my leadership essay aka a tribute to ABAH

yeay exam is finally over.
although i was not very happy about it
i mean, the closing paper should have been easy right??
why spoil the students' mood giving out the one-step-to-hell-like paper???
Basic Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology were the killer ones
i just hope i did a pretty decent crapping
good enough to convince dr merzouk and all three pharmacology lecturers
that my 'goreng' do make sense afterall




oh please do =I

emm so getting back to the topic
i am gonna post up my assignment essay on leadership
anything to do with it: the leaders, the attributes, any stuff related to the L word
hahah ;p

so ive decided to write about my abah
in a way i see him as a leader
a good one actually
ok so abah, this is kinda like a tribute to u
i know we don't really get along sometimes
don't see eye to eye on many things
cos we are like sky and earth (sorry for kinda corny..but what the hell its my abah)
but i really LIKE it that u care for me
especially at times when i am sick, penniless etc
i know at times that u tend to be over-caring and yeah often do i get tired of it
still i love u no matter how, and i am sorry i could not tell this in front of your face
malu lah abah..hehehe

THE LEADER I ADMIRE THE MOST

Speaking of good leaders and their excellent leadership, one might think of our beloved Muhammad PBUH, The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs i.e. Saiyidina Abu Bakar; Saiyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab; Saiiyidina Uthman ibn Affan and Sayidina Ali ibn Abi Talib, our country leaders which have contributed to the peace and such massive development of Malaysia such as the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah and Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, and many other significant icons and people to the society. I myself too have the same, undoubting admiration and acknowledgement towards all these mentioned leaders above. Here however, I would like to speak about this one person, someone very personally close to me, whom I perceive as one of the few astounding and incredible person involved in my ongoing self-cultivation as well as the one whom I take the liberty, of being the greatest leader I have ever met up close-and-personal; my own father.

My father is no multi-dollar businessman; neither is he a big-league politician nor the sole heir of any franchised shop lots or hotels. He is just a simple man working as a government servant; a correctional officer to be specific, currently leading a serene and composed life in Kuching, Sarawak. It might be necessary to take a quick little side note that we have been residing over there for quite some time after my father got promoted. Now that I have mentioned, getting back to the topic, ever since living here, with the promotion etc, he has been traveling all places giving out talks; attending seminars and conferences; meeting important people related to the field etc to fulfill the needs of his career. This also indicates that he has so little quality time to spend for himself as well as to be with his family. In spite of this, he never abandons the responsibilities that he has been accounted on as a husband, father and son. Before being out-stationed especially for a long period of time, he would take care of the groceries, making sure that enough household requirements would be available in his absence. Never did he miss this, except in the cases of emergencies and mishaps happened. He rarely forgets each one of the family members’ birth anniversaries and is still giving out even small tokens, or maybe just a treat to the nearest fast food restaurant. With him being at work most of the time and me being far away from home, we seldom meet and have that kind of father-daughter talk like most of my friends do. Nevertheless, my father still takes priorities on my doings and spending i.e. asking if I have enough cash here or maybe if I need any help on the tedious car-related matters which I am not very familiar of. These petty things might not matter on other people’s view but for me this shows that he is a very caring and supportive father in spite of his busy work schedule. This also shows a good attribute that a worthy leader should have; being aware of all the responsibilities that he has been appointed to, regardless how many they are.

To be honest, I do not know much of the conditions and environment of my fathers’ workplace. All I know is that it is indeed a stressful one and also very demanding especially from the society and the higher regulatory. The heat ultimately increases each time any high-profile cases take place. In tense situation like this, like I have stated before, pressures and expectations increase from both parties demanding for some answers, testifying accounts etc. A high-profile case he was once engaged with involved one of the most highly-controversial politicians in Malaysia. According to my mother, there were quite a few hearsays and rumors questioning my fathers’ credibility circulating around; I however was not aware of this matter due to the fact that he has never mentioned it, and also possibly because I was still young at the time to be informed of. My mother too spoke of him as being very persevere and strong irrespective the relentless challenges and provocations he was facing at that particular time. Likewise, the treatment he was getting from the higher authorities did not get any better. Continuous bashings and critics would not have done any justice to him, but they were all he was confronting with each day. It was nonetheless a blessing in disguise, as all these obstacles had helped his work and efforts of getting recognized and somehow, aided in pushing his career further upright. The admirable leadership trait I have found in these whole circumstances is that he is someone who does not give up no matter how hard that path he is taking. Not to mention, the fact that my father did not gave in to the people with constant attempt of bringing him down.

Many of our notable leaders possess the visionary or creative thinking skill, more or less that thinking outside the box skill which have conduced to varying renowned ideas for the better of the led society. The most excellent example of leader with this creditable leadership skill is no other than our adored Muhammad PBUH. In a pivotal battle at Taif when he had the enemy under siege, he did not annihilate them although he has had the chance. Instead, Muhammad left them alone, something that we mere mortals would be thinking twice to do especially considering the fact that they had been brutal to him years before. But, the wise prophet knew better. He intuitively recognized that in fighting for your cause, one should not create new opponent. He was absolutely right; the people of Taif later embraced Islam on their own choice. Another much-admired leader of our time, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is as well someone with farsighted vision and ideas. He had contributed so much at the time of his reign. Many thought he was crazy trying to develop the multibillion megaproject of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at the then-deserted Sepang where there was hardly anything but palm trees. This matter became laughing matters by most people during its early development stages. If Tun had mattered the insults and empty talks he was poured on to, then KLIA would not have been present and consequentially, Malaysia would not have been worldly-recognized as having one of the best and the busiest international airports in the whole wide world. From my personal observation, these sorts of creativeness are somehow present in my father. I am not bragging, neither did him when he shared us this. My father is actually a very observant and concerned man, and being a leader has somehow offered him the ‘license’ to give his own-opinionated ideas and advises to the staffs at his workplace. I just like to present a simple and practical example on this condition. He observed a situation faced by one of his staffs. She was kind like a girl-next-door and unfortunately is also mouse-hearted. She was so scared of taking control on her own terms and one of that is by not taking driving license. Apparently, she had to rely on her officemates to pick her up from home and then send her off back every day. True, this promotes good bonding friendship and also reduces the rate of pollution out there, but my father saw something beneath these two. Her friends might have been reasonable on her for that time being but when time passes by, especially to those who have been married, by some means having to fetch her up on daily basis would end up being burdensome. Thus, my father called upon her and insisted her to start those driving lessons and then get herself a car. The lady initially objected and was stricken with the very direct opinion, but later she finally has had the urge to try on. Now, she owns a MyVi and yes she did thank my father for his advises. He shared with me this story as I was also somehow chicken-hearted and refused to take lessons initially. Of course, this story of his is far incomparable to that of Tun Mahathir, what’s more to the prophet Muhammad PBUH. Nevertheless, I still observe my father as a great leader figure that can change other people’s live for the better.

My father still has more or less ten years of service and I hope he would still be able to lead the people below him with love, integrity, sincerity and dedication. I also wish him longevity of prosperous life alongside us and that he would continue leading our family in a good health and condition. Mr. Mohd Zawawi Abd Rahim, you are indeed an inspiration. May you always have Allah’s blessings.

i know university assessments are supposed to be formal and mine was as if i was giving out a speech or something..but u see, i just tried to loosen up a bit..not to mention i wrote this during the exam-week so it was also kinda like a way to vent out my stress and tense
please excuse the grammar, lack of proper vocabs though..i am no english-lit student (though i intend to)

and yeah i kinda made it more like a religious thingy, cos if in case anyone's reading and are not aware of, i am a student of the International Islamic University of Malaysia..that figures right =D