My First Earthquake Experience

27/2/08 is an important day for me. It was the day which i experienced the earthquake for the first time in my life. The magnitude of the earthquake was 5.3 on the Richter scale. I wasn't in Indonesia or Japan at that time, but I was in Sheffield. I never expect that I will experience it when I am in the UK. I thought UK is free from earthquake.

The earthquake happened around 1 am. At that time, i was still awake and sitting in front of my laptop doing some works. Suddenly, things start to shake. Initially, I thought it was because of strong wind (very strong wind is normal here) or people upstairs were running. But when it became stronger and my whole room shaken, it realised that something has happened.

I 'YM'ed my friend at Opal (next to my hall) and she felt it as well. Then, everybody YM status changed and asked about what has happened. I was told that Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and London experienced the shook too.

Lots of my friends were scared at that time but the strange thing is, i wasn't feel scared at all. I was so curious. What has happened? Is it because of an earthquake or UK has just been attacked by an atomic bomb?

It is interesting to see people's reaction. Just after the tremor, people changed their YM status to "aku mintak maaf kat kawan-kawan semua", "aku halalkan makan minum korang", "kalaulah kita mati tadi" etc.

I am sure lots of people take the tremor as a reminder from Allah. It makes us think about the sins we have done, think about death etc. But the most important thing is how long is the tremor which act as a reminder have a positive impact on us? a day? a week? a month? or forever? One could repent and seek Allah's forgiveness after the tremor but start doing bad things on the next morning like nothing has happened. It is something to think about.

Related links:
1- The Times

2- BBC News

5 P's as academician

I talked to Zaid yesterday about careers as a lecturer or academician. He told me that there are 5 important things (usually called as 5 P's) that one need to focus in order to be successful in this field. The 5 P's are:

Pengajaran
Penyelidikan
Penerbitan
Perundingan
Perkhidmatan dalam masyarakat

Which of the X-Men Are You?

You Are Cyclops

Dedicated and responsible, you will always remain loyal to your cause. You are a commanding leader - after all, you can kill someone just by looking at them. Power: force beams from your eyes

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Suka Duka Bola Sepak Inggeris

Minggu ini sahaja, terdapat banyak suka duka yang berlaku dalam dunia bola sepak Inggeris. Manisnya kerana kejayaan Man Utd mengalahkan Newcastle Utd 5-1 dan seri 1-1 dengan Lyon di tempat lawan.

Spurs pula berjaya mengalahkan Chelsea dan seterusnya dinobatkan sebagai juara Carling Cup 2008. Seingat saya, Chelsea sudah memenangi Carling Cup sebanyak 2 tahun berturut-turut sebelum ini. Perlawanan akhir Carling Cup ini adalah perlawanan yang sangat penting bagi kedua-dua pengurus pasukan iaitu Ramos dan Avram Grant kerana ianya merupakan peluang bagi mereka untuk menjulang piala pertama sejak menjadi pengurus di kelab masing-masing. Namun, Grant masih lagi mempunyai peluang untuk menjulang piala FA dan Liga Juara-Juara Eropah (yang kemungkinan besar bakal dimenangi Man Utd, hehe) pada akhir musim ini.

Duka pula apabila mengenangkan nasib Eduardo yang ditackle keras oleh Taylor. Akibatnya, Eduardo patah di buku lali dan terpaksa dikejarkan terus ke hospital. Tackle tersebut merupakan tackle paling teruk pernah saya saksikan. Pada tahun lepas pula, pemain muda Arsenal iaitu Abou Diaby juga menerima nasib yang sama dan patah kaki apabila ditackle.

Saya percaya bahawa insiden tersebut merupakan satu kemalangan dan Taylor langsung tidak mempunyai niat untuk mematahkan kaki Eduardo. Inilah yang dikatakan 'malang tidak berbau'. Hendak tak hendak, kecederaan ringan mahupun berat merupakan lumrah yang perlu diterima oleh setiap pemain. Saya tidak dapat bayangkan sekiranya Cristiano Ronaldo ditackle seperti itu pada masa depan.

Saya agak terkilan apabila terbaca artikel di Utusan Malaysia mengenai insiden kecederaan tersebut. Artikel tersebut menyatakan bahawa kecederaan Eduardo pasti disambut gembira oleh Man Utd. Apa yang wartawan tersebut fikirkan??? Sebagai salah seorang penyokong 'hardcore' Man Utd, saya tidak sedikitpun berasa gembira atas insiden tersebut. Sepatutnya kita berasa simpati terhadap Eduardo atas kemalangan yang dialaminya, bukan bergembira, walaupun ini secara tidak langsung akan memudahkan Man Utd untuk memintas kedudukan Arsenal di Liga Inggeris. Saya berasa adalah tidak betul sekiranya kita bergembira atas kemalangan tersebut.

Diharapkan Eduardo akan lekas sembuh supaya dapat memberi cabaran kepada Man Utd di musim akan datang.

Because you are special

Never doubt your abilities.
Never let anyone or anything
make you feel less than
what you believe you are.

Never feel you can't walk
another step further.
Even if you stumbling,
keep your head straight on.
Knowing in your heart that
nobody can hurt you,
unless you let them do so.

Never lose faith in yourself...
Because who you are
is someone special.

My superpower. hehehe

Your Superpower Should Be Super Speed

You're quick witted and fast to act. You're mind works at warp speed. From your perspective, everyone else is living in slow motion. You get so much done, people have accused you of not sleeping. Definitely not a couch potato, you feel a bit crazy if you're not busy doing something. Why you would be a good superhero: You're be the first on the scene... and likely to finish the job before anyone else shows up Your biggest problem as a superhero: Being bored by everyone else. Including other superheroes!

What Should Your Superpower Be?

MUSST workshop

Dr. Sariah Barnes (kiri)

Para peserta khusyuk menyiapkan tugasan yang diberikan

Sesi bergambar setelah tamat bengkel

Makanan semasa bengkel

Oxford tour

Leadership

By Dr. Sariah Barnes (during MUSST workshop)

Leadership;

"Through a story, life invites us to come inside as a participant."

-- Steve Denning, author of the "Springboard: How Storytelling Ignited Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations" and Squirrel, Inc.: A Fable of Leadership and Storytelling"

** Sparking Action.

Leadership is, above all, about getting people to change. To achieve this goal, we need to communicate the sometimes complex nature of the changes required and inspire an often skeptical organization to enthusiastically carry them out.

This is the place for what called a "springboard story," one that enables listeners to visualize the large-scale transformation needed in their circumstances and then to act on that realization.

Such a story is based on an actual event, preferably recent enough to seem relevant. It has a single protagonist with whom members of the target audience can identify. And there is an authentically happy ending, in which a change has at least in part been successfully implemented. (There is also an implicit alternate ending, an unhappy one that would have resulted had the change not occurred).

The story has enough detail to be intelligible and credible but not so much that listeners are but -- and this is key -- not so much texture that audience becomes completely wrapped up in it. If that happens, people won't have the mental space to create an analogous scenario for change in their own organization. For example, if we want to get an organization to embrace a new technology, we might tell stories about individuals elsewhere who have successfully implemented it, without dwelling on the specifics of implementation.

** Communicating Who You Are.

You aren't likely to lead people through wrenching change if they don't trust you. And if they're to trust you, they have to know you: who you are, where you've come from, and why you hold the views you do. Ideally, they'll end up not only understanding you but also empathizing with you.

Stories for this purpose are usually based on a life event that reveals some strength or vulnerability and shows what the speaker took from the experience. For example, Jack Welch's success in making General Electric a winner was undoubtedly aided by his ability to tell his own story, which includes a tongue-lashing he once received from his mother after he hurled a hockey stick across the ice in response to a disappointing loss. "You punk!" he reports her saying in his memoir Jack: Straight from the Gut. "If you don't know how to lose, you'll never know how to win."

Unlike a story designed to spark action, this kind is typically "well told," with colorful detail and context. So the speaker needs to ensure that the audience has enough time and interest to hear the story.

** Transmitting Values.

Stories can be effective tools for ingraining values within an organization; particularly those that help forestall future problems by clearly establishing limits on destructive behavior. A story of this type ensures that the audience understands "how things are done around here."

These narratives often take the form of a parable. Religious leaders have used them for thousands of years to communicate values. The stories are usually set in some kind of generic past and have few context-setting details--though the context that is established needs to seem relevant to the listeners. The "facts" of such tales can be hypothetical, but they must be believable. For example, a story might tell the sad fate of someone who failed to see the conflict of interest in not disclosing his or her financial interest in a company supplier.

Of course, narratives alone cannot establish values in an organization. Leaders need to live the values on a daily basis.

** Fostering Collaboration.

Every management textbook talks about the value of getting people to work together. But most don't offer advice on making that happen in real-life work environments--except, "Encourage conversations." Yes, but how?

One approach is to generate a common narrative around a group's concerns and goals, beginning with a story told by one member of the group. Ideally, that first story sparks another, which sparks another. If the process continues, group members develop a shared perspective, one that enables a sense of community to emerge naturally. The first story must be emotionally moving enough to unleash the narrative impulse in others and to create a readiness to hear more stories. It could, for example, vividly describe how the speaker had grappled with a difficult work situation.

For this process to occur, it is best if the group has an open agenda that allows the stories to surface organically. It is also desirable to have a plan ready so that the energy generated by the positive experience of sharing stories can be immediately channeled into action.

** Taming the Grapevine.

Rumors flow incessantly through every organization. "Have you heard the latest?" is a whispered refrain that's difficult for managers to deal with. Denying a rumor can give it credibility. Asking how it got started may ensure its spread.

Ignoring it altogether risks allowing it to grow out of control.

Rumors about issues central to the future of the organization -- takeovers, reorganizations, and major managerial changes-- can be an enormous distraction (or worse) to the staff of an organization and beyond.

So as an executive, what can you do? One response is to harness the energy of the grapevine to defuse the rumor, using a story to convince listeners that the gossip is either untrue or unreasonable.

This kind of story highlights the incongruity between the rumor and reality. You could use gentle satire to mock the rumor, the rumor's author, or even yourself, in an effort to undermine the rumor's power. For example, you might deal with a false rumor of "imminent corporate-wide reorganization" by jokingly recounting how the front office's current struggles involving the seating chart for executive committee meetings would have to be worked out first. Keep in mind, though, that humor can backfire. Mean-spirited ridicule can generate a well-deserved backlash.

The trick is to work with, not against, the flow of the vast underground river of informal communication that exists in every organization. Of course, you can't ridicule a rumor into oblivion if it's true or at least reasonable. If that's the case, there is little that can be done except to admit the rumor, put it in perspective, and move on.

** Sharing Knowledge.

Much of the intellectual capital of an organization is not written down anywhere but resides in the minds of the staff. Communicating this know-how across an organization and beyond typically occurs informally, through the sharing of stories.

Knowledge-sharing narratives are unusual in that they lack a hero or even a detectable plot. They are more about problems, and how and why they got--or, more likely, didn't get--resolved. They include a description of the problem, the setting, the solution, and the explanation. Because they highlight a problem--say, the challenge employees’ face in learning to use a new system--they tend to have a negative tone. And because they often focus in detail on why a particular solution worked, they may be of little interest outside a defined group of people. Though unashamedly entertaining and lacking most elements of a conventional story, they are nonetheless the uncelebrated workhorse of organizational narrative.

They present a difficulty, however. In a corporate setting, stories about problems don't flow easily, not only because people fear the consequences of admitting mistakes, but also because, in the flush of success, people tend to forget what they learned along the way.

As a result, the knowledge-sharing story cannot be compelled; it has to be teased out. That is, a discussion of successes may be needed to get people to talk about what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed.

** Leading People into the Future.

An important part of a leader's job is preparing others for what lies ahead, whether in the concrete terms of an actual scenario or the more conceptual terms of a vision. A story can help take listeners from where they are now to where they need to be, by getting them familiar and comfortable with the future in their minds. The problem, of course, lies in crafting a credible narrative about the future when the future is unknowable.

Thus, if such stories are to serve their purpose, they should what listeners' imaginative appetite about the future without providing detail that will likely turn out to be inaccurate. Listeners should be able to remold the story in their minds as the future unfolds with all its unexpected twists and turns. And clearly, they should portray that state in a positive way: People are more likely to overcome uncertainty about change if they are shown what to aim for rather than what to avoid.

Note that telling an evocative future narrative requires a high degree of verbal skill, something not every leader possesses. But the springboard story, described above, provides an alternative.

Hearing about a change that has already happened can help listeners to imagine how it might play out in the future.

Self Management: Time on Your Hands

By Dr. Sariah Barnes (during MUSST workshop)

The concept that “the more you sweat, the more you get”; may have been true back in the days when people grew what they ate. However, among today’s professionals, the ‘super-successful’ almost never work as hard as the merely successful.

Regardless of what your field is, you must be able to manage resources. The most important of these is –

Workaholics and neurotics are notoriously bad self-managers.

Good self-management means working fewer hours, because you are getting more done, in less time. It also means, gaining an understanding of your limitations and potential and determining the role you want work to play in your life, thus freeing yourself from the anxiety of dealing at cross-purposes and with unrealistic self-imposed demands.

Ultimately, what you accomplish in your career is the result of what you accomplish in a typical day. That is where careers are built and fortunes made.

Engineering a good day, in terms of sheer work output, pays off in three ways: -

You will achieve more and enjoy it more

It is not only a matter of reaching your goals, but also finding happiness, fulfilment, self-respect and making a contribution to society.

You will make more money

Let’s face it; you are paid according to your contribution. When you earn a reputation as a high output professional, you generally can expect consistent salary increases and promotions.

You will be balanced

Increasing your daily productivity gives you more precious time to do other things you enjoy – like spending time with your family, on your hobbies, doing community service or just lazing around. You will achieve a balance that will lead to better health, a more positive attitude and certainly less stress. Operating at a peak level of performance will give you a sense of control over your life.

Self-management is a career skill that becomes increasingly important in the professional world, as the pressure for efficiency grows, stakes are raised and competition gets hotter.

12 strategic ways to meet the challenge and get more done in the day

1. Plan your workday the day before

Make a list of your objectives, rank them in order of priority and then write down the time you estimate each will take. Be realistic – do not underestimate the time. It is best to plan your workday at the end of the day before, because: -

#You are more objective, and less likely to postpone the ‘high return’, but unpleasant, tasks.

#With ‘just completed’ day fresh in your mind, you know where you are on projects, and priorities come naturally.

#You can leave the office, mentally free, because all the ends are tied up. The next morning, you will ‘hit the ground running’, knowing exactly where to start.

2. Know your rhythms and blues

Think of yourself at six o’clock in the morning. What animal comes to mind? An eager beaver or something that the cat dragged in? When do you hit your stride – mid afternoon or midnight?

Schedule routine tasks for your low-energy or ‘blue’ periods. Important tasks and meetings, are scheduled for when you are bright and full of energy. It is more productive to work with your daily rhythm.

3. Deal with the worst first

Tackle the most difficult problem first thing. Deal with unpleasant people and issues straight away. Get your most dreaded assignments out of the way, and your day will take off. You will have created a momentum that will sustain you and you will demolish the rest of your projects with ease.

4. Do a preview review…

When you are travelling to work each morning, imagine that you are actually home. Run the day over in your mind. Everything went as planned, you met your deadlines, handled problems and enjoyed yourself……….. Now you are basking in the feeling of having met the challenges of another day. A preview review makes even the most over-committed day seem less intimidating, because you are actually creating a mental programme that you will follow unconsciously. You will be better prepared to make the most of your day, no matter what happens.

5. Be ruthless with time wasters

A plethora of meetings, details, phone calls and informal conversations can make it entirely possible to have a perfectly active day, in which absolutely nothing is accomplished. To avoid this, become ruthless. Develop a mindset that judges every activity in terms of whether it brings you closer, however minutely, to your goals.

This mindset enables you to see which meetings can be skipped, which appointments cancelled or cut short and which projects streamlined. You will know when to say – No. Even better, other people will tune in to your no-nonsense approach and learn to respect your time as much as you.

6. Become a dictator

You may not have access to a secretary or a typing pool, but if you do, mastering dictation will enable you to double your daily output. A good dictator can turn out a one-page letter in a couple of minutes and prepare the first draft of a ten-page report in less than an hour. When you are removed from the written mode to the spoken word, you will experience a dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of your communication.

7. Find out how you are spending your days

You may be surprised the only way to know how you are really spending your day is to keep a time log. A time log need not be a permanent routine; it is merely a diagnostic tool.

Here is how it works: For a full week, write down in 15-minute increments, everything you do in a workday. Most people resist time logs thinking that they take more time than they save. This is not true! The cumulative time you spend may be only 4-5 minutes a day, yet it can save you hours. A week’s worth of time logs will reveal misplaced priorities, recurring time waters and patterns of low productivity, of which you are totally unaware.

8. Work with people who keep their word

That goes for co-workers, employees, bosses, suppliers and even clients. When you know you can count on people to do what they say they will do, you can, in turn, make commitments and trust that for the most part, things will happen as planned.

Try this technique yourself sometime, with one of your people. When you give somebody an assignment, ask that it be finished by 5 o’clock in the afternoon. “Yes, no problem”, they will say to you. But when you ask, “Do I have your word on it”? They will often respond, “How about first thing in the morning”?

The point is you were going to get it first thing in the morning anyway. When you ask people to give their word, you will have increased immeasurably the chances of them keeping their promises.

9. Build concentration blocks

To ensure that you get your high priorities, you must set aside a portion of your day to think, create and plan. No interruptions, no phone-calls, no visitors – no distractions! Make an appointment with yourself, schedule a quiet hour, work at home, get to the office early or stay late. Most executives need at least two hours a day for this kind of focused work time. In fact, there will be days when you feel your only real accomplishment was made during your concentration time.

10. Play doctor

Most surgeons know two things about their day:

#They have to be in the operating room in the morning, and

#They have to be in their offices in the afternoon.

You must be able to design your day in much the same way: concentration time in the morning and meetings and appointments in the afternoon.

This can free you from racing back and forth, both physically and mentally from your desk to the conference room, to outside meeting, to the telephone. An added benefit is that when you commit yourself in blocks of time, your secretary or receptionist (if you have one), can schedule your appointments, freeing you from that time-consuming task.

11. Organise your tools

‘Tools’ refers to whatever it takes to get the jobs done: anything from a wrench to a tax schedule. If you do not have them-get them. If you can not get them maybe you are not equipped to do a particular job at that moment. Also, keep in mind that a desk is not a place to stack all the items you want to remember. It is one of your tools, meant to expedite the receiving and processing of information. Have only one project on your desk at one time and get rid of the things you are not ready to deal with.

12. Keep impeccable files

A key aspect of your effectiveness is being able to put your finger on exactly the data you need; you can not be too compulsive about keeping your files up to date and accurate.

Create an ‘aide memoire’ or ‘call up’ file to remind yourself of important deadlines and commitments. It will give you a place to put documents you will need in the future, along with a written reminder of what to do with them.

Careers and Personal Development Workshop

I attended a careers and personal development workshop at Oxford last weekend. The workshop was attended by approximately 20 students from various universities.

Speakers:

2 speakers were invited for this workshop. The first speaker is Dr. Sariah Barnes, a lecturer in Entrepreneurial Management from University of Oxford. She is a malay woman, born and grew up in Malaysia. Her name has 'Barnes' at the end simply because she married with an Englishman. She is a book and street smart. She graduated from Cambridge and Oxford. She also owned several companies and became a millionaire when she was 20. Amazing isn't it? She was the consultant to the Prime Minister for 15 years.

The second speaker is Mr. Hamidi Abdul Rahman, the Chairman of Inter Nexus Protocol Sdn. Bhd, an MSC status company. The way he build his careers is very interesting. After graduation, he worked with a company in the UK. After 3 months of employment, he wrote a letter to the management saying that he want to buy the company share. He bought 10% of the company share after 6 months of employment. haha, i can't imagine that. He told that the most important thing is to show them that we have the ability and lots of ideas. After a few years, he sold his share and open his own company.

The organiser claimed that both of them are two most competent Malays in the world and i agree with them.

Inputs:

Leader appearance. When talking in front of audience, don't make lots of movements. Talking with 'paused' to give audience time to absorb the inputs. When shaking hand, look at the person face. (She pointed out that Pak Lah has a bad habit of not looking at the person he shaking hand with -> this is rude!!!). Leader should always use 'we', 'us' not 'you'

Everyone has the ability to become excellent. Whether we are oxford students, sheffield students or IPTA students, we are the same. It just the matter of whether we use our brain or not.

Think global

copy and steal other people positive attributes

'fikir sebelum cakap'. We must know what we are saying and talk based on evidence not assumptions.

Example of positive personal attributes:
high self esteem, action oriented, self-discipline, persistent, practise what we preach/read, maintain high integrity, manage time successfully, good communicator, well groom and dress, keep fit and healthy, leading a balance life, good human relationship, treat everyone with respect and dignity, sharing genuine interest with others, creating win-win relationship, good listener, calling people mistake indirectly, receptive to constructive solution, practise self responsibly.

Involve in business which we know we can become a big player or a leader.

Others:

The tuition fees for oxford student is extremely expensive which is 40,000 pounds (RM280,000) per year. Average tuition fees for UK top universities are around 11,000 to 13,000 pounds. However, oxford students get extra attention from their lecturers and supervisors.

One of the main challenges in doing business in Malaysia is corruption and 'dengki khianat'. You can have the best product with the best price and still get rejected while companies which not even fulfill the main requirements won the bid.

Malaysian are smart and have lots of ideas but usually the implementation is inefficient.

My 5 years old laptop

My exam was over almost a week ago. From 4 papers i took, i only satisfied with 1 paper which is IC technology paper. I did fine for the other 3 but i feel i can do better. Anyway, exam was over and there is nothing i can do about it.

A week before my exam kick off, my laptop 'meragam'. It also happened last year. I suspect that the faulty is because of the hard disk . Probably some of the hard disk clusters have damaged. If files are saved at the damaged clusters, it will be corrupted or missing. Since the missing file was crucial windows file, the laptop can't booting.

Since my cd/dvdrom driver is no longer working, i need to buy a new one too. The system don't detect external cdrom drive. My laptop is almost 5 years old and it is hard to find spare parts for my laptop. Luckily, i found a second hand cdrom drive for my laptop model on eBay. But it cost me 25 pounds. The price doesn't make sense but i have no choice. I also trade in my faulty cdrom drive to the seller for 5 quid.

I bought a new 120GB hard disk from eBay as well. It cost me 43 quid including the postage. Initially i want to buy the hard disk from nearby computer shop but their price were too expensive. One shop sell 80GB for 66 quid while the other one sell 120GB for 60 quid. 43 quid for 120GB is really a bargain.

Now, my 5 years (4 years 4 months to be precise) old laptop is powered by 120GB hard disk and working dvdrom drive. Much better than new MacBook Air. hahaha. MacBook Air only have 80GB hard disk and no optical drive. I think next month i want to upgrade the RAM.

Hopefully, my machine will still works for another 4 years. hahaha.