One of the main mistakes leaders make is that they lock themselves up in a bunker and forget about the rest of which matters to them. They lose sight of what assisted them in acquiring their titles in the first place and they also overlook the little things that matter to the mass which helped get where they are. However, my ignorance in this matter halts me from elaborating on what leaders should be looking at and how they should be handling certain matters. What I do know is this: Leaders are afraid of the people. Deep down in them, leaders have a conscience cautioning them what the impact of their decisions may have on the people; mainly if those decisions will cause a chaos amongst their people who may turn against them eventually. It is this fear which has most Leaders on their toes, which has them backstabbing each other and which has them committing the most despicable of acts to maintain at the top. In other words, greed for power breeds fear. This greed blinds the Leaders, having them disillusion of what is important to them consequently they forget to cooperate with those who matter. As a result, the realization that something must be done amongst the people should be encouraged.
The fact is there is a way round this and it mainly lies in you - the people. Your leaders can only do so much to better your condition and your surroundings. If you do not take the initiative to improve your selves, then how can you expect your leaders to help you? The progress of a nation and its country lies in the hands of its nation, meaning you. If you do not progress then your country will be stuck in its present condition and not advance any further, in fact it will be in shambles in the long run. It is only when you work towards improving yourself, only then your country will move forward. With this also, you will provide your leaders with something to work on to either improve the country’s progress be it economically or socially, or change whatever systems are there to change to keep you, the nation, happy, and at the same time steering the country in the direction it should be heading.
Your leaders are only your supervisors overseeing what you want run smoothly or better. If you do not voice or show what you want or how you want something to be taken care of, meaning if you do not show your leaders you are worthy of their attention, they are not going to care about you. Even the most genuine of leaders will be patient up to a point, after which they will take it for granted not only are you happy and contented with your present situation but you are also self-developing. Here you are not only deceiving your leader but also yourself especially if you are not happy with your situation and not self-developing in anyway. Eventually, the ones on the losing end are you, the ones you love, and those who depend on you. So then, do not blame the government you choose but blame your selves. If you do not help your selves, how can you expect others too, even if they are the slightest bit obligated to you? Each individual is responsible over his/her own actions. Do not expect anyone with authority to define your worth or value or your significance in this life. It is all down to you.
And Leaders should sharpen their listening and thinking skills.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Blogs, Bloggers and Blog Interpreters
Writing a blog is just like writing a novel – there is a dateline to keep to although it is not explicitly stated. Once a blogger starts, he or she will have to keep writing no matter what – it is a responsibility they hold not only towards their writing but also to their readers. It is to ascertain that the blog is active; it is to ensure that their string of readers is loyal. Making a mark is one thing but maintaining the reputation it has gained the bloggers is another. The latter is the most difficult because flow of thoughts are as unpredictable as the weather (am not using the phrase with ‘woman’ in it less I cause another riot online!). Ideas and thoughts do not come when we want them to but when we least expect them. It is at this point we have to make a mental note as to what should be noted down to paper later on or if possible right there and then. I suppose the most idealistic thing is to keep a pen and paper at hand, or even a mobile phone because as it is we have mobile novels these days so a mobile phone would be just as useful in this current age.
I realize thoughts and insights come in many forms. Anything and anyone can be a subject for a piece of writing, for everything is like literature – they are all down to our interpretation. One thing which may be common in one’s writing is the form ideas and thoughts take, in other words - a common theme. There maybe one theme which one may have passion about and will use in almost all their writings. This may be the one theme that one uses to start off one’s writing and it may be the very theme which may attract readers. Readers, on the other hand, will expect this same theme to occur in this entire one writer’s writings, which may be a good but also a negative point mostly where readers are concerned. This is due to the most constant thing in life - change. One cannot run away from it. So, one should expect a writer to fail in being constant with their writings; a writer will indefinitely have a change in opinions and points of views. The writer will fail almost indefinitely because times change, ideas change, and so will the method of looking at a particular subject matter. There may be different subject matters treated under the light of different themes. However, there is the possibility that a particular subject matter, which has already been written based on one theme, will be revisited under a different point of view and a different theme. These are the changes readers should be expecting from writers especially the bloggers. Ideas will remain ideas and they will never die neither will they change even when they are reformed. The only ones changing are the ones who created those ideas and they are humans who are true to the nature they exist in and regardless of what they do, they will change one way or the other. Therefore, to take action upon the ideas and thoughts one holds onto is to act now while it is still fresh and active, for the longer one waits, the less the idea would appeal. And eventually, nothing will be done to make a difference in this life we currently live in. ‘Nothing will come out of nothing’ – so the time to act is now; the time when one gets an idea and writes it down. Hereafter, all one has to do is to contradict one’s self to either dispute the original idea or refine it further.
Where ideas are concerned it is quite disappointing to know the futility of humans in actually thinking them up, for although most of us know sooner or later we will rethink them and possibly even ruthlessly discard them, we still want to have ideas and opinions because that is the nature of humans: curious, intrigued and above all, thinking all the time. And, at the end of the day, we then commit the very vile mistake of actually writing them down and later on contradicting them one way or another. One of the reasons for this is the fact we are interacting with different people everyday, reading up on different things every minute daily ( well teachers and students alike mainly), and we are faced by the tide of change in the very society we live in as well as the personal experiences we deal with.
‘Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so’ is the best phrase to describe what we write here on the blogs. Nothing we write can be substantiated because they are merely views and opinions. We are living in a world where everyone has the divine right to voice their points of view on anything, regardless how little it matters to them. No institution or even constitution can snatch that right from us. We may have rules and regulations or some sort of obstacle stopping us from demonstrating what we want to voice but nothing can stop us from thinking. Our mind is our own and no one can take that away from us. We can write (because the pen is sharper than the sword) what we want in whatever way we want but who is to say we should or should not write about something? Of course we as writers have the responsibility to know how to word what we want to voice so as to not be misconstrued but then again, like everything else, like literature, it is all down to interpretation. We as writers can always twist our words and defend our true intentions in our writings. Readers can read what they read but whatever they deem they have understood is down to their interpretation of our texts. And the most crucial mistake most people make is to take an excerpt or a phrase and use it for other purposes, in which case the writer cannot be held accountable for what that phrase or excerpt has been used for or interpreted as such. The phrase or the excerpt only means something when used in its original text. On a lighter note, all these seem to make writing and reading a lot more like a game and definitely more fun.
Blogs may seem a casual tool to reach to the masses, and yes to a certain extent it is but it is also a tool which actually teaches us our rights to exercise our freedom of thoughts and speech. It teaches us the responsibility we undertake as readers as well as writers; it teaches us the humility to be humans in exercising our divine right in thinking and voicing our opinions.
I realize thoughts and insights come in many forms. Anything and anyone can be a subject for a piece of writing, for everything is like literature – they are all down to our interpretation. One thing which may be common in one’s writing is the form ideas and thoughts take, in other words - a common theme. There maybe one theme which one may have passion about and will use in almost all their writings. This may be the one theme that one uses to start off one’s writing and it may be the very theme which may attract readers. Readers, on the other hand, will expect this same theme to occur in this entire one writer’s writings, which may be a good but also a negative point mostly where readers are concerned. This is due to the most constant thing in life - change. One cannot run away from it. So, one should expect a writer to fail in being constant with their writings; a writer will indefinitely have a change in opinions and points of views. The writer will fail almost indefinitely because times change, ideas change, and so will the method of looking at a particular subject matter. There may be different subject matters treated under the light of different themes. However, there is the possibility that a particular subject matter, which has already been written based on one theme, will be revisited under a different point of view and a different theme. These are the changes readers should be expecting from writers especially the bloggers. Ideas will remain ideas and they will never die neither will they change even when they are reformed. The only ones changing are the ones who created those ideas and they are humans who are true to the nature they exist in and regardless of what they do, they will change one way or the other. Therefore, to take action upon the ideas and thoughts one holds onto is to act now while it is still fresh and active, for the longer one waits, the less the idea would appeal. And eventually, nothing will be done to make a difference in this life we currently live in. ‘Nothing will come out of nothing’ – so the time to act is now; the time when one gets an idea and writes it down. Hereafter, all one has to do is to contradict one’s self to either dispute the original idea or refine it further.
Where ideas are concerned it is quite disappointing to know the futility of humans in actually thinking them up, for although most of us know sooner or later we will rethink them and possibly even ruthlessly discard them, we still want to have ideas and opinions because that is the nature of humans: curious, intrigued and above all, thinking all the time. And, at the end of the day, we then commit the very vile mistake of actually writing them down and later on contradicting them one way or another. One of the reasons for this is the fact we are interacting with different people everyday, reading up on different things every minute daily ( well teachers and students alike mainly), and we are faced by the tide of change in the very society we live in as well as the personal experiences we deal with.
‘Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so’ is the best phrase to describe what we write here on the blogs. Nothing we write can be substantiated because they are merely views and opinions. We are living in a world where everyone has the divine right to voice their points of view on anything, regardless how little it matters to them. No institution or even constitution can snatch that right from us. We may have rules and regulations or some sort of obstacle stopping us from demonstrating what we want to voice but nothing can stop us from thinking. Our mind is our own and no one can take that away from us. We can write (because the pen is sharper than the sword) what we want in whatever way we want but who is to say we should or should not write about something? Of course we as writers have the responsibility to know how to word what we want to voice so as to not be misconstrued but then again, like everything else, like literature, it is all down to interpretation. We as writers can always twist our words and defend our true intentions in our writings. Readers can read what they read but whatever they deem they have understood is down to their interpretation of our texts. And the most crucial mistake most people make is to take an excerpt or a phrase and use it for other purposes, in which case the writer cannot be held accountable for what that phrase or excerpt has been used for or interpreted as such. The phrase or the excerpt only means something when used in its original text. On a lighter note, all these seem to make writing and reading a lot more like a game and definitely more fun.
Blogs may seem a casual tool to reach to the masses, and yes to a certain extent it is but it is also a tool which actually teaches us our rights to exercise our freedom of thoughts and speech. It teaches us the responsibility we undertake as readers as well as writers; it teaches us the humility to be humans in exercising our divine right in thinking and voicing our opinions.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Meritocracy vs Punctuality..?
Meritocracy Vs. Punctuality…?
Oh dear. I had a tiring but fulfilling experience dealing with students and their parents this week. However, one disturbing issue kept cropping up amongst most of the parents, something along the lines of: ‘Is my child punctual? Because some teachers are complaining about it?’ I had to stop and smile to think.
As a teacher, it would be completely irresponsible to say punctuality amongst students is of little concern to me – but there you go, it is. One reason is that I am in a college where the students are the cream of the crop. Secondly, these students are young adults with minds mature beyond their age and who are not going to stop at anything to get what they want. Thirdly, they are also students who refuse to conform…they would rather have authority entrusted to them than to be followers. If they are left untended to as individuals, there will certainly be chaos. These students need to be understood and worked with, not asked to do as they are told. They have to be guided and refined so that they realize their responsibilities and do what they have to do in order to achieve what they aspire to achieve. This is where the teacher comes in.
As long as my students attend lessons, perform and participate during lessons, hand in their work and do not offend me, punctuality and other personal matters do not matter to me. However one may argue punctuality is a sign of respect, I will never think it is. Respect is to be earned not demanded; if a teacher cannot cope with the students, how can the students be expected to cope with their teacher. As aforementioned, these students know their responsibilities and they also are aware of the consequences of their actions. If they are late for lessons, they are definitely on the losing end. Then, it is up to them to catch up. My belief is that they have to exercise their rights as adults; to not only think of their responsibilities and executing them, but also live up to the consequences of their actions. Only then are they truly adults; only then they have no one to blame but themselves. This is the point where I hope they will be aware of their strengths and weaknesses as well as take steps towards developing the former and overcoming the latter.
When during exams, is punctuality taken into account when examiners mark and grade students’ work? No, excepting the fact students must be on time for their papers, which they are proving they are responsible when the time comes for them to be.
So, meritocracy or punctuality…meritocracy any day for me.
Oh dear. I had a tiring but fulfilling experience dealing with students and their parents this week. However, one disturbing issue kept cropping up amongst most of the parents, something along the lines of: ‘Is my child punctual? Because some teachers are complaining about it?’ I had to stop and smile to think.
As a teacher, it would be completely irresponsible to say punctuality amongst students is of little concern to me – but there you go, it is. One reason is that I am in a college where the students are the cream of the crop. Secondly, these students are young adults with minds mature beyond their age and who are not going to stop at anything to get what they want. Thirdly, they are also students who refuse to conform…they would rather have authority entrusted to them than to be followers. If they are left untended to as individuals, there will certainly be chaos. These students need to be understood and worked with, not asked to do as they are told. They have to be guided and refined so that they realize their responsibilities and do what they have to do in order to achieve what they aspire to achieve. This is where the teacher comes in.
As long as my students attend lessons, perform and participate during lessons, hand in their work and do not offend me, punctuality and other personal matters do not matter to me. However one may argue punctuality is a sign of respect, I will never think it is. Respect is to be earned not demanded; if a teacher cannot cope with the students, how can the students be expected to cope with their teacher. As aforementioned, these students know their responsibilities and they also are aware of the consequences of their actions. If they are late for lessons, they are definitely on the losing end. Then, it is up to them to catch up. My belief is that they have to exercise their rights as adults; to not only think of their responsibilities and executing them, but also live up to the consequences of their actions. Only then are they truly adults; only then they have no one to blame but themselves. This is the point where I hope they will be aware of their strengths and weaknesses as well as take steps towards developing the former and overcoming the latter.
When during exams, is punctuality taken into account when examiners mark and grade students’ work? No, excepting the fact students must be on time for their papers, which they are proving they are responsible when the time comes for them to be.
So, meritocracy or punctuality…meritocracy any day for me.
As a teacher....
My only defense in writing most of my blogs is that I am a teacher. I want to support the causes of my students which I think are all worthwhile. These students are of variety. However, all of them have one goal in common: to live as one nation, with no differences whatsoever.
It is refreshing to find a generation who is willing to discuss issues which are at the very core of our society and the base of its construct. Without any qualms involved, these students calmly raise issues and discuss them even if it means touching matters considered society sensitive. They willingly question one another’s views and maturely reply to these questions with a broad mind. A heated argument did occur once but they manage to resolve it amongst themselves. Religion, politics, you name it and these students have attempted discussing them as thoroughly as they can. Some even go to the extent of researching the matters beforehand and also after the fact so that they have an accurate view and broad scope on what our discussions are.
From these discussions and my daily interactions with these students, meaning 24/7, I observe the changes in mindsets from one batch to the next. I perceive changes in their thinking which is quicker than lightning. In them, realize our country is led by a generation whose mindset is miles behind that of the generation it is leading. These students are thinking way beyond what our leaders are and they can foresee the mishaps as well as the advantages their leaders are capable of. In my opinion, it is high time, the current leaders gave the younger generation a chance to rule the country. Our leaders are living the past and we younger generation do not even know how to relate to the past, let alone follow what our leaders are aspiring! The world is as we see it and we should try to cope with it in its current state, not return to the past and relive it to understand how to rule the country. The present generation just wants to live in peace, why bother them with issues which can be buried by now. Time to start afresh.
Globalisation is one of the causes for this emergence of new ideas and outlooks amongst most of our youths. The average ones are in a transition phase between old ideas and new ones, while the more advanced ones are those who can foresee how the country should be led to avoid future mishaps but these are still a minute minority; a minority nonetheless sufficient to cause an upheaval to society’s old schools of thoughts when challenged.
One of the disadvantages of globalization is that it demands societies around the world to be in uniform to one another. If one country has Starbucks than so should others around the world. This is an example of a globalised mentality where to be in on par with one another, countries should have the same things. This has also influenced the thinking of societies around the world, having them compromise the very cultures, beliefs and customs their societies were built on in the first place. It is ironic though when we look at our country in this light. Malaysia would do anything to be on par with other countries but in its practice of democracy?
There are times, I wonder if society should have a leader but we do need a certain form and function. Martin Luther King brought changes without having to be at the top and that is the kind of leader one should respect; an individual whose main concern is the society one is part of. Work from the bottom to the top would be the ultimate success in reforming a society and its thoughts. To extend change to a bigger audience, it has to begin from the individual first. The beliefs each culture and society holds need to be reformed because they oppress the oppressed even more in this current age. Everything has to reform to time.
True. What I write here are all idealistic, impossible to be achieved by a mere a human. However, ideas are not to be taken word for word. They are to be adapted to time and place as well as in relation to other ideas. I may believe in Marxism but to a certain extent that I realize there is a flaw in his idea, and that flaw may be overcome using ideas from another great thinker/philosopher. Whatever it is, they are just ideas which can never fail – unlike men. The core of an individual, is a free spirit which will do as it pleases as long as they conform to society and in doing so, they fail. And it is because of this flaw that I don’t believe in men/women entirely. I will trust them but I will give allowances for a brief period of weakness which I, too, experience. So therefore, I will have no faith whatsoever in anyone ruling the country. Nonetheless, being the balanced individual that I am, I dare to have faith that at least one person will make a difference in all his/her righteousness. It is never always about doing the right thing but always about saving the lives of the people in your hands.
Anyhow, being a teacher, I want to see things from my students’ points of view, learn from them their take on the world as it is, I want to understand them and I want to give them the opportunity to have the authority over their thoughts and actions, help them be heard regardless what their views are because I believe as long as they are not afraid to voice, they will not be afraid to be criticized and to rethink their thoughts as well as ideas. An individual has to be balanced; one cannot take the stand of an extremist, one has to allow for contradictions to be balanced. If my students can do this, they will acquire what they wish to achieve.
It is refreshing to find a generation who is willing to discuss issues which are at the very core of our society and the base of its construct. Without any qualms involved, these students calmly raise issues and discuss them even if it means touching matters considered society sensitive. They willingly question one another’s views and maturely reply to these questions with a broad mind. A heated argument did occur once but they manage to resolve it amongst themselves. Religion, politics, you name it and these students have attempted discussing them as thoroughly as they can. Some even go to the extent of researching the matters beforehand and also after the fact so that they have an accurate view and broad scope on what our discussions are.
From these discussions and my daily interactions with these students, meaning 24/7, I observe the changes in mindsets from one batch to the next. I perceive changes in their thinking which is quicker than lightning. In them, realize our country is led by a generation whose mindset is miles behind that of the generation it is leading. These students are thinking way beyond what our leaders are and they can foresee the mishaps as well as the advantages their leaders are capable of. In my opinion, it is high time, the current leaders gave the younger generation a chance to rule the country. Our leaders are living the past and we younger generation do not even know how to relate to the past, let alone follow what our leaders are aspiring! The world is as we see it and we should try to cope with it in its current state, not return to the past and relive it to understand how to rule the country. The present generation just wants to live in peace, why bother them with issues which can be buried by now. Time to start afresh.
Globalisation is one of the causes for this emergence of new ideas and outlooks amongst most of our youths. The average ones are in a transition phase between old ideas and new ones, while the more advanced ones are those who can foresee how the country should be led to avoid future mishaps but these are still a minute minority; a minority nonetheless sufficient to cause an upheaval to society’s old schools of thoughts when challenged.
One of the disadvantages of globalization is that it demands societies around the world to be in uniform to one another. If one country has Starbucks than so should others around the world. This is an example of a globalised mentality where to be in on par with one another, countries should have the same things. This has also influenced the thinking of societies around the world, having them compromise the very cultures, beliefs and customs their societies were built on in the first place. It is ironic though when we look at our country in this light. Malaysia would do anything to be on par with other countries but in its practice of democracy?
There are times, I wonder if society should have a leader but we do need a certain form and function. Martin Luther King brought changes without having to be at the top and that is the kind of leader one should respect; an individual whose main concern is the society one is part of. Work from the bottom to the top would be the ultimate success in reforming a society and its thoughts. To extend change to a bigger audience, it has to begin from the individual first. The beliefs each culture and society holds need to be reformed because they oppress the oppressed even more in this current age. Everything has to reform to time.
True. What I write here are all idealistic, impossible to be achieved by a mere a human. However, ideas are not to be taken word for word. They are to be adapted to time and place as well as in relation to other ideas. I may believe in Marxism but to a certain extent that I realize there is a flaw in his idea, and that flaw may be overcome using ideas from another great thinker/philosopher. Whatever it is, they are just ideas which can never fail – unlike men. The core of an individual, is a free spirit which will do as it pleases as long as they conform to society and in doing so, they fail. And it is because of this flaw that I don’t believe in men/women entirely. I will trust them but I will give allowances for a brief period of weakness which I, too, experience. So therefore, I will have no faith whatsoever in anyone ruling the country. Nonetheless, being the balanced individual that I am, I dare to have faith that at least one person will make a difference in all his/her righteousness. It is never always about doing the right thing but always about saving the lives of the people in your hands.
Anyhow, being a teacher, I want to see things from my students’ points of view, learn from them their take on the world as it is, I want to understand them and I want to give them the opportunity to have the authority over their thoughts and actions, help them be heard regardless what their views are because I believe as long as they are not afraid to voice, they will not be afraid to be criticized and to rethink their thoughts as well as ideas. An individual has to be balanced; one cannot take the stand of an extremist, one has to allow for contradictions to be balanced. If my students can do this, they will acquire what they wish to achieve.
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