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.

Budaya Buat Dulu Maaf Kemudian

I remember preparing a slide on attitude and how it is relevant with one’s mindset. The attitude will determine how exactly you approach your life i.e. the way we think will determine the way we do things. What you portray physically comes from how and what you fill in to your head. For example, if someone has written something bad about you, you can assume that he must have an ill feeling towards you. If someone is always late, you can assume that he is always late for most of the things in his life. Attitude is usually shaped by the culture surrounding them. So this triangle thing is very much related to one another – mindset, culture and attitude.

The slide that I’ve prepared shows these correlations. Further, a superior performance culture comes from the way we think, the way we view things, habit of thinking and feeling towards certain issues, moment of truth and people surrounding us. What you see as the behavior is what you are made of in term of your mindset i.e. beliefs and attitude as well as your philosophy i.e. values and principle.

P/s – I wonder whether the guru tuisyen’s mindset is a manifestation of culture that is surrounding him? Too bad then....

----------------

Isu karikatur: Guru tuisyen mohon maaf

Sinar Harian, 1 Ogos 2012

JOHOR BAHRU  – Pusat tuisyen di daerah Ledang yang mencetuskan kontroversi kerana menggunakan karikatur dalam nota ringkas subjek Sejarah tingkatan empat menghina sahabat-sahabat Nabi Muhammad SAW tampil membuat permohonan maaf, semalam. Pengusaha pusat tuisyen, Lim Lee Yee, 26, hadir di Jabatan Pelajaran Johor di sini bersama guru terbabit, Ku Chong Yoong, 22, dan membuat permohonan maaf secara terbuka sambil disaksikan oleh Pengarah Pelajaran Negeri, Mohd Nor A Ghani. Lee Yee berkata, segala alat bantu belajar serta proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran (P&P) yang dilakukan oleh setiap tenaga pengajar di pusat tuisyen itu akan dipantau dengan lebih teliti bagi mengelak berulang kejadian sama.

“Guru berkenaan (Chong Yoong) mengajar subjek Bahasa Melayu dan Bahasa Inggeris. Subjek Sejarah hanya subjek tambahan yang diajar kepada pelajar tanpa mengambil yuran,” katanya. Bagi Chong Yoong, dia sudah meminta semua pelajar memulangkan kembali nota ringkas yang diberikan bagi mengelakkan keadaan bertambah keruh. “Saya meminta maaf kepada umat Islam terhadap tindakan saya yang tidak matang. “Saya benar-benar ikhlas memohon maaf kepada semua umat Islam di Johor, Malaysia dan seluruh dunia,” katanya.

Sementara itu, Mohd Nor berkata, Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri akan memberi surat peringatan dan amaran kepada pusat tuisyen serta guru terbabit. Terdahulu, Sinar Harian melaporkan sebuah pusat tuisyen di sini mencetuskan kontroversi apabila menggunakan karikatur dalam nota ringkas subjek Sejarah tingkatan empat, yang didakwa telah menghina sahabat-sahabat Nabi Muhammad SAW.

Man With Integrity

(Bernama 02 Ogos, 2011) - Datuk Dr Rosti Saruwono mengambil keputusan meletakkan jawatan selaku Naib Canselor Uni-versiti Selangor (Unisel) dengan notis 24 jam berkuatkuasa esok. Beliau mengesahkan peletakan jawatannya menerusi khidmat pesanan ringkas sebagai membalas SMS yang dihantar oleh Bernama bagi mendapatkan pengesahan berita tindakannya itu.

"Ada keputusan yang saya tak sanggup laksanakan iaitu untuk melucutkan jawatan tiga pegawai Unisel tanpa proses sewajarnya," katanya ketika menjelaskan antara punca beliau meletakkan jawatan.

Berasal dari Klang, Selangor Rosti pernah berkhidmat sebagai Timbalan Presiden Bahagian Pendidikan Petronas dan rektor pertama Uni-versiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) sebelum dilantik sebagai Naib Canselor Unisel pada 2 Mac, 2009. Beliau menggantikan Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Razali Agus yang mengosongkan jawatan itu pada Julai 2008. Semasa baru dilantik, Rosti berkata beliau tidak akan menjadi "Pak Turut" kepada mana-mana pihak dan ingin memastikan institusi pengajian tinggi swasta milik kerajaan negeri itu tidak dijadikan medan berpolitik. Menurut sumber, Rosti telah diarahkan oleh kepimpinan Unisel untuk melucutkan jawatan tiga pegawai -- Pendaftar Rokmaa Mat, Dekan Fakulti Perniagaan Prof Dr Khalifah Othman dan Pengarah Pemasaran dan Komunikasi Korporat Halid Hasbullah.

----------------

Kudos to Datuk Dr Rosti. Being a righteous man with full of integrity I could not agree more with his decision to quit the post with immediate effect. After all, things must be too hard for him to handle when what matter most is politics. It was sad to hear an integrity and good governance (as in the case of the Unisel management) were buried down under just to ensure political sustainability of some. I might be wrong to pre-judge the situation; there might be something amiss, but professionally you don’t act on hearsay i.e. action taken until proven guilty.

Patutla 2 - 3 hari ni cuaca panas sangat.

When I joined the institution, Datuk Rosti was no longer the Rector. He instead was made the Vice President of Education since 2005 before being appointed the Unisel's Vice-Chancellor on March 2, 2009. I never had any chance to serve him until in 2009 when he chaired the Transformation’s Steering Committee. That was also not very long due to his official retirement from PETRONAS. Nevertheless, I had once accompanied him to South Africa for a mini convocation in Cape Town. I would view him as an easy going person, chilled and easy to communicate with but at the same time very committed and meticulous in whatever he does. He love to read and always stressed that life-long education is the factor for the strength of the nation (and the company) of which I found very interesting to a man of his credible.

All I could say is Unisel might have lost a man with the utmost credibility. Innalillah..

Happy 2nd retirement Datuk, we UTPian are so proud of you!

P/s – rupanya panas lagi di Unisel..