Memories of a Traveler

On Writing from the Heart Written on 2 Jan 2026   I started this journey of putting some thoughts on how I feel about something. Add the push from the people I worked with for five months in 2025. They are a publishing company. Naturally, they implanted this idea of me writing a book. I admit, the idea of writing a book and penning some of the thoughts, has been around for decades. I never actually got around to it. And if I do, I probably muster 2 -3 short write ups, and… that's it. Nothing else. Then, another 2-3 years passed, before another 2-3 write ups.   Why the writer's constipation? Many reasons.   One, the idea of an imposter syndrome will come and overwhelm me. Me questioning and doubting myself.   Two. Sharing your thoughts, borders on making a confession of your sins and faults. As they say, confession is not good for the soul. Especially other people's soul as they read my write ups.   Three. This is probably, the most single factor. What if the boo...

On Being Good Parents Yesterday, 7 Jan 2026, I had the privilege of babysitting my no longer baby, 11 yo and 8 yo grandsons.   While we were stopped at a traffic light, my older grandson noticed a spider on the windshield.   Both boys got excited on seeing a spider. I told my grandsons, that spider is harmless. They looked at me like I am an arachnologist. They asked me, "how do I know it is harmless?". I told them, that when I was at their age, my friends and I would go inside some bushes somewhere, and catch spiders. We would keep them in matchboxes. Later we would put them in another bigger box with another spider to see them fight to the death. Note: Children, DO NOT do this. It is cruel and wrong.   If you have children growing up in the urban areas, you will noticed, our children are not so exposed to seeing bugs and even some plants.   We live in a hygienic, sanitary, antiseptic sterile world. More so, since the COVID19 epidemic of 2020. We still have sanitize...

On Go West…  life is peaceful there   (Go west) in the open air (Go west) where the skies are blue (Go west) this is what we're gonna do Go west, this is what we're gonna do Go west   I was listening to Spotify this morning with my almost 2-year-old grandson. Since it was raining, we could only play around under covered driveway. I was putting on some 80s and 90s dancing disco beat songs. My grandson was prancing around listening to the songs. Yes, grandad is brainwashing grandson for some oldies songs.   Then this song came on. Go West by Pet Shop Boys. It is a remake of the 1979 version by Village People, with a slight twist to the lyrics.   When I heard the song, either by Village People or Pet Shop Boys, back then, it reminded me of my lessons in American Literature back in US. Go west is a retelling of the glorified American history and folklore called Manifest Destiny.  The term was coined in 1845 by a journalist named John O'Sullivan. It describ...

On About Faith and Letting Go Written on 31 Dec 2025 I was flipping through the Quran and I perchance stopped at Surat Al-Qasas, Chapter 28, and read from verses 1-13. Specifically focusing on verses 7 - 13. What’s interesting is, yesterday, I uploaded a post to LinkedIn titled, On Time to let go and Move on. Interesting how what we thought would be an interesting coincidence, yet, a Muslims, we believe, there is no such things as, coincidence, that I came across these verses. This is the lesson for me. I am paraphrasing and summarising these verses. Imagine under the threat of your son being killed by a merciless tyrant, you had no choice but felt that the best thing to do is to put your son in a basket and float it down river. Later having mixed feelings as you see him being cared for by the wife of the tyrant. You felt relief because your son only wanted to suckle you and no one else. You are finally together with your son. The irony is, it is under the safety of the house of th...

On time to let go and move on   As the year ends and with that, the first half of the second decade of the second millennium has ended.   Back in August 2024, The law of the land says, I have to retire from the workforce. Hang up my spurs. Sit on the porch. Have coffee. Watch the sunset as I see myself go off to the sunset.   Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to retire. I wasn't ready to let go. "I have so many things to do. I have so much to contribute." That's what I told myself.   I kept in contact with some of the people at work. Nothing ominous I tell myself. Simple and friendly like, how are you? How's work? Etc.   It is not simple. It was my way of wanting to know if the company I retired from has burned to ashes. Sinked like the Titanic. Telling myself, that's what happened when I was retired and I am not around to save the company.   This goes on for months. To my disappointment, the company is still around. Nobody died. Nothin...

On Deviant Practices of Islam I do not claim to know the intricacies and the legalities of what, why and how Deviant Practices of Islam is rampant and having staunch followers. I am merely a curious bystander. As a curious by stander, I need to start somewhere. I decided to use GenAI to help me with the initial information. My curiosity stemmed from my own experience observing others, and reading articles and watching videos. I guess my curiosity got the better of me. Below is my initial research with GEMINI. Hi Gemini (as in the Gen AI). Morning. I am interested to know, why, in the eyes of traditional Islam, why so many people are attracted to and practicing that are considered deviant Islamic teachings? Thanks Good morning. That's a thoughtful and important question. In the view of traditional or orthodox Islam, the attraction to and practice of teachings considered "deviant" or heterodox (often termed bid'ah or ajaran sesat) is generally attributed to...

  On Reflection and Inclination A few weeks ago, I was at the wedding reception of my cousin’s son. Met some relatives, whom I have not met in a while. One in particular was sitting next to me. We sort of grew up together. She is one year older than me. Hence, it is natural to be close. Back then, during the school holidays, my parents would take my siblings and I to her parents’ house. Her dad is my mum’s elder brother. Back then, their house overlooked acres of paddy fields. I did some work in the paddy fields, even though I was still in primary school. I learned a lot about growing paddy. We wanted to do some tap the rubber trees. My Mak Lang wouldn’t hear that. My cousin and I did a lot of catching up. We talked about, her parents, my parents, kids, grandkids, and knowing I am retiring soon, she asked me a question, that no one has ever asked me before. She asked me, of all the places I worked at, and the things I have done, which place that I consider the best place I have...

" For centuries, older people have romanticized their youths, and insisted that things ain't what they used to be .", Hans Rosling, Factfulness , 2018, pg65. Past 2-3 weeks, I have decided to go back to my old routine of doing some readings in my SOHO every night. Well, most weeknights. I was doing quite a lot of reading and writing when I was doing my Masters. Now that I have completed and graduated, I, unfortunately, fell into some bad habits.  Starting over, well, it felt good, reading, watching thought provoking talks in the internet, or listening to great conversations in the podcasts. I realize those bad habits of mine, are really bad habits.  It felt good to be mentally and emotionally challenged. It felt good, when you read about something, or hear about something, you start to feel strongly, about something. Feeling angry about things that go wrong. Feeling elated about things that go right. Not feeling about anything, is just not acceptable. Coming to this routi...

I have been in L&D past 30 years, in some form or another. I have also been an L&D consultant. Being both sides of the field, I have made plenty of mistakes. One of the things I want to share here is the way L&D consultants approach companies, with the intent to help the companies. Noble in intent, but sometimes that intent backfire. I was fortunate, when I approached them as a L&D consultant, they commented on my approach. Some are polite, some are loud. I learned nonetheless.  Never approach a company without doing extensive homework. A few months ago, I received a solution to remedy challenges for an oil & gas business. They company I swork with, was never near the oil & gas spectrum Talk about being off-base. I have met many companies who approached me asking me to divulge all our company problems to them, so that they can develop solutions. Sorry, it doesn't work that way either. I have met some consultants, who did their homework. They not only know ou...

Year 2020, with pun intended, gave us a perfect vision via the lenses of COVID19.  We saw many things. We saw the damages and horor of the things we did to Mother Earth. Gave us the sights to see that pain She has been enduring. There were leaders that we enamored and praised for their charm, charisma and flamboyance. Then we were given the sight and vision to see right through them. How empty and shallow they are. How protecting themselves became paramount and without shame, begged for charity from the very country they previously shunned. We were blinded by the glitter of things and materials. Then we were given the sight that these things were made by hurting Mother Earth.  Our desires for extravagance and luxury were turned to necessity. Then we were given the sight the horror of our ways. Year 2020 is a year that gave us the lenses for us to see what were truly are, greedy, destructive, self centered, egotistical. We also saw the error of our ways. And we learned we needed to chan...

I learrd this when I was in this military high school at 16 years old. For the next two years and eight months, I learned, among my officers and NCO instructors, who among them are tough, and who are just mean. And you can tell. Sometimes not right away. But as you get to know them, it is very apparent. I carried that lesson with me till today. I have had bosses who tells me they are just being tough, but actually they are downright mean. And I have had bosses who are just like some of my instructors, tough and loud on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside. It is the mean ones that really get to you. Worse, they think they are doing justice to you. They think they are helping you. They think they are toughening you up. I liken them to abusive parents, or abusive spouses. And these bosses couldn't understand why I don't like them. I think somewhere along the way they lost the meaning of tough and mean. But I also learned that these mean people lacked the compassion and lo...

I am in the LRT. Standing next to me are three Form 1/2 kids. One chinese boy. One indian boy. And I think, one malay boy. Sharing ice cream. Using the same one spoon. Sharing drinks, from the same one bottle. I think they are color blind. I don't think they know they are from different races. Better yet. I don't think they care. To them, what is important is, they are friends. Why is there so many adults tainting their friendship? I do hope, their friendship will outlast any form of prejudice. Kudos kids. Well done.

Got this picture from a local newspaper reporting on the hundreds of thousands of 17 year old taking the Malaysian high school exam, SPM, which started on Monday, 3 Nov. Looking at this picture, I am humbled and even ashamed at myself. I think I am only one tenth of this boy. His courage, his determination, sets him apart from many of us. Me included. For you, young man, I pray for your success. And I am sure you will. And better than most of us.

Watching this view from the Ampang Line Masjid Jamek LRT station at 0715 hours, Nov 5, 2014. Some quesy warm nostalgic thingy feeling came over me as I watched the street below me. Maybe because for almost 6 years I walked that street to go to work at KLSE, from 1998 till 2004. Or that my late father used to work at a legal firm down the road till the day he died. Or I last saw him, he was having breakfast at this kedai mamak, also at the end of this road, as I walked to work. I sat with him for a few minutes as he finished his breakfast. I didn't see him anymore after that. Or is it the smell of breakfast that envelopes the air. Cakes and nasi lemak and what have you. Or the twilight time between waking up and bustling of the day. Or I am just being nostalgic and emotional. Whatever, I thank God for the opportunity for me to savor that moment. I managed to stop and smell the "roses".

Just searched the Net. Nothing on this. So, I call dips on this term. The idea is building your leadership with a purpose. Not a general type. Specific based on who and what you are, and what kibd of a leader you want to be. To do that, there is a need to build a strong foundation. Like constructing a building, the foundation is built based on the purpose. Same thing with leadership. Will write more. I have to trademarked this term, Purpose Built Leadership for my leadership program.

Salaam and Greetings All,   I have been in involved in some form of leadership development either formally, informally or by self-reflection (usually after you fall flat on your face), or being developed or developing others, since I was 16 years old. Back in this school called Royal Military College. Had more when I joined the Malaysian Army. And it continues in the corporate life till today. More so as I move into Independent Consulting for Leadership and Learning Development.   The thing that struck me most is that, despite the long hours, sometimes harsh, sometimes loud, including some expensive development programs, we still somehow get people who missed the idea, or concept, or the basic fundamentals (yes I am being redundant), to what it means to be a leader.  Added to that, what is leadership development that makes sense.   " Modern organizations with good strategic plans include very prescriptive language about how they differentiate themselves i...

Salaam and Greetings All,   I forward this message from my brother in law. He owns and runs Noripharma. Sad to say, he has been targeted for a smear campaign tactic. Not sure who does it. And why.   But, I feel sad this actually happens.   Yes, there are a small fraction of people who are so fixated in wanting to look good, by making others look bad. However, this small group of people, can do a lot of damage.   If you guys can keep a look out on this, I do appreciate it.     From:  Reza Ismail Sent:  ‎Friday‎, ‎22‎ ‎August‎, ‎2014 ‎06‎:‎22   Guys, There was a product complaint on one of my products (UTIX). I need your help to generate positive comments in favour of Noripharma and the product in question. If you read the article accessible via the attached link you will notice that no formal complaint has been made through any of the many formal channels available. This leads me to believe that the previous contract holder with the product U-...

Salaam and Greetings All,   We are already two weeks into the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebration. One would think, the excitement has dwindled. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong. The traffic over the weekend was really bad. And the “Open Houses” was probably the cause of people travelling to go to these open houses. CHeckingmy Twitter account for traffic updates tells me, there are still pockets of traffic congestion here and there. I am truly sorry if you are caught in it, when you read this email in the morning.   Personally, the term “Open Houses” in itself is an oxymoron. You have to be invited to go. So, what does the “open” actually mean?   As for Bad Leadership. I have always have problems with it. I ended explaining it in paragraphs, when one word would do, OXYMORON.   To think I studied literature, and read Shakespeare, I would be familiar with that term. Unfortunately, the Law of Diminishing Effect, or “Half Life” does affect knowledge and memory. Especially...

Salaam and Greetings All, Hope this message gets to you well. Covey believes, the speed of the business is in tandem with the speed of trust is developed. My previous article talks about Walking the Talk, or better yet, just Walk the Walk. I truly believe, Walk the Walk, or Walk the Walk is a major step towars building trust. A friend highlighted that if we walk too much, our employees tend to be too dependent on us. I agree with him. Especially if we are talking about walking to help them do their jobs. Or worse, actually do their jobs. I am not talking about this. I am talking about providing support. Being there for them. Giving a word or two, to motivate them. To inspire them. To guide them back if they have gone astray. To set an example for them to emulate, like punctuality, honesty, transparency, integrity, well groomed, clean, "do as I do", you get the idea. I am sure you have experienced the type of bosses who reprimands you for being late. Yet, she comes in late pra...

Salaam and Greetings All,   Hope this message gets to you well. Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir dan Batin. It was a good Raya for me. Not to hectic. Enough to keep things going and interesting. Interesting because managed to visit and have a lively chat with a few of my late in-laws' friends. Retired Army officers. Retired Police officers. Retired civil servants. Retired corporate senior management. Somehow in the course of our conversation, we ended up talking about the state of leadership, especially in organizations. Maybe due my profession in Leadership Development that the conversations invariably ended there.  Of the half a dozen or so I talked to, they all had something in common. Leaders of today are not the same as the leaders of yester-years. Leaders of today, yes, they are more eloquent, and they know a lot more than their  predecessors . Yet, one thing these retired people agreed upon, the leaders of yester-years speak from the heart, and they walk the talk. ...