The Reader

Hari Wilayah Persekutuan

Tomorrow is Hari Wilayah Persekutuan (Federal Territory Day). As a resident of KL for the last two decades, I began to live with the city.Just like any other cities all over the world, it has its own good,bad and the ugly parts. After a few years ,one will get used to it and learn to live with it.

Looking back since I bought my house in 1984,the physical development has increased manifolds but I am more worried about the quality of life. Two immediate problems that of great concern to my family is the level of public health and personal safety.These are the intangibles we took for granted.

Selamat Hari Wilayah to all KLites.Take care and be safe.

Linux

This is one subject that I only know the name but have zero knowledge of it.When my son was interested about it a few years ago, I looked for the Sifu and found one.This is a link to his blog.I know MD(the Sifu) will be smiling when he reads this posting and will be wondering why I suddenly become interested in this Open Source OS.

Why I am writing about it today? It is for the simple reason that I got invitation to attend a course for Redhat Linux course for two days at UTM,KL. It is organised by my alumni member and it costs RM199.Here is the link to his training website.InsyaAllah, I will be attending the course next weekend.(5th and 6th of Feb.,2005).

Personal Note:
I will be attending a fellow blogger Kenduri Nasi Dagang at Coffee Hut,Rasta, TTDI tonight.

Smile:-)

The Star front page today has an article on:Smile ,if you are with the civil service. Below is an extract I took from the book The Ideal Muslim on the same  subject:

He meets them with a smiling face

The muslim should always be pure of heart and cheerful of countenance.He should not meet his brothers except with warm and smiles,as the Prophet(s.a.w) said:

"Do not think little of good deed even if it is just greeting your brother with a cheerful countenance".-Muslim

Having a cheerful and friendly face is a good characteristic which Islam encourages and considers to be a good deed which will bring reward,because a cheerful face mirrors  a pure soul.This inward and outward purity is one of the the distinguishing features of sincere  Muslim.Hence the Prophet(s.a.w) said:

"Your smile at your brother is an act of charity(sdaqah)."-al-Tirmidhi

Saiyidina 'Ali said:"When two Muslims meet and converse,Allah s.w.t will forgive the one who has the most cheerful face".
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My comments: In our hectic lifestyle, our minds are too pre-occupied with our work  that we tend to forget to smile anymore. Do you agree?
I tried to smile to my neighbours, but one of them gave me a blank face. May be, my smile is not attractive enough;-)

Where is Encik Kasim?

Where is Encik Kasim?

A few months back, the PM was talking to improve the delivery systems for government departments.Again, a few days ago, the PM called our top civil servants that he is still not happy with the level of service at the grass root level. The rakyat(people) are still being treated like football by some civil servants. He mentioned a case where a person seeking a service was told to go from one officer to another like a ball and finally that person got the right officer by the name of Encik Kasim.But on further enquiry,Encik Kasim is on leave:-(

The anecdote told by our PM made me smile.It is not that I am happy,but it is true.Many of us have our own personal experience not only in getting the service from the government departments but also from the private sector. Personally, I have worked in government as well as private sectors.Both have their good,bad and ugly sides.It all depends on the people at the department or company.

According to the management guru,two main components of the delivery system are the people and the process.Until we improve these parts,we will be strugging to provide the services to our
clients/customers/rakyat. It is possible, but it takes time and efforts...

The questions:Do we have a delivery system?If it is there,is it functioning and what else we must do to improve it?

Can someone tell me when is Encik Kasim coming back?

By the way,I knew one Kasim Selamat,but he was a musician;-)

My 2 cents

"Excuse me ,Sir.I don't have any more two cents  for your change.Is it okay?",asked the cashier at one large supermarket while giving my change less two cents. "No, it is not okay",I replied."You go and get the two cents which you still owe me.I am willing to wait".

I don't know what the young man thought of me, but I just wanted to tell him that it is his responsibilty to return my change in full as I always paid my bills in full despite the odd figures!

On another occasion, I bought a pack of medicine for RM 31.50 at a pharmaceutical shop.I gave the cashier a RM50 note. She took my money and realising that she did not have the exact change,looked at  me and asked ,"Do you have additional RM1.50?".I knew the reason but I pretended that I don't understand."Isn't RM50 more than enough for something that cost RM31.50?",I replied her question with my question.Her face became 14 inches long:-(

Honestly, I should have given her RM1.50 which I had but I wanted to tell her I am  a customer to be served and NOT the other way around.

If you are a consultant or trainer in customer service, there is a lot of potential clients in some  shops in Kuala Lumpur.

Before I forget, can I have my 2 cents?

SMS(text messages) from Aceh

Below is some sms I cut and paste from my alumni mailinglist.The sender is an engineer and the receiver is a doctor.The engineer is now back in KL.The doctor is going to Aceh next month.These messages written in Malay and English with some simplification.I am deeply touched by the sms and I took my 'kopiah putih' to you guys.Let's contribute in our own ways.-Adib
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20-01-2005 12:13 Hari ni tak pegi kekampong2 packing sweets chocolat utk anak yatim mangsa tsunami. Helping me a guy who lost everything, 2 anaklelaki, isteri, 2 sister, rumah



20-01-2005 12:28 While packing sweet I saw 1 lady dokong anak fw mnth and a boy = 4yr cari makanan dalam tong sampah. Tak sampai hati beri dia a pack ofbscuit and sweet I tengah bungkus. Ths life in acheh.



20-01-2005 14:55 Ada 10 Msian volunteers nw in Medan stranded sbb jln medan-banda aceh banjir.



20-01-2005 16:03 I don't understand people r saying baju cukup bt my friendsjust back frm camp refugee merayu minta pakaian. They r asking pakaianharian bukan baju raya utk esok. We r people on d ground. Sakit jiwa beb.May we go 2 places kurang d lawati. I am emotionally drained.



Sambungan dan terakhir

20-01-2005 19:12 Kalau U jadi dtg, expect no luxury. Still what we hv nw isbetter than 1st team yg tidur in tent or mana dapat aje. Cnfrm datang?

20-01-2005 19:43 Honestly raya kali ini has none of its usual spirit. Withall suffering around and abound in acheh.

21-01-2005 06:39 Dr Sazaly baru tiba 1st day tugas smlm trauma/ hampirbreakdown. I beritahu dia the rule. We got 2 dtach ourselves. Its nt easy.Hw 2 deal dgn traumatized patients. Smlm dr treated patient mangsa tsunami kena kemalangan. Mangsa ni mati semua anak2. Dr tengah bri treatment dtgsuami histerical ingat isteri dah mati.

21-01-2005 22:14 Tadi 1 patient datang 4 treatment wife all kids parentsinlaws 2 sisters mati kena tsunami. Rumah hancor. Ptg tadi lawat area near his house. Boat besar pun ada atas roof 2 storey house. Ada pics.

PS:As requested by the sender of the sms,here is the rest of the sms DKN has received.
Download sms.doc

Go on,read a book..

Yesterday, I was reminded to read a good book.I lauded the MCA President's call to all Malaysians to read at least six books a year as a part of Lifelong Learning campaign. Personally, I have complied with the call but yet I feel I have not been reading enough.I have at least half a dozen books lying on my table and bookshelf waiting for me to read them. Here is the link to my virtual Reading Room.

Most of us who wish to read are too busy with our work and family life.When I was a corporate executive, I came home almost dead tired.How could I have time to read? The same thing happened to my wife,who is a full time house-wife.Her hands(both of them) were working non-stop taking care of our children.How could she have any more energy to read? Those were our excuses for not reading when we were younger.Now, we have more time for ourselves,so we now have time to read even a book a month if we want to.But how many of us do read?

Looking back, we could have read more books if only we had allocated time for reading.Even now, our  time will just pass by if we don't allocate time to read.It is much easier to watch TV because we just sit there and watch.But when it comes to reading,it is more active than the passive act of watching.

Over the years,I have observed that our government had spent millions of ringgit to promote reading.My personal observation tells me that nothing significant has changed.Is there any statistics showing otherwise?I love to see my general statement is wrong.

As a father, I love to see all my children have the culture of reading before they leave my home to start their own lives.I am still working hard at it and I hope I will succeed when the time comes.My friend complained to me that her children donot like to read books.When I asked her, how many books she read in year,she told me none! How could we inculcate the reading habit if we ourselves never show our kids the way?

I know of a friend who NEVER bought a book for the last 10 years! How can we read the books if we don't have any?May I suggest that all of us buy a book a month.Always have a book in our bag where we go ;and one at home so that we always have a book any where and anytime.

When it comes to Quran, I have one on my PDA,one in my car and a few at home.This way, the probability of reading  the books or the Quran is higher.

Okay then, go on and read book...
Download readabook.htm

Upacara Qurban-1425

Aidil Adha,1425

SELAMAT HARI RAYA HAJI KEPADA SEMUA PEMBACA The Reader.

GREETINGS OF EIDUL ADHA TO ALL READERS OF The  Reader.

Ya Hujjaj in Makkah and in Mina,may you have a successful and blessed wukuf in 'Arafah,and may your wishes of Haj Mabrur be granted by Allah swt.

May the SPIRIT OF THE QURBAN WITH ALL OF US...

PS:
"It is not required of thee (O Apostle), to set them on the right path, but God sets on the right path whom He pleaseth. Whatever of good ye give benefits your own souls, and ye shall only do so seeking the "Face" of God. Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to you, and ye shall not Be dealt with unjustly."-Surah al-Baqarah,ayat 272)

Caught snapping photos

Lately, photo bug has bitten me quite badly.While waiting for a friend at KL Sentral,I brought along my camera and went around taking some photos for my moblog.I was fascinated by roof structures and some advertisements and began to take a few  photos. Suddenly, I felt someone tapping on my shoulder."Pakcik dari mana?.Disini tidak dibenarkan ambil gambar",said a security officer. I got the shock of my life! When I told him that I am a retired engineer from Ulu Kelantan just taking some photos of interesting structures,he told me that I should stop.When I asked him why,he told  me that it is the policy of the complex.It is no point for me to argue with him and got arrested for such a trivial thing.

It also happened to a friend who went around taking photos at KLCC Suria some months back.Honestly, it doesnot make sense to me.If it is a security matter, then it is very weird.

Anyway, when the guards were not around , I managed to get a few shots;-)