The time has come again for us to reward the star of Exabytes, aka Employee of the Month. As usual, before we reveal the big secret, we are going to keep you in suspense and let’s see if you could figure out who the big star was for the second month of 2012. She…, is a female in our Creative department. She…, is a craft maker who devotes her free time to making cute little stuff such as soft toys, key holders, purses, etc. She…, is a very artistic person who believes that a picture is worth a thousand words and she…, is a cheerful lady who when ‘provoked’, would fill the entire office with her machine gun like laughter.

However, having a lovable personality is not enough to impress our ever critical judges of EOTM. In last February, this special star of Exabytes demonstrated her great willingness in leading the juniors and putting up extra hours to complete her tasks besides being extremely independent in finding solutions to rejected art work.

Without further ado, let’s put our hands together to Web & Graphic Designer, Ms Alysa Lee!

Alysa deserves our highest salutation in the month of February because she:

• was always willing to work overtime to complete tasks assigned to her
• was very helpful in leading her juniors
• was highly efficient and quick in creating newsletters and updating company websites
• was friendly and extremely independent at work in finding solutions / ideas to rejected tasks

Congratulations, Alysa, and keep up the good work!

Paintball, or some call it ‘painball’, is a game loved by many especially the youngsters. Not only is it a game that requires shooting precision, it demands high level of teamwork, cooperation and tactics from the players. For many Exabees who dream to be warriors fighting for a war, this particular day was the moment of truth for them to prove their worth as a hero! 

Divided into team A, B, C and D, the game was played in Captain Mode, i.e. each player had 3 lives including the captain. If one was shot 3 times then he was finished and out of the game. In the case that a player had run out of ammunition, he would also be eliminated. Furthermore, team members must strive for their best to protect their captains as in Captain Mode, the whole team loses when the captain is ‘dead’. In terms of ammunition, each player was given 300 bullets in 3 separate rounds and only 100 bullets were allowed in each round.

Even though no prizes were to be rewarded to the champion this year, no Exabees would give up without putting up a tough fight.

Besides fighting like a member of the SWAT, the most exciting moment was when every player went for a DRAW. This was the chance for players to get a can of 100 Plus when they got LUCKY, or forced to eat Wasabi biscuits and endure penalty shoots when one got UNLUCKY. In a penalty shoot, the unlucky one must stand still and let other players take one shot, two shots or five shots on him / her.

The atmosphere reached its peak when CEO Chan was due to make his draw. If he got lucky, the opponent teams would get upset as he was going to get himself a can of 100 Plus. But if he got unlucky, some of us would have the opportunity to shoot our CEO!

Chan’s turn to draw reached and he got unlucky! Certainly a game is a game, even the CEO would also have to play by the rule. Result: poor Chan was shot one on his shoulder, one on his back and one on his stomach.

After a few exciting rounds, the champion was decided! It was Team C that overcame Team A in the final. Congratulations to the members of team C (Daniel, Ku, Ken, Rae Von, Zid, Wong & Tony) ! Good job too to team A for their great spirits in fighting till their last breath.

Although no prizes were prepared for this year’s winners, each of us got a certificate of participation and a precious experience from this exciting event. The game ended at around 11.00pm, and because of that, CEO Chan needed to call off his original plan to treat all of us to the nearby Thai restaurant. Instead, we went to Pisa Corner food court, where we savored the delicious street food.

During the very first month of year 2012, a super-duper fast learner and exceptionally confident person who hadn’t even passed her probationary period had successfully earned the trust of our ever critical judges of EOTM and grabbed the honor Employee of the Month.

Also a very hardworking person, she joined Exabytes in January 2012 and before her on-the-job training was even completed, she was already picking up customer phone calls and guiding them on matters regarding billing and payments. Taking the initiative to help others at work whenever she could, we at customer service department had never spotted any fear in her in handling customer complaints.

Without further ado, let’s put our hands together for Billing Analyst, Ms Chai Xin Ming! Apart from being a fast learner, Xin Ming had demonstrated great initiative to acquire new skills and knowledge during her job training. In January, she was officially crowned Exabytes’ EOTM mainy because of the following:

• demonstrating confidence and courage to handle incoming customer calls even before job training was completed.
• handling tickets regarding payment issues very well.
• was a fast and eager learner.
• was self-motivated to give guidance and assistance to clients.

Congratulations Xin Ming! Indeed, you have proven to us that being a newbie is no obstacle to become an EOTM.

Three months has lapsed since we bid farewell to year 2011. However, we are still not able to forget a selfless angel who dedicated a great deal and gave us all her best in the very last month of 2011. Yes, you’ve guessed it right! We are talking about our beloved EOTM December 2011 who set an extraordinary example for all Exabees especially newbies at Exabytes.

She is named ‘the satellite’ in our office who knows about everything about everybody which includes a person’s love life, family matters and even daily complaints. How has she managed to do so? Well, our star of December 2011 is an extremely good listener whom many of us find it easy and comfortable to tell her our problems. Outside work, she devotes a great amount of time doing something she absolutely adores – handmade art! She loves creating little things such as name card holders (the cute version) and has a website for her fans to check out her new items and collectibles and follow her on Facebook.

Together, let’s give a big round of applause to level 3 System Engineer, Ms Tan Ee Dawn!!

Last December, she had again raised the benchmark for EOTM with her impressive working attitude such as the following:

• is punctual all the time
• always provide good guidance to juniors
• is very friendly to all colleagues
• demonstrates good organizing skills at team building events, such as Christmas celebration
• is responsible for all the tasks assigned to her

Congratulations Ee Dawn, keep up the good work!

Exabees: Congratulations and Thank You CEO Chan for making us proud again!

Once again, we at Exabytes are elated that CEO Mr. Chan Kee Siak has been awarded “Top nominees of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 Malaysia”, “Emerging Entrepreneur” category.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Malaysia is a highly prestigious award given by the world’s famous Ernst & Young also known as one of the “Big Four” accounting firms in the world which has over the years recognized, motivated and inspired numerous rising entrepreneurs. The short listed nominees of this awards were determined by personal interviews as well as an independent judging process based on extremely strict judging criteria on various fields which include Entrepreneurial Spirit, Financial Performance, Strategic Direction, Community/Global Impact, Innovation and Personal Integrity/Influence.

Congrats CEO Chan and thank you again for setting a role model for us to learn from!

For more information regarding the awards and other winners, kindly visit:

http://www.ey.com/MY/en/About-us/Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year/EOY—Top-nominees-2011

Time flies, in just a blink of an eye, it’s already year 2012! However, let’s not forget a female superstar, an Exabytes Employee of The Month created in November 2011! Best known as Exabytes “tomyam queen”, our EOTM has the most discerning palate for spicy food and would spend all her time and efforts looking for the best tomyam food in town. Apart from this, if you do not know her, she is seen as a very “cool” person outside as her facial expression is super serious when she works. But after you get to know the real her, you will be overwhelmed by her genuine cheerfulness and sense of optimism. But watch out when she starts to talk, as many have said that she is completely “unstoppable”!

Without further delay, let’s give a big hand to Miss Rachel Lee, Exabytes Billing Analyst!!

At work, Rachel is a respectable employee who always puts her work above everything. She is extremely hardworking, highly patient and calm in handling customer enquiries and complaints. In last November, she impressed our ever critical judges of EOTM with her outstanding working attitude such as the following:

• Took the initiative to assist walk-in clients.
• Followed up closely with clients regarding payment issues.
• Worked overtime to get additional tasks done.
• Honest, polite and punctual

Congratulations Rachel! You remind us of the old saying “patience is a virtue”!

Owning an iPhone 4S Without Paying A Single Cent is not a dream anymore! Now bring home an iPhone 4S by simply ‘Like’ Exabytes (US) on Facebook, ‘Share’ the page, ‘Tag’ your friends and Exabytes (US). Yeah it’s that simple!

Exciting prizes await you at every tier. Check them out:

• When the number of fans hits 1,000, FIVE Starbucks gift cards worth $10 each will be given to our lucky fans;
• When the number of fans hits 2,000, FIVE Sephora gift cards worth $20 each will be given to our lucky fans;
• When the number of fans hits 3,000, FIVE Amazon gift cards worth $30 each will be given to our lucky fans;
• When the number of fans hits 4,000, FIVE iTune gift cards worth $40 each will be given to our lucky fans;
• When the number of fans hits 6,000, ONE iPod Touch will be given to our lucky fan;
• When the number of fans hits 8,000, ONE iPad2 will be given to our lucky fan;
• When the number of fans hits 10,000, the GRAND PRIZE – one iPhone 4S will be given to the LUCKIEST fan!

All prizes are selected randomly and one person is eligible to win more than one prize from different tiers! Your effort will be treasured too as when you have successfully tagged 50 friends in this contest, an Ebiz Plus hosting plan (1 year) with a top level domain name (1 year) is yours for FREE!

Exabytes (US) fan page currently has more than 800 fans and when the number of our fans hits 1,000, the first prize will be unlocked for lucky draw. Can you help us to break the tier? I am sure you can!

So, don’t wait! Join us today and tell your friends about it! You could be the first one to win the Starbucks gift card!

Free your website from traffics congestion on Martin Luther King Day, let the sky be your limit! We are proud to offer the Dedicated Server promotion in conjunction with this special day. You will get the special offer as the following:

1. Free 25GB Content Delivery Network
2. Free 20TB bandwidth upgrade (valid for all dedicated server except Intel Atom processor)
3. 50% off for fully managed plan, Server Gold Management Plan

Contact our friendly sales personnel today for your dedicated server quotation at sales@exabytes.com. The special offer is valid till 31-Jan-2012.

Happy Chinese New Year 2012

In Chinese tradition, the tangerine is a fruit of symbolic significance which is often likened to gold that denotes prosperity, luck and wealth. Moreover, during Chinese New Year visits, it’s tradition to bring your friends and relatives the tangerine (pronounced ‘kam’) that has the same pronunciation with gold (also pronounced ‘kam’) in Cantonese.

As the most prosperous days in the Chinese calendar are drawing near, Exabytes wishes you an abundance of ‘Kam’, Success, Joy, Great Health and a very Happy Chinese New Year!

To celebrate this special occasion, our office will be closed from January 23 to January 25 and resumes operation on January 26. However, in case you encounter any technical issues, don’t fret! Our professional technical staff will still be working 24×7 to assist you via helpdesk day and night.

Lastly, may you spend a fantastic time with your family this Chinese New Year watching fireworks and enjoying some culinary traditions!