Thursday, February 26, 2009

Anas Zubedy's Plea

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 willing to go the extra mile to make sure our nation not only survive this crisis but come out stronger and wiser. We need your help.

Let me explain. I am in the business of Training, Development and Consultancy and have 20 people in my team.

Saedah is 42. She keeps the office clean and helps organise the training rooms. She has four children and her husband is unemployed. She was first hired on a part time basis, because she is very hard working and has a great attitude, we offered her a full time job to help provide a stable income for her family. Even then, when her third child started school this year, it was a struggle for her to buy new school uniforms and other necessities. Saedah lives on a 
‘kais bulan, makan bulan’ basis, so, if she is jobless, her tap runs dry.

Samsuri is 27 years old. He lives with his sister and her family in a low cost government flat in Sunway. He does our despatch, helps with various clerical works and occasionally acts as a driver. During the first week at zubedy, we learned that he not only did not have money to buy new clothes and shoes for work, he had no money for lunch. Like Saedah, if he has no job, his tap runs dry too.

Alicia in Client Servicing turns 26 this year. She lives with her dad who is 71 years old and retired. Her mom passed away when she was little. Alicia is a hard-working team member, has a gentle caring outlook and fun to be with. (We like to poke fun at her as she blushes easily). Last May her dad went through a major operation, thank God he has recovered well. Alicia needs a job, both for herself and her dad.

Sudesh, 38, is one of our facilitators. When his father passed away last year, he moved back and lives with his mother in Seremban. He shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban daily, leaving home sometimes as early as 4 in the morning and returning late at night. He is no stranger to hard work and sacrifice, he knows what he needs to do to survive and to care for his mother, but he too needs a job.

Like fellow Malaysians, every one of us in zubedy needs employment, those that live from hand to mouth like Saedah and Samsuri and others like Alicia and Sudesh with family to care for. We Malaysians need the Malaysian economy to be strong. We need you, our leaders, to work hard and to work together to make our economy viable.

So this is my plea.

Pakatan Rakyat, please stop your attempts to take over the federal government and persuade BN’s lawmakers to join you. Stop all legal proceedings, no more 916 and let go, just let go. The nation can wait till the next general elections if they want change. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and gracious and give you their support in the next elections.

Barisan Nasional, please stop any attempts to take over PR states and win over PR’s lawmakers. You have proven your point with Perak. The nation can wait for the next general elections if they want your party. Focus all your talent, energy and hard work in steering the country out of an economic downturn. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and smart and give you their support in the next elections.

BN and PR! Call for a truce. Get together and compromise. Someone has to give in. Or has hate consumed your heart till it blinds you? You can do it. You have enough intelligent people between you. I am sure you can find solutions. Take the nation to heart. That is why you are in politics in the first place.

Focus on the people.

Focus on the economy.


Anas Zubedy
Managing Director
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd

Friday, February 20, 2009

Almost from the Land of the Rising Sun


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 say - among them the top brass in Meiji University, and very surprisingly, the managing director of Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC... Not bad at all...

Now if only the secretary hadn't booked the flight for 7 hours after the event finishes...

Buuuuuuuut you can't have everything can you?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

pre - FINAS in the Flamingo

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?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Anonymity assured

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 point of view, one should be prepared to justify and defend it (in a civilised manner of course). This is also what we teach in the academic world.

Nevertheless, when an opinion is freely dispensed without giving the receiver of the opinion the chance to defend his or her opinions, and the language used less than appropriate, then this would be an act of cowardice.

The power to dispense one's opinions comes with one's accountability.

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Benjamin Parker

Monday, February 9, 2009

Time


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 talks and lectures, facilitating workshops, teaching Korean students English, just to name a few.

Fifth, I've really got to find time to go to the gym. As it is now, I'm lucky if I make it once a week, just to do the treadmill for 15 minutes, and weights for 15 minutes. My target is 3 times a week. I wonder how I'm going to do that?

Sometimes I wonder if 24 hours is ever enough to finish what we have to do... And then I check myself - What we have to do will never finish, no matter how many hours there are in a day.

True wisdom indeed...


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

TAG - 25 Random Facts

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 college/uni years. I have started writing about 7 other songs, but never got round to finishing them.

5) In college, I was never seen without my guitar... kind of like a wandering troubadour playing mostly to myself, but entertaining anyone who wanted to listen.

6) In Uni in England, I sang on stage in a performance and made many women cry when I sang a song about a mother and daughter.

7) When I was at school in England, my artwork was always featured on the walls inside the school corridors, and was always put up in the school art exhibitions, and shown to other students during art class... This made my sister more than a little peeved.

8) I used to write short stories and mini novels when I was in high school... God knows where they are now – I’m not very good at keeping things.

9) My record for not sleeping was during my student years, where I went 3 whole days and nights without sleep to attend classes and finish assignments. This would not have been possible without a massive dose of coffee and cigarettes... Not something I would even REMOTELY try nowadays.

10) Much to the disappointment of my father, I started smoking when I was in Kuwait, went off it for a while finishing high school back in Malaysia, and went back on cigarettes in college. Was known to be one of the heavier smokers back then. My apologies Dad... I was young and stupid.

11) Quit smoking for good in 1999. I went cold turkey. It was hell for the first 3 months, and very bad for the next year or so, and just bad for the following year. During this time I never lit up even once. And Alhamdulillah, after about 3 years, I was finally rid of the curse of the cigarette. I've been clean for a full decade now. My advice to others – Don’t even start smoking, unless you’re willing to put in 3 long years of ‘rehab’.

12) I wanted to be a lawyer after high school, but didn’t manage to get a place in Uni in Law. TESL was my fourth choice.

13) In college, I hated being called ‘teacher’ or ‘cikgu’. It was just so uncool.

14) After starting to work as a teacher, I loved being called ‘cikgu’. It just made interaction with other people so easy.

15) I never knew what life in a FELDA settlement was like before I started teaching in Bandar Tenggara. Prior to that, I had always thought of FELDA settlements as being no more than a bunch of wooden houses in the middle of a rubber plantation.

16) My corporate image is black trousers, black shirt, black blazer, no tie, with 2 buttons open. Also the gold shine of my Parker pen arrow in my shirt pocket would be the only accessory I have on my ensemble.

17) I am now an experienced and accomplished debater and public speaker, but I actually froze on stage during my very first public speech at age 12. This humiliating experience haunted me until I left primary school.

18) There was a time when I used to be obsessive-compulsive, like Adrian Monk, but I’m actually much better now. However, sometimes if my students are very observant , they might catch me lining up my books, marker pens and files all exactly parallel to each other.

19) I have acted with Nabil Raja Lawak in a UTM produced short-film. This was before his popularity sky-rocketed.

20) When I have the time, I will decorate my house with abstract paintings that I am going to paint myself...But I need to learn oil-painting techniques first.

21) I have multiple sports injuries that I have picked up over the years, two of them permanent – dislocated wrist from weight-lifting, and injured knees also from weight-lifting.

22) I used to be a weightlifter for Terengganu, preparing for the 1996 SUKMA. I was cut 3 days from the competition, because of the injuries that I had sustained 2 weeks before.

23) I think it is horrible and unacceptable the way some Malaysians (especially Malays) treat some Bangladeshis and Africans. This is because many of these people (the Malays) have never felt what it is like to be a minority outside their home country.

24) I think I would have done well as an interior designer. I think I am artistic, and have a good grasp of how colours and patterns go together. Just give me a good budget, and I’ll transform your home (I think).

25) I can’t believe how much personal stuff I have divulged in this entry.

I'm not one to impose any tagging on people, but I do think it is a fun way of knowing anyone who reads this blog. So, let's do it this way - if you've read my tag, consider yourself tagged, and give me a buzz to let me know when you've completed the tag. It would be absolutely superb to get to know you more. Please do!