Istanbul – A Reminder of What Would We Left Behind

I am in awe by the majestic yet melancholy views of Istanbul city. A place so rich in history and culture once glorified by its gigantic and powerful empire and then succumbed to the fall of the westernized Ottoman Empire, now is a desired tourist destination the world over. The beauty of Istanbul at both sides of the Bosphorus River is as subtle as the drawing of Melling, understated but impactful. I left out a sigh for not being able to capture the desired snapshots of Istanbul, the feel of the city is not justified by any photographs.

The landmarks of this great city like the Hagia Sophia, the Sultanahmet Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, would leave all visitors with at least a tinge of admiration regardless of one’s religion, to the level of dedication and passion this city had on beauty, intricate details and on arts itself. Modern design is just an excuse word to escape being labeled as lazy, in my opinion.

A step into the Saint Sophia made my heart skipped a beat. Though it looks tired at some angles, every inch of the building spills professed love of the devotees of Christianity and Islam to this place of worship. There are huge calligraphy arts at a diameter of 7-meter wide each hanging high inside the building bearing the name of the Creator, Allah, Muhammad the messenger and his respectable caliphs. At the same time, in every corner of the first floor right wing, there are several mosaic arts made of real gold depicting the hand over of the city Istanbul to Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary by Constantine, “my Istanbul (Constantinople) is your Istanbul”

Every door is carved with intricate details, the mimbar, the prayer area of the Sultan – everything exudes handcraftsmanship at its highest level of perfection. A visit to Sultanahmet Blue Mosque confirms the same attitude the Istanbullus possesed in creating a monumental landmark. The grand mosque was built in a mere 5 years by 10,000 workers has every detail of precision and delicate designs to make it stand out even after the tests of time.

The art and culture are deeply rooted in the heart and soul of the Istanbullus. I stood in the middle of the night admiring the beautiful mosaic piece on the wall of its Metro station. I find joy strolling the city of Istanbul with the rests of millions visitors admiring the bits and pieces of the city’s uniqueness.

I couldn’t let go of the fact that we have come so far in ignoring the needs in paying attention to small details, and to always strive for excellence in everything that we do, even how trivial. Today’s generation are so void, engulfed and engaged on Facebook and the Internet without realizing that we have lost so much of our own identity and pride over time.

What would be our legacy to the next generation and would they be in awe when they think about us and the stories we left behind?

FingerTec Bringing Malaysia To The World

There is a television ad going on in Malaysia right now where a lady was torn between a locally made product and an oversea made product sold at the same price. When feeling the local product, her recollection of childhood’s memory came flashing back and she ended up buying it; the product/brand was sentimental to her. Both my husband and I rolled our eyes in disbelief. It’s a bit pretentious, isn’t it?

AirAsia is always preferred by many because of its pricing strategy

Between a renowned world brand and a locally made brand similarly priced, no way we are going to choose a local brand, unless it is also a renowned world brand. And I believe majorities of people are on my side. It’s not about me being less patriotic or I have lack of nationalism, it is simply about brand value.

Renowned international brands are preferred because of their higher brand values. Between a Proton and a Honda, the only factor that drives consumers to choose the former is the price. If both are offered at the same price, I doubt anybody would go for the former. It’s nothing to do with loving the country less, as a consumer we are just being sensible and looking for the most value for our money. Royal Selangor, AirAsia, Secret Recipe, Maggi, Stage Makeup are all good international brands and they are local brands as well, and consumers would be willing to pay extra for the experience, wouldn't they?

What separates a good brand and a substandard one? Quality. Customer experience. Appeal. Prestige. Presumed or not. It doesn’t matter where the products are made of as long as the brands fulfill the expectation of the consumers. Good brands usually do. A lot of Nike’s products are made in Malaysia but Nike is not a Malaysian brand. There are a lot of clothing lines made in Bangladesh but certainly not the brands originated from Bangladesh.

FingerTec is a local brand but we aim to play at the international platform and indeed we are thriving around the world. We don’t beg that consumer purchase our products just because we are Malaysian product; we want that decision be made based on the fact that our products fulfill what they desire as a consumer. And we are certainly proud to be a Malaysian brand that’s making its mark around the world.

Exactly one week from now the nation will celebrate its 53th year of Independence. We have come so far since 1957 and I believe that the nation has the capacity to go even further with the right plan, determination and attitude. Happy Birthday My Malaysia. I heart you.

Jalur Gemilang is the nation's beautiful flag

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Creating Values in Business

Time flies. I’ve been in this business for 10 years already and I’ve experienced many things, the good and the bad, the ups and the downs that taught me about business and life. When we first started in the beginning of 2000, I didn’t think much about the future of FingerTec, as my involvement in the brand was inconsequential. Business was run as usual, I carried out my tasks as instructed.

When the major change turned the company around later in 2004, it changed the way we do business entirely. Many were skeptic. How could this kind of business be conducted this way? With so much hard work and persistence, what looked like trivial matters then, added so much value to the brand now. When I combined all the little pieces of effort that we put on, its impact is mammoth to our business today. Progressively we create values to FingerTec brand to the delight of all our resellers around the world.

Newsletter has been proven to uplift an image of a company/brand to a higher level. Try one!

One plus one doesn’t equal two. Simply putting a name to a brand does not create its value. It (the value) will not be magically visible by attaching a motto to that brand as well. Value comes to life when it has substance to the customers. When you have something that customers couldn’t live without, that’s value. When you create something that makes your customers nodding their heads with a tinge of smile on their lips, that’s value. When your customers are not cringing when they pay you that sum of money, that’s value.

The big ongoing question for FingerTec is what’s valuable to our individual customers. By trying to find out that answer, we would attempt to deliver the value that customer wants.

Have you been to our micro websites lately? If you haven’t please do so because it’s time for you to capture the value and prosper. Create your values to your clients through us, we don't mind because that's what we take pleasure in doing.

www.fingertec.com/microsites, where our values reside

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Values Determine Relevance

The mural painted by inmates

Another history was made earlier this week when Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur demolished the infamous 100-year old Pudu jail in Kuala Lumpur to widen the roads in that area and to have plans for redevelopment. The move had aroused anger and disappointment in many people who appreciate places of history. Historic items must be preserved, according to them, who are convinced that Pudu jail was a historic site that could tell a lot of the nation’s stories. The jail that was built in 1891 was closed in 1996 when all the inmates were transferred to the new prison in Sg Buloh. From 1996 onwards, the former Jail was made a museum for a short period of time and then again in 2004 before it was closed for public.

Is this a piece of art that should be treasured?

I don’t really get the point of why people were being sentimental about this place. The fact that it’s old is one but there are many other things that are old and useless. Tower of London for example is a place of history that contains interesting stories of the English royals and the heads that were chopped (quite often) there. But, Pudu Jail to me was just a jail in the middle of the city centre that was not even kept well by the government and didn’t even house notorious criminals. Yeah, there are famous prisons such as the Rock, Chateau d'If in Marseilles and the one in the Devil’s Island of France that are now tourist attractions. But, for everything that needs to be preserved, it has to have values and it has to be taken care of. This place was ignored. Period.

The protestors were talking so sentimentally about the mural. Yeah, it was great that the criminals were given something to do and some of them could paint but after so many years, the mural was worn down and it’s not an eye pleaser at all. It's not like it's Banksy's. In fact, those who championed this issue were not even looking at the mural when they passed the place before this issue surfaced. Should the government pay attention to the place? I vote yes but since they are not, why waste such space.

I say conserve the places that have values to society and future generations. In this time and age, do something that has values for if not, it has no relevance.

Coming back to FingerTec, we are always thinking about creating values for our customers. What’s the point of doing something if it has no values? The support micro sites currently are being used by our clients for sales and support materials.

Haven't registered yet? www.fingertec.com/registration

We do not want to follow other people’s moves blindly, just because. Our website is created in such a way for a purpose, we do not do according to normal business’s corporate website. Complains were lodged when we first introduced the website because people were not used to it. The newsletter is not for us to boast about our company and the brand but we offer information so that our resellers could pick up relevant news for their sales and marketing activities. We let our sales and support personnel standby online in case you need them to assist you swiftly, not just available icons to indicate there’s someone online when in fact it is none. In short, whatever we do, the plan is to offer value added services to all our clients. If it has no purpose, stop it.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ