Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational Citizenship Behavior or OCB define as individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and in the agregate promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization.

~Organ, Podsakoff, Mackenzie, 2006~

Discretionary means specific behavior in a specific context is not an absolute requirements of the job description (i.e., the literal or specificiable terms of the person's employment contract with the organization). Rather, the behavior involves some degree of personal choice, such that the person wil not be punished if he or she choose not to engage in the bahavior.

The last part of OCB requires that in the aggregate promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization. Most OCB actions, taken singly, would not make a dent in the overall performance of an organization; but summing across time for a single person and across persons in group will enhance effectiveness.

*By Prof. Dr. Wan Rafaei Abdul Rahman, Department of Psychology, IIUM. Keynote speaker for 5th seminar of psychology and human development, FSSK, UKM on 23 December 2008.

Dualism in Education

Dualism in education as one in which two mutually independent systems upholding mutually exclusive and possibly contradictory educational philosophies operate simultaneously.
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~Rosnani~

Secularism

Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable.

And this definition is given based on the following three essential principles :
1. The improvement of this life is by material means.
2. That science is the available providence of man.
3. That it is good to do good. Whether there be other good or not, the good of the present life is good, and it is good to seek that good.

~George Jacob Holyoake, the originator of the term “secularism”, in English Secularism ~

Secularism is a variety of utilitarian social ethic which seeks human improvement without reference to religion and exclusively by means of human reason, science and social organization. It has developed into a positive and widely adopted outlook which aims to direct all activities and institutions by a non-religious concern for the goods of the present life and for social well-being.

~Virgilius Ferm in Encyclopedia of Religion~

Greetings to the Continent

Greetings to the Continent

I

They separate us

the passports visas frontiers all names for barriers

they rob us with their laws

sending bullets wrapped in dollars

forcing us to choose

and choose we must

there is no other way

II

Friend, you have chosen guns and bullets

many leaders prefer their dollars

for this you must soak your clothes

red grass, red river

children’s weeping

the blood of the exploited

III

You squeeze cactus and grind stones

to make food and drink

girls toil decorated in dust

little children sling on their weapons

you darken the sky with exploding pipelines

others sing in prisons

for the freedom of Palestine

IV

We strive in drying rice fields

daring peasants have begun to clear the virgin jungle

small beginnings in a cloudlike calmness

a calmness that nips us in the bud

we the few are still learning

from all your experiences,

and our own

we shall consolidate the May eclipse

at the true targetof this archipelago

V

Greetings

without visa

passport

golf

colour

to humanity,

people,

of all continents.

~Usman Awang, 1970~

(Translated by Muhammed Hj Salleh)

The New Function of Higher Learning Institution

The institutions of higher learning today function as brokers for their two clients:
on the one hand ensuring the supply of manpower with the necessary skills to the market,
and on the other teaching the students marketable skills to assure them of high standards of living.


~Yedullah Kazmi~

Live a Life That Matter

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;

not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.

It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

~Unknown~

Beggarly Heart

When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder

~Rabindranath Tagore~

Exclusive Devotion

O Muzammil (folded in garments- one of the nick names of the Prophet Muhammad).

Stand in prayers at night, but not the whole night, half of it or little less, or a little more; and recite the Quran with measured tone. Soon We are going to send you a weighty message.

Surely, the getting up at night for prayer is most effective for controlling the self and most suitable for understanding the Word of Allah (the Quran) as well, because during the day you are hard pressured with worldly affairs.

Remember the name of your Rabb and devote yourself to Him exclusively.

~Quran, Surah al Muzzammil, 73: 1-9~

Travel and Think

O believers! If you help the cause of Allah, He will help you and establish your feet firmly.

As for the unbelievers, they shall be consigned to perdition, and He will bring their deeds to nothing. That is because they hate the revelations of Allah; therefore they rendered their deeds fruitless.

Have they not traveled through the land and seen what was the end of those who have gone before them? Allah destroyed them utterly and a similar fate awaits these unbelievers. This is because Allah is the protector of the believers while the unbelievers have no protector.

~Surah Muhammad, 47: 7-11 ~

Social Intelligent

O beleivers!

Let no men laugh at other men who may perhaps be better than themselves; and let no woman laugh at another women, who may perhaps be better than herself.

Do not defame through sarcastic remarks about one another, nor call one another by offensive nicknames. It is an evil thing to be called by a bad name after being a believer, and those who are not repent are the ones who are the wrongdoers.

O beleivers!

Avoid immoderate suspicion, for, in some cases, suspicion is a sin.

Do not spy an one another, nor backbite one another ( to say something about one another behinds one back that if one hears it, dislikes it).

Would any of you like to eat the flesh his dead brother? Surely, you would abhore it.

Fear Allah, for Allah is the Accepter of repentance, Merciful.

~Al-Hujurat, 49: 11-12~

Pure Charity

The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah, is that of a grain that sprouts into seven ears, each bearing one hundred grains.

Allah gives manifold increase to whom he wishes. He wishes. Allah has boundless knowledge. Those who spend their wealth in the cause of Allah and do not follow their charity with reminders of their generosity or injure the feeling of the recipient shall get their reward from their Rabb; they shall have nothing to fear or to grieve.

Kind words and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury.

Allah is Self-sufficient, Forbearing.

~Al-Baqarah, 2: 261-263~

The One

“The One remains, the many change and pass,
Heaven’s light for ever shines, earth‘s shadow fly.
Life, like a dome of many colored glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity,
Until death crushes it to fragments”

~Shelly~

Living Creatively

Living creatively means being sensitive to seeds of dissatisfaction, and willing to nurture with patient interest and attention

~Guy Claxton & Bill Lucas, The Creative Thinking Plan~

Mechanism of Understanding

Every understanding requires pre-understanding. The understanding develop by extracting the meaning from society. It is what we call as 'structural meaning' or 'meaning system'. Family is the starting point of 'structural meaning'. Everyone might have same 'structural meaning', but not identical. The meaning is various, based on our 'situated' in society. To understand better, we must have flexible 'structural meaning'. If the structural meaning is rigid, we cannot get better understanding.

~Yedullah Kazmi~

*notes on Avanced History and Philosophy of Islamic Education, Dr. Yedullah Kazmi, UIAM

Precious Moment

Being a student is one of the most precious moment in our life.

Good Health Habits

A dramatic illustration of the importance of good health habits in maintaining good health is provided by a classic study of people leaving in Alameda County, California, conducted by Belloc and Breslow (1972). These scientists began by defining seven important good health habits:

• Sleeping 7-8 hours night


• Not smoking


• Eating breakfast each day


• Having no more than once or two alcoholic drinks each day


• Getting regular exercise


• Not eating between meals


• being no more than 10% overweight

~ Shelly E. Taylor~

*Taylor, S. E. 2003. Health psychology, fifth edition, Boston: McGraw Hill

Positive Thinking

When people start talking about you, they care about you.

But, when people stop talking about you, they might be boredom or frustrated with you.

Ten Basic Principles of Good Parenting

1. What you do matters

2. You cannot be too loving

3. Be involved in your child's life

4. Adapt your parenting to fit your child

5. Establish rules and set limits

6. Help foster your child's independence

7. Be consistent

8. Avoid harsh discipline

9. Explain your rules and decisions

10.Treat your child with respect

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~Laurence Steinberg~

Refference:

Steinberg, L. 2004. The basic principles of good parenting. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks

Good Word

Do you not see how Allah gave the example of comparing a good word with a good tree, whose roots are firm and its branches are in the sky? It yields its fruits in every season by Allah's leave. Allah cites these examples for men so they may learn lesson from them. But the example of an evil word is that of an evil tree which is torn out from the earth and has no stability...

~ Surah Ibrahim, 24-27 ~

*Al-Qura'an, 1997. English Translation of the Meaning of Al-Qur'an: The Guidance for Mankind, Translated by Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Mallik, Texas: The Institute of Islamic Knowledge

Mother vs Children

Mothers are considered as the primary caregivers and thus one of the most influential persons in the life of their children either in this life and the hereafter. Mothers determine the happiness of their children. Every single step that mothers take to educate and raise their children contribute to the well-being of their children.

~Siti Aishah Hassan et. Al, 2005~

*Refference:

Siti Aishah Hassan, Abdullah Seif Abdullah, Hasan Langgulung & Noriah Ishak, 2005. Fostering mother-child relationship via creator-creature relationship: A structural equation modelling analysis, Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, (19), p69-82.

Diploma Syndrome

"Today, our universities is only teach career. For example, if a student learns to become engineer, he will not be taught the broader function of education and the aim of becoming an engineer. These students should be educated to think intellectually the purpose of becoming an engineer, how should he contribute as a good citizen, and how could he help the nation in uplifting the quality of life."

~Prof. Syed Husein Alatas~

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*Syed Husein Alatas in Mohamad Zahir Zainuddin, 2003. Empowering education in Malaysia: Continuing the tradition of excellence, Malaysian journal of social policy and society, (3) p136

In The Most Courteous Manner

Call people to the Way of your Rabb with wisdom and best advice, and reason with them, if you have to, in the most courteous manner: for your Rabb knows best who strays from His Way and He knows best who is rightly guided.

~An-Nahl, 125~

*Al-Qura'an, 1997. English Translation of the Meaning of Al-Qur'an: The Guidance for Mankind, Translated by Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Mallik, Texas: The Institute of Islamic Knowledge

Yin & Yang

"Our progress, then, has been largely a rational and intellectual affair, and this one-sided evolution has now reached a highly alarming stage, a situation so paraxidocal that is borders insanity.

We can control the soft landings of space craft on distance planets, but we are unable to control the polluting fumes emanating from our cars and factories.

We propose Utopian communities in gigantic space colonies, but (we) cannot manage our cities...

Those are the results of overemphasizing our 'yang', or masculine side - rational knowledge, analysis, expansion - and neglecting our 'ying', or feminine side - intuitive, wisdom, synthesis, and ecological awareness "

~Fritjof Capra, 1982~

**From Prof. Dr. Mohd Yusof Othman during his lecture on "Human Capital as a Nation Building Factor", National Counselling Workshop, UKM

Family Tragedy: Divorce

Although divorce has increased for all socioeconomic groups, those in disadvantaged groups have a higher incidence of divorce. Youthful marriage, low educational level, low income, not having religious affliction, having parents who are divorced, and having a baby before marriage are associated with increases in divorce

~Popenoe & Whitehead ~

If a divorce is going to occur, it usually takes places early in a marriage; most occur in the fifth to tenth year of marriage

~National Center for Health Statistics in Santrock (2008) ~

Refferences:

Popenoe, D. & Whitehead, B. D., 2005. The state of our unions: 2005. Pistacaway, NJ: the national Marriage Project, Rutgers University.

Santrock, J. W., 2008. Life span development, 11th edition, Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education.

SEBUMI 2008

The Internationalization of Malay

Nutritional Problem among Adolescents

The following specific practices and beleifs commonly caused nutritional problems in the adolescents surveyed:

1. The skipping of one or more meals a day


2. Inappropriate choices of snack foods


3. Lack of supervision in food choices made away from home


4. Fear of obesity, especially among girls


5. Concern that certain foods would aggravate acne


6. Lack of time to consume regular meals


7. Lack of companionship when consuming meals


8. Drinking no milk (perhaps as a rebellion against parental influence)


9. Beginning to consume alcohol

Refference:

Guthrie, H. A. & Picciano, M. F., 1995. Human nutrition. Mosby: St.Louis (p.586-587).

Nutrition

Nutrition is the science of food, the nutrients, and the other substances within food; their action, interaction, and balance in relation to health and desease; and the processes by which the the organism ingests, absorbs, transports, uses, and excretes food subtances.

~Helen A.Guthrie & Mary Frances Picciano~

Refference:

Guthrie, H. A. & Picciano, M. F., 1995. Human nutrition. Mosby: St.Louis

Leadership

Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, The Prime Minister of Malaysia

Blessed is the leader who seeks the best for those he serves.

~Unknown~

Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.

~Peter F. Drucker~

Leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him....But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves.

~Lao Tzu~

An army of a thousand is easy to find, but, ah, how difficult to find a general.

~Lao Tzu~

Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

~Chinese proverb

Leadership is action, not position

~Donald H. McGannon~

The main characteristics of effective leadership are intelligence, integrity, mystique, humor, discipline, courage, self sufficieny and confidence.

~James L. Fisher~

A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves

~Unkown~

Family Happiness

We never know the love of our parents until we have become parents

~Henry Ward Beecher, American Clergyman, 19th Century~

Unlike most approaches to helping couples, mine is based on knowing what makes marrieges succeed rather than failed.

~John Gottman, Contemporary psychologist, University of Washington~

Understanding the other's ways of talking is a giant leap across the communication gap between women and men, and a giant step toward opening lines of communication.

~Deborah Tanney, Georgetown University~

The Power of Positive Thinking

Why Think Positively?

All of our feelings, beliefs and knowledge are based on our internal thoughts, both conscious and subconscious. We are in control, whether we know it or not.

Aim high and do your best

We can be positive or negative, enthusiastic or dull, active or passive. The biggest difference between people is their attitudes. For some, learning is enjoyable and exciting. For others, learning is a drudgery. For many, learning is just okay, something required on the road to a job. "Most folks are about as happy as theymake up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln

Our present attitudes are habits, built from the feedback of parents, friends, society and self, that form our self-image and our world-image. These attitudes are maintained by the inner conversations we constantly have with ourselves, both consciously and subconsciously. The first step in changing our attitudes is to change our inner conversations.

What Should We Be Saying? One approach is called the three C's: Commitment, Control and Challenge.

Commitment

Make a positive commitment to yourself, to learning, work, family, friends, nature, and other worthwhile causes. Praise yourself and others. Dream of success. Be enthusiastic.

Control

Keep your mind focused on important things. Set goals and priorities for what you think and do. Visualize to practice your actions. Develop a strategy for dealing with problems. Learn to relax. Enjoy successes. Be honest with yourself.

Challenge

Be courageous. Change and improve each day. Do your best and don't look back. See learning and change as opportunities. Try new things. Consider several options. Meet new people. Ask lots of questions. Keep track of your mental and physical health. Be optimistic. Studies show that people with these characteristics are winners in good times and survivors in hard times. Research shows that,"... people who begin consciously to modify their inner conversations and assumptions report an almost immediate improvement in their performance. Their energy increases and things seem to go better ..." Commitment, control and challenge help build self-esteem and promote positive thinking. Here are some other suggestions.

7 Suggestions for Building Positive Attitudes

1. 
   
   In every class, look for positive people to associate with.


2. 
   
   In every lecture, look for one more interesting idea.


3. 
   
   In every chapter, find one more concept important to you.


4. 
   
   With every friend, explain a new idea you've just learned.


5. 
   
   With every teacher, ask a question.


6. 
   
   With yourself, keep a list of your goals, positive thoughts and actions.


7. 
   
   Remember, you are what you think, you feel what you want.

Source: Donald Martin in The Power of Positive Thinking

Peaceful Moment

9.30 am ... 16th January 2008

Creativity

'Salam Maal Hijrah 1429'

May Allah bless us forever

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.

~Buckminster Fuller~

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

~Pablo Picasco~

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

~Arthur Koestler~

***