...evil tongue

...felt a little 'downer' these few days...everything seems not to be right and heading towards a wrong direction...things also look difficult and almost impossible...so much has been happening lately...yeah life always has its ups and downs...so tried to be as positive as possible...but it doesn't work...probably years of hard work has finally taken its toll...feeling up in down times is never easy...then comes frustration and 'anger'...and unwise decisions...but while taking a break browsing the internet, i found this beautiful phrase "barangsiapa menjaga lidahnya, maka tenanglah batinnya" (please go to the google translation  if you don't understand Malay language)...what a great lesson and reminder for us all...anger as our greatest enemy and tongue as our greatest evil...which often make our life miserable...masyaAllah...so if we can take care of both...then we can lead a more peaceful life...insyaAllah..it'a always good to sit back and ponder of what's happening ain't it?

...AIM

...like what the managing director of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia said in her speech yesterday...she said "...while we cannot change the world but we definitely can help change one person"...and i guess these individuals, as a group, can achieve wonders and help change the world...congrats to AIM which has successfully helped more than 90% of its nearly 300,000 members out of the poverty line via its innovative micro credit system and entrepreneurship training programs...

...patience

...my wife had an appointment with a specialist at the respiratory institute in KL last week...she has to consult the specialist every four months...and it was her third appointment scheduled at 2pm...we arrived the institute around 1.30pm...after the registration we wait to be called by the nurse...after one and half hour waiting, the nurse finally came to tell us that the specialist my wife had the appointment with had cancelled the appointment...sounds funny but she told us she was very busy preparing her slides presentation for tomorrow's meeting...we politely asked the nurse to call the specialist to ask for her mercy to free herself at least for half an hour...but negative...how about other specialists? we then asked...there are four specialists at the institute...but the nurse told us 2 were on leave and another was in a meeting...then how about our appointment?...why didn't you inform us earlier...we drove 500km from Sintok for the consultation...we were told to come today at 2pm...and today Tuesday 2pm-5pm was the time for consultation with patient...how come nobody was here...her second appointment with another specialist was also cancelled without prior notice but my wife was very lucky that time because there was another specialist for her to consult...my wife was not feeling well and frustrated but we had to drive back another 500km home...without seeing the irresponsible specialist...

...form

...had another meeting on my second day in KL...about smart partnerships between UUM and Angkasa...UUM to provide postgraduate education and executive training to the staff of Angkasa...and at the same time help its officers conduct field works on selected cooperatives under its umbrella as case studies...then had an informal discussion with the CEO...we discussed about the proposed programs and then about cooperative movement in Malaysia and its way forward...also differences between Malaysia and Singapore...compared to Malaysia, Singapore has only one body that manages its cooperatives...Malaysia has Angkasa, SKM and MKM... and more interestingly it has a very small number of staff compared to ours…taking that into account, Malaysia should perform better than its neighbour...

quick wins

...had a meeting at the Ministry of Higher Education last week...the meeting discussed about the progress and strategy for the implementation of human capital building framework...bravo to the government for coming up with such a good initiative...however, while the framework presented (as a form) was very interesting in helping the government achieve the high income target...i am a bit worry about the substance (inputs and processes) and what not the quick wins phenomena which has now becoming a popular term/trend...they are important to meet the short-term targets but the issue here is whether they are sustainable....remember reading start-up nation: the Israel’s economic miracle book.

intelligence excusitis

...one of my favorite book the magic of thinking big discusses about 4 excusitis diseases: intelligence, health, age, and luck excusitis. intelligence excusitis is about underestimating one's own brain power and overestimating other fellow's brain power. i'm sure we have heard phrases like "but you've got to have brains to succeed" or "i'm not that intelligent like him/her" right?...this kind of excuse creates or associates with inferior feeling and often translates into a big hurdle for one's success...we often forget how hard the so called brainy or intelligent persons work...david schwartz said "the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you may have". what matters is one's interest and enthusiasm which stimulates oneself to observe and think more in order to find ways to overcome whatever obstacles one face...while i believe IQ does play a small role, i also believe that a person with a lower IQ but having a positive, optimistic, cooperative attitude would achieve more than individuals with higher IQ but having a negative, pessimistic, and uncooperative attitude...a good hypothesis i guess ha ha ha...

...self reminder IV

another self reminder...Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas'ud (R) relates that the Holy Prophet (P) said: "a Muslim never taunts or curses or abuses nor resorts to vulgar talking." (Tirmidhi)...i think the best lesson here is to listen...being more of a listener than a talker is always a better choice...good listeners often have better observations of the surrounding environment than active talkers, hence are more careful when they talk...i have to admit that it's really hard to resist the temptation to talk and give opinions...i sometimes face the same problem but i believe one should always try harder to change to become a better human being insyaAllah...i always admire people who talk wisely using carefully chosen words...remember the old days when i kept a small notebook to note down those interesting words and phrases...

...i can

...found a book which i bought few years ago when tiding up my room yesterday...the magic of thinking big...it is a very interesting book which discusses about 'excusities diseases'...it is about us people who always have good excuses for not doing what they should be doing...having read the book i believe this quote is true: "I CAN is 100 times more important than IQ"...observation, self-belief, persistent and hard work plus honesty matter more than one's intelligence...that's what my little experience taught me...

...self reminder III

...i always have this little but significant problem...to control my hot temper...it's always the hardest few seconds to deal with...Hazrat Abu Hurairah (R) relates that the Holy Prophet (P) said: "The strong one is not he who knocks out his adversary; the strong one is he who keeps control over his temper." (Bukhari and Muslim)...may Allah gives us more patience so we can observe and learn more insyaAllah...

...self reminder II

...in life there are rules, regulations or at least norms for us to respect and follow...that often create a conflict between the regulator who regulates the rules and the follower who has to obey the rules...the conflict between to be right or to be kind...i always believe there is no hard and fast rule in making the best decision...it always depends...here is another hadith for us to ponder...Hazrat Anas Bin Malik (R) relates that the Holy Prophet (P) said: "Make things easy and convenient and don't make them harsh and difficult. Give cheers and glad tidings and do not create hatred." (Muslim)...the hadith hopefully can guide us in making tough decisions...

...self reminder I

"Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well and that if they do wrong you will do wrong; but accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong if they do evil." [Tirmidhi 5129]...a good reminder for us all insyaAllah...

...life is interesting

here comes september...and syawal...the holy month of ramadhan will come again in about a year time...it is a month of reflection...the month where one test one's patience and regain one's belief and strength...life is interesting and full  of challenges...one needs to pull back the strength after feeling down...regain the passion after losing it...getting back the belief after a hopeless event...and it is normal to fall down after a success (for one to take it as a reminder)...and to regain the success after a big fall...and life goes on...