Think Big Dream High, E57-Becoming a person who accepted faith and being faithfully accepted

The Self KPI (Key Performance Index)

1.Acceptance of faith in general means being in a state of serenity, fulfillment  and happiness. Being faithfully accepted by Allah SWT means Allah is satisfied and happy with our daily activities. Allah SWT is satisfied with our performance.

2.Allah SWT is satisfied with our KPI. When Allah SWT is happy and satisfied with our key performance index, then we will receive the rewards from Allah SWT. Spiritual, emotional and physical form of rewards that gave us joy and happiness. This joyous feeling reaches the highest peak i.e. mutmainnah  level.

3.When we accepted faith destined by Allah SWT then we become Allah SWT’s faithful servant. We remained loyal, obedient and submissive to Allah SWT. We refrained from doing anything against Allah SWT’s wishes. We are always grateful to all that Allah SWT destined on us.

Reality in Life

1.We are always sighing, feeling disappointed, feeling down and stressful, always feeling inadequate and unsatisfied. We always forget  that Allah SWT is the one determining and arranging our lives. Our duty as a servant is to work hard, be diligent, not lazy, not easily disappointed and giving up hope. It is Allah SWT’s right to love and care for His servants.

2.If Allah SWT love and accepted us, surely all of our efforts, initiatives, wants, requests and doas will be recognized  and fulfilled by Him. It is impossible for Allah SWT to deny it as Allah SWT promised many times that He likes those who are always seeking help from Him. Allah SWT promised that He will grant all of our doas.

3.The issue is with us and not with Allah SWT. The issue with us is that we do not train ourselves to always received Allah SWT’s Blessings and Grace. The issue with us is that we do not sincerely prepare ourselves to be faithfully accepted, always receiving the love and care of Allah SWT.

Tips

1.To receive complete acceptance from Allah SWT, as professionals who think big dream high, we should always educate ourselves. We should sincerely prepare ourselves to possess the characters and behaviors accepted by Allah SWT. The following are our daily KPIs  which served as our reference, which served as benchmarks before any decisions or actions are being taken.

2. Be moderate, humble, thrifty, polite, caring, loving, trustworthy, professional and  ever ready to resolve any problems or obstacles with an open heart and mind. Justifications and judgements made on the basis   of actual truth, facts and not manipulations for self benefit.

3. Always carry out all of our actions or activities in line with syariah law and avoid the ones that are being discouraged by syariah. We must be fully aware that all of them are considered as our ibadah and carried out only for the sake of Allah SWT.

4. Always avoid activities in defiance of  other  human beings, environment, animals and the vegetation. They are also the creations of Allah SWT and have the same right as us to co-exist peacefully. At the same time we must pay attention and show our appreciation towards the environment, the universe and all existing things as a symbol of His Existence, Strengths and Al-mighty Allah.

5.Always put in the effort to sincerely provide guidance, love and care to those lesser than us in terms of physical and financial well being  including our own family members. This can be in the form  of knowledge, power, skills, wealth, spirit and emotion, as long as it is not in conflict with our position and interests.

6. Always remember that we will be judged in the hereafter based on our worldly intentions and actions. This done in order to determine our fate whether good or bad, either we go to heaven or hell. Surely it is always everybody’s ambition to go to heaven after we die. Unfortunately, not every body is doing the right preparation towards achieving this ultimate goal.

Think Big Dream High, E56 - Strengthening the Family Entity Enroute To National Unity

The Weakening Of Family Institution.

1.The smallest and oldest organization in the world is the family institution. It began with just two members husband and wife i.e Adam and Eve. This entity forms the basis of communities, country, civilization and the world. When the family institution is in harmony, the bigger institutions will follow suit.

2.The family institution in the twenty-first century has become fragile. It has weakened and not strong anymore. The influence from media electronic, internet , daily activities, modern lifestyle  and the result of globalization with the borderless world concept has strained the relationship between family members. This is the early warning signal that other institutions too will face the fate if remedial action is not taken instantaneously. This immediate action need to start with the family institution itself.   

Reality in Life     

1.The father is concentrating on reading the novel or newspaper, mother has her eyes glued on the magazine in front of her, kak long the eldest child is busy with her I-pad, the younger child, a boy is chatting on  his mobile whilst the youngest boy is playing his favorite game on his personal PS.

2.An hour and a half went by without anybody in the group uttering a word. This is a normal scene now be it in the family restaurant or at home during breakfast time. This is the trend during weekends in any modern families homes. Everybody in the five member family have their own activities and no room to exchange small talks or enter into discussions.

3.After breakfast, the father will be busy with his novel or his management books or at the golf course for most weekends i.e. if he is not travelling overseas or outstation.  Mother continued gluing herself to her favourite magazine or the Korean TV drama, stopping just for a while to supervise the maid preparing food for lunch.  The eldest girl confined herself to her room, busy with the I-pad. The middle child also alone in the library with the computer on. The youngest boy eventhough with the mother in the living room has not lifted his eyes from the PS, Everybody is doing their own thing.

4.A good thing that came out from all of this is that the modern day families have no time bad mouthing or gossiping others. When they die, no way they will be eating their friend’s smelly flesh. They just have no time bad mouthing or gossiping others. That is good and inline with the sunnah and Islamic syariat.

5.During week days, they are busy with their career, activities and education. Sometimes they do not bump into each other all week. As early as  6 am. the middle and youngest child are on their way to school and back home at 4 pm after co-curriculum. The house maid is the one getting them ready since 5 am in the morning. Father and mother woke up for subuh prayers at about 6.30 am. The syuruk time is until 7.08 am. They still have ample time for subuh prayers.

6.After subuh prayers, they have a short rest. The driver is the one sending the children to school. The father goes to the office at about 8.30am. The eldest girl is already back at her college’s hostel. After breakfast, mother continued watching her favourite TV drama. When father is back from the office, the children are already asleeep. Mother since 9 pm continued with watching English movies on the HBO channel or Cinemax. Father on most days continued doing office work until late at night. This has been the trend for the whole week’s routine in most modern day families.

 7.After the children graduated and have their own career, they are more comfortable staying on their own or with their close friends at the condo. The married ones will rent or buy their  own condos away from their parents homes.

8.Overall, the relationship between one family member and another family member is very limited physically. In this modern day, new technologies and lifestyle distanced the family members from one another. Distancing themselves from religion. Distancing themselves from Allah SWT. They are more focused on their activities, education, career, business and their own hobbies. They are closer to their friends either physically or virtually, their office colleagues, their fan clubs compared with their family members.        

Tips

1.There is nothing wrong with the lifestyle portrayed above. However, these are the signs and signals that the family institution, communities, country and the world are heading towards non unity and separation. As a professional who think big dream high, we can play a role in ensuring that our small family unit start  building  the seeds of unity, feeling of love, care and respect for each other.

2.If this can be done, we will be able to contribute towards producing human beings who are respectful of each other.Human beings who love and care for each other, exchanging warm greetings and smiles with one another. We are not selfish human beings, egoistic and materialistic  who love only ourselves and our personal properties.We should realise  that there is a stake that belongs to the poor and needy from among our properties. We should educate ourselves and the family members to become human beings who all the time are grateful and appreciative of the pleasures granted freely by Allah SWT.

3.Maybe our contribution is small but it is important in the creation of a community living in harmony, unity and full of kindness. Full of blessings, and barakah from Allah SWT. Why is this important? This is because in any organization, country or institution, the direction and decisions for that institution are made by the professionals within that institution itself. Made by the Chief Executive of that entity.

4. The Chief Executive being smart, intellectual and kind, will make the whole entity concerned be in harmony with the environment and its stakeholders. He will offer the best service to them  well suited to their requirements.He will at all time put the objective of achieving a well-blessed organisation or society as his priority.He will always prevail  the calture of fairness and transparent in his dealings and actions. This role is similar to  the role of a father in a family entity.A father that can unite and respected by all of his family members.  

  

Think Big Dream High,E55-The Sanctity Of  The Management System

Responsibility, Accountability, Transparency and Corporate  Governance. 

1.Responsibility is defined as the obligation to carry out a particular task wherein if that task is not carried out in a proper manner, we will be held responsible or be blamed.

2.For example a baker receiving an order to bake a cake weighing 1 kg, in several shapes and designs  fully coated with icing. He is therefore responsible to complete and deliver the order. Instead, if the bakery produced a bahulu (a simple cake without butter) coated it with icing, he would be blamed for not fulfilling the order.

3.Accountability is the extent with which a person is  willing to  be responsible and prepared in clarifying issues on matters that  they have been involved in making the decision or action.

4.As soon as the cake has been checked and discovered that it was a bahulu then the baker must produce explanation as to the wrong order. The baker needs to present as his defence that a cake has been delivered and not a bahulu. The Purchasing Manager confirmed that he received an order for 1 kg cake in several shapes and designs from this particular bakery.The Finance department upon receiving confirmation from the Purchasing department made the payment to the baker for delivery of the cake. When all documentations have been completed and fulfilled, the cheque was released without suspicion of any wrongdoings.

5.Transparency is the action that allows another party to observe, understand and be notified of the truth in a clear and simpler manner.

6.In this example obviously there was no transparency. The supplier had cheated the organization by delivering the wrong order. This deception cannot be detected with the naked eye as the cake was fully coated with icing. The delivery was not made in a transparent manner.

7.Corporate Governance  refers to the internal management system of an organization. It encompasses a set of processes, work culture, policies, procedures and the legalities influencing the operations, monitoring and management of the organization for the sake of its stakeholders or parties having interest in the organization.

8.If the organization that made the cake order does not have a good monitoring system, the cake deception case will not be detected. There is not much difference between the actual cake and the bahulu in terms of features and shape.

9.In its routine activities, the audit and surveillance department would have taken a sample of the cake and sent it to the laboratory for detail checking to comply with the specifications. With modern laboratory facilities, the deception was finally detected. The ingredient used was actually without butter as per the specifications. The supplier tried to cheat in order to receive more profit. However, with a good and transparent internal control system, the deception was uncovered. The Purchasing Manager was caught and brought to justice by the MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission) for collaborating with the cake supplier.      

   

Reality in Life

1.Our organization, a franchisor of a cake house requires 10,000 cakes monthly. The monthly order is worth RM2 million. “If you can give me a 20% commission,I will give the supply contract to you”. “You help me and I know how to help you”. ”You scratch  my back, I scratch yours”. All these phrases, showed that the four concepts described earlier cannot be implemented in a proper manner. It is no longer transparent. In the above example, highly likely the cake supplier and the Purchasing Manager had colluded to carry out the deception. This is just a small example on the supply of a cake. A more sophisticated and cunning approach has been practiced by the Corporate pirates and corrupt politicians. However, their activities remained undetected.

2.Misuse of power, non transparent business transactions, irresponsible activities and abusing a good, right and transparent working system are  a result of a corrupted management working culture. It is even worse than dirt.  Abuse of power due to personal interests and it is usually about money. Obviously money obtained the non halal way and  from an illegal source.

3.There have been leakages found in the non transparent management system. Sad to say that from public knowledge, these cases either small, big or excessively bigger do exist rampantly in our country. Those involved comprised of the small fish, big fish and the bigger fish.

     

Tips

1.As a professional who think big and dream high, all these four concepts must be understood and comprehended. A good comprehension of the concepts and its meaning will make us a professional who practices a good and transparent working culture and management system.

2.Transparent with ourselves, the community and with Allah SWT. Our profession is our ibadah. Throughout our lives we have been focusing on our profession. This implied that we have been praying throughout our lives. Non sincere in carrying out work activities and way of working also meant insincerity in praying to Allah SWT. Insincerity and defects found in our ibadah to Allah SWT make it difficult for Allah SWT to fulfill our doas of achieving happiness in this world and hereafter.

3.A professional who think big and dream high would not want to take the risk of losing his happiness and experience failure and disappointment in this world and hereafter. More so in the hereafter, where we remained eternally.      

  

Think Big Dream High,E54-The  Government For All

The Sanctity of Unity

1.The country survived another election and all went well. Though there were dissenting voices here and there on the results, nothing can replace the choices made by the people themselves. They have ample time to decide who they want as their leader that can represent and put forth their views and grievances.

2.The ruling coalition party(BN) won by slightly more than a simple majority. This is democracy to the fore. Gone were the days where the ruling coalition party holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament. No doubt a two-thirds majority facilitates quick decisions, quick passing of laws and  setting aside differences in views just so that decisions can be implemented quickly.

3.As the democratic culture grows, leaders have to learn to accommodate delays in the passing of the budget or for that matter delays in passing of any legislation or law. There is nothing wrong or the need to feel ashamed by winning with a simple majority. 

Reality in life

1.Human beings being what they are usually differ in thoughts and opinions and this can be seen no further than your own home. Your wife and child might disagree with your choice of places for holiday or even for that matter the choice of food to order at a restaurant. If two people agree on everything that means only one is doing the thinking.

2.The country has a long history of tolerancy culture among the people. During Friday prayers, owners of cars double park their vehicles but there is enough maturity to wait  for the guy to come out. During Chinese New Year, there are firecrackers at midnight till dawn but the people tolerate all this. Even during Thaipusam where the Hindus moved in processions  congregating at Batu Caves and inconveniencing the traffic flow and again the people tolerate all this.

3.The country has come a long way from a developing nation status with agriculture as the main economic activity to one of becoming an industrialized country and a developed nation status. This means that within the society there is a sufficient number of mature people who know what’s going on, understand laws and what the nation needs.

4.There is a great deal of give and take in the country. For instance, we have the largest pig farms in this country, which is a Muslim country and despite the fact that all Muslims have a sense of revulsion towards the pig.   We have proven that even if we don’t learn together, we can live together. We try to find common grounds  because of the love for the country.

5.Every community has some stake in the country and all of them wants to live in harmony, being able to move freely and working on creating wealth for themselves and for their future generations. All of this was a result of the coalition created by the former leaders of the three major communities in the country. They created conditions of peace.

6.Though the leaders from different political parties acknowledged there are a lot of things they disagree with the ruling coalition party but  they are prepared to be friends in sports, on humanity issues and on some fundamental issues.

Tips

1. Those in power and sincere in their work, already have the courage to transform and revamp the country’s administration style. This is the best time to introduce more changes as the country has just undergone the general elections. Changes for the better, changes to make the people work together building a strong economy and changes that will make the leaders highly acknowledged and respected among the domestic and international communities.

2. As mentioned earlier we already have a bold and courageous leadership. Leadership that is brave enough to introduce the concept of transformation and more surprises. One that is inevitable to put in place, would be an accommodative and inclusive power sharing government. A government that is being represented by all political parties in its cabinet line up, Exco or other government appointments. The Prime Minister should invite all the opposition party(PR) leaders to hold positions in government entities. The number of   portfolios or positions must be based on the mutually agreed ratio and principles.

3. It must be viewed as fair and acceptable to all, especially the rakyat, as the supreme stakeholder. It has to be based on a win win formula. If it is the formula whereby BN has to give up the position of deputy premiership to the leader of PR, so be it. Anyway, it is clear to all that more then half of the voters voted for them in the recent general election. It is deem justified to offer the PR head as the Deputy Prime Minister. This will ultimately reconcile all segments of society.

4. We can have differences in opinions and ideas, but they can be debated  internally by having frank discussions amongst leaders. Leaders must not   let out their frustrations or have outburst openly in the mainstream media or internet media.It will only create more misunderstands and uncertainties.

5.The federal or state cabinets are the right and best platforms to resolve problems and make the right decisions for the benefit of all parties. Each cabinet member either at the federal or state level can provide the healthy check and balance within the government.It is not as a government vs an opposition.Any elements of wrong decisions by any member or party must be resolved internally in a friendly environment.Any wrong doing will be dealt with fairly by the rules  of  law.

6.The country’s policies and strategies can be improved on a continuous basis with the inputs and feedbacks coming from members of the different parties. No one knows best than these leaders as to what the people wants. In this way the government is seen to acknowledge the signs and signals from the election results. In this way too,the elements of openness,accountability, responsibility, transparency and proper corporate governance can actually be put into practice and the results are clear for all to see.

7.The government should start to focus on work and not wasting time on politicking or pin pointing the blame. The time for that is long gone. The government must prioritise its activities towards winning the people’s trust and confidence, towards giving the best service to stakeholders.True to the popular chanting of “People First” or “Rakyat Didahulukan”.

8.Remind ourselves as someone who think big dream high and have a strong heart that we need to be the agent of change. Change done sincerely putting the interest of our stakeholders before self. Always make reference to the Al-Quran and Hadith for guidance.  Make Allah SWT present in our hearts every moment and time in our daily lives. InsyaAllah we will be guided in our decisions.

Think Big Dream High,E53- Be an Educator

Sharing Knowledge

1.A professional who think big dream high should also be an educator. He should be prepared to share his experience and knowledge with the others.

2.Educating and sharing knowledge with those around us, the stakeholders or those involved in our activities. We cannot be stingy with the knowledge we possessed. Being stingy will not enrich our own knowledge, will not increased our own wisdom as the owner of the knowledge.

3.Whatever educational method and approach used, it must be done in a proper manner, befitting the situation, who is involved  and when it should be carried out.

4.Educating involved spreading and sharing of knowledge, experience, expertise, support and the required strategy to implement work and responsibility with all those involved with our activities. This is also our personal social responsibility to the public. This is also a discipline that should be practiced.

Reality in Life    

1.Since ancient times, the elderly folks have been known to possess a variety of knowledge and expertise. All these expertise and knowledge were buried with their bodies when they passed away. It is a pity though that much of this knowledge and expertise  is related to the latest technology at that time. Technology affecting the design of the invention to facilitate and expedite a particular work and activity. Since there has been no dissemination, improvements and renewal of the invention, all of them were lost. It is indeed a big loss to our community.

2.If some kind of discipline in the proliferation of knowledge and expertise had been carried out either through handing down or documenting the various knowledge and expertise  acquired, my countrymen would not be left far behind from other advanced societies, especially in terms of technology possessed.

3.The westerners often claimed they were the founders of any new technology. This is simply because they have the foresight to document all information and knowledge which can be further enhanced by the future generations. The westerners were the ones that initiated the commercializing and advertising of  all new findings and technologies. As oppose to our research system and culture, most findings were maintained as confidential documents and kept in in securely locked cabinets.        

Tips

1.In this modern days and times, it is easier for us to hand down and share knowledge and experience with the others. Writings in the form of articles, books, blogs, electronic and print medias enable us to educate, relay ideas, knowledge, experience, expertise etc to the stakeholders or the public. This discipline will not only enhanced our knowledge  and expertise but it will also be beneficial to the future generations. Any findings, ideas or innovations that can be commercialized should be advertised to attract genuine investors to produce and market them.

  

2.The Islamic religion taught us to dakwah or to convey all forms of  knowledge and expertise that is useful and beneficial to the public.   In Islam, all kinds of knowledge has relationship with the religion and they all originated from Allah SWT. The source of knowledge can be from Al-Quran, Al-Hadith, Ulama, Professors, Scholars our own ideas or ilham directly from Allah SWT. Islam the religion encourages thinking and researching, especially into new things or fields, so long as they are not conflicting with Shariah. All findings and new discoveries are useful and beneficial to mankind and should be shared. Sharing will expand knowledge and will generate new ideas, creativity, inventions and as a means of acquiring  even more knowledge. 

3.The knowledge disseminated and continuosly being practiced by the recipients or the acquirer, will after our death continue to assist in adding to our happiness in the life hereafter. It is not our wealth  or our assets that will assist us in the life hereafter as these things will be of no use by then.  It is the knowledge that we passed down to our future generations especially our family and the people surrounding us that will benefit us after in the life hereafter.

4.Many of us might not be aware that an Islamic scholar Ibn Firnas actually constructed a flying machine in the 800’s a.d. As mentioned in the earlier paragraphs, information on these discoveries were not documented and hence not handed to the next Muslim generations.  As a result, in the pages of history, the Wright Brothers were the ones claimed as having invented the flying machine. With the invention, millions of  Muslims daily or yearly can perform Umrah, Haj and other good things, faster, easier and more comfortable  by planes.  Unfortunately, the credit goes to the Non Muslim.