Yusri's tale

A former colleague from my banking days, Yusri bin Abdul Hamid, wrote a long piece on his facebook page yesterday after having read my book, Ten Thousand Prosperities: The Story of Ban Hin Lee Bank. His story has so much interest that I want to reproduce it here on my personal blog space. Yusri, incidentally, is also a member of The Old Frees' Association which makes the two of us doubly connected. Here goes! (PS. A translation appears at the end.)

Semalam terima buku ni.. rasanya dah lama tak beli buku hard cover mcm ni, sejak banyak bahan bacaan la ni ada di media sosial.. 

Buku ini lain dari yang lain.. buku ni mengabadikan cerita tentang Ban Hin Lee Bank (BHL Bank). Thank you SS Quah. Aku bangga menjadi sebahagian warga BHL Bank, jika tidak kerana 'merger exercise', aku yakin aku mungkin akan masih bekerja dgn BHL Bank (ramai kawan2 lama di BHL Bank pun cakap depa akan tetap berkhidmat di situ, jika BHL Bank masih wujud).

BHL Bank lah yg jadi tempat pembelajaran kerjaya aku (kiranya universiti utk aku). Aku mula belajar ABCD of the Bank (Accounts, Bills (Trade Finance), Credit (Financing) & Deposits) di situ utk faham tentang 'banking' sebenarnya. 

Pernah satu masa ex-banker sembang dgn aku  & bagi pandangan dia kata pegawai bank sekarang layakkah digelar 'banker'? Kata dia, dia observe pegawai bank sekarang hanya tahu buat kerja kutip dokumen ikut 'checklist'...🤔🤔.. katanya kerana 'too specialised', depa tak tau ttg ABCD of the Bank.. ini cerita lain..

Cerita hari ni ttg BHL Bank yg dah 'groom' aku dari budak dr keluarga susah ke lebih baik. Kalau aku nk cerita semua dari hari aku pi interview sampai bank merger, rasanya boleh jadi satu buku lain pulak😄.. 

Mmg betul byk kenangan peribadi aku dgn BHL Bank, keseronokan bekerja, walaupun kerja dgn boss yg 'angin tak tentu masa'😅😅, my full respect to you, Tan Leng Hock .. you had taught me a lot, help me to realise my full potential & empower me with challenging tasks.. seronok kerja dengan 'very supportive' rakan sekerja seperti satu family besar hingga sekarang pun masih berhubung rapat mcm family yg pasti akan saling membantu bila2 masa..

Hubungan rapat di BHL Bank bukan setakat di Jabatan yg sama, malah di keseluruhan Head Office Departments & Branches.. uniknya kerana adanya Recreation Club (RC) yg sgt aktif dgn pelbagai aktiviti menghubungkan semua staf secara informal serta kejohanan inter-bank.. aku secara langsungnya aktif sbg Secretary RC.. aku pun pernah jd Champion Bowling Inter-Bank🎳 (State Bowler pun kalah masa tu😅😅). Bukan saja Secretary RC, Secretary Staff Co-op pun depa bg kat aku, hingga BHL Co-op terima anugerah Quality Award.. ni semua, kira extra curricular aku masa kerja kat BHL Bank dulu.. 

Kerja kuat masa tu.. Leng Hock kata 'don't afraid of too much works, takut bila tak dak kerja'.. Leng Hock pun pernah cakap 'Yusri, you percaya Tuhan Maha Adil tak?' if you work more, god will give you more, if not now, god will give you later to balance it..(mcm ustaz plk😅😅).. mmg betul, BHL Bank had rewarded me well.. naik pangkat, pernah 6 bulan sekali dah naik pangkat..

Moment paling sedih bila dengar Bank nk kena merge & industri perbankan dah bertukar terus...

TRANSLATION

Received this book yesterday.. I think it's been a long time since I bought a hard cover book like this, since there are many reading materials on social media.

This book is different from others. This book captures the story of Ban Hin Lee Bank (BHL Bank). Thank you SS Quah. I'm proud to be part of BHL Bank; if not for the 'merger exercise', I'm confident that I might still work with BHL Bank (many old friends in BHL Bank also said that they will still serve there, if BHL Bank still existed).

BHL Bank was the place for my career learning (it was my university.) I started studying the ABCDs of the Bank (Accounts, Bills (Trade Finance), Credit (Financing) & Deposits) there to understand the real 'banking'.

Once upon a time when an ex-banker talked to me and gave me his opinion, he asked whether bank officials now deserved to be called a 'banker'. He said that he observed bank officials now only knew how to collect documents according to their 'checklist'...🤔🤔. He said they were 'too specialised'; they don't know the ABCD of the Bank but this is another story.

Today's story is about BHL Bank who had 'groomed' me from being a struggling kid to become better in life. But if I want to tell everyone the story from the day I went for the interview till the day of the bank's merger, I think it could be another book 😄.

It's true that I have a lot of personal memories with BHL Bank, the fun of working, even though working with an unpredictable boss 😅😅. My full respect to you, Tan Leng Hock. You had taught me a lot, helped me to realise my full potential and empowered me with challenging tasks. Fun working with 'very supportive' colleagues like one big family, until now still in close contact like family who will surely help each other anytime.

Close contact at BHL Bank not just in the same Department, but in the entire Head Office Departments and Branches. Uniquely because there is a very active Recreation Club (RC) with various activities connecting all staff informally and inter-bank tournaments. I was directly active as Secretary RC. I've also been champion of the Inter-Bank Bowling 🎳 (State Bowler lost at that time 😅😅). Not only Secretary RC but also Secretary of the staff BHL Bank Co-op until it received the Quality Award. All of these and counting my extra-curricular work at BHL Bank.

Worked hard at that time. Leng Hock said, "Don't be afraid of too much work, be afraid when you don't have work." Leng Hock also said, "Yusri, do you believe God is fair? If you work more, God will give you more; if not now, God will give you later to balance it." (just like an ustaz 😅😅). Really true, BHL Bank had rewarded me well...promoted, every six months a promotion.

The saddest moment was when you heard that the Bank wanted to get merged. The banking industry changed straight away...