Today in History: 31st August 1957

The Federation of Malaya is now independent. The handover of power from Britain took place at midnight.

Thousands of young members of the Malay, Chinese and Indian parties, which form the government, stood in darkness for two minutes at midnight to mark the official handover.

As the new flag of independence was raised they called "Merdeka" (Freedom) seven times.

Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister-elect, who led the negotiations with the British for handover of power, was hailed as the Father of Independence.

Malaya will stay in the Commonwealth - and, as midnight approached, prime ministers of the member countries sent messages recorded in five continents.

The British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan said he hoped 31 August would long be remembered as a great and happy day in the continuing development of Malaya and the Commonwealth of Nations.

In his speech delivered at midnight, Tunku Abdul Rahman said it was the greatest moment in the life of the Malayan people. A new star had risen in the eastern sky - a star of freedom for yet another Asian people.

The new prime minister was educated at two British schools and graduated from Cambridge in 1925. Soon after World War II he went back to Britain to study law.

On his return to Malaya in 1949 he found a country eager for independence but also struggling with communist extremism.

He founded the Alliance Party in 1952 which brought together the ethnic Malay, Chinese and Indians. The party won the 1955 general election with an overwhelming majority.

The Tunku became Chief Minister and ended the state of emergency - introduced after a wave of attacks carried out by mainly Chinese communists on mine-owners and plantations - and granted an amnesty to communist terrorists.

Last year he led the negotiations with the British which paved the way for independence.

The new Malayan head of state, Tuanku Abdul Rahman, will be officially installed on 2nd September. He was chosen from among the rulers of Malay's nine hereditary states.

He will hold the post of head of state for five years when his successor will be elected.

The installation ceremony will be witnessed by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester who are flying in to represent the Queen.

The Arrogant Swans

In a far away kingdom, there was a river. This river was home to many golden swans. The swans spent most of their time on the banks of the river. Every six months, the swans would leave a golden feather as a fee for using the lake. The soldiers of the kingdom would collect the feathers and deposit them in the royal treasury.

One day, a homeless bird saw the river. “The water in this river seems so cool and soothing. I will make my home here,” thought the bird.

As soon as the bird settled down near the river, the golden swans noticed her. They came shouting. “This river belongs to us. We pay a golden feather to the King to use this river. You can not live here.”

“I am homeless, brothers. I too will pay the rent. Please give me shelter,” the bird pleaded. “How will you pay the rent? You do not have golden feathers,” said the swans laughing. They further added, “Stop dreaming and leave once.” The humble bird pleaded many times. But the arrogant swans drove the bird away.

“I will teach them a lesson!” decided the humiliated bird.

She went to the King and said, “O King! The swans in your river are impolite and unkind. I begged for shelter but they said that they had purchased the river with golden feathers.”

The King was angry with the arrogant swans for having insulted the homeless bird. He ordered his soldiers to bring the arrogant swans to his court. In no time, all the golden swans were brought to the King’s court.

“Do you think the royal treasury depends upon your golden feathers? You can not decide who lives by the river. Leave the river at once or you all will be beheaded!” shouted the King.

The swans shivered with fear on hearing the King. They flew away never to return. The bird built her home near the river and lived there happily forever. The bird gave shelter to all other birds in the river.

What do you think the most appropriate lesson from this story?

Best Of Me

Pertama kali, saya dengar lagu ini, saya tahu lagu ini memang istimewa. Lagu ini saya jumpa tepat pada waktunya. Lagu ini saya jumpa ketika saya sedang berada dalam dilema mengenai masa depan saya dan seminar saya. 

Entah kenapa, saya semacam tidak bersemangat dengan apa yang saya buat ketika ini. Bila saya hayati kata-kata dalam lagu ini, semangat saya mula teruja semula dengan apa yang saya buat dan perlu capai. Memang Tuhan Maha Mengetahui. Terima kasih banyak-banyak sama Tuhan!

Atas sebab itu, ingin saya abadikan kata-kata lagu ini dalam sebuah presentation. Sudahnya, saya telah spent satu malam hingga ke pagi bagi menyiapkan presentaion ini. Saya memang puas. Puas sangat.

Harap tuan puan hayati kata-kata dalam presentation di bawah ini. Moga ada menfaatnya. Ameen. 

16 Fakta Tentang Bayi Baru Lahir

1# Bayi tiada kepala lutut. Ia tidak membentuk sehinggalah bayi berusia 6 bulan

2# Bayi tiada air mata. Mereka menangis dan menjerit tetapi air mata sebenar tidak wujud sehinggalah bayi berusia 5 minggu.

3# Mereka mempunyai lebih tulang. Orang dewasa mempunyai 206 dan bayi pula 300 tulang. Kebanyakan dari tulang tersebut bercantum semasa bayi membesar.

4# Empat dari 10 bayi mempunyai tanda lahir.

5# Bayi mempunyai deria bau yang kuat. Boleh mengenali bau badan ibu sebaik dilahirkan.

6# Penglihatan bayi kabur sebaik sahaja dilahirkan.

7# Rambut bayi yang tumbuh semasa dalam rahim ibu akan gugur beransur ansur dan digantikan sepenuhnya oleh rambut baru apabila berusia 6 bulan.

8# Bayi baru lahir secara genetiknya mempunyai deria bunyi yang kuat. Boleh membezakan bunyi-bunyian dan boleh mengenali suara ibu serta merta semasa dilahirkan

9# Deria rasa bayi masih tidak terbentuk sepenuhnya semasa lahir. Tidak boleh membezakan rasa seperti manis atau masin dengan baik.

10# Jantung bayi baru lahir berdenyut diantara 120-160 degupan seminit berbanding dengan degupan jantung orang dewasa iaitu 60-80 seminit.

11# Bayi bernafas lebih cepat iaitu 30-50 nafas seminit berbanding dengan orang dewasa 16-20 nafas seminit.

12# Berat bayi bertambah 2 kali ganda dari berat semasa lahir pada usia 6 bulan.

13# Mendengarkan muzik klasikal menambah kepintaran bayi.

14# Bayi baru lahir tidur 15-20 jam sehari.

15# Bayi cuma mempunyai satu lapisan kulit sebab itulah ia akan alah dan kemerahan dengan senang kepada losyen wangi, sentuhan kasar, gigitan serangga dan sebagainya.

16# Bayi mempunyai kebolehan menyelam sebaik dilahirkan tetapi kebolehan tersebut akan hilang dengan cepatnya.

The Affect of False Believe.

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages.

It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time can break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them.

As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Moral: Failure is a part of learning. We should never give up the struggle in life. You Fail not because you are destined to fail, but because there are lessons which you need to learn as you move on with your life.

Penetapan Matlamat Berdasarkan S.W.O.T.

Saya suka untuk berkongsi dalam artikel kali ini video kaedah penetapan matlamat berdasarkan alat S.W.O.T. Penerangan kaedah penetapan matlamat ini telah saya laksanakan semasa program Better.Brighter untuk anggota kerja TNB Klang beberapa bulan yang lalu.

Selalunya alat S.W.O.T. ini digunakan sebagai salah satu alat untuk melaksanakan perancangan strategi sesuatu organisasi, namun dengan sedikit kreativiti, S.W.O.T. boleh digunakan untuk mengenalpasti matlamat peribadi. Kaedah penetapan matlamat ini telah saya pelajari dari seorang Mahaguru dari India semasa saya melawat India satu waktu dulu.

Apapun, perhatikan penerangan berikut. Moga ianya ada menafaatnya untuk semua ...

Video 1 dari 7

Video 2 dari 7

Video 3 dari 7

Video 4 dari 7

Video 5 dari 7

Video 6 dari 7

Video 7 dari 7

A Policeman and a Young Couple

A policeman was patrolling late at night off the main highway.

He sees a couple in a car, with the interior light brightly glowing.

He carefully approaches the car to get a closer look. Then he sees a young man behind the wheel, reading a computer magazine.

He immediately notices a young woman in the rear seat, filing her fingernails.

Puzzled by this surprising situation, the trooper walks to the car and gently raps on the driver's window.

The young man lowers his window. 'Uh, yes, Officer?'

The policeman asks: 'What are you doing?'

The young man says: 'Well, Officer, I'm reading a magazine.'

Pointing towards the young woman in the back seat the trooper says: 'And her, what is she doing?'

The young man shrugs: 'Sir, I believe she's filing her fingernails.'

Now, the policeman is totally confused. A young couple, alone, in a car, at night and parked beside the highway. And nothing obscene is happening!

The policeman asks: 'What's your age, young man?'

The young man says: 'I'm 22, sir.'

The policeman asks: 'and her ... what's her age?'

The young man looks at his watch and replies, ‘She will be 18 in 11 minutes …’

Lesson learned? – When you reach puberty, you are entirely responsible and accountable for all your choices. You simply can’t blame others!

Album Raya 2014

Until Death Do Us Apart Part 1

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.  Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?  I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.  She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger.

I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.  When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions.  She didn't want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month, we both try to live as normal a life as possible. Her reason for this conditions were simple.  Our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.  She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. 

From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

To be continued ...

Until Death Do Us Apart Part 2

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.  On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.  Suddenly it hit me. She had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last-minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly, it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.  I drove to office and jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind.  I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.  At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The sales girl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, “I’ll carry you out every morning until death does us apart”.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed – dead.

My wife had been fighting cancer for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce. At least, in the eyes of our son— I’m a loving husband.

Moral: The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. And have a real happy marriage.