DR ARY GINANJAR

A Towering Personality

I first heard about Dr Ary Ginanjar Agustian, the founder of the ESQ 165 model which has been materialised into the much talked about ESQ Training programme, in 2005 when I was doing a project work in Jakarta and Bandung.

In Indonesia, I enjoyed going to book stores, because interestingly for every best-selling English publication one could almost find the translated version in Bahasa Indonesia. It's not that I would enjoy reading Indonesian, but I was amazed how fast new best sellers were translated into Indonesian and the fact that many people there read the translated version more than the original language!

The obvious reasons I thought were because Indonesia is such a highly populated nation and moreover Bahasa Indonesia is so prominently used so much so that the book industry can easily create local best-sellers for translated books even if you are talking about a target audience of 0.01% among some 280 million people there. The reverse was probably the case too.

Try selling translated materials in Bahasa Malaysia where not even a tiny fraction of the 28 million buy Bahasa books, and one will burn his pocket!

I noticed that Dr Ary's books were obviously written first in Bahasa Indonesia, but its English translation titled ESQ Power, ESQ etc. were already on the shelves and selling fast.

I flipped through the books and found the chapters rather interesting topics. However, I had several "belenggu"s (Bahasa for "cover" and "kaffir", Pak Legisan Sugimin a senior ESQ trainer always told participants in jive).

One of my "belenggu"s was PRESUMPTION (prasangka). I hated reading religious books written by authors with no known Islamic qualifications. Dr Ary Ginanjar Agustian as a name didn't provide indication of Islamic background, in fact, at first I figured the name didn't sound Islamic at all! I easily dismissed the contents due to such presumption.

Another belenggu I had was LITERATURE (knowledge). Not that I considered myself knowledgable Islamic-wise. It was just that, I always equated the subject of Spirituality discussed by Dr Ary Ginanjar in those books with Sufism, and I don't consider myself or my family apt for practising Sufism, or Tasauf or Tariqat.

I considered myself (and that extended to my family) a straightforward muslim (read: good, moderate): reading Qoran, practising the required pillars, and sometimes listening to ceramahs or kuliahs (religious talks) on TV, radio and in mosques.

From my understanding then, muslims who got involved in tasauf usually became obsessed with lengthy doa and endless wirids, and did certain group activities I deemed alien and wouldn't be endorsed by Prophet Muhammad SAW if he were alive.

So, Dr Ary's books such as ESQ Power, whilst being a best-seller in Indonesia (sold 300 thousand copies at that time as stated on the book cover) as well as sounding intriguing as it talked at length on a subject a lot of people had difficulty explaining, wouldn't gel well on me. Instead, I purchased several books on Key Performance Indicators and strategic management which were my professional interests (they still are). For personal improvement I bought several Qoran volumes, one of them being the biggest size-wise I ever saw!

I may have given Dr Ary a miss back then, but perhaps due to its peculiarity, I couldn't help but imbed in my mind the names Ary Ginanjar Agustian and ESQ. Little did I know then, how through his spiritual and physical journey in search of Allah, the Almighty SWT extends His Guidance to hundred thousands of human beings.

How, through the modules Outer Journey and Inner Journey, and the Seven Core Values springing from the 99 Names of Allah (Asmaul Husna), many become better muslims who understand and start practicing the true spirit of Ihsan, Iman and Islam.

May Allah SWT Provide strength to this towering contemporary Muslim personality. May He forgive us and continue to provide us with His Guidance.

(to be continued, InsyaAllah)

NEXT: ATTENDING ESQ TRAINING FIRST TIME

REVERSING PPSMI AND HALAL POLICIES

A noble intention by a person doesn't nullify the importance of him or her being responsible on the outcome. Leaders always speak about their intentions well enough but are seldom thorough enough on their game plan.

When this is not happening, the subjects of the leaders suffer most. An example would be certain human-rights infringing laws used by leaders of some countries to avert militancy or terrorism.

A good leader must not only articulate his intentions well, but is responsible enough to ensure that the journey towards such intentions or goals will continue to be beneficial to his or her stakeholders. If there are snags along the way, such as abuse or misuse, cost escalation, confusion, grouses of genuine nature etc, it is probably an opportune time to reflect whether the action matches the intention or otherwise.

A great leader, above it all, must be brave enough to admit and rectify past "mistakes" made by themselves or their predecessors in achieving their goals, reverse previous policies or come up with better approaches to resolve problems. Regardless of who raised up the matter or harped on it, a great leader takes the necessary steps to remedy such problems.

PPSMI and Halal development are programmes linked to previous government administrations. Admittedly, there were strategic and operational problems associated with both. Strategy-wise, PPSMI which started in 2003 had created a big competency gap between urban and rural school goers. NGOs such as Gabungan Penulis Nasional (Gapena) and several political parties had been urging the previous and present administrations to consider reverting to pre-2003 state.

Similarly, assigning Halal certification operations to Halal Industry Development Corporation Sdn Bhd, or HDC, had created somewhat a strategic issue i.e. conflict of interest between the HDC's developmental intention and Halal regulatory nuances. Many relevant NGOs including Persatuan Pengguna Islam and Persatuan Ulama had voiced their concerns on such overlaps and had urged the government to revert.

So, it was a good move times two when the Cabinet decided yesterday to listen to the ground and reverse the decisions made previously on those two programmes.

Allowing the teaching of Math and Science subjects to be taught again in the mother tongues is seen as a correct move, although improving students' command of the English language is still top on the national education agenda due to the global impact the language has.

On a similar note, allowing Halal certification to go back under the purview of JAKIM is also seen as a positive move, albeit JAKIM having to improve their delivery system on Halal certification matters from now on.

It is timely for other "bad" policies, decisions and programmes which are still in force - big or small - crafted by lawmakers and executives with "good" intentions, go through a series of sanity checks.

Viewing matters within the right perspective and putting matters back where they rightfully belong is being Responsible and Fair, two of the seven core values of 165 manifested by the spiritually uplifted, guided by the commandments Allah SWT and the teachings of His Prophet Muhammad SAW.

TRUST - A FORGOTTEN WORD

(with permission)
Author: Art Harun
Website: http://www.malaysianinsider.com/


JULY 9 — I have come to a conclusion. That much of the malaise that Malaysia is afflicted with nowadays is caused by, or at the very least related to, the word “trust”.

Let’s face it. There is an obvious non-appreciation of the word “trust” in our country. That leads to a misunderstanding of the concept of trust. Which in turn results in an almost total lack of respect for the concept. Ultimately, that leads us to where we are now. A state where “trust” is almost a dirty word and trustworthiness is a virtue so underrated that nobody even pays attention to what it means and what it entails and demands from us.

Legend has it that the former Chief Justice of India, the Honourable Justice Bhagwati, had two cars. One was his privately-owned car and the other one his official car provided by the state by virtue of his position. He was also provided a driver. His complete appreciation of the concept of trust ensured that his official car, and driver, would only be used for the purpose of undertaking and performing his official duties and functions. That would mean his official car, and driver, would never be used to fetch his wife from the hair saloon; to send his kid to the school or to send his cat to the vet, for example. For those, he would use his privately-owned car. But of course, that was Chief Justice Bhagwati.

Try telling that to our so-called leaders. I could just imagine the incredulous look which would ensue after you had softly and ever so gently articulated that kind of concept to them. And I have been careful to say “our so-called leaders” as opposed to just “the BN leaders”. I am sure those so-called leaders from the Pakatan Rakyat are just the same. Except for one or two, I suppose.

I was trying to make an appointment with an Exco member of a PR-governed state the other day. I was told that he was busy with Manek Urai. Which makes me wonder, is it taken as a God-given right for these people to abuse the position which they are in and the trust which is burdened upon them by the people through the ballot box?

During every by-election, and also the time preceding a general election, we would see hot-shot leaders from the government, including members of Cabinet, descending upon the constituency like some Valkaries from heaven. They will shower good words, hug some babies, throw free laptops, school uniforms, Class F contracts and what-have-you. It is like Zeus has suddenly wakened up and realised that the world needs feeding. It is like we are all peasants who need to be fed and humoured during certain season of the year. It is like all of them, the bourgeoisie and royals, must be amused by the spectacle of us, the peasants, tussling for food and gifts in a Peasants Banquet at a nominated time and place.

Sometimes I wonder whether we have consigned our conscience to the deepest recesses of our soul. To a place where we store everything which we do not want and which we do not hold dear. But the thing is — and this is an inexplicable paradox — we talk, shout and scream about religion and being religious all the time. And being religious would of course bring with it the notion of being good. And being good of course entails the concept of fulfilling one’s trust and avoiding a breach of the trust. In Islam, as far as I know, breach of trust is one of the big sins. But do we actually care?

How many times have we heard that Malaysia is an Islamic country? How many times have we been reminded that all of us must be Islamic? But despite those calls, we continue to abuse the very trust that the people have burdened upon us. We continue to misappropriate the assets and belongings of the people which are vested in us on trust for the benefit of the people. Or is it a fact that being Islamic to us is all about praying five times a day, not eating pork and performing the umrah twice a year?

Quite obviously, to the Executive, the people demand accountability and the total fulfilment of the trust. The people want every single minute for which they are paid for to govern this country to be spent governing the country and not to pursue personal or party agenda. Civil societies demand that all party agenda and personal pursuit be done after working hours, at least. Let’s have all party meetings at night. And all party campaigning after office hours. Let’s utilise the assets of the state only for the pursuit of the state’s interests and goals and not for some personal achievements.

We have seen ministers, Exco members and various functionaries of the state (both from the BN and PR, I must add) not doing the job for which they are paid for weeks on end. They would be camping at the constituent where a by-election is being held, day in day out, in order to campaign for their party’s candidate. They would be using state assets. That is an abuse. A blatant abuse if I may add. And it is not so much the abuse which is of concern. It is the blatant display of abuse which is disconcerting. What nonchalant attitude do we have towards the trust of the people?

Contrast that to the position taken by Sayidina Abu Bakar, in his first speech after he was elected as the first Caliph, when he said:

“O people, I have been elected your leader, although I am not better than anyone from among you. If I do any good, give me your support. If I go wrong, set me right. Listen, truth is honesty and untruth is dishonesty. The weak among you are powerful in my eyes, as long as I do not get them their due, Allah willing. The powerful among you are weak in my eyes, as long as I do not take away from them what is due to others, Allah willing.

"Listen, if people give up striving for the cause of Allah, Allah sends down disgrace on them. If a people become evil doers, Allah sends down calamities on them.

"Listen, you must obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Messenger. If I disobey Allah and His Messenger, you are free to disobey me.”

Clearly, foremost in Sayidina Abu Bakar’s mind was the interests of the state and the people, especially the less fortunate ones. And he was full of humility, describing himself unworthy of the position bestowed upon him. He was also mindful that he might err, in which case he implored the people to correct him to the extent of disobeying him.

Must we, the people, shout and scream that the position bestowed upon them come as a trust?

That the powers which come with their position are powers which are deemed necessary to perform such trust? And will they ever, ever understand and take heed? That such a basic concept of leadership, position and power can’t be grasped — or refused to be grasped? — is reflective of the semi-feudal political demography that we all live in.

And to think that we want to be a developed country by the year 2020! Developed in what, if I may ask.