Child Conversion?

The Cabinet made a decision that a child's religion must follow the common religion of the parents at the time of marriage even if the child’s mother or father later embraced another religion. Jakim on the other hand suggested that a child's religion can be decided by either parent.

I am okay either way as long as the law allows the child to choose his religion when he turns 18 and the law is equal on both sides, be they a conversion into Islam or out of Islam as the Quran says,

WOE UNTO THOSE who give short measure: those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full, but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due! Do they not know that they are bound to be raised from the dead? [and called to account] on an awesome Day (Quran 83: 1-5)

I confess, I was once a gambler too...

This blogpost is now featured in the book, The Quran and I :)

Have A Meaningful Vaisakhi

Below is zubedy’s Vaisakhi message - an ad we will feature in the Star on Vaisakhi day this Tuesday. This ad is the third of the " What Malaysians Want " series .

The previous ones are :

• Development Without Corruption http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2008/12/have-meaningful-xmas.html
  
• A First-Rate Education http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-malaysian-want.html
  

Have A Meaningful Vaisakhi

What Malaysians Want :

Politicians who cooperate and compete to make Malaysia a better place.

Politicians on both sides oppose one another but they are not enemies.

Both sides are working for the same cause—a better Malaysia. Both sides are entrusted by the rakyat to ensure an improved future for a peaceful nation.

It is about the rakyat and the country not party politics.

Politics is neutral; it is politicians that make it good or bad.Political parties are just platforms. If politicians do not practice good values, the rakyat will be disillusioned with politics. If politicians practice good values the rakyat will view politics positively. Politicians, please act with care.

There must be a spirit of cooperation within the framework of competition. Work with the legacy passed to you, take the positives and negatives without attachment and *Define what you need to do. Envision a better future and take necessary Actions. Reflect and provide hope.

Do not blame others, do your job and above all else, make sure your own people are first-rate. Focus on internal organization and don’t poke holes on the other side. Great leaders win by strengthening their own team.

Giani Zail Singh helped the poor by eradicating economic disparities.

He was the first Sikh to be the President of India in 1982. From his humble beginnings till his death, he worked and put people and nation first.

At zubedy, our programs draw strength from shared values and traditions. We believe at the heart, all Malaysians want good things for themselves and for their brother and sister Malaysians, simply because our nation cannot prosper as a whole if some of us are left behind. Regardless of race and politics, all Malaysians want our politicians to cooperate and compete to make Malaysia a better place.

Brother and sister Malaysians, let’s work together to create competitive politics within the spirit of cooperation.

Let us add value,
Have a meaningful Vaisakhi

*This advertisement is based on the concept of the DEAR Cycle (Define, Envision. Act and Reflect) taught in our Making A Difference program.

In-House Talk - “Malaysia: One Year after the 12th General Election"

I am attending the following talk this Saturday, come to agree, disagree, listen, ask questions or just reflect ... but, I dont think they will be serving food ...haha! But it is very near to Sri Pandi ...

Title - "Malaysia: One Year after the 12th General Election"
Speakers - Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Dr. Shad Faruqi, and Dr. Arujunan Narayanan
Date : April 11, 2009 (Saturday),
Time : 10:00 AM - 12.30 PM
Venue: JUST Office
No. 3, Jalan 11/9, Section 11,
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor D.E. (near University Hospital)
Contact JUST office for further details at:
03 7960 3207 or muza@just-international.org

Tri-Election and Pendulum Swing

By now a good number of voters would have voted in Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Batang Air by-elections.

Last night while chit-chatting at Mont Kiara with some friends, one of friends suggested that Nizar will win at Bukit Gantang. My response was a little more checked.

In my opinion, this election will depend much on the Chinese voting behaviour commonly known as ‘The Pendulum Swing’. Historically, the Chinese voters will swing their vote between BN and the opposition from one General Election to the other. It has been a little more than one year since March 8th. Would there be a swing to BN yet?

Accordingly, the Malay votes would likely bias toward BN this time around. So even if 50% of the Chinese sway back to BN, Barisan will win comfortably. If the Chinese voters remain pro Opposition, either side will win with a thin majority, and we will see counting and recounting of the ballot papers and PR crying foul play if they lose, etc. We will have to go through a merry go round., sigh...

(It was a tactical mistake on PR’s side in choosing Nizar to run for Bukit Gantang. They should have listened to Nik Aziz earlier. If he wins, PR is back to square one – arguing for legitimacy which is already taking place through the courts. If he loses, he loses BIG)

I am hoping that whichever side wins, it would be with a clear margin, so we are spared the irritation of having to face another childlike display.

As for the other two other seats, especially Batang Air, quite likely BN will win. If PR could upset BN in Sarawak; the credit is to Anwar Ibrahim, but quite unlikely lah...

My biggest hope is that the winner whether BN or PR does not try to suggest that this is a referendum of the entire nation. I have enough of these arguments. They may however factor their winning to a better momentum in winning the next General Elections.

Topics like Man-Made Global Warming, You and I

Here is my method of making decisions especially on matters like Man-Made Global Warming, Malaysian Politics, Religious Beliefs etc ....do try it please :)

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is one of my favourite management tools. It forces us to deliberately look for the good and bad side of an issue or problem with no emotional attachments. S is for Strengths (positives), W is for weaknesses (negatives), O is for opportunities (future positives) and T is for Threats (future negatives).

It helps me make better decisions.

KEYNES

John Maynard Keynes is one of my favourite economists, the other being Friedrich List. Keynes showed that the market left on its own, may not make the best of decisions. He suggested government should use fiscal and monetary measures to moderate the undesirable effects of economic recessions, depressions and even booms.

One of Keynes favourite quotes that I keep to heart is “When the facts change, I change my mind, what do you do sir?”

LA2D

LA2D is short for “let’s agree to disagree”, a talk show I hosted last year. We are shooting the second season soon. It is a talk show that introduces to teenagers the concept of ‘agreeing to disagree’. I thought that it is good to start them young, a mature way to deal with differences of opinions.

It is a good project except that for reasons I cannot figure out yet, RTM 2 decided to air it at 6 am in the morning! Which teenager will wake up that early to watch a talk show? Duh! So I have some makchiks and mamak stalls waiters coming to me asking if I am the chap on TV every Thursday morning. Ha!ha!

LEVERAGE

I teach and consult in Negotiation Skills. Actually, my area specifically covers ‘how a brand can negotiate a price increase’... hehe! In negotiation, we talk about leverage; positive leverage, negative leverage and finding common grounds.

The hard-knock negotiators usually like to use the negative leverage approach, as Donald Trump puts it, “Leverage is having something the other guy wants. Or better yet needs. Or best of all, simply cannot do without”.

However, I usually stress on the ‘finding common ground’ approach, as competition that is rooted within the spirit of cooperation always bring better profit at the end – for both parties.

MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING

When confronted with important topics like these, best if we look at both sides of the arguments. Do a SWOT with both sides. If you have heard from those who are pro Al Gore, go listen to those who do not agree with him and vice versa.

For example you can watch the two documentaries (at minimum) that stand opposed to each other. One is the popular “The Inconvenient Truth” narrated by Al Gore. The other is the one produced by WAGTV.

Both are not without flaws, but good enough to give us a feel on the subject. Further investigation is recommended.

Unfortunately I cannot find you a link to the Al Gore video clip. If any of you can, pls post me the link. The good news is that it is also easily available in the stores.

As for the other it is titled “The Great Global Warming Swindle” - click here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=288952680655100870 .

Watch both before you make your decision.

If you find that facts from the other side to be more compelling, you can do a Keynes and say “When the facts change, I change my mind, what do you do sir?”

But, should you remain unchanged, we can do an LA2D, we can agree to disagree.

Going further we can always find common ground. People who agree with Al Gore are not saying that the other CO2 producers are not to be blamed, too. And, those who do not agree with man-made global warming are not saying that we should not take good care of mother earth.

We must not ape President Bush’s “If you are not with me, you are against me” approach. That would be shallow and childish. Both sides can care in differing ways.

Now, let's turn off the lights if it is not necessary, not just because of Global Warming, but because we should not be wasteful. Earth history has shown that the world may just switch quickly into a global cooling period, too. Waste not during both circumstances.

The goal is good conduct; not about keeping the world cool or warm.

George Carlin is hilarious!

My BlogBrother Jahamy (http://jahaberdeen.blogspot.com ) recommended an interesting link in his comment for my previous blogpost. You may or may not agree with him, but George Carlin is hilarious.

I suggest you watch this (be mindful of his four letter words, and it is not LOVE!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbFD4NC60EA