Sunday, May 9, 2010

Commentary on happenings ...

1. 15 year old's death in Shah Alam

By now, no one in Malaysia would say that they have not heard about the tragic shooting by the police, of the 15 year old in Shah Alam on the 26th of April, 2010. For me, as much as I recognize that the young lad broke a law, the police broke a greater law - they took the life of another human being under very strange circumstances. The onus was clearly on them, based on their training, to be more competent in identifying serious intention to harm, or to retaliate, or armed and dangerous, on the side of the two 15 year olds.

2. Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat is slowly, but surely, unravelling - thanks to PKR! And should it surprise us? Of course, not! How could UMNO turn-coats surprise us? Kapar MP is on the verge of revealing that the same old politics of patronism, croneyism and of course, corruption, is alive and well in Selangor under PR leadership.
When will our leaders ever learn?

The only principle which will stand the test of time, people's foibles, trends and fads, is INTEGRITY! It is a double-edged sword! Yet, when one stands with integrity, though the price to pay is often very high, there is no mistaking the pure satisfaction it gives to a heart. If only PR would understand that. As if they have not learned as much from their partners, PAS and DAP. The reason why PAS and DAP are now the bulwarks ( actually, had always been ) of PR, is simply that they have held true to their principles, unwaveringly.

What about PKR? They rise and fall on DSAI. And to depend on a man is pure foolishness. Only values last. Long after the last man had moved on. Why is this so difficult for PKR to understand?

3. Leadership

Again, I am so convinced that the world revolves around leadership - Good, Bad and Ugly! Of course, how we wish we all had GOOD leadership. I sometimes try to distil the lessons of leadership, but what I seem to come out with after trying sessions of introspection and reading, is that leadership requires humility to listen! And I mean really listen. By really, really listening, we get to the core issues of person or parties concerned, the situation in question and our very own self. And the second major requirement for excellent leadership is the ability to be truthful! No wonder Solzhenitsyn said during the lies of the Soviet era leadership, "An ounce of truth out-weighs a ton of lies".

What courage truth requires! I wonder sometimes if this is what Jim Collins referred to in his Good to Great ( HarperCollins, 2001 ) book as Level 5 leadership. I must say in all these years I have come across only 1 person who almost met the criteria of Collin's definition of level 5 leadership ( I will keep this person's name a secret ).

And so, as I sign off, that is my aim and goal - to be a Level 5 leader. If you want to know more about level 5 leadership, I highly commend Collin's book.

Franklin

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