Another favourite romantic song by P.Ramlee (Arwah) ....PUKUL TIGA PAGI

CREATE A MASTERPIECE OUT OF YOUR LIFE………….

CREATE A MASTERPIECE OUT OF YOUR LIFE………….


May 15, 2011

Make Your Life a Masterpiece

By Brian Tracy

This is the age of achievement. Never have more people accomplished more things in more different fields than they are accomplishing today. More people are becoming successful at a faster rate than at any other time in history. There have never been more opportunities for you to turn your dreams into realities than there are right now.

The Seven Ingredients of Success

Your ideal life is a blending these seven ingredients in exactly the combination that makes you the happiest at any particular moment. By defining your success and happiness in terms of one or more of these seven ingredients, you create a clear target to aim it. You can then measure how well you're doing. You can identify the areas where you need to make changes if you want your life to improve.

Peace of Mind

The first of these seven ingredients of success, and easily the most important, is peace of mind. It is the highest human good. Without it, nothing else has much value. In corporations, peace of mind can be measured in terms of the amount of harmony that exists among coworkers. The wonderful truth about peace of mind is that it is your normal natural condition. It is the basic precondition for enjoying everything else.

Health and Energy

The second ingredient of success is health and energy. Just as peace of mind is your normal and natural mental state, health and energy is your normal and natural physical state. If you achieve all kinds of things in the material world, but lose your health then you will get little or no pleasure from your other accomplishments. So imagine yourself enjoying perfect health, and think of how you would be if you were your ideal image of physical fitness. Then strive for your mental goal of fitness and health.

"Perform at Your Best - No Matter What!"

YOU Can Reach Your Goals and Achieve the Unthinkable.

The real secret to living the life of your dreams is this: learn to live at Peak Performance every day and you will be unstoppable.

"Perform at Your Best - No Matter What!"

YOU Can Reach Your Goals and Achieve the Unthinkable.

The real secret to living the life of your dreams is this: learn to live at Peak Performance every day and you will be unstoppable.

Loving Relationships

The third ingredient of success is loving relationships. These are relationships with the people you love and care about, and the people who love and care about you. They are the real measure of how well you are doing as a human being. At almost any time, you can measure how well you are doing in your relationship by one simple test: laughter. This is true for companies as well. High-performance, high profit organizations are those in which people laugh and joke together. Examine your relationships, one by one, and develop a plan to make each of them enjoyable and satisfying.

Financial Freedom

The fourth ingredient of success is financial freedom. Achieving your financial freedom is one of the most important goals and responsibilities of your life. A feeling of freedom is essential to the achievement of any other important goal, and you cannot be free until and unless you have enough money so that you are no longer preoccupied with it. When you decide exactly what you want your financial picture to look like, you will be able to use this system to achieve your goals faster than you might have imagined possible.

Worthy Goals and Ideals

Self Knowledge and Self-Awareness

The sixth ingredient of success is self-knowledge and self-awareness. To perform at your best you need to know who you are and why you think and feel the way you do. It is only when you understand and accept yourself that you can begin moving forward in other areas of your life.

Personal Fulfillment

The seventh ingredient of success is personal fulfillment. This is the feeling that you are becoming everything that you are capable of becoming. It is the sure knowledge that you are moving toward the realization of your full potential as a human being.

Action Exercise

Take the brush of your imagination and begin painting a masterpiece on the canvas of your life. It is for you to decide clearly what would make you the happiest in everything you are doing.

ANOTHER FAVOURITE MALAY SONG OF MINE DURING THE EARLY 60s...."KENANGAN MENGUSIK JIWA" by ARWAH A.RAMLIE

Class of 1969 High School Batu Pahat....MY LATE BROTHER ARWAH RAMLEE JAMAL (6TH FROM LEFT, MID-ROW)....SEMOGA ALLAH SWT CUCURI RAHMAT KEATAS ROH NYA. AMIN!

One of my favourite songs during the mid 60's....."DI SAAT BAHAGIA" by Les Fentones

Article 3 of The Federal Constitution says that “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation” and pointed out the word “official” was nowhere in the provision."

Article 3 of The Federal Constitution says that “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation” and pointed out the word “official” was nowhere in the provision."


By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider

The Federal Constitution has never stated Islam is the country’s “official religion”, says lawyer Syahredzan Johan as controversy raged over a Utusan Malaysia report that Christians want to usurp the religion’s place in the charter.

The Umno-owned paper and some Malay-Muslim groups, including Umno leaders, have been pushing the view that the country’s highest law proclaims Islam to be its “official” religion and that only a Muslim can be its prime minister.

Syahredzan, who is the Bar Council’s constitutional law committee chief, said Utusan’s reading of the law was wrong and warned the Malay-language daily was pushing what he described as a “dangerous misconception” that could plunge the country into religious and social unrest.

“In terms of the Federal Constitution, there’s only one religion for the federation, no official or unofficial. The Constitution is clear on this. Islam is not the official religion,” he said to The Malaysian Insider when contacted yesterday.

He cited Article 3 as stating “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation” and pointed out the word “official” was nowhere in the provision.

Syahredzan said that section of the constitution must be interpreted together with Article 11, which states “Everyone has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4)’ — which is on Islam — ‘to propagate it’”.

“We need to understand the correct terminology to be used when we say anything about the Federal Constitution,” he said, and added “everyone, from ministers to NGOs to bloggers have been claiming all sorts, which goes to show they do not know what is in the Federal Constitution”.

He observed that by inserting the extra word into the Constitution, the bloggers, ministers and newspaper were reading things that are not there and changing the law.

“And that’s unconstitutional,” the lawyer insisted.

Syahredzan also said while the man-on-the-street could be excused for not being well-versed with the law, ministers and lawyers could not be forgiven because it was not only their job but their duty.

“If it’s normal people, they can be excused for not knowing the Constitution, but we’re talking about ministers, lawyers, the media ... people with influence in society.

“If they themselves don’t understand how the Constitution works, then we have a serious problem because people might be agitated,” he said.

Syahredzan said he was highlighting this issue because no one else seemed to be doing so.

“It’s a very dangerous thing and it gets played up and because of that, it becomes more than just a constitutional issue, it becomes a bogeyman ... it becomes a religious issue and a social issue and a political issue and a problem. Someone needs to stand up and say this,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

While the young lawyer noted that right-wing Malay rights lobbyists had been making noise about this issue, he said he was unsure if their campaign was deliberate or carried out due to ignorance.

But, Syahredzan stressed, it is time Putrajaya take the lead to correct the misconception to avoid disaster.

Comments (8)..

written by Atheist, May 10, 2011 15:32:08

This is why I never wanted a Malay judge or a Malay lawyer when I took a GLC to court and won.

The Clause is very clear .... Islam is the religion of the land .... but we will allow other religions. A missing word does not change the 'spirit' of the constitution nor the law.

The words ' in any part of the Federation (land)' suppports this. If it was 'as part of the Federation (land)' ..... then I might be tempted to agree .... to a certain degree.

The words ' may be practiced' makes it difficult for other religions to be put on the same footing as 'religion of the Federation'.

In my time, we would have put such people in Kemunting's 'self-actualization' pprogram .... without Cabinet approval. ..

written by Oscar Winner, May 10, 2011 13:06:03

Hi Syahredzan, thanks for the clarification. You have just helped the ignorant like me understand the constitution. I believe many of your fellow lawyers may not even understand the constitution on this issue. Pls be careful though, Utusan will carry a headline which says "Syahredzan mesti ditahan di bawah ISA" ..

written by malsia1206, May 10, 2011 12:45:51

Just like Mamak hijacking the Federal Constitution to implement NEP and all the successive acronym as the National official regime for the past 40+ years.

They want theirs to be the one and only exclusive religion.

They want to have exclusive usage on 'Allah'.

They want NEP to be indefinite. 30% to 51% to 90% sooner rather than later.

They want this, they want that.

They can shaft the whole damn country up their arses for all I care. ...

written by durianbesar, May 10, 2011 12:44:47

RPK has also stated this many times before... n most people have short memories......

This fcuking UMNO and BN have to be C4ed and destroyed..... hopefully one by one they drop dead from heart attacks or submarines falling down from the sky on KLCC... or Putrajaya.....

These UMNO fcukheads and fcukwits.... are all playing with fire..... and this will cost them greatly especially baldy the p**imak Najib and his plasticised wife and cunt... Rosmahfcuk....

All the other fcukers are the fundamentalists of islam in Malaysia... who have nothing better to do than become moral fcukheads.....

SYABAS Sharedzan ...

written by IbnAbdHalim, May 10, 2011 12:21:50

Say what you may but UMNO think otherwise. They think this country belongs to them. They have the final say in everything. To overcome this phenomena the only right thing to do is to get rid of UMNO. And that's a gigantic task. Insya Allah victory will side the righteous, the oppressed. ..

written by Fart Fart Wah, May 10, 2011 12:06:26

This is where you are wrong. When the Interlok Indian Prime Minister stated that this Islam is the official religion of this country thats where all the rest wagged the tail. All wagged their tail because it suited them and UMNO. The voice of protest by the oppostion was muffled by a drunken Interlok Indian Prime Minister who was at that time at the height of power and he was dancing the dance of twin towers and mega projects. To cover up for all the mistakes and the corruption going on he distracted the Malays with this. And all of Malays sang HURRAH HURRAH HURRAH we have a real Muslim Leader. Using that as a que now we have the UMNO's children of the father still shouting the same without understanding the constitution. No one can claim that Malaysia has an official rellgion. WE all agree that Islam by force of the fact being a Malay you must be a Muslim takes on the major section of our community of being Muslims. This again goes against the spirit of the constitution where each man/woman is free to choose her region. NOT SO for MALAYS who are herded under the Islamic religion to control and force them to follow politicians and religious leaders. Now without this they will lose political power. Today we know why the Interlok Indian prime minister did this. We also know that the rest of his followers are singing the same song to force the Malays to submit to them. I thought in Islam you only SUBMIT TO A L L A H ! however you can see that this is not the case. As usual like you said the Malay on the street who is more concerned for his bread and butter is ignorant of this fact. He just follows to make sure that his nasi kandar is not taken away by UMNO. I said Nasi Kandar because today we know that the Mamaks are running this country as they are the ones funding UMNO. It is very unfortunate that we let this happen, however it is a time of awakening for the Malays. As Muslims they can see the hatred against another fellow Muslim brother Anwar.. the length they have gone to kill him off politically and even to the extend of showing clips of sex acts ON NATIONAL TV. how low they have become even to corrupt our young Malay children and youth and the UMMAH. I am baffled how MUSLIMS IN UMNO CAN THROW SO MUCH SHIT AT ANOTHER MUSLIM AND WRITE ALL KINDS OF SHIT AGAINST HIM and try to stir hatred against other relgiions just to cling to p .

written by educationist, May 10, 2011 11:58:20

“Why are we under this siege mentality that everyone is out to get us, as if they are afraid Islam is going to be changed?” he asked - I believe Syahredzan is being polite as to be so circumspect in asking the question which answer is obvious to anyone who will see!!

"The Federal Constitution has never stated Islam is the country’s “official religion”, ..." TQ Syahredzan for stating this fact for us.

Of course, the UMNOPutras shall be screaming bloody murder but facts are facts!! ..

written by Wisdom above, May 10, 2011 11:56:36

Many Lawyers knew about this VOID & ABSENCE and chose to stay SILENT about it !

Syahredzan, who is the Bar Council’s constitutional law committee chief, says this and it make sense !

" .....He cited Article 3 as stating “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation” and pointed out the word “official” was nowhere in the provision."

Even when black people have significant professional and networking opportunities, race can still play a role in their employability.

Even when black people have significant professional and networking opportunities, race can still play a role in their employability.


Unemployment among Black College Graduates

By The Hilltop Staff – Black College Wire

As graduation season rapidly approaches, black college graduates may face a greater burden in the job market than their white counterparts. Black college graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed as white college graduates.

The recession has only worsened this problem. Unemployment among blacks is disproportionately higher than the rest of the population.

Reasons for this trend include black students are not adequately prepared for the job market. They may have the degrees, but they lack the connections or professional skills to be successful in the workplace.

Students may have the knowledge, but not the resume; or the resume, but not the knowledge. Also, since many current black college graduates are first-generation college students, they may not have the same professional networks within their families that white college graduates may have.

Even when black people have significant professional and networking opportunities, race can still play a role in their employability. The New York Times cited a study that said Caucasian, Asian and Latino managers hired a greater number of white job applicants and fewer black job applicants than black managers did.

Other concerns and signs of more covert, and possibly even unconscious, racism included the tendency to hire candidates with less "ethnic-sounding" names or candidates to whom they felt they were a better fit for the "cultural environment" of the workplace.

The presidency of Barack Obama was also cited as a possible challenge to the employment of black college graduates. Since many people feel that President Obama's election demonstrated the limitless possibilities for black people, black job applicants are more likely to be seen as playing the victim if they express their feelings about racism or cultural bias in the job application process.

In some ways, Obama's election also diminished the severity of the need for programs and opportunities targeted toward cultural diversity in the workplace. Therefore, attempts to level the playing field of opportunity have decreased, leaving many black college graduates to continue to combat discrimination with, what is often viewed as, an old argument and with less ammunition.

Regardless of the reasons for the disparity in employment rates, black college graduates must navigate the job market the way it is now. Lack of opportunity can only be countered by continuing to be proactive.

Pro-activity does not just mean training harder or longer to improve or increase skills and marketability or working consistently to build connections.

If there are no opportunities available, black college graduates must create their own because entrepreneurship is the only definitive solution to the problem of employability. The difficulties associated with working for others decrease if we take steps to work for ourselves.

The Hilltop is the student newspaper at Howard University , which originally published this article.

Articles in the Voices section reflect the opinions of the individual writers and do not represent the views of Black College Wire.

The world’s most wanted terrorist lived his last five years imprisoned behind the barbed wire and high walls of his home in Abbottabad, Pakistan, his days consumed by dark arts and domesticity.

Bin Laden’s Secret Life in a Diminished World

May 7, 2011

Bin Laden’s Secret Life in a Diminished World

By ELISABETH BUMILLER, CARLOTTA GALL and SALMAN MASOOD

This article is by Elisabeth Bumiller, Carlotta Gall and Salman Masood.

WASHINGTON — The world’s most wanted terrorist lived his last five years imprisoned behind the barbed wire and high walls of his home in Abbottabad, Pakistan, his days consumed by dark arts and domesticity.

American officials believe that Osama bin Laden spent many hours on the computer, relying on couriers to bring him thumb drives packed with information from the outside world.

Videos seized from Bin Laden’s compound and released by the Obama administration on Saturday showed him wrapped in an old blanket watching himself on TV, like an aging actor imagining a comeback. A senior intelligence official said other videos showed him practicing and flubbing his lines in front of a camera. He was interested enough in his image, the official said, to dye his white beard black for the recordings.

His once-large entourage of Arab bodyguards was down to one trusted Pakistani courier and the courier’s brother, who also had the job of buying goats, sheep and Coca-Cola for the household. While his physical world had shrunk to two indoor rooms and daily pacing in his courtyard, Bin Laden was still revered at home — by his three wives, by his children and by the tight, interconnected circle of loyalists in the compound.

He did not do chores or tend to the cows and water buffalo on the south side of the compound like the other men. The household, American officials figure, knew how important it was for him to devote his time to Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization he founded and was still actively running at the time of his death.

American officials say there is much they do not know about the last years of Bin Laden, who was shot dead by Navy Seal commandos last Monday in his third-floor bedroom, and the peculiar life of the compound. But what has emerged so far, in interviews with United States and Pakistani military and intelligence officials and Bin Laden’s neighbors in the middle-class hamlet where he had been hiding, is a portrait of an isolated man, perhaps a little bored, presiding over family life while plotting mayhem — still desperate to be heard, intent on outsize influence, musing in his handwritten notebooks about killing more Americans.

“My father would not look forward to staying indoors month after month, because he is a man who loves everything about nature,” Omar bin Laden, a son of Bin Laden, said in an e-mail message in 2009. “But if I were to say what he would need to survive, I would say food and water. He would go inward and occupy himself with his mind.”

Abbottabad, a scenic hill cantonment for the British Raj and later home to the elite military academy that is Pakistan’s West Point, became the Bin Laden family base in late 2005. Their large compound, in a new neighborhood on the outskirts of town, is now the most photographed house in the country, with stories spilling forth from astonished neighbors. Bin Laden, who was the tall man C.I.A. officers watched pacing the courtyard from a surveillance post nearby, never went out. The neighbors knew the family as Arshad Khan and Tariq Khan, the aliases of the trusted courier and his brother. The courier also went by the name Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.

The Khans seemed pleasant enough, but they kept to themselves behind their 12-foot concrete walls and barbed wire, neighbors said. They never invited anyone in or went to others’ homes, although they did go to prayers in the mosque and funerals in the neighborhood. The women left the compound only with their husbands in a car, and covered in black burqas. The children rarely played outside. When neighborhood boys playing in the fields let a ball fly into the compound by mistake, the Khans gave them 50 rupees, less than a dollar, to buy a new one rather than let them in to retrieve it.

“We thought maybe they had killed someone back in their village or something like that and were therefore very cautious,” said a neighbor, an engineer who identified himself as Zaheer.

The brothers, both in their 30s, had two cars, a red Suzuki van and a white Suzuki jeep, and paid double the daily wage (about $2.40) to laborers who worked on the house as it was being built in 2004. They offered various explanations to the neighbors about their comparative wealth, once saying they had a hotel in Dubai or that they worked in the money-changing business. They were Pashtuns from Charsadda, in Pakistan’s northwest frontier.

“They never told us why they came here,” said Naheed Abassi, 21, a driver and farm laborer who said he had worked on construction of the house. The courier and his brother, both killed in the raid, were sons of a man Bin Laden had known for decades. A Bin Laden son, Khalid, who lived in the home and was also killed, was married to a sister of the Khans, Pakistani officials said.

Little is known about how Bin Laden, believed to be 54, managed his relationships with his three wives. (Islam traditionally allows a man to have four wives.) On the night he was killed, Bin Laden was in his bedroom with his youngest wife, Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, whose Yemeni passport shows her to be 29, a quarter-century Bin Laden’s junior.

This wife was apparently the one shot by commandos in the leg as she rushed them in an effort to protect her husband. American officials said there were also children in the bedroom; Pakistani intelligence officers, in reports that have not been verified by American officials, said a 12-year-old girl told them that she was a daughter of Bin Laden and that she saw the Americans shoot him. There was one woman killed in the raid, caught in cross-fire when the commandos killed the courier. A retired Pakistani intelligence officer, Brig. Asa Munir, said the woman was an Arab doctor.

There were nine children in the household, but it remained unclear how many belonged to Bin Laden and his son and how many to the courier and his brother. Neighbors say the courier and his brother had seven children between them, and so there was no great surprise when Pakistanis found remedies for children’s ear infections, colds and coughs. According to NBC News, the Pakistanis also found Avena syrup, an extract of wild oats that can be taken for an upset stomach but is also sold as an aphrodisiac.

Contrary to a widely held belief that Bin Laden was on dialysis to treat a kidney ailment, Pakistani investigators said last week that his youngest wife told them he was healthy. “He was neither weak nor frail,” one of the investigator quoted the wife as saying. She told them, they said, that Bin Laden had recovered from two kidney operations a decade or more ago in southern Afghanistan, in part by using homemade remedies, including watermelon.

Although American intelligence analysts are just beginning to pore over a huge trove of computer files, storage devices and cellphones that the commandos recovered from the compound, they were eager to release the new videos, five in all, on Saturday. They said they did not know when the video of Bin Laden watching himself on television had been recorded, but since there is a brief image of President Obama flickering on the screen, it appears to have been made in the compound sometime after January 2009, when Mr. Obama was inaugurated.

Another of the videos, all of which were provided without sound, showed what an intelligence official said was Bin Laden speaking in a “message to the American people” that condemned the United States and capitalism. The official said the video had been recorded between Oct. 9 and Nov. 5, 2010.

American officials assume that during the last five years, Bin Laden recorded about a half-dozen audio messages a year from inside the house. The messages were meant for dissemination to the outside world, but to avoid detection, Bin Laden had no Internet, e-mail or phone lines that he could use to send them.

Instead, the audio files were evidently stored on a CD or tiny thumb drive and passed from courier to courier until they reached As Sahab, Al Qaeda’s media arm. There they would usually be combined with still images of Bin Laden, subtitled translations, quotations from the Koran and other embellishments. The finished product would be uploaded to jihadist Web forums and occasionally delivered to Al Jazeera or other broadcasters.

The messages, the only glimpse the world had of Bin Laden’s thinking while he lived inside the compound, suggest not just a firebrand calling for mass murder — a staple of most of the recordings — but a man, perhaps stifled by monotony, attuned to the news and sometimes attracted to unexpected subjects. It is not known if he had a radio in the house, but his son Omar, who lived with him in Afghanistan until 1999, described his father as constantly listening to the BBC.

In October, when American intelligence was close on the trail of the courier and spy satellites were taking detailed photographs of the house, Bin Laden issued two audio statements urging help for victims of floods in Pakistan. “We are in need of a big change in the method of relief work because the number of victims is great due to climate changes in modern times,” he said.

In 2007, he complained that Democratic control of Congress had not ended the war in Iraq, a fact he attributed to the pernicious influence of “big corporations.” In other messages he commented on the writings of Noam Chomsky, the leftist professor at M.I.T., and praised former President Jimmy Carter’s book supporting Palestinian rights.

Although the couriers who handed off the thumb drives were outside electronic detection, that did not extend to Al Qaeda’s No. 3, who needed a cellphone and e-mail to carry out plans and give orders to more than one person. As a result, Al Qaeda’s third-in-commands had short life expectancies, the fodder of wry jokes in the counterterrorism field. Two No. 3s were killed around the time Bin Laden lived in the compound — Hamza Rabia in December 2005 and Mustafa Abu al-Yazid in 2010.

Congressional officials said they were struck by how Bin Laden’s low-profile, low-tech lifestyle protected him but might have also hastened his death. Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said that the lack of a large entourage was obviously intended to attract as little attention as possible.

“If you had 25 18-year-olds with guns, then not only would the C.I.A. notice, but so would the Pakistani military,” Mr. Reed said.

But he said he was also struck that Bin Laden was not prepared for the kind of attack the commandos carried out. “There was no escape route, no tunnels, not even false rooms in the house in which to hide,” he said. “It makes you wonder: at what point did that extra degree of vigilance he had get dulled by routine?”

Elisabeth Bumiller reported from Washington, and Carlotta Gall and Salman Masood from Islamabad, Pakistan. Reporting was contributed by Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt from Washington, David Rohde from New York, and Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan.

BOOK SMART VERSUS STREET SMART.........

May 6, 2011


Payrolls Show Strong Growth but Jobless Rate Rises

By MOTOKO RICH

For three straight months, the nation’s employers have delivered solid job growth, easing some concerns that the economy could be stalling.

Employers added 244,000 jobs in April, more than economists had forecast and an increase from 221,000 in March, the government reported on Friday.

As a measure of how far uphill the economic climb remains, though, the unemployment rate actually nudged up to 9 percent, from 8.8 percent a month earlier. The Labor Department uses a different survey, of households rather than employers, to calculate that rate, which tends to be volatile.

The monthly snapshot of the job market showed that government workers continued to receive pink slips, but the private sector more than picked up the slack, adding 268,000 jobs in April, the most in five years. Hiring was spread broadly, with manufacturing, retail, health care, and leisure and hospitality industries all expanding.

Including some revisions to reflect more hiring in February and March, the nation’s employers have added an average of 192,000 jobs a month this year, compared with just 78,000 monthly last year.

“This is very encouraging for the sustainability of the recovery,” said James F. O’Sullivan, chief economist at MF Global.

Another brighter sign was among the long-term unemployed. The number of people out of work for more than six months eased to 5.8 million, its lowest level since October 2009. Still, 13.7 million people remained without work and were still looking.

Earlier in the week, a number of reports indicated that the economy had stumbled in the days since the Labor Department compiled its survey. The biggest worry was a rise in new claims for unemployment insurance, and a survey of companies showed a slowdown in new orders and hiring.

Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist with the Economic Outlook Group, has spent most of the last year as a strong optimist, but sounds increasingly cautious.

“There are just too many economic indicators that point to an economy that has been slowing,” said Mr. Baumohl, noting last week’s report that output slumped to 1.8 percent in the first quarter of the year. “It almost looks like a bull that’s charging through a crowd, utterly impervious to what’s in front of it.

“Regretfully, I think the pace of hiring will slow down in May and June,” he added. “I think in this case the job market is a lagging indicator, and I think it will probably fall off as well, as more signs point to a weakening economy.”

President Obama, speaking at Allison Transmission, a maker of transmissions that is increasingly moving into hybrid products, hailed the job numbers while acknowledging headwinds from high gas prices and interruptions caused by the earthquake in Japan. “There are always going to be some ups and downs like these as we come out of a recession,” he said. “But the fact is that we are still making progress.

“And that proves how resilient the American economy is, and how resilient the American worker is, and that we can take a hit and we can keep on going forward.”

Manufacturing has been one of the surprising pillars of the recovery, adding back 250,000 of the 2.3 million jobs it lost during the recession. In April, it grew by 29,000 jobs, up from 22,000 in March.

A weakened dollar has helped exports, and companies are describing an increase in demand at home. Quality Float Works, a family-owned company that makes floating metal balls and valves in Schaumburg, Ill., shrank by six workers during the recession. Since the beginning of the year, it has hired two people and aims to hire two more.

Jason W. Speer, vice president and general manager, said that although high prices for energy and raw materials had temporarily made the firm hesitate, “we’ve been getting long-term commitments from our customers, and we have felt fairly comfortable.” He added: “I can easily see hiring two or more before the end of the year, if we have no more bumps.”

Economists who saw signs of lasting momentum said they did not believe a few hiccups in coming months would derail the recovery this time. “I do view this impending softness as a temporary response to the rise in oil prices,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief United States economist at the High Frequency Economics research firm, “not a fundamental reversal.”

Austan Goolsbee, the chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, said several signs pointed to continuing strength in hiring, including slower productivity gains after a fairly sharp run-up. After companies squeeze all they can out of their existing workers, they need to add more. “This is clearly the track you want to be on to plow your way,” Mr. Goolsbee said.

Average hourly earnings increased by 3 cents, to $22.95, and the average workweek was flat at 34.3 hours. Heather Boushey, senior economist at the liberal Center for American Progress, said she was concerned that neither wages nor hours were moving strongly upward, as would be expected if companies were wringing all they could out of their existing workers. “We’re not out of the woods,” she said. “As much as I think it would be such a relief to say, ‘Hey, this is the out-of-the-woods report.’ ”

Among job seekers, the least educated, African-Americans and teenagers continue to have the highest unemployment rates. For workers in the 55-and-over age group, the average duration of unemployment spiked to 53.6 weeks, compared with 39.4 weeks for those younger.

A weak area was government — local, state and federal — where the work force contracted by 24,000 jobs. Construction added 5,000 jobs, though mostly because of gains in heavy and civil engineering, probably helped by the remaining federal stimulus dollars devoted to infrastructure projects like highways. Most other segments of construction, including residential, shrank.

Temporary help, which has been strong, lost 2,300 jobs. Executives of two temporary services companies, Tig Gilliam, chief executive of the Adecco Group North America, and Jorge Perez, senior vice president of North America for Manpower, said companies that had relied on contract workers early in the recovery were now hiring.

Amanda Fisher, who was laid off from her hostess job at a high-end restaurant in New York City last October, applied for work with Manpower in November. After a couple of jobs in retail, she took an assignment as a customer service representative at a furniture company. Last month, the company offered her a full-time job with benefits.

“I have a real grown-up job,” said Ms. Fisher, 21, who said she spent eight months out of work and was intermittently homeless early in the recession. Several of her friends, she said, were still “in terrible situations.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: May 6, 2011

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated, in one reference, the reason for the increase in the unemployment rate. As the article noted elsewhere, the rate was based on a household survey, which showed a decline in employment; it did not reflect an increase in the number of job seekers.

Perhaps one action that is more needed now than before is how to sustain the current economic recovery in ASEAN

ASEAN rebalancing act


The Jakarta Post
Sat, 05/07/2011 4:51 AM
Opinion

S. Pushpanathan

When the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet in Jakarta this weekend for their 18th annual summit, the economy will continue to be one of their top agenda.

True to the commitment they made in 2003, the leaders will discuss the progress of building a competitive and highly integrated economic region by 2015. Now, it’s time to hold on that commitment, and perhaps show some gains — and more actions.

Perhaps one action that is more needed now than before is how to sustain the current economic recovery in ASEAN. It is tempting to dismiss the economy for now when economic conditions have started to show some strength again. However, as the ASEAN finance ministers have warned in their meeting in Bali last month, there are still risks that can derail the recovery.

Last year the region grew by 7.6 percent, after stalling to 1.5 percent in 2009 because of the crisis. Most countries have now reached or exceeded their pre-crisis growth rates. For the first time in a decade, six countries (Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) expanded by 7 percent or higher.

The more advanced ASEAN-5 economies have now posted five consecutive quarters of economic expansion, while the smaller economies also rebounded strongly. The ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office (AIMO) of the ASEAN Secretariat predicted that regional GDP should expand by 6.4 percent this year — slower than last year but still above the region’s average growth of 5.7 percent over the last 10 years.

To be sure, it’s the strength of domestic demand that helped the region cope with the onslaught of the financial meltdown. Not surprisingly, considering the spending power that the various fiscal stimulus measures have unleashed in a market of US$1.6 trillion and 600 million consumers. But what’s more surprising is the apparent return of private sector in the region.

Private investment — a perennial Achilles heel in the region’s quest for growth, has shown signs of growth lately, even in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines where private investment has always been a drag. Last year private inflows (mainly FDI) in the region are estimated to have reached US$70 billion. Market issuance of bonds, equities and loans by private firms in the region also peaked at $23.5 billion.

In many ways, ASEAN has managed to keep its fundamentals in better shape to support private demand. Courtesy of good economic management since the Asian financial crisis, both macroeconomic and financial stability is well entrenched. The region’s banks are more stable, its exchange rates more flexible, and its foreign exchange reserves bigger.

Countries in the region have also become more integrated — with trade and investment regimes less rigid and more open than seen in earlier years. Despite the pockets of poverty that still exist, social tensions have been eased somewhat — thanks to some trickle-down effects. No one can deny that these changes have helped firm up regional domestic demand.

Yet the reality is that these changes are not enough. Somehow there is still this missing ingredient of rebalancing in favor of domestic demand. ASEAN economies are still dependent on exports as engine of growth — with the share of external trade amounting to more than 100 percent of regional GDP on average.

Most obviously, fixed investment in ASEAN has been sluggish. Its average contribution to growth in the region over the last ten years has been very low (0.2 percent) — and although it increased strongly last year — perhaps due to low base effects, private investment has been stagnant on real terms. Most vital signs, from productivity to real income growth, have also slowed a bit.

While rebalancing is not easy to do, it’s about time that ASEAN countries act on it if the current recovery is to be sustained. With the continuing global uncertainty, ASEAN economies would be better off to focus on the domestic foundations for growth which would shield the region from further volatility in global demand. Such rebalancing requires two important actions.

First macroeconomic policies must be recalibrated. Critical here are those policies that increase the return on investment, improve access to financing, and bolster business climate to reduce uncertainty. Recent initiatives that address financing constraints to investment in the region such as the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund are steps in right direction, but more comprehensive actions are needed.

Diversifying the sources of growth would also help. This can be done by pursuing productivity-augmenting measures in agriculture and the services sector, improving wages and income through greater labor market flexibility and supporting skills upgrading. Policies that would support the growth of domestic income including the provision of public transfers and safety nets are also noteworthy.

Second, and just as important, is for ASEAN to remain committed to market reforms, particularly reforms that enhance the efficiency and transparency of domestic financial systems. So far ASEAN is heeding the call — with its various roadmaps to financial integration, as well as initiatives that develop the capital markets such as the Asian Bond Markets Initiative and Implementation Plan for Integrated Capital Markets under the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum.

But given the financial sector fragility, more credible and appropriate reforms must continue to be implemented to sustain investor confidence, re-establish market and financial stability, and support growth. The region should also continue to implement measures that boost medium-growth prospects, including more human capital development and capital accumulation to support innovation and technical progress.

None of these actions is easy. Policy interventions will not yield instant rewards to be sure. Current uncertainties such as rising food and commodity prices, overheating pressures in Asia, and continued global financial stresses may also complicate policies. But these should not prevent ASEAN countries from putting their rebalancing act together. In fact, the more countries cooperate and coordinate policies the more they can sustain the recovery against all these external uncertainties

This weekend’s summit, I believe, should get them off to a good start.

The writer is the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community. His views are personal.

— JP

Copyright © 2011 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.
________________________________________

Source URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/06/asean-rebalancing-act.html

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The Grid addresses the change power zone by providing a model of leadership that allows people to explore their actual conditions in comparison with an ideal model. The model gives people a starting point for change in the form of a motivational map. They see where they are and where they want to go.

This is not as easy as it may sound. Change at the value level is the most powerful and most difficult change to achieve. Just because people see a sound model and want to change doesn't mean they can. Personal intentions distort individual perceptions, making people see their actual behavior in terms of what they "want" to achieve instead of what they "are" achieving. With the model in place, however, change occurs by learning sound critique skills that explore personal values, bringing them out into the open. These skills include how to take initiative, practice inquiry, advocate convictions, make decisions, resolve conflict, demonstrate resilience, and practice critique.

The following personal leadership styles test examines individual values regarding leadership. This test is part of the 4-day Grid learning experience. Participants complete the test as prework to measure personal values before the seminar, and then the test is repeated after the seminar to measure changes in personal values. Complete the test and see how your values reflect Grid styles. The test is completely confidential - only you will receive the results!

The 9,9 Style: Sound (Contribute and Commit)
Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The 9,9 style is located on the top right corner of the Grid figure and integrates a high concern for people with a high concern for results. The difference between 9,9 and the other six Grid styles is that the 9,9 person sees no contradiction in demonstrating a high concern for both people and results. He or she feels no need to restrain, control, or diminish the concerns for people or results in relationships. The consequence is a freedom to test the limits of success with enthusiasm and confidence. The 9,9 attitude leads to more effective work relationships based on "what's right" rather than "who's right."

The full integration of concern for people and results is in contrast to the levels of control evident in each other style. The 9,1 person feels that a high concern for results disables the expression of a high concern for people. The 1,9 person feels the reverse—that a high concern for people is more important than results. The 5,5 feels that a high concern for either is too risky, and prefers to remain at a middle level to maintain the status quo. The 1,1 sees any high concern as unrealistic and too demanding. The paternalist expresses a high concern for results and for people, but is unable to relinquish control and allow others to make their own contribution. The opportunist sees a contradiction in working with others in the first place and so uses people and organizations to further selfish goals.

The 9,9 style is firmly entrenched in logical reasoning and common sense business thinking: If you have a problem, get it out into the open and work through it. This person is truly objective, and is not afraid to tackle tough issues openly and honestly. This approach brings strength and focus to team resources and potential results, but can also lead to dramatic resistance in a culture unfamiliar with the concept. Although effective, the 9,9 style can come across as forceful and blunt in a team or company where the culture dictates playing politics, smoothing over conflict, or always deferring to one or more people in authority regardless of how sound or unsound their actions might be. Over time, however, 9,9 actions demonstrated in a team overcome any fears that prevent people from embracing the style.

The PAT Style: Paternalistic (Prescribe and Guide)

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The Paternalistic style results from two individual Grid styles coming together in a way that produces a unique, joined style. The two styles merge in the same interdependent way that the two concerns do in the other Grid styles. Relationships between the paternalist and co-workers are like those between parent and child, where reward comes from the 1,9 influence to nurture, and punishment comes from the 9,1 influence to dictate behaviors. The resulting style is a person who commands action and results by providing guidance, praise, and reward and subtle punishment.

The paternalist represents one of the most prevalent and powerful leadership styles in successful companies. The style represents a "new and improved" version of the traditional autocratic leader. He or she demonstrates all of the strength, determination, and courage that brings about results, and yet also considers people in the process. Paternalists are often viewed as benevolent autocrats—as people who don't just want to control others, but who want them to smile and say, "Thank you!" He or she often has a proven track record of accomplishment and wants to share that expertise by taking care of everyone in what he or she perceives to be a helpful and supportive way. The paternalist comes across as overbearing by imposing help regardless of whether it is wanted or even needed. The trouble is, doing too much, the paternalist creates dependence in others by limiting their ability to contribute.

As a result of the 9,1 influence, the paternalist holds himself or herself up to high standards of performance and expects the same from others. A person who complies with these demands receives rewards in the form of praise, advantage, and benefits, which is more characteristic of the 1,9 style. The "cooperative" team member is still expected to maintain the high standards of performance, but receives more support, encouragement, and overall "help" from the paternalist along the way. A person who does not comply receives more of the 9,1 treatment exemplified by increased scrutiny, a stance that communicates "prove to me you are worthy of my support," and "this is for your own good" attitude regarding expectations for performance.
________________________________________

The 9,1 Style: Controlling (Direct and Dominate)

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The 9,1 style is found in the lower right corner of the Grid figure. This person demonstrates a high concern for results interdependent with a low concern for others. The high concern for results present in this style brings determination, focus, and drive for success to any team. This person is usually highly trained, organized, experienced, and qualified to lead a team to success. He or she also has the confidence and courage to demand high standards and takes calculated risks as needed to reach them. The low concern for others, however, limits the ability to reach synergy because the effort to involve others is low and results in an overly forceful approach. The person with this style approaches relationships with an underlying assumption that the two concerns work against each other in the workplace. He or she believes that demonstrating a concern for people diminishes the ability to achieve results, and so actively works to downplay and suppress the "people" side of relationships.

The low concern for others prevents the 9,1 person from being aware of others involved in an activity beyond what is expected of them in relation to results. The overriding focus lies in results, often leaving others lost in the wake of his or her forceful initiative. The 9,1 person expects everyone else to "keep up" with his or her efforts, and so moves ahead, intensely focused on results.

The 9,1 person can come across as pushy and demanding without considering how his or her behavior impacts others. "People" concerns such as benefits, training, flexible work hours, social meetings, and personal discussions are often given low priority. In short, this person is unapproachable in a personal sense. Human qualities of relationships (candor, openness, mutual trust and respect, personal goals) are often seen as issues that slow down the main focus of maintaining high standards and achieving results. If costs need to be cut, the "people costs" are the first to go, often with little awareness of important developmental work which eventually has to be reinitiated later with increased expense and under-motivated and perhaps less knowledgeable employees. The 9,1 person does not mean to attack people, but truly believes a singular focus on results is the only way to get the job done: "All that other stuff is frills, anyway."
________________________________________

The 1,9 Style: Accommodating (Yield and Comply)

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The 1,9 style is found in the upper left corner of the Grid figure. This person demonstrates a low concern for results with a high concern for others. The high concern for people brings a valuable quality to teams for building relationships. This individual maintains a heightened awareness of personal feelings, goals, and ambitions of others, and always considers how proposed actions will affect them. He or she is approachable, fun, friendly, and always ready to listen with sympathy and encouragement. The interdependent low concern for results, however, works against the high concern for others in the workplace by shifting the focus away from work achievement. This makes the relationships, although warm and friendly, too shallow and superficial for synergy to occur because full candor is lacking. This leads to individuals and teams that are ultimately unprepared for the kind of challenges that arise in the pursuit of improved productivity and change.

The 1,9 and 9,1 styles are diametrically opposed in their perspectives. Each of these orientations leads in a narrow and singularly focused manner by trying to diminish the other primary concern in the workplace. The Achilles' heel in 1,9 thinking is, "As long as I'm keeping people happy, they respond by working hard to achieve results." The evidence shows the opposite: relationships suffer when employees are not challenged in the workplace. People become bored with work and frustrated with each other because something is missing in the relationships. Further, productivity decreases when the concern for results is low.

Some cornerstone phrases of the 1,9 attitude are "Let's talk about it. What can I do to help? Let me know what you think." The main weakness, however, lies in the focus of the discussions. Instead of focusing discussions in specific terms of causes and solutions, 1,9 discussions include an overwhelming emphasis on personal feelings and preferences. The discussion itself becomes the goal, so conversations can meander in any direction. If an individual is angry, the 1,9 person follows the comments and offers sympathy and encouragement whenever appropriate. If an individual is pleased, the 1,9 person offers compliments and celebration. He or she uses discussions to constantly gauge morale levels and quickly offer encouragement, support, and praise as needed.
________________________________________

The 5,5 Style: Status Quo (Balance and Compromise)

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The 5,5 style is located in the middle of the Grid figure indicating a medium level of concern for both people and results. Like the 9,1 Controlling and the 1,9 Accommodating styles, the 5,5 person believes there is an inherent contradiction between the two concerns. But unlike 9,1 and 1,9, neither concern is valued over the other. Instead, the 5,5 person sees a high level of either concern for people or results as too extreme and takes actions to moderate both in the workplace. This is accomplished by balancing the needs of people with the need for results through compromises and tradeoffs. The overwhelming attitude is, "Good enough or a little better is okay."

The objective of the 5,5 person is to play it safe and work toward acceptable solutions that follow proven methods. This is a politically-motivated approach that seeks to avoid risk by maintaining the tried and true course that follows popular opinion and norms. The 5,5 does not strive to settle for less, or to reduce results, but that is what happens as a consequence of the 5,5 approach. Creativity, personal commitment, and mutual trust and respect are found only at the high end (level 9) of concerns. These characteristics are found in the kind of strong convictions, bold ideas, disagreements, and deep commitment people experience when sound relationships are in place. These qualities are diluted in the 5,5 approach through an overdependence on these criteria: relying on history, precedent, and past practices to guide action following the majority rule and popular opinion adhering to the norms and standards in place whether they are sound or not

The 5,5 person is often the best informed person in the team. He or she reads company policies, periodicals, and other sources of information, and maintains a historical knowledge of events. A 5,5 can often quote detailed history at length and is well-versed regarding existing reservations, doubts, and dangers. The 5,5 person also tracks norms by regularly observing and talking to people about progress and expectations. All of these efforts can provide strength in evaluating a calculated risk and in progressing at an acceptable pace. These efforts are weakened, however, because the information gathered is not used to challenge standards and search for creative solutions. The objective is to identify popular patterns and trends in order to maintain the status quo.

Another key aspect of the 5,5 approach is maintaining popular status within the team and organization. He or she must be intelligent and informed enough to persuade people and companies to settle for less than they want—less than they could achieve. This is done by being well liked, keeping well informed, and effectively convincing people that the consequences are not worth the risk. On the surface, this may make the 5,5 appear unbiased and impartial, but more accurately, the 5,5 approach represents a narrow view that underestimates people, results, and the power of change.
________________________________________

The 1,1 Style: Indifferent (Evade and Elude)

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The 1,1 style, located in the lower left corner of the Grid, represents the lowest level of concern for both results and people. The key word for this style is neutral. This is the least visible person in a team; he or she is a follower who maintains distance from active involvement whenever possible. A 1,1 person carefully goes through the motions of work, doing enough to get by, but rarely making a deliberate effort to do more.

1,1 survival is enabled and even inadvertently caused by highly structured workplaces where the boundaries of effort are rigid and communication is minimal. Over time, the entire culture of a company can become firmly entrenched in a 1,1 style because of an overbearing structure that blocks independence and creativity. The stereotypical image of this is the government agency where everyone is treated like a number. This sort of workplace allows the 1,1 to blend in without attracting attention. In fact, he or she often seeks work that can be done in isolation in order to carry on without being disturbed.

The 1,1 relies heavily on instructions—he or she depends on others to outline what needs to be done. Reliance on instructions prevents the need to take personal responsibility for results: "No one told me to do that." If problems arise, the 1,1 ignores or overlooks them (unless the instructions specify how to react), or points them out to someone else, but with little or no effort to offer a solution. With no instructions, he or she simply carries on with the attitude that "This is not my problem." If the 1,1 person were to suggest a solution, others might expect him or her to carry it out, which is not worth the risk. The 1,1 feels it is safer to wait for someone else to notice and take action.

People do not usually start out embracing 1,1 values, but end up changing into that style over time as a way to recover from an ineffective and/or dominating person or culture. The 9,1 leadership style, for example, often forces people into the 1,1 corner. The low concern for people present in the 9,1 style can be devastating to individual and team morale, leaving people feeling trapped into submission. A 9,1 leader who lashes out or discounts people for suggesting creative ideas eventually breaks the spirit of others involved. The resulting attitude is, "I give up. Let him do what he wants—I'll just do my job and keep my mouth shut." People will only fight back and defend themselves so many times before retreating into a 1,1 corner as a way to survive.
________________________________________

The OPP Style: Opportunistic (Exploit and Manipulate)

Excerpt from the book, The Power to Change.

The opportunist style can use any other style found on the Grid. The opportunist approaches every situation with the underlying attitude of "What's in it for me?" and then takes on whatever style is most likely to result in private advantage. Opportunism stands out from every other Grid style because the expressed levels of concern shift as needed to create a convincing façade. The inconsistency in the approach used makes the style difficult to identify in the short term. Depending on the perceived advantage, the opportunist may come across as strong and capable of leading others, vulnerable and needing guidance, or politically oriented. The style chosen depends on the people and situation faced in conjunction with the potential gain perceived.

The opportunist approaches teamwork like a game that he or she must win. The key to successful opportunism is the ability to persuade people to support selfish objectives without revealing the underlying motives. The opportunist doesn't want to bother with traditional ways of building trust and respect—the traditional approach is too slow and the rewards uncertain. He or she prefers to "cut to the chase" and secure this trust as quickly as possible. To accomplish this, the opportunist appeals to people personally and professionally. Once he or she has capitalized on the trust, the opportunist feels little obligation to continue the relationship unless there is potential future gain; he or she has "won" and can move on without the encumbrance of long-term commitments.

The method of appeal may take the form of any Grid style. The opportunist may take the 9,1 or paternalistic approach of appearing confident and capable, so that people feel encouraged to follow and be supportive. Another approach is to appear innocent and submissive in a 1,1, 1,9 or 5,5 way. This prompts people with higher levels of concern for results to take the opportunist "under his or her wing." This "submissive" approach could be valuable for gaining information from a paternalist. In order to gain another loyal follower, a paternalist might eventually come to see the opportunist as a confidante. The 9,1 person is easily seduced by an opportunist who appears to work twice as hard as everyone else with little concern for making friends. In every case, once the selfish objectives are reached, the opportunist feels no further loyalty or obligation.

The opportunist approaches every team activity as a "deal": he or she takes action only when something is expected in return—there is no such thing as a selfless act. The opportunist may make this fact clear up front, to establish obligation: "I'll do this for you, but you owe me." Or, nothing may be said until later, when he or she needs something from that person: "I did that for you, and now I need something." More often the reminder of obligation is subtle, such as,"Remember when I helped you out last week. I could really use your help now." If someone asks the opportunist for help, he or she weighs the request against what that person has done in the past: "You helped me last week, so I owe you."

The Unemployed or Unemployable Malaysian Graduate?

The Unemployed or Unemployable Malaysian Graduate


Sunday, March 20 2005

OPINION: The unemployable Malaysian graduate

Eighty thousand Malaysian graduates are jobless, and the number is rising. ABDUL RAZAK AHMAD examines the reasons and discovers that many have become virtually unemployable.

By Abdul Razak Ahmad

SALINA Jaafar is a graduate of Universiti Malaya, one of the country's top universities. She took up Information Technology, one of the hottest fields of study. But it has been a year since she graduated, and Salina still can't land a job.

The days when a scroll was a passport to employment may be over, a very painful realisation for Salina.

"I've gone for more interviews than I can remember, but in each case I got (was) turned down either because I didn't have the specific skills they were looking for, or because I didn't have any experience," she says.

Salina is now looking for a job in sales. Most are commission-based and come with meagre monthly salaries of up to RM300. Some jobs pay only a commission

"The four years I spent in university studying IT has come to nothing," she laments. She's not the only one complaining.

Salina symbolises a fast-growing section of the unemployed in Malaysia: young and highly educated. There are 80,000 graduates in the country without jobs, and the number looks set to rise.

It is hard to imagine how a country that attracts hundreds of thousands of foreign workers can have such a high number of its educated unemployed.

But there is no mistaking the alarm bells government officials are ringing.

The 80,000 figure does not include the over 100,000 graduates who will enter the job market this year.

"Some of them will not be able to find jobs, so the figure will rise significantly," says Shamsuddin Bardan, executive director of the Malaysian Employers Federation.

"Graduate unemployment is a worrying trend because the numbers have been increasing in the past several years," says Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Salleh Mohd Yasin.

The university has been tracking the employment rate of its graduates for the past three years. It distributes questionnaires at each year's convocation ceremony, held six months after final examinations.

The feedback for last year's graduating batch of 4,450 students was especially troubling: 38 per cent of them had been unable to find work. "It was the highest unemployment rate we've ever recorded," says Salleh.

Why is this happening?

It would be easy to blame a troubled economy. But the economy is not in bad shape, and the last time it was mainly to blame for unemployment in Malaysia was in the mid-1980s.

A more likely explanation, says Shamsuddin, is a changing economy anchored in the services sector.

Being reliant on services means employers require people who not only have knowledge but who possess the "soft skills" as well: people who can communicate effectively, and analyse and solve problems efficiently.

The employability of the average Malaysian graduate is becoming more dependent on a mastery of these soft skills. The growing number of unemployed, he says, is mainly because many arrive in the job market poorly equipped with the skills required by a changing economy.

Of the 12 criteria listed by 115 employers surveyed in a study on unemployment conducted by the National Economic Action Council, the top three were soft skills: good communications, being presentable and having a reasonable grasp of general knowledge. Academic performance only came eighth.

"The key criteria employers look for in potential hires are a good command of English, a good attitude and a strong work ethic," says Suresh Thiru, vice-president of operations at online recruitment company JobStreet.com, which has 800,000 registered job seekers.

"Many are unable to secure a good job because their English is poor," he adds.

With the number of undergraduates in public and private institutions of higher learning set to increase from about 500,000 in 2001 to nearly 700,000 this year, the problem is likely to get worse, regardless of how well the economy performs. It is painfully obvious among public university graduates.

"A large number of the graduates of public universities fail to make good employee material according to our clients," says Marie Lam, country manager of employment agency Adecco Group Malaysia. Seventy per cent of job seekers registered with the company come from public universities.

Lam says they generally find it hard to communicate, have poor computer skills, are unable to interact with colleagues and people from other races, fail to display team spirit and face difficulties in adapting to the job market.

Puteri Umno head Noraini Ahmad, whose movement represents Bumiputera women aged 35 and below, is familiar with the problem.

She receives a steady stream of resumes from unemployed women, especially from rural areas, who are graduates of public universities.

"There is still no proper and timely system of collecting data on the number of graduates required in each sector and the number produced. This makes job matching very difficult."

Another complaint against public universities is that they tend to produce too many graduates in the "wrong" fields of study.

An often-cited example is the continuing surplus of arts and humanities graduates flooding a market sorely in need of IT personnel.

But merely tweaking the numbers produced in each field of study to better suit market requirements, which is what many universities have been doing in the past several years, may not work.

As Lam points out, although IT is one sector where there is no shortage of jobs, 60 per cent of unemployed fresh graduates her company deals with are diploma or degree holders in IT.

"The IT jobs are there, but the graduates are not up to the mark. Unemployment among these graduates is high due to a massive oversupply of people who do not meet the IT industry's requirements for technical skills, competence and knowledge of a specific IT platform."

It's the quality of graduates, in other words, that is the main culprit.

It's easy to blame the universities for this, but ultimately, they are only dealing with the products of the country's schools.

"The students reflect the quality of our school education system, so if there is any weakness, that is the first area we should look at," says Shamsuddin.

"I am not belittling our straight-A students, but the question is, are they equally strong in the soft skills?"

UKM's Salleh says universities, including his, are trying their best to improve courses to better meet the country's labour requirements. But the importance of employability, he adds, is a personal responsibility. Undergraduates themselves need to be aware of it.

Salleh says that one of the best things that has happened in UKM and other public universities in recent years is the greater emphasis on meritocracy in the intake of undergraduates.

"I notice that the quality of our undergraduates has improved because of this. We still have many students who come in with a very weak foundation in the soft skills.

"But with meritocracy, we seem to be getting more competitive and well-rounded people, who I feel will not face problems getting a job," he adds.

So, like it or not, developing more competition and greater meritocracy in the education system appears to be the only way to ensure that Malaysia produces graduates who are truly employable.

How the Leadership Managerial Grid works

How the Managerial Grid works

In the Grid theory, we represent working styles in a three-dimensional model. The horizontal axis is concerned with production, in degrees from one to nine. Nine would be a high amount of concern for achieving results, for getting performance; one would be the lowest amount of concern. At right angles to that, the Grid displays concern for people. This is also on a nine-point scale with nine high. The reason you have to have a people axis is that managers achieve things indirectly. They don't produce nuts and bolts themselves, they organize others so that the production line can be productive.

Third dimension - motivation

The third dimension is critical: it's motivation. It's a bipolar scale, running from a minus motivation (below the Grid) through neutral to a plus motivation (above the Grid). The negative motivations are driven by fear, the positive ones by desire. The 9,1 corner, for instance, is down to the lower right - very high on concern for production, little or no concern for people. At that corner, 9,1+ illustrates the desire for control and mastery - I want it to be recognized that I am in control, I tell you what to do, and you execute precisely to my requirements. I want you to recognize that you are in my hands, so that I have no question but that I've dominated the situation in which you appear.

At the same corner, 9,1- represents a fear of failure. These two work together. If I need control I rely to the most limited degree possible on you, because you're liable to screw up and the failure will reflect on me.

What the third dimension does is clarify the motivation underlying the grid style. It's proven to be very valuable.

Most of us would not be self-conscious enough to be able to place ourselves on such a Grid. This is the heart of change. If you're unable to face yourself objectively, you place yourself in the 9,9 corner, deeply concerned for production but equally concerned about people, which is not where you are in fact. A tremendous amount of self deception enters into this raw, naive self examination. And as long as you are deceiving yourself, any plan of personal change is likely to be invalid.

Measurable self-deception

We deal with this self deception in the Grid seminar. Before you attend the seminar you read the book, and you place yourself on the Grid. At the end of the week-long seminar, when you've had a tremendous amount of feedback and the critiques of other colleagues who have done the same thing, you rate yourself again. We have found that in the pre-work, the original self-ranking, some 80 percent of people accord themselves a 9,9 rating. By the end of the seminar, that 80 percent is down to 20 percent. So there is a 60 percent self-deception factor. It's just not realistic to try to induce change against that magnitude of self-deception. That, in my view, is where much of the change effort totally breaks down.

This is true on a world-wide basis. We have data from over 40 countries - there is variation on that 80 percent, but the variation is a matter of degree, not a matter of direction. It is almost identical in the Soviet Union, and comparable in Britain and across Europe. In Japan, it goes from 50 percent in the pre-work to 15 percent after the seminar. These numbers have been very stable over time.

You need help to accurately place yourself on the Grid. It's not something that you could take a test on. We know that if we could have produced a test, over the years we could have made a killing. But we have never produced a test that would give you valid result. I don't know of any other method to do it accurately besides attending one of our seminars. To the best of my knowledge we are the only ones who have devoted ourselves with rigor and discipline over many years to the conditions that induce change.

Phase one

The Grid system is a multi-phasal approach. Phase one starts with learning the Grid under conditions that permit you to avoid the conflict and tensions of people with whom you are previously acquainted. You are thrown together with seven or eight people who are comparable to you in rank and age and so on, but whom you do not know.

Everything in the Grid system is measured. That is another distinctive feature, to the best of my knowledge. The very first activity in the group is over the contents of the Grid book. You have read the book prior to participating, and you have completed a test over it. So we can measure how much of the Grid knowledge provided in that book you know on entry. Once you join the group, the first activity is to repeat that test, but as a team. So now the team has to argue out which is the best of five answers to each question. In that process you get a result.

We use a particular terminology here that we call "the three Rs:" "R1" is the "resources" you bring to a task. "R2" is the "relationship" through which the resources have to pass. "R3" is the result. R1, the resources, in this case, is the collective knowledge of the group members. R3 is the result that you get out of two hours of comprehensive effort. R2 is the relationship through which the R1 information has to pass to get to R3. When that's done, there's another scoring formula, so you can measure how much of the R1 resources got into the final result. There's a dropoff from 100 percent of the resources on the front side of the experience down to 33 percent that is represented on the R3 side. There's a tremendous dropoff. Now that's interesting in itself, and it says that one of the key problems with people is the capability to be effective in communicating whatever knowledge they have. That involves many things, but let me just illustrate one.

Let's say that the potential perfect score is 50, and you knew 48 of the answers - you were really well prepared. You're up in the 1,9 corner, where you have a low concern for productivity but a very high concern for people. You open your mouth to say that you think the best answer to question one is "C," and somebody crawls down your throat. You're not the kind of person who can stand antagonism. That's why you're such a people-lover in a certain sense, and why you're willing to sacrifice productivity in the interest of acceptance. So you say, "Oh, gee, I must be wrong." You abandon the answer that you were proposing. The team comes in with a score of 25. You had 48 units of knowledge, but the team threw away, or you threw away, 23 points. There were 23 points of knowledge in you that you were unable to get into R3, because of your style.

After all the scoring is done, the team returns to its quarters to critique what happened to each individual's knowledge insofar as the end result was concerned. People point out to you, "You gave up without even coming back at me when I challenged you. Why did you do that?" You're beginning to see that your false 9,9 really is a 1,9. You have such reservations about expressing yourself, about being clear in your advocacy, that you caused team incompetence.

You experience your grid style, in performance, as observed by others. That's key. To my knowledge, we are the only ones who do that sort of thing. Other people say that's mechanical and intellectual, which it is, at one level. But people have a very high self-regard for being appreciated by others, that's the affect side. It's an intellectual, mechanical circumstance that brings out the emotional underpinning of your use of knowledge, of your capacity to contribute.

Near the end of phase 1, on the next-to-last day, each member of the team becomes a secretary to the team while they write seven sentences about your Grid style. They argue them out. You are right there. You're recording on the newsprint the sentence that they create for you in terms of "initiative," and six other sentences, one about "inquiry," one about "advocacy," and so forth. And you listen. You are not invited to participate. People appreciate that - they don't have the need or the opportunity to be defensive. Then, at the end of the writing of the paragraph for you, you have an opportunity to critique it to them. In many of the groups that I have attended, this is one of the most rewarding experiences that people have had in their entire business career - the warmth and attention. The other people in the group have no axe to grind, in the internal company sense. The only reason that they have participated is to be helpful, and it's just a wonderful, warm, rich experience. By that time, they have realized that you're not being helpful when you gild the lily.

Phase Two

Phase 2 becomes possible when everyone in an organization, or in a unit of the organization, has been through the phase 1 group. The next step is for that family team to sit down and repeat the the dynamics of the process. They complete an intellectual activity to see what happens in terms of R1, R2, and R3. At the end, they do two things. One is to write a paragraph under the same conditions as in phase 1. The other is to help you set goals, change your goals, perfect your goals.

These are people who work together, so now they are setting goals about the real problems of real-life work. The boss is in there - it's a replica of work. Obviously, that's very challenging and absorbing, and yet people don't run amok because there is a theory to provide a framework of what is important and what's trivial. That brings up a lot of problems. For effectiveness, this kind of work has to start at the top. When the top does it, it signals the entire organization that it's serious about learning about change, and implimenting change.

Conflict-solving

Of the six elements I mentioned - initiative, inquiry, and so forth - the most central element, the barrier to the effectiveness of most of the others, is conflict-solving. If a person doesn't have skill in conflict-solving, then he has no chance of managing in a 9,9 way, because he can't confront differences. So we put a great amount of emphasis on conflict-solving. The 9,1, for example, high on productivity at the expense of people, solves problems by suppressing them. The 1,9 person, high on people at the expense of productivity, is into smoothing over differences. The 1,1, low on both scales, deals with conflict by remaining neutral. The 5,5, in the middle on both scales, will seek a compromise. The 9,9, high on both scales, will seek to confront the differences. Paternalism, which combines the 1,9 corner and the 9,1 corner, deals with conflict by not allowing it, by withholding rewards to prevent it from happening.

Intelligence

Intelligence, or I.Q., does not correlate to any of the conditions in the Grid. You can be a brilliant 1,9 - a people-pleaser - and ineffective. You can be a brilliant 9,1 and effective. You can be a dumb 9,1, just bullheaded. As we see it, the Grid, and the style with which a person approaches conflict, really determines the effectiveness with which he or she can use intelligence. That's where the company is throwing away a tremendous amount of good I.Q.

Phase Three

One of the final activities at the end of Phase 2 is for the work team to identify the other teams in the work environment with whom it has relationships, or through which it must work. Some of those relationships are very strained - a relationship almost doesn't exist.

Phase 3 is concerned with inter-group conflict solving. Under these conditions the Grid is used, but in a quite different way. Both groups come together, but they retain their group integrity. Two groups of 12 don't become a 24 who come together, loosen their belts, take off their shoes and shoot the breeze. It's a very organized activity in which each group, working separately, does two things.

First, the task is for each group to write on newsprint the terms of reference that would be present in an ideal relationship with the other group - the ideal conditions for a sound, positive, problem-solving relationship with the other group. Those get exposed, the newsprints put side-by-side, and all 24 study them for the purpose of consolidating them into a single statement of what would be ideal as a basis for cooperation. The fact is that, routinely, they are almost identical. Sometimes one group leaves out something that the other group put in, but it's obviously something of value. There is very little conflict or disagreement as to what the optimal relationship would be, and both groups know it, regardless from which direction they look. That, to me, is very important.

Then they return to their membership group as two separate entities, and describe the actual relationship. When that's done, those two newsprints are again posted in a seminar arrangement. There is usually a gross difference between them. They don't look as though they are describing the same relationship. The goal, however, is once again to bring them together into a single, consolidated statement, to the degree possible. Maybe 75 percent of the descriptions can be worked through, so that each side can understand what the other was really saying, and accepts it as a basis for discussion. The other 25 percent may never come to a consensus.

The next step is a cooperative attempt to answer the question: How do you get from actual to ideal? That's the problem of the relationship: not how to live with the actual, and try to get around it or over it or under it, but to open the channels up to make the relationship one that permits effective problem-solving.

Everything we have done over the last forty years or so is based on ideal-actual comparisons, promoting discrepancies and differences, in order that they can become visible and subject to some kind of problem-solving resolution. In my Ph.D. program I took a lot of philosophy. The concept of ideal thinking came out of Plato - the "platonic ideal." Aristotle, by comparison, was the pragmatic one, the fixer, the tinkerer. It came to us suddenly that, if you put those two bases of thinking aside one another, you've got a very powerful change model.

When all the people that have to live with it, and come to terms with it, do that - put the ideal in direct contrast with the real - you've got a pro-active commitment to making the change.

I have a functional assumption that the way people and organizations operate is something that should and can be made overt, and discussed, and shifted. That's the whole point. If you can't talk and exchange views, and be innovative, and listen to them, how do you change?

Yet in almost all organizations this is a revolutionary idea. The top talks to itself. The middle talks about the top, but doesn't really get into the dynamics of the top. And even the top doesn't often ask itself, what is our style? It's all about content.

Phase Four

Phase four is key. Let's say the top management of a company has been through the first three phases. They've gotten loose, they have opened up interactions. They are confronting conflict. They are not putting up with people who are just hanging on by thin threads. They've got a good operating team at the top.

Phase four is a study, which may go on for a year, that involves designing an ideal company to be run in the future, in comparison with the actual company as it is now being run. This ideal company would not necessarily even have the same customers, or the same products. The real question is: With the financial and other resources that are at the command of the current leadership, how would they best be deployed to make a profit? It could go out of the existing business.

The issue here is that a lot of business people are not business people. They have come up the ladder, but that by no means guarantees that they know how to think conceptually. They may just be opportunists, or they may have fixed ideas, and force the ideas into existence, but that doesn't mean that their ideas are informed or systematically rich.

Once the model is created by the top it gets passed down into the company and people down through a certain level are given a chance to take a crack at it, find the potholes. This does two things. It's brings a lot of intelligence to bear on the design, and it automatically gets the involvement and commitment of the lesser ranks for the effective implimentation of the design when it has been proven to be sound. People are fully prepared to impliment what they understand.

Phase Five

Phase five is implimentation - bringing the ideal model into use. This is carried out by task forces. Each existing unit as currently operated has to pass the test of being included against the ideal model. If it has no chance of inclusion, then the issue is disposition - how to dispose of that unit. That's just good engineering.

Phase Six

Phase six is a stabilization period, in which you keep your eye out for dropping away from the model, doing the easy thing rather than the things that will make the ideal model work.

Many companies go after the first three phases, but not the last three. There's a falloff from each phase to the next one. Executives, by and large, are really quite logical and capable of rational thought, but this is not in the tradition of rational thought. It has a lot of experiential stuff in it. If an ordinary company tried to do phase four as a phase one - tried to do an ideal redesign without dealing with the personality and communications issues in the existing design - they wouldn't get what they want. People who have not done the first three phases are uncomfortable with ideal thinking. Ideal thinking is not in the engineering lexicon. It's not in the financial lexicon.

But I think good psychology and good engineering are indistinguishable. Fundamentally they are techniques for problem-solving, whether it's organizational development or how to put a wheel on a car.

Assertive communication commands respect, projects confidence, and inspires influence. It's respectful, direct, honest, open, non-threatening and non-defensive. It's not demanding, aggressive, or manipulative.

6 Keys to Assertive Communication –


By Darlene Lancer

Communication is so important that it can make or break a relationship, is critical to success, and instantly reflects your self-esteem to listeners -- for better or for worse. Assertive communication commands respect, projects confidence, and inspires influence. It's respectful, direct, honest, open, non-threatening and non-defensive. It's not demanding, aggressive, or manipulative.

Communication is learned. With practice you can learn to communicate assertively, which will raise your self-esteem and self-assurance and improve your relationships and professional performance. Research has established that even fetuses can learn to communicate with their mothers. To learn the keys to assertiveness discussed below, remember the 6 C's:

1. Congruency

2. Courtesy

3. Conciseness

4. Clarity

5. Cognizance

6. Claim yourself

Communication has many elements. You communicate with more than your words. You relay information with your entire body through:

1. Gesture

2. Eye contact, movement, moisture, expression, and focus

3. Posture

4. Physical appearance

5. Voluntary and involuntary bodily movement, including muscular tension

6. Facial expression

7. Skin color (e.g. blushing) and perspiration

8. Body smell

Additionally, your voice communicates through:

1. Volume

2. Pitch

3. Cadence

4. Tone and emphasis

5. Fluidity

6. Enunciation

Congruence

What you don't say, your body reveals. Customs' agents are expert at reading body language to spot liars. Key to effective communication is authenticity, meaning honesty and congruence. Truthfulness is about facts. Honesty has more to do with intent and feelings. Say what you think or feel, and mean what you say. You probably assume you already do this, yet dishonesty is more common than you might guess. I'm not referring to overt lies, but about times you outwardly agree, but inwardly don't. Some reasons are:

1. You want to spare someone's feelings.

2. You want to avert conflict.

3. You want to be liked and avoid judgment or criticism.

4. You're afraid of making a mistake.

5. You don't want to impose or burden someone.

6. You don't want to jeopardize a relationship, or

7. You don't want to spend the time.

The last one is tricky. Imagine you're at a party and someone asks you a personal question that you don't want to get into then and there. You might avoid the question in many ways, including ignoring it and changing the subject, or walking away to get a drink. You might think the reason is no. 7, but ask yourself why you wouldn't directly say, "I prefer not to talk about that now (or here)," or "I don't know you well enough to discuss that." If you think the real answer is no. 1, think again. The foregoing assertive answers are less hurtful than impolite behavior.

When your words don't match your insides, you're sending a mixed message. A common example is when you say you're fine, but your body language reveals the truth that you're unhappy. Or, the opposite -- you smile while imparting a sad story. In either case, your listener is confused and doesn't know how to respond and/or may not feel that he or she can trust you.

Courtesy

The purpose of communication is to impart information and feelings, not to vent, avenge, or scold. If you're discourteous to listeners, you'll lose them. To be effective, you want to engage your listener. To do so, treat him or her with respect. Criticism that is constructive and delivered assertively is more likely to be heeded.

Conciseness

The impact of your speech is inversely related to its duration. Your impact wanes with words. Your listener will want you to cut to the chase and get to the point. When you beat around the bush, it belies insecurity and/or lack of knowledge. When you're afraid for any of the reasons mentioned above regarding incongruence, you might be tempted to have a long introduction or disclaimer. Don't. If you're fearful, sort out the reasons why, practice what you'll say out loud, and weigh the long term repercussions of saying nothing or what you want.

Clarity

Be direct. Don't ask questions, give hints, or speak in the abstract. Instead of "Do you want to go to a movie?" which is ambiguous as to whether you want to go, state, "I'd like to see a movie tonight." Make a clear statement of what you think, feel, need, or want. Most communication comes down to those four essentials. You can also explain why.

Cognizance

Cognizance of your audience is essential. You must hear in order to be heard. To be an effective communicator, listen with attention and respect to what others have to say. Genuine listening engages them and helps you attune your message so that others will be receptive. This is attentive, active listening. Paraphrasing and repeating what was said to you will show them that you care and are interested. In turn they'll be more receptive when they believe they matter to you.

Timing is critical. Don't start an important conversation in the car, or when he or she is watching TV, is on the computer, or otherwise occupied, without his or her permission. You're being discourteous and interrupting their attention. You'll be disappointed and are setting yourself up for an argument.

Claim Yourself

This is the hardest element. You must take responsibility for your opinions, thoughts, feelings, and needs. That means you don't blame or talk about the other person. Don't tell them what they should do, or what some expert said. Use "I" messages and claim what you think and feel. That doesn't mean to say, "I think you're inconsiderate," which labels and judges their behavior, without revealing how you feel or how it affects you. Applying all these rules, you might say "I feel disregarded (or "unimportant" or "angry") when you didn't return my calls," or "I don't like it when you..." When you state your feelings or take a position, others don't feel as great a need to defend and justify themselves, because you are only talking about yourself. This is particularly difficult to do when you're emotional. It's better to wait and think about what you feel and what outcome or behavioral changes your want before having the conversation. Consider your bottom line.

Learning assertiveness so that it comes naturally can take years of practice, but it is empowering and worth starting now. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll begin raising your self-esteem.

© Darlene Lancer, JD MFT 2011

Go here for a free PDF on turning self-criticism into self-esteem.

** To comment on this article or read comments about this article, go here.

About the Author:

Darlene Lancer is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, life coach, and author of forthcoming "Codependency for Dummies." She has a broad range of experience and has worked with individuals and couples for over twenty-four years. Her focus is on helping individuals overcome obstacles to leading fuller lives, and helping couples enhance their communication, intimacy, and passion. She is a speaker, freelance writer, and maintains private practice in Santa Monica, CA. Call for a Free Introductory consultation. 310.458.0016 http://www.darlenelancer.com.