Looks like we haven't learnt our lesson

See http://www.malaysianinsider.net/index.php/business/33834-big-banks-paid-billions-in-bonuses-amid-wall-street-crisis

New (not quite) from Sun Mag store

Yesterday (July 27), after watching Land of the Lost (a rather funny comedy), my friend and I went to Sunmag, which was at the lower ground floor of Cineleisure Damansara. I’ve been there once before and came away with nothing, so I didn’t have high hopes this time. But I have not bought a book for some time now, so I thought “Why not take a look?”

After a while, I thought I was gonna be disappointed. But then I found some, in fact, many interesting titles, and came away with a few. I had to stop in case I overspent and ended up boring my friend.

The books that I got were:

Centrality and Commonality: An Essay on Confucian Religiousness by Professor Tu Wei-Ming of Harvard University (published by State University of New York Press)

Prof. Tu is a world-renowned expert on Confucianism and was here in Malaysia not long ago. He gave a talk at Wisma Kebudayaan SGM (WKSGM). Too bad I couldn’t make it. Always wanted to read something on Confucianism. Who better than the expert himself to tell us. This book was originally a monograph published about 20 years ago.

The Germans and the Final Solution: Public Opinion under Nazism by David Bankier
(Blackwell Publishers)

Looks at public opinion during the Third Reich. How well were the German people
informed about Nazi atrocities, and what did they do about it?

Education at Risk by Garth Allen (published by Cassell)

It seems to be a collection of essays or papers. Some of the topics discussed: Teaching About Values in the Secondary School, Education for Modern Citizenship, Children and Political Violence and The Socially Responsible University (something for our local universities to chew on!)

Knowledge Across Cultures: A Contribution to Dialogue Among Civilizations, Ruth Hayhoe & Julia Pan, editors (published by Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong)

A collection of essays that includes topics like First Nations and Higher Education: The Four R's - Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility; Indian Mathematics and the West; Chinese Influences on the Enlightenment in Europe and Inheritance, Creativity and Society. Lots of interesting topics.

I got them cheap, and in pretty good condition too.

For Yasmin Ahmad...

I heard from a friend some years ago that Yasmin Ahmad's favourite poet was Pablo Neruda. I was thinking, "Wouldn't it be great to have a Pablo Neruda poetry reading for her some day?" Well, now that day would never come.

As I looked at the tributes for Yasmin Ahmad, I just thought of this poem by Neruda. It's titled "XX", or poem no. 20 from his Twenty Love Poems And A Song Of Despair.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, "The night is starry
and the stars are blue and silver in the distance."

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.


We may have known her in person, or through her works, but she has left a mark on our conscience.

26 July 2009, 9.35 p.m.

A Thousand Winds (Poem for the Dead)

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

-Anoymous
(from 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, edited by Daisy Goodwin, published by Harper Collins)

Leadership - part 2 (excerpts from The Leadership Challenge)

“…We started with an assumption that we didn’t have to interview and survey star performers in excellent companies to discover best practices. Instead, we assumed that by asking ordinary people to describe extraordinary leadership experiences, we would find patters of success. And we did.

When they are doing their best, leaders exhibit certain distinct practices, which vary little from industry to industry, profession to profession, community to community, and country to country. Good leadership is an understandable and universal process. Though each leader is a unique individual, there are shared patterns to the practice of leadership. And these practices can be learned.

“…The leaders we have worked with and learned from have asked us many questions about enhancing their leadership capabilities:

· What values should guide my actions as a leader?

· How do I best set an example for others?

· How do I articulate a vision of the future when things are so unpredictable?

· How do I improve my ability to inspire others towards a common purpose?

· How do I create an environment that promotes innovation and risk?

· How do I build a cohesive and spirited team?

· How do I share power and information and still maintain accountability?

· How do I put more joy and celebration into our efforts?

· What is the source of self-confidence required to lead others?

· How do I go about improving my leadership abilities?

“…The domain of leaders is now. The leader’s unique legacy is the creation of valued institutions that survive over time. The most significant contribution leaders make is not simply to today’s bottom line; it is to the long-term development of people and institutions so they can adapt, change, prosper and grow.

Leadership is important, not just in your career and within your organization, but in every sector, in every community, and in every country. We need more exemplary leaders, and we need them more than ever. There is so much extraordinary work that needs to be done. We need leaders who can unite us and ignite us.

In the end, we realize that leadership development is self-development. Meeting the leadership challenge is a personal -and a daily- challenge for all of us. We know that if you have the will and the way to lead, you can. You have to supply the will. We’ll do our best to supply the way.”

Kekasih (Beloved) by Usman Awang

This poem by Sasterawan Negara Usman Awang is one of the best I have ever read. It's filled with so much longing...The poem is reproduced exactly as it was found in Cempaka: An Anthology, published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) in 1992. It may or may not adhere to the latest Bahasa Malaysia grammar rules.


Kekasih

Akan kupintal buih-buih
menjadi tali
mengikatmu

akan kuanyam gelombang-gelombang
menjadi hamparan
ranjang tidurmu

akan kutenun awan gemawan
menjadi selendang
menudungi rambutmu

akan kujahit bayu gunung
menjadi baju
pakaian malammu

akan kupetik bintang timur
menjadi keronsang
menyinari dadamu

akan kujolok bulan gerhana
menjadi lampu
menyuluhi rindu

akan kurebahkan matari
menjadi laut malammu
menghirup sakar madumu

Kekasih, hitunglah mimpi
yang menbunuh realiti
dengan syurga ilusi.

1971



Hear is the English translation found in the same book:


Beloved

I'll twine the froth of the sea
into a rope
to tie you

I'll weave the waves
into a carpet
for your bedchamber

I'll spin the clouds
into a veil
for your hair

I'll sew the mountain clouds
into a nightgown
for you

I'll pluck the star of the East
a brooch to sparkle
on your breast

I'll bring down the darkened moon
a lamp to light
my desire

I'll sink the sun
embrace your seas of night
drink your crystals of honey

My beloved how many dreams
murder reality
with illusions of heaven

1971



Such a beautiful poem, especially in the original Malay! Sadly, he and many outstanding Malay literati are slowly being forgotten. His daughter, Haslina Usman is fighting desperately to keep his legacy alive. See http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2009/06/daughter-keeps-fathers-work-alive.html


Usman Awang is a giant of Malaysian literature.

Leadership

I find that pretty much most of the things in The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (www.theleadershipchallenge.com) are pretty relevant to what we understand about leadership. I will be sharing parts of the book from time to time and share some thoughts.

From the Preface (The Leadership Challenge):

The Leadership Challenge is about how leaders mobilize others to want to get extraordinary things done in organizations. It’s about the practices leaders use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards. It’s about leadership that creates the climate in which people turn challenging opportunities into remarkable success.

There are no shortages of challenging opportunities. In these extraordinary times, the challenges seem only to be increasing in number and complexity. All generations confront their own serious threats and receive their own favourable circumstances. The abundance of challenges is not the issue. It’s how we respond to them that matters. Through our responses to challenges, we all have the potential to seriously worsen or profoundly improve the world in which we live and work. With the kinds of leadership excellence we’ve observed in over twenty-five years of research, we’re going to bet on the latter.

There are countless opportunities for each of us to make a difference. For instance, there are opportunities to



• Provide direction and support to our teams during uncertain times

• More fully utilize the talents of our colleagues

• Set a positive example of what honesty and ethics mean in daily life

• Tap the wealth of scientific knowledge to create a safer and more
sustainable world

• Rebuild a sense of community and increase understanding among diverse peoples

• Bring peace to a world tired of war

• Restore hope and create a deeper sense of meaning in our lives



…What we have discovered, and rediscovered, is that leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary people use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others. When the leader is liberated, extraordinary things happen.

(To be continued...)