Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Mark Chang Table

Does everyone here know who Mark Chang is?

Just in case your memory's a little blurry.

Mark Chang is actually the Penangite who founded Jobstreet.com which is today without a doubt, still Malaysia's most successful dotcom.
Now let me tell you a story.

Just a while before the renovation of our KL office was completed, I was hunting for office furniture. I went to everywhere from Ikea, to A-M.. I was looking for a big conference room style table.

Then a little piece of news came to my attention.

Just a floor above my office was another office that had an old conference room table the owner wanted to give away.

Apparently (or so the legend goes), that table once belonged to Mark Chang himself but after Jobstreet moved on to a bigger office, he passed it over to its current owner.

In the years that it had been with the current owner, his business had flourished and now he wanted to give it away.

So when I heard that this table was now up for grabs, I seized the opportunity.

I went straight to the current owner's office to see the table. It was huge but old.
I wanted it anyway.

I didn't know how I was going to bring the table down a floor to our new Nuffnang office but if there's a will, there's a way.

So when our office was ready enough for us to shift in our first pieces of furniture, I got the help of two guys to bring the table down.

It wasn't an easy task.

Parts of the table could be dismantled, but the top was one HUGE piece of heavy wood.
The two heroes that handled most of the job were fantastic.

First they lifted the table up to dismantle all the screws on the inside.



Then they had to bring it down the long corridor of our office.

But that was the easy part.
The hard part came when we had to bring the huge table top down the fire exit stairwell.

Believe me when I say this, if that table was just 1 inch thicker, it wouldn't have fit through it.

It took them 30 minutes (with some of our help) but they managed to bring the huge table top down eventually.

The next day, I came back to the office to see the table fully assembled again.

It wasn't perfect. The table had lots of scratches and some of the wood was coming out on the edges. But that just made it even more desirable for me... just like the scars of a soldier.

Our contractor, Hanifah was nice enough to help me touch up the table as best as he could.

When the job was done, I stood at a window in our newly renovated Nuffnang office.

The smell of fresh paint still in the air as I looked out the window.

There in the distance, the KL Tower stood majestically before my eyes.


When you see a structure so magnificently tall, you can't help but feel small and humble.

Just like how I was feeling... there I was standing at a window in the new office of a dotcom startup that has grown tremendously fast in just a few months.

I pondered about where I would be standing from in the next one year.

Dreams lingered in my mind when suddenly... my mobile phone rang.

It was time for me to get back to reality.

There was much work to do.

24 comments:

unnamed said...

1st? Wow, finally get the 1st. Yeah!

The view looks so familiar! :)

Are you not going to install air-conds? It's gonna be MADLY HOT. haha :)

Boss Stewie said...

vicky: yah we have aircon... it's actually damn bloody cold the aircon/. the fans are just in case...

Cely said...

Can i visit ur office in future? hehe

Innocent^^Guy said...

i think your 2 heros must be cursing u like mad...they must be thinking, "WTH, we so susah moving the table, the guy taking pics of us instead of helping"

:P

Boss Stewie said...

cely: can .. you can come when we're ready :P

innocent: hahahah yes yes... ehh i did help ler.. just that when i take pictures i can't be there right? haha

Nicholas said...

You don't need to help those guys la since you're paying them to do the job but it's still a nice gesture to help. The table has something like a crater in the middle. What's the story with that huh?

electronicfly said...

good good you took the table! must have good fung sui stuff ones!

btw, the view from yr opis very nice leh..

MikeM said...

boss... kalau u pikirkan u boleh, u mesti boleh...

boss, u akan bawak u punya wii ke ofis ke? boleh lar saya hantam sama u bila saya visit ofis u...

Praveen R. said...

Having used Jobstreet.com for years, not once did I even find out who created it.

I actually do like the last picture. It was one of those pictures that somewhat represents a million words and moods.

Nicole said...

enough with your SPARTA~~ spamming!!!!!!

Boss Stewie said...

nicholas: eh what crater?

fei: hehee yeah it's quite a nice view really

michael: yes yes u can come to our office any time michael

praveen: hehehe... what million words do you thikn it represents?

nico:HAHAHAHAHAA

iwan c.m.n. said...

ya la~ like nicholas, me also notice the thing in the middle of the table, can transform maybe.

the pic with the contractor (hanifah) actually can put dialogues. My version:

hanifah: "actually this table used to transform into a robot. Lemme try using this handphone. But I think this broken oredi.."

boss stewie: "(I can't believe this guy..) eh?"

Boss Stewie said...

iwan: eh what crater like thing? i don't see it

iamthewitch said...

Table looks very solid and heavy! But it is good hard wood, may your business be solid and stable as the legendary table :)

iwan c.m.n. said...

Crater? dunno what is that. But if look carefully, there is another line inside the noticeable line.

lovey said...

wahahahhaha boss..
I love ur post!! just think of this.. maybe a few years from now, when you're already successful and have your first billion, you can read this old post and remember this time!!
Then you'll be very grateful for the heavy table :)

Boss Stewie said...

iamthewitch: ahaha that i hope i hope

iwan: eh i dun see it ler!

lovey: hahahaha yes yes... i love me table!

Horny Ang Moh said...

Hallo Bossy! Now u have his table, with ur hard work & bloggers surpport I am sure u can be Mark Chang ( with mole of couse ) the second! & if u really cum to that that stage, do remember what hor ny ang moh say today! Just belanja me some food will be more then enought for me! Have a nice day!

TingTitLei said...

i sincerely hope that nuffnang will be as successful too =) and sorry for the misunderstanding, if there was even any.

btw i just want to ask a short question.. you know the CPC ads that are displayed in our blog when theres no campaign? when can we see our earnings for that? thanks =P

baggie said...

How come no one even bothered photoshoping Mark Chang's acne on his forehead?

Boss Stewie said...

hor ny: haha sure belanja u! no problem!

ting: no misunderstanding ting... don't worry about it.. you should see your earnings tomorrow

calvin: haha got meh?

Ivan said...

boss, that table must be really legendary haha. anyway hope it brings u lots and lots of blessings! lol

Boss Stewie said...

ivan: haha i hope so too.

thanks dude

CRIZ LAI said...

Since the legend has passed some luck to the previous owner. I am sure you will get some too. Well done Timothy.. you'll be the next legend in no time :)