On The Train, April 16, 2008

I guess the train was late again as there were a lot of commuters on the platform when I walked down. But I did not have to wait long like yesterday as the train came at 1945.

This morning due to the medication that I had to take before I went to sleep I slept through my entire journey to the office. At times in time like this I was thinking it would be fun and ok if I were to miss my stop and slept through to as far as Kepong or Sg Buloh. But that did not happen as I automatically woke up at KL Sentral. For five years all my subconscious mind and systems have been programmed to wake up at KL Sentral. Equally on the way home. I only missed once and that just because I was too engrossed typing on my laptop.

Tonight the train was as packed as yesterday and it got worse when a lot more commuters boarded at Tasek Selatan. I was just lucky I was not staring at butts incah away from my face. One lady leaning to a holding pole was actually sleeping. I hope she had a nice dream accompanying the swaying of the train as we speed towards Serdang. We arrived at Serdang at 2015 and the coach got a little bit comfortable. Looking at the faces that left around me I would be wrong to summarize that Malaysian are not a happy lots at the moment. I would not blame them when economically the prices are going up most of them have to work longer hours to survive. When I was at my sister’s up north last weekend I really was jealous of the people. They can have a quite, decent and contented live with just a quarter of what I earn. Things are relatively cheaper and no one unnecessarily rushing you to do something. The pace is slower, the traffic is slower and life environment in general is not stressful. Living in KL, being on the road alone can get your stress level in a mess.

Can KM be a tool to improve or remedy stress? Yes if it can make us work smarter, provide opportunity for us to make decision faster or getting our answer by just asking or looking for it once that resulting for us to have a not complicated and clouded mind to take home everyday. The real work life balance. Economist would probably analyze it through the whole value chain to prove that this is so.