Thank You Datuk...

Selepas tujuh tahun dan tujuh bulan di Tronoh, akhirnya pada 31 Oktober, 2012 Datuk Dr Zainal menamatkan kerjayanya di institusi ini. Datuk memulakan kerjaya pada 1 Mac 2005 kira-kira sebulan sebelum aku mendaftar sebagai pekerja di ITPSB. Dua hari lepas adalah hari yang menyedihkan bagi semua warga institusi, melebihi misteri persoalan bagaimana keadaannya pengganti kepada Datuk nanti?

Satu makan malam penghargaan kepada Datuk dan isterinya, Datin Rosemi diadakan dan telah dihadiri oleh lebih daripada separuh warga UTP. Meriah dengan aktivti tetapi keseluruhannya penuh dengan emosi. Prof Fadzil dalam ucapannya menggambarkan keseluruhan penghargaan atas segala pengorbanan Datuk kepada UTP. Aku juga beremosi tapi memandangkan Zaihan di sebelah kanan, Nuzah di sebelah kiri, staf2 lain di hadapan, maka ku tahan juga air mata dari jatuh berderai….

Antara kata-katanya seperti berikut: -

“……..Tonight, as the UTP community gathers to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to Datuk Dr Zainal, we are also honouring and celebrating an individual who is leaving behind a huge impact on the university with a legacy to be cherished and remembered in our hearts and minds. We are here to commemorate the successes that this university has enjoyed under his leadership over the past seven years and seven months. 

If you recall Datuk, when you first arrived at UTP and chaired your first Management Committee meeting – you had asked us a question. In particular, your question to us was - where are we now? That simple, but thought-provoking yet a correct question had sparked a lot of imagination within us – and we started to imagine things that were at one time, almost unimaginable. Thus, one cannot speak about the achievements that the university has experienced thus far without mentioning the  Transformation Plan, which is the brainchild of Datuk.

That's how I get into the transformation study team. I had few good moments with Datuk when we struggled in preparing presentation especially...EAC, AAC, TP, etc.. Good moments that I will cherish forever..

Datuk had realized the challenges that were staring at our faces at a very early stage, and being a true leader, Datuk showed his proactiveness by taking a bold step to embark upon a journey – a journey that have since then, transformed our lives almost entirely, and had changed the way we think and act. These changes have impacted all aspects of the university, from academic delivery, research output, student development, operational excellence as well as linkages with our stakeholders….”

Datuk’s traits that I could not agree more: -

“….Perhaps the most notable and appreciated quality of Datuk Dr Zainal is his genuine warmth and concern over his people. I believe this springs from Datuk’s sincere interest to develop his people, both the employees and the students. Datuk is always ready to listen to our suggestions and even problems, and is ever willing to engage with staff as well as students. This has actually made our life easier as the management is able to make informed decisions based on the feedback solicited.

Another particular trait of Datuk Dr Zainal that is extremely important for us to remember and emulate is his motivational skills. I am always, and still am amazed by Datuk’s ability to motivate everyone around him, especially the students. As a lecturer myself, I find it an excruciating task to motivate them, but for Datuk – it seems like a breeze. 

When you are with the students, you are at ease – you can sing, you can dance and you can even play music with them – and not many of us can do the same. You have been generous with your time spent for this purpose, and you have touched the lives of countless students, and even the staff and alumni. In fact, I was made to understand that just last night, you spent more than three hours with the students – giving them advise and sharing them your personal experiences in life…”

Something for Datin too...

“…Behind every great man there stands a woman. On behalf of the university community, I would also like to express our gratitude to YBhg Datin Rosemi Hamdan for her strong and gracious support of our university. It is clear that Datin’s unwavering support and sacrifices have been vital to Datuk’s success and we deeply appreciate her selflessness in sharing her husband with us for the past seven years. So Datin, you can now have him back full time…”

Prof Fadzil could not bear his emotion when uttering these words…

“…No words can express our deepest gratitude to you but..

Thank you for your wisdom

Thank you for your guidance

Thank you for your advice

Thank you for always listening

Thank you for understanding

Thank you for the sacrifices made

Thank you for leaving us a treasured legacy

Thank you for your leadership

Thank you for everything

And most of all, thank you for your willingness to be away from your family to be with us for the past seven years….”

Not to miss some of the quotes from prominent figures: -

“A nation or race is only civilized if it knows how to appreciate its leaders” – the late Tun Azizan

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the mind of others, and the stories they share about you” – famous author, Shannon Alder

“Leadership is not magnetic personality - that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people" - that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations” – management guru, Peter Drucker

P/s - To YBhg Datuk and family, thank you for everything, I hope you will cherish all the good moments in UTP as we do. Happy retirement Datuk.

Diet & Culture

Kalau Harvard yang cakap, mungkin betol kot?!!

P/s - bila la nak merubah cara berdiet dan bersukan nih??

Blame it On the Gomen..

Any prospective student that wishes to join this institution need to undergo an interview session which looks into ones potential in becoming leaders of the nation. Some of the criteria that we are looking for are their level of confidence, achievement motivation, mental alertness as well as their empathy. Potential students will be given a case study as a platform for them to express their ideas and hopefully will dug out their potential, as criteria mentioned above. In preparing the case study usually some importance tips will be relayed to these students such as looking things from helicopter views, always get into the root of the problem and provide structured presentation. They can only see clearly an elephant from a distance rather than in front of their eyes cos’ big size elephant would block their sight. Well, in this case their perspective.

However, I must say from 10 students that were interviewed, you might only be able to find couple of them that could provide answer in broader perspectives. It’s somehow bothered me for quite some times now – the tendency in our students to put the responsibility to someone else and always find reasons to blame others.

Some of the reasons given might be applicable but when every time you hear the same answer – government should do this, government should do that (perhaps because of tax money payable to government), as if nobody responsible for anything other than the government, you suddently go WTF. That is considered not too bad. Wait until you hear them says government is responsible for not giving proper education, that’s why they got B in Physics. This bunch of people will eventually lead the nation and can you image if some day a policemen who get criticized for slow response to complaints, turn around and blame the government for not giving them vehicles or for the vehicles not having gas or drivers. Or a Public Servant who is not satisfactorily answering public queries about their work turns around and blames the government. Prosecutors lose an important case in the courts on the basis of a technicality and the government is blamed for not training them enough. Persons sentenced to hang and who have appealed is awaiting the conclusion of their appeal process, but the government is blamed for not hanging them.

An attitude that can turns into a bad culture. I am worried, do you? God bless us all.

P/s - Gotong royong perhaps?


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Angry villagers stage serpent protest

By Manjit Kaur

IPOH: Residents from a village here brought a live 10-foot python to the Mentri Besar's office to highlight their fear of having to bear with unwelcome visits from slithery “guests” for the past one year. “We have been having sleepless nights as we never know when a snake would come by our beds,” said labourer C. Subramani, who acted as spokesman for the group of residents from Kampung DBI in Buntong. He said he caught the snake on Wednesday night outside his house and decided to bring it to the state secretariat building here yesterday as “proof” of their traumatic experiences.

Subramani, 51, led the group of residents to present a memorandum to the Mentri Besar yesterday. Subramani, managed to present the memorandum to the Mentri Besar's special assistant Zulkefli Abdullah outside the gate of the building. Speaking to reporters later, he claimed their previous complaints about the snakes had gone unheeded. He said Kampung DBI, a pre-independence village, consisted mostly of wooden houses occupied by low-salaried workers and retirees and was overrun with lalang.

Sustainability Siti

Utusan Malaysia 28/01/2011

Siti Nurhaliza dicadang jadi Duta Kebudayaan Melayu

BANDUNG 28 Jan. – Di sebalik hubungan Malaysia dan Indonesia yang kadang kalanya “panas”, artis popular dari Malaysia Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin dicadangkan menjadi Duta Kebudayaan Masyarakat Melayu dalam usaha mengakrabkan hubungan rakyat di negara-negara Nusantara.Cadangan itu dibuat oleh Ikatan Setiakawan Wartawan Malaysia-Indonesia (Iswami) berdasarkan penerimaan besar masyarakat terhadap personaliti Siti Nurhaliza.

"Lebih baik gelar itu datang dari masyarakat, lebih baik beliau diterima masyarakat, kerana gelar itu akan menjadi abadi,” kata Ketua Iswami Indonesia, Saiful Hadi Chalid ketika ditemui Bernama di sini hari ini. Ketika menjelaskan lebih lanjut cadangan beliau itu, Saiful Hadi berkata beliau yakin Siti Nurhaliza boleh memainkan peranan amat berkesan untuk “menyejukkan suasana” ketika berlaku krisis dalam hubungan Malaysia dan Indonesia, misalnya. "Ketika ada isu-isu hangat, tak perlu bersusah-payah kita mengirim delegasi Malaysia atau Indonesia untuk menenangkan keadaan, cukup dengan mengirim Siti Nurhaliza menyanyi dan mengatakan buat apa kita bermusuhan.

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Social context in the case of Malaysia and Indonesia has been long debated due to the egocentric-freak, self-centered-dumbass of cultural dispute i.e. problem of having commonality in its culture, art, society etc. At least that’s how I perceive the problem was. Kelakar bukan? A neighboring nation having an almost same ethnic, culture, religion and art, aggressively fighting each other over who’s having the right for lagu Terang Bulan, who’s the first to discover tarian kuda kepang, tarian Bali, tarian entah apa ntah dan sebagainya. It would have been more appreciative if the questions were dari mana datangnya wali songo ke?, kitab-kitab ugama asalnya dari mana ke? Tapi permasalahan ini semuanya sebab budaya, seni dan perkara-perkara melalaikan yang seangkatan dengannya. Hence, with the decision to send (mengirim melalui FedEx?) Siti for a round of performance to cool things down might be acceptable. Lepas tu orang Indonesia takkan marah2 lagi? Bak kata Tuan Sadiq Segaraga dalam film Tiga Abdul “Tidakk..dansinglah sampai pagi…” But then the question was will it sustain? If it does then for how long?

Sustainability atau kelestarian dalam bahasa Malaysia, refers to ones capacity and capability to endure, to tolerate and to survive his/her life. World Summit in 2005 noted three pillars of human sustainability; environmental, social and economic; the potential for a long-term maintenance of human’s well being. Putting Siti into the platform is just like having Maher Zain performing at a dangdut festival. Relevant at the point of performance but definitely not after dangdut performer takes center stage. Will Mr Zain able to handle the heat? Innalillah, innalillah you’ll find your wayyy..

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CARI perhentian di mana nak berhenti CAMAR kesucian satu cinta abadi DI MANA dia SEDANG aku terlena AKU yang terjatuh TERCICIR entah dimana HILANG dalam jasad sendiri AKU yang mencuba CARI dan kutip kembali KU basuh dengan peganganku HARI berganti masihkah aku di situ MEMERHATIKAN segala dalam pandangan kekaburan MELIHAT diri sendiri AKU yang terjatuh TERCICIR entah dimana HILANG dalam jasad sendiri AKU yang mencuba CARI dan kutip kembali KU basuh dengan peganganku.

P/s – Congrats to Siti Zubeq for her 15 Jan’s engagement. May things go well as planned. Sabar 6 bulan je lagi..:)