Thursday, October 27, 2011

A Small Brick

I receive this reply in the comment I made on Al-Manar's blog, that a small brick is thrown to me so that I update my blog.
It was exactly a month ago that I went to a three day program conducted by ESQ Leadership Center on the recommendation of Fauziah Ramly, a fellow Member of the PSC when we went all over the country interviewing candidates for entry into the Public Service. It started on a Friday and ended on Sunday, a full three day program. I had to miss an invitation from a close family member, one in Seremban and another in Setiawangsa. I wanted to post my experience of the three day course and attach a few photos but I just kept on postponing it.
One of my cousin commented why on earth I was attending a course even after I have retired. It just shows the attitude by many that when one retires, it is the end of learning. As I said in my short speech when I was invited by the course organiser to give my feedback, I told my audience that I am a life-long learner, which is in accordance to the saying that you must never stop learning "from the cradle to the grave".
When I told a friend that I attended the course, he was extremely excited because he attended the first one when it was introduced here more than six years ago. So I told him when I see him next, we shall "Salam semut" which is the term used by the trainer. What impressed me most about the three day course is the experiential learning that is adopted in the training. There was no note taking and there were plenty of exercises that made the whole journey an exciting one. One should only follow the course in order to understand and experience the impact on the participants.
If such a program existed when I was a Head of Department, I would have readily adopted it for all my staff. The  approach of using the audio-visual means to attain the maximum impact was really astounding. But the most significant to me was the methodology and the inclusion of Islam as the driving force in its message and it is meant for all mankind. The founder of the training module, Ardy Ginanjaar should be celebrated by the Muslim World for he takes the Al-Quran and the Sunnah as the primary source and inspiration for his initiative. May ALLAH S.W.T. Bless his efforts in bringing to realisation that knowledge of the worldly matters is in fact rooted in the revealed Knowledge which had been brought to humankind since our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was appointed as His Messenger, more than 1400 years ago. Wallahuwa'lam.