Are You Dealing With Real Friends?

How many of us will switch on whatever gadgets that we use to access the Web in the morning before even brushing out teeth? I am not sure how many hands are raised but many of us are becoming more dependent on the Web to keep our lives going.

Part of this addiction is through various social network platforms, Facebook, Twitter to name a few. Lately, I have been receiving invites to join a lot more of new platforms which are fast crowding the cyberspace.

One important feature of social networks is our ability to connect with "friends". This feature allows us to be in control of who should be allowed to share their views, thoughts and even telling us what they eat on a real time basis. As much as we analyse (I trust we are doing this even now) the identity of any person requesting to be our friends, others are doing the same on us. This brings us to one important challenge, how do we profile ourselves on these social networks.

Loss of privacy is a main concern to most of us, especially if our data is stolen and used by unscrupulous people who are scanning the web for such opportunities. Some of us may be too careless by revealing private information that allows crooks to take advantage from it. As a way to mitigate this risk, people may camouflage their identities using nicknames or even false identities. They are also people who prefer not to use their real identities just for fun.

The group function on Facebook has been used in many occasions as a mean to shape public views. Discussions posted on such pages reinforce the points advocated the the group initiators. What I observe as an emerging trend is the existence of cyber-trolls, people using false identities posting intimidating comments on such pages to turn the tide to other directions. Given that it is very easy to create a new Facebook account using fake identities, cyber-trolling appears a new mean to counter opposing view on cyberspace. 

This could also be observed on popular blogs, especially on matters involving public debates. For example, in the past, articles in English on such matters did not attract many opposing comments. Nowadays, it appears that "the other side" are becoming more interested to counter the posted views, using good English as well. Is this a sign that there are groups out there who are investing substantial resources to hire profession cyber-trollers to fight their cause?

Somehow many people tend to be too trusting when dealing with people and information on the web. Some even take the information as wholesale truth, without any attempt to verify them. Developing a more skeptical attitude may be a wise idea as there is no effective filter on the web. I normally try to triangulate news or information by considering what are said on websites where the writers' identities are known. Reading comments and feedback from other readers would also provide some idea on the issue being discussed. In fact this skepticism should also be applied on all information, including what we watch on TV, listen on the radio and those found in daily newspapers.  

Given the risks of dealing with people whom we do not know, screening our friends on social network is something for everybody to consider. I do not have criteria for safe friends but giving this issue more attention would certainly avoid unnecessary problems in the future. 

The Freedom to Question and Innovation

Human had survived many challenges from the days time begun. It is this ability to anticipate and react to changing environment that differentiate the human species from the likes of dinosaurs. While we are relatively smaller than the dinosaurs, the ability to use our brain power enabled us to survive extreme challenges. In short, human has been innovating, doing something new that add value, from time in memory.

What drives innovation? I suppose it starts from having a view that status quo is not acceptable. By applying this broad definition, innovation applies to all facets of our life, not just related to scientific discoveries. It could cover the social system that we live in, ways of doing work or even the way we think. Therefore, innovation is everybody's business, not just to those wearing thick spectacles in laboratories.

To be innovative requires the human mind to be able to understand what is out there and to question and challenge whether they are acceptable or something need to be done for the better. Some people do not mind this process of understanding and challenging. However, there are people who are not comfortable to let others to use their brain power to assess, evaluate and challenge. I would imagine dictators would fall into this category.

Given the level of competition is the present globalised environment, no country or economy is spared from the need to be competitive. Under such circumstances, it would be natural to fall back on the natural instinct of people for survival, to innovate. For this to happen, nothing should be secret. The issue is whether the community we live in allows all its members to question and challenge? As Bill Gates argues in his book Business as the Speed of Thoughts, any business that does not add value will parish. I suppose this applies to groups of people and even countries as well.

Community leaders who derive control from intimidation, fear and suppression would not welcome the culture of questioning and challenging. To them the status quo must be preserved i.e. they should continue to be allowed to lead, irrespective of them leading the community to the dogs. Under this circumstances, it would be very challenging for the society to innovate as by nature they would be scared to consider change. So, not withstanding how many agencies or programmes to promote innovation, the chance for success would be very remote. This will be further amplified when the society has reached a stage of going back to the leaders for every problem that they face. Off course the leaders would be happy as the society is beholden to them. 

However, as data, information and knowledge reach people using cheap and simple technology such as social network platforms, the ground is slowly shifting. Furthermore, putting in place technological and information infrastructure is big business and these people with power would be tempted to promote this for "reasons only known to them". As what we saw in other places lately, having more data, information and knowledge made people more conscious about the present and provided them with more options in moving to the future, beyond what were promoted by those in leadership. Some societies had decided to challenge and change status quo. 

I trust, we as occupants of this planet, would be able to leverage more on the availability of knowledge and information to keep on questioning, challenging and innovating. One caveat though. Not every status quo is bad. For example, those in charge of governance are expected to act in the best interest of all stakeholders. This has been established for a long time and I do not see this changing. In fact, a lot of problems that we faced globally were the result of failures of the people in charge of governance to perform their functions effectively.

One simple step that we could take is to encourage everybody under our care to start asking questions, even on matters which we feel strongly about. We may not be able to answer all these questions but by giving permission for people to consider beyond status quo, we are nurturing innovation.

To All the Tyrants of the world

Blogging From Multiple Platforms

Blogging is quickly turning into second nature to some of us. It provides us with the opportunity to share our views and thoughts with the global audience.

Given the web could now be accessed from multiple platforms, bloggers are now able to write their blog entries using mobile phones, laptops and now iPads. This enables full mobility and blog entries could be made everywhere.

It does not mean that all the platforms provide similar blogging experience. The PC and laptops are the most convenient whereas other mobile devices have to make compromises in terms of available blogging features such as adding pictures and adding links.

I suppose recent events showcased this point where the whole world could monitor views and experience on a real time basis. Combined with other social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, information, views and thoughts is close to impossible to be stopped.

It would not be a surprise that many governments around the world are now reviewing their strategies in managing overflow of information, in the light if recent developments.

I hope bloggers would continue to share their views and thoughts with a single objective of making this world a better place for everybody.

This posting is my first using my iPad!

Angle, Perspective and Story

I am discussing about photography.

Being an owner of a Nikon D90, I try, whenever possible, to capture scenes, events and stories through the lens of this sophisticated tool. Different people take up photography for many reasons. In fact photography is gaining interest in Malaysia, perhaps due to availability of high end digital cameras at fairly reasonable cost. I know a number of friends who ended up as a full time photographers. 

When my camera is not with me, my iPhone becomes handy. In fact most official events are captured through this gadget as it would be very odd for me to carry my D90 during those occasions. While the photo quality is not as good, what matter more are the angles of the photo, your perspective of the event and the storyline which you want to communicate.

In fact angle, perspective and story are not only applicable to taking photo-shots but could be applied in any situation when effective communication is essential. In the present era when people could express what they have in their minds in many ways and forms, having angles, perspectives and stories which resonate more to the target audience would help in sending the points across and hopefully convincing the audience.





This brings us to another aspect of communication, understanding the audience. I'm sure we have heard a lot of talk show over the radio when people could call in to air their views. Listening to these conversations would be interesting as we could hear a specific issues being discussed from many angles and perspectives, depending on the background, knowledge and emotional state of the callers. Listening deeply is a very effective way of understanding the audience. Sometimes,  what was not said could also be critical as well. this could be a painful exercise especially when what was said went against our own viewpoints. However, if we would really want to understand others viewpoints and thought, a little patient would help.


How do we convey our angles, perspectives and stories? 


We do this in many ways on a daily basis. When we talk with friends over teh tarik or when we are engaged in heavy discussions during official meetings, we do attempt to influence others through our own angles, perspectives through our stories on the subject being discussed. In societies with high power distance, the views from people with higher standing could be considered differently compared to the rest. This is why we need to have a fairly good idea of how people around the table are thinking. It could prudent to choose when to engage heavily and when to let go. We could not expect all our viewpoints would be received well all the time.





The availability of social network platforms enables us to express ourselves to a wider audience in ways we feel appropriate. In doing so we need to remember one point, everything we write would be recorded permanently. It helps to articulate our our viewpoints using angles, perspectives and stories that we reflect fairly on our personalities.


Remember your angles, perspectives and stories well reflect you as a person and how you would be perceived, rightly or wrongly. 


I would like to acknowledge the presence of my friend Rahim Hamid on blogsphere through his blog As I Was Passing.

Living With New Reality

How many planets are there orbiting the sun? The answer was nine when I was at school. However, to the disappointment of many, the International Astronomical Union decided to drop Pluto from the definition of planet and now we only have eight planets in our Solar system. Astronomers estimate there are around 70,000 similar objects out there.

Now let move to soccer. Fortunately, the Asian Cup will remain in "real Asia" as Japan was crowned the champion when they defeated Australia. Some might be wondering why Australia is competing in an Asian soccer tournament? Too me at least the Australians finally accepted that they are closer to Asia then Europe or the United States and participating in Asian soccer tournament could be the first step to accept that fact.

The two episodes mentioned above are among the indicators that what were accepted as truth in the past may not necessarily be so in the future. There are many reasons for that. Availability of new information and knowledge is one of the drivers. Perhaps this is what Alvin Toffler has been describing as obsoledge, that knowledge becomes obsolete fairly quickly in the era of information and technology.

Would this phenomena affects our live? I'm sure each and every of us are experiencing it in one way or another. Chats over dinner has been transformed from face to face to chats over social media such as Facebook and Twitter. I had met many people who complained about why many of us prefer to communicate with virtual friends rather than real friends in front of them.

Facebook and Twitter did not just change the way we interact among ourselves but have started to move into more high risk territory, the political dimension. I am sure we could remember how Obama won his election and how the Republicans responded by investing in social media in winning more seats in both houses in Washington recently. Social media has moved from enabling information and knowledge sharing into shaping the new reality of how we organise ourselves among relatives, friends and the society at large. I am sure those in Middle East would appreciate this comment deeper.

Where do we go from here?

Some may try to stop a moving train by introducing new obstacles, good luck to them. Some may accept the reality that we have to live with a world where misconducts could be revealed to the world at large quickly. As we have the options to decide which lens to use in observing the new realities around us, being truthful to the facts would enable us to rationally figure out the next steps.

Things will continue to change and the preferred future is when societies are able to live with information overload and able to differentiate between facts, fraud and fantasy. 

MRSM, A Nostalgic Reflection

As the MARA Junior Science College (MRSM) system approaches its 40th year, we have many people, including former students providing views on the system's successes or otherwise. Given the age and time we are now, views are expressed in many ways and forms, especially in communities where agreeing to disagree is no major issue. Unfortunately, there are also communities which are sensitive at every single thing being discussed or written, perhaps afraid of discovering their own weaknesses and shortcomings rather than finding the truth.

In my eyes, the MRSM system is part of the social engineering process in transforming certain segment of our community, particularly Bumiputera. This was very clear during my days at MRSM Kota Bharu where boys and girls from many parts of Malaysia are grouped together and exposed to education in many interesting ways, from my point of view at least. Walking into the dormitory of the campus in Pengkalan Chepa in January 1978 was really an overwhelming experience. There I was, at the tender age of 13, meeting other boys mainly from Kuala Lumpur and Johor. From that day thereon, we grew up together, laughed and cried and experienced the MRSM system based on our own interpretation. We remain very close until today.

My all male batch was the last batch who experienced the privilege of not having to wear specific uniform when going to classes. We were suppose to wear clothes that made us look smart. Boys being boys, we always tested the boundary of the rules, causing irritation to the teachers. Even when the blue, beige and green uniform was introduced during the second year, we were creative in mixing the colors, just to satisfy our young urge to be crazy and naughty. I still remember during our final year when we refused to wear uniform on the anniversary of our registration. Most of us gathered at the school field wearing what we used to wear before the uniform was introduced, a mini-demo of sort.  

There were not many non-Bumiputera students those days. However, we cherish our friendships and I could not recall at point that differences in races was an issue. In fact, the experience taught us of being responsible in dealing with others who come from different race, religion and places. It was more helpful because one of them eventually became the best student in Islamic study in one of the years. He even chose to learn reading the Quran even when other Muslim students slowly escaped from the class through the window at the back. He was one of the best students but he was never selfish to teach some of us when we asked for his help. Unfortunately, he was not offered scholarship to pursue medicine when we left MRSM although he was the best student. We all felt badly about this. Yes, we learnt about the reality of the system. However, the fact that we recognised the shortcomings and suffered together with him reflected that the MRSM system indirectly nurtured us to be able to make sense of the reality of life, something important when we later venture into the real world.





It was interesting when diversity of views were allowed and cherished those days. Whenever there were musical performance (this was when Grease and Saturday Night Fever were the in-thing) at the hall, there would be competing events at the surau. These were purely organised by students and students alone. Beyond that, we remains friends. Unfortunately, when I visited MRSM Kota Bharu in a number of occasions, the musical instruments were locked permanently, perhaps in line of the present main stream thinking. Those days, any views were developed through persuasion, not through execution of power. 



Justice would not be served if the contributions of the teachers are not mentioned here. I believe the key driver of the success of MRSM is the dedication of the teachers who did not treat us as students but more like their own flesh and blood. While they taught us academic stuff in classes, they acted more like facilitators rather than teachers outside the classroom. They allowed us to explore the world using our own ways but were willing to help us to stand on our feet should we fall. Not all of them are Malays. However, I would safely say that all of them, irrespective of their races, did their level best in seeing our groomed to be future leaders of this country. From the deep of my heart I would like to offer million of thanks to them who selflessly gave everything to their "children". Some had passed on and pray that they are placed in the appropriate place in heaven. 





Close to 40 years later, we, the MRSM alumni are everywhere. Some of us are in positions to make significant difference to the country, some are contributing to nation building in their own ways. Definitely most of us have their own world views, not ended up like robots, manufactured by "the system". Any assumption that we blindly accepted what was preached to us when we were small grossly underestimated our intelligence. I am sure some may recall the battle between a MRSM minister and a former MRSM student for the Jeli parliament constituency. Guess who won? I recall an event when some of us were gathered before one general election and were persuaded to vote in a particular direction. A friend of mine from MRSM Kulim stood up and told a minister that even our teachers at MRSM never told which direction to think! We stand by our on views and opinion.


MRSM is not a perfect system, as with other man-made system. However, it provided young Malaysians, mostly from the lower strata of the society to have the opportunity to be leaders of the future. No doubt the system evolved, in line with the evolution of the society. I feel the emphasis on academic and conformity to a particular view is more apparent now then the time when I was a student. When I asked a principal of one of the MRSMs a number of year ago regarding this issue, she explained that this is the demand of the market, the parents. So, we are partly the problem! It would be rare for a system that is developmental in nature to be totally isolated from the influence of the surroundings. MRSM is part of our ecosystem (this is what I learned in my biology class more than 30 years ago) and it will respond to the changes in the ecosystem.


To me, the script is still being played and how this educational system would be eventually judged would surely be based on time and context of the assessment. I would like to believe that the MRSM system overall contributed significantly to nation building, based on its intended objectives. How this system is shaped in the future will be determined by us collectively. We cannot stand passive and argue from the sideline if we feel the system need to be corrected. Some may have more opportunities than other to do this. As the Malay saying says "tepuk dada, tanya selera" or my English version "what is your risk appetite?".