...Home Sweet Home

...2 more days to go...just can't wait to go back to Malaysia...really missed my family now...have a good meeting with the Management School, University of York today...a small but very impressive school with brilliant modern architecture...University of York is one of the World's top 100 Universities...also the recipient of the UK University of the Year Award in 2010...unlike yesterday, the weather is a bit cold today, around 12 degree...the university management was very receptive to our visit which made our discussions lively and fruitful...stopped by at Junction 32 on the way back to Leeds, one of the famous factory outlets in the UK...just bought 2 NEXT shirts for my daughters which costs just 5 pounds each and a couple of fridge magnets...not much money left now which explains my low appetite for shopping  ha3...will leave Leeds tomorrow early morning for a 5+ hours’ drive to London before flying back to Malaysia on Friday...yehaa

...business model

...had the opportunity to meet and discuss with professors from several renowned institutions...those in the Top 25 World Top B-Schools...these schools adopt different business models and approaches...industry-led versus research led...comprehensive versus specialized...but they are all World Top B-Schools...Institute for Management Development, for example, is very specialized and industry-oriented, offering only MBA, EMBA and Executive Programs...London School of Economic, in contrast, is more comprehensive and very academic-oriented, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate programs...similar to IMD, London Business School offers only postgraduate programs but is more balanced in its orientation, mixing industry and academic...Harvard Business School is very guided in its teaching and learning approach while Judge Business School, Cambridge adopts a more independent approach...so which model is the best?...or have we ever think about those different models and approaches? hmmm...confuse?...one thing in common is they all have the best faculty members...producing high quality researches and case studies...thus high quality teaching...which attracts best students from all over the World...so form is not that important...what matters more is the substance...today's food for thought...cheers

...talking vs listening

...a bit stressful today after having 4 meetings/discussions with different groups from 9am to 5.30pm...it’s pretty cold outside but very warm inside...thus feeling a bit uncomfortable in my lounge suit...anyway learned a very good lesson today...observed from the meetings that there are people who just can't stop talking...instead of listen and talk only when they need to, they just can't resist the temptation to talk and talk and talk...worst they like to chip in when others are talking...that can be very irritating and seems rude to me...even when they stop talking, they don't actually listen to others but busy thinking of what they gonna say next...at the end of the meeting, they often had no idea of what were discussed...funny right?

...House of Lord

...drove to Leeds after finishing event at Manchester...about an hour drive north...arrived and checked in at Ibis hotel around 6pm...a small and cheap but nice hotel...its 9pm now and i'm feeling so sleepy...but can't sleep yet as Maghreb only comes at 9.30pm...so takes time to update my blog...tomorrow afternoon Prof Lord Eatwell invited me for tea at the House of Lord (somewhere in the building below)...he is a member of the House of Lord's Economic Affairs Committee...also the President of Queens College and Director of the Centre for Financial Analysis and Policy, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge...hmmm having tea with a Lord and Prominent Professor at the House of Lord...what a rare opportunity to miss but I have to accompany VC to a meeting with University of Leeds tomorrow morning and University of York day after tomorrow...huhu

...London Business School

...had a 2-hour meeting with Prof Rajesh Chandy at London Business School before heading to Manchester...LBS was ranked as World no. 1 for Top 100 B-Schools by Financial Times...since 2009 for EMBA and 2011 for Global MBA...beating Wharton (ranked 2^nd) and Harvard Business School (ranked 3^rd)...i was so delighted to meet and discuss b-school issues with a prominent (yet humble...but very confident) professor from a renowned institution like him…a chance not to be missed...we had a tour and a lunch at the campus…small but very impressive one…the layout and facilities are just superb…over 1000 MBA but only 15 PhD students...wonder why...LBS only takes the best students and it gives scholarships to the successful candidates...but it is very competitive, over 500 applicants competing for 15 places every year… when asked about MBA program, Prof Rajesh said...'we offer the same subjects like other b-schools but what makes LBS no. 1 is the quality of our faculty members...and our students’...and it comes at a high price…high salary and high fees…hmmm...probably OYA can start with no. 100 or 99 first...

...teh tarik and nasi lemak

...arrived London 24th morning after 1.5 hour flight Buffalo-Newark and another 6 hours Newark-London...everything looks different now...more traditional buildings, smaller roads and cars...and different English accent...gotta maintain my Kelantalish accent anyway...funny...same people (size and color) different taste...hmm but one (actually two) things similar...the crazy summer sale...and of course those sexy blonde babes...stay at the Malaysian Hall for easy food...unfortunately the hot shower is not working...yes it's the beginning of summer but the water is still freezing cold...go straight to the restaurant at the basement after a quick shower ...puhh finally teh tarik, roti canai and nasi lemak after almost 10 days......followed by a quick window shopping a few blocks behind...gotta go to Manchester tomorrow...need a good deep sleep...zzzz

...working holiday

working holiday hmm...WORKING yes but holiday...not really ...the schedule is a bit tight...first discussion with Vice President of Keuka College...then attended ASAIHL board meeting...followed by a formal meeting with Keuka President, VPs and Board of Trustees...yesterday another 2.5 hours meeting with University of Colorado Denver...and all those networking...and jet lag...pretty tough...missed dinner last night...glad meetings with Prof Eric Harvard Business School and Prof Christensen Kellog School of Management were cancelled...otherwise i've to fly to Boston/Illinois and back to Buffalo before flying to London tomorrow...puhhh another long flight...gonna meet VC at London before meeting with Prof Rajesh at London Business School 25th...MPA Conf at Manchester 27th...then York 28th...followed by Leeds 29th...finally meeting with Prof Eatwell at the House of Lord London 30th...before flying home July 1st...a bit worry about dearest wife back home, she's not feeling well...and really needs her hensem hubby to comfort her...and my kids too...just can't wait to be home...wish can find the american superhero superman to fly me home for a day...(with my eyes shut cos he's wearing underpants outside)...

...management of compromises

...represented VC to the ASAIHL board meeting yesterday...10 members from 8 ASEAN countries and the President of Keuka College NY attended the meeting...it was a short but quite a heated meeting which lasted about an hour...anyway i always like lively meeting...they're all either university rectors or vice chancellors or presidents...except me Dean of Graduate School...and the only one without grey hair...yet...ha3...one group would like to make changes to the association charter but another group opposed to the idea...bla bla bla hmm not an easy discussion as they're all leaders with own ego...then remember what Leo Moggie said "politic is about the management of compromises"...the most vocal member (despite struggling with his English) was the President of Vietnam National University...he later became a good friend of mine who called me chicken... but not a tame one tho ha3...he thought i'm in the mid 30's...

...good wishes

i can't really sleep last night...just hate sleeping alone...really need the magic comfy pillow next to me...few hours sleep makes me feel a little bit dozy this morning...first check my email...goshh hundreds of them...really hate deleting unwanted emails...then spotted one from my wife...she said go my blog...hahah farther's day wishes from my kids...along, afiq, tasya and adik...tenkiu guys tenkiu...nothing makes me feel better than good lovely wishes from my kids...luv ya

economic necessity vs economic luxury...

factory outlet is just about 4 miles from the hotel...hmm lets go spend few hours and see what it offers...the initial idea was just 'window shopping'...so we hopped in the taxi and paid $15 for the short trip...there're hundreds of branded shops there...you just name it and all offered pretty good discounts...50%, 60% even 70%...what more some shops offered up to additional 50% off...that’s just irresistible...my brain somehow lost its sense now...do you really need the stuff? the answer is no...but then comes another irresistible question...it's so cheap you know, about half the price in Malaysia...you gonna regret it if you don't buy...its ok just buy for the kids and dearest wife...lucky i don't have a girlfriend (shhh i said that in a whisper, don't tell my wife )...but that's not fair! how about me?...i need something too...hahah don’t worry you can use the plastic money  jeng3…yeah you’re right brilliant…pity the brain…confused and simply can't resist the attractive offer...so the idea of window shopping slowly disappeared he3...and i ended up few hundred dollars poorer…

...the falls

...we arrived Niagara Falls 2 days earlier than the conference...so enough time to ease the jet lag and wandering around...the falls is just about 10 minutes walks from the hotel…we cruise our first day on the falls tour boat…you can feel the roar as you approach the base of the falls and wonder at its power...amazing...a real breathtaking view...I was here 16 years ago but it was winter time…so can’t really appreciate the falls…there’s no boat as the water froze…we walked to the falls again at 9pm to watch the spectacular rainbow show…they shot colourful lamps (rainbow colours) to the falls and it turned out to be so beautiful…then comes fireworks at 10pm…the best fireworks I’ve ever seen…now it worth the 24 hours flight…it is just the beginning of summer time here…Maghreb comes at 8.57pm and Fajr at 3.49am (sunrise 5.36am)…salam

...News from Buffalo

...imagine if someone ask you to sit on a chair (…not a comfortable one) for 24 hours...and you are allowed to stretch your legs only a little bit...must be stressful…that’s what i felt today…departed KLIA at 2am...and arrived Buffalo not 24 but 32 hours after, including 4 hours transit in Dubai and another 3 hours in New York...what a long journey...very tiring...and I already miss my family…to my kids be good to each other and importantly be nice to your mum…luv ya all

...message

...someone sent me this message:

Menghibur hati ertinya…

Tidak membiarkan hati merana, berduka,
& bersedih dgn masalah2 Duniawi ,
yg takkan selesai hingga akhir hayat nanti...

others said:
...learn to let go
...let it be sometimes
...you're doing ok
...so don't worry be happy (love Bob Marley)

thank you all...

...after 16 years

...went to the clinic today to check my BP...alhamdulillah the pressure has gone down...it's a big relief as i'm flying to New York tonite...after 16 years here i am back to the US...will be there for a week before flying to London for another week...gonna miss my dearest wife and kids for 2 weeks...the schedule is a bit hectic but i guess it's a good opportunity for me to relax a bit and enjoy the trip after 2.5 years of hard work as a Dean...was reappointed yesterday for another year...which means another year of hard work...hmmm let me enjoy the trip first...plan to rent Ford Mustang GT for a few days to enjoy the adrenalin of a 5000 cc V8 muscle car with 402 bhp and 377 torque...or 6.2L V8 Chevrolet Corvettee with 430bhp would be just fine...cool

...speaking from my heart

...i've asked my staff to arrange a talk session with all PhD students yesterday...the announcement was made about 2 weeks ago and many students have confirmed their attendance...but i just came back from my medical leave and no time to prepare the slides for my presentation...so a bit of a dilemma whether to proceed or to cancel...i didn't want to dissapoint the students...so i ended speaking from my heart...it was a spontaneous presentation...said anything that came across my mind...yeah it was a bit disorganized but i guess speaking from our heart are sometimes more meaningful...hope so

is it worth the sacrifice?

...we've set the target to become not only the top b-school in Malaysia but one of the World top 100 by 2015...it's quite an ambitious dream...but I’m confident we can do it...so we all work very hard since beginning of the year...all the planning, execution and changes to the way we run our school really suck up my energy...i ignored the headache and back pain i felt over the last few weeks just to make sure everything runs as planned...suddenly i felt unusual headache last Thursday...and i just can't standing proper...went to the clinic to find out that my BP has shot up pretty high...took rest on Friday and Saturday to ease the BP...went to clinic again on Sunday to do full medical check-up...BP still didn't go down....worse ECG result showed weird pattern...gosh this is serious....consulted heart specialist...Alhamdulillah no blocking but the heart muscle is thicker than the normal size...was advised to take few days break...so i switched off the phone and went back to Kelantan....just relax...it is not worth the sacrifice...remember one of my colleagues told me few weeks ago...'be selfish sometimes...don't work too hard...you must learn to let go'...hmm i guess I have to follow his advice...

they love justin...

...my daughters, three of them, like many other girls, are crazy about Justin Bieber...especially my second daughter...everything is about Justin, he's cute, he's cool, he's smart bla bla bla...i guess that's normal...i have my own idol when i was a kid...she's a girl of course...wanna know who? nehh...i'm not gonna tell ya...that's my secret ha3..but i can tell she's very very beautiful...forget about it...one day my daughters asked me to buy them a book...book about Justin Bieber of course...i said no at first becos the book wasn't cheap...but they were just lucky...the shop offered 30% discount that day...so i bought one...lucky them...but my youngest daughter doesn't understand English...pity her...so she just admired the pictures...getting bored...one day she asked me to read and translate her the book...i was a bit surprised becos the book wasn't just about music or glamour...there are many good lessons too...about BIG dream...hard work...perseverance...friendship...team work...and many more but i really like this one...Justin wrote: "Grandpa told me...you can lose without feeling like a loser. If you take the experience and learn from it, you're still coming out ahead of where you were before..."...good one Justin...

feeling down...

...i always fight and work hard all my life......my mum is a fighter too...raising up her children (4 boys and a girl) alone was never easy...but we, as a family, did ok and continue to survive...thank you mum...(my dad was a great guy too but God loves him more, so He took him away from us when i was 13)...my school and university days were not easy too but i survived and did well...later as an academic, i used to lead four research projects and write seven articles at the same time...it was very hard but i still did it...my wife said i'm a workaholic...yes she's right...and i know she hates me too (i love her anyway) for working so hard day and night...but i never work for rewards, i just love what i do...i know i can do it no matter how hard it would be...i just need to fight myself......i took up many different challenges in my life and survived...but now i feel so down and hopeless...it is a feeling i've never felt in my whole life...i just fail to do what i wanna do...what i believe...but what makes me feels really sad is the fact that i know, together, we can actually do it...we just need to believe and work hard...personally i've tried my best but i just can't do it...i simply can't do it alone...i need people, together, to share the same belief...to sacrifice and to work as hard....like what my buddy said..."we should learn from our five fingers in one hand, they're different in sizes but together they can achieve a mutual mission of punching somebody!"...gedebushhh gotcha....sayonara...i need a break now...see ya again

when everything goes wrong...

...have you ever had a day when everything goes wrong?...i had a back pain and a big headache since early morning...even panadol couldn't reduce the pain this time...then the first thing i had to deal with when arrived my office was...a student waiting for me to help him solve his problem or problems to be exact...pity me...followed by a short meeting at 10am...then came another head cracking case which i need to solve before heading for lunch and a couple more panadols...office engine also didn't work well...my officers are on leave...leaving behind so many backlogs...goshh...i wish i could fire them all...headed for another meeting at 2pm...the first person to arrive...but the secretariat only arrived (slowly one by one he3) at 2.20pm to find out that the meeting room was still locked...finding key took another 10 minutes...then all the preparations for the meeting...the setting up of the wifi & presentation slides took another 15 minutes...arghhhh....just can take it anymore...as always, i left the meeting early...but of course after i've said what i wanna say he3...they must hated me for being so blunt (sorry i was just telling the truth)...but i can be kind too...so i guess that would make up my bluntness...stopped by at the petrol station on my way home...somehow the petrol card didn't work...had to go to the counter and que which was ok...then went to pay my bills...but this time i had to deal with a dumb cashier...i've mistakenly gave him RM200 for the RM78 bills...and he assumed i wanted to make extra/advance payment (without asking me)...so no balance back...it was my mistake not his...gerrr...really not my day...try to keep cool but i just can't...arghhh...thank God its night time now...night time is always reflection time...time to smile of the good things i did and of course to regret of the bad things i did/said...please forgive me if i hurt you guys...it was just one of my bad days...remember reading books written by sheldon kopp...the theme was about whatever your situation, good or bad, things are about to change. if things are so bad, then wait...pause...take a break to stop that momentum...it will get better. if things are so good and you think you have finally made it through the bad stuff, then wait too. things may fall apart once more...so it is just one of the days...like a wheel...ain't it...good night guys...