Dali & TCMS V2: Unveiling New Version

Who is Salvador Dali? The Chief Programmer of TCMS V2?

Very unlikely.  We didn’t hire any Spanish to do our software, it’s costly, I reckon.

He was an artist, a surrealist painter. Born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, 1904, and died in 1989.

Then, what is the link between TCMS V2, Time & Attendance Software that bundled with FingerTec readers and he?

The logo.

A few years back, when we first designed the logo for the software, I gave the idea to absorb Dali's soft-watch painting concept, the graphic designer eventually produced the logo as follows:

Dali employed extensive symbolism in his works.  For instance, the hallmark “soft watches” that first appeared in The Persistence of Memory adopted Einstein’s theory that time is relative and not fixed. For better understanding of time in E=mc2 equation, you may refer to Stephen Hawking’s “The Brief History of Time”. (Frankly, I struggled and only managed to understand the first two chapters)  

Here I show you some of Salvador Dali’s interesting surreal paintings:

Time is fixed, time is an essence, and punctuality is important (at least in most part of the world). Rush hour traffic, 10 o’clock appointment, 3 o’clock meeting, so on and so forth. This is time in business world.

But time is meaningless when there is no life form in this universe.  Time only appears when life began. When life is gone, seeped into eternity, time becomes static. This is time in philosophers’ world.

“Time is not important, only life is important.” This is the famous phrase in the movie “The Fifth Element”.

We created a verse in our TA100 poster, “When mankind starts to time, the value tends to multiply”.  It conveys the idea that time is not worth as much when nobody cares, therefore when you are timed, it is important to add value to yourself to make your time more valuable.

A lifetime is so short, shouldn’t one live a more valuable life?  How to manage time to create value, the value that meaningful to you, and to the society? That’s very much dependant on one’s perception and his or her inclination. As long as this is the value that you pursue, it may end up with some meaning to you (but it may not, in the society’s perspective). You may spend one meaningful hour, but wasted the whole life. It’s relativity too.

Time is fixed, and time is relativity. And it’s a mixed of sense and sensibility, and also art and science. Just like the TCMS V2 soft watches logo (but according to my wife the painting looks like a woman’s ovaries system; I have no issues, it gives birth to life, it’s still a good thing), time is kind of floating in the air…

Now, FingerTec is unveiling the better and more efficient version of TCMS V2 (version 2.2) to spare some of your time to pursue what you wish in life.  

by Teh Hon Seng, CEO, FingerTec HQ

The Blood Ties

I fed my father rice porridge in his sick bed. The out-of-character intimacy thrilled me.

He wanted to say something but his voice clattered at his throat.

A sudden stroke struck my father at the end of March brought me back to my hometown more often than usual.

Since I left home to pursue my degree, later started my career, and have a family of my own, I spent lesser times at my parents’ home in Melaka, despite it’s only 150km away from Kuala Lumpur.

I felt a twinge of guilt when I realized for the past 25 years I hardly looked back, and managed only very few Sundays a year to breakfast with my father at his favorite Dim Sum restaurant.

After knowing that his condition had stabilized, a month later I flew again, this time to Geneva, Switzerland to receive a Century International Quality Era Award.

The news about my father’s death hit me when I was strolling on the street of Geneva enjoying the cold Spring breeze, still wondering why none of the shopping mall is opened on Sunday.

Mr. Jose E. Prieto, the President of the Organizer is a nice guy, when heard of the news, expressed his condolence, and quickly arranged a special photo session to present the Award to me a day earlier from the official event, just before I left the hotel for Geneva Cointrin International Airport to hop on any available airplane to fly me back to Malaysia. Thanks to him.

I dislike the Chinese funeral rites tradition but still chose to abide. I lighted two white candles and joss sticks and burned silver papers, alongside with my siblings.

Hungry flames gobbled up the comfort-money like the money-crazed Cowhead and Horseface guards in the netherworld. Flakes of soot and ash drifted languidly in the solemn air. Hope to buy him a better afterlife.

The moment when his coffin was lowered into the crematorium, all the vivid images of the past suddenly swept over me. Him, still a radiant young man, cycled his favorite 4-year old to a movie; him, still a dedicated policeman, brought his obedient 5-year old to join his boring morning assembly; him, still a vigil night watchman, guarded the family and village through the race-riots in 1969; him, still in good appetite, chewed his favorite chicken legs in the Dim Sum restaurant; him, still sitting in his comfortable chair, smiled happily and toothlessly, when seeing his grown-up son came home with his daughter-in-law and grandchildren...

The mourners started to leave, but the blood ties stays forever and grows thicker by the day.

Melaka Memorial Park's Columbariums, where my father's ashes urn was placed.

by Teh Hon Seng, CEO, FingerTec HQ