After the CF meeting today, my friend from Pharmacy asked me and the rest "nurture or nature?"
I found no hesitation in saying "Nurture!" Why ?
If humans do not believe in nurture, then we do not believe in education. If we do not believe in education, then society will not progress and for all we know humanity shall cease to exist. Civilisation will not be possible if we believe in nature instead of nurture.
This reminds me of the first verse revealed in the Holy Quran "Iqra!" which literally means Read! The fact that Allah swt had revealed the first verse as such to Prophet Muhammad pbuh whom was illiterate showed that God's had created the nature of humans to have this ability to learn. You may not possess the knowledge now but humans have the capacity to learn and must learn.
“Whoever is given wisdom and knowledge is blessed with bounties in good abundance”.
(Surah al-Baqarah, 2:272)
Allah swt had therefore explicitly informed us of the importance of knowledge and to do that humans need to learn. Civilization will only grow if humans learn and improve. Without nurture, humans are condemning themselves to a "created" caste system and will fall into a self-fulfilling prophecy and this is indeed bad for the human race.
My short defense for nurture over nature.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It's not all experience that matters, it's the type of experience that matters
I read through the bios of most successful people and those people who are able to grab those top jobs as Directors in MNCS, GICs, Ministers or those rich people. It comes to my knowledge that working at daily rates just to gain an experience of customer service is not really a strategic way to get a comfy career. In a dense world where most knowledge are democratised, it is much more important that we know what are our strengths and use our strengths to good use. The key thing here is to strategically use the knowledge we posses to benefit the community at large.
It is thus important to get that good first career and prior activities should be crafted towards that goal (if that is your so called desired goal.) Doing temping regardless of the pay maybe practical to those from the lower income and without any major valuable skills needed in the modern globalised economy. However, if we were not that desperate for money in the short term and we had a decent enough education, I view that the onus is on us to think of ways to justify our knowledge to the masses through hands on projects. To me , there is a difference between high-end entrepreneurship and the lower end entrepreneurship. While the later did not need a lot of strategies and marketing, the former is in need of such advanced and complex business and social knowledge. Those with a decent education and capable of manipulating complex knowledge should not, ideally, steal the job opportunities from the lower income of our society who are most likely to possess lower cultural capital to meet their basic ends meet. Resources which includes human capital should be utilized strategically to benefit the society as a whole.
The issue of maximising the use of human capital, is however, complex if we were to take into consideration the position of those who possess the cultural capital but had yet to move their minds in tandem with the cultural capital that they possessed. These people are stuck with the working people mindset that they are used to socialise in when they are young. A solution have to be sought to change the mindset of these youths. These youths should be introduced to the ways very successful people carved out their career and how they start off in their early years. This is to break the cycle that you need to start small to grow bigger when the fact is, in the real world, nothing comes close to that. For example, a youth at age 18 have never work in rubber plantation or the retail sector before. Won a scholarship, be a civil servant and now end up some big shot advising others what to do. Another would be a drop out college student making use of his computer knowledge to create computing gadgets and is now one of the most successful people ever in the world.
The social capital should be firmed up and harness for those who had already possess a decent amount of cultural capital as required in our society. These efforts can be in the form of mentorships and networking groups by the successful in our society. These youths need to cast off from their slumber (the late JB Jeyaratnam) and wake up to the truth of the workings of today's society.
Let give everyone a chance to live decently. Do not steal what is suitably not yours. :D
It is thus important to get that good first career and prior activities should be crafted towards that goal (if that is your so called desired goal.) Doing temping regardless of the pay maybe practical to those from the lower income and without any major valuable skills needed in the modern globalised economy. However, if we were not that desperate for money in the short term and we had a decent enough education, I view that the onus is on us to think of ways to justify our knowledge to the masses through hands on projects. To me , there is a difference between high-end entrepreneurship and the lower end entrepreneurship. While the later did not need a lot of strategies and marketing, the former is in need of such advanced and complex business and social knowledge. Those with a decent education and capable of manipulating complex knowledge should not, ideally, steal the job opportunities from the lower income of our society who are most likely to possess lower cultural capital to meet their basic ends meet. Resources which includes human capital should be utilized strategically to benefit the society as a whole.
The issue of maximising the use of human capital, is however, complex if we were to take into consideration the position of those who possess the cultural capital but had yet to move their minds in tandem with the cultural capital that they possessed. These people are stuck with the working people mindset that they are used to socialise in when they are young. A solution have to be sought to change the mindset of these youths. These youths should be introduced to the ways very successful people carved out their career and how they start off in their early years. This is to break the cycle that you need to start small to grow bigger when the fact is, in the real world, nothing comes close to that. For example, a youth at age 18 have never work in rubber plantation or the retail sector before. Won a scholarship, be a civil servant and now end up some big shot advising others what to do. Another would be a drop out college student making use of his computer knowledge to create computing gadgets and is now one of the most successful people ever in the world.
The social capital should be firmed up and harness for those who had already possess a decent amount of cultural capital as required in our society. These efforts can be in the form of mentorships and networking groups by the successful in our society. These youths need to cast off from their slumber (the late JB Jeyaratnam) and wake up to the truth of the workings of today's society.
Let give everyone a chance to live decently. Do not steal what is suitably not yours. :D
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Muhammad....how come you don't have a girlfriend?
Okay...I was asked the above question by Prof Hing when I'm taking one of her modules. Well, we learnt about what are the emotional issues affecting Singaporean young adults today (this came out in the exams) and jeng...jeng...jeng LOVE is one of the topics covered.
It was superbly exciting to study such "emo" items in an academic setting. It does help that apart from learning "love" as a social construction in different eras, I had another module that tackled the practical aspects of approaching Love. And no...I am not that inch confident of approaching the subject even after taking these two modules. :p Cheez Dr Alex and Dr Vasoo will be disappointed at this. Haha nebermind like what I said previously "life has to go on."
My mum, dad, aunties, uncles and some of my friends asked about my love life too. Usually, I would just shrug off the topic as though as if I'm too childish for that. The thing is: I'm not sure myself. I read some materials on the topic and heard lots about the topic and I definitely know that Love needs commitment. The thing is I do not know if liking someone for her physical attractiveness is infatuation, lust or love. I only know that if I were ever to find my true love one day, I would love to have the relationship developed to marriage, parenthood and blissful old age. This is idealistic but yea...this is what I feel I would want. I cannot imagine myself breaking up after being with another person for some time. This would be sad.
Abu Hurairah(R.A.) related that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Men choose women for four reasons: for their money, for their rank, for their beauty and for their piety(religion), but marry one who is religious and you will succeed” (Bukhari, Muslim).
To be honest, I think I had crushes before. And most of it arise because of "beauty." On closer retrospective, I feel (think) that what would attract me to the person would be the face: It's the sweet, pretty cute face, fair and very pleasing to the eyes. This is subjective to my own interpretation alone. I think it's the crushes as I do not have the courage to approach it. Call it cowardice but I don't care. (It's my life...like duh?) The thing is when I like a particular someone, it would be difficult for me to approach her. Just felt nervous. It's natural I guess, just that a little something that I need to overcome. If I 'm uber friendly with a her, it only meant I feel nothing special about her and treat her as my friend but with those girls that I am attracted to, I would just prefer to remain a distance and look from afar.
As I grew up, my choice on the type of spouse-companion that I look for remains mostly the same apart from some other addiditional pragmatic reasonings which I feel is necessary to make the relationship lasts. This is of course idealistic as when you like someone, you just like her regardless of whatever criteria you had in mind.
I remembered having a discussion about the topic of Love while in the Beyonderz programme in Polytechnic. Then, my lecturer said that where you always loiter, linger...you will most likely meet your spouse there. Which means to say if you frequent mosque, you will most likely meet your partner there. If you frequent pubs, the chances of you meeting your spouse in such places are greater.
In times of modernisation and globalisation where people's life are segmented into the public and private spheres, the need for a common stable meeting ground where couples meet are becoming more important as people are mobile and are not able to stay rooted in order to establish a relationship in one place. People moves. Extreme Competitiveness in the workplace, schools may enter the sphere of family life and might impede the natural development of love. I pray to Allah swt from falling into the trappings of extreme competitiveness of today's society.
It's not that being competitive is bad just that extreme competitiveness. Rasullulah pbuh have said that the choice of spouse must first prioritised the individual's religiousity. This is very pragmatic and indeed important if we look from a normal laymen rational perspective. Being religious is also about values. I am sure a direct complete clash of values would make the home a Hellfire than jannah and so this is important in stablising the relationship. In the olden days and as was advocated by the religion, marriage involves the involvement of the wali who shall investigate if the man is good enough for his daughter. Sadly, in this modern age, individualisation rules and people live by choices and this private sphere of love is also ruled by such dogma. The challenge of our modernised society is then to tweak the way we view "success". Though we might be advanced in our individualistic instinct, one cannot delude oneself that he or she can live in a no man's land. In view of loosening community spirit, the family unit must be strong and a guiding value system must be put in place to make us relive the lives of being humans yet again. :D
It was superbly exciting to study such "emo" items in an academic setting. It does help that apart from learning "love" as a social construction in different eras, I had another module that tackled the practical aspects of approaching Love. And no...I am not that inch confident of approaching the subject even after taking these two modules. :p Cheez Dr Alex and Dr Vasoo will be disappointed at this. Haha nebermind like what I said previously "life has to go on."
My mum, dad, aunties, uncles and some of my friends asked about my love life too. Usually, I would just shrug off the topic as though as if I'm too childish for that. The thing is: I'm not sure myself. I read some materials on the topic and heard lots about the topic and I definitely know that Love needs commitment. The thing is I do not know if liking someone for her physical attractiveness is infatuation, lust or love. I only know that if I were ever to find my true love one day, I would love to have the relationship developed to marriage, parenthood and blissful old age. This is idealistic but yea...this is what I feel I would want. I cannot imagine myself breaking up after being with another person for some time. This would be sad.
Abu Hurairah(R.A.) related that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Men choose women for four reasons: for their money, for their rank, for their beauty and for their piety(religion), but marry one who is religious and you will succeed” (Bukhari, Muslim).
To be honest, I think I had crushes before. And most of it arise because of "beauty." On closer retrospective, I feel (think) that what would attract me to the person would be the face: It's the sweet, pretty cute face, fair and very pleasing to the eyes. This is subjective to my own interpretation alone. I think it's the crushes as I do not have the courage to approach it. Call it cowardice but I don't care. (It's my life...like duh?) The thing is when I like a particular someone, it would be difficult for me to approach her. Just felt nervous. It's natural I guess, just that a little something that I need to overcome. If I 'm uber friendly with a her, it only meant I feel nothing special about her and treat her as my friend but with those girls that I am attracted to, I would just prefer to remain a distance and look from afar.
As I grew up, my choice on the type of spouse-companion that I look for remains mostly the same apart from some other addiditional pragmatic reasonings which I feel is necessary to make the relationship lasts. This is of course idealistic as when you like someone, you just like her regardless of whatever criteria you had in mind.
I remembered having a discussion about the topic of Love while in the Beyonderz programme in Polytechnic. Then, my lecturer said that where you always loiter, linger...you will most likely meet your spouse there. Which means to say if you frequent mosque, you will most likely meet your partner there. If you frequent pubs, the chances of you meeting your spouse in such places are greater.
In times of modernisation and globalisation where people's life are segmented into the public and private spheres, the need for a common stable meeting ground where couples meet are becoming more important as people are mobile and are not able to stay rooted in order to establish a relationship in one place. People moves. Extreme Competitiveness in the workplace, schools may enter the sphere of family life and might impede the natural development of love. I pray to Allah swt from falling into the trappings of extreme competitiveness of today's society.
It's not that being competitive is bad just that extreme competitiveness. Rasullulah pbuh have said that the choice of spouse must first prioritised the individual's religiousity. This is very pragmatic and indeed important if we look from a normal laymen rational perspective. Being religious is also about values. I am sure a direct complete clash of values would make the home a Hellfire than jannah and so this is important in stablising the relationship. In the olden days and as was advocated by the religion, marriage involves the involvement of the wali who shall investigate if the man is good enough for his daughter. Sadly, in this modern age, individualisation rules and people live by choices and this private sphere of love is also ruled by such dogma. The challenge of our modernised society is then to tweak the way we view "success". Though we might be advanced in our individualistic instinct, one cannot delude oneself that he or she can live in a no man's land. In view of loosening community spirit, the family unit must be strong and a guiding value system must be put in place to make us relive the lives of being humans yet again. :D
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Alhamdulilah...a retrospective of previous semester
Alhamdulilah ...thanks to the Almighty Allah swt for all the gifts that He had bestowed to me from the moment I was a "never" to a human being till date.
I am indeed thankful to Allah swt for giving me the chance to pursue higher education at the University level though I was admittedly disappointed for some time as my first choice of studies was not accommodated. Studying is fun and though it is at times a pain, I found that I studied best under pressure and is able to give my best only under time constraints. I learnt a lot about the nature of society and can actually now relate back to what those Ustaz/Ustazahs meant when they said the world had been deceived (when I 'm still a young boy). I thank Allah swt for making me conscious of who I am and what really life should be all about. The ability to know oneself is of primary importance before we can actually do what is necessary to better our life.
The modules I took last semester is very down-to-earth and has shown to be useful to my understanding of my position in the whole scheme of things. I realised that the training in the social sciences has really moulded me into a critical thinker (to some extent= i tend to have extreme thoughts especially in my tail end of year 2.) First semester of third year was planned deliberately to train myself to be flexible of things and to see things in a positive light. However, being trained a critical thinker by nature of the discipline that I pursue, I just could not avoid analysing stuff from that critical perspective. At the end of the day, people's opinions differs and this is what makes life exciting. Life is about exchange of ideas which was reified through status, money and other physical items.
This semester, I took part in the Public Policy Challenge. My team, TTA (Team Take Action) did not manage to win any prizes but I am glad that I meet new acquaintances from my own Uni and NTU throughout the competition. It was challenging and it helps me to frame my perspectives against a real issue facing Singapore. Sadly, the competition was very numeric-econ centric. i would love it if a human touch was applied to policy making. I recommended a minimum wage (which I feel would automatically gives me the boot as the Singapore Government has never been in favour of such policy.) This issue might need real consideration from the Government in the future as we are facing increasing income gap in face of rising costs amidst globalisation. The way we measured success would have to be re-evaluated. We need a more humane policy not only in spirit but execution. (I wrote in rhetoric but well this is my blog and this is how I want to put it so I'm entitled to such writings okay?)
Apart from the TTA, one of the things that I feel that I'm trying to get into is social entrepreneurship. I was subsequently in the policy forum organizing committee and the topic is about youth and entrepreneurship after brainstorming some time for the appropriate topics. What disturbed me was when the GOH in the forum says that at the end of the day , an entrepreneur needs to invest a lot in his work in his earlier set up as money is what they are in for at the end of the day. And you know what? This chap is not even an entrepreneur in the first. He is a scholar, a director at many companies. A success by Singapore standard. And this coming from such a "sucessful" person is not surprising at all because they are deemed the "elite" of the system and assumed to know everything there is on this world.
Eermm...it was disturbing and the questions raised in the forum is not really thought-provoking and had nothing to do with what a "policy" form should be. It is very much individualised and catered to the individual who wanted to ask more on the "How to be" "How you maintain the business" type of questions. By the way, the two key speakers were young entrepreneurs. I feel that it would do injustice if I did not anything to remedy the situation and so I asked a complicated and meant to be so question. I question a system that favours pragmatism but yet wanting people to be entrepreneurial at the same time in recent years. The key question is: Why now? Can other aspects of the system be liberalised? Can people be programmed to be entrepreneurial in one aspect of their life and not others. And I spoke personally to one of the entrepreneurs after the forum. He is in it for passion not really for the money. If everything in the world is about money, then I would argue that people will not marry and not have children since they can work and hoard the monies all for themselves. I feel we need to be a more humane than purely a pragmatic society.
The experience being in the policy forum was an eye opener although I only contributed ideas (which most were rejected in their pure form). It showcase to me the "wayang" that has been playing and I really feel that the servants of this society must wake up to their ideas that their "masters" should be protected. Mind you the "masters" are supposed to be servant-leaders and are supposed to be chosen by the people. Therefore it is the people's pregorrative if the people want to ask them tough question even if that make them lose face. I mean, if they are great leaders, they will be able to manage it unscatched. That's my take on the issue of leadership. It is earned and not given. I feel less respect for a person who did not concrete plans for his/her people but leave it to the professionals to manage. Where's the input from the leader then? Gracing occasions and attending "invitations"? I personally feel this is just about it.
To learn hands-on about social entrepreneurship(SE), I joined the NUS-SIFE Project bedazzled. I think SE should not be segmented from other business model. Indeed the purpose of having wealth should be so that we are able to improve society. Of what use is there if we hoard all our wealth for our own use or only solely for our family use. Business should be run humanely, based on fair principles and good ethics. Only then the world would be better for everyone. I aimed to learn alot prior to graduating from University and therefore try to take up Marketing and Writing projects. I am hopeful to be able to juggle all. Just need to manage time well and work on the computer often. I learnt a great deal of planning ahead on a monthly, weekly basis last semester. This is the most effective thing to do to date. I remember doing this in NS and in both Poly and Secondary. Somehow I forget about this in my first two years in Uni. Well, life has to go on. I shall move ahead and not look back.
Last Semester. Challenging. Boring. Knowing more people. Taking up new challenges.
That's all.
I am indeed thankful to Allah swt for giving me the chance to pursue higher education at the University level though I was admittedly disappointed for some time as my first choice of studies was not accommodated. Studying is fun and though it is at times a pain, I found that I studied best under pressure and is able to give my best only under time constraints. I learnt a lot about the nature of society and can actually now relate back to what those Ustaz/Ustazahs meant when they said the world had been deceived (when I 'm still a young boy). I thank Allah swt for making me conscious of who I am and what really life should be all about. The ability to know oneself is of primary importance before we can actually do what is necessary to better our life.
The modules I took last semester is very down-to-earth and has shown to be useful to my understanding of my position in the whole scheme of things. I realised that the training in the social sciences has really moulded me into a critical thinker (to some extent= i tend to have extreme thoughts especially in my tail end of year 2.) First semester of third year was planned deliberately to train myself to be flexible of things and to see things in a positive light. However, being trained a critical thinker by nature of the discipline that I pursue, I just could not avoid analysing stuff from that critical perspective. At the end of the day, people's opinions differs and this is what makes life exciting. Life is about exchange of ideas which was reified through status, money and other physical items.
This semester, I took part in the Public Policy Challenge. My team, TTA (Team Take Action) did not manage to win any prizes but I am glad that I meet new acquaintances from my own Uni and NTU throughout the competition. It was challenging and it helps me to frame my perspectives against a real issue facing Singapore. Sadly, the competition was very numeric-econ centric. i would love it if a human touch was applied to policy making. I recommended a minimum wage (which I feel would automatically gives me the boot as the Singapore Government has never been in favour of such policy.) This issue might need real consideration from the Government in the future as we are facing increasing income gap in face of rising costs amidst globalisation. The way we measured success would have to be re-evaluated. We need a more humane policy not only in spirit but execution. (I wrote in rhetoric but well this is my blog and this is how I want to put it so I'm entitled to such writings okay?)
Apart from the TTA, one of the things that I feel that I'm trying to get into is social entrepreneurship. I was subsequently in the policy forum organizing committee and the topic is about youth and entrepreneurship after brainstorming some time for the appropriate topics. What disturbed me was when the GOH in the forum says that at the end of the day , an entrepreneur needs to invest a lot in his work in his earlier set up as money is what they are in for at the end of the day. And you know what? This chap is not even an entrepreneur in the first. He is a scholar, a director at many companies. A success by Singapore standard. And this coming from such a "sucessful" person is not surprising at all because they are deemed the "elite" of the system and assumed to know everything there is on this world.
Eermm...it was disturbing and the questions raised in the forum is not really thought-provoking and had nothing to do with what a "policy" form should be. It is very much individualised and catered to the individual who wanted to ask more on the "How to be" "How you maintain the business" type of questions. By the way, the two key speakers were young entrepreneurs. I feel that it would do injustice if I did not anything to remedy the situation and so I asked a complicated and meant to be so question. I question a system that favours pragmatism but yet wanting people to be entrepreneurial at the same time in recent years. The key question is: Why now? Can other aspects of the system be liberalised? Can people be programmed to be entrepreneurial in one aspect of their life and not others. And I spoke personally to one of the entrepreneurs after the forum. He is in it for passion not really for the money. If everything in the world is about money, then I would argue that people will not marry and not have children since they can work and hoard the monies all for themselves. I feel we need to be a more humane than purely a pragmatic society.
The experience being in the policy forum was an eye opener although I only contributed ideas (which most were rejected in their pure form). It showcase to me the "wayang" that has been playing and I really feel that the servants of this society must wake up to their ideas that their "masters" should be protected. Mind you the "masters" are supposed to be servant-leaders and are supposed to be chosen by the people. Therefore it is the people's pregorrative if the people want to ask them tough question even if that make them lose face. I mean, if they are great leaders, they will be able to manage it unscatched. That's my take on the issue of leadership. It is earned and not given. I feel less respect for a person who did not concrete plans for his/her people but leave it to the professionals to manage. Where's the input from the leader then? Gracing occasions and attending "invitations"? I personally feel this is just about it.
To learn hands-on about social entrepreneurship(SE), I joined the NUS-SIFE Project bedazzled. I think SE should not be segmented from other business model. Indeed the purpose of having wealth should be so that we are able to improve society. Of what use is there if we hoard all our wealth for our own use or only solely for our family use. Business should be run humanely, based on fair principles and good ethics. Only then the world would be better for everyone. I aimed to learn alot prior to graduating from University and therefore try to take up Marketing and Writing projects. I am hopeful to be able to juggle all. Just need to manage time well and work on the computer often. I learnt a great deal of planning ahead on a monthly, weekly basis last semester. This is the most effective thing to do to date. I remember doing this in NS and in both Poly and Secondary. Somehow I forget about this in my first two years in Uni. Well, life has to go on. I shall move ahead and not look back.
Last Semester. Challenging. Boring. Knowing more people. Taking up new challenges.
That's all.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
I cannot sit still and do nothing when I see something is wrong
I thank the Almighty Allah swt for giving me the gift of thinking and writing critically since the day I started writing my thoughts in my journal in secondary school.
I read through my blog entries and facebook status updates and found that most of my ramblings seems to be very deep (at the very least according to some people I spoke to). At times I get tired of observing too much and acquainting whatever knowledge garnered with the real world. I seemed to be like an eagle in a small cage the past years (especially the past two preceding years) and then I decided that I had to do something more than just keeping my thoughts to myself and through serious rambling on facebook. For a start, today I wrote in to the Straits Times about something that I observed that is fundamentally a mistake and which I take a keen interest to rectify. There will be more of so in the near future insyallah, if I have the time for it. The letter would be put in another posting in this blog later. Alhamdulilah.
I found a calling in making sure things are done honestly and justly but you have to choose the appropriate time. As such I am in disagreement with some people "yang bertindak melulu sahaja" as this is a sure way of not even winning the battle, let alone a war.
People need to understand the circumstances, the environment before reacting. If you went in at gear 5 at full speed on a slippery road, you are courting death. So drive slow but take up speed as you cruise along when you see that the weather is fine and the traffic is clear. This is one effect of rationalisation. This is one good aspect of modernisation. However, not all of modernisation is good. If it is, there will not be problems. The issue is how do we grapple with it. The theme of justice is tied down to this issue of grappling it and life -- i believe is a battle of struggle with the war ending only at the end of the hollow tunnel.
So take heart warriors if the result is not instant as it is better to be right in your track rather than go so far ahead but only ending to fall off the cliff.
Wait for my next post. :D
I read through my blog entries and facebook status updates and found that most of my ramblings seems to be very deep (at the very least according to some people I spoke to). At times I get tired of observing too much and acquainting whatever knowledge garnered with the real world. I seemed to be like an eagle in a small cage the past years (especially the past two preceding years) and then I decided that I had to do something more than just keeping my thoughts to myself and through serious rambling on facebook. For a start, today I wrote in to the Straits Times about something that I observed that is fundamentally a mistake and which I take a keen interest to rectify. There will be more of so in the near future insyallah, if I have the time for it. The letter would be put in another posting in this blog later. Alhamdulilah.
I found a calling in making sure things are done honestly and justly but you have to choose the appropriate time. As such I am in disagreement with some people "yang bertindak melulu sahaja" as this is a sure way of not even winning the battle, let alone a war.
People need to understand the circumstances, the environment before reacting. If you went in at gear 5 at full speed on a slippery road, you are courting death. So drive slow but take up speed as you cruise along when you see that the weather is fine and the traffic is clear. This is one effect of rationalisation. This is one good aspect of modernisation. However, not all of modernisation is good. If it is, there will not be problems. The issue is how do we grapple with it. The theme of justice is tied down to this issue of grappling it and life -- i believe is a battle of struggle with the war ending only at the end of the hollow tunnel.
So take heart warriors if the result is not instant as it is better to be right in your track rather than go so far ahead but only ending to fall off the cliff.
Wait for my next post. :D
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Me too serious? Ooh please...
I don't know how I appear to most people ...but most people thought I am too serious in things I do. Well, to put the record straight, I, too just like any people in this world needs an outlet to de-stress. And there are times when I can crack even cranky jokes...if i am comfy with U. That's it short post.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin. :D
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin. :D
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Yusuf is a good candidate but.......
Why be good candidate then... yikes :S
see below
The First Interview
Areas that are Well-done
Good eye-contact, confident
Candidate is able to show that he is mature and responsible to handle tasks assigned
Candidate is able to show that he has a sense of purpose in life, through his vision in future
Candidate possesses excellent technical skills including certificate in pedagogy
Areas for Improvement
Appear to be tense at the start
Candidate can pay more attention to his non-verbal behavior such as shaking of legs.
Candidate could practice more in striking a balance between expressing interest in what he applied and his personal interest.
Overall comment
Yusof is an impressive candidate.
Suggestion that the candidate applies to XX Department in XXX as that is more suitable to his interests.
The Second Interview
Areas that are Well-done
Candidate has done extensive research and is well informed for the activities at XXX.
Candidate is eager to share experiences and appears confident and at ease
Areas for Improvement
Candidate may like to allow interviewer to speak more.
Candidate may like to include examples on how he exhibits teamwork in his experiences.
Overall comments:
Yusuf is a good candidate that is able to engage the interviewers effortlessly. He possess good eye-contact with all interviewers and is much more personable at the interview. It is suggested for Yusuf to go for more interview sessions, not only to hone his interview skills and widen his , but also to find a job that fits his expectations.
Generally, I had make a tremendous improvement from the first to the second interview but was not accepted. Eerm..while I do agree that I need to find a job which I love and able to do, what are we suppose to do if our aspirations are not practically achievable in the immediate years ahead due to (finance mainly)? Don't we need to eat and feed the family while saving money to fulfill our aspirations?
see below
The First Interview
Areas that are Well-done
Good eye-contact, confident
Candidate is able to show that he is mature and responsible to handle tasks assigned
Candidate is able to show that he has a sense of purpose in life, through his vision in future
Candidate possesses excellent technical skills including certificate in pedagogy
Areas for Improvement
Appear to be tense at the start
Candidate can pay more attention to his non-verbal behavior such as shaking of legs.
Candidate could practice more in striking a balance between expressing interest in what he applied and his personal interest.
Overall comment
Yusof is an impressive candidate.
Suggestion that the candidate applies to XX Department in XXX as that is more suitable to his interests.
The Second Interview
Areas that are Well-done
Candidate has done extensive research and is well informed for the activities at XXX.
Candidate is eager to share experiences and appears confident and at ease
Areas for Improvement
Candidate may like to allow interviewer to speak more.
Candidate may like to include examples on how he exhibits teamwork in his experiences.
Overall comments:
Yusuf is a good candidate that is able to engage the interviewers effortlessly. He possess good eye-contact with all interviewers and is much more personable at the interview. It is suggested for Yusuf to go for more interview sessions, not only to hone his interview skills and widen his , but also to find a job that fits his expectations.
Generally, I had make a tremendous improvement from the first to the second interview but was not accepted. Eerm..while I do agree that I need to find a job which I love and able to do, what are we suppose to do if our aspirations are not practically achievable in the immediate years ahead due to (finance mainly)? Don't we need to eat and feed the family while saving money to fulfill our aspirations?
Of random and sweet experiences last summer
This post will be a personal record of sort. I realised that my blogging activities has been a bit lukewarm in 2009. I am not writing as vigorously as I used to but there is in fact a reason for it. The availability of Facebook is one key reason as I feel that the new platform is a better outreach to my network of family, friends and acquaintances of my updates and my small mini thoughts of which Twitter and Facebook would make a better choice than journal like blogging. That's that... let me recount the few significant events that happened in summer.
Well, for a start...summer break in 2009 was the first time:-
a) Family reunion (My paternal's side). This was a landmark event almost unheard of in 15 years. Alhamdulilah it takes two cousins' engagements to bring the family together. You see, my father's side of the family rarely meet up in a year. Even in the annual hari raya visit, we only meet once a year (that is if we happen to be in our respective homes or meet up in a grandauntie home whatsoever; if not, we will not even meet.) Then there is this one family (my late uncle's family=whom we have lost contact for years.) A true union bring forth by my generation.(wedding bells anyone?)
b) Lost friends (poly) meet up. The same thing happen it takes a wedding to bring everyone together. I remembered that I was indeed excited to attend her wedding. hehe :D
c) First time doing direct sales. Try to sell VOIP business to retailers during CommunicAsia. It was a good experience. Got to meet new people and pick up new challenges and make new acquaintances though the ka-ching does not really help (it makes me realise the importance of having stable stream of income like tuition).
d) Participated in ASEAN University Students Forum in Bandung. Many people complained but I guess I had fun. It was the first time I attended such supposedly an academic conference. Presented a paper of Singapore's cultural heritage in the Conference. It was exciting and indeed a great experience. Met many new friends from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia (these are the closest) and not forgetting other ASEAN countries too. It is indeed heartwarming that some of us try to stay in contact through facebook. I learnt a lot about Vietnam from my Vietnamese room buddy there. Strangers becomes friends. Cool even for the Singapore delegates (except Aizat of course...haha I knew him like since year one? haha)
e) Went for waste my time two internships interviews. Apparently my interview went well and they said I am a good candidate but due to a mismatch between the organisation and my career aspiration, I was rejected. (I will post the comments given in a different post).
f) When I feel that my job hunting aren't going well, I went for tuition hunting. In the meantime, I realised that I have yet to complete my SMB hours and the clock is ticking. Took the oppurtunity to help MENDAKI out throughout summer break. It was indeed an insightful experience. Met another of my friend who was working there (now studying in NTU). Alhamdulilah it seems Allah swt wants to help me clear my hours this semester.
g) Read books on real estate sales, islamic sociology, islamic banking and finance and some self-help books. Attended seminars. It's like a month of "learning without pressure." I feel that this was the time whereby reading and understanding become second nature to me. It makes me feel that University should really banked on the "social" aspect coz learning can take place anywhere and the students must have value addedness over the rest. The Administration should have re-think out about the current factory making usiversity churning graduates as products lest graduates becomes hungry and disappointed in the future.
h) Other insignificant day-to-day endeavours.
Ramadhan Kareem everyone. :D
Well, for a start...summer break in 2009 was the first time:-
a) Family reunion (My paternal's side). This was a landmark event almost unheard of in 15 years. Alhamdulilah it takes two cousins' engagements to bring the family together. You see, my father's side of the family rarely meet up in a year. Even in the annual hari raya visit, we only meet once a year (that is if we happen to be in our respective homes or meet up in a grandauntie home whatsoever; if not, we will not even meet.) Then there is this one family (my late uncle's family=whom we have lost contact for years.) A true union bring forth by my generation.(wedding bells anyone?)
b) Lost friends (poly) meet up. The same thing happen it takes a wedding to bring everyone together. I remembered that I was indeed excited to attend her wedding. hehe :D
c) First time doing direct sales. Try to sell VOIP business to retailers during CommunicAsia. It was a good experience. Got to meet new people and pick up new challenges and make new acquaintances though the ka-ching does not really help (it makes me realise the importance of having stable stream of income like tuition).
d) Participated in ASEAN University Students Forum in Bandung. Many people complained but I guess I had fun. It was the first time I attended such supposedly an academic conference. Presented a paper of Singapore's cultural heritage in the Conference. It was exciting and indeed a great experience. Met many new friends from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia (these are the closest) and not forgetting other ASEAN countries too. It is indeed heartwarming that some of us try to stay in contact through facebook. I learnt a lot about Vietnam from my Vietnamese room buddy there. Strangers becomes friends. Cool even for the Singapore delegates (except Aizat of course...haha I knew him like since year one? haha)
e) Went for waste my time two internships interviews. Apparently my interview went well and they said I am a good candidate but due to a mismatch between the organisation and my career aspiration, I was rejected. (I will post the comments given in a different post).
f) When I feel that my job hunting aren't going well, I went for tuition hunting. In the meantime, I realised that I have yet to complete my SMB hours and the clock is ticking. Took the oppurtunity to help MENDAKI out throughout summer break. It was indeed an insightful experience. Met another of my friend who was working there (now studying in NTU). Alhamdulilah it seems Allah swt wants to help me clear my hours this semester.
g) Read books on real estate sales, islamic sociology, islamic banking and finance and some self-help books. Attended seminars. It's like a month of "learning without pressure." I feel that this was the time whereby reading and understanding become second nature to me. It makes me feel that University should really banked on the "social" aspect coz learning can take place anywhere and the students must have value addedness over the rest. The Administration should have re-think out about the current factory making usiversity churning graduates as products lest graduates becomes hungry and disappointed in the future.
h) Other insignificant day-to-day endeavours.
Ramadhan Kareem everyone. :D
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