WHO I AM DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

I received an email with a powerful message from a friend this morning which I'd like to share with all of you.

I hope this message does have an impact on you as much as it has impacted me!

MEASURE OF SUCCESS FOR LEADERS

Due to tremendous work pressure and commitments, I have not been able to write in this blog for well over two months now. But today I'm quite free and I want to share my thought about human nature.

Peter Chan is a master gardener. He left China in the mid-1960s and immigrated to Portland, Oregon, USA, where he bought a modest ranch style home. His garden is a masterpiece. It is filled with hundreds of different plant species - flowers, perennials, shrubs, vegetables, lawns, fruit trees - located along beautiful paths and around sparkling pools. All have been artistically positioned and painstakingly maintained.

One day, a friend who was walking through Peter's garden with him asked, "How do you find time to manage all of these plants and all of this growth?"

Peter Chan frowned and said, "You do not manage plants. You coach them, and let them reach their potential."

A good manager and leader knows that the best approach is to hire good people, and then create a nurturing environment in which they can exercise their unique talents to the best of their ability. Despite evidence to the contrary, you will be surprised to learn that most people want to learn, grow, produce, and achieve.

To my friends at ISETAN, CHRM Penang, and recently at VMC and CAT I leave you with this: To be a winner in whatever field you choose, find and cultivate good friends, and then do your best to bring out their best talents and gifts. With a little encouragement from you, they can all do great things. Hence, the measure of your success!

My brothers and sisters from VMC and CAT Kuala Lumpur. Standing (L-R): Zainal, Tham, Edward, Azlan, Adly, Jeff, Kamarul and Hifzi. Seated (L-R): Ariel, Su, Judy, Fini and Linda. Not in picture: Thomas

IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME

TV3 hotline was jammed this morning, during the morning talk show 'Malaysia Hari Ini' hosted by Ally Iskandar and Mazidul Akmal Sidek, by callers who wanted to air their grouses about the bad quality of service (I call this, disservice) of emergency rooms at government hospitals to their patients (read, customers). Some callers who managed to get through, related their experiences of having to wait between 45 minutes to 4 hours before being attended to by the staff in charge. A caller said that she saw a patient with high fever was on the floor for hours before being attended to!

Now, before we jump into conclusion that all government hospitals are badly managed, a caller called to thank his attending physician (an eye specialist) for helping him to go through all required health tests within 1 day...no pun intended...that guy was genuinely grateful!

To be fair to all government hospitals, we must always remind ourselves that emergency room is for what its name indicate - EMERGENCY. I have seen people with all sorts of ailments flock the emergency rooms just to get a priority treatment. Most of them are supposed to be outpatients, and yet they form the majority of people who jam the only channel available for people in emergency.

Having said that, people who man emergency rooms should not allow themselves to be 'desensitized'. Granted, they face the same grim and negative situation on a daily basis. But that is even the more reason to be humane. If you find yourself complaining about people coming to you for treatment, then I think you should seriously consider making a career move.

To be a sensitive and caring person, they themselves must take the initiative to treat every case that come their way as unique. If you treat people nice, you are actually doing justice to yourself. Research has shown that people who are positive and cheerful at the workplace will take home an extra energy to share with their loved ones. As a result their family and social life are also improved tremendously. On the other hand, people who are negative at the workplace always complains of stress symptoms such as stiff necks and shoulders, easily angered, short fused, headaches, migraines, short of breath, and many other ailments related to negativism at the workplace.

So, if you want to be positive and cheerful at the workplace you must consciously decide to do so. If it is to be, it is up to you...whatever that is.

BILA GURUKU BERBICARA

Guru silatku yang mulia membawakan kisah ini yang wajar diteladani:

Di sebuah negeri yang aman sentosa bertakhta seorang raja yang memerintah dengan adil. Baginda sangat gemar berburu. Pada suatu hari sang raja keluar berburu bersama pembesar dan pengawal-pengawalnya. Raja ini sangat mahir berburu. Setiap kali keluar berburu pasti ada hasil yang dibawa pulang. Walau bagaimana pun, pada kali ini segalanya serba tidak menjadi. Lalu Raja pun mengambil keputusan untuk terus pulang sahaja ke istana.

Dalam perjalanan pulang ke istana, baginda terjumpa dengan seorang tua. Orang tua tersebut meramalkan bahawa di istana nanti baginda akan ditimpa dengan satu musibah. Orang tua tadi berpesan pada Raja bahawa semasa menghadapi musibah tersebut, baginda akan melihat 3 helai daun yang bertangkup. Orang tua itu berpesan pada Raja, '"buka daun-daun tersebut sebelum membuat sebarang keputusan".Raja pun meneruskan perjalanannya pulang ke istana.

Sesampainya baginda di pekarangan istana, pengawal-pengawal telah memberitahu Raja bahawa Permaisuri telah berlaku curang dengan salah seorang pengawal istana. Raja merasa sangat gundah dan terkejut dengan berita tersebut yang dianggapnya sebagai musibah terhadap dirinya.

Lalu baginda pun cepat-cepat masuk ke dalam istana. Sepanjang jalan menuju ke kamar baginda, semua orang yang ditemui menyampaikan berita yang sama. Raja bertambah gundah dan murka. Baginda terus ke kamarnya, dan apabila dibuka pintu kamar alangkah terkejutnya baginda apabila melihat permaisuri sedang tidur di atas katil bersama seorang lelaki yang dikenali oleh baginda sebagai salah seorang pengawal istana.

Perasaan gundah, benci, malu, sedih dan marah kini bercampur baur menguasai hati Raja. Dengan pantas tangannya mencabut keris yang tersisip dipinggangnya untuk membunuh kedua-duanya. Tetapi baginda tiba-tiba terpandang 3 helai daun yang tertangkup di atas meja berhampiran katil, lalu tiba-tiba baginda teringat pesanan org tua tadi.

Disarungnya kembali kerisnya perlahan-lahan dan dibuka daun yang pertama. Tertulis disitu:

"LIHAT SEKALI JANGAN PERCAYA"

Sambil berfikir tentang maksud tulisan tersebut, baginda pun membuka daun yang kedua. Disitu tertulis :

"DENGAR SEKALI JANGAN PERCAYA"

Raja pun dengan segera membuka daun yang ketiga, dan tertulis di situ:

"GUNAKANLAH AKAL, DAN BUATLAH KEPUTUSAN YANG SEWAJARNYA"

Raja pun faham maksud dan mesej yang disampaikan kepada baginda melalui daun-daun tersebut. Lalu dengan baik Raja mengejutkan permaisuri dan pengawal yang sedang tidur itu dan diminta penjelasan tentang apa yang sedang berlaku.

Permaisuri dan pengawal yang bimbang dan takut dengan terketar-ketar menjelaskan pada Raja. Rupa-rupanya, permaisuri menyangka bahawa yang tertidur di atas katil itu adalah suaminya, lalu dia terus tidur di sebelahnya dengan yakin.

Cerita si pengawal pula, semasa dia sedang bertugas, matanya terasa terlampau mengantuk sehingga dia tertidur di atas katil raja tanpa menyedari bahawa Permaisuri masuk dan tidur di sebelahnya.

Setelah Raja mendengar penjelasan dari mereka berdua, barulah baginda memahami keadaan sebenar dan dengan itu redalah api kemarahan beliau.

Raja membuat keputusan bahawa apa yang baginda lihat dan dengar tidaklah semestinya benar. Baginda menyedari bahawa hanya dengan menggunakan akal yang waras dan dengan menyiasat sepenuhnya barulah ditemukan kebenaran di sebaliknya. Maka dengan itu terselamatlah permaisuri dan pengawal daripada menjadi mangsa keadaan dan fitnah.

Wahai saudara-saudaraku yang dikasihi...inilah pengajaran daripada kisah diatas:

1. Jangan mudah percaya pada apa yang dipandang mata kerana pandangan mata boleh menipu.

2. Jangan mudah percaya pada apa yang didengar jika tiada bukti yang kukuh dan nyata.

3. Bagi membuat keputusan yang wajar dan adil, kita hendaklah berfikir dengan akal yang waras yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh nafsu amarah kita.

Justeru, guruku juga mengajarkan bahawa manusia yang hebat adalah yang dapat menahan nafsu amarahnya walaupun dia berupaya membalas perbuatan jahat orang lain terhadapnya. Terimakasih guruku.

WATCH WHAT GOES INTO YOUR MIND

One day two teenage brothers approached their father with a request to be allowed to see a certain popular movie. It had a few brief elements that gave it an 'R' rating, but they felt those negatives were offset by the importance of the story and the quality of the actors. They begged their father to relax his standards just this once. And he promised he'd consider it.

The next night when the three of them sat down to discuss the movie, the father brought a plate of beautiful chocolate cookies to the table. "You know," he said, "that we only use the finest ingredients when we bake brownies - eggs, cocoa, flour, milk, and nuts. You can eat as many as you like, but I need to tell you that I relaxed my standards just a little bit this time, and included a little - really not much - 'taik kobau' (buffalo poop) in the batter. But don't let that stop you. Help yourself."

I bet you know that those beautiful chocolate cookies went untouched.

My brothers and sisters...our mind is always hungry and will take in whatever we give it. Are you going to feed your mind a little bit of buffalo poop - just this once?

ENJOY THIS SHORT LIFE FULLY

I received a touching email this morning which I'd like to share with you. Please reflect and inflect for your own good:

The girl in the picture is Katie Kirkpatrick, she is 21. Next to her is her fiancé, Nick, 23. The picture was taken shortly before their wedding ceremony, held on January 11, 2005 in the US. Katie has terminal cancer and spend hours a day receiving medication. In the picture, Nick is waiting for her on one of the many sessions of chemotherapy to end.

In spite of all the pain, organ failures, and morphine shots, Katie is going along with her wedding and took care of every detail. The dress had to be adjusted a few times due to her constant weight loss.

An unusual accessory at the party was the oxygen tube that Katie used throughout the ceremony and reception as well. The other couple in the picture is Nick's parents. Excited to see their son marrying his high school sweetheart.

Katie, in her wheelchair with the oxygen tube, listening a song from her husband and friends

At the reception, Katie had to take a few rests. The pain do not let her to be standing up for long periods.

Katie died five days after her wedding day. Watching a woman so ill and weak getting married and with a smile on her face makes us think..... Happiness is reachable, no matter how long it last.

So whatever bad deeds you are doing at the moment, please stop it...for your own good! Life is complicated as it is. Let's stop making it even more so.

ST AND MOTIVATIONAL TALK AT NAFAS

(Awaiting photo from NAFAS official photographer)

On Thursday, 19th March 2009 between 9-12am I was at NAFAS sharing whatever little thing I have on ST with approximately 100 eager and enthusiastic participants. Amongst the participants were the Chairman, Yang Berbahagia Dato' Seri Hj Abdul Rashid bin Hj Abdul Rahman, the GM Dato' Bukhari bin Mohd Sawi, Deputy GM Tn Hj Nordin bin Ibrohim, Divisional Managers, managers of subsidiaries and officers and staff. We really had a great time with some ST moves. Some participants later confided that they now realised how 'unfit' they have become after years of 'abusing' their bodies with rich food, and no exercise! The participants were shown simple moves which they can easily execute any time, any where...provided they do not succumb to the Salam disease! Penyakit MALAS!

One way to overcome MALAS and unmotivated is to JDI - Just Do It! You do the exercise first, then you will feel motivated. Don't wait to feel motivated first, because you will never get to do it!

After a short break, we had a motivational talk which I call 'reminder'...watawa sau bil haq, watawa sau bis sabr (Al-Asr)..."Adab Pergaulan Pemimpin dan Pengikut". To all my friends out there: Each one of us is a leader and follower. Either as a leader or as a follower, we will encounter the fact that not everyone will like what you do and what you say, no matter how noble or pure your intention is.

Some wicked souls - mind you, some of them walk around parading their glorious academic titles - even have the audacity to twist whatever you do or say to suit their scheming, corrupted minds. Just remember that if what you do is blessed by Allah SWT, continue doing it even if the whole world is against you. And if what you do is against Allah's commandment, for example you spread lies and 'fitnah', please don't do it even if the whole world is behind you. Wallahu a'lam.

TRAIN THE TRAINER

(Awaiting photo of 'eagles' from Che Lee, Penang Airport)

One day a farmer found an eagle's egg and brought it home. He placed the eagle's egg together with some chicken eggs to be hatched. The little eagle was hatched together with the other chicks. He began his life like the other chicks and the mother hen. He followed the ways of the chicken. He ate, walked, crowed and moved like all the other chickens.

One day an eagle flying nearby saw the little eagle mingling together with the other chickens. He flew down to talk to the young eagle. All the chickens ran away because they were terrified of the eagle. The young eagle also tried to run but was stopped by the adult eagle. The adult eagle asked, "You are an eagle just like me. You can fly like me and your home is high up among the cliffs! So, what are you doing here with the chickens?"

The young eagle was confused and could not accept the fact that he was an eagle. He said, "I am a chicken and this is where I belong. See? I can't fly!" The adult eagle then grabbed the young eagle in its claws, and proceeded to fly to a nearby cliff. The adult eagle said, "I am going to teach you how to fly." The flying lesson began and to his surprise, the young eagle discovered that he could indeed fly.

On 10-12 March 2009, a team of 23 aspiring trainers attended the TTT programme. Some of them have the confidence of training, some did not. But after 3 days of 'flying' lesson, all of them could fly!