely cannot scour country to country for foreign workers to keep our costs down to be competitive.

We have to work on productivity improvements, through more output per unit or per worker. We need to invest in better machines, technology, processes and innovation to improve output and product. Productivity has deeper correlations to education, skills training, value systems and utilization of investments. Productivity increase is better assured with the right education as well as the proper value system.

Inflation

Inflation does not necessarily follow when you have more money in your pocket. You have to distinguish your needs and wants and to work together in bringing cost of goods and services to reasonable levels and not raise them indiscriminately. An increase in the supply of the requisite goods and services that would see a rise in demand would help to keep prices under control too. Having more in their pockets now does not mean the worker will spend all he/she has; they may decide to save the extra for rainy days if prices do not go up too much to affect their purchasing power.

Better Living Standards

I hope that with the minimum wages in place, we could set off a race to raising our living standards for everyone. It should be high enough to improve our purchasing power and living standards and low enough to remain competitive. I personally feel that there should be less wage disparity between the different groups of skilled and unskilled labour. Having said that, does not necessarily mean that a worker with better qualifications will not qualify for higher pay, just not so high. I do hope that the unskilled worker with a minimum wage would be feel appreciated, be committed to what he or she is doing and proud of their contributions to the economy.

After all, who then would take up the unattractive jobs and help keep the cogs turning.

A Great Pair of Shoes

Shopping for a shoe again

Shopping for a shoe again, are you sure you have enough feet to fill all the shoes you have. Not to worry, I still have a very very long way to go before I am anywhere near Imelda Marcos’ collection.

Why I need a new pair of shoes

 I really need this one badly. For some reason my improved condition of Plantar Fasciitis took a turn for the worse and instead of having to bear with it on one foot I now have to endure the pain and injury on both feet. I suspected that I had inadvertently pulled on my poor ‘inelastic band of worn tissue’.

Plantar Fasciitis

What is Plantar Fasciitis? It is an inflammation of a thick band of connective tissue on the bottom of the feet. It supports the arch of the foot and stretches from the heel bone to the toes. Your foot arches provide a ‘spring-type’ system to assist in motion and absorbing your body weight when you put your feet down on any surface.

It is painful, particularly when you walk, or stand for long periods. It usually is caused by overuse injury and that could be attributed to :

• Over-pronation (when your feet rolls inward too much and over stretching the planta fascia)
• Feet with high arches (feet tend to be inflexible and do not absorb shock well)
• Sudden increase in physical activity
• Excessive weight bearing on the foot
• Tight calf muscles (putting a strain on the plantar fascia)
• Unsuitable shoes with poor arch support and soft

More unfortunate is planta fasciosis, which is chronic plantar fasciitis with degeneration of tendons and ligaments, usually with very small tears but without inflammation. This is terrible. If your condition is Plantar Fasciitis, do rest your feet, and work diligently on strengthening your plantar fascia.

For more on plantar fasciitis kindly click on link to : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004438/  and http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/plantar-fasciitis-topic-overview or consult your doctor.

For exercises and tips (and to test your knowledge) to help improve plantar fasciitis, go to

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/exercises-to-reduce-plantar-fasciitis (click through Step 1 to 6, and further links for how to do the stretching and strengthening exercises.

Looking for that pair of Aladdin Shoes for my poor feet 

If only it was as simple as a pair of Aladdin shoes.

Finding the Right Shoe

I started off looking for the shoe that is right for my condition a few months back.

It was not an easy decision as they are so many types of shoes in the market. My doctors and of course the shops have been giving me some advice, but with new designs hitting the market so often and new performance claims by shoes manufacturer, I find it a daunting task especially when I think that price does not always give you the best selection.

Other than that I am not sure whether I should go for running shoes, leisure wear or casual sandals with some height at the heel and some arch support. (The rehabilitation unit at the hospital did give me an insole with arch support, but I may need to go back for better fitting).

So where do I find the information to narrow down my mistakes. So it was back to the internet for some reading.

Basically what you need for Plantar Fasciitis is

• A raised heel compared to the rest of the shoe
• Very stable arch support
• Some motion control

These three features will help to improve your plantar fasciitis.

For conditions of plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis and general arch pain, it is good to have a slight heel height of 1 inch but not more than 1.5 inches. 

Those with flat or low arches need either a stability or motion control shoe with a dual density mid-sole (mostly a firmer wedge on the medial(inner) side of the shoe, for stability and support) built on a semi-curved or flat last(shape template that the shoe is built on).

CHARLIE.... my new...b....f....

I first met Charlie on 20^th February 2012. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about meeting him for real.

How was my first meeting with him? Charlie is charming; however my past experiences did not really prepare me for our first meeting.

He scurried around me and gave me nibbles lovingly. All that I can do was scream or shout his name and try to grab someone for assistance.

I could not help feeling uncomfortable as chills ran down my spine. I feel ashamed that I could fear him so much when all he wanted to do was show his affection.

The next two days provided me an opportunity to get to know Charlie better.

We started our mornings together not dissimilar to that of young babies, for feeding and cleaning times. Charlie always woke up afresh with bundles of energy for playtime.

Alas it was not always to be, as our routines had to be accommodated and Charlie had to settle in to some restrain before we are able to enjoy our time together.