God gives us the most precious element in life, which is our mind. It is for us to distinguish between black and white, good and bad, and to be sensible about other people's pride and emotions.
Sadly, today's world is clueless and lost on how to utilise the precious element. The freedom of speech and act has been seen as borderless, with the absence of respect and sensitivity.
As a result, I do not have even a small dust of respect to these kind of people.
It is not a weird fact, that the Third World countries are in better civilisation than these kind of countries again.
Stupidity prevails from their dead, black sea.
Then comes our unity, raining cats and dogs above the sea.
An activist, Hishamuddin Rais, an uncle of a friend of mine Hafas presents his views on this matter : http://www.malaysia-today.net/ShamRais/2006/02/lakaran-dan-kebebasan.htm
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Lovely Gift
Nothing can be compared to the happiness when I told my beloved parents about my semester 1 result. The moment when they smiled from ear to ear nearly made me cry, how I am deeply grateful to the Almighty for granting me the good result that resembles the bridge for me to further my study in the UK.
69.03, graded as second class upper with just 0.97 to achieve first class is best enough for me as the inspiration for me for the second semester.
Yes, this is my gift to my parents.
And also a gift to PETRONAS, my degree sponsorship unit.
And not to forget, to Nottingham University Business School, Faculty of Social Science 2005.
This is my life.
It is like a ship, sailing across the sea.
I am the captain of the ship.
69.03, graded as second class upper with just 0.97 to achieve first class is best enough for me as the inspiration for me for the second semester.
Yes, this is my gift to my parents.
And also a gift to PETRONAS, my degree sponsorship unit.
And not to forget, to Nottingham University Business School, Faculty of Social Science 2005.
This is my life.
It is like a ship, sailing across the sea.
I am the captain of the ship.
Scottish Jokes
Dr. Thomas Thornborrow entertained the class with his jokes few days ago. Let's see whether the jokes can make all of you smile, smiling from ear to ear perhaps.
1. Two goldfish in a tank. One asks the other, "How to drive this thing?"
Hmm.
2. Thomas Thornborrow went to see a doctor. He told the doctor, "Doc, I am having this problem for the past 3 months. EVERYONE IS IGNORING ME." Then, the doctor said, "Next patient, please."
Hmmm.
1. Two goldfish in a tank. One asks the other, "How to drive this thing?"
Hmm.
2. Thomas Thornborrow went to see a doctor. He told the doctor, "Doc, I am having this problem for the past 3 months. EVERYONE IS IGNORING ME." Then, the doctor said, "Next patient, please."
Hmmm.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Final Platform
Year 2, Semester 2 has begun. I have six modules to be completed, and last week was the chance for me to get a glimpse of pictures of all the modules. Yes, it is a more interesting semester. The modules are :
1. Economics of Corporate Strategy
2. Contemporary Economics Policy
3. Management Accounting
4. Digital Economy
5. Organisational Behaviour, taught by Dr. Thomas Thornborrow who captures my interest in studying the real panoramic situation in the working world, added by the interesting yet humorous Scottish flair.
6. Quantitative Methods
And it is my final platform to shift the paradigm in continuing my study in the United Kingdom, blessed by the cold breeze of Europe. God grant me the success. Merci.
1. Economics of Corporate Strategy
2. Contemporary Economics Policy
3. Management Accounting
4. Digital Economy
5. Organisational Behaviour, taught by Dr. Thomas Thornborrow who captures my interest in studying the real panoramic situation in the working world, added by the interesting yet humorous Scottish flair.
6. Quantitative Methods
And it is my final platform to shift the paradigm in continuing my study in the United Kingdom, blessed by the cold breeze of Europe. God grant me the success. Merci.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Food for Thought 2
The temperature is high lately in Malaysia and I can feel the blazing heat everytime I step out to the outside world. According to the newspaper, it is due to the changing of monsoon season and it will lasts until March or April. However, it rained this evening. Thank God for the pouring rain, earthly must be happy =)
The food for thought for today continues as we indulge into Steve Day's words :
"Your mind is one great mystery
That none can penetrate
Who knows what you may dream of
What things you can create
You're really very special
And you'll achieve a lot
And if they tell you otherwise
Listen to them not
They think they know your limits
But they can't work you out
No clue to your potential
Or what you're all about
The limited horizon
In as far as they can see
And few will march the distance
To see what else can be
So freedom is each step you take
No word your doubters sent
No need their dire predictions
No need for their consent
Go climb those distant mountains
Get moving don't just look
For you can live the hero's life
That's in your favourite book"
Great.
Oh yes, I am going to play indoor soccer today. I have to regain my stamina and skills prior to a friendly match this Saturday. It is my ultimate satisfaction to play football and sweat profusely.
The food for thought for today continues as we indulge into Steve Day's words :
"Your mind is one great mystery
That none can penetrate
Who knows what you may dream of
What things you can create
You're really very special
And you'll achieve a lot
And if they tell you otherwise
Listen to them not
They think they know your limits
But they can't work you out
No clue to your potential
Or what you're all about
The limited horizon
In as far as they can see
And few will march the distance
To see what else can be
So freedom is each step you take
No word your doubters sent
No need their dire predictions
No need for their consent
Go climb those distant mountains
Get moving don't just look
For you can live the hero's life
That's in your favourite book"
Great.
Oh yes, I am going to play indoor soccer today. I have to regain my stamina and skills prior to a friendly match this Saturday. It is my ultimate satisfaction to play football and sweat profusely.
Paradigm Shift
My fellow friends, I came across this interesting yet relevant issue about Malaysian students in The Sun (Wednesday, Feb 8) and I would like to flick some lights upon this issue. We can look at it as a platform for us to learn and making effort to improve, in order to be well-rounded students and employees in the future.
Excerpt :
Being employed means having a job but being employable means having the qualities to keep a job and progress in the workplace. You might not be able to hold down a job if you are not adequately skilled.
So why is employability seemingly so elusive to so many Malaysian graduates? A local public university was said to have a graduate unemployment rate of 38% in 2004.
Before anyone smirks and says "Not me! I am joining a private university", the thousands who can't speak nor write English properly - A CORE EMPLOYABILITY SKILL - are not only from public universities, but also from local private colleges and universities.
Students at private colleges and universities may study in English but they are also rarely graded for their grasp of the language, except in specific instances.
Naturally, language competency, both written and oral, helps one to understand lectures and academic text, and to convey ideas and argue points, but it is still possible to get away with a minimal competency because lecturers give marks on the core subject and not on language skills.
What is sad is that these students then have the illusion that their competency level is acceptable in the real world, and don't bother to improve their skills, ONLY TO BE SHOCKED DURING THEIR JOB SEARCH OR WHEN THEY START WORKING.
Entering a private university or college does not guarantee employability. It only provides the opportunity to build up employability skills. There must be intense self-learning in strengthening all type of skills, language included.
Examinations and assignments are good practice for critical thinking, effective communication, problem-solving and time management. They are also tests of endurance and creativity - which are all employable skills.
Yet, many students view tests and assignments as they do in secondary school, as ends in themselves.
Perhaps such an attitude implies an expectation to be spoon fed by the lecturer and even to be given exam tips.
The three to four years at university are not viewed as practice for the workplace - dealing with colleagues who may be uncooperative or incompetent ( IN COLLEGE - LAZY OR INCOMPETENT COURSE MATES IN GROUP PROJECTS), clashing deadlines (EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS WITH OVERLAPPING DEADLINES), demanding bosses (DEMANDING LECTURERS), or even personal or financial problems interfering with work (PERSONAL PROBLEM AFFECTING STUDY).
Simply put, if basic things like PUNCTUALITY or ability to listen well and follow instructions, are not developed by the time a person graduates, he is likely to be a dilemma in the workplace.
The late Kathleen Cotton of the American Northwest Regional Laboratory, in her School Improvement Series, titled Developing Employability Skills, divided employability skills into basic skills, higher order, and affective skills and traits.
In her report, she quoted L.L. Buck and R.K. Barrick from They're Trained, But Are They Employable? (Vocational Education Journal 62/5 (1987) : "Employability skills are the attributes of employees, other than technical competence, that make them an asset to the employer." "
Hopefully we would be able to achieve the expectation. Good luck.
Frankl once said, "What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us"
Excerpt :
Being employed means having a job but being employable means having the qualities to keep a job and progress in the workplace. You might not be able to hold down a job if you are not adequately skilled.
So why is employability seemingly so elusive to so many Malaysian graduates? A local public university was said to have a graduate unemployment rate of 38% in 2004.
Before anyone smirks and says "Not me! I am joining a private university", the thousands who can't speak nor write English properly - A CORE EMPLOYABILITY SKILL - are not only from public universities, but also from local private colleges and universities.
Students at private colleges and universities may study in English but they are also rarely graded for their grasp of the language, except in specific instances.
Naturally, language competency, both written and oral, helps one to understand lectures and academic text, and to convey ideas and argue points, but it is still possible to get away with a minimal competency because lecturers give marks on the core subject and not on language skills.
What is sad is that these students then have the illusion that their competency level is acceptable in the real world, and don't bother to improve their skills, ONLY TO BE SHOCKED DURING THEIR JOB SEARCH OR WHEN THEY START WORKING.
Entering a private university or college does not guarantee employability. It only provides the opportunity to build up employability skills. There must be intense self-learning in strengthening all type of skills, language included.
Examinations and assignments are good practice for critical thinking, effective communication, problem-solving and time management. They are also tests of endurance and creativity - which are all employable skills.
Yet, many students view tests and assignments as they do in secondary school, as ends in themselves.
Perhaps such an attitude implies an expectation to be spoon fed by the lecturer and even to be given exam tips.
The three to four years at university are not viewed as practice for the workplace - dealing with colleagues who may be uncooperative or incompetent ( IN COLLEGE - LAZY OR INCOMPETENT COURSE MATES IN GROUP PROJECTS), clashing deadlines (EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS WITH OVERLAPPING DEADLINES), demanding bosses (DEMANDING LECTURERS), or even personal or financial problems interfering with work (PERSONAL PROBLEM AFFECTING STUDY).
Simply put, if basic things like PUNCTUALITY or ability to listen well and follow instructions, are not developed by the time a person graduates, he is likely to be a dilemma in the workplace.
The late Kathleen Cotton of the American Northwest Regional Laboratory, in her School Improvement Series, titled Developing Employability Skills, divided employability skills into basic skills, higher order, and affective skills and traits.
In her report, she quoted L.L. Buck and R.K. Barrick from They're Trained, But Are They Employable? (Vocational Education Journal 62/5 (1987) : "Employability skills are the attributes of employees, other than technical competence, that make them an asset to the employer." "
Hopefully we would be able to achieve the expectation. Good luck.
Frankl once said, "What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us"
Sunday, February 05, 2006
"Road Less Taken" by Steve Day
A university friend of mine, Muzzie gave me an interesting book that from the moment I received it, it has been my ultimate words of wisdom in my daily life. The book is written by Steve Day, who is known as English aviator, adventurer, and entrepreneur. According to his biography, he is a former air force navigator and civilian helicopter pilot who has followed a road that has taken him around the world, and eventually to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he now resides with his wife and two young sons. Over the past two decades he pioneered and built up Asia's first hotel television network before venturing into publishing and other businesses. Yes, he is still on the road.
From today, let us ponder into his road experience from the moment he ventured into the road that less have taken, improving ourselves in the future.
He began with, "Do not live your life through others, or leave it all to fate, then spend your life regretting, that you left it far too late"
From today, let us ponder into his road experience from the moment he ventured into the road that less have taken, improving ourselves in the future.
He began with, "Do not live your life through others, or leave it all to fate, then spend your life regretting, that you left it far too late"
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