Candidate for networking?

Earlier yesterday I was talking to my cousin on msn. Some really juicy topics came up from our little chat, most of which I'm not going to disclose, fearing that it might be confidential. Anyway, my cousin alerted me on the latest happenings in the Malaysian business world. Forgive me for being a katak bawah tempurung but when it comes to business dealings, somehow or another I don't have my source. (Poor networking I would say)

Introducing Malaysia business's upcoming star, Carmen Chua. I'm not sure if you are aware but she's on the front page of Bizweek last weekend, talk about high profile. They say wit and charm comes in a package, I couldn't agree more.


Currently she's the MD of the OneKL project, if I'm not mistaken. Tagline is "94 apartments, 95 swimming pools". She's also on the board of several of Datuk Chua Ma Yu's company, understandably she's Datuk Chua's eldest daughter.

But looking at the article on The Star, it's not like she doesn't deserve it. Doing several stints at firms like Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and UBS, mind you these are investment banks and I do know how hard it is to earn an internship with them. It is a phenomenon in the UK that almost all of the graduates want to work with an investment bank and she had worked for 3 of them? That's astounding. I can't even manage to get into a firm which is less competitive, talk about comparison.

Now don't give me all those shit about she's here because of her father. I've known of people who I call the luckiest bastards in the world and all they do is go out, have fun and draw from their parents' deep pockets. If she can be at this position, I would say it's all because of her hardwork and brilliant networking.

There's always an ongoing debate whether it's easier for children from rich families can maintain the wealth of the family or for children from poor families to make it big. Afterall, there's a chinese saying that goes by "Fortune in the family can't last for more than 3 generations". I don't have an answer for those, it really does depend on the individual. My only comment on this is that children from the rich has the connections and a headstart, while children from the poor has the drive and determination.

So what happens to people clamped in between like you and me? Well, I'd like to draw from an old joke the phrase "sometimes matador wins, sometimes bull wins". That's my perception of how the business world will be like.

I was telling my girlfriend about what I've read about Carmen when she popped the question:

Do you think you are a candidate suitable for networking?

My first answer was.........

I haven't really try but..........

That's when she interrupted me

A person good at networking doesn't need to try, take Timothy as an example.

Oh my god, she's right, at least she makes sense. I've known Tiam for almost 6 years now and there's always this aura around him that makes people feel close with him. And that is the single biggest factor that would push Nuffnang further. It did for Carmen and OneKL, where she played a significant role in the government's move to abolish the real property gains tax(RPGT).

It suddenly daw tned on me that I'm really a loser when it comes to networking. Save for the fact that I'm stuck in this small town/village/university, I just haven't been able to manage my network correctly. Suddenly I feel all so sad, how am I going to improve?

So I'm not a candidate for networking, all books and no play makes Boss Lepton a sad sad person. Is this graveyard before I've even started my career? If there's one thing that I have it's not giving up. So here I'm asking for your opinions, any pointers on how to improve my networking skills?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Oh and anybody close to Carmen, could you pass her a message?

Please start a website for OneKL, learn from Guinness's mistake on the Adam King campaign the last time.

Reference:

1. Finding her place, Anita Gabriel and Hari Raj, The Star Bizweek, 7 April 2007.