MH370: Lessons to Learn

This will probably be the biggest news this year although it's still March. No need for me to elaborate further on what happened on that fateful day, 8th March 2014 as this been covered daily since then. You are probably staying in Timbuktu if you've not heard of this. Dammit, there's even a Wikipedia page on it already.

I refrained from posting anything about this earlier for there are too many unconfirmed, wild rumours pertaining the incident to the flight MH370 and not wanting to join the bandwagons of self-appointed military experts, conspiracy theorists & aircraft investigators. On the cause of the disappearance, you have stories from alien abductions to pilot suicides. On its whereabouts, they even said the plane landed on the moon. Yes, u read me, landed on the moon !!!! And of course, the unrelevant news of the pilots' & passengers' private lives. Don't even mention the incompetencies of the related authorities in handling this crisis. Don't quote me. Irregardless of the outcome of this crisis, there's few lessons to be learned on crisis management, hard knock style by everyone.

LEADERSHIP

(1) Your true leadership character will be revealed during time of crisis. Delegation is one thing but people will be able to read your body language / actions if your are plainly avoiding or not. Ensured to be seen by your stakeholders (in this case your country citizens) during crucial time
(2) Speak if you're required to so. Silence is not golden each time as during time of crisis, people expect to hear voice from the highest authority for comforting reasons etc.
(3) The crisis should be made the main priority & any other unnecessary social appointments such as visits to the market, launching of new store etc should be cancelled or to get representative to attend instead.
(4) Give instructions from the start and get the tasks done immediately.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

(1) Have only ONE single voice (the most 2 people) of who knows what's going on and not having many unrelated people talking on different tunes/directions
(2) Be adaptable to the situation when facing the public and present yourself accordingly. Laugh when u need to and don't, if it doesn't requires you to do so.
(3) Get the concrete facts right before presenting it to the public. Providing assumptions or giving unimportant information will cause more frustrations.
(4) Being protective of your own is understandable but being defensive is the opposite. Know the differences of both and project yourselves accordingly with your words & statements
(5) Your words & tones carry different messages. Enrich your vocabs and brush off your spoken language to ensure you say the right words with the right tone, at the right time
(6) If you don't know what to talk, don't talk. Don't make yourself looked like a bloody fool when u said the wrong stuff at the wrong time

What's my stand up till today? Announcing of the plane "ended" in Indian ocean based on "conclusion from analysis" done is not a convincing answer to give to the families of 239 passengers on board. Specific explanation on how do you make the conclusion and giving concrete evidences are required here. We are facing international medias here and not any half-past-six journalists who will willingly accept all the answers given. It's mentally torturing really. Instinct tells us it has crashed but we don't have the proof up till today to substantiate the claim. This explains exactly, why I didn't give out any condolences or obituary messages till today.

One thing that hurts me individually on how we Malaysians manage this situation of getting the bad publicity from overseas people and medias. And here, we have people wanting to denounce their Malaysian citizenship. As much as we are frustrated on the whole scenario, we must not let our emotions cloud our rational minds and be confused on the differences between government and country. Mark Twain said "Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government, when its deserve it". We may be frustrated with the current government incompetencies in dealing with the MH370 crisis but this shouldn't shake our loyalty and love to the country. Everyone around the world may be cursing us like hell now but this does not mean we should be embarrassed to call ourselves Malaysians. Perception by others is created by humans and it can be changed too by you and me. We can't stop others from condemning us, which is why we should reciprocate by educating the unawares. Otherwise, if we, Malaysians don't do it, then who will? Protect our nation if you need to and let Almighty God deals with the uncontrollable factors.

Marriage Made in Heaven

This is slightly late. OK, it was wwwaaaayyyy too late since this event was held last December. Never thought tis baby sister of mine, the lil princess of the house will be married. I mean, all of us in da house were always hoping she never grows up & remains the cute, little gal that everyone loved. By the way, for those who dunno, this sis of mine is born deaf. Reflecting upon this, her deafness has actually brought the whole family closer. Letting go can be tough, judging from the sight of Mum's tears & the way Dad hugged sis tightly when sending her off on the wedding day.

And boy, she has now turned into a beautiful Korean-looking lady & married to a nice & kind chap, who is also deaf. With his shoe designing job, Imelda Marcos would have made him her toyboy...:) Never got the chance to say a thing or two about them on the wedding nite. I must say the first moment I saw both of them looking into each others' eyes & signing to each other, something in my head (still dunno wat izzit) told me that they are really meant for each other. And it was saying to me like "Yes, tis is the guy my sis gonna get married to!!!".

The event of da day



The man & the lady of da nite



The setting

A gathering of sorts for all the deaf attendees



The wedding nite went on, just exactly what everyone was asking for. Great company, great booze, great music & great ambience. I could really felt the vibration of love in that hall. Not forgetting also the showcase of deaf culture, blending nicely with the hearing people that nite. How I wish i could upload a deaf music performance here by Lily & Rahmat if not for the large sized file.

To Mei & Mike, this is just the beginning of a new journey. Do enjoy the ride of life together. It's not gonna be easy but faith, the care for one another & efforts of both parties will make the journey worthwhile enough to last u a lifetime. Just a piece of a bro's mind.....

 

HKR112

A BIG wave is coming. It strikes the country in 2008. This time, it's gonna be a BIGGER one. For those who still dunno, I'm referring to a people's revolution, being angry with the ruling government for many issues. Indians called it "Makkal Sakthi". Corruption, misuse of powers, cronyism, nepotism, racism, uncontrolled usage of people's money n many others. All got worse after the last election held in 2008, causing the rakyat to be angrier and those peeps are hell bent on kicking out the present government in the next election. Now that election is looming near after the 5 years term is coming to the end, its the battle between incumbent BN government n the opposition PR coalition to get the votes from the real power, the people of Malaysia.

Many demonstrations were held to tell the government to meet up to the demands. I participated in one, Bersih 3.0 rally last April 28. Truly an eye-opening experience. Being on the streets with hundreds of thousands of Malaysians from all walks of life, for the same common goal which is for the Election Commission to BERSIH (clean) the electoral roll to have a fair election. Experienced the teargas too. Not a proud thing to boast actually but its the feelings after that....Being offered water n salt by unknown strangers from different races, calming u down n advising u. This, I say is priceless. Sadly to say, nothing was done to meet the demands besides many other human rights, n even environmental issues cropped up along the way. Another bigger rally was held, called Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat - HKR (People's Rise Assembly) was held on 12th January in the capital city. Hence, the title of tis post.

Proud to say I was there together with larger crowds than last Bersih 3.0 on the historical day, held in a historical place, Stadium Merdeka. Rais Yatim said attendance was 5K. The PM said it was 10K. Police said it was 40K. Note: Stadium seating capacity is 45K, not taking into consideration countless people assembling outside stadium n around town. Google the images, see my hp photo below n give your estimation.

Waiting to enter stadium

Full capacity

What's so great about being in a full capacity stadium then? Long story indeed. Being an avid local political observer, my fault for not sharing the issues n thoughts in here earlier. It's a touching scene where u can see countless people of different races in a single place under hot blazing sun wanting to make themselves count for a common goal. Trust me, tis is not like gathering with everybody in a stadium, rooting for Dato Lee Chong Wei versus Lin Dan. U can really see in the people faces that they want a better-managed economy, a better environment, a better welfare for the people, a better way to live their life, & most important of all, a better future for the next generations. Never before I've sung Negaraku so proudly in my life, singing it in a stadium full of proud citizens, it goes deep straight into our heart, causing even the toughest of men to shed tears. Who say singing national anthem is boring??

Singing of Negaraku before the start of the assembly

Doubters ask is it necessary to attend rally of this kind to send our messages across . We should support on what is right & make ourselves count. Giving real life example, if no one attend & listen to the famous Martin Luther King speech, do u think there'll be changes & he be revered as a legend? Going back to local history, if there's no demonstrations & agressive opposition by locals towards the formation of Malayan Union, will the British be pressured to give independence to us? Will I do it again if there's another one? For the sake of my future generations, I just need to. No hesitation about it....

A Resurrection Again???

Maj was saying tis blog now has only 2 posts a year. One to wish all a happy new year & one more posted on December to summarize all activities & close up the year. True indeed. Can I say it's dead? Technically, maybe. Its only after being resuscitated, moved a while & dead again. Blame da writer...

At the age of Youtube, Facebook & Twitter where u can express ur feelings/thoughts just with a single post of a photo/video/sentence, writing seems to be a time-consuming, hair scratching activity. Happened to browse the old posts today, made me realised about something. It serves also as a reminder to myself about my own thoughts, my past mistakes, my own resolutions which I've actually forgotten along the way. Men has the shortest of memories really. Cant even remember what I had for dinner yesterday nite. And then, realised that there's so many personal experiences (good & bad) last 2012 that could be shared with all to inspire people, to remind people, to tell people, to share with people.

Too late to start it all over again?? Me says no such thing. A football game final result is decided by the blow of referee's whistle at 95th minute & not when the clock ticks at 90th minute. Let's roll it out...Do support & keep tis going by leaving comments ya...:) Have a great year ahead, everyone...

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 !!!!

Still not too late to wish all peeps out there. Just back from Langkawi with the Akurians & man, it was a blast. Frankly still feel the Langkawi islands are still yet to be fully explored despite of 2 previous visits. Definitely will be back again in future. Will post bout tis soon

Coming to tis new year 2010, are new resolutions required?? Not necessary, especially if the ones set on previous year are not fully achieved yet. It should be to achieve the previous resolutions with reinforced vigour. What's in store tis year ? What will happen in areas of politics, economy, environment & others? Nobody can claim to be Nostradamus and can foresee this & that. We can only do our very best in any situation & leave the rest to Him.

Family & Friends...

Last weekend has to be one of the most eventful for me thus far. I supposed the day shud be fun as I was celebrating my b'day on Friday. Let me start on event on that day. A subordinate of mine screwed up some urgent works on the day before, causing customers & other ppl fuming mad. Naturally,as the superior, I got something to answer here, bound to be @&%#) upside down.

Called into a meeting in the morning & Boss was screaming all the way. To worsen it, there are other stuffs were screwed up as well. This is example of one of the days in our life where all matters just dont turn out right (& I'm sure other ppl experienced tis too) and it happened on my belated day !!! It was to the extent that I looked up to the sky & asked "God, is this Your New Year message & lesson for me?" And then, one teaching (learned in Mahikari) suddenly popped out from mind,it said "We need to treat all things in the universe as voice of God". Made me realised that making mistakes is one thing. It's the process of learning from mistakes (normally tough & winding road) that will help us to improve further. Getting screwed & being answerable for somebody's mistakes is not easy really but it will be worth the pain (we'll realise it later in life) if we learn & understand the phrase by heart.

At nite, went for Western food dinner outside with my family for the b'day. And them to Skybar, Traders Hotel for drinks with several MYG frens. Great place to hang out at, with its modern Zen design, majestic view of KLCC & seductive pools nearby the tables. Definitely gotta be added into the list of best places to enjoy the KLCC view (as commented in my previous blog) My only intention that nite is just to sit down, drink, relax & get the mind away from the stress. So, to those fellas with me that nite, there's a reason why i'm quieter than usual...

Thanks for company !!

On Sat nite, went to Sahara Tent restaurant in BB with my best pal & other frens to sample some Arabic fares. I must say the meat dishes are tasty, especially the lamb. On both occasions in bar & restaurant, got a surprise birthday cake from the frens. The cakes are nothing to shout about actually but what matters to me here is the sincerity & the efforts of those fellas, which make it meaningful.

Small cakes given with big heart !!!

Upon reflection of tis, I'm glad to have my family and frens around me all this while. Call me being emo but tis time around makes me appreciate the ppl around me. Dad once asked me, "If ur outside and the world is going to end in 2 hours, where do you go?" Naturally, we'll go home to check out our loved ones & be with them for the last 2 hours of our life. Daily laughters & harmony in the family makes us feel secured & appreciate the love of one another.

Close frens who has been with us are not to be ignored as well. They might be sarcastic, annoying, full of crazy antics or watever u may describe them. We just gotta admit that their presence itself brightens our day or at very least, makes us feel better..u get wat I meant?? Words of comfort is not necessary actually but families and frens that being there and being themselves cheered me up for me to go thru my brand "new year".

To my family: Dad, Mum & my 2 siblings, I thank God for giving me YOU. To all the brothers & sisters out there, thanks for your companionship all these years. Your presence itself means a lot to me. Cherish ur families & frens for your life would not be complete & meaningful without them. To end tis, can somebody gimme a tissue box here??