Slow-roast Rump of English lamb...

The House of Lords (also known as House of peers for ceremonial purposes) is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as "the Commons"), and the Lords. Membership of the House of Lords was once a right of birth to hereditary peers, but following a series of reforms these now only form a portion of the membership. As of July 2009[update] the House of Lords has 740 members, 94 more than the 646 seat House of Commons.[1][2] The House of Lords, like the House of Commons, assembles in the Palace of Westminster. The full, formal title of the House of Lords is The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. (from wikipedia).

I was in London recently to speak at the 3rd International takaful Summit at Knightsbridge. One of the highlights of the summit was the dinner reception at the House of Lords. I shall not write alot about it. The wiki info above I suppose, is enough to enlighten the dark. I have been invited 3 times to have a meal there, the first two was from Lord Kenneth O Morgan (Lord of Aberdyfi) former Vice Chancellor of the University of Wales at Aberystwyth that alas, never happened. So I thought I shall not miss this opportunity for a third time. I bumped by chance, into Kak Teh choc-a-blog, at MSD canteen at Queensboro Terrace and she commented (complained was more like it) that my blog was too wordy...now I am lost for words...

Ahead of the Curve?...

Yup, you are right, I am not talking about 'The Curve' (in front of IKEA) at Damansara Intan..hehe. On the inside jacket backflip of the hardcover edition read 'published during the one hundredth anniversary of Harvard Business School, Ahead of the Curve, offers a rich detailed and revealing you-are-there account of the institution that has, for good or ill (evil is more like it , if you ask me..hehe), made American business what it is today.' Written by Philip Delves Broughton, a journalist who had served in New York and Paris as bureau chief of The Daily Telegraph of London, one can imagine the wordsmith skill, satire, wit, sarcasm and spin job, seasoned newspapermen are capable of delivering (wink). I was waiting for the book even before it was published. I was not disappointed. It has sixteen chapters beginning with 'Lets Get Retarded' and ends with the chapter on ' A Factory of Unhappy People'. Chapter Two (Starting Over) begins with a quote from the HBS Admissions website by Theodore Roosevelt - Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat...Chapter Five (Who am I) talks about personality tests candidates were required to take. One was Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the other was CareerLeader. Reminds me of that same MBTI we went through in great detail, when I did my MBA (HRD), not at HBS of course, but Hull is a fairly good European MBA school ok? (wink). I like the recommendation letter Philip's boss wrote (which reminds me of the recommendation letter I wrote for Wadi when he applied for the British Chevening Scholarship..hehe). Here goes:

From: Quentin Letts

Re: Philip Delves Broughton

Dear Professor,

Thank you for your email. You ask me to help my former colleague Philip Delves Broughton with his exercise for your course. I am naturally happy to do so, even though we emotionally restrained englishmen are generally hopeless at self-examination - for that matter, dwelling on the nitty-gritty character strengths of our confreres....

(haaa..you didn't think I was going to reproduce the full letter, did you? c'mon, go buy the book and read it yourselves ok? hahaha). Ok ok let me give you a little bit more to tease and excite your interest. Chapter Sixteen: 'A Factory of Unhappy People' where Philip records some of the comments of his classmates and HBS alumnus, and about how to make the right choices coming out of HBS would require real intestinal fortitude,a real functioning moral compass, because the forces pushing you to pursue success in a very specific way were so overwhelming. Philip spoke to his classmate Justin. "If you want to change the world, get on the plane to f****** Darfur, he said tersely. "HBS is about making money. There are going to be a small handful of terrific people in our class who actually do good stuff, but most of us are like everyone else in business. We talk about it because it makes us feel better. How many people in our class wrote in their applications that they wanted an MBA so they could do micro-financing in Uganda and are now going into investment banking?"

In the century since its founding, Harvard Business School (HBS), has become the single most influential institution in global business. Its graduates are Fortune 500 CEOs, private equity titans, venture capitalists, even presidents of the USA! They include many of US's savviest entrepreneurs (eg Michael Bloomberg) and canniest felons (eg Jeffrey Skilling). Top investment banks and brokerage houses routinely send their brightest young stars to HBS to groom them for future power. To these people and many others, a Harvard MBA is a golden ticket to the Olympian heights of American Business... or is it still? (wink). Philip (the author) and his classmates over two years, were inundated with the best -and the rest - of American business culture that HBS epitomizes. The core of the school curriculum is the "case method" - an analysis of a real business situation from which the students must, with a professor's guidance, tease lessons. Over the years, the Harvard Case Method is not short of critics and detractors (we shall not go into that hehe). Philip in his account, also exposed the less savory trappings of b-school culture, from the 'booze luge' to the pandemic (no, not swine flu ok?) obsession with Powerpoint to the specter of depression, which stalks many overburden students. With acute and often uproarious candor, Philip assesses the school's success at teaching the traits it extols as most important in business - leadership, decisiveness, ethical behaviour, work/life balance. I most recently co-signed a cheque sending 3 of our chaps to attend the forthcoming ASEAN HBS Malaysian Alumni Senior Management Program at Awana Genting. Good luck and have fun guys (wink). So? there you are...Eddie Murphy - go get your own copy if you have been contemplating ya?....hehe

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full...-Henry Kissinger...

Last week I was up in Genting Highlands attending MARIM's Risk Management Conference 2009 with the theme: 'Building corporate Resilience via Effective ERM'. The conference began (after registrations et al) at 2 pm, June 15, 2009 monday with the Academic Track, with presentations of selected academic papers based on empirical research. Papers presented were: The Relationship Between Board of Directors and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Practices (Assoc Prof Dr Ahmad Shukri Yazid of UDI et al; Philosophy and Practices of Risk Management in Malaysian Islamic Banks (Prof Dr Nor Hayati Ahmad UUM et al) and The Role of Chief Risk Officers in the Adoption of ERM (Assoc Prof Dr Shukri,(UDI) Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Rasid Hussin (UiTM) & Dr Wan Norhayate Wan Daud).

Me and the academics...hehe

(Assoc Prof Shukri UDI, Prof Nor Hayati UUM and

Assoc Prof Dr Rasid, UiTM (the first asian PHD holder in Risk Management)

One for the album with GOH YBhg Dato' Muhammad Hatta Ab Aziz, Secretary, National Security Council, Prime Minister's Department

Panel session with Tan Sri Lau, moderated by Director, The Malaysian Institute of Integrity on the topic: 'Global Financial Crisis: How Boards can pre-empt Future Shock'

All in all there were many very good papers both from practice and academia. Like other management functions, Risk Management joins the struggle and the bandwagon to get noticed by top management and oh well, the board! Its a tough battle especially in today's highly competitive evil knievel corporate scenario. To quote Dave Ulrich (one of my favourite HRM Gurus) : '.. being strategic and getting boardroom support means being at the table and not on the table'...haha. Tan Sri Lau encroached on my time as he passionately drowned himself with all the 'dark' corporate scenarios from Timbuktu to Kuala Lumpur (hehe). Good for me though, so I wouldn't have to say much. But as usual, I always like to go down the provocative 'devil's advocate' route with my ever so repetitive '...men have been swindling other men on many occasions'...bla bla bla and asked delegates to google this article that appeared in the 7 August , 2008 issue of The economist entitled 'Risk and The Credit Crunch: Confessions of a Risk Manager' which essentially laments (as an insider) and explains why it is so hard to stop traders behaving recklessly. I then quoted a december 18, 2008 article by Theodore L Dysart and Neil S Novich's of Directorship, 5 critical areas that boards normally ask the one-year-hence question in virtually any area of their interest and responsibility. They are: 1. strategy 2.operations/organization 3. Balance Sheet/Liquidity 4. Compensation and 5. Enterprise Risk Management. No...yes no, I am not going any deeper than this..haha. I am sure you must have been bored enough by now (evil wink). Not easy to keep delegates awake and what made it worst was my bad throat was building up but strangely that night, during the Gala Awards Dinner, I was called up to give a song...and it (to my horror) went quite well, I must say..hehe. But this report (wink) would not be complete if I did not acknowledge the hard work of Puan Arpah Abu Bakar (MARIM manager and UUM Risk Management lecturer) and her team for a very succesful conference (especially in times when the training fraternity is experiencing a 42% drop in attendance!). Of course, the support from MARIM's management committee, I suspect, must have been immense and quite thankless too, I would imagine (heheh). Well done fellas!

Elephants can dance afterall huh? ...

Yes, my last blog was June 3, and I tell you it sure is helluva difficult to start writing again after that long spell. Trapped in a sort of writer's 'inertia' ( inertia is one of newton's laws that states the tendency of a body to stay at rest or continue its state of motion...). But I did some useful things ( I hope) like reading the above book that was re-published in paperpack edition in 2003. One of those interesting turnaround stories. I like Gerstner's style. Once duped as the biscuit salesman who turned around an IT giant. I like the memos he wrote, his management and leadership style. Especially his leadership style, and in his opinion, which I grossly agree, is the most important element of institutional transformation. He goes on to say that at the end of the day its all about culture and great institutions are the length and shadow of individuals. Great institutions are not managed, they are led he says. They are not administered; they are driven to ever increasing levels of accomplishment by individuals who are passionate about winning. The best leaders create high performance cultures, set demanding goals, measure results and hold people accountable. They are change agents, constantly driving their institutions to adapt and advance faster than their competitors do.

On personal leadership, he says its about visibility and about being both strategic and operational. Great CEOs roll up their sleeves and tackle problems personally, not hide behind staff, never simply preside over the work of others, visible everyday with customers, suppliers and business partners. Personal leadership to him is about communication, openness, and a willingness to speak often and honestly, and with respect for the intelligence of reader or listener. Leaders don't leave to others the delivery of bad news, don't hide behind corporate double-speak. They treat every employee as someone who deserves to understand what's going on in the organisation. Of course, passion....naaah I don't wanna bore you. Go read the book yourself, if you haven't... So, I have been keeping myself quite occupied actually. I also bought another book 'Ahead of the Curve' Two years at Harvard Business School by Philip Delves Broughton. I will write something about it as soon as I finish reading it... have a good rest folks and a great week ahead.

to each his own, from each his power...

Inna lillahi wa inna lillahi rajiun... YBhg Datuk A kadir Jasin's dad passed away at age 85. See his bloglink (the scribe) on the right side of my blog. I spoke with my classmate awhile ago and we both agreed that something (not necessarily in a radical or revolutionary manner) need to be done to the way we think about accountability, responsibility and ethics as a nation, in our own little way. I remember our school motto: to each his own, from each his power...

perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

The news one reads at timesonline.co.uk is exciting at times, dull at times, worrying and a cause for concern too these days...not at all encouraging isn't it? No offence timesonline. Having said that, you're still my favourite read (hehe). For a while it was about British MPs making ridiculous claims (expenses) something like getting the govt to pay for the moat of his second home, then another making claims for his duck house (something like that lah haha). Then there were spates of resignations, and then the public outcry of public funds, taxpayers' money that these guys receive for their pension (as MPs). Then yesterday Air France Airbus A330-200 from Brazil enroute to Paris went missing. And they haven't found the wreakage (if any) yet. Today in our local mainstream New Straits Times, it seems CEO of AirAsia fainted. I hope it has nothing to do with the airbus he and AirAsia are awaiting delivery (hehe). No, no poor fellow, he was tired, had an executive burnout perhaps. Must be working very hard to close the deals, get landing rights, deal with various governments, perhaps put Malaysia Airlines out of business too in the not soo distant future? I hope not. They should both merge, evolve and become 1Malaysia Airline (don't you think so?). Ya ya ya I know there will definitely be lots of problems, easier said than done...hehehe. Then there was this dramatic 'escape' involving singapore police, embassies of indonesia and the US (as reported). I won't go into the details of the press conference. I am soo embarassed. Not sure who is right who is wrong or both are wrong perhaps? or there's much more (hidden sinister agenda perhaps?) than meets the eye perhaps? Then the ambalaat issue resurfaces. They say, when times are bad, when the economy is in the doldrums, social unrest accelerates, protectionism prevail...every man for himself kinda tingy...huhuhu. Then, as if we hadn't had enuf of international attention, the timesonline reports this... oh no....

am i old-fashioned...or is altruism still around?

ya ya ya my last posting was may 25th. its now may 29th. i can give you a whole lorryload of excuses, board meeting lah, audit comm lah...bla bla bla...hehe. Which, incidentally are true though. Alot has taken place during the week that I am tempted to comment, respond or give my personal views but as usual i shall refrain from doing it lest I be accused of attempting to replace RPK (hahaha) who, I read the star today, is missing and suspected of having left the country and is in brisbane. already some have said that I look like him (RPK) oh my gawd. I better make sure that I am not a case of a 'mistaken identity' hahaha. Then there was this 5 request thingy, according to reportslah, the independent chinese schools group putting pressure on DPM and also Minister of Education, YB Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin. I kinda like his response though. The independent chinese schools wanted the govt to recognise their senior middle three... something like thatlah. Well the keyword is recognition. So, Muhyidin dengan selambe dek je jawap: '...well, you chose to be independent, now you want us to recognise you, tak bolehlah. if you want us to recognise you, come back to the fold (meaning come under the purview and regulations of the ministry of educationlah) then we can review'...something like thatlah...my interpretation (hehe). Well done Tan Sri, Kudos for your firm responses. I notice Datuk AKJ pon dah bosan komen on the silver happenings (wink)...he has moved on to Petronas and corporate leadership sustainability. And it looks like the Oxbridge mafia is still very much in control (hehe). Move aside US Ivy League guys! The Jaya Supermarket crash yesterday afternoon...hmmm...was it an accident or was it deliberately meant to be demolished? That's the interesting question. We shall wait for futher reports of the investigation. The PKFZ report? When I quickly read the report in the mainstream media today...I was just wondering why the Auditors wanted an indemnity before the report was made public (in the newspapers today)? Would they not already be protected by their code of professional conduct? (I stand corrected though hihi). Surely they are all covered under the D&O Liability Insurance too? (wink). Sorry CKF (he is a hull alumnus...just like John Prescott, former Deputy PM of the UK during Tony Blair's reign...hehehe). The hoo-haa seems to me, like opening up pandora's box...

Someone suggested to me that if I wanted a sudden surge of tsunami-like hits to my blog, that I should wear black, get caught by the police, my face all over the newspapers, on TV...hahahaha. No thank you Datuk! thank you for the thought hahaha. I may reconsider when I am no longer gainfully employed (wink). Which brings me to this young lawyer fren of mine who is having mixed feelings about him being nominated and will be appointed into a divisional political party (bahagian) ...something like det lah. He is worried, with mixed feelings, takut orang dengki, too younglah for the post, you need to wait-for-your-turn culture syndrome lah...bla bla bla. So i tell him, go for it bro, its gonna be an awesome experience. Fastforward learning opportunity. Don't forget, times have changed (if your are reading this bro), you are not only going to compete with the nonmalays, you have to compete with your fellow malays bah. If you have what I think you have, the spirit and aspirations of the early founding fathers of 'the party', this would be a great start. Don't forget most, at the time, were teachers, pakai baju melayu labuh, songkok tinggi (ala padang), bawak nasi bungkos dalam daun upeh dan mendayung perahu ke hulu, just to attend a mesyuarat bahagian. Their end in mind wuz caste in stone and were not ezily distracted by anything else you see in abundance today. Go see the movie Laskar Pelangi' for additional inspiration bro. The message was soo crystal clear and simple: Apabila kamu menjadi pemimpin satu hari nanti, berikanlah sebanyak-banyaknya kepada agama, bangsa dan negaramu, dan janganlah kamu sekali -kali mengambil sebanyak-banyaknya dari bangsa, agama dan negaramu... (when you become a leader one day, give as much as you can, not take as much as you can...) ya ya ya so much for the altruism I know some of my frens (who read this) will smurk...hahaha. Do have a fabulous weekend fellas...(evil grin).

of family days, teachers, bloggers and double Os...

Last saturday I was at the family day of the Federal Inspectorate and Quality Assurance Division of the Ministry of Education at Putrajaya. I fell down on the school field track tarmac during the couple race and injured my face...uwaa. Earlier on was the senamrobik and am only feeling the effects now. Uwaaa...my right arm seems to have been strained by the long absence of any tennis, swimming or other exercises...hahaha. You know you're in the golden age club when all these ailments begin to emerge...hehehe. But that aside, it was a great fun day. The warga JNJK putrajaya must have enjoyed the family day. Kudos to the Chief Inspectorate, YBhg Dato' Ghaffar for initiating the event. The first one, I was told. Guess who I met? hahaha ...Cikgu Fadhil, our former sports master when I was at Sek Menengah Inggeris Port Dickson (1967-1971). We have not met since I left school. Still looking fit and no signs of the unwanted tummy (hehe). During his time the school produced a few MSSM athletes and sportsmen, the school is very proud of. Federal level, not state level ok? (hehe). Correct me Suku, on this fact...you too Tiru, cos Cikgu Fadzil mentions only the both of you bro...hahaha....and oh ya..Michael Mok and Lee Cheng Eng and Mohd Rom too...hehe.

This morning, during breakfast at the Mamakshop in my neighbourhood, I briefly caught up with Datuk A Kadir Jasin, Nuraina and Rocky Bru...hahaha. Datuk AKJ in his recent post reminisced his school days too, and gave tribute to his teachers...in conjunction with the recent teachers days celebrations..hehe.

Yesterday, as with some sundays, I like to watch my favourite DVDs again and again on my VAIO hehe. Let me see if you can guess what the movie was. Here are some of the script:

"Utter one more syllable and I will have you killed!"

"This may be too much of a blunt instrument to understand, but arrogance and self-awareness seldom go hand in hand"

" So, you want me to be half monk and half hit-man?"

"Any thug can kill, I want you to take your ego out of the equation, and I want you to judge the situation dispassionately"....hahaha. Have you guessed the movie yet?

Tun Razak Lecture Series 2...

Ish... again, I got caught in the smart tunnel. Lesson learnt? Always leave before 7 if you've got something on in KL. Especially if its at the heart of the city, Capital Square, where the new City Campus of UNITAR (Universiti Tun Abdul Razak) is located. The main Pintar Campus is right in front of Giant, Kelana Jaya. I was a special guest of Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, who delivered the 2nd Tun Abdul Razak Lecture this morning. Thank you Tan Sri! (ingat jugak ek? hehe). The inaugural lecture was delivered by Tun Ahmad Sarji, Chairman of PNB. Tan Sri Arshad gave a public lecture on the topic of education and his experiences that goes back during his time with the late Tun Razak executing Tun Razak's vision and legacies (see picture above). I was seated second row beside Datuk Dr Firdaus Abdullah (Mantan Ketua pengarah DBP), Prof Khadijah of INPUMA. Others spotted, was of course, The President & Vice-Chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Zabid, Assoc Prof Dr Raja Hanaliza (UNITAR CFO) and hubby Wahab (Mantan CEO MSWG), Tan Sri Zuki. It was predominantly an academic and government dept crowd with a few foreign ambassadors present. Good networking as I have been asked to give some guest lectures in August. My impending 'retirement' will not be dull (I hope) after all..hehe. Haa..I better update my CV (specially skewed towards academia...for guest lectures and teaching). Been saying that for the last 2 years..hahaha...never really sat down to nicely compile all my papers, conferences, chairings, et al.... Do have a great weekend folks.

2nd Islamic Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference...

deputy finance minister II during PC...press conference lar...hehehe

brother shamsir, brade k (brouhahah), SUSK n Pegawai Khas timb. menteri II..hehehe

I got a special invitation to attend the opening of the 2nd Islamic Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference 2009 at the KL Convention Centre this morning. I arrived late, blooody jam in the Smart Tunnel. The Minister, owh well, Deputy Minister of Finance II, Senator Datuk Dr Awang Adek arrived before me...heehee. Ya ya ya...photo sessions again (jangan mare) hehe. Kudos to IBFIM (Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Malaysia) for successfully organising the conference. There were no less than 200 delegates at a time when everywhere I hear training providers (including MIM) lamenting a 40% drop in participation in conferences, seminars and training programs. Signs of the times I guess. Prof Dr Bruno of Italy was one of the international speakers I had met twice during the 1st and 2nd International Takaful Summit in London. I was asked by my gud fren Shamshir (IBFIM program director) to stay for lunch (hehe tak malu lagi...heehee). Always good to be around Datuk Dr Adenan Alias, the CEO. Someone had asked me to ask the speakers or delegates if they knew anything about 'musyarakah ventures' which I did not. Perhaps I would, by text aje kot (?) hehe, besok?

of commons, entrepreneurialism and flu?...

The beleaguered Commons Speaker reportedly decided to bow to pressure to quit after Prime Minister (of Britain) withdrew support... read more here. So it seems, well, looks like there is something common (or similar to that effect) happening closer to home huh? I dunno, if we're learning from them, or they, from us (hehe)... while their (British) economy is sinking further into deflation (read here). Then, really closer to home, I was told this funny (?) story this evening that a primary school teacher called up the parents (my fren) reminding them that school children are not allowed to do business in school! Its oxymoronic isn't it? On one hand you want to encourage entrepreneurialism, creativity, innovation and all the other (BS) associated with it, but on the other hand you are trapped in the dysfunctional consequences of bureaucracy. Pity the budding Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and the Tonys Fernandezes (evil wink) hahaha.

I was on the phone with an old fren who was MD of an IT company awhile ago. He told me his son juz got back from the States. And it seems, there was really no hoo-haa big deal over the influenza (H1N1) outbreak. Most people who died were either over 60s or infants. You have a choice whether to be screened or not. At a conference in Kuching recently, a prof and an expert in virology from universiti pertanian malaysia said (in the the papers) that the common flu kills more people annually than H1N1. See? so many different views, comments, reports...dunno which one to really listen to. The ones I got from frens closer the the infectious diseases fraternity is quite frightening actually. My own opinion? haha better be safe than sorry...especially if you know your immune system is not like what it used to be...hehehe.

of illuminatis,stiffling people and strangling profits?...

Naaah...not on a sunday morning, some would retort. But others like me, find it therapeutic to quickly browse the online version of the economists and the likes of it to try and catch up on some reading which one would otherwise not find the time during weekedays lor...Do read this one. For those who majored in management, the name may ring a bell. For others, who knows, it may help shield you from impending occupational hazards(?) like hypertensions to start with? (hehe). I just got up. Defintely a restless tossing and turning one. Either the brain and body are still tired (after a marathon annual report annual ritual...ermm not so much of thinking, but being present with the chappies and being fed nonstop by the sweet and kind ismail associate staff..hehe) or was it because of some angels and demons ostracising?... Alot seems to be brewing isnt it? time for financial results, the warnings that anak krakatoa (between the southern tip of sumatra and northern tip of java) may yet erupt, H1N1, meningitis and a host of other global phenomena. I have cancelled a few trips already. A few others may soon be cancelled.

When Prof Langdon requested to research the archives of the vatican, he was asked? do you believe in god? He started by saying...I am an academic....( go see the movie yourself to know what else he said...hehe). Can I go back to sleep now folks?

Asia HRDCongress2009

In my earlier post I crystallised some of the learning from the pre-conference session I chaired for Kerrry Larkan. This one I guess some of the above fotos tells a thousand stories. While everybody was busy listening to Datuk Badlisham CEO of MDec presenting his keynote address, nobody realised that the representative of the Minister of Higher Education (who was supposed to declare open the congress) arrived. So, I took it upon myself to layan himlah) at the VIP room. Tak malu kan? Me I mean, hehe. Prof Dr Rujhan Mustafa (newly appointed Deputy Director -General of MOHE and ahem..Datuk Prof Zawawi's protege at UNIMAS (dulu lah) ...a little bird told me, hehe). replaces YB Datuk Khalid Nordin, MOHE Minister. Next foto, a thumbs-up on stage session with the GOH, next a foto of yours truly with my cousin (hehe) Hj Zul and our gudfren Dato' "dell' Mahathir Lokman. He (dato') gives the added aura to the congress. Last year's Asia HRDCongress2008, he was specially flown to Jakarta (wink). Next, is Dr Kirkpatrick's (the american professor who globalised the 4 levels of evalutaion of training outcomes...you're not a full-fledged trainer if you don't know who donald kirkpatrick is!) son, Dr James, launching Wong's (who is blind since 12) book 'live to win'. Last but not least..hehe, that's DR wilson Tay, CEO of MIM seated next to me during the Asia HRDCongress2009 awards Gala Dinner in the evening of the same day of the launching of Asia HRDCongress2009. We chatted on alot of stuff (hehe) I was tempted to post them here but on my third thot, naaah...it wouldn't be fun hehe. Let's keep it a suspense for now shall we, ya Dr Wilson? Have a great weekend folks!

of tyrannic children and elephant island?...

Asia HRDCongress 2009 (Dr Palan's baby from the time it was known as 'Trainers-meet-Trainers, 30 years ago) began today with its pre-conference program. I remembered more than 10 years ago, I spoke at the conference on the topic 'Changing your Shoes, Not your Feet' when I was Director of Training at KTMB (Malayan Railways). Today, I felt privileged to have chaired the day-long workshop on 'Winning the Talent War' by Kerry Larkan, an acclaimed Australian consultant, author and international speaker. I learned alot of interesting new stuff/findings together with other participants coming from as far away as the Abu Dhabi Police Department. Kerry could not have been far from the truth and I couldn't agree more with him when he began his first slide with 'workplace culture is an overriding indicator and /or determinant of corporate performance' Pleas tell me he is wrong! from his own wealth of corporate experience, there has been too much 'push' strategies rather than the desirable 'leading' culture. You can expect more of that 'push' stuff during this period of economic downturn or 'The Great Recession' overtaking 'The Great Depresion' of the 1930s.

We hear much too often, people lamenting (its a global phenomena actually) about the behaviour of young people but we forgot that Socrates in 425 BC had said almost similar things about the young: 'Children nowadays are tyrants - they gobble their food, contradict their parents, and tyrannise their teachers' (Socrates, 425B.C).

DIfferent societies, different culture look at things differently. Look at your own company culture: are they a culture that's uplifting? or one of downgrading? I like something he said along the way - 'I am not a young man anymore, but I am not an old man either' (haha...I think that should fit my description too? hehehe). He gave examples of Mcfarlane of NZBank, Shackkleton of the 'shackleton paradox' at Elephant Island (read the book 'endurance'), and also gave tribute to Datuk Rafiah Salim former UM vice chancellor who was at one time recently, head of HR at the United Nations. The Shackleton Paradox is essentially about

"the brutal facts of the current reality vs retaining faith regardless of the situation"

it is an example of leadership which Kerry propagated.

Tomorrow evening between 530pm and 630 pm at the Palace of Golden Horses, the Mines, I will be chairing Dr Tom Mulholland's session, Founder, Healthy Thinking Institute, New Zealand who will speak on Healthy Thinking: How to improve workplace productivity and live longer. Have good rest, see you guys there, tomorrow...

weekend movie - laskar pelangi...

Last week Ibu Dyah Purnamawati, my good fren at the Training & Development Board East Java (Badan DIKLAT, Jatim) couried me a premium original copy of the 'Laskar Pelangi' DVD. Thanks Ibu Dyah. I saw it a few times, my kid and my madura maid also watched it. So did my wife. In my earlier posting I had already describe the movie. Last saturday nite one of the akademi fantasi students sang the 'laskar pelangi' theme song. But I didn't like the comments that bugger (one of the judges, anak tompel) made. I can't say for sure its professional jealousy/rivalry or sheer distaste for anything unmalaysian! I fell in love with that movie because it relates to my early days at school. Its about poor malay kids on the island of belitong thirsting for an education. Note the use of the word 'education' (evil grin). You have to see the movie to appreciate the simple message Andrea Hirata was trying to elucidate. I like the part where Ikal became fond of the chinese girl Ah Ling (hehe although that's not the main part of the movie bah! hahaha). Reminds me of when I was in Std I at Sultan Abdullah School Kuantan...I walked to school with 'Ah Ling' everyday (wink) hehe as she was my neighbour hahaha. The movie, if you ask me, is sort of the indonesian equivalent of oscar-winning indian 'slumdog millionaire'. But a fren of mine who retired from being executive chairman of one of the 'big four' feels that slumdog millionaire is nothing more than about child slavery. Well, I guess many feels that way too about it. Laskar Pelangi has simple settings and a good storyline. The most powerful mesage, to me, is bringing back the nobility of the teaching profession, to where it should (although I realise these days...its economics, stupid! where got altruism anymore bah?) and about the value of true friendships and chasing after real dreams where finally Ikal got a scholarship to Sorbonne, Paris. It is highly recommended (my thinkinglah) that it be shown to our teachers (especially primary schools), principals and ministry of education....some elements of nation-building too. Going back to basics...perhaps the essence of what 1Malaysia is all about? (notti grin)...hehehe. By the way, I need to catch Tom Hanks in action again in 'Angels & Demons' after the Da Vinci Code.. I hope your sunday wasn't too bad folks, do have a great week ahead...

kanibalisme dan anjing liar di pulau ketam?...

Satu dunia orang tengah sebok dengan swine flu (selsema babi) tiba-tiba saya terbaca dalam timesonline berita ini. Duh, sekaligus Malaysia jadi tersohor, kunonnya kita nie kejam terhadap haiwan kesayangan mereka (anjing). Matsaleh nie memang lebih sayangkan anjing daripada manusia lain. A dog is a man's best friend kata depe. Kesana kesini anjing ikot sama. Anjing lebih mendapat tempat istimewa daripada babu mereka. Kadang2 anjing boleh tidor dengan mereka. Tengoklah buku2, filem2 yang mempelopori konsep bahawa anjing itu adalah kawan baik manusia. Cerita2 teladan, contoh2 dimana berulangkali anjing telah menyelamatkan manusia, daripada bayi sehinggalah ke orang tua. Ianya bukan lagi hanya sebagai sebuah mitos, tetapi sudah menjadi suatu amalan mereka. Berita pembuangan anjing liar tidak bertuan yang berkeliaran di Pulau Ketam ke sebuah pulau berdekatan lebih kurang setengah jam perjalanan laut dari Pulau Ketam, telah mendapat perhatian SPCA (sebuah pertubuhan NGO antarabangsa yang menghalang kekejaman terhadap haiwan) dan berita itu mendapat perhatian timesonline UK.

Anjing, seperti jugak babi, adalah dua haiwan yang penting dalam Islam, agama rasmi negara kita. Secara ringkasmudah, babi haram di makan orang islam, anjing kalau kita sentuh dia atau dia sentuh kita (jilat), atau terpijak najis dia, kita kena samak (semah). Tak payahlah saya huraikan prosesnya. Setiap orang berugama Islam patut tau perkara itu. Pentingnya anjing kepada matsaleh agaknya macam pentingnya jugak lembu kepada orang2 berugama hindu di India. Bagaimana kita harus menghormati kepercayaan dan amalan mereka, begitulah juga mereka, harus menghormati persepsi dan amalan kita terhadap haiwan2 yang saya sebutkan ini.

Saya tidak terkejut dengan berita yang disensasikan oleh timesonline itu. Saya amat mengalu2 alukan berita mengenai Malaysia di paparkan di media persada global tetapi bukan berita2 yang memberi gambaran bahawa kita nie kejam terhadap haiwan. Kenapa mereka tidak ceritakan mengenai kaum2 etnik di negara2 lain di dunia yang suka makan daging anjing? Saje nak lepas geram...hehehe

pangkor treatise? part 2...hehe

a rare shot with former malaysian Thomas Cupper (Datuk Tan Yee Khan of the famous Yee Khan-Boon Bee doubles team) in front of his seaview resort at pasir bogak (bogarde?)...

labour day meh? so kene naik bas pekerja lar...hehehe

jangan jadi Belanda mintak tanah...as some politician recently lamented (hehe)

went to school until form 5 at pangkor, upon finishing school repair jetski engines...they love the place so much...mebbe not time yet to be adventurous (evil wink)

i hope the ferry has nothing to do with duta yap (wink)...you remember him don't you?

I am tempted to blog about pangkor, in detail, and what we all did last labour day holidays at pangkor but on second thots naaah...I shall not bore you. Surely you can google plenty of information and stuff about pangkor and all its splendour. Otherwise YTL and others (including the late Pavarotti) would not have made investments on this gem of an island, a malaysian island. You have plenty of choices to stay at, ranging from a RM2000 a night heavenly getaway to a lower lifeform geronimo i mean err guantanamo bay type barrack...hahaha.

no wonder it was called the treaty of pangkor...(wink)

Some original photos captured last weekend at pangkor, speak more than a thousand words. There you are world-class holiday destinations just a few hours from the hustle bustle of city life..hehe. The rest, as they say, is history...

of snobs and brutal honesty...

Sometime back I shared some timesonline articles about oxbridge and some tips to get pass their entry tests (hehe). I hope it was useful to some parents and wannabe prospective students. This link http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2009/04/why-the-snobbery-against-less-wellknown-universities.html I just read would appeal to young frens who have just graduated or will be graduating this year. So you don't feel so bad or demoralised when you find it difficult to get jobs upon graduating. Especially if you are under pressure to get a fairly good job or a 'cosy' secured stable job with the government (eh hello...not anymore ok? those days are over..you're expected to slog away like your compadres in the private sector ok? wink). Or if your folks kat kampong tells you time and again that if you want a good or better job, you need a university education..or is it? (wink). Do read the article about this fresh graduate Sarah, from a 'mickey mouse' university (as some of the snobs and brutally honest chappies refer to it), and the blog responses. It seems to me that it is all the same everywhere in the world. So my young graduating frens...don't despair yet..you're not alone...hehe. You may like to share this with your UIA graduating class 'Sir' Zul?

mango mangga mia...

i go crazy over mangoes. even at Baskin Robbins...the only flavor that excites me is mango tango...haha. Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to skin a mango too, eat it, cook it, prepare it, put in alongside other great dishes hehe. O ya, jange lupo gak kerabu mangga mudo (don't forget young mango salad heehee).