Welcome in English or Ahlan Wasahlan in Arabic or Selamat Datang in Malay.

I have been a Human Resource professional for more than 20 years working in a wide spectrum of areas within Human Resource. I have progressed up the corporate ladder from the very bottom with rapid and multiple promotions, praise to God. My main interests are motivation and child development

If you have any specific queries you would like to post to me, please email to amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com.

Kind regards
hjmalek

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Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts

Friday, 17 April 2015

KENAPA KITA GAGAL MEMBAIKI DIRI?

Saya pernah dilantik sebagai Pegawai Penasihat ADUN Gombak Setia untuk menambah baik prestasi kerja dan perkhidmatan Pusat Khidmat Masyarakat (PKM) ADUN Gombak Setia. Dari kajian yang saya buat ke atas prestasi semasa PKM sebaik dilantik, saya dapati tugasan petugas PKM tidak diurus dengan baik, fokus PKM tersasar di mana jumlah masanya lebih kepada masalah infrastruktur seperti jalanraya, longkang, talian telefon, bekalan letrik yang boleh saja terus disalurkan kepada jabatan yang berkaitan dan keadaan pengurusan pejabat PKM yang kurang professional.

Dari kajian itu, saya telah menyusun atur senarai tugas petugas PKM dan menyediakan KPI buat setiap mereka, mengalihkan fokus PKM agar lebih banyak masa diperuntukkan bagi kerja-kerja tambah nilai kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Selangor seperti siaraya dan koordinisasi program MERAKYATKAN EKONOMI SELANGOR (MES) dan akhirnya program latihan dan mentoring oleh saya kepada pihak pengurusan PKM.

Pada mulanya, segala perancangan dan gerakerja penambah baikan PKM berjalan lancar. ADUN sendiri mengambil berat perkembangan gerakerja dan ini membuatkan pengurusan dan petugas PKM secara sendirinya bergerak bersama membaiki diri.

Namun, setelah beberapa lama dan ADUN mengalih arah tumpuan, pengurusan dan petugas PKM mula hilang tumpuan dan banyak usaha penambah baikan tidak bergerak seperti mana yang dirancang. Sebagai contoh, pada mulanya sesi mentoring saya dengan pihak pengurusan lewat sehingga sejam kerana mereka belum masuk ke pejabat walaupun waktu sesi ialah pada pukul 10 pagi! Kemudian sesi mingguan itu tertunda berminggu-minggu hanya kerana sebab yang remeh temeh seperti menghantar anak ke sekolah, membuat paspot, mengambil ubat dan seumpamanya.

Saya memberitahu ADUN akan perkara ini, namun tiada perubahan yang saya lihat. Akhirnya saya menarik diri.

Sesuai dengan tajuk artikel ini, mengapakah kita gagal membaiki diri, mari kita analisa kes ini.

Pertamanya, niat yang tidak telus. Niat untuk membaiki diri harus datang dari dalam diri sendiri dan bukan dipaksakan. Dari kes di atas, pihak pengurusan PKM mula tidak endah dan menunjukkan sikap tidak berdisiplin sebaik saja ADUN merubah fokusnya. Ini menandakan kemahuan membaiki diri bukan datang dari dalam diri.

Keduanya, stakeholder atau pemegang hak mesti mengambil berat dengan perkembangan dan kemajuan. Walaupun ADUN merubah fokusnya, namun perhatian walaupun sedikit harus diberikan bagi memastikan kejayaan projek. Secara terang-terangan, sebaik ADUN merubah fokus, pihak pengurusan hilang minat untuk membaiki diri dan ini menggagalkan proses penambah baikan PKM.

Ketiganya, keselesaan dengan sikap lama juga memainkan peranannya. Pihak pengurusan tidak bermotivasi untuk berubah dan dengan tiadanya pengawasan dari ADUN, maka mereka selesa melepaskan diri dari berubah.

Sebagai kesimpulannya, usaha membaiki diri bukanlah suatu yang mudah dan bukan juga bukan suatu yang sukar. Pokoknya, kemahuan diri dan disiplin perlu diterapkan. Niat yang ikhlas pada diri sendiri pula menjadi tunjangnya. Akhirnya natijah yang baik akan datang juga, tepuk dada tanya selera. MARILAH MEMBAIKI DIRI.


___________________

AMZZAH NASEEHAH RESOURCES menawarkan khidmat kepakaran di dalam bidang Sumber Manusia pengkhususan Polisi, Penggajian dan Munafaat pekerja, Hubungan Industri dan pengurusan am. Kami juga menjalankan program motivasi pelajar dan kursus perkembangan kemahiran perkerja. Antara pelangan yang pernah menerima perkhidmatan  kami ialah ADUN Gombak Setia, Pusat Khidmat Masyarakat ADUN, Sekolah Kebangsaan, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan dan UiTM. CEO/Managing Consultant kami, Haji Abd Malek, mempunyai 25 tahun pengalaman Sumber Manusia di Shell.



Monday, 13 January 2014

KERJAYA : PENERBANGAN TERUS ATAU PENERBANGAN BERHENTI-HENTI

Semasa saya menuntut di sekolah, saya bercita-cita untuk menjadi seorang usahawan berjaya dan ahli politik yang berpengaruh. Cita-cita ini dibentuk mungkin kerana pertamanya saya telah terdedah kepada dunia perniagaan sewaktu kecil seperti menjaja jagung rebus dan buah cempedak di sekeliling kampung tempat saya tinggal.

Selain dari itu, saya juga berminat mengenai politik ketika saya masih lagi di tingkatan dua dengan saya mengikuti isu politik semasa di Malaysia dan perkembangan dakwah yang merangkumi aspek sosial dan kenegaraan. Saya mengaitkan usahawan yang berjaya dan ahli politik berpengaruh kerana pada pandangan saya, saya harus bebas dari kongkongan kerjaya dan berupaya menjana dana sendiri untuk menjadi seorang ahli politik yang berpengaruh.

Semasa di universiti pula saya mengikuti kursus kejuruteraan dan matematik. Minat saya masih kekal kepada alam perniagaan dan politik. Namun saya berasa sangsi samada kursus yang saya ikuti itu dapat merealisasikan impian saya untuk menjadi usahawan yang berjaya kerana bidang yang saya pelajari tiada berkaitan langsung dengan perniagaan. Sesudah itu, saya mengikuti pula kursus perniagaan dan ini meletakkan saya sangat hampir dengan impian saya. Namun sesudah tamat pengajian, kesedaran bahawa perniagaan memerlukan modal yang tidak sedikit dengan keadaan saya yang tidaklah berharta dan mewah membuatkan saya memendamkan dulu impian itu. Malahan pula keadaan ekonomi yang merudum sebaik saja tamat pengajian saya tidak membantu saya mengejar cita-cita tersebut.

Akhirnya setelah tamat semua pengajian saya, saya mula berkerja di dalam bidang Sumber Manusia. Namun saya masih lagi menyimpan cita-cita saya yang asal. Apa yang boleh saya lakukan ketika itu ialah dengan menceburkan diri saya di dalam perniagaan jualan langsung. Percaya atau tidak, saya menguruskan aktiviti perniagaan jualan langsung saya seolah-olah ianya perniagaan yang sebenar. Saya mempunyai set akaun yang lengkap dengan akaun-akaun jualan, belian, tunai, bank dan akaun timbang tara. Saya lakukan ini sehinggakan untung bulanan bersih yang saya perolehi mencapai ratusan ringgit setelah ditolak segala kos. Kejayaan tertinggi saya ialah saya dianugerahkan bintang pencapaian dari skim syarikat jualan langsung tersebut. Namun masa berlalu dengan penambahan komitmen keluarga dan desakan kerja. Akibatnya masa untuk aktiviti jualan langsung semakin mengecil dan syarikat jualan langsung itupun menghadapi masalah dan seterusnya ditutup.

Sekarang saya berkerja sepenuh masa sebagai ahli profesional di dalam bidang Sumber Manusia. Namun, di waktu lapang, saya menguruskan perniagaan melalui khidmat konsultansi pengurusan dan khidmat nasihat sumber manusia melalui syarikat saya sendiri. Di waktu yang sama, saya terlibat di dalam kegiatan politik. Saya masih belum mencapai cita-cita saya yang sebenar namun usaha saya masih ke arah itu dan perjalanan ini akan saya teruskan.

Pengajaran yang saya perolehi dari perjalan hidup saya setakat ini ialah cita-cita itu merupakan satu matlamat dan jalan ke arah matlamat itu mungkin merupakan penerbangan terus dan ada juga penerbangan yang berhenti-henti. Sekiranya kita melalui penerbangan yang berhenti-henti, pastikan di setiap perhentian kita mengumpul sebanyak pelajaran dan pengalaman agar bila kita sampai ke destinasi terakhir, kita masih dapat menggunakan segala manafaat yang dikutip di sepanjang perjalanan dan perhentian tersebut.

Thursday, 9 January 2014

MOTIVASI : CARA BERUSAHA TAHAP LIMA BINTANG

Selepas berdoa seusai solat Asr yang diimamkan oleh anak lelaki kedua saya sat petang di masjid kampusnya, saya berkata "Abah doakan agar Anwar berjaya dalam semester ini dan dapat 3 pointer". Dia membalas "Anwar target 4 flat".. Dengan tangan saya dibahunya saya mengatakan "Bagus.. oleh itu Anwar perlulah berusaha seolah-olah hendak mendapatkan 4 flat". Dia tersenyum dan menganggukkan... kepalanya.

ULASAN~ 3rd Law of Newton i.e "for every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction" sebenarnya adalah hukum Allah swt di mana di dalam menentukan natijah sesuatu usaha, ia bergantung kepada jumlah usaha dan pengorbanan yang diberikan.

Memang Allah boleh memberikan sesuatu kebaikan kepada hambanya tanpa diduga, akan tetapi syaratnya kita perlulah bertaqwa (rujuk AYAT SERIBU DINAR).

Alangkah baik, setahap lima bintang, jika kita bertaqwa, berusaha dan kemudiannya bertawakkal untuk mencapai apa yang dicita-citakan oleh kita. Nescaya kejayaan yang diperolehi itu akan lebih manis lagi.

SELAMAT MENCUBA.

Friday, 24 May 2013

GESERAN MERENCATKAN KEMAJUAN

Faktor Fizik menyatakan di dalam setiap pergerakan akan berlaku geseran dari arah yang bertentangan. Geseran ini boleh melengahkan malah menghentikan terus pergerakan. Adakah geseran itu boleh dihapuskan? Geseran adalah suatu fenomena yang tidak boleh dielakkan dan ianya akan ada pada setiap pergerakan.

Namun hasil dari pemerhatian dan kepekaan akan sebab dan akibat yang diulas di dalam artikel yang Ialu "Titik Permulaan Memacu Kemajuan, kejuruteraan Mekanikal yang merupakan salah satu dari cabang Fizik mengunjurkan penggunaan bahan pengurangan geseran bagi melancarkan pergerakan. Itulah sebabnya sekiranya kereta kita dihantar untuk diservis, maka minyak pelincir enjin diisi ke dalam enjin, air diisi ke dalam radiator, minyak gris diletakkan di antara permukaan yang bergeseran bagi mengurangkan kesan geseran.

Begitulah juga perjalanan ke arah kemajuan. Geseran berlaku di setiap masa dan ketika samada disedari atau tidak. Ianya bertentangan dengan Faktor Pacuan Kemajuan (FPK) dan melemahkan malah melemaskan usaha ke arah kemajuan. Mengenali geseran ke arah kemajuan dan bertindak mengurangkan atau menghindar geseran dapat memudahkan lagi pacuan ke arah kemajuan. Untuk memudahkan perbincangan bolehlah kita menamakan ianya sebagai Faktor Geseran Kemajuan (FGK).

Apakah FGK yang dimaksudkan itu?

FGK terdiri dari faktor Iuaran (FGK-l) dan dalaman (FGK-d). FGK-l terdiri dari geseran kemajuan yang terhasil dari unsur-unsur yang berada di persekitaran kita. Antara contoh FGK- l ialah cuaca dan masa. FGK-d pula terdiri dari unsur-unsur yang berada pada atau di dalam diri kita sendiri dan antara contohnya ialah kemalasan, melengah-lengahkan tindakan dan sikap sambil lewa.

Sekiranya kita melakarkan kesemua elemen-elemen yang dibincangkan di sini di dalam satu Gambarajah Komposit, ianya lebih mudah dirujuk seperti berikut:

Sekiranya kita menggunakan contoh petani yang telah digunakan dahulu, FGK-l petani boleh merupakan hujan atau cahaya matahari yang tidak mencukupi atau berlebihan sehinggakan kesuntukan masa untuk semaian atau tuaian dilakukan. FGK-l petani kemungkinan berada di luar kawalan petani itu sendiri dan tindakan untuk mengurangkannya mungkin tidak dapat dilaksanakan dengan berkesan. Kecualilah petani mempunyai modal yang besar dan teknologi yang tinggi untuk bertani di dalam kawasan pertanian automasi dengan jumlah air, laluan udara dan kepanasan yang terkawal. Petani boleh juga mengikuti perkembangan ramalan cuaca yang disiarkan saban hari untuk menelah kemungkinan perubahan cuaca untuk mengambil langkah adaptas seperti memeram hasil tanaman sekiranya boleh diperam, menuai awal sekiranya tidak mengganggu kualiti tanaman atau seumpamanya.

Manakala FGK-d petani boleh saja terdiri dari kemalasan, gangguan emosi, tidak meletakkan keutamaan kepada tindakan dengan betul dan seumpamanya. Bagi petani yang berpengalaman, kemungkinan untuk semua ini berlaku mungkin berkurangan dibanding dengan petani yang baru memulai usaha pertanian. Sesungguhnya tiada ubat untuk malas selain rajin. Kawalan emosi mungkin sukar namun boleh saja dilakukan dengan mengubah cara menghadapi masalah peribadi ataupun keluarga atau apa saja perkara yang boleh menganggu emosi. Meletakkan keutamaan yang betul dengan cara membuat sesuatu yang betul pada masa dan tempat yang betul boleh juga dijadikan panduan. Masa untuk peribadi dan keluarga dikhususkan di dalam perancangan manakala masa untuk bertani menjadi perancangan tetap sebagai usaha mencari rezeki.

Di dalam artikel yang akan datang, kita akan berbicara mengenai kajian kes untuk pelajar dan perkerja. Ikuti seterusnya.

untuk artikel sebelumnya yang berkaitan dengan artikel ini, sila klik Titik permulaan memacu kemajuan

Saturday, 18 May 2013

TITIK PERMULAAN MEMACU KEMAJUAN

Gelombang kemajuan telah memaksa manusia menumpukan sepenuh perhatian kepada usaha meningkatkan pengetahuan, menambah pengalaman, mengukuhkan keyakinan dan keberanian untuk menghadapi cabaran dan halangan fizikal dan mental serta pesaing dalaman dan luaran.

Ketidak upayaan menghadapi dan mengatasi kesemuanya itu akan mengakibatkan kemajuan terencat dan risiko kegagalan yang tinggi. Semua ini adalah benar sekiranya manusia itu sedar akan kepentingan untuk maju. Sekiranya anda tidak tergolong dalam kumpulan ini, anda tidak perIu terus membaca artikel ini. :)

Oh! Anda masih di sini. Tahniah! Anda telah berjaya mengatasi halangan pertama untuk maju... :)

Jadi di manakah titik permulaan ke arah kemajuan ini? Titik permulaan selalunya bermula dengan matlamat di penghujung usaha. Jarak titik permulaan ke matlamat pula bergantung kepada kesungguhan untuk mencapai kemajuan yang tertinggi dan unggul. Lagi tinggi dan unggul matlamat maka semakin jauh jarak dan semakin sukar perjalanan mencapai matlamat. Akan tetapi hasilnya akan lebih lumayan.

Menetapkan matlamat bermula dengan anggaran nilai. Matlamat yang amat bernilai ialah pencapaian ke tahap kemajuan yang mengatasi kebolehan biasa dan menjadi rebutan oleh orang yang bersemangat jitu. Menetap matlamat mudah adalah menyusahkan kerana ianya perlu dibuat banyak kali kerana ia selalunya tidak mencabar dan mengambil masa yang singkat untuk dicapai. Adalah lebih molek sekiranya matlamat yang ditetapkan itu berpanjangan dan bersinambung bersesuaian dengan minat dan cita-cita yang diidam-idamkan.

Bagi seorang petani, contoh matlamat yang bernilai ialah memperolehi hasil pertanian yang Iumayan hasil dari usaha yang kurang dari usaha yang dilakukan bagi musim yang lalu baik dari segi masa, perbelanjaan dan tenaga kerja. Ini terhasil hanya jika petani itu dapat melaksanakan usaha yang Iebih bijak dan berkesan dari usaha-usaha yang terdahulu.

Sekiranya anda perhatikan kepada contoh yang diberikan, perbezaannya dari cara pemikiran yang biasa ialah keperluan kepada kebolehan untuk peka kepada sebab dan akibat. Usaha, perbeIanjaan dan guna tenaga yang Iebih efisyen adalah sukar sekiranya tiada kepekaan kepada sebab dan akibat. Kepekaan terhasil dari kerajinan untuk memerhatikan apakah akibatnya sekiranya sebab-sebab yang menghasilkan hasil pertanian diubah-ubah untuk menjadi Iebih efisyen.

Beberapa perkara yang perlu diambil perhatian telah di sebut di perenggan di atas. Ianya disebut sebagai faktor pacuan kemajuan dan ianya adalah:

  1. Kepekaan 
  2. Kerajinan 
  3. Pemerhatian 
Sekiranya kita susun ketiga-tiga faktor pacuan kemajuan di dalam suatu jadual dan mengisi tindakan yang diperlukan serta kekerapan tindakan, maka bolehlah kita simpulkan yang ianya boleh digambarkan seperti di bawah ini:

Ye! Tindakannya bukan mudah tetapi senang jika telah menjadi kebiasaan. Bagaikan ketika pertama kali berlajar berjalan atau menunggang basikal dengan luka akibat terjatuh. Lama kelamaan dari berjalan boleh berlari atau dari menunggang sendirian sampai menunggang membawa adik, kawan atau barang. "Berakit-rakit ke hulu berenang-renang ke tepian, bersakit-sakIt dahulu bersenang-senang kemudian".

Di samping faktor pacuan kemajuan, kita juga perlu mengenal pasti faktor geseran kemajuan yang boleh melambatkan atau pun menghentikan perjalanan pacuan kemajuan yang hendak dilalui. Tajuk ini akan dibincangkan di dalam artikel yang mendatang insyaallah.

klik di sini untuk artikel seterusnya yang berkaitan dengan artikel ini  Geseran merencatkan kemajuan

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Gangnam style craze


As of today 30 Sept, the Gangnam style video by singer, songwriter and choreographer PSY of Korea has been viewed by more than 300 million viewers in Youtube. With an average of 4 million views per day since its publication in Youtube on 15 July 2012, it is a very phenomenal video and is climbing the Youtube popularity chart for the most viewed video which is now being topped by Justin Bieber with 777 Million views. Gangnam style song has already penetrated the UK and US Charts with several localized copycats around the world such as KL style and Singapore style.
 
This phenomenon is rare worldwide as even K-Pop has not breached the world music scene except in east Asia. In the home front, this is not unusual as Malaysian music appreciation is very flexible. Hindi music has been a craze here since 1950s, especially Malays who adore the beauty and handsomeness of the Hindi movie stars. Ironically these movie stars are not singing the songs they purported to sing in the movies and the Malays do not even understand Hindi!
 
PSY is not only an international household name from Korea. Samsung is another. Samsung was founded in 1938 and ventured into Communication and Electronics market in 1977 and initiated its mobile communication business in 1983. It had several issues with its Korea domestic communication market until it gave an ultimatum to itself in 1993, to win the Korea market competition in one year or Samsung will close its communication business. Within a year Samsung improved its mobile device and started to capture the local market. In 1998, Samsung then ventured into international market and after several communication creations and well receipt innovations, Samsung is now among the world leader in electronics and communication industry. Its success had also made other market leaders trembled and did whatever they could to stop Samsung’s progress.
 
Going back further in history, Korea was mostly unknown except probably for the Korean War post World War II. Compared to China and Japan history, a lot more familiarity will be with Chinese Great Wall of China and Samurai from Japan than whatever else of Korea. Korea was just a country being fought over by these two regional giants.
 
What then made the difference with Korea today? We may find the answers by looking at PSY and Samsung traits for success.
 
PSY is an overweight and not good looking Korean star. He is not a common K-Pop star material. However PSY’s ingenuity in creating new dance steps with a mainstream popular music beat stole the fans heart in such a short time. So we can say that ingenuity is a lot more important than physical looks. PSY stands out from the rest with his ingenuity while K-Pop stars are just mere beauty and handsome looks.
 
Let us look at Samsung, it ventured into the Korea local mobile communication business 10 years behind the world market leader at that time, Motorola. In electronics, 10 years would probably be equivalent to a century! Samsung then was trailing behind Motorola for the next 10 years until it reviewed its position and made a tough decision, either made it work or they would stop. With a timeline of 1 year, Samsung’s technical staff scrambled and came up with a product that eventually captured the Korean market. It went further to create and innovate in order to venture into and capture the world market. So making assessment of one’s position with the ability to create and innovate pulled out Samsung from the pits and brought it to the top.
 
So let us recap. Ingenuity or creativity, assessment and innovation are the take ways from PSY and Samsung success. How then we convert this for our use
  1. Ingenuity or creativity– this trait will differentiate us from the rest. Coming up with original and attractive ideas are tough. However it will bring us to the forefront and we will be known as the pioneer of the new invention. So making another copycat KL or Singapore style is not ingenuity or creativity. 
  2. Assessment or review- this trait allows us to look back and work for the future. By looking back, we are able to look at the gaps and identify measures to close them. What had been our failures in the past should not be repeated and previous successes should be leveraged upon for more success in the future. We need to be tough during self assessment or review in order to progress. Some of the gaps maybe due to our own mistakes and making changes may be uncomfortable. So a lot more sacrifice is required to attain success if this is the case.  
  3. Innovation- this trait allows us to be better than the next person who is bidding for the same position as us. Innovation is not creating a totally new idea however it is creating noticeable and acceptable differences which are perceived to be better from our previous position or from the competitor’s position. Innovation needs to be progressively done with the next innovation to be better than the previous one. This will ensure us to be always on the top of others.

Saturday, 7 April 2012

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: Responsibility + Accountability = Maturity (Success*n)

Once while driving back from lunch with my family, a few teenagers were blocking the road into the housing area where I live. They were talking and laughing while walking along the road. When I honked to signal my oncoming car, a few of them ignored the horn and continued with their laughter. After passing through them and approaching the gate of my house, we saw a flock of birds on my pathway were basking under the sun. Once they saw my approaching car, they flew away without any hassle.

These differences in reaction were observed by my children and I commented to them the differences of reaction showed the level of maturity by both the teenagers and the flock of birds. This is because the first sign of maturity is survival instinct. This can be seen in any of the scientific television series either in the Discovery, Animal Planet and National Geographic channels. Survival instinct provides us the ability to continue living by being alive and avoiding injury or death. The stronger a survival instinct the more chances for success in live.
A higher stage of maturity is formed by two essence, responsibility and accountability. Responsibility is knowing all the task and duties that one has and having the ability to prioritise these in order of importance for action. It is a manner of ensuring that all task and duties are taken care off completely. Responsibility can either be assigned or assumed but the importance remains the same. The other essence of maturity is being accountable. Accountability is ensuring that all task and duties are taken care off completely in a satisfactory manner without fail.

Once these essences are blended into complex maturity, we will be able to handle several and even multiple challenges. The sustainability of maturity will ensure further development of survival to generate a lot more success in live. Of course certain challenges may not be handled completely alone, maturity will also provide the ability to connect with other network to generate and leverage support. For further reading, please refer to my other article on "Friendship, its benefits to success" and "Diminishing accountability".

To articulate further this concept, I attach a graphic presentation below. 

(Amzzah Naseehah Resources provides Human Capital Management consultancy services in area of training, learning and development. For more details please email to : amzzah_naseehah@ymail.com or call: +6012-5103364)

Saturday, 31 March 2012

Friendship, its benefits to success

Do we ever ponder how friend can influence our life and how we can influence our friend to improve our life? This morning while having a quick breakfast with my wife, I met two of my ex-High School schoolmates at a Mamak Restaurant. We had not met for more than 15 to 20 years. They were ex professional footballers, Subadron Aziz and Shaari. Subadron used to work with Petronas and then played for Federal Territory in the Semi-Pro league and represented Malaysia. He then married the pretty local singer, Salwa Abdul Rahman. Shaari in the other hand, was a Negeri Sembilan Semi-Pro player. We exhanged pleasantries and asked about each other before promising to contact each other and parted.

As a social human being, this situation is normal for everyone. Making friend, losing contact and meeting again are a cycle that we go in live. Some would just make friends to be social and regard it as a phase in one life, but those who are successful would make use of friendship to enhance their academic, career and business.

How can we emulate those who are successful by utilising their friendship connection? Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Hadith 314).

In life we will meet beneficial friends as well as friends who will harm us. As Prophet Muhammad had mentioned in his hadith, a beneficial and a harmful friend can be physically identified. The result of the friendship can also be physically identified. So we need to gauge benefits that we can derive from the friendship and allocate a lot more time with those who will be able to provide us with greater benefits. The hadith did not mention of severing friendship from the bad friends as certain benefit can be derived from having a cordial relation with them. Taking the example of the blacksmith, the blacksmith will be able to mold metals for us however we cannot be around them as it will be harmful to us in the long run.

If we look at the renowned Chinese philosopher Confucius guide to friendship, in one of his sayings he said: “There are three friends that do good, and three friends that do harm. The friends that do good are a straight friend, a sincere friend, and a friend who has heard much. The friends that do harm are a smooth friend, a fawning friend, and a friend with a glib tongue.” In his saying, Confucius described the traits of good and bad friends. Of course the traits are not restricted to these three sets, however the fundamental of friendship is to be truthful, sincere and able to safeguard the friend's personal matters. Friendship which we should be wary of will be friends who are untruthful, selfish or manipulative and tend to cheat us.

How then to be successful via deriving benefits from friendship? Firstly we need to identify those who we connect with. These people are not our relatives but those we will connect with in a classroom or an office or a business transaction. Then we identify what we can offer to others and what we need from others. The relationship should not only be one way, both parties to the relationship will derive benefit from each other. The chart below shows this principle and serves as a guide in our friendship.


We also need to manage our expectation. Not everyone can be a good friend. As long as we are comfortable with the friend or friends and we are able to evaluate the benefit we derive from them, the friendship would be good. However we should not shun anybody who wants to befriend us. However we can allocate our friendship according to the level that fit the relationship.


In one of William Shakespeare's quotes, he described a continuation of a long lasting friendship. He said: “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” A good friend will be able to point to you your strength and weakness in a transparent and truthful manner and help you progress and gain success.

Sunday, 23 October 2011

Freedom to our children

Every child from a parent is a distinct individual. A child may even have the same pointed nose of the father or the same curly hair of the mother, but deep inside, the child is different in many ways from their parents and siblings. Likewise twins may look the same in most of their physical features; however one half of the twin is still different in many ways from the other half.

I have two sons and a daughter. My eldest son was very active when he was in school. He was the school prefect when he was in primary and secondary schools. He participated in many of the school's extracurricular activities as well as competed in many competitions representing his school. He was also doing well in his studies.

My other son however was a quite boy and will avoid attention as much as he could. When he was in his primary school, the only time he represented his school was in an English theatre competition when he was in standard six. In spite of this, I did not label or grade my sons in any way then because for me they are different and their difference is special in making them an individual.

My second son now is in his secondary school and this year he is sitting for his SPM national examination. He had gradually bloomed to be an active student. I attribute this to the coaxing from my wife and I as well as the examples that he had emulated from his elder brother. He was selected to be the school prefect when he was in form two and also joined the school's police cadet. He has also been progressing well on his study.

Last April, I asked my second son why he is still performing his duties as a school prefect though it is already four months down the year. It is very common in all schools, even when I was in secondary school and when my eldest son was preparing for this SPM examination two year ago, school prefects who are going to sit for their national examinations are released of their duty very much early of the year.

He told me that the Disciplinary teacher had instructed all school prefects to continue their duties until the end of the year. I discussed the importance for him to prepare for his exam and he agreed to inform the Disciplinary teacher that he will slowly released himself from duty to prepare for his exam. I told my son that if the teacher needs to speak to me, let her have my number.

After that, I was informed by my son that the Disciplinary teacher was not happy with my son's action. It seems that though most of the students in form five were not happy that they were still performing their duties, none of them dared to go against the Disciplinary teacher's instruction. As my son received my support, he went through it by himself.

In May, I attended the "Parents meet the teacher" session. This is the session to discuss on the children's education progress as well as to share the latest report card. I highlighted to the form teacher about the abnormality of the school still insisting the form five students to perform their duties just as the SPM exam is just round the corner. In fact I wrote a note in my son's report card for the school to take action on this matter at the suggestion of the teacher.

Apparently after this the Disciplinary teacher started to approach my son in a more negative manner until one day she asked my son not to wear the school prefect's uniform and instead wear the normal school's uniform. She seems to insinuate that my son was sacked as I have never known of any school giving such instruction even after the school's prefect relinquishes their duties. After all, it was only six months more before the end of the year and by giving that strange instruction meant that I would have to buy new pairs of school uniform for my son. When my son told me about it, I told him to ignore the instruction and to give the Disciplinary teacher my mobile number as I would like to discuss this matter with her personally. Apparently she refused to give me a call.

She then told my son that he was not fit to become a school's prefect. My son had been the school prefect for the past four years, the longest serving prefect at the school. I immediately went to the school after I knew about this. I managed to discuss this matter with the school's principal and eventually the whole incident was sorted out. The school principal decided to put all form five school's prefects on passive duties and will eventually relinquish their duties a couple of months before the SPM examination.

The whole saga was really different than what I had experienced when I was in school. My teachers showed a lot more finesse in educating the young generation. As any other individual, children require love and respect.

Of course there are bound to be children who may require a lot more attention due to their attitude and behavior, and I believe these are very small in numbers. However, there should be some focus on source of symptoms rather than generalising all symptoms and providing one single antidote.

The teachers and parents should ideally partner in building a young generation of thinking and free individual. Discipline is a matter of pride and it has nothing to do with instructions top to bottom with full compliance and expectating no questions asked. A thinking and free young generation will encourage them to explore the unknown territories responsibly and innovate to progress themselves. We can trust our young generantion.

Friday, 16 September 2011

You plan your career

I recently hosted a group of young graduates for lunch. They just joined the company I work for a couple of months ago and the lunch is part of the on boarding process at my company. The lunch provided an opportunity for interaction between the young graduates and departmental managers to share experience and seek clarification on company's philosophy and anything related to career progression.

One of the questions posted to me by one of the young graduates was: "Does the company I currently working for worth the time to be in until retirement?" My response was of course not a straight forward yes or no. Let me share it here.

First and foremost, employment loyalty should be for oneself. I know it sounds selfish, the reality is at this time and era, company strives for sustainable profitability and will not be hesitant to restructure and reengineer its business and operations including making its own staff redundant. Employees at the same time shall strive for sustainable employment either by working for someone or by working for him or herself in a business venture. Sustainable employment means that the employees shall always develop themselves to be able to be assessed as an asset for current or future employer. Developing oneself will also provide a platform for self work or business.

Secondly, establish a goal in your career, what will be the highest position you want to hold if you are working for a company? Then plan many paths toward this position by knowing what will be the next and subsequent positions that you need to perform before eventually landing at the highest position. Set sensible timeline, normally 3-4 years at one position and always plan for a promotion when moving into a new position.

Thirdly, executing this plan shall also include competence gap identification and learning initiatives. Identification of competence gap can be done individually and by others. Be humble to seek and receive views from others. Learning initiatives can be formal and informal. Formal learning may be in the form of classroom training and coaching while informal learning may be in the form of projects involvement. Make sure the learning can cover for an alternative plan if the desired highest position is not attainable. Initiate the learning yourself instead of waiting others to initiate it for you.

Thirdly, harness soft skills such as communication, interpersonal, problem solving as a start and gradually moving to influencing and leadership skills. These skills are important to apply while working.

Lastly, always review the plan. Make some adjustments along the way in order to reach to the goal. Take calculated risk and know when to bail out.

Roughly we can say that the success factor of this plan is made up of 50% from within oneself, 30% within one's influence and 20% based on luck. If the employee is able to develop him or herself, half of the journey is reachable. The next one third is via influencing one's way for a career path by demonstrating one's capability and capacity to move over to higher positions. The last one fifth is luck and luck comes from God. So be nearest to God as you could so that divine interventions always exist in one's career path.

Thursday, 3 February 2011

Excel in UPSR 2011 Motivational Programme

On Monday, I conducted a motivational programme for year six students at a primary school in Gombak. These students are going to sit for their UPSR examination in September. UPSR is a government standard examination for primary student at year six i.e. 12 years old. Though passing the examination is not mandatory, however to excel in it will open up greater learning opportunity either at the fully funded boarding school, special class in a normal school and either academic or sports scholarships in their upcoming secondary school years.

There were close to 150 students who attended the programme and they were divided into two groups. I conducted a two hour session each culminating a sense of idolisation of people who have excelled, knowing what they have and how did they excel, coming through to what do the students require to excel in their own academic endeavour. I also established with them a sense of self-realisation of their individual goal, strength, weaknesses and support.

Amidst all these, we also had fun. I'm quite please that many of the students then took the opportunity to add me as their facebook friend and had also shown their positive response to the programme on facebook. I share one of them below.

Saturday, 15 January 2011

Office liaison or relationship

Yesterday while I was having some drinks at the office cafeteria, I met with an office colleague whom I have not met for a long time. We exchanged greetings and news about each other i.e. ourselves, our work and our families. I then introduced her to those at my table as "my long long long good friend". She responded while pointing at me "and this is my long long long good boss". Only then I realised that she was one of my former subordinates some years back.

In the middle of last week, two of my former subordinates approached me for references to apply for a job. Although I no longer managed them, I was delighted when they approached me and got to know that apart from me, they had also approached their current supervisors.

This posting is about office liaison. There are a couple of office liaisons such as colleagues, superior-subordinates, contact or network. In this topic it is more of superior-subordinates liaison. Liaison is relationship though the latter is commonly used, the former is a more formal description. I will be using relationship a lot more in this posting.

When I started work in 1989, it was totally unthinkable for superiors to mix around with their subordinates. I am working at a European company with strong British presence. So the class separation was quite apparent then.

However, I did not prescribe to that and mix around with as many people as possible. As I climb up the corporate ladder, I continue to mix around freely. However, I will confine it to the office and not out of office as I balance my work and life. After office is my time with my family and I commit fully to that.

So, why relationship is important to us? Human relationship is important to simulate positive emotional well being and to ensure productivity. Human are able to exchange information and ideas that can be discussed and debated to derive to the best conclusion by interacting with each other. However there are certain etiquettes that need to be followed in a relationship i.e. integrate, respect and sincerity.

  1. Integrate will be the underlying principle of relationship where it connects one to another. Integrate means that two different individuals may co-exist with each other despite their differences. The differences may be due to class, race or position or any visible or non-visible differences. In integrating, the differences will still exist however these would not be a hindrance to the relationship.
  2. Respect will be the catalyst of the relationship where it keeps the relationship civil and harmonious. It will facilitate the relationship though there are differences mentioned above. Respect will also ensure that the relationship is based on mutual freedom to act and react.
  3. Sincerity will be the spirit of the relationship where it keeps the relationship free of malice. Sincerity does not exist through verbal claims, it comes from the heart and it is shown in one's action.

With these etiquettes the relationship will hopefully prolong deriving greater benefits to those who are in it.

Monday, 3 January 2011

AFF Cup - Malaysian victory, what's next?

In my earlier posting World Cup 2010 Tuesday, 6 July 2010, I commented regarding the condition of Malaysian soccer in the world arena. The posting was made a few months after the Malaysian team won the SEA Games Gold medal and even after Malaysia won the most recent AFF Cup, my comment still stands. I mentioned in my earlier posting that to be in the running in Asia top five (to be vying for the World Cup Asian qualifiers) and in the World Cup (only top four Asian teams and the fifth team through AFC/OFC playoff will qualify), Malaysian soccer requires four elements to be successful:
1. Vision
2. Determination
3. Action
4. Fulfillment
FAM and the players need a vision for themselves. The vision for FAM can be to promote professionalism in its organization and sustain a successful national leagues and a formidable national team with layers upon layers of potential successors. The players in turn may have a vision to be top notch professional football players plying their career in Europe just like Park Ji Sung of Korea, Imamoto of Japan, Sun Jihai of China and Ali Al Habshi of Oman in the English Premier league, Mahdavikia and Karimi of Iran in the German Bundesliga and Nakamura of Japan in the Scotland League, just to name a few.

Both FAM and the players must have the determination to fulfill all its vision. FAM needs to organize a more flamboyant domestic Premier League, M-League, Malaysia and FA Cup that will bring back the fans into the stadium, just like what it was in the 1980's. With more fans in the stadium, FAM's coffers will be filled up not only by match tickets but also by sponsors who will try to outdo each other to become the main sponsor or part of the sponsorship team. The players as well should be more determined to dish out a consistent and sustainable performance in every match that they play. With a consistent and sustainable performance, their value in the regional and global market will increase and they in turn will be able to maintain a rewarding career in soccer.

All these require action by the FAM and the players. To be fair to the fans, if all of us expect the fan to be with the team all the time, the Malaysian team needs to be consistent in their game. Winning and losing are part of the game, however the way the team perform even with a loss or a draw, fighting hard and smart will surely melt the fans' heart in favour of the team.

Look at Vietnam after they were trailing by two goals in the first leg of the AFF Semi-Final match at Bukit Jalil, the team fought hard to try to score and win the second leg at home. Their fans and supporters were behind them all the way with full confidence that the team will put their best to win the game.

Likewise Indonesia, they were trailing by three goals in the first leg of the AFF Final at Bukit Jalil. The atmosphere right after the loss was so ecstatic. The Indonesian fans used the internet by twittering massively that the Indonesian team's loss was due to the insignificant laser ray on their goalkeeper. Then the Indonesian media hyped the issue further by making it their front page news three days in a row until the second leg match. Not to be left out, even the Indonesian leaders followed suit with low rated remarks in the fanatical frenzy.

On the match day, the Gelora Bung Karno stadium was pack, the fans who were following the match via giant screens outside the stadium were almost equal in numbers to the number of spectators in the stadium and no fans from Malaysia except for the Malaysian media and VIPS could be present in the stadium.

Maradona, the Argentinian coach and a former renowned World Cup player once said during the 2010 World Cup, "Latin American soccer will never overcome the European soccer, what we can do is to develop our youngsters for them to be skilled in soccer. Let them ply their professional soccer career in European leagues where there are abundant of big monies. When the World Cup turns up, we bring them back and let them play for their country with love and pride to win the World Cup". This is a statement full of vision, determination, action and fulfillment. Achieving fulfillment requires a clear vision, strong determination and consistent action.

So the next step of fulfillment for Malaysian soccer is for some of the players to ply their trade in Europe. Playing for the Indonesian or Vietnamese clubs will not bring the desired outcome that will bring us up several notches over these countries in AFF. Look at Bambang Pamungkas, he was playing for Selangor once and he is still a player good only for this region.

To be able to outdo or even match the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Saudi and the Iranian teams, we need to send out as many MALAYSIAN players as we can. Send out Safee Sali, Norshahrul, Safiq Rahim, S Kunalan, Mahalli Jasuli, Mohd Sabree Abu, and Khairul Fahmi Che Mat to play in Europe. With more of them playing abroad, the better it will be for our soccer's future. In the void, we will have new and upcoming star players who will try to outperform those players so that they may also be able to be noticed and selected.

We need to start this now. Once we sustain this cycle then we will reach the apex of fulfillment, that will be when the World Cup is won by Malaysia (and we probably will have public holiday for a week :).

Tuesday, 28 December 2010

Live is a journey

Live is a journey. This is how I looked back at the time when I left my High School and move on into college, started a career and a family. Some people may have a life journey not in that particular order. Due to different personal circumstances, they may start off their journey with having a career then go to college at the same time they started having a family. However, regardless of the milestones of the life journey, life is still a journey between an origin point moving towards an end point.

In normal sense, a successful journey would require four elements. These will be

1. planning
2. provisions
3. direction
4. assessment
These four elements are required as we are provided with limited resources. Resources such as time, energy and money are limited regardless of the quantity one has.

Time is limited as opportunities do not stand still and need to be grabbed on the go. It also does not help us as opportunities are also being sought by others who are also in a rush to complete their life journey. There is golden opportunity, second or third opportunity or just a normal opportunity, each brings different value to different people. The more one grabs opportunities, the higher likelihood one will attain success. Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange grabbed the opportunity to set up a whistleblower website with amusing gossips of important people freely talking their mind to other important people all over the world. This he does in the pretext of free information and has been one of the most popular world news towards the end of 2010. Though he was in jail with a rape charge, however he is currently talking to people who want to publish his story for USD1.3 million! I believe this is not the end of his venture into making money.

The other resource, energy; is also limited as it comes with one's youthfulness. High energy comes with a youthful body. This must be true otherwise you will have Wayne Rooney playing for Manchester United until he is 60 or 70. Imagine that.

In the other hand money is also limited as a lot of people would want to take it away from you either via legal or illegal means. People who would want to legally take the money away from us will be the shopkeepers at the mall, mobile phones charges, tolls at highways, the Utilities Company, etc, etc. People who would want to illegally take the money away from us will be pyramid syndicate pretending to be MLM operators, other conman, pick pockets, thieves and robbers.

Coming back to the four elements of planning, provisions, direction and assessment mentioned earlier which are important to ensure a successful life journey. Planning will consist of a target or several targets with rough or detail plan to achieve it or them. Target without plan is mere dream. However if target and plan are combined together, the likelihood of it being achieved will be higher. Planning will also include identification of external forces that may post a threat to the journey. The more proactive this identification, the better.

As in other journey, the second element; provisions; will be used to ensure that the journey is sustainable. If you are driving from KL to Penang, you will need a well maintained car, fuel, money for food lodging and shopping! A mobile phone or I Phone, I Pad or what have you is also important to be connected via facebook :). In a successful life journey, provisions will be a good education and a high drive to succeed. A good education will be the key to open a career opportunity while a high drive to succeed will be the key sustainer to climb the corporate ladder.

The third element, direction; is like a compass or road signs in a journey. To travel to Penang from KL, one will need to take the North South Highway or Federal Freeway towards the north. In life journey, direction is to generate the effort to plan for the next move in a career. If you are working and started off as an Executive, you need to direct your effort immediately for the next move to a Managerial position. Likewise if you are venturing into a small scale business, the next direction is to make yourself ready to venture into a medium scale business and then a large scale medium.

The fourth element, assessment; is like a map or navigator to gauge whether the journey is still moving towards its target or targets. This is important as a slight degree of error will take the journey off its target. In life, assessing the other three elements planning, provisions and direction will ensure that journey will end up with a success. Just like other journeys, there will be external factor that may post a threat to the journey plan, provisions and directions. For example in a career, if the coveted job is not within the particular organisation you are in, a career move will be one of the options to take. If you are in business, if a business transaction is deem to fail, it would be better to abandon it and scout for another. The requirement to make amendments to planning, provisions and direction may be minor or major. The decision is entirely yours with or without consultation with others.

Have a nice trip in your life journey :)

Saturday, 28 August 2010

Patience and blessings

In this world of broadband and super lightning speed of information sharing, people tend to expect that everything will be equally speedy and fast. Of course if this is possible and achievable, it will indeed be speedy and fast. However certain things are slow and times consuming that require patience and perseverance in order for it to be possible and achievable.

Most people rely more on their ability, strength and intelligence to achieve their targets. Some of them achieve their targets and some will not. What makes this difference is still a mystery to some. What I am going to share with you is based on my own experience in life.

Some nights ago I had a guest to my house. He is young with a start up family and had just changed his job. He had come to share with me his vision and targets to improve the standard of living of his family and himself. He works as a gym instructor in a reputable Health Centre with good earnings and benefits. I got to know from him that professional gym instructor requires certification from international fitness bodies through certain exams. Most of gym instructors in Malaysia lack this certification as it is not made compulsory by most Health Centre. However, with proper certification, a gym instructor may fetch higher salary at reputable Health Centre. This certification is similar to professional accounting certification that requires study fee, exam fee and membership fee.

His vision that he shared with me is to be a gym instructor having the highest professional certification from the best international professional body. With this he hopes that he will earn a lot more and will be able to better cater the needs of his family. At the same time as he plans to sit for the next highest gym instructor certification, he also plans to start up a small business with his wife who is expecting their next born. So with the higher earning and the business, the family income will be higher than what it is now. However he does not have enough funds to implement all these plans. With this limitation he plans to make a loan and had come to me for an advice.

After listening to him, I planned my conversation to include the topics of vision, targets, priorities, capability, opportunities and risk. Firstly I congratulate him for having a clear vision and good targets. I told him that these are important for everything that we intend to do either be it our work or our life. After having visions and targets, I shared with him the importance of prioritizing the targets by looking at one's capability, other option of opportunities and the risk that is involved in the targets.

Looking at his situation, I told him that he needs to think of what is coming to his and his family. Firstly, he just changed job and currently earning quite well, his wife is expecting their next born and they are trying to start a business. I asked him whether he is able to handle all these changes with ease. He seems to be confident, however he could not answer me on what will be his plan if these do not work out well as he intended.

I then related this situation to how he would act as a gym instructor in coaching a new comer to the gym. He would first coach the new comer how to make stretches, warm up and start with the easy routine. After the new comer is able to handle these, only then he will teach the much more strenuous exercise until the new comer is able to handle all of the gym apparatus with ease. By then, the new comer will become a regular and would probably handle his or her routine by him or herself and will seek guidance from him once in a while.

I then concluded that in life it is more or less the same situation. We need to take some slow and some fast steps. As long as we have a clear vision and good targets, we will have to prioritise our tasks as we are provided with limited resources in term of time, fund, strength and ability. We will also need to find other opportunities as an alternative plan if the initial plans did not work out well. Last but not least, we will need to be aware of the risk involved in planning and implementing the plan so that we may avoid pitfalls and overcome barriers.

With a parting statement, I said, however all these will also require patience and blessings from Allah the Almighty. The blessings determined how contented and grateful one is with his or her achievement that Allah is pleased with his or her effort.

n.b: Allah in this context is the God of All in the Universe

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

World Cup 2010

World Cup 2010 has been so devastating. Spain, Holland and Germany persevered and are in the Semi-Final while Argentina and Brazil were defeated when the odds were stacked for either one of them to be the first World Cup champion hosted in Africa. Italy was the surprise early exit, while France and England were expected not to progress and had rightly showed their true form when they exactly did that. South Korea and Japan revived their reputation as the power house of Asia when both qualified into the Second Round. However, the referee miscalled of England second goal against Germany and deliberate handball by Suarez of Uruguay's against Ghana were two of the most horrible things that could have happened during this most prestigious event. Definitely this World Cup is full of colour.

I grew up loving soccer with passion. I played soccer socially (not competitively he he) until I was form three. I love the game and it helped me socialise with the boys at school and in my neighbourhood. I played soccer before school, during Physical Education classes, after school, at home on Saturdays and Sundays. We played on the school field, in a rubber plantation near my house (sometimes dribbling the ball in between rubber trees he he) and on dirt roads in front of the housing estate.

Malaysia was one of the soccer power house of Asia in the 70's and 80's. I could still remember in the 70's, Malaysia soccer team qualified for the Munich Olympic 1972 and won third place in the Asia Games 1974. Then in 1980, Malaysia qualified to the Moscow Olympic. I witnessed them all with my own eyes via black and white live telecast. South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia were then equal to Malaysia in form and power. We used to beat them all.

In mid 1970's, I will make an effort to watch as many of soccer matches at Merdeka Stadium either during the Malaysia Cup, Burnley (Razak under 17) Cup and Merdeka Cup. I will be accompanied by my elder brothers, both of whom had passed away (may Allah bless their soul). They were footballers when they were at school as well. This continued until mid 1990's when Malaysian soccer started to decline due to a massive corruption scandal. Since then I had not stepped into the soccer stadium ever.

So where is Malaysia now? Though we won the SEA Games gold medal recently, we are still nowhere near South Korea and Japan. Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar can still beat us anytime. On certain days we can even draw with Laos or Cambodia, and other days may even loss to them.

So what happened? It is about vision, determination, action and fulfillment.

Malaysia has lost its vision in becoming the top team of Asia. The vision is lost not only by the FAM, it is also lost by the players. We have not produced players who can even be selected to play in Europe 2nd or 3rd league. FAM and the players are not determined to build a soccer generation among the Malaysian youngsters. They are quite contented to organize the domestic Premier League, M-League, Malaysia and FA Cup every year. The action that they have taken to progress the game in Malaysia has been haphazard and disoriented. Within the span of thirty years, soccer has not brought us any notable glory beyond this region. There is no fulfillment felt by the people and the soccer fan, more so by the FAM and the players in the Malaysian soccer arena.

What can we learnt by all these? Achieving fulfillment requires a clear vision, strong determination and consistent action. Maradona, the Argentinian coach and a World Cup player said "Latin American soccer will never ever overcome the European soccer, what we can do is to develop our youngsters for them to be skilled in soccer. Let them ply their professional soccer career in European leagues where there are abundant of big monies. When the World Cup turns up, we bring them back and let them play for their country with love and pride". A statement full of vision, determination, action and fulfillment. So what's next Malaysia?

Saturday, 20 February 2010

Maintaining a relationship that last

Some of us may have heard of the story of a man who had pulled out a thorn from a lion’s paw he accidently met in the savannah. Some years later, both of them met once again in the Roman arena of death, the man against the lion, with the pack audience expecting a bloody duel. However the duel did not happen as the lion recognized the man who had helped it before and the man was left unhurt. The story related here is one example of a relationship.

A relationship can be between human, between animals and between human and animals. Previously, blood relationship used to be a powerful relationship, however nowadays misunderstanding between brothers and kinship may even result in bad blood. Nowadays, relationship may be forged by anyone to derive beneficial returns to the participants, ideally generating mutual benefits. The benefits may even extend to other surrounding parties. Therefore a relationship can be a bond of material or emotional interdependencies.

Merriam Webster < http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relationship> defined Relationship as follows:
1: the state of being related or interrelated
2: the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship: as a: kinship b: a specific instance or type of kinship
3 a: a state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings b: a romantic or passionate attachment

For the purpose of my blog post, I will be deliberating relationship based on the second definition i.e. “the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship”. The words "connecting" or "binding" mentioned here connote a lasting time frame. A time frame can be as long as the relationship is beneficial to both parties. This may even go through period of connection, disconnection and reconnection. During the period of disconnection, memories of a good relationship certainly would strengthen the relationship upon reconnection. It is therefore quite important during the period of connection; both parties develop more binding interdependencies.

The benefits yield from a relationship may be immediate or over a period of time. Hence patience is required in ensuring a relationship that is sustainable and progressive towards the desired goal. The benefits may be in the form of material gain or emotional support. Both of these are equally important and to derive both benefits in a relationship is very much desired.

Reflecting this in a professional career, the importance of relationship cannot be overly under rated. However, relationship in a professional career should also be similarly professional in nature. It shall also be lasting through a period of connection, disconnection and reconnection. However professional relationship may tend to border along the line of hypocrisy and distrust. The most advisable reaction is to accept the relationship at that level and continue to be vigilant.

In my professional experience, I have had staff who treasure the value of relationship and I have also had staff who are otherwise. I have shared these in my previous postings as follows:

Recently in my previous capacity as the Expatriate Transaction Services Manager, I have approved the mobilization of several of my team members out of the team to provide them progression opportunity. Out of the many, except for one, most of them had maintained a good professional working relationship until the end.

To conclude, relationship is a matter of social interdependencies reality. The synergy and dynamism in a relationship would create a symbiotic energy in enhancing key performance in an organization. One of the factors normally assessed during selection process would be the ability to work in a group which ultimately points to an ability to establish relationship. Quite evidently, relationship is very important in a professional career.

Friday, 4 December 2009

Instant and convenient culture

While I was driving through my housing area a week ago, I noticed an advertisement printed on an A4 paper, laminated and hung at a lamp-post which says "Work from home. Earn RM2,XXX to RM4,XXX per month, call...". Then yesterday I read in a newspaper, "Bang Wok (I have changed the name) cannot promise that you will earn RM1 Million, but you can start earning more than RM5,000 per month by ..."

All seems to be easy enough. The notion is simple and attractive, just follow what the advert suggested, and one can earn four digits income. There are also schemes that offer those who join it becoming millionaire within a short period of time by either investing in something that sounds so unbelievable or just recruiting certain number of downlines.

Most of the people whom I know well, had been in one of these schemes, in fact too many of these schemes. After one failed, they will join another, then another if that failed too. Seems that money is not everything to them, it is the dream to earn big money or becoming a millionaire that seems to be much stronger than anything else.

Is it true? Well I don't know because I have not met a Millionaire who had joined these schemes. So far I have only met people who are on a relentless pursuit to become Millionaire or earn big money instantly with a little effort.

For me, this is the product of an instant and convenient culture. Just think, most of the people of this generation had been brought up with the fastest car, the fastest broadband, the easiest remote control, the easiest internet banking, the lightest hand phone, and the list goes on and on. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper can be taken along the street or delivered to the house as well. How instant and convenient.

With this culture, working hard and long is so unattractive to us Malaysian. Everything should be instant and convenient, the money should be big as well, nothing worth it other than big, instant and convenient money. So who then will work hard and long? The foreign workers of course! Cleaners and Domestic helpers are from Indonesia or the Phillipines, Contractors and labourers are from Indonesia or Nepal.

However the reality is not quite instant and convenient. The challenge in life is to attain, maintain and sustain whatever that we do, be it in business or employment. This requires working hard and long. Likewise, I believe all those schemes are true if one is able to attain, maintain and sustain, but I believe it is not instant and convenient, as nothing is so easy.

Saturday, 29 August 2009

Farewell to Alex, all the best

When I became the HR Expatriate Services Manager in January last year, Alex was one of the Services Advisors in the team. He constantly consults me on his work and performance. Due to the manpower rationalisation of my team and the impending transitioning into an inferior terms and conditions of employment covering the team, he had decided to apply for a transfer. He recently got a job as a Marketing Executive in Johor, but still working at the same company. Farewell to Alex and all the best in his future endeavours.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mahda, Alex Pega
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 8:22 PM
To: Mohd-Nor, Abd-Malek
Subject: Farewell & Thank you Boss

Boss

I had put the results hardcopy into a white envelope and put it under your keyboard. Your Merdeka stuff had been placed under your workstation.

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your full support and encouragement as my team manager. You will always be among the Best Boss @ Tok Guru I ever have.

Sincere apologize if I had offend you in a way or another. Again..THANKS Boss.

p/s sama Bendera Hijau kita boss...."Hijau" FOR ALL!...sama-sama Hijau ne jgn lupa boss...1.2 ;-) TGNA suka tu..hehe

Thank you and have a nice day.
Best Regards
Alex

Sunday, 9 August 2009

Farewell lunch for Roha

One of my subordinates, Roha got a transfer cum promotion to Labuan, Sabah starting 1st August. Her team organised a farewell lunch at Tenji Japanese Buffet Restaurant, SohoKL, Sri Hartamas. The restaurant's ambience was beautiful and they have a big spread buffet. The price is okay but the food there was so~so.

Good luck and all the best to Roha.