I was having tea with some friends yesterday afternoon. Since most of my friends are business people, definitely our focal of discussion was about the health of today business. We were indeed worried over the slow pace of business progress nowaday. We touched on the various entities that we are familiar with. First we were talking about Sarawak Plantation Bhd (SPB), which originally was started as SLDB to emulate Felda on the Malaya side. SPB was founded in 1997, through the privatization of SLDB where the Sarawak State Government (GOS) relinquished its majority shareholding to private entities with the intention to improve its business efficiency. Prior to such exercise, SLDB, I would say was going down the drain despite huge land holding privileges accorded by GOS. In its early establishment, SLDB was operating similar to all public-based institution funding. Its meant to be a social achieving institution. Comparatively, SLDB was way far behind its rival the Sarawak Oil Palm Sdn Bhd (SOP) which operates within its neighborhood. Even after SLDB be turned into SPB, still it is way far behind SOP both in profit gain and land banking. Even the sister company based on shareholding majority ownership ie TaaN Bhd whom started a bit later in the oil palm business, they are doing far better in the term of profit gain. Originally SLDB indeed was allocated among the best land in Sarawak in those days, yet they can't deliver the best result. Why?
(2) Then our discussion drifted to many others small and big companies in the State. While in LCDA I had been working with big number of companies, but sad to know, a lots of them are now in great trouble. Again why? We even talked on the State's GLCs. Most seem to be quite quiet. Why? Even the public agencies seem to be on the silent side. Toward the end, we come to the understanding that most of the slow or diminishing business growth problem currently faced by these companies and even GLCs, is due to one key factor: driver factor. Most of these companies and institution is facing aging, worn out and even bad drivers succession. Despite such syndrome, these drivers put a blame
on present bad economic situation as an excuse. Nonetheless to me, they seem to be an old boat flying in the middle of a drought land. To me, their ideas and enthusiasm to move beyond their gut that are in drought. Microsoft earn millions of dollar by minutes, is due to Bill Gate. Apple made a revolution in term of today telecommunication and business model, was due to Steve Job. Taxis business operation worldwide changed due to Travis Kananick and Garret Camp. Indeed those names and companies I said earlier, they go robust at time of not a favorable world economic situation. Even if one is not too forgetful, Malaya and Sarawak, had changed to the current modern status was due to Mahathir and Taib. They had also operated at times of not world favorable economic environment. Today, be it in politic, business and bureaucrat, we seem to be lacking or diminishing of talented and capable drivers. Why?
(3) Driver is very important in a journey. Doing business is a journey. Developing this Nation and State is a journey. A driver takes control where the plane, ship, car, train, even bicycle on how to get to a destiny. At times of turbulence, the driver is key to the next journey decision. In the modern economic and business discipline, a diver is termed as entrepreneur, without which capital, advantages and talents can't be turned into gains. In Islam driver is the Imam. In today world, in this very complex environment, if we lost the values of leadership, craftsman, enterprising, Imam etc we are indeed going down the drain. We need all level of talented and credible drivers, at the top, middle and floor level of any entities. Islam had made it clear, men must work within the neighborhood of an Imam, driver. Unfortunately, we are now experiencing brain-heart drain of drivers.
(4) Surely there are many reasons for the cause of the State drivers losing. First and foremost, our human capital development (HCD) had been slacking for quite sometimes. There is a serious gap in Sarawak HCD. I believe GOS had slowed down very much on HCD since 2002. The GOS financial strain in 2002-2012 (?) probably is now showing the degrading HCD effect. In 1990s, GOS unrelentlessly had been pursuing HCD where both the public and private sector come to great benefit. In the 2000s, such initiatives slowed to the end, I would say to nobody great interest. Institutions and worst GOS chosen to pinch rather to develop in hiring its executives. Most GLCs followed suit. See the effect of the numbers of Sarawakian in Petronas or Shell, our best making money institution, we lost lots of senior Sarawakians there for we took them out to be in the State Service which now proven they can't do well. Worst, we sometimes come to the stage we even can't see our own talents within thus we looked over the seas, at a very high cost and long term lost to ourselves. I believe Sesco, CMM and even now Naim Cendera are experiencing the long term lost. Instead of GOS producing talented and capable managerial personnel, GOS acted robing those from the market. So much so, I would say, there come to this stage whereby pinching had robed everything from the market and now we are dried of talented and capable of our own breed. The matter becoming worst when all those older dead wood being kept around depriving of the younger to have a chance to swim in the open sea. I had observed thses dead woods they really behaving stingy to impart the best skills and knowledge to their subordinates for reason of self protection. With such, I dare to say, the younger managerial personnel, I would say had been demoralized. Not only they turned inert, worst, most defect the interest to improve themselves both in therm of knowledge and skill. They take the back seat in most matters, and behaving not willing to be out of the safe zone. The young, I dare to say, they gave up for not expecting even to see the tunnel and the light what more the light at the end of the tunnel in their career development. GOS all these while had made an excuse to keep these old death woods around due to not having talented and capable replacement, to me it is nothing to such effect but a mere stingy-greedy patronizing excuse, which actually is the second key factor to our HCD gap.
(5) Personally I'm a strong believer in HCD. I have no problem to make my subordinate to be better. I'm ever willing to be challenged by them if they wish. Thus, even while serving the poorest agency such as the R&DO, I took all the pain to ensure my staff were well exposed and tested to their jobs. Even the general workers such as drivers, amah, securities etc were all given chance to be exposed to beyond what they are used to do. I even trained the general clerks and drivers to do simple profiling of the villages in my areas of responsibilities when such should be done by at least a Diploma holders junior executives. I even used to challenge the community leaders to be on their toes and do beyond tradition. Definitely, while serving the State Planning Unit (SPU) I made it a point to make sure those working with me were given the necessary training for them to be at the best expectation. I remember, I directed one of my very junior executive to attend a meeting in Malacca on her own. The meeting was to be chaired by a Federal Minister, and she had to represent Sarawak. She cried upon receiving the instruction. I don't give a dame shit of her junior excuse. I just told her, you have to go, or failing which, I would consider you had failed to serve the State. She then made all efforts to prepare herself and did well in the meeting. Thereon, she then had the courage to take any assignment given to her. Accordingly later while serving in LCDA, one of GOS GLC, I have no problem spending good some of fund to train my executives and the supporting staffs to gain the best knowledge and skills. I even sent a batch of LCDA staff to be drilled at the Singapore National University based on a special designed training package. I even sent a batch of executives whom suppose to handle our people related development to be trained in Indonesia using the World Bank Community Development Model. I made it compulsory for our plantation related executive to be trained and having Diploma Certificate in Plantation Management. I even got a very special
treatment by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to send in as many of my personnel to do Post Graduate Study in economic and business management. They even guarantee hostel for the staff which was very generous of them. I never believe in segmented responsibilities and talents realization. A very memorable experience to me, when after few weeks being hired as an accountant, I took our lady accountant to a field trip. Initially I drove the pickup truck. Upon reaching a plantation, I passed the wheels to her. She cried. She argued that she never drove big car. She never handled pickup truck. I don't gave a dam shit to her excuse. She must drive, or we will stay over night in the pickup truck in the middle of nowhere. She reluctantly took the wheels and she had to made a u-turn on a very narrow road with deep drain on both sides. She struggled, she made it, and thereon she drove with full confident all the way for the next two days field trip. To me even an accountant, he must understand to translate figures into ground practises and realities. Unfortunately, when I left all these institutions, most of my trained people were pinched and counter pinching becoming a viral tradition, as the end result, we are left with diminishing and aging managerial generation. So much so, due to bad HCD initiatives, GOS has to resort to keeping death woods. We are now flooded with drivers whom over the journey keep slowing down due to energy and anxiety problem. Unfortunately, these aging drivers, they love to drive old car, they had mastered the trick of driving old car, they never want to depart unless upon called by the God, to me all these is a symbol of greed, stingy and inferiority complex person. This syndrome made the young becoming inert and couldn't careless.
(6) In Sarawak politic, Abang Johari by standard is a young man. He is healthy. I have not heard of his health problem. Personally he is an active person. He need all the energetic drivers to be with him to run the State affairs. But in politic, Abang Jo is also facing the problem currently faced by the Civil Service and private sector. Taib's over 30 years legacy had left the Sarawak Muslim politic with a big political HDC gap. Taib loved to be surrounded by loyalist rather capable, hard working and different style of politicians. Thus, of course in politic, Abang Jo has to make do with some left over death woods in the system until certain period. I would say in politic, Abang Jo is also experiencing none capable, none talented younger political cycle. But in politic, the handling of HCD is not a straight forward matter. In politic, in its
true sense, it is about building high echelon State leadership. For such, definitely Allah had shown through Muhammad SAW the way how these echelons must be built. Even the process that Muhammad himself need to undergo prior to his lifting to be SAW is something most political leaders do not really comprehend, so much so, they keep choosing among themselves based on the favor of the eyes and ears. In today modern world, I can say, Jerman, US, Singpore, China and even Japan and Korea they emulate the way Muhammad SAW trained his sahabah. Despite so, in the Civil Service, I believe Abang Jo can take immediate and drastic measures. All need to be done by the GOS Civil Service is to get the much energetic and talented staff to be on the proper footing. Younger generation must be given some freedom to exercise and enhance their talents. Accordingly, the State private sector must also be dragged along to quickly build up their drivers at all levels. Pinching should not be accepted as a norm to gain the fast result. Let move to a much sustainable gains through proper nurturing, testing and giving people some freedom develop and perform.
(7) One may wonder, personally I was lacking of formal training. Serving the R&DO, SPU and LCDA as the driver meaning I need to know about internal HCD needs. I was devoid of such skills and knowledge. But I believe in HCD and thus I personally embark on developing myself along the way struggling for my other duties. Indeed I was deprived of good training. Alhamdullilah, in whatever task given to me, despite my lacking of skills
and knowledge in such areas, I worked hard to get to it. I have one spirit. I saw in Muhammad SAW, from young, he was trained by the nature. Nature made Muhammad as Al Amin and thereon as SAW in Islam. I was a botanic graduate. But upon entry into the service, I had to deal with economic and social matters. I was not trained in those. But taking the que from Muhammad SAW, I read. I read a lots. I surrounded myself with books. I forced myself to read lots of books. I made books as my natural ambient that would teach me all the tricks I needed. I also have no problem to observe, think and asked where necessary. I used to force my subordinates to read. I forced them to read certain number of books on scheduled basis. Part of their KPIs was reading and summarizing their reading in written form which later to be shared with others. In Islam, reading is a must. Allah ordered man to read to be great. But I believe, today people read, but they focus on reading the nonsense.
(8) In Islam, let see the nature of all the prophets. In the early days of the world formal religions development, Abraham was helped by Ismael and Isaac to keep his people to the One God Piety seclude. Then in Judaism (older Islam), Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and even Solomon, all were working with disciples. None of them worked in solitaire. Nasrani, then Christian (improved version of Judaism Islam), Jesus Christ (?) made the disciples much more prominent to help him to spread the teaching of Allah (Islam
then). Definitely Muhammad SAW, he built hundreds of scholars surrounding him to help him to spread Islam and thus becoming his representation as governors and chief Judges all over Arabia. History had proven, once this drivers development diminished, the fate of the State are now left rotten in the drains. The glory of the old Baghdad and Damshek were due to the amount placed by the then leaders on HCD. But once those diminished, both Baghdad and Damshek to this day being flatten to dust. It is against the Allah's natural law of growth if one practiced to be stingy in his HCD approach. I can't understand, why man must be cowardice in making the other men to be better talented and capable. In this world even Adam AS could only survived for 1,000 years old and even then he never being stingy to develop his people to be great. In the modern world history, no man can live for say 175 year. Most are gone by the 70s. Then why do today men behaving not willing to leave better men to lead this State? What is the point of being stingy in HDC? Even Allah whom is the most invention, He taught man to be creative! Why do man then, containing His breath as his soul be so stingy? For sure, from my observation today and based on history, driver whom stingy to develop drivers, over time they live a pariah statute, for he betrayed Allah trust upon him to develop his people.
(9) But in today HCD, focusing technical and managerial professionalism is not going to leave us with the best professional. In Malaya today, it is proven, capitalist based HCD lead to worst corruption. Sarawak indeed not spared. Capitalist training can produce good drivers but to the end they will landed with all sort of immoral practises. Umar Al Khataab being someone whose jealousy of Abu Bakar ie Muhammad SAW best friend is highly productive, it took him almost nine (?) years to memorise and really understand the Surah Al Baqarah to guide him to be a good driver. He indeed thereon, as caliph, made it compulsory for his representative drivers to be acquitant with Surah Al Baqarah before they being posted to be a driver. As such, Umar Al Khataab not only he lifted the professionalism among his drivers but foremost they uphold to great Islamic morale values.
Kuching, Sarawak
22 August, 2017
(2) Then our discussion drifted to many others small and big companies in the State. While in LCDA I had been working with big number of companies, but sad to know, a lots of them are now in great trouble. Again why? We even talked on the State's GLCs. Most seem to be quite quiet. Why? Even the public agencies seem to be on the silent side. Toward the end, we come to the understanding that most of the slow or diminishing business growth problem currently faced by these companies and even GLCs, is due to one key factor: driver factor. Most of these companies and institution is facing aging, worn out and even bad drivers succession. Despite such syndrome, these drivers put a blame
on present bad economic situation as an excuse. Nonetheless to me, they seem to be an old boat flying in the middle of a drought land. To me, their ideas and enthusiasm to move beyond their gut that are in drought. Microsoft earn millions of dollar by minutes, is due to Bill Gate. Apple made a revolution in term of today telecommunication and business model, was due to Steve Job. Taxis business operation worldwide changed due to Travis Kananick and Garret Camp. Indeed those names and companies I said earlier, they go robust at time of not a favorable world economic situation. Even if one is not too forgetful, Malaya and Sarawak, had changed to the current modern status was due to Mahathir and Taib. They had also operated at times of not world favorable economic environment. Today, be it in politic, business and bureaucrat, we seem to be lacking or diminishing of talented and capable drivers. Why?(3) Driver is very important in a journey. Doing business is a journey. Developing this Nation and State is a journey. A driver takes control where the plane, ship, car, train, even bicycle on how to get to a destiny. At times of turbulence, the driver is key to the next journey decision. In the modern economic and business discipline, a diver is termed as entrepreneur, without which capital, advantages and talents can't be turned into gains. In Islam driver is the Imam. In today world, in this very complex environment, if we lost the values of leadership, craftsman, enterprising, Imam etc we are indeed going down the drain. We need all level of talented and credible drivers, at the top, middle and floor level of any entities. Islam had made it clear, men must work within the neighborhood of an Imam, driver. Unfortunately, we are now experiencing brain-heart drain of drivers.
(4) Surely there are many reasons for the cause of the State drivers losing. First and foremost, our human capital development (HCD) had been slacking for quite sometimes. There is a serious gap in Sarawak HCD. I believe GOS had slowed down very much on HCD since 2002. The GOS financial strain in 2002-2012 (?) probably is now showing the degrading HCD effect. In 1990s, GOS unrelentlessly had been pursuing HCD where both the public and private sector come to great benefit. In the 2000s, such initiatives slowed to the end, I would say to nobody great interest. Institutions and worst GOS chosen to pinch rather to develop in hiring its executives. Most GLCs followed suit. See the effect of the numbers of Sarawakian in Petronas or Shell, our best making money institution, we lost lots of senior Sarawakians there for we took them out to be in the State Service which now proven they can't do well. Worst, we sometimes come to the stage we even can't see our own talents within thus we looked over the seas, at a very high cost and long term lost to ourselves. I believe Sesco, CMM and even now Naim Cendera are experiencing the long term lost. Instead of GOS producing talented and capable managerial personnel, GOS acted robing those from the market. So much so, I would say, there come to this stage whereby pinching had robed everything from the market and now we are dried of talented and capable of our own breed. The matter becoming worst when all those older dead wood being kept around depriving of the younger to have a chance to swim in the open sea. I had observed thses dead woods they really behaving stingy to impart the best skills and knowledge to their subordinates for reason of self protection. With such, I dare to say, the younger managerial personnel, I would say had been demoralized. Not only they turned inert, worst, most defect the interest to improve themselves both in therm of knowledge and skill. They take the back seat in most matters, and behaving not willing to be out of the safe zone. The young, I dare to say, they gave up for not expecting even to see the tunnel and the light what more the light at the end of the tunnel in their career development. GOS all these while had made an excuse to keep these old death woods around due to not having talented and capable replacement, to me it is nothing to such effect but a mere stingy-greedy patronizing excuse, which actually is the second key factor to our HCD gap.(5) Personally I'm a strong believer in HCD. I have no problem to make my subordinate to be better. I'm ever willing to be challenged by them if they wish. Thus, even while serving the poorest agency such as the R&DO, I took all the pain to ensure my staff were well exposed and tested to their jobs. Even the general workers such as drivers, amah, securities etc were all given chance to be exposed to beyond what they are used to do. I even trained the general clerks and drivers to do simple profiling of the villages in my areas of responsibilities when such should be done by at least a Diploma holders junior executives. I even used to challenge the community leaders to be on their toes and do beyond tradition. Definitely, while serving the State Planning Unit (SPU) I made it a point to make sure those working with me were given the necessary training for them to be at the best expectation. I remember, I directed one of my very junior executive to attend a meeting in Malacca on her own. The meeting was to be chaired by a Federal Minister, and she had to represent Sarawak. She cried upon receiving the instruction. I don't give a dame shit of her junior excuse. I just told her, you have to go, or failing which, I would consider you had failed to serve the State. She then made all efforts to prepare herself and did well in the meeting. Thereon, she then had the courage to take any assignment given to her. Accordingly later while serving in LCDA, one of GOS GLC, I have no problem spending good some of fund to train my executives and the supporting staffs to gain the best knowledge and skills. I even sent a batch of LCDA staff to be drilled at the Singapore National University based on a special designed training package. I even sent a batch of executives whom suppose to handle our people related development to be trained in Indonesia using the World Bank Community Development Model. I made it compulsory for our plantation related executive to be trained and having Diploma Certificate in Plantation Management. I even got a very special
treatment by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to send in as many of my personnel to do Post Graduate Study in economic and business management. They even guarantee hostel for the staff which was very generous of them. I never believe in segmented responsibilities and talents realization. A very memorable experience to me, when after few weeks being hired as an accountant, I took our lady accountant to a field trip. Initially I drove the pickup truck. Upon reaching a plantation, I passed the wheels to her. She cried. She argued that she never drove big car. She never handled pickup truck. I don't gave a dam shit to her excuse. She must drive, or we will stay over night in the pickup truck in the middle of nowhere. She reluctantly took the wheels and she had to made a u-turn on a very narrow road with deep drain on both sides. She struggled, she made it, and thereon she drove with full confident all the way for the next two days field trip. To me even an accountant, he must understand to translate figures into ground practises and realities. Unfortunately, when I left all these institutions, most of my trained people were pinched and counter pinching becoming a viral tradition, as the end result, we are left with diminishing and aging managerial generation. So much so, due to bad HCD initiatives, GOS has to resort to keeping death woods. We are now flooded with drivers whom over the journey keep slowing down due to energy and anxiety problem. Unfortunately, these aging drivers, they love to drive old car, they had mastered the trick of driving old car, they never want to depart unless upon called by the God, to me all these is a symbol of greed, stingy and inferiority complex person. This syndrome made the young becoming inert and couldn't careless.
(6) In Sarawak politic, Abang Johari by standard is a young man. He is healthy. I have not heard of his health problem. Personally he is an active person. He need all the energetic drivers to be with him to run the State affairs. But in politic, Abang Jo is also facing the problem currently faced by the Civil Service and private sector. Taib's over 30 years legacy had left the Sarawak Muslim politic with a big political HDC gap. Taib loved to be surrounded by loyalist rather capable, hard working and different style of politicians. Thus, of course in politic, Abang Jo has to make do with some left over death woods in the system until certain period. I would say in politic, Abang Jo is also experiencing none capable, none talented younger political cycle. But in politic, the handling of HCD is not a straight forward matter. In politic, in its
true sense, it is about building high echelon State leadership. For such, definitely Allah had shown through Muhammad SAW the way how these echelons must be built. Even the process that Muhammad himself need to undergo prior to his lifting to be SAW is something most political leaders do not really comprehend, so much so, they keep choosing among themselves based on the favor of the eyes and ears. In today modern world, I can say, Jerman, US, Singpore, China and even Japan and Korea they emulate the way Muhammad SAW trained his sahabah. Despite so, in the Civil Service, I believe Abang Jo can take immediate and drastic measures. All need to be done by the GOS Civil Service is to get the much energetic and talented staff to be on the proper footing. Younger generation must be given some freedom to exercise and enhance their talents. Accordingly, the State private sector must also be dragged along to quickly build up their drivers at all levels. Pinching should not be accepted as a norm to gain the fast result. Let move to a much sustainable gains through proper nurturing, testing and giving people some freedom develop and perform.(7) One may wonder, personally I was lacking of formal training. Serving the R&DO, SPU and LCDA as the driver meaning I need to know about internal HCD needs. I was devoid of such skills and knowledge. But I believe in HCD and thus I personally embark on developing myself along the way struggling for my other duties. Indeed I was deprived of good training. Alhamdullilah, in whatever task given to me, despite my lacking of skills
and knowledge in such areas, I worked hard to get to it. I have one spirit. I saw in Muhammad SAW, from young, he was trained by the nature. Nature made Muhammad as Al Amin and thereon as SAW in Islam. I was a botanic graduate. But upon entry into the service, I had to deal with economic and social matters. I was not trained in those. But taking the que from Muhammad SAW, I read. I read a lots. I surrounded myself with books. I forced myself to read lots of books. I made books as my natural ambient that would teach me all the tricks I needed. I also have no problem to observe, think and asked where necessary. I used to force my subordinates to read. I forced them to read certain number of books on scheduled basis. Part of their KPIs was reading and summarizing their reading in written form which later to be shared with others. In Islam, reading is a must. Allah ordered man to read to be great. But I believe, today people read, but they focus on reading the nonsense.(8) In Islam, let see the nature of all the prophets. In the early days of the world formal religions development, Abraham was helped by Ismael and Isaac to keep his people to the One God Piety seclude. Then in Judaism (older Islam), Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and even Solomon, all were working with disciples. None of them worked in solitaire. Nasrani, then Christian (improved version of Judaism Islam), Jesus Christ (?) made the disciples much more prominent to help him to spread the teaching of Allah (Islam
then). Definitely Muhammad SAW, he built hundreds of scholars surrounding him to help him to spread Islam and thus becoming his representation as governors and chief Judges all over Arabia. History had proven, once this drivers development diminished, the fate of the State are now left rotten in the drains. The glory of the old Baghdad and Damshek were due to the amount placed by the then leaders on HCD. But once those diminished, both Baghdad and Damshek to this day being flatten to dust. It is against the Allah's natural law of growth if one practiced to be stingy in his HCD approach. I can't understand, why man must be cowardice in making the other men to be better talented and capable. In this world even Adam AS could only survived for 1,000 years old and even then he never being stingy to develop his people to be great. In the modern world history, no man can live for say 175 year. Most are gone by the 70s. Then why do today men behaving not willing to leave better men to lead this State? What is the point of being stingy in HDC? Even Allah whom is the most invention, He taught man to be creative! Why do man then, containing His breath as his soul be so stingy? For sure, from my observation today and based on history, driver whom stingy to develop drivers, over time they live a pariah statute, for he betrayed Allah trust upon him to develop his people.(9) But in today HCD, focusing technical and managerial professionalism is not going to leave us with the best professional. In Malaya today, it is proven, capitalist based HCD lead to worst corruption. Sarawak indeed not spared. Capitalist training can produce good drivers but to the end they will landed with all sort of immoral practises. Umar Al Khataab being someone whose jealousy of Abu Bakar ie Muhammad SAW best friend is highly productive, it took him almost nine (?) years to memorise and really understand the Surah Al Baqarah to guide him to be a good driver. He indeed thereon, as caliph, made it compulsory for his representative drivers to be acquitant with Surah Al Baqarah before they being posted to be a driver. As such, Umar Al Khataab not only he lifted the professionalism among his drivers but foremost they uphold to great Islamic morale values.
Kuching, Sarawak
22 August, 2017
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