Saturday, May 2, 2009

If - Rudyard Kipling

In my final days at ANU, Rudyard Kipling's beautiful poem "If" was a source of inspiration to me. As thesis submission deadline was approaching, and I as was not so sure what the future holds for me, the poem's soothing words calmed my nervous self. I shared the poem with my wife and friends. Here is the poem,
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
- Rudyard Kiplling
With new reponsibilities that I am shouldering now, I will have to remember Rudyard Kipling's soothing words even more.

14 comments:

  1. such a beautiful words.. :)

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  2. salam sir,what's your opinion regarding the political crisis in Perak particularly regarding the issue of today's Assembly Sitting?

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  3. Congrats on the appointment bro! ;-) The government needs people like you. Bila nak buat kenduri? ..haha

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  4. Thanks Din. Nak buat kenduri kot nanti jadi kenduri tahlil plak ...he he

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  5. I was in the Perak DUN yesterday. I can't believe that the opposition ADUNs were so rowdy. The first thing they did was to change the sitting arrangement from the opposition to the government side. Then they crossed the aisle to harrass the BN reps. It is against the rule to cross the aisle. Whenever the BN reps wanted to speak, the opposition reps surrounded them and snatched the microphone. It's like a war zone. The police came in only in the afternoon when the situation was totally out of control. The police should have come in earlier. I myself almost lost my temper when one of the ADUNs (I'm not sure whether he is from DAP or PKR) hurled abusive words toward us. I think these people are not fit to become people's representatives. They are more like gangsters. Interestingly, PAS reps sat quietly when the DAP and PKR reps caused the havoc in the Dewan. Hmmmm ....

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  6. what about the microphone was turned off when sivakumar wanted to use it?and when ganesan on the chair,it was suddenly turned on.i know,a lecturer told me that u are close to the 'not yet confirmed MB' Zambry Kadir,but maybe u have to reconsider the break of rules they have done not only yesterday's event in the DUN.having a good relationship with the MB shouldn't make our eyes blind about the fairness,justice,democracy & rule of law.the right MB will be determined on Monday by the court, so MB Zambry should wait.hopefully the court will put aside the political pressure by the ruling party (if any) and decide wisely and fairly

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  7. the political crisis in perak can only be solved if the sultan dissolves the state assembly to pave the way for a new fresh state election.if the sultan can simply within a day to change the state government on last february,without considering and investigating first the missing of those three ADUN whether they were threatened or not,the sultan can also now dissolve the state assembly because he has the right to do so by looking at the chaos which is happening now in perak

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  8. Dear Anonymous,

    You should be in the Dewan to know why the microphone was turned off. Sivakumar kept shouting, an act unbecoming of a speaker, simply for the purpose of disallowing BN reps to speak. Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli had been standing to speak for no less than 15 minutes but Sivakumar, who thought he was the King in the Dewan, arbitrarily disallowed any BN reps to speak. Do you think it is just? I don't think so. The motion was for the removal of Sivakumar as the speaker. Do you think it is just for Sivakumar to be a judge in his own right? I don't think so. And mind you that it was the opposition reps who crossed the aisle, (breaking the parliamentary tradition), to stop BN reps from speaking in the Dewan. Do you think it is just? I don't think so.

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  9. Dear Anonymous,

    Yes I agree that PERHAPS the political crisis could have been solved if the Sultan dissolves the assembly. But why can't we respect the Sultan's discretion not to dissolve the assembly? It is his constitutional discretion. Respecting the "rule of political game" set out in the constitution is part of democratic practices in any democratic country. Creating havoc in the august house is not.

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  10. sivakumar was shouting because the mic was turned off.he is still the right speaker of the house and he never resigned his post and in fact he is still alive! so how can they remove him?the act done by BN yesterday has raised greater anger from the people and i'm confident that in the next 13 GE BN will lose much greater than they had on 8mac.the act of police entering the hall (from where they got the order to do so?) and dragged fiercely the opposition reps was really cruel and unjust.even though i was not in the Dewan,i watched the recorded video.talking about sultan,if he is so wise looking at his previous post in law,he should postpone the meeting as requested by sivakumar and wait until the court decides the rightful MB.before this also there were several letters sent by nizar but no reply.is it also a discretion not to, at least respond to the requests?democracy in malaysia is now dead!

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  11. Dear Anonymous,

    Get your facts right. Sivakumar was shouting even before the microphone was turned off. When MB Zambry moved the motion to remove him, he shouted, using the microphone, "saya tidak dengar apa-apa, saya tidak dengar apa-apa, saya tidak dengar apa". He actually did not want to hear the motion, did not want others to hear the motion and therefore he shouted using the microphone. But the motion was passed anyway. When the motion was passed, Sivakumar was no longer the speaker. The mic was turned off because he was no longer the speaker and did not have the right to speak as a speaker. He should honorably left the speaker's chair and took his seat as an ordinary ADUN. This is in the Standing Order. But he continued to shout like a small kid with mic turned off. The recorded video (i don't know where you got it. Perhaps in Malaysiakini) did not show the first part of the whole episode where Sivakumar was shouting using the microphone, obstructing the due process in the august House. It only shows the second part when Sivakumar, by then he was no longer the speaker, was shouting with the microphone turned off. This is all perception play executed by the-not-so-free-and-fair media my dear. If you want to be the victim of perception play then go ahead. I don't want to be fooled by the stooges.

    About postponing the assembly, yes,this is what the opposition want. Postpone the assembly until after May 13 then the sitting would have lapsed for more than 6 months. The Assembly will then be unconstitutional. This is exactly what they wanted. To make the whole thing unconstitutional. And yet they still have the guts to say they are the one who uphold the constitution.

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  12. of course i don't want to the victim of perception played by media even though i was the 'victim' of utusan malaysia,berita harian and tv3.sometimes i wonder whether they have the dignity as humans or not because they seem to be controlled by the ruling party.this is based on the news they published and whenever there are news showing the mistakes of government and their cruelty towards the opposition,the news are not there such several opposition leaders were denied their entry to sarawak for unknown reason.this was not published.i wonder how can the speaker be removed very simply?the sultan maybe has the 'reserve powers' so maybe he can use it to stop the crisis in perak.furthermore,his discretion which is the favourite of many people esp when he refused to accept to dissolve the state assembly can also be used

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  13. Dear Anonymous,

    Who says the spaker cannot be removed? The MB can be removed, so why can't the speaker? A speaker can be removed by a motion passed by a majority of the members of the house. On May 7, the MB used his authority under Order 13(2) of the Perak DUN's Standing Order to move a motion to remove the speaker. Read the standing order. I would be very happy to give you a copy if you want.

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  14. Assalamualaikum,
    Dr Marzuki,

    nice poem. human needs to be reminded from time to time. This poem is really inspiring.

    thanks for the info again. at least there is someone that can give me clearer view of the situation. keep doing your good job and continue to spread the truth and only the truth, please.

    till we meet again, InsyaAllah. Take Care.
    Moneirah.

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