The Engagement Session with our 'organization'; of my unasked questions

Have you ever felt that you are out of place? That feeling that no matter how hard you try to fit in, you just don't belong there?

That was exactly how I felt last Friday night during the engagement session with my organization. 

As I looked around me, I noticed how enthusiastic my friends were. They were asking about career prospects, work benefits, how the environment in the HQ was like and many more; you know, the 'heavy' stuff. And there I was, sitting in a table with just me and a lady from the London office, talking about her family. 

As far as I can recall, the most serious topic the two of us talked about was about the return ticket booking. Other than that, we chatted about her life experience: back in the day, she did not managed to sit for her final exam because her second child was due at the time. Left as a single parent, with two kids, she grabbed any opportunities that came her way in order to survive. Then, she got into our organization. Personally, she was very thankful that she got the job. At least it provided her and her family a stable living. Going forward, she told me that she hoped for nothing more than to retire as a gratefully happy mother. Her kids are doing alright now, the second one graduated seven years ago from LSE, happily married with her husband in China right now (her husband works there), unfortunately I missed out on the details on her first child, my apologies. 

That pretty much summed up my experience of the night. 

Am I not interested about the prospects of joining the 'organization'? 

Truth be told, I am actually pretty excited. This excitement stems from the fact that this is a very challenging time for the sector, thus I am looking forward to see how everything is going to pan out. We have the Asian Economic Community (AEC) coming in 2015, the implementation of the minimum wage and the GST, the robustness of Islamic finance as a by-product of the recent financial crisis, the fiscal debt problem, housing bubble and lastly, what I am most curious about is the new base rate framework being put in place of the Base Lending Rate (BLR).

Perhaps all of those made me sound like I'm an enthusiastic academician. Haha.

If I were really given the chance to pose some questions of my own, here's what I really want to know

• How big is the bonds market in Malaysia?- most of what I heard kept repeating the fact that we are one of the largest in the region. Is that true? If so, what are the regulatory measures that we do have in place for them? Surely such a big market cannot be left unchecked. 
• Would you say that the rising property prices in Malaysia characterizes a property bubble? 
• I am particularly keen to know how exactly will this new mechanism is better at informing consumers of the underlying risks involved. 
• What specific role will be our country has in the AEC that is to come into effect by 2015? More specifically, how will that change the landscape of central banking in the region?

As a scholar, I personally wish that I am closer to having the answers to those sort of questions. Perhaps some more knowledge sharing would help to sow interest among us. Or maybe it's just me. 

I am just plain weird. Which was why it was better for me to just shut my mouth, and smile.

I leave the rest to you.......

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