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~

***