Personal Charter

Just thot I'd need to post this in a public space:

PERSONAL CHARTER

April 5, 2011

Realising that secular objectives, no matter how interim, is both misplaced and destructive, that I shall strive insyaAllah and with Allah’s guidance, to fulfill my fullest potential, and also to bear responsibility of realising the potential of those under my care, which includes my wife and children, and be the most positive influence I can be to others that I come into contact with, to benefit the purpose that Allah has given to His creation.

September 18, 2009; 28 Ramadhan 1430H

For the next 5 years, my financial planning mission shall be:

• Benefactor to others

Work only for a worthy cause 

Secure dependents

1 Jan 2007 (with minor edits)

• I will ensure my life and my family will live a life of integrity according to values approved by Islam and social order;

I will be determined in ensuring we reach that goal while at the same time ensuring my parents are safeguarded;

including my wife and children; and our relations

• I will have determination that I build up through persistence and tenacity;

I will pursue those goals with bravery and courage, and not be stopped by fear

• I will pray that Allah protects my objective and makes it easy

I will also have understanding and tolerance for other people's viewpoints, perspectives, problems, concerns, and make it my own

• I will use my rational thought coupled with hope and prayer to its fullest ability and find the opportunities that life brings for the betterment of this life

Bye bye 2012

Some reflections:
1. Liverpool under Brendan, 2013 and beyond
Looks like Sturridge is coming after all. How would he integrate with Suarez? How does BR manage Gerrard and Henderson? How does he organise the back 4 or 3 given the silly goals that the team has leaked to Route 1 and simple direct attacking from simeple direct opposition?

Performances have been good to insipid. There is a lack of rotation, and given the smallish squad how will they cope in the second half. BR needs to show he has solutions for all of this. In the second half, I predict more of the same against the top 5, ie if we are lucky and being optimistic, 6 points from the 5 games against Utd, City, Chelsea, Arse and Spurs. The middle 7 are mainly home games, but our own home games have been awful so far and Anfield is no fortress. A mere 2-3-1 result against Everton, WBA< Swansea, Norwich, WHU, Sunderland could be best. And 15 pts out of the bottom 7 which are mainly aways again seems pretty optimistic. All in, leaves 59 pts for this year. Awful, but a basis to start 2013/14 season. Beyond? Difficult considering transfer performance is where you could get quantum increases in performance, as shown by Rafa and Houllier or even Dalglish part 1, or drastic underperformance under Hodgson and Dalglish Part 2. Not sure how good BR is in the transfer market, but based on 1 window so far, pretty much underwhelming.

Rafa does seem to impress at Chelsea so far though.

The unemotional malay

1. This is truly the age of fitaan. And the worse thing for Malays is that the precedence for overcoming the dilemma is to embrace pragmatism that perverts truth.
2. Over the past 50 years since the federalism was established, the fractured Malay factionalism was only truly united over the period of 1989-1998, when UMNO as a party consolidated behind the great overlord, and Malaysians gave undivided loyalty to the ruling party that dominates the alliance. Before that period, you could trace the factionalisms within UMNO itself, when there were competing warlords. Thereafter, many Malays questioned the benefits of giving their undivided loyalty such that rule of law was abused with such impunity. That 'reluctance' grew such the same questions were asked of other communities and the agenda for truth then took on its own engine, such that the agenda has taken on its own life, even to the extent of it spiralling beyond the comfort zones of the malay-muslim community, a situation unheard of 20-30 years ago. For Malaysians, this is as living on the edge as it gets, as the situation of 1969 is raised whenever 'sensitivities' are raised.
3. Malay royalties presiding over a relatively less educated, less priviledged Malay majority never had to contend with an uprising. Malays are tolerant, the recipients of perhaps the ultimate backhanded compliment of 'nature's greatest gentlemen'. So, these times are a novelty.
4. We should ultimately be thankful for the leadership over the last 50 years that the Malays are in such a priviledged position as they are now, the DEB being a pragmatic device and a diplomatic victory that was secured on the back of a critical failure of the racial riots of 1969. At the same time, the same concessions that was secured then created a race that had become dependent on the handouts. Amendments are required yet this conversation on a social contract has not yet opened up within the Malay community, and how could it when raising issues of this is considered a criminal offence?
5. Malays- forever afraid of rocking the boat, forever afraid of leaving their comfort zone, forever conventional and traditional - and what other mindset can explain the fact that Abdullah Munshi, a well-travelled journalist (blogger?), a government translator, could be so well received in the history books when someone of this profile are a-dime-a-dozen in many other cultures. Now dont get me wrong that there is an inherent inferiority complex and I have the greatest of respect for someone who spoke out of what is a common cultural milieu of its time, all I'm doing is pointing out this deficient mentality that prevents us from trying out new things for the fear of it being.... new!
6. We need something new, we need a new voice, and we need it now. And we need people with the gumption of going against the flow to achieve greater good, with the critical ability to speak for the rest to diplomatically negotiate for support and concessions whilst withstanding all kinds of 'excrement' and untruths being thrown at their deepest core. And all the while being unflinching slave of truth and sound principles. An unemotional malay.. fancy that.

Petronas's next frontier

Syria and Islam's dilemma

Syria: the foreign fighters joining the war against Bashar al-Assad http://gu.com/p/3aj49

What is solution for Palestine and Palestinians?

Making a call to expand Israeli hegemony based on logic such as this is unprincipled and immoral. The solution is to extend aid in all areas such that the Israeli occupation and colonisation is pushed back and the lesson that their bullying and power play has no place in this modern age.

Palestinians need a one-state solution | Ghada Karmi http://gu.com/p/3ahnh

Major decisions and emerging maturity, choices and risks

1. Political choices: The need to express and articulate the third way, the less paranoid and the rational, non-xenophobic way of expressing the vision for this country.At the end of the day, the largest leveraged outcome of the simplest decision is to sway the fence-sitters away from the corrupted, lousy, rotten status quo, no matter where the position of comfort the owner of the opinion is. In this case, I do need to participate, I do need to expres a position, I do need to ensure there is a sizable buy-in and engagement to the choices that I make and the convictions that I have. But the first step is to firstly have that list of convictions first. It's so much easier to be the cleaner that sweeps the mess of others, but it's more desirable to be the one that stands in front and expresses abhorrence of this practice and prevents it from happening.
2. And in that respect, how important can it be to have an opinion, arrived to thoughtfully, and expressed gently and articulately, that could sway the opinions of many. Less of the consultant-speak, more of arriving at a resolution that speaks volumes of the character and generosity of spirit.
3. And more importantly, is how could this be achieved without reflecting on the choices of asking for divine guidance and help? How would personal wisdom be enhanced that you could see past the iniquities of others, be informed of the personal agendas, and prepare and strategise accordingly such that the objectives of justice can be assured, and having the wisdom that the guidance that we seek are the right and divinely acquired despite the naysayers and grounded in the reality of the world that we live in.. ok ok.. I know this is dragging, but this is the difficult part of idealism meeting practicalities.
4. Offers and choices - and at the end of it all, we seek Allah's acceptance of our amal, niyyah and iman, and importance is not necessarily relfected in that order. Then the task of leading people, and the risks of leading them falsely can be mitigated somewhat as I have this innate fear of leading them wrongly. And in that respect, the Dark Knight Rises truly inspires the choices that we ought to make to realise the world we ought to live in, and guided by a divinely-inspired moral compass that helps our innermost innate judgment.