Movement Control Order Extended

So Movement Control Order (MCO) got extended to 14th April 2020.

But I am surprised that time seems to fly fast. Next thing I know, it’s been more than two weeks and coming to three. At this rate, in a few eye blinks it will be a full month since MCO was enforced in Malaysia.

Between working out and cooking almost all my meals at home, I’ve been working with the Musemancer team remotely.

You’d think that as a digital business, we’d have it easier. Yes, we have some advantages over most other types of business i.e. selling our digital products.

However I had put the launch life behind me more than 2 years ago – and I am not about to restart that, because it’s just no way to grow a business long term and sustainably.

And this is really a bad time to double down on live events, just when I was getting the hang of it! At the same time, agency work is a no-go – with most businesses closed and their own Customers staying home, there is no Facebook Ads to run for them.

This time I wish I was working solo from home like I did for several years before this; I’d sleep the whole MCO away like a holiday.

On the other hand, I am also thankful that the small size of my team is also an advantage; I can only imagine the stress and anxiety big business owners must be feeling now that not only their incomes have virtually come to a halt, they still have to pay their employees full salary. No unpaid leaves.

It’s scary how this crisis revealed most people and even businesses we think are doing well are really, literally 1 month paycheck from broke.

I have my doubts the MCO will be lifted as scheduled, and I’m prepared for the possibility it will be extended again. There is no cure to covid-19 found just yet, and with number of new cases springing up daily, most people aren’t going to take a chance.

And even if the MCO is lifted on time, I anticipate business will be slow not only in Malaysia but worldwide. As I am writing this, 2/5th of the countries in the world are in a state of lock down.

I have my team to rally and Mentorship students to motivate. Like it or not, everyone is thrusted into a “30 day challenge” of sorts.

2 solutions I can think of right now:

  1. Ramp up on digital products i.e. online courses and webinars, or
  2. Double down on E-commerce (something that I wasn’t that fond of initially, that I took the FB Ads skill to do agency and lead gen instead)

Well, my business had negotiated tough waters throughout the 15 years I’ve been here. And I’m not about to quit now.

The fight is on. What a time to be alive.

Movement Control Order

What do you know? There is now a Movement Restriction Order throughout Malaysia (and in many places throughout the world) What an interesting time to be in?

The MRO is in effect until 31st March 2020 and until then, most businesses, religious sites, organizations, are closed.

The team and I are working from home. It’s high time we go back to our roots – digital product marketing.

UPDATE: The movement control order is extended to 14th April 2020. I expected that, and with the way things are now, it is for the best.

Keeping Up With The Joneses

Been catching wind of late about friends that try to impress others, so they bought stuff like a new car ? or house ? they’d regret sooner or later because it’s beyond their means.

Just wanna let you know…

You shouldn’t be defined by the stuff you have, instead they should be manifestations of what you are.

So whether you have a brand spanking new ride or drive an old car, whether you live in a bungalow or a rented place…

That doesn’t change we’re still good friends and I love you just the same!

Haze & Holidays

Not looking good.

Between the barrage of long holiday weekends and the worsening haze, it affected turnouts for my seminars.

Can you believe it? 3 Mondays that are holidays in a row. And this is the worst haze pollution I’ve seen since 2015. Though still not as bad as back then – back then I could smell fumes in the car and at home!

But the Holiday & Haze combo certainly affects show up rates as people are less inclined to go out, and it sure dampens the overall mood. Just prior to this, I’ve had a 3 consecutive home run streaks with my seminars.

And I picked the wrong time to double down on my events by doing it weekly instead of the usual bi-weekly.

On the brighter side, the holiday streak is over and the haze pollution is expected to last for another week. This morning’s event was a good comeback.

New strategy calls for reverting back to bi-weekly events in Klang Valley; I will be filling the other week in the next city: Johor Bahru.

18 Random Facts About Me

As 2018 ends, here are 18 random facts about yours truly…

  1. I was born 4 days later than predicted. Had I been born on November 20th, I would have been a Scorpio instead of a Sagittarius.
  2. There were 2 abortions before I came about. If there were no abortions, I would have been the third child instead of the eldest one.
  3. I had my first smoke at the age of 7. My father taught it would be funny for some reason to offer me his cigarette and not knowing any better, I just tried – and coughed profusely (because I have asthma as well). My mother saw the whole thing. She scolded me, and then she went after my father for the trolling. Of course, that was also my last smoke.
  4. I can bend both my thumbs straight.
  5. I started speaking only at the age of 6, and in proper sentences a year later.
  6. As early as 8 years old, I developed an unexplained urge to arrange and organize things neatly around the house. To this day, I keep my surrounding environment and even my computer files in the most orderly fashion manner.
  7. I had been first in class. I had been in the middle of the class. I had also been last in class.
  8. I learned my first line of HTML coding when I was 13. I built my first pages on Geocities, Angelfire, Blogger, and the first HTML Editor I used was Netscape Composer. I am still keeping and using the 2002 Macromedia Dreamweaver MX to this day.
  9. Some of my high school mates are still remembered to this day for a notorious incident of playing truant (ponteng) at school. They were caught by the discipline teacher for trying to leave past the school fence during school hours. What everyone else didn’t know was that I was part of the story — I was already at the Damansara Uptown cyber cafe waiting for my friends (I ponteng’ed school that day) Thanks for not ratting me out, but hey I already told you don’t go to school in the first place right? Just meet me straight at the cyber cafe.
  10. I used to do modding for Half-Life and Counter-Strike games when I was 15 to 17 years old, and built basic maps for these games. I actually thought I could build a career off these games after school, by being a game modder.
  11. I’ve never been good at RTS games, always been more of an FPS person.
  12. I saved a dude from a drunk driving accident on one late night in 2013. The scenario could have played out differently many times. The decision to help or just watch, the decision to rest the victim near the vehicle on fire or risk carrying him again despite having broken bones. I was not alone fortunately, and about a minute after we moved the victim, the car exploded and sending small shock waves nearby. Glad we took all the right actions that night!
  13. I’ve been the one sending reports to Facebook to memorialize the accounts of my friends that had passed on.
  14. I still have my smelly pillow from 8 years old!
  15. I inherit my mother’s height and my father’s hair (if only it was the other way around!)
  16. I am the only one in my family and extended family not to wear specs or contact lens. Ironic, I’ve always been told as a kid not to sit too close to the TV or in front of the computer for prolonged hours lest I want to spoil my eyes. My older folks that lectured me and their children had the honors of wearing them first.
  17. This blog has been here since 2007! 12 years and counting! I update it now and then still, with a paranoia in case anything happens to Facebook (or my account for that matter) and if anything should happen to me, this blog will preserve my memory to others!
  18. The origin of my name “Edmund Loh Aik Mun”. Before I came about, my father had a company after my Chinese name (which didn’t do well) and my mother was expecting me, they decided on the name. The Christian name “Edmund” was given by my mother, and the Chinese name “Aik Mun”??? in Mandarin) meaning “hundreds of millions” was given by my dad. Partly so the name rhymes, but the main was mainly given at a time they were not doing so well, and in hopes that I will be financially successful.