Born in Kedah. Studied at Alam Shah, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and King's College, University of London. Previously, acted as Head, Dept of Psychiatry, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Currently, works as Professor of Psychiatry at Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah International Islamic University, Kedah. Married and blessed with 4 grown-up children.
1. I inherit the attitude of hard work from my dad. But I doubt it goes well with my children or not😁😁😁. My dad used to carry tons of ‘guni padi’ over his shoulder to load into a lorry, by climbing on a piece of sliding wood arranged like a sliding straight wooden ladder. I witnessed how tough life was when I was small.
2. When I worked as a houseman, I spent hours in the ward without knowing what time I was supposed to go back. I went home only when the work finished, only to realize that the time passed normal working hours for ordinary civil servants who work in the same hospital. Therefore, I didn’t remember to clock in and out as the duties were limitless.
3. The present generations are complaining that they have no life working in the hospital. They require many other ‘life’ such as life by the seaside, life in the cinema, life in the shopping mall and to time to ‘balik kampong’.
4. What’s the point of having a good pay if you can’t enjoy the hard-earning money? What’s the point of having a good car if you can’t travel? they asked.
5. Time has changed. Good per capita incomes have definitely change the philosophy of work and life. Altruism may not be the sole objective of voluntary commitment anymore. Rewards are needed.
6. Having said that, I still believe in the balance of hard work and reward philosophy as the way forward to motive human behaviors. No time should be wasted on futile hard work. At the same time, life has to be spent wisely and one has to live a balanced life.
1. Consequences of adoption are difficult to manage, really. Kids are sensitive creatures. To disclose that they are adopted; is tough. It is a matter of when and how.
2. Once they know, to contain the emotional reactions is really a challenging task.
3. Next, is for the adoptive parent to maintain the kid inquisition about who is his/her biological parent and to explore more about the whereabouts. Wrong approaches will invite rebellious actions and reactions.
4. Adoptive parents have difficulty to impose strict disciplines because they are scared the kids may run away from home. The kids then give unrealistic demands which are difficult to realize. They may act the opposite to normal, well-accepted behaviors. In my case, I call it, oppositional defiant behaviors.
5. The most important step for me is to establish depression. Treatment is necessary. Cognitive-behaviour is a far better approach that drugs because the kid’s mind is flexible and highly absorbable to suggestions than to chemical substances. In scientific term, the flexibility is known as neuroplasticity.
6. Parents have to be very patient. They have to make sure that their families are intact whatever happened. Consultative decision-making is a must. No unilateral decision making is allowed. Stick to the family role. Avoid role reversal, just in order to satisfy the demand of a particular stakeholder. Revert every one attention back to the family fundamentals of respect, care, and compassion.
Wish them all the best.
..my students: what it’s like to participate in the white coat ceremony?
1. Life has endless challenges. Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of life. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.” (Carlos Castaneda)
2. She is just a 15-year old kid (fictional) who had been accused of delivering hatred via IG. Her IG’s screenshot has been circulated from discipline teacher to athlete coach to HM.
3. Poor to response when subtle bully appears which she realized when it is too late and unbearable. Overreacting leads her to curse the bully with foul languages and the latter seize the opportunity by screenshot the IG and reports to a discipline teacher. The system discredits her than the bully when people trust pieces of evidence more than her statements.
4. She felt mom didn’t love her since mom seldom shows much affection like what she had been showing to the younger kids. Dad is away for many years, a weekend’s father.
5. Her grandmother whom she used to consult whenever she had relationship problem at school had moved and stayed with her aunt a few years back.
6. Back from school, she was left alone. No one to talk to.
7. Her main worry is: in case she will be forbidden from taking part in sport, the only area she is good at.
8. Loneliness in kids is a real issue. Depression (in kids) manifests mainly as oppositional defiant behavior. This kid is vulnerable since she has undergone transient attachment without a secure attachment figure. The system which failed to protect the weakest perpetuates hopelessness.
9. Gives the family a chance. Time to correct and you will never regret.
1. We are still in the process of organizing ourselves. Day in, day out, the thinking is on how to run a strategic organization in order to achieve its objective of a profitable, recognizable organization.
2. There are several traps of moving forward. One of those is the dependency on yesterday’s business model. The new business model needs to let go exclusiveness and accept openness. The dynamic of the new business model is on the concept of open allure to everyone to assist in the development and further progress. A synergistic concept doesn’t mean that we have to forget the basic principle to believe on our own people!
3. The new business model has to avoid being too complex that ignore core business process simply for profit or acknowledgment. In the end, the final result is to develop a sustainable organization for the future which is balanced and well-rounded. In doing so, we have to focus on the critical key success factors and avoid too much dependency on the past success if there are any.
4. At the same time, we have to keep and sustain the evoke desire and affiliation for change and the acquisitive desire has to be taken to the next level.
5. A proactive leadership has to move as a team to reset the strategic plan and decision.
1. Transformation is a process that requires commitment and energy. Breaking the notorious cycle that retards development is challenging as it often brings hostility, dispute, and disagreement.
2. Execution begins with an attitude change. Attitude is a multiplication of resistance and skills. The higher the resistance, the poorer the attitude. Resistance has to be fought with the education provided via explanation, clarification, and disclosure. Time and again, people change when they know and understand. A few who know, apprehend and cognize but never change have flourished to core resistance.
3. Personality is a sum total of motivation, affect, temperament and intelligence. While temperament is the fundamental basis of personality that hardly can be modified, motivation and affect are highly modifiable with knowledge and experience. The higher the intelligence, the simpler, the process of personal transformation.
4. Bringing innovation to the system requires a multitude of transformational efforts that have to be put together with the myriad of creative forces. The real challenge is for one to be sure that the changes are good for all before he can convince the others. Group motivation is helpful since through friendship can we create the ‘illusion’ for the moment that we are not alone. Hopefully, it is not just an illusion but a fact and reality.
5. Self- and group-interest has to be set aside. An organization has to prioritize the company interest at the expanse of individuals self-interest. Though Adam Smith is very explicit about self-interest, like what had been written in his book, ‘The Wealth of Nations’:
“It is not from the benevolence (kindness) of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
Life has proven him wrong. Some behaviors are not made to suit Adam Smith’s legitimate self-interest theory. Some illegitimate behaviors are expressed in the form of deceit, coercion, and violence; seeking own benefit, enrich oneself at the expense of those around them. This type of self-interest is usually condemned and disapproved.
6. Managing the dynamic of change is crucial. In the process of change, sabotage of various kinds such as withholding information, taking a position of passive resistance, morale-crushing hallway conversations may hold up progress.
7. Jerry Jellison’s described 5 stage theory on the dynamic of change, namely:
Stage 1. Static Quo: Staff develops fear, anger, and self-doubt. The consequences at the first stage are the loss of job and financial loss.
Stage 2. Taking the Plunge: Action taken at this stage is panic and escape mechanism.
Stage 3. Bottoming out; This stage of discouragement is followed by relief after corrective measures are taken.
Stage 4. Going confidence: This is manifested by a feeling of pleasure and self-confidence.
Stage 5. Mastery is when people are feeling joyful and develop a sense of renewal following the successful turnover or recovery.
8. In order to manage change, staffs need to be told to:
– understand goal/vision/mission of transformation agenda
– recognize the necessity of change
– acknowledge challenges
– show irrevocable commitment
– layout a strategic plan for their unit and organization
– promise support and
– express their confidence
9. Managers have to communicate the specific action to the ground staffs, lay down the front-loading benefit and embark on simple, direct path – he must remove the barriers and obstructions as well as provide his personal assistance.
1. We don’t need a new law to counter fake news. Anything new is subjected to be abused. Look at when the telegram was first invented, remember when e-mail was first introduced, people spread all kinds of lies through them. But, when newer media becomes famous and popular, people forget the old and abuse the new one. Knowing the trend, then why need the new law? I strongly believe, the abuse vanishes with time.
2. As good as teaching people not to spread fake news, public education on the need for proper, thorough vetting on the ‘authentic’ news is equally important. ‘Authentic’ fake news can be spread by the most reliable sources too. The news may be true but the perspective of reporting may be totally biased and one-sided. The jaundiced views are in actual fact that need to be fought off because they shape the misinformed court of public opinion.
..the misinformedcourtof publicopinionisthe real threattodemocracy
3. When media are controlled, public are restricted to voice out their opinion. Engagement failure is a disaster for the government to rule. The democracy faces the enemy within namely poor feedback mechanism.
4. If we were to take the resemblance of a community to a family, head of the family plays a vital role to show an exemplary model of delivering the authentic news. Children often will just follow suit. Current laws and acts are adequate to contain the extent of fake news.
5. I am not a lawmaker, I am just an ordinary rakyat somewhere, at some point in Malaysia.
Top three of Bloom’s Taxonomy will definitely eliminate Fake News
1. We had a kenduri to celebrate the completion of MQA document preparation and successful submission. The occasion was significant to signify the new era of unification and cooperation.
2. We have gone a long way. We divide ourselves along political ideology and religious sensibility. We have different opinion and strategy. That makes life complex and esprit de corp disintegrate. Now is the time to move on. It requires determination, courage and political will. Imagine a world without hate. The world full of mercy and forgiveness.
3. The next move is to make the plan a reality. The road is long and winding. Perseverance as always.
4. Next stage is always challenging. Time to ponder the best interest of the institution, people, and stakeholders.
8. In order to manage change, staffs need to be told to:
