ATI

if an organisation doesnt have accountability, transparency and integrity (ATI) mechanisms in place, believe me its people inside will try every opportunity to abuse its powers. These 3 pillars form the very principle of good governance. The best form of accountability is still public scrutiny. That is why public offices are encouraged to have feedback mechanisms such as having in place suggestion boxes and customer satisfaction surveys.

dont pass your judgement until you read the full facts

ไม่ให้ตัดสินจนกว่าคุณจะอ่านเต็มข้อเท็จจริง

The right to expose but not to criticize

As a public officer, you should never ever make any disparaging remarks about the Government policies.  But this does not mean you cannot expose abuse of powers or excesses of public officers.

what does this mean? well as an example, you should never ever make public criticism the government ban on smoking in certain public premises but you can certainly expose any public officer who flouts this ban!

Natural justice

there are 2 principles:

1.  you must listen to both sides of the argument

2. you cannot be fair if you are interested in the outcome

sebelum buat keputusan, dengar dulu deh kedua pihak dan kitane inda akan belaku adil kalau kitane ada kepentingan dalam keputusan atu.

clarity of silence

The privacy and clarity of silence
Can cleanse the heart
And heal it more easily and swiftly
Than all the words we so desperately try to find.

Silence gives space to thoughts and images,
Reflecting gently on details
Otherwise lost
In the murky water
Of the noisiness of life.

Silence brings wonder
At life’s meticulous design.
It purifies our surroundings.
Greater yet,
It distills our world within.

All at once we can breathe freely.
Gone is the smothering effect of trying too hard.
Gone is the pressure of fear and pain.

Silence is a great gift to ourselves.
It is a gift we ought at times
Give to others.

~Viola Jaynes

Paradox of plenty

In her book, The Paradox of Plenty Terry Lynn Karl explains why, in the midst of two massive oil booms in the 1970s, oil-exporting governments as different as Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Algeria, and Indonesia chose common development paths and suffered similarly disappointing outcomes. She contends that oil countries, while seemingly disparate, are characterized by similar social classes and patterns of collective action. In these countries, dependence on petroleum leads to disproportionate fiscal reliance on petrodollars and public spending, at the expense of statecraft. Oil booms, which create the illusion of prosperity and development, actually destabilize regimes by reinforcing oil-based interests and further weakening state capacity.

Karl's incisive investigation unites structural and choice-based approaches by illuminating how decisions of policymakers are embedded in institutions interacting with domestic and international markets. This approach—which Karl dubs "structured contingency"—uses a state's leading sector as the starting point for identifying a range of decision-making choices, and ends by examining the dynamics of the state itself.

isnt this a wake up call for us?

I lost another uncle

I just heard the sad news my uncle on my mother's side had just passed away this morning. He had been suffering from prostate cancer for awhile. I knew his time would come as the doctor attending him said that it was already in advanced stage and gave him a few months to live. When I visited him, my amit (his wife and my mum's very close older sister) was full of hope. She was angry to the doctor for telling her that his ailment couldn't be cured. She said that Doctors should be more positive. I was just nodding my head to show my agreement though I knew in my heart that doctors cannot give false hope to us. That is why when my mum fell into a coma and lost her pulse, I was never angry to the doctors at A&E for informing us to brace for the worst. I could see that they were trying their very best. What is important for us I think is never to give up hope and continue to pray to Al-mighty. To my uncle may you rest in peace. Amin. Al-fatiha.