Lobo's Lessons

Today in the Star, my friend (at least I hope he is) Anas Zubedy made a brave stand against the entire embicility that is our government, and all the involved players called politicians. For those who did not read the full-page advert/plea, I paste its contents below. My hat off to you bro. Dear Malaysian Politicians , Please stop the power chase, call for a truce and focus on the economy. I do not claim to speak on behalf of all Malaysians, but I have strong convictions that many share my sentiments.  Our concern today is not who rules the country or heads the state governments but the looming bad economy. Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat leads, it is meaningless if Malaysians have no job to go to, no money to pay rent and no means to put food on the table. I am a business owner, like other business owners and managers of corporations I have a responsibility to ensure people under my care and payroll continue to have jobs and a decent income to take home. We work hard and wi...

It's been a hectic 2 days for me here in Putrajaya..Shacked up and slumming in the majestic open vistas of the Putrajaya landscape, as seen from the balcony of the Shangri-La...   These hotel stays are detrimental to my waistline as I am a bit of a gourmand... (enough said). Buuut I try to compensate with trips to the hotel gym and swimming pool. It was just last weekend I was in KL, and now just under a week later here I am again.. But this time in the capacity as MC for the establishment of the Meiji University Alumni Association of Malaysia, of which university our present PM Pak Lah and our previous PM Tun Dr Mahathir had received honorary doctorates... A rather daunting task for the uninitiated. But for me I'm happy to say it was a breeze! Another feather in the cap of this MC! So, after a looooooooooooooooong session of speeches, food, and incessant bowing (of which I am actually very accustomed), it is now finally over. Overall, a good haul of networking contacts I would...

I write this entry in a beautiful hotel room in the hotel Flamingo by the Lake.. Tomorrow, I face all the bigshots of the local universities who have anything to do with student films in a meeting at FINAS...And I'm wondering what the heck am I doing here? I scan through the name list of the attendees - Dato this, and Tan Sri that, and I see their positions - Deputy Vice Chancellor, Director, Dean... And who am I? Encik ( Mr ) Abdullah Bin Mohd Nawi. What is my post? - lecturer, department of modern languages. What is my relevance to the local film scene? - I teach drama in education, I supervise theatre performances, I act in the occasional short film... but that's about it... Honestly... What am I doing here?

Image credit  here. Recently, I visited a blog of a friend who had blogged about a recent hankering for a McDonalds Prosperity Burger.  I was taken aback but not surprised by a comment which was negative towards the entry and its writer, due to the ongoing boycott of McDonalds and other companies allegedly in cahoots with the Zionist regime. I shall save comment on this particular issue as I have had many a debate over it, though I see both camps have a certain sense in their arguments. The issue here is that the comment had been made anonymously, just as one would write a poison-pen letter, for fear of repercussions of one's convictions. In my view, everyone is entitled to their opinion, whatever it may be, and is welcome try to convince others of these opinions. This in itself is not wrong, but even encouraged here in the academic world.  However, the issue is that when one is absolutely convinced of one's point of view, and has the willpower to voice it out against another p...

It's just so hard trying to find time to do everything I need to do.  First, I've got to take care of matters at work, which include lectures and tutorials, consultations, research, and a billion other things so minute that it wouldn't be worth the time to mention them. Second, I've got my personal life to take care of - seeing that I have time for myself as to not burn out, spending time with the wife and kid, spending time with the parents, parents-in-law, family and extended family, and some friends. Third, I've got to take care my self-development - Seeing to my role as the Vice President of Education in Toastmasters, working my way up up to Competent Communicator and hopefully Competent Leader within the organisation, constantly upgrading my knowledge on my subject matter, and of course, chase that ever elusive PhD proposal that I was supposed to have finished last semester. Fourth, I've got to take care of the other things as well, Emceeing jobs, giving ta...

Ahhh, it's that time of the year again, where bloggers delightfully indulge in the activity called 'tagging', and this time round I have been tagged by Fauziah Ismail . And so, to kill multiple birds with one stone (by answering this tag I also answer previous tags made by some blogger friends), here are 25 random facts about me: 1)I used to be a gaming addict during my student years, playing games from dawn to dusk on my computer and console when I had the time. Not so much anymore, though I do enjoy the occasional game. 2) I first met my wife at the bowling alley. We were both teachers, bringing our bowling teams for the district tournament. 3) I used to think that my name was ‘Ambulat’ when I was about 4, but got to know otherwise a year later. This was probably because my parents always called me by my full name, and that was how it sounded to a small child... Kinda aptly describes my shape now though. 4) To date, I have written 5 songs, most of them during my col...