Tham Khai Meng, says Advertising Age,  is ‘one of the world’s most influential people in the communications business’.

Making his mark at Leo Burnett London, he then progressed to Batey Ads where his work as creative director for Singapore Airlines is still regarded as a textbook case on brand building. He joined Ogilvy & Mather in 2000 as Regional Creative Director and Co-Chairman of its Asia Pacific network. The creative transformation he instituted led him to be named ‘Creative Director of the Year’ for seven years running by Campaign Brief Asia. Khai was inducted into the Campaign Brief Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 2009, Khai moved to New York to assume the duties of Worldwide Chief Creative Officer and Chairman of the Worldwide Creative Council at Ogilvy & Mather.

Khai has won every major advertising award, and the roster of accounts he has worked on represents a catalogue of the world’s greatest brands, including American Express, Cadbury’s, Coca-Cola, China Mobile, H. J. Heinz, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Kraft Foods, Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s, Toyota, The Economist, Unilever Dove and United Nations, among others.

Khai has chaired many jury panels including serving as a Cannes Lions juror on the Press and Outdoor Lions in 2003, the Press Lions in 2007, the Titanium & Integrated Lions in 2010, and as President of the Film, Print, Outdoor, Radio and Integrated juries for the Dubai International Advertising Festival in 2009. He has won countless awards and grands prix over the years from every major show including Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, the Clio Awards and London International Awards.

More recently, Khai’s counsel has been sought outside the industry. He has addressed the World Economic Forum (WEF), worked with the UN Secretary-General, and served on the Singapore Prime Minister’s Economic Review Committee. He is a faculty member at Steinbeis University, Berlin, and a board member of Agencies in Action, a non-profit organisation that helps feed the hungry in New York City.

Commenting on his appointment Khai said, “Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is the preeminent standard bearer for creative distinction in our industry. I am deeply honoured to be invited to chair the Film and Press juries and I look forward to working with some of the world’s foremost creatives. Our role is not only to champion industry ideals, but to celebrate the brave ones who have deployed the highest creativity in the service of business.”

Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, added, “Khai has been a big part of Cannes for a number of years now. Whether as a jury member, a speaker or simply picking up numerous Lions, his stature within the industry is undisputed. Chairing two juries is no easy task but Khai’s dedication and experience will be invaluable in both leading the juries and finding the winners. We are delighted to welcome him on board again.”

About the 59th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, 17-23 June 2012, Cannes, France:

The International Festival of Creativity, also known as Cannes Lions, is the world’s leading celebration of creativity in communications. Founded in 1954, the Festival takes place every June in Cannes, France.

As the most prestigious international annual advertising and communications awards, over 28,800 entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival. Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion trophy honouring the most creative Film, Print, Outdoor, Interactive, Radio, Design, Promo& Activation, Film craft and Integrated advertising, as well as the best Media, Direct, PR, Titanium and Creative Effectiveness ideas.

The Festival is also the only truly global meeting place for advertisers, advertising and communication professionals. Close to 9,500 delegates from 95 countries attend seven days of exhibitions, screenings, as well as 57 high-profile seminars, 20 workshops and master classes presented by renowned worldwide industry leaders. As the networking and learning opportunity of the year, Cannes Lions is the must-attend event for anyone involved in brand communication.

Any consumer guidance forums want to help?  Here’s the background:

I had bought a number, 9619191204, from the 4 Bungalows Vodafone store in Mumbai some time back last year, but wasn’t really using it, so I went back to the same Vodafone Store on Saturday, 06 August, 2011, and paid off all the outstanding amounts on it vide invoice no 5167 and TID no 17038020 at 12:05:21 hrs at the same centre.

I asked the customer service exec there to deactivate the card as I did  not want to avail of the services any longer.  I was told to send  a mail to vodafonecare.mum@vodafone.com, which I sent from my blackberry (at 12:14 — only 8 minutes after I had paid all the dues for the number) (See grab of my mail to Vodafone from my gmail account).

I did not use the card thereafter.

But to my surprise, every month, a hapless, ill-informed bill payments follow up executive would call me, very sincerely, very earnestly, and ask me to pay the outstanding bill.  I told them I had (a)Paid all the dues, and had immediately written to Vodafone to deactivate the card on the suggestion of the customer care person at the Vodafone Store at 4 Bungalows Mumbai.

The caller would say, “Sorry sir, I will check with the concerned department,” but each month, I would have another caller calling me up with the same request and the same apologetic closing line.

And then, in end-December 2011, I received a legal notice from a High Court Advocate, initials Mr HSG, saying I had been “intentionally delaying and defaulting in making the payments” for the said number, and threatening me with legal action unless I pay the amount (some Rs 879-odd) with interest at 18%.

I have actually a Vodafone customer for several years, even before it was rechristened to Vodafone, and have had three post-paid numbers of Vodafone active since a few years now, for which I pay by automatic debit from my bank account.

But now, I will kick my relationship with Vodafone in the teeth, port out all three of my post-paid numbers (plus a fourth pre-paid one for little daughter uses), and also approach the relevant consumer forum to sue them for mental anguish and more. They have defamed me by adding my name to a list – however private — of defaulters liable to be sued.

I am also writing to the Vodafone MD and Head of Corp Comm, plus the consumer forum, of course, with an attachment of the email grab you see here.

I had always thought the cute little pug of Vodafone campaigns was supposed to personify care and attention and not that one has to behave like a dog.

If Vodafone has a web services team — and only if it is a million times more capable than their inept customer service folks — if will see this post and get back to me. Let’s see. I will consider my options.

And if you have any similar customer complaint and how you resolved it, share your experience here. To help others who might just decide, busy or not, it is time to eke out some time to set things right.

—————————————————————————————

Pls note that all the views and comments  I post here are my own, in my personal capacity, and do not at any point in time or in any way reflect the views or beliefs of the company I am working for.

Here goes. Think, fret over and emoan the death of Common Sense.

Obituary:

Today we mourn the passing of an old friend, by the name of “Common Sense.”
Common Sense lived a long life but died in the United States from heart failure on the brink of the new millennium. No one really knows how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous
lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn’t
always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you! earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and it’s okay to come in second. A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including body piercing, whole language, and “new math.” But his health declined when he
became infected with the “If-it-only helps-one-person-it’s-worth-it” virus.

In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of well intentioned but overbearing regulations. He watched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seeking lawyers. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a tee suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition.

It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parent when a female student was pregnant or wanted an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal
judges stuck their noses in everything from the Boy Scouts to professional sports. Finally, when a woman, too stupid to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, was awarded a huge settlement, Common Sense threw in the towel.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding questionable regulations such as those for low flow toilets, rocking chairs, and stepladders.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights, and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

-Obituary author unknown.

One of India’s greatest actors, Diilp Kumar, who received the Lokmat Jeevan Gaurav (Lifetime Achievement) Award 2011 at the Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Awards, from the President of India, shared these thoughts on his blog (http://thedilipkumar.mouthshut.com/2011/12/thought-on-maharashtra.html)  after winning the award:

Thought on Maharashtra: Wednesday evening was a different experience. Received an award from the President of India, Mrs Pratibha Patil. The award rated me as the best Maharashtrian of the year-Lifetime Achievement. On my way home, I thought over it and yes…

In more ways than one it is Maharashtra that holds the roots of my life and career. I had my schooling at Barnes School in Deolali, Nashik, as a day scholar. The moderate climate, especially the cool summers attracted my parents to stay in Deolali since my mother was ailing with asthma. Years later, after I became known as actor Dilip Kumar, I revisited Deolali in the course of my search all over Nashik District for an ideal location to film Ganga Jamuna’s outdoor scenes.

People came to greet me wherever we stopped and were surprised and happy to converse with me in Marathi. It was exhilarating to travel all over Nashik by road taking in the natural majesty of  the Sahyadri range. My brother Nasir and friend Mukri were with me and we enjoyed the small meals we tucked away at wayside eateries. Hot usal served with crushed papdis and ghati sev, poha, puris with potato bhaji garnished with green, finely cut coriander, jhunka with hot bakri… Maharashtra’s cuisine has its own identity.  It titillates the taste buds but is never heavy in the tummy. Our cook of almost four decades is a Maharashtrian, Narmada, who has hooked us completely to puran polis, batata vadas, kanda poha etc forever.

One place I can never resist is Pune. I lived and worked in Pune (then Poona) for two years and earned my first “big” money there. I know every street and road in Pune city.  One of my wishes  was to build a house and live in Lonavala, enjoy the convenience of driving to Pune or Nashik whenever I desired and invite friends to spend weekends with me.

Amitabh Bachchan’s simple, heartfelt acceptance speech at the Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Awards 2011 showed his love for Mumbai and Maharashtra, his thankfulness for having been able to do good artistic work in 2011, and his loving remembrance of his mother

Honourable President Shrimati Pratibhatai Patilji, Presiding Guest of honour Shri Sankarnarayanan ji, Vijay Darda Ji, the other dignitaries present on the stage, ladies and gentlemen…

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have received this prestigious award (Lokmat Maan Bindu award, and I offer my heartfelt gratitude to Lokmat and to everyone connected with the Lokmat family.

I have spent 42 years– that’s more than three fourths of my life – in the venerable land of Mumbai and Maharshtra. And excepting my parents and education, whatever else I have been blessed with – recognition and public respect, my life partner and my grihast jeevan (married life), my children, my grandchildren – I have received only because of the love, respect and honour I have received from this wonderful, benevolent land of Maharashtra. I will forever be proud that I am a part of Maharashtra, because whatever I have received, whatever I am today, is solely because of Maharashtra and Mumbai.

This year, I had the opportunity of doing some good work in the field of art.

I worked in Aarakshan, the film that held a mirror to the nation on the state of education in India today, and the way several instruments of education are being established today.

Through KBC, I had the opportunity to meet the real India. Most of the contestants in KBC this year were from places that one hadn’t even heard about. Driven solely by their inner strength, ambition, confidence, determination, education and curiosity, they scaled great heights on KBC. This year, KBC had presented the view that nobody is too small or humble for great achievements, and I am proud that my fellow-Indians proved this to be true on the show.

On a personal note, I would like to say that today is my venerable mother’s death anniversary, and I believe that this award I have received today contains not just your love and blessings, but also those of my mother. Thank you for this!

That born-handsome voice, that wonderful composition, great movie situation, and, I daresay, Amitabh Bachchan too at his own handsome best… wow! Remember the way he started the song, with that yodeled “Hey….!!!!!” And the way a very stylish lead on an organ and a sexy trumpet give voice to the romance in his voice, the lyrics, and that devilishly handsome Big B serenading Hema Malini.

I have another wild theory about this song. Just a guess. At one point in the song, there’s a female solo voice meandering in the interlude after the first antaraa (at 2 minutes 48 seconds). I wonder if it was Kishore himself singing in a female voice. He did have that penchant. Guess I’ll confirm with one of the musicians who played with RD and come back.

What’s your choice? Name just one song, and not a sad moping one, but a happy/romantic song.

Oh, another close second for me — from Jheel Ke Uss Paar: Kya Nazaare, Kya Sitaare, Sab Ko Hai Intezaar, Sab Hain Beqaraar, Tu Kab Sab Dekhgi. Again, R D Burman’s creation. Not a very easy song, but what a great throw with such great timbre – something only Kishore Kumar could achieve. The man had natural pep, vim, verve and panache in his voice! And the song overall was a great coming together of brilliance across composition, lyrics, filming. Remember Dharmendra at his rugged best, serenading the lovely, sightless Mumtaz? Great notes, excellent composition, brilliant instrumentation and arrangements. And that handsome voice!

The great R D Burman: Since I’m reminiscing about R D Burman, one of my most cherished memories is of the day I actually jammed with him impromptu on the bongos in his Santacruz Music room just before 1942-A Love Story was to be released. I had met him for an interview for The Independent. That interview had run across more than two-thirds of a full broadsheet page. I still remember Panchamda’s animated, awed eyes as he spoke excitedly about the of the music that was his life. He was still like a school boy, that genius with hundreds of great songs, tunes, and such an amazing body of work that seems to have been the climax and the terminus of the long, brilliant music train of Hindi films in India.

That interview, that meeting, and RD’s loving reprimand to me for not having chosen to become a musician — uh oh… here they come again… the goosebumps!

I’ll have to go back to the Times of India library and get a copy of that interview. Will try and reproduce it for music lovers here.

Meanwhile, to come back to the thing that started this post: don’t forget to tell me which Kishore Kumar song you find really handsome.

1. A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.

2. A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.

3. A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running.

4. A man’s only as old as the woman he feels.

5. A woman is an occasional pleasure but a cigar is always a smoke.

6. Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse.

7. All people are born alike – except Republicans and Democrats.

8. Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.

9. Before I speak, I have something important to say.

10. Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife.

11. Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped.

12. From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed withlaughter. Someday I intend reading it.

13. Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.

14. Go, and never darken my towels again.

15. Humor is reason gone mad.

16. I didn’t like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions – the curtain was up.

17. I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.

18. I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

19. I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.

20. I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.

21. I intend to live forever, or die trying.

22. I must confess, I was born at a very early age.

23. I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go tothe library and read a good book.

24. I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.

25. I read in the newspapers they are going to have 30 minutes of intellectual stuff ontelevision every Monday from 7:30 to 8. to educate America. They couldn’t educate America if they started at 6:30.

26. I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

27. I remember the first time I had sex – I kept the receipt.

28. I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.

29. I wish to be cremated. One tenth of my ashes shall be given to my agent, as written in our contract.

30. I won’t belong to any organization that would have me as a member.

31. I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.

32. I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.

33. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.

34. I’m leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it’s not raining.

35. I’m not feeling very well – I need a doctor immediately. Ring the nearest golf course.

36. I’ve got the brain of a four year old. I’ll bet he was glad to be rid of it.

37. I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.

38. If I held you any closer I would be on the other side of you.

39. If you’ve heard this story before, don’t stop me, because I’d like to hear it again.

40. In Hollywood, brides keep the bouquets and throw away the groom.

41. It isn’t necessary to have relatives in Kansas City in order to be unhappy.

42. Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him.

43. Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?

44. Marry me and I’ll never look at another horse!

45. Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.

46. Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

47. My favourite poem is the one that starts ‘Thirty days hath September’ because it actually tells you something.

48. My mother loved children – she would have given anything if I had been one.

49. Next time I see you, remind me not to talk to you.

50. No man goes before his time – unless the boss leaves early.

51. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.

52. Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.

53. Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.

54. Politics doesn’t make strange bedfellows – marriage does.

55. Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

56. Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book, and does.

57. Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted.

58. Room service? Send up a larger room.

59. She got her looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon.

60. The first thing which I can record concerning myself is, that I was born. These are wonderful words. This life, to which neither time nor eternity can bring diminution – this everlasting living soul, began. My mind loses itself in these depths.

61. The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

62. There’s one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says, “Yes,” you know he is a crook.

63. Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.

64. Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.

65. Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?

66. Whoever named it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.

67. Why a four-year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four-year-old child. I can’t make head nor tail out of it.

68. Why should I care about posterity? What’s posterity ever done for me?

69. Why, I’d horse-whip you if I had a horse.

70. Wives are people who feel they don’t dance enough.

71. Women should be obscene and not heard.

We had not only coined the term ‘Sidhuisms‘, but had also created a website devoted to those Sidhuisms. It received huge support and lots of content contributions from viewers of MAX and users of the site.

Reproducing here some of the best Sidhuisms. Enjoy!

1. There is light at the end of the tunnel for India, but it’s that of an incoming train which will run them over.

2. The third umpires should be changed as often as nappies and for the same reason.

3. The Indians are going to beat the Kiwis! Let me tell you, my friend, that the Kiwi is the only bird in the whole world which does not have wings!

4. Sri Lankan score is running like an Indian taxi meter.

5. Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they hide.

6. Wickets are like wives – you never know which way they will turn!

7. After Ganguly called Dravid for a run and midway sent him back and Dravid was runout in the third test against the West Indies at Barbados: “Ganguly has thrown a drowning man both ends of the rope.”

8. He is like Indian three-wheeler which will suck a lot of diesel but cannot go beyond 30!

9. Deep Dasgupta is as confused as a child is in a topless bar!

10. As uncomfortable as a bum on a porcupine.

11. The ball whizzes past like a bumble bee and the Indians are in the sea.

12. Experience is like a comb that life gives you when you are bald.

13. The Indians are finding the gaps like a pin in a haystack.

14. The pitch is as dead as a dodo.

15. The cat with gloves catches no mice.

16. The way Indian wickets are falling reminds of the cycle stand at Rajendra Talkies in Patiala…one falls and everything else falls!

17. Indian team without Sachin is like giving a Kiss without a squeeze.

18. Anybody can pilot a ship when the sea is calm.

19. He is like a one-legged man in a bum-kicking competition.

20. He will fight a rattlesnake and give it the first two bites too.

21. You cannot make Omelets without breaking the eggs.

22. This was uttered after Eddie Nichols, the third umpire, ruled Shivnarine Chanderpaul ‘NOT OUT’ in the second test at Port of Spain, T&T. “Eddie Nichols is a man who cannot find his own buttocks with his two hands.”

23. Deep Dasgupta is not a Wicket Keeper, he is a goal keeper. He must be given a free transfer to Manchester United.

24. One, who doesn’t throw the dice, can never expect to score a six.

25. You got to choose between tightening your belt or losing your pants.

26. Age has been perfect fire extinguisher for flaming youth.

27. Nobody travels on the road to success without a puncture or two.

28. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hard-boiled egg.