Melaka. The way I see it

Saya telah berpeluang berkunjung ke Melaka pada 24-26 september yang lepas atas kapasiti mengiring pelajar untuk program Menjejak Bumi Menggapai Bintang yang ditujukan khas untuk pelajar yang lemah dalam pencapaian akademik yang telah di adakan di kem biro tatanegara, Hutan Perca di Alor Gajah. Perjalanan keseluruhan kem cukup terkawal dan pengisian program adalah tersusun kerana program ini dikendalikan sepenuhnya oleh fasilitator-fasilitator kem berkenaan.

Semasa mengiring pelajar ke kem tersebut, saya dengan beberapa pegawai pengiring lain yang semuanya terdiri daripada pensyarah UiTM telah berkesempatan berkunjung ke Bandar Melaka. Kali terakhir saya berkunjung ke Melaka adalah pada tahun 2000 iaitu sewaktu saya masih lagi menuntut di Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) iaitu kunjungan lawatan sambil belajar ke Loji Penapisan Petronas Sungai Udang.

Mengikut sejarah, Melaka, Pulau Pinang dan Singapura merupakan gugusan negeri-negeri selat. Iaitu negeri-negeri yang dibawah kekuasaan perusahaan Hindia Timur Inggeris ketika itu walaupun kini Singapura tidak lagi menjadi sebahagian daripada Malaysia.

Terdapat beberapa persamaan antara negeri Sabah, Sarawak, Pulau Pinang dan Melaka kerana negeri-negeri ini tidak mempunyai Sultan atau Raja tetapi Yang dipertua negeri dan pentadbiran negeri di ketuai oleh Ketua Menteri.

Kunjungan ke Bandar Melaka membuka mata dan minda saya, negeri yang kecil tetapi mempu menarik ramai pelancong. Pembangunan negeri yang begitu tersusun, dan lokasi tarikan pelancong yang berdekatan antara satu dengan yang lain adalah salah satu keistemewaan kota Melaka. Antara lokasi tarikan pelancong yang saya sempat lawati adalah Water River Cruise, menaiki bot selama 45 minit yang membawa pengunjung menikmati pemandangan Bandar Melaka dari perspektif sungai. Lokasi lain adalah seperti A famosa, Taming Sari, Eye of Malaysia.

Kunjungan singkat tersebut cukup untuk membuatkan saya ingin kembali semula ke Melaka. Tidak hairan la kerana menurut seorang pengunjung, Bandar Melaka merupakan pilihan pengunjung dari Singapura dan Kuala Lumpur. Kepimpinan Negeri Melaka amat terserlah dengan program pembangunan di Negeri Melaka.

Jika saya seorang yang boleh bersuara dalam Kabinet Negeri Sabah, saya akan mencadangkan Lawatan Ke Bandar Melaka untuk melihat sendiri macamana negeri kecil seperti Melaka mampu menjadikan sektor pelancongan berkembang pesat dan menjadi penyumbang penting dalam poket kerajaan negeri Melaka. Syabas Negeri Melaka di bawah kepimpinan Datuk Seri Ali Rustam.

When dogs life no longer have value

When I watched the TV3 news at 8pm 20th Oct 2010, it caught my attention when I heard that the Council of Kuala Langat have killed 9 dogs and saved 16 birds from the farm the suspected killer of Datuk Sosilawati. It comes to my senses that what is the different between the dogs and the birds? When you save the other animal and you kill the other one. I was very sad when I heard this story, I could imagine how that people be so cruel. I do hope that this is not about religion. I understand that is quite sensitive issues where some religion put dogs as ‘Haram’. And I do hope this is not the reason why they legalise the killing of these dogs.

Perjuangan yang tidak pernah selesai

Mungkin tidak terlalu berat untuk kita berfikir sejenak tentang sumbangan pemimpin terdahulu Negara seperti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussien Onn, Tun Mahathir Mohamed dan Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Dan bagi sesiapa yang mengenal rapat negarawan-negarawan ini dan pernah berkerja sama mungkin terlalu banyak yang beliau boleh perkatakan daripada segi sumbangan kepada rakyat Malaysia secara umumnya.
Saya merupakan generasi yang lahir pada era pemerintahan Tun Dr Mahathir sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia dan saya secara peribadi cukup mengagumi pencapaian beliau dalam menjadikan Malaysia sebagai sebuah Negara Maju, daripada sebuah Negara yang pendapatan berasaskan pertanian kepada Negara yang melibatkan eksport import, hub perniagaan kepada Negara barat di Asia, menyediakan tenaga kerja, dan banyak lagi.
Jika pencapaian beliau di nilai daripada sumbangan saya berpendapat, jasa beliau kepada Malaysia adalah amat signifikan ini termasuklah infrastruktur yang menyumbang kepada kelicinan pentadbiran dan sektor pengangkutan di Malaysia.
Jilka saya nyatakan secara ringkas;
1. Komuter KTM
2. LRT
3. KLIA
4. PutraJaya
5. KLCC
6. PETRONAS melebarkan carigali sehingga ke Negara Timur Tengah dan Asia Barat
7. PROTON
8. MODENAS
9. PERODUA
Ini adalah antara sumbangan signifikan Tun yang terlintas dalam minda saya kurang daripada 15 saat. Ini menunjukkan bahawa saya tidak memerlukan masa yang panjang untuk menilai kemajuan yang di bawa oleh Tun kepada Negara Malaysia. Tetapi saya akui, seperti kata pepatah Inggeris “Everything comes with a prices’ . Billon ringgit telah dibelanjakan untuk membangunkan infrastruktur ini, tetapi jika difikirkan kembali, bayangkan Malaysia pada hari ini jika tanpa semua sumbangan Tun yang saya nyatakan diatas!

Work to live: Live to work

I would like to share a few tips taken from the book by Micheal Heath entitle ‘Leadership Secrets’ . This part of the book discussing about work-life balance;
//Work-life balance has always been a big issue. Go back in history and you’ll find that many people worked long and punishing hours. Look around the world and you will see the same lack of balance in many people’s lives. So what balance should we have?
If you have a problem getting the balance right, then I would point you to the website www.worklifebalance.com. They have three simple statements about this subject:
1. Work life balance does not mean an equal balance. Scheduling an equal number of hours for each of your various work and personal activities is unrealistic. Life should be more fluid than that.
2. Your best individual work-life balance will vary over time, often on daily basis. The right balance for you today will probably be different for you tomorrow. The right balance when you are single will be different if you have partner or have children
3. There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving for. The best work life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives.
A wonderful boss I had when I was just starting work told me: “You never get something for nothing. Everything has a price.” Over the years his words has stayed with me. Do what you want to do, but be willing to pay the price for it.
The work life balance website agrees: “Achievement and enjoyment are the front and back of the coin of value in life. You can’t have one without the other, no more than you can have a coin with only one side. Trying to live a one sided life is why so many ‘successful’ people are not happy, or not nearly as happy as they should be.”
Yes, the organization and you have a responsibility to help employees achieve a balance. But we all have an individual responsibility to ourselves to ensure that our personal needs and wants are met. //

Hulu Selangor jadi penentu

1.Kehangatan pilihanraya kecil parlimen P.94 Hulu Selangor menjadi topik perbualan hangat setiap ahli masyarakat Malaysia yang mengikuti perkembangan pilihanraya kecil ini. Bermula dengan pertarungan empat penjuru kemudian berubah kepada pertarungan sengit dua penjuru antara BN dengan Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
2. Di tambah lagi dengan serangan peribadi keatas calon PR yang dikaitkan dengan alkohol serta perjudian lumba kuda. Di tambah lagi dengan penyebaran gambar superimposed calon PR yang memegang botol arak Jack Daniel. Kemudian team pembangkang fight back dengan mengaitkan beberapa personaliti termasuk Menteri Dalam Negeri (DS Hishammudin) dengan aktviti melibatkan alkohol melalui penyebaran beberapa foto di Internet.
3. Perkembangan politik yang berbentuk serangan peribadi sebenarnya ‘advantage point’ untuk menundukkan pihak lawan. Ini sebenarnya merupakan jalan paling mudah untuk menang. Menurut Blue Ocean Strategy, ia adalah salah satu cara untuk menjadikan lawan anda tidak relevan.

Journey of life

I rather say that I am hypocrite if I said I have no feeling on her. Being close friends for nearly 6 months and have an on-off for almost 2 years and finally the last news that I heard was she was married with a guy. She was a nice girl, homely type and has all the characteristic of being a good housewife. I am a bit frustrated that time but since I do not ‘really’ confess to her and her either, I think there is no point of being frustrated. I carry on with my life, knowing more and more person along journey of life...
The suddenly after a few years, I received a phone call at midnight and it was from her, saying that life tough for her and she need someone to talk to. She has a son and she was saying to me that her husband was flirting with another woman. Not one but a few and she even remember the entire name. She said I have to be strong because of the child and she doesn’t want the child to suffer. I do remember, she told me that, she found out that her husband SMSing and Calling another woman six weeks after giving birth! Even his lifestyle change even only after 6 month of marriage.
As a single guy, I personally do not know what should I advice her on the aspect of marriage itself. But I do tell her that, you always have God and ur family, do remember that! And I do stress to her that, as a guy (I refer to myself) even after married, we need some space, we need space with our guys friend, for our interest and do not expect we have to be at home all the time (24 hours per day). I agree it also should be also the other way around. She replied to me that, Yes, I do give him time, for anything he wants to do.
And after having long conversations, she finally told me that the situation also happened during their friendship, engagement and before getting married. But for some specific reason, she devoted her love for him. Hoping he would change! But things are not going into her way. But after all she was ready even to be a single mum. And I told her, that should be the last option.
We ended up our conversation that night after talking for nearly 2 hours and I try to cheer her up by recall all the good/funny memories. I do hope and pray to God that she would be happy. Coz If she happy, It will be parts of my happiness also.
This story is not to embarrass anyone but merely on sharing but as you know sharing is caring.

cross my mind

I was born and grown up in a village and I always refer to my self as a Kampung Boy. I went through all the ‘kampung boy’ stuff, you named it; Having bath in the river, went to the jungle looking for birds or squirrel, plays ‘guli’, catching fish in the pond (The pond is not that clean and not dirty either) and etc. When I looked back that years, it’s actually teach me about friendship, team work and learning new things in others way that I not realize during that time and I am sure all of you agree with me.
And after being academician for 3-4 years, I found out there is an explanation for all the things that I had been experienced, not one but many. But the convincing explanation was back in 1883, when Jean Piaget comes out with the Theory of Cognitive Development. It was a very convincing theory about the nature and development of human intelligences. The theory is well defined and being one of the important theory thought to our trainee teachers. To make it simple, the theory stated that there are four stages of human development;
i. Sensory motor period (Birth – 2 years old)
ii. Preoperational period ( 3 – 6 years old)
iii. Concrete operational period ( 7-11 years old)
iv. Formal operational period (12 years old and above)
I do not intent to explain in details each of the stages but, I do like to stress that all the ‘unaware’ learning process that happened to me was during preoperational and concrete operational stages. Those of you interested to know the detail about the Theory of Cognitive Development by Jean Piaget, just types the words in google search engine.
It is even worthy for me to update my blog since now I have 5 followers. Thanks Sweet Craft Design, Norwahida, Anwarjauhari, E’na Binut and Reemolly.