Monday, February 20, 2012

to ponder upon.....

When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect -- but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect. Your elder, no matter whether he has gray hair or has lost his hair, no matter whether he is a Nobel laureate -- may be wrong. The world progresses, year by year, century by century, as the members of the younger generation find out what was wrong among the things that their elders said. So you must always be skeptical -- always think for yourself.

- Linus Pauling


Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334

Sunday, February 19, 2012

to ponder upon....

The spiritual path is not a solo endeavor. In fact, the very notion of a self who is trying to free her/himself is a delusion. We are in it together and the company of spiritual friends helps us realize our interconnectedness.

- Tara Brach
 
Note:
In Islam it is call "jamaah". Do we?
Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334

Thursday, February 16, 2012

to ponder upon....

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.
-Dwight Eisenhower.
Note:
Leaders and future leaders, don't push but pull. (but becareful if there is a bull or a cow at the end of the string!!!!hehehe)
 
Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

to ponder upon.....

Dear All,
A friend of mine name Steve has put up an interesting issue and ask me for my thought. I am sharing this for all of us to ponder upon and share with me your thought on the issue.
 
What a grand confusion it is, quality vs. quantity (and process vs.
product)!

More is rarely better, yet managers, politicians and assorted misguided
others regularly assume and act as it it indeed were, whether we're
talking about money, food, sex or any of those things on the first
levels of Maslow's hierarchy, or higher-order needs ! Faulty processes
rarely lead to great products, yet managers pursue sub-optimal means
with a focus on 'cost cutting' over 'quality seeking' again and again!

Black vs. white thinking is about maximizing vs. minimizing. This, in my
opinion characterizes immature stages of mental & moral development. How
can we as parents and educators help our children, students and
colleagues begin to realize this, and it's implications? Shades of grey
are called 'flip flops' in US politics, yet the real world exists in an
infinite array of shades of grey on opinions, issues, values, and indeed
reality!

Theory X managers, teachers (and politicians) control 'their people' by
scaring them with possible survival threats rather than inspiring them
with likely 'flourishing opportunities.' It's a handy trick which often
works in quite a few situations, thereby reinforcing that behavior next
time. 'Shoot at their feet and make 'em dance' from an old Ronald Reagan
western movie. This was George W. Bush's approach to ramming through all
of his (buddy's) plans and policies after 9/11. From his, & Chaney's,
perspectives 9/11 was the best thing that could ever have happened, and
it is still paying off for right-wing Republicans: Obama is saddled with
the aftermath, and 'marrying a moslem' has become the great American taboo!

Your thoughts?

Steve



Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

You-rob-me, I-rob-you, Malaysian-style



You-rob-me, I-rob-you, Malaysian-style
J. D. Lovrenciear,
13 February 2012
The Consumer Association of Penang has highlighted the acrimonious cost of drinking water. It is said that a 0.0006 sen cost for a glass of drinking water is being sold at a price of over 80,000 per cent profit margin.Walk into a restaurant and you get colored tea. Order a roti canai and you get hardly a teaspoon of floor doled out into a ringgit over wafer thin roti bloated with baking soda. Take mee goreng and it is filled with vegetables that are fit for the ducks.You do not like this then go into the spanking up-market outlets and pay like a duke mate. A cup of coffee is now hovering at ten ringgit, just to start with mind you. It was only half that price hardly two years ago.How about our wet markets? You can buy cheap fish if it is near rotting. And even that is at a price you would have paid for the cheaper fresh variety two years ago.If you think the wet markets are ripping you off, try the pasar malams. It would not be hard to find them as you can smell the rot a hundred yards away. It is okay if you do not buy them as the ever present foreign workers are the steady customers.You want to get to work, go get a car. But pay the high taxes mate even if it is a home-made version. You want comfort and reliability? Yes you can have any car as long as you can pay for it – including the hefty duties that are almost the price of the car pegged by the exporter.Okay lah, why not take the public transport? Has anyone not said anything about the most elusive, sardine-packed trains and buses? And have these companies also not kept up-ing their ticket prices endlessly?And even if you have to pay the fare, let us not forget the escalating parking fees imposed silently. And if you do not want to pay the high parking rate, go park elsewhere and be sure to find the car clammed, towed away or with a summon ticket.Ah, then there is another degree of robber-nation. As a minister just announced, ‘return back the money you used to purchase some property illegitimately, overseas, and all things will return to normalcy’. Wow, that is even far better than tribal-justice in the Amazon. So tomorrow, all we have to do is just use the rakyat’s money first and then return it on the quiet and there will be no issue.Back to the rakyat’s life. Take a taxi and be prepared for a short-change if you are not vigilant. Take a weekend walk in the malls and be prepared to be overwhelmed by the perennial ‘mega’ and ‘jumbo’ sales and discounts.From 50% to 70% discounts the banners scream. But after all the discount, the price of a shoe or dress would still end up being more expensive than what you would have paid for last year.In a nutshell, are Malaysians so numbed by the lack of values and insatiable desire to make more money that they have no more qualms about price hikes and cheating and robbing?Are leaders so blinded and drugged with the mantra of have-power-through-more-money that they have ended up being so numbed to the point that everything is being turned out to be mercenary deals?School woes, and many moreTake education mate. You want free schooling, ok no problem. You have it. But do not forget that you must pay for the school books that keep changing every year, not forgetting the uncountable versions of workbooks that are a must for every subject.Then of course since schooling is free, you must pay through your nose to put your children through private tuition. No tuition, no pass exam lah. Right or wrong?What about the building industry? Remember the saga of the Highland Towers? Or how about the leaking parliament despite millions spent on repairs and maintenance?And so in Malaysia today everyone is out to make more money – even at the expense of their own fellow citizens. Is this too farfetched a point made?If not, how come citizens in neighboring countries are not clamoring and crying for pay hikes and eating near rotting fish? Food prices do not even need any policing. Buyers do not even haggle over prices at the wet market. You do not pay for drinking water and you have a whole jug to yourself.Pity. Pity the untraveled Malaysians. They are drowning in their own mantra of ‘you-rob-me, i-rob-you’ while the politicians continue to dispense a justice philosophy that even the Amazon tribes would find it hard to assimilate.Wonder where we would all be if this country was not blessed with petroluem, tin, rubber and bell weather? For despite all the blessings we are robbing each other to make ends meet.






* J. D. Lovrenciear is a Harakahdaily reader.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

to ponder upon....

It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

- Mohandas K. Gandhi

Note:
On the contrary we don't! we think we are the wisest, we think we are the strongest! we make decision on the assumptions that we are the wisest.....
Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334

Thursday, February 9, 2012

to ponder upon...

A stupid person should keep silent. But if he knew this, he would not be a stupid person.

- Muslih-ud-Din Saadi


Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

to ponder upon......

You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Note:
But that is what I am seeing all around me, we are hitting the people on their head to ask them to follow us; and we dare says that we are leaders!
Dr Ahmad Azman Mohd Anuar
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor
Tel: +60136668334