Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The World is Full Of Surprises






If only one of my fingers were to press on the enter key, Nick Habgood's email would be gone and I wouldnt have known its content at all. A new potential friend would be lost. As luck would have it I overcame my earlier fear that this email in my inbox from an unknown name could be another one of those African scam where somebody inherited some fortune and need some immediate fund to get it out of Africa. To most gullible people the prospect of sharing a bounty can always tempt them to part with their small fortune. Some Malaysians did fall for that scam.

Nick's email was peculiar in that it was in my inbox and not the spam box. The extension was azini.com a profound similarity with the name of my youngest daughter whose tale of childbirth and marriage was carried in my two latest postings. My curiosity overcame me and I opened the email. This was what Nick Habgood wrote to me:

(I have permission from Nick Habgood to reproduce this email and for any link to Azini Capital)

Dear Mohamad

I hope that you don't mind me emailing you but I have been reading your blog and noticed that your daughter's name is Azini. I think that it is a wonderful name. Please send her my regards.

In 2004 I set up a venture capital (investment) firm here in London, England. I wanted to find a name that was unique and for which I could secure the URL. I wrote down a long list of the starts of words and then a long list of the ends of words and then started putting them together until I found something that I was happy with. I came up with the name Azini and believed this to be a completely unique name. Now I am starting to learn that it is not as unique as I first thought. Lots of people ask me about the name and comment on how much they like it.

Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me where the word or name "Azini" comes from and what it means. Somebody has suggested that Azini is a the name of a city in eastern Iran. Is this correct?

Many thanks

Kind regards

Nick Habgood

Azini Capital Partners LLP
Surrey House
Eden Street
Kingston-Upon-Thames
Surrey
KT1 1ER

I was stumped. I thought only fellow bloggers read my blog. Now I have a partner of Azini Capital of London reading it! I replied to the email explaining how my wife and me came to name
my youngest daughter Azini. infact all of my children has a name beginning with the letters Az with the eldest girl being Azura, younger brothers Azrin and Azuan. Azini is just the logical choice for the youngest daugther.
despite of his meticulous search for a unique name for his company, Nick Habgood has chosen one that happens to be the same name as my daughter who was born 24 years ago in 1983. What a beautiful surprise for both Nick and me. I have suggested Nick to visit Malaysia sometimes soon and he is considering coming during the next season of Le tour D' Langkawi, a cycling event which he would like to see.
For those friends in England, why not see how Azini Capital can help you to invest some of your surplus fund?. You can access Nick Capital and Partners via the above link.
The above is a picture of Nick Habgood with his partner Michael Bennett. Nick is the one on the right.

Nick, this article is dedicated to you.

27 comments:

zewt said...

your blog is getting incredible...a partner for a venture capital firm of LONDON reads your blog!!

by the way... can u ask him if he has got any vacancy for me? :)

Anonymous said...

I just wonder pak zawi, what the results would be if we were to do a six degrees of separation on you... hmm...

Anyways,I'm curious what begin and end words Nick put together to get Azini? Nick?

Anonymous said...

Mohamad

It has been a pleasure exchanging emails with you. What an incredible coincidence that we both synthesise the same name – Azini.

I used to live and work in Italy and speak a little Italian. Az… as a start to a word and …ini as an end of a word both have Italian influences. There are not many words in English that would have this construction and the pronunciation in English (and American) is very straight forward and unambiguous.

I love your suggestion about using the names of your children as the names of future companies. Have you checked with your children whether they are happy about this though? Perhaps you should reserve the .com URLs and then sell them to the highest bidder.

Kind regards
Nick Habgood

Pak Zawi said...

zewt,
I am feeling on top of the world myself. I wont be surprised if they are reading your blog since yours is more established and you have won awards. Mine is an act of God that somebody as prominent as Nick Habgood happened to read it when he was googling or yahooing for the meaning of Azini that he was directed to my blogsite. God has also stopped me from deleting his email in my mail box at the very last moment. Aint that karma?
As to your question... why dont you ask Nick himself? He is such a friendly person I think he will definitely entertain your request. My mum taught me this when I was small 'Dont be afraid to ask, the worst answer is a NO'. Learn it from her as I have learnt well too. What I would say is submit your resume and when he is here for his holiday next year he can interview you in person. If you are worth your salt, you may be head of Azini Capital and Partners Malaysia. Need I tell you how to contact him? :).

Pak Zawi said...

caramel,
Dont just wonder, do it and we shall see what the result will be. :).
Nick has answered you. I didnt grasp it either when he explained it in his previous mails to me. Now I read it loud and clear.
As to my daughter's name, I didnt even bother about the meaning cos there is bound to be a meaning that may not be nice in one of the worlds many languages. We just restrict it to Az plus another three letters and we were happy with what we concocted.

Pak Zawi said...

Anonymous (Nick),
Likewise it has been my pleasure too. Let's thank God for what happened.
I was just kidding when I suggested that you use their names for future companies but a suggestion coming from a business man like you is a foresight that can be seriously considered. I will tell them when they come back for the coming wedding of my third child Azuan. Its for them to decide.
Thank you for dropping by and leaving your mark on my humble site. Hopefully the publication of this article didn't do any harm to Azini Capital and Partners.

Kind regards,

Mohamad Zawawi

Anonymous said...

how extraordinary, you'll never know who's going to read your blog next eh.. a six degrees of separation might lead you to No. 10 Downing St.

Pak Zawi said...

Anonymous,
Do you want to remain anonymous or do you want me to identify you? Just like JM, he came in as anonymous but left a his footprints with his face imprinted on it.
I guess you wanted to be seen anonymous by others but not by me. So let me play your game and we'll see how much we can enjoy it. I guess mm and JM can see you as clear as daylight.
Who knows who will come along with Nick Habgood? For a start I will be very happy if he could bring along his other half, Mr. Michael Bennett.
I sincerely hope Nick will visit Malaysia with his wife next year and of all the persons, I would like you CM oops I have given u away, to play host to them while they are in KL. I will appoint you to the post of PR Chief to the soon to be formed Zawi.com which deals with the supply of hot air to the world. Ain't that tempting enough?

NaNa said...

Way to go Pak Zawi.

I agree with you. It must have been an act of God that you somehow talked about your youngest daughter (Azini) instead of other children in your last two postings.

So now, there are more reasons for you to continue blogging. You never know who will pay a visit next.

A six degrees of separation might not just lead you to No. 10 Downing street.. who knows..it can also lead you to Buckingham Palace.. :)

Pak Zawi said...

nana,
As a firm beleiver in God, it must be his doing otherwise it wont happen.
10 Downing Street or even Buckingham Palace is too good to be true, I will settle for Istana Negara as it is within Malaysia.

Anonymous said...

Pak Zawi,
Finally - my first footprint at ur blog.. cool! I am putting an effort to read thru ur postings in between my bz schedule - I am only done with ur July ones... still working on it...way to go

Pak Zawi said...

J'da,
How can i say thank you for leaving your footprints here? Maybe I should reciprocate by visiting your site. Please show me the way to there as I dont know how to get there.
Please be my guest and read up whatever your heart leads you to. Hopefully you may find something worth reading. I did my level best to make it interesting. Alas, I am only an amateur writer and was just recently born into this blogsphere. If you say you like what I wrote, that will be inspiration enough for me to write more.
Have a nice day.

Anonymous said...

Aha.. Thanks nick. 'lo folks. Enjoy your trip here. Get more notches on your belt if you're a foodie!

Pak zawi,
Quiet day for you? On the Queen's mission again? hehe...

Anonymous said...

alo .. i'm here .. or did i leave my comments here and there ? can't figure it out ..

Pak Zawi said...

CM,
been in and out today. Cant be in much cos the workmen working on my new porch neds this and that and I have to buy them.
The porch is quite far from being complete and D day is coming soon. It may be ready almost near to Raya. The porch is important as meal will be served outdoor. The porch will be handy to place the food since it will be buffet style.
Dont worry when I am in I will answer to all ur comments. Queen is back now so cant be infront of PC too much.

Pak Zawi said...

JM,
You have to be everywhere like me. How i wish we will just cobgregate in one place so we dont have to move in n out from one room to another.

Anonymous said...

at times i am so lost Pak Zawi .. here there everywhere .. ! hahaa ... good thing is 'i have time', like the Astro .. advertisement.. wow ! seem you hv so much in your hands now. wedding/ raya etc .. well make sure you do find some space for your own too ! .. ok

Pak Zawi said...

JM,
Remember the advertisement on TV "I have got time"? Yeah I have got time.

Anonymous said...

hi pak,
saw your #200 strike, two in a row. see if you can score a hatrick.

Pak Zawi said...

mm,
I took the 200 cos i thought none of our pals were around. I would be too glad to let any of you have it.

Pak Idrus said...

Zawi, A few years ago a Frenchman from Brittany, a total stranger wrote to me asking about the effect of the Tsunami on Langkawi. I gave him the latest news and development and told him it is safe to go for a holiday in Langakwi. I gave him my cell phone number and wish him well. Then on one fine morning I got a call from him saying that he is now in Langkawi having a great time and told me that he has some time to waste in KL on his return journey. I told him that we shall meet and we eventually met. I then took him and his girlfriend on a short tour of Putra Jaya and we also had lunch at KLCC. They left KL that evening and we are friends ever since. As I often say strangers are friends that you have yet to meet. How true.

Pak Zawi said...

Pak Idrus,
I will try and do the same to Nick when he comes to Malaysia. Only problem is I am too faraway in Kelantan to be of much help. Hopefully I can enlist your assistance on the KL sector should I fail to meet him up when he is in KL.
Nick must have travelled the world and knows how to move about anywhere. Only that I have to show him what is a Malaysian friendship like. That way our friendship will last forever.

zewt said...

hahaha.. head of their malaysian operation... now, that would be a miracle...

anyway, am thinking of aussie instead and hey... i think such company will work you till your grave...

Pak Zawi said...

Zewt,
The choice is yours for the taking. So far only London is taken. Australia is of course still vacant.

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum Pak Zawi,

I am blown away by most of your entries, just love the way you express yourself. You have a large fan base judging by the comments you receive at the end of each entry and I am sure for that reason alone has kept you writing and writing and writing...

Pak Zawi said...

Wiz,
Thanks for the visit. You are definitely right. It was beyond my own expectation. I thought it wont go beyond the first blog but fortunately two well known blogger no less than Rocky of Rocky's Bru and h j angus of Malaysiawatch gave me the push to continue blogging. Unfortunately due to ignorance i had deleted that first entry to my blog thinking that I have to delete some old blogs to make way for new ones cos the comment column wasnt available on my newer blogs. Only later did I know that you have to set the comment setting to allow as I wasnt aware of it before. This is the folly of not learning up before doing anything. its my habit of going with the flow, learning while doing.
Thanks again for the comment.

nadya.s said...

pak zawi, bring him (nick) to watch muaythai fights in malaysia.. :)