How do you look for the information you need? Well, I learnt from young that if you do not understand or do not know then ask. There is even a Malay proverbs that says "malu bertanya sesat jalan" meaning if you are shy to ask then you will lose your way. I do remember through my studies, I will check out do some self study or so ... and if I still do not understand I will ask my friends, tutors or lecturers. During my working years, if I think one of my colleague knows better in that area, I will simply ask him or her. If they do not know or I need more information then I will try to find for more information through books, manuals, company policies or perhaps ask someone else whom they recommended. However, my working experience here shows that asking is not all the time welcomed. There are colleagues who will answer me and help to give me tips or nudge me to the answers to my questions. On the other hand, I also have experienced answers like "Why can't you look up for the answers yourself?", "I also found this out by doing my own research, you should lookup yourself and not ask.", "I put in effort to look for it, why can't you?" etc. This the other side of response will feel being taken advantage when someone ask them something. Especially if they put in lots of effort to get this information and you just want to "get it for free" from them.

Well, how do I handle the situation right now? I continue to do what I had been doing. Look for the information on my own when I can (my usual time limit is between 30 minutes to an hour) and if I still cannot understand or cannot find it I will ask those whom I think can help me but of course I will choose to ask those who are more willing to help and less self righteous. My list of resources includes Mr. Google, Human Resource policies, Secretary's Folder (this depends on organisations' culture. In my old company secretary's table is off limits but here... everybody can just about access anything, including work contract!), Libraries, Publications etc. Coffee corners or lunch chats are also good resources but as I don't often join my colleagues for lunch, this is not really optimal for me.

Well, if there's other recommendations let me know.