Family Covid-19 Strategy

Many people look forward to the resumption of "normal" life come Monday. There are also people who are concern whether going back to normal would cause more infection of Covid-19.

The debate about "life vs livelihood" under the present circumstances is not limited to Malaysia only. It is a legitimate question, which one should take precedent or can we have both?

Realistically, the Covid-19 pandemic would be around for a while. While staying at home for the past 6 weeks had helped in breaking the chain of infection, many had also lost their income and livelihood shattered. We have no choice but to walk on the tightrope. We need to live with Covid-19 for a while.

Hence, each of us has to take responsibility to take care of ourself, our family and the society. This is where each family has to agree of its own Covid-19 strategy. What to do at home, when using public transport, when shopping and when coming back home? Need to work on the stock of face mask and hand sanitiser as we can't assume they will be provided. What about family activities such as during festivities? 

I trust by taking responsibility, we would be able to deal with both challenges, life and livelihood.

The Mystical Bali

While attending a conference on future competencies of accountants in Bali recently, I took the opportunity to explore Bali which it known for its beauty, culture and mystic.

I stayed at Nusa Dua, a private property where most international hotels are located. The security is tight, which makes you feel safe while enjoying the beauty of its beaches and food. An early morning stroll at the beach will give you the opportunity to enjoy sunrise and the changes of the complexion of the beach as the sun become brighter.

My first port of call was Bali Collection, a 5 minutes walk away from the hotel which I was staying. It gathers various cultural and local products in a very nice and cozy place, suitable for foreign tourists. You need to pay a bit more for the convenience and comfort.

I met Dr. Nur Mazilah, the CEO of MIA who was attending the same conference. We had an early seafood dinner while discussing about the development and issues of the accountancy profession in the region.

After the first day of the conference I, together with few other Malaysian delegates, went to Pantai Kandonganan  to have seafood dinner. This is one of the "must visit" places in Bali to enjoy its fresh and delicious seafood. Some of the food stalls offer cultural shows to their customers. On our way back to our hotels we stopped by a durian stall by the roadside and tried the taste of the King of Fruits, the Bali version.

I purposely took the evening flight out from Bali. That allowed me to spend some time around the mystical island. I hired a car and went to Bedugul, a highland where the famous Candi Kuning and Pura Ulun Danu are located. As our car climbed the hilly road toward Bedugul, I could see a beautiful scenary of the highland and padi fields which provide bountiful supply of food to the Balinese.

Although the weather was getting cloudier as we were arriving at Puri Ulun Danu, it somehow provided me with an interesting photo opportunity. The overcast sky made a very nice background of the temple.

After a quick lunch at a Muslim eatery located at the front at temple and a short stop at the nearby mosque for prayers, we headed back to Denpasar, the capital of Bali where the airport is located. It rained cats and dogs on our way back which prevented me from taking more photos of the beautiful scenery.

Although this was my third time in Bali, there are more places to be discovered. Bali offers an opportunity for visitors to observe tolerence and understanding as people from various beliefs and backgrounds congregate to make their leaving or enjoy the beauty of this mystical and beautiful island. If we view things from the lenses of humanity, we would find less reasons for conflicts and hatred. That is what you will bring back from Bali.

Are We Not In a Developed City

It was my first encounter with people who are helping street kids to have meaningful life within the buzzing Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia which is the proud of all Malaysians. I attended a forum at Buku Jalanan Chow Kit, a centre where street kids can have access to basic education and able to experience descent living, even for a short while.

There was a forum entitled "Orang Miskin Dilarang Pandai" or "Poors are not allowed to be smart". The panellists were Dr Muhammad Khalid, an avid social scientist who had been doing research on inequality and Dr Madeline Berma who had been assisting policymakers on poverty.

Dr Muhammad shared his findings on the urban poor. According to him, they work more hours than others and do not have big family. The median number of their children is two. This rebuts the accusation that urban poors are lazy and come from large families.

Dr Madeline encouraged the public to take this issue seriously and do whatever that they could to help the children who are victim of circumstances. Instead of relying on government which may have limited resources, volunteers could find ways to help and donors could provide the necessary funding.

After the forum I noticed there were a number of familiar faces, including one from the accountancy profession. We agreed that the accountancy profession could play its part in this area. I would surely try to persuade many more friends to be involved with street kids issues.

Why Entrepreneurs Should Worry About Governance

Corporate governance, in the present form, was introduced in Malaysia after the Asian financial crisis in the late 90's with the publication of the first Code on Corporate Governance (CG Code) by the Securities Commission in year 2000. 

This CG Code, which was revised a number of time over the years, was enforced through the Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia. Given the needs of the time and the consequences if the governance practices of our listed companies were not up to mark, the focus of the code was for larger structures with significant external shareholdings. 

Although the outcomes of good corporate governance would improve any organisations, for profits or otherwise, big or small, the principles, best practices and other recommendations in the CG Code are more practical to be implemented by larger business organisations. What about small and medium enterprises (SME)? Should entrepreneurs start to worry about governance and leadership when their businesses grow into bigger companies?

Corporate governance is defined as "The process and structure used to direct and manage the business and affairs of the company towards business prosperity and corporate accountability with the ultimate objective of realising long-term shareholder value, while taking into account the interest of other stakeholders". There are a number of concepts which are important to all businesses, irrespective of their size - "process and structure", "direct and manage" and "long-term shareholder value" amongst the few.

SMEs have many structures and processes; they require to be directed and managed; and more importantly, entrepreneurs normally are their major shareholders. Hence, if the outcomes of good corporate governance create long-term shareholders value, their entrepreneurs who are their major shareholders would benefit if their businesses have good corporate governance practices.

One of the major challenges for good corporate governance to be implemented by SMEs is the way governance are discussed in the public space. The focus had always been on the structures such as committees and various controls and assurance activities. All of these appear to be too overwhelming for entrepreneurs to relate to their smaller SMEs. The distinction between governance, leadership and management are also not clear. Hence, entrepreneurs tend to focus more of the management aspects since that would bring them profits and neglect governance and leadership part of business simply because they are too complex to be understood.

It is suggested here that when the three key concepts; governance, leadership and management are discussed with entrepreneurs, their interests (being the major shareholders) should be the focal point. Governance should be sold as the mechanism for them to protect their profit generating machines and whether they like it or not, they have leadership roles to play in their respective businesses.

My recent session on governance and leadership for SMEs. Entrepreneurs are not only keen but they also indicated their challenges in enhancing governance and leadership in their enterprises

Rather than worrying too much on the structures, entrepreneurs need to be encourages to focus on the principles of governance and be creative in getting the outcomes. For example, instead of having independent directors, they could create an advisory structure where independent people could advise them on governance, leadership and management issues faced by SMEs. This will avoid those advisers from being exposed to business and conduct risks of SMEs.

A lot more need to be done to enable good corporate governance be adopted in the SME sector. This require responsible leadership by the entrepreneurs themselves. Good governance should result in effective management and more sustainable enterprises. At the end, entrepreneurs should be also to see and benefits the most, since they are the owners and assume the highest risks of ownership.

Growth Without Employment?

I was fortunate to be invited by the Securities Commission to attend the World Capital Markets Symposium 2018 last week. The theme for this series was Renaissance of Capitalism: Markets for Growth. 

The Prime Minister giving his keynote address

Two speakers really provided me with the contexts and the big picture of what aregoing on in the world. They are Fareed Zakaria, the CNN's presenter which hosts  GPS and Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek Finance Minister. They displayed their intellectualism by galvanising observations, historical events and providing their projection of the future, which interestingly appear to coincide with each other.

It is not difficult to figure out why capitalism is being questioned, hence why the theme was chosen. Globally, the world is still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, in one way or another. Even as the Wall Street is seeing record highs again, interest rates in the United States are still not normalised yet. Quantitive easing is still the order of the day in Europe while Japan is still having an extra accommodative monetary policy.

Similar to his last appearance, Fareed walked the audience through the history of world trade, globalisation and the information revolution. The world, according to Fareed, is at the point which provides the best to mankind based on all metrics. Yet, he agreed that everyone are not comfortable with something. Brexit and the election of Donald Trump are two examples of how the majority of the population in those places expressed their dissatisfaction against the ruling class.

Fareed Zakaria delivering his views

According to Fareed, there is a revolt against what he termed as "professionals",  the group of people who made it through the education system and had been able to enjoy prosperity, accumulated wealth and been defining success for the rest who are mainly blue collar workers. Why? Because the growth driven by technological advancement had somehow not resulted in the growth of employment. The link between globalisation, trade and employment had been broken with business models where technology is the centre and displacing human with robots are the way forward.

While Yanis was supposed to share with the audience his experience in dealing with Greece's failure to meet its debts obligations, he went back to the 1940's to explain the rationale behind the Bretton Woods agreement which was considered an important milestone in the whole chain of events many years later.

Yanis Varoufakis being interviewed on stage by Riz Khan

After the Second World War, America was in a surplus situation in terms of capital and manufacturing capabilities. It needed to convert factories from producing was equipment to merchandise goods. In order to "recycle the surplus" from the US to deficit countries like Europe and Japan, the Bretton Woods agreement was designed to enable the Americans to be in the driving seat. Reference to the gold standards was just a tool of convenience, so that capital can be transferred to the deficit countries in form of debts to finance the imports of goods from the US.

In the early 70s, the US itself started to suffer from deficit and the Bretton Woods agreement was making it difficult for them to play their original role. It was then determined by the Americans that it does not matter whether the US was deficit or not, their position would be maintained if the US remains as the driver of the recycling of the deficit through Wall Street and the US Dollar. Hence, Bretton Woods was dissolved for the benefit of the Americans.

The facilitate this new way of cycling deficit, labour cost in the US had to be reduced. Hence, as a trade off, American workers were promised that their investment in property and houses would be the way to assure comfortable retirements. Hence, the American housing bubble was started. Therefore, the 2008 financial crisis where house prices melted was a breach of that understanding made many years ago. Suddenly, many worker found their retirement saving in the form of house value disappeared.

At the same time, the technology revolution has created a situation where growth has been decoupled from employment. As an example, Yanis cited an Adidas factory servicing the whole Northern America markets needs only 800 knowledge-based workers instead of 8,000 people which included blue collar workers. It was mentioned that only 25% of Americans have college degrees, hence their future in the jobless growth-era would be bleak. This opened the door for people who believe in protectionism such as Donald Trump to take centre stage and able to promote policies which resonate with the feelings of these marginalised workers.

When Greece joined the monetary union, its public and private debts were very low. Hence, Greece became the primary target for surplus countries like Germany to provide debt capital to Greeks so that they could consume products and services from those countries. According to Yanis, the bailout offered to Greece was to safe banks from Germany and France from collapsing if their loans were defaulted by Greece borrowers. 

Fareed provided the same analysis. Trump's simplistic explanation to the Americans that "Your jobs are stolen by the Mexicans, your factories stolen by the Chinese and your security stolen by the Muslims" makes sense to many Americans who life were affected by the status quo. Hence, movements against the proponents of democracy and globalisation sparked the fire of revolt against the "upper-class" people globally.

While Fareed did suggest that the world need to resolve job provision in the era of technology where machines and robots would be able to replace low level activities, he did not go into specifics. Yanis, on the other hand, made it very clear that the world need a new order. He even suggested some sort of social dividends to be paid out by social media companies which are making huge profits from social interactions, without paying anything to their members. He also predicts that the society would eventually impose similar standards on social media companies like what had been imposed on financial institutions once the impact of social media companies on the society is better understood.

While we would continue our endeavour to develop and apply technology to many more facets of our lives, the issue of job creation would be critical to maintain prosperity to as many people as possible. We are already observing the implications and the worse are yet to manifest themselves. A new order where prosperity is better shared would need to be worked out. How? No one knows!

Reporting Excellence Means Effective Organisations?

I always believe that when you are new at something, you are entitled to ask the most basic questions. That was exactly what I did when I was the MIA President. I asked about the value of excellence awards such as the National Annual Corporate Report Awards (NACRA) and the National Awards for Management Accounting (NAFMA) where MIA was co-organisers for both.

As for NACRA, listed companies are not required to apply. All their annual reports would be screened by dedicated accountants until winners are determined. Not a bad deal for those companies, the accountancy profession takes all the trouble. Only when they are shortlisted, they have to pay for attending a dinner where the winners would be announced.

NAFMA, then, differed slightly where companies are required to apply and disclose their management accounting practices. The panel of judges would visit them to verify and understand more their practices. One organisation kept on winning for the first few years until they were gently encouraged to give way for others.

Of course I got strong responses from the other partners which were very clear of their positions in defending those awards. Among the arguments were the awards encourage companies to be more transparent in corporate reporting and would continue to enhance their management reporting practices because of the awards.

I am not denying that these kind of awards could generate benefits. There could be real progress where the winners become better companies. However, does this rule apply to all companies? How many award winners had troubles later and are no longer listed? Someone should look into this aspect.

So, does reporting excellence correlate to organisational effectiveness? I am not yet convinced. My scepticism applies to even organisations which managed to implement integrated reporting. 

If organisations have specific mandates and key information about the mandate are missing, what is the point of telling lengthy stories about "value creation" when certain fundamental information are not there? With the present printing capabilities, readers might be fascinated with beautiful graphics and could miss the "missing links or points".

Doing the same thing over and over again without challenging their meanings and ascertaining outcomes is not my cup of tea. Isn't this the cause of why many great companies failed? They got very nervous when their flagship products were criticised. Until the market really shifted and competitors have secured huge chunks of their markets with superior products or solutions, then only the reacted, albeit too late.

Well, I am still wondering about the nexus between excellence in reporting and organisational effectiveness. I could be alone. What the heck!

Bringing Conscience into Boardrooms

I was involved in three events last week relating to governance, leadership and boardrooms. Considering that I had left the regulatory space for more than a year, I am happy that my thoughts and views on those subjects still matter to some.

Jamie Allen, the Secretary General of the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA) bought me breakfast at the side of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) conference in Kuala Lumpur last week. Allen was accompanied by Benjamin McCarron, the Managing Director of  Asia Research & Engagement.

The main topic of our discussion was on the development of corporate governance in Malaysia and what should be the key areas which need to be focused on to enhance our governance standards. We did touch on having strong culture in boardrooms and at the C-suites as one possible focus area. Inevitably, for such to happen, we need more directors who are not only competent by mush have strong conscience to move the agenda forward.

Later in the day I spoke at a forum on The Future of Work. The session was sponsored by EY, as part of the ICGN conference programme. It was chaired Bin Wolfe who is responsible for EY's talent decelopment in Asia-Pacific. Also on the panel was Jeffery Williams from China Universal Asset Management and Shareen Ghani, the CEO of Talentcorp.

From the boardroom perspectives, corporations need to align their talents with the continuously changing business landscape which require strategies and business models to be reviewed more frequently. A great strategy is only as good as its implementation, hence, matching talents must be available. One of the pushback when new talents are brought in would be culture, again. Culture, it not shaped properly, would mitigate whatever new ideas and thinking of new talents. Board must pay attention to this and follow up with strong discipline.

It was great that EY decided to bring the talent issue to the forefront in front of the global audience. Talent development and retention are major topics discussed in Asian boardrooms, especially as part of succession planning of the board as well as the C-suites.

The next day, I was invited by the Federation of Public Listed companies to share my views on how independent directors could manage expectations of their performance given the changing landscape and regulatory developments.

One of the issue which I raised was the ability of directors to keep up with new developments in many fronts, society, technology, economy, environment and regulation - the drivers of change.

While it would be great is a director is able to cover most of the issues, the total skills of the people in boardrooms matter. Hence, proper succession planning and having access to good advice would be helpful. However, ultimately, members of the board have to make the right calls, irrespective of the consequences on themselves. That is really challenging is board members are relying on board fees to finance their lifestyles.

One common theme from the three engagements above is about the need to have senior people with competent and conscience in boardrooms and C-suites. While competency is certainly a prerequisite for most organisations, conscience could be something which had not been focused on enough all this while.

It is time to bring conscience as a must-have criteria for those responsible to govern, lead and manage organisations.

Our Accountancy Profession Has A Bright Future

Tan Sri Samad Alias is a 74 year old accountant. What has he got to do with a  symposium for young accountants? Well, when he was asked about the impact of blockchain technology, his answer was very convincing. His role in the conference was to share with the audience what does it take to be a great accountant. He did that very well. His life story was a compelling example of how far trust and integrity would help professionals in building their career.

Tan Sri Samad sharing his views and experience

The Young Accountants Symposium was organised by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) for the first time. Most of the participants were below 40 years old and came from many economic sectors. The idea of having this symposium is to provide them with the exposure of what's coming and how they could seek opportunities while managing any risk to their career paths. Dato Yusli Mohamed Yusof, the President of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance gave his keynote address while Dato Zaiton, the MIA Vice-President, welcomed the participants. Both of them also touched on integrity and upholding professional values in their speeches.

The opening gambit

I was on the first panel where we discussed digital economy. Well, I was the oldest. However, I shared with the audience my experience which required regulators to leverage on technology and why accountants, me included, had to step up and be comfortable in dealing with changes and complexities. At the same time, my message for young accountants was for them to uphold professional values at all cost, while acquiring knowledge and skills which are required by their work places and industries to ensure they remain relevant.

Sharing my ideas. Look how old I was compared with the rest of the panellist.

The questions that were asked by the young accountants showed how mature they were. While some were concerned in dealing with change, especially with the advancement in technology, all questions were relevant and required the panellists to dive into their knowledge banks and experience for answers. They were active participants in discussing present and future challenges of the accountancy profession.

I was seated with Tan Sri Samad during lunch and we were accompanied by many young accountants. We discussed many interesting topics including fundraising in the future, regulatory frameworks, industry disruption and its impact on society as well as corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Tan Sri Samad told me that the issues covered were very different from those discussed over lunch in other MIA events where senior accountants would be raising old issue such as audit exemption, as if there were no other pressing challenges to the profession. 

The depth of our discussion and the familiarity of those around the table with what were discussed really convinced both of us about how much potentials are there in those young accountants. We suggested more informal activities to be organised so that more knowledge and experience could be transferred and shared, with one caveat. Please do not invite senior accountants who are not keen to re-invent themselves in the ever changing environment.

I suppose if these young accountants are able to decide for themselves how the profession should evolve with time, they would be able to drive the accountancy profession to greater heights, beyond the imagination of their senior counterparts who are happy burying their heads in their imaginary sand. This is where any regulatory reform around MIA should consider having more young accountants to be in the driving seat, with minimum oversight from the seniors. Possible? Nothing is impossible, as what they were told in the symposium.

The Refreshed Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance 1/1

Last week saw the launch of the revised Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) by the Securities Commission. As usual, the MCCG would be incorporated in the Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia and must be complied with by public listed companies in Malaysia. For financial institutions, the Policy Document on Corporate Governance is another layer of expectations which must also be observed.

The MCCG focuses on three key principles, Board leadership and effectiveness, Effective Audit and Risk Management and Integrity in Corporate Reporting and Meaningful Relationship With Stakeholders.

To ensure effective implementation, the MCCG is expected to be implemented with CARE - Comprehend, Apply and REport. Comprehend means the board is expected to understand and internalise the spirit and intention behind the prescribed principles and recommended practices including their intended outcomes. Apply is where the substance of the recommended practices are implemented to achieve the intended outcomes. Report requires a fair and meaningful disclosure on the company's corporate governance practices is made. It is hoped that a strong culture of governance would be practised across the company.

Where companies are not able to apply the practices, they are expected to identify and implement alternatives practices which would result in the same outcomes. 

The MCCG also has Step-Up practices which are expected to be applied by Large Companies. These are exemplary practices which support companies in moving towards excellence in corporate governance. Large companies are the top 100 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia and those where their market value exceed RM 2 billion at the beginning of the financial year.

How Is Your Board Dealing With Brexit?

Even as the votes were being counted on June 23, not many people in Britain and the whole world were expecting that the ‘Leave’ side would prevail during the recent referendum to determine whether the UK should remain in the European Union (EU) or otherwise. However, as more votes were counted later that night, the concern about something not imaginable started to become stronger. The pound started to tumble against many currencies. By the morning the day after, the ‘Leave’ campaign had won.

Brexit or Britain exiting the EU appears to be a classical black swan event, something not foreseeable to happen which eventually happened. Not only did the event split British voters into two groups, ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’, but it also brought with it uncertainties which would persist over a long period.

The first casualty was David Cameron, the British prime minister who had to quit his job after being defeated during the referendum. His successor, Theresa May, who was from the ‘Remain’ camp, has to take over and deal with something which she herself was not convinced is good for the UK and Europe as a whole. While she had clarified that the UK would only invoke Article 50, the trigger for exit, towards the end of the year, many people are still hoping that Brexit would never materialise. Some people are even bringing this issue to court.

The Europeans would also try to make Brexit as tough as possible to deter other countries within the union to venture into the same territory. Strong remarks from Brussels and Berlin in urging for the UK to invoke Article 50 as quickly as possible could also be aimed at other member states as well in sending the message that this is not a game.

While uncertainties could be good for speculators and some could have made money in the financial markets after the Brexit decision, uncertainties would also influence sentiments and confidence of investors. There are already talks about investment moving away from the UK to other parts of the world. In the stage where the global economy is not at its optimum as what we would have liked, a black swan event like Brexit is the last thing that we need.

While many Malaysian companies may not have direct exposure to the risks arising from Brexit, this issue should not be left unattended. The risks could also be possible from secondary events such as new rules which could be applicable once the UK is no longer part of the EU. Market access to Europe, for example, could be affected if the existing entry point is only from the UK. Effects on customers or particular market segments have to be considered and even the reliability and cost effectiveness of any supply chain from the UK or Europe has to be reviewed again.

On the other hand, would there be new opportunities as well? If there are really capital flights from the UK, would there be any chance that Malaysian companies could have some share of that? What needs to be done to capture those opportunities?

It is well known that some Malaysian companies were investing heavily in the UK property sector in the past few years. For them, their exposure to the risks of Brexit is different; some of the risks could have already crystallised. If the progress of their property development projects, for example, is already half-way through, the next course of action would be vital. Do they proceed as planned, defer further investment or speed things up, pack their bags and leave the market? All these options and their consequences require deep thinking to figure out some sense of direction and logic that correspond to the realities on the ground.

While many companies are aware about what is going on around them, not many are taking those events seriously. In the absence of a systematic process where events are detected and analysed and the understanding of their impacts are discussed in C-suites and boardrooms, many clear and present dangers and opportunities would be missed. This is where board members have to be comfortable that the companies under their care regularly scan the local, regional and global landscapes to detect and analyse emerging trends and update them accordingly.

For the case in hand, it would be also good to reflect on whether the processes had detected the possibility of Brexit and whether the views formed were close to the realities that prevailed. This would be a good opportunity to assess the effectiveness of such systems and processes, and whether they were helpful in providing boards with relevant data and information in discharging their duties towards their companies and shareholders.

As the saying goes, don’t let a crisis go to waste.

This article was published in The Malaysian Reserve under the column Boardroom View http://themalaysianreserve.com/new/story/how-your-board-dealing-brexit

The Awaited "Boh"

I was brought up in the heart of Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan at the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (or Malaya based on the Malaysian Agreement). When my parents were serving the government in Machang in the south, I was with my grandparents (my mom's untie and her husband - Nenek and Atok) who were childless but were responsible in bringing up few other family members will full of love and affection.

Located at the Kelantan delta, towards the sea, flooding was a natural phenomena. Flood is referred to as "Boh" in the Kelantanese dialect. It normally occurs when the North-East monsoon which blows from November until March bringing heavy rain to the highlands in the south and causing high waves which slows the flow of water form the Kelantan river into the South China Sea.

Without much knowledge of weather forecasting or geography, many Kelantanese, Atok included, could read the weather patterns and guessed when the flood would arrive. We could also differentiate whether the flood was caused by local rain pour or from water flowing from the highlands based on the colour of the water. Atok, in his younger days, used to be a trader. He went to sell stuffs in Hulu Kelantan using bamboo raft and brought things back to Kota Bharu. I will write more about this wonderful Atok, a person who was very strict about honesty and integrity, later.

Boh is something which not considered evil to many Kelantanese, then. Perhaps there were more trees which could absorb the heavy rainfall and slowed the flow of the water from the south to the Kelantan delta. Now, as people pursue their millions, logging is one of the keys to wealth, both for the loggers and those with power to approve logging concessions.

When I was small, the colour of the Kelantanese river was blueish but now it is just like the "the tarik" as we know it. Even when those who are inclined to Islamic ideas are in power, I have not seen any changes in the logging practices in the highlands. Just wondering whether the Islam as believed by this group has no environmental protection element when Islam, as I understand it, treats environment protection as part of good governance, expected from any government. 

Flood or boh was celebrated as a sort of festivities, in most cases. I could hardly recall a time when they were catastrophic. I could still recall swimming in the cold flood water and most people would be moving around the flooded town with certain feeling of enjoyment. I was aware places which would be severely hit and people would need to be evacuated. Perhaps because these places were at the lowlands, we were not that sensitive to the sufferings of these unfortunate Kelantanese. Many senior Kelantanse would recall Boh Air Merah, one of the major floods where the colour of the water was reddish, as one of the severe ones which caused heavy damage in Kelantan.

It is very sad to know many parts of Kelantan are flooded this few days, amongst the worst in the history of the state. Just by knowing the level of the flood water in certain places, whether they are at knee, naval or chest levels, I could gauge the severity. I was told that many areas which were not flooded before are experiencing severe flooding. Many people are stranded without supply of food. How do I know this? I have friends on the ground sharing with me the real situations on the ground which are not reported on tv. This is how technology has made the difference when disasters occur. No longer realities could be painted differently.

One elements of flood is its predictability. While many will say, and I believe, that this is an act of god (what else happen without his command?), I can't accept any excuse that those who are in charge of flood relief were not able to prepare themselves earlier. It will always start with heavy rain but that alone is not enough to create a disaster. When the wind start to be stronger, we will start to worry. And then, there are places which will be flooded EVERY YEAR without miss, and as mentioned earlier, this happen only as a particular part of the year. Off course the severity could not be predicted but those who are paid to do the job has no excuse for not being prepared.

I salute Malaysians who have on their own accord arranged volunteer flood relief efforts, in addition to those from the authorities. This is also a new trend where volunteer works could outpace official efforts, in certain situations. When citizens have to take charge, what does this mean?

How do we know the worse would be over, when Chinese New Year comes, as simple as that.

The value of a tourist spot

Islands are natural tourist attractions. While Malaysia does not have many islands such as Indonesia and Singapore, we have managed to developed many of our islands, especially from the tourism perspectives.

Penang or also known as the Pearl of the Orient has been a famous commercial centre since the early days. Once a free-port, Penang today is still famous for its tourism appeal although economically it has managed to attract many global electronic manufacturers to locate their facilities around the island.

Tioman and Redang are other islands which are known for their beautiful beaches and marine lives. Their value propositions are different from Penang. Sipadan in Sabah is one of the best dive locations in the world. As a person who use to dive before, I have not been there as I was told that once you go to Sipadan, other dive sites will not be the same again.

I suppose islands have their natural beauty and that attracts people to  go and enjoy those natural features which having a break from their normal routine at their offices or businesses. Naturally, with higher number of tourists, the demand for infrastructures will increase, resulting in more buildings and other facilities are built. This will later spur commerce and more physical structures would be needed as well. How far should we go before these new additions to the ecosystem start to provide reduced value, from the angle of tourism?

I don't have the answer but certainly I would like to see more of the natural beauty to be preserved so that they can be enjoyed by our children and theirs.

These are some of the photos of Langkawi from my recent visit. Mostly on the natural beauty of the island taken using my iPhone 6.

Golfing at the Els Club, Datai, Langkawi.

The world, from the eyes of a crab.

The reflection of the raising sun.

A fishing boat, waiting for its owner.

How tall is this light house?

Morning cruise?

Hoping for early morning luck!

Noah's ark?

Having breakfast

Landing down!

Have we forgotten about being human?

I tired to find the scientific definition of human on Wikipedia but the complex definition is beyond my comprehension. However, I am sure you understand who am I trying to talk about, you and me.

While we share the same classification as human, physically we may not necessarily look the same. Some people have fairer skin colour than others. Some have different types of hair, facial features and many more differences. Many of us use those physical differences to classify us into different ethnic and sub-ethnic groups. They ways we communicate also differ, resulting in many languages being spoken around this planet.

If we explore the softer part of human, we have different beliefs, principles, values and many more. This results in further sub-classification of human, on top of their physical features mentioned above.

On the other hand, we also many things in common. All of us want to be happy, loved and live in an environment where we could achieve most of what we want without interfering with others' rights and interests. The problem is, instead of pursuing this, many of us chose to focus on our differences and behave selfishly without bothering the effect of our conducts on others.

Due to the above, we live in nation states where we choose (in some countries, this option is not available) our leaders, where they are entrusted to manage whatever wealth that we have on our behalf and ensure we live in societies where the rule of law is respected. Are you experiencing such an ideal state? I leave it for you to have your own assessment.

Due to the many differences that we have and the inclination for us to focus on the differences and our self-interests, conflicts are just a second nature. On a daily basis, we have to deal with all sorts of conflicts, minor issues at home to differences between larger groups of people and even nation states.

If we observe the animal kingdom, their dispute resolution is very simple. They fight amongst themselves and either the other side is killed or they leave the territory to avoid further humiliation. We always refer this as the law of the jungle. Is it so? Or are we also using the same rule to resolve our disputes?

With technology nowadays, we are able to know what are happening around the world. We can see events where humans sportingly compete amongst themselves and honour each other in victory or defeat. We trade among ourselves and despite they are winners and losers, all parties are able to respect the rules and will continue to trade again in the future. 

Whenever there are more serious crisis leading to war, groups of people who carry high moral values will intervene, with persuasion or if necessary with force. We call them the United Nations. The funny thing about this arrangement is that the whole world are governed by a smaller group of people who won the Second World War. They are the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations. Each carry a veto to override what ever consensus which the permanent members do not agree. Very fair indeed!

Fortunately or not, these permanent member could do whatever that they like with their veto powers, including declaring that invaders and occupiers are the victims should they are harmed by the people who they invade and occupy. It seems that human lives have different value to different people. Some may argue that this is a speculation of mine. Unfortunately, we could observe this daily on our television sets or other means of communication which we use. All the high moral grounds and principles are tossed away when truth and justice collide with self-interests and group interests. Humanity is just a definition in dictionaries but in reality, they are people who have more rights and privileges over others.

Off course they have friendly information suppliers who would tell their side of the story and lie repeatedly so that their version of truths are accepted. While we cherish freedom of information, a free flow of information in only a particular direction and only by those who have control over what we read, watch and hear may not be an ideal state.

In summary, while many of us talk about humanity, fairness and justice, many of us are also sufferings from the conduct of these very people. Given the devastation shown of the media, I wonder whether collectively we have forgotten about what does it takes to be human. I do not know the answer but I will need more convincing that all humans are equal before our own eyes.