The Butterfly Effect

Imagine a vast expanse of unequivocal plane and its pale and windswept seascape. Then envision a fragile layer of ice spanning across a large body of water superimposed onto this precarious panorama. With only the blustery breeze to buffet the amorphous surface of the ice and the wailing wind to warn the unwary of the approaching storm, the serenity of the surrounding is enthralling in its own right, evenhanded in an equilibrium environment.

Then picture the drop of an illusionary icicle with deadly precision and peril onto the arctic ice and spectate the instantaneous fissuring and rapid descruction of the entire view in one single sweep.

This is a glimpse of our Earth's current dire situation and its "promising" future if we maintain our present principles. Our current environment is like the thin layer of ice on a large lake. Left alone and preserved properly, it can withstand the forces of nature perpetually in its strong but brittle state. However, this arrangement is tenuous that all it takes is a small group of irresponsible people to continue leading the world in ignorance of the existing environmental issues to destroy it. Like the deadly icicle falling onto the thin ice. The damage perpetrated then will be permanent, irreversible and too late...where the ice on the lake is shattered and no more.

Now visualize the fading lushness of a vanishing oasis and its evaporating water basin surrounded by the putrefying carcasses of hopeful creatures seeking its lost reprieving riches. Then envisage a desolate desert beyond despair amidst the arid landscape of desiccating death translated onto this vicious vista. With only the coarse sand to contain further deciduous acts from the bleak backdrop and the loutish vultures roaming the skies for its precious prey, the barrenness is despondent in its deathly display.

Then consider the odds of a windfall of rain onto the lands below and observe the oasis transforming into a verdant vista overnight with tremedous life supporting capacity until the next draught cycle.

This is a glance into the possible state where we can bring our planet to if we change our attitude and tenets regarding environmental policies now and actually act on it. Consequently, all hope is not lost yet as our current environment is like the oasis in the middle of a desert. To revive it back into a sanctuary, all it takes is a lot of rain...just like how it takes the efforts of many a great people on this planet to come together and start making the change. Even then, that will not suffice as it is also about preserving and sustaining the environment once it is saved because the next draught is always around the corner.

It is a case where to destroy the world, it only takes a handful of people and little effort but to save it, you need the world to unite in a world-scale endeavour and then to galvanise and sustain this definitive dilution to preserve the planet thereafter.

The world is less than a week away from witnessing one such world-scale undertaking. It is prominently and aptly called Earth Hour - hailed as the biggest ever global movement, a vote for the future of planet Earth. Just hearing these two words gives me the notion that it has such a simple meaning to it yet so profound a result, requiring only a little effort from each of us all to create a chain reaction...a resolute renaissance of our environmental awareness to start heeding the cries of Earth Mother.

A little more than a week ago, Prince Charles of Wales issued a warning that the world has less than 100 months to act and save the planet from irreversible damage caused by climate change. He counseled that the need to tackle global warming is more urgent than ever, even in the face of global recession. He also urged us not to lose sight of the "bigger picture".

Our local 8TV station has been actively creating this awareness amongst the populace and spearheading the Earth Hour movement locally. One of the station's strongest message sent out so far, besides the advertisements and celebrity endorsements, is that it will cease its transmission from 8.30pm to 9.30pm (during primetime) on the 28th of March, 2009 in conjunction with Earth Hour. Also, for the entire month of March 2009, it will air one hour less of transmission daily to support this movement. Apart from that, two major landmarks in our nation has been cited to switch off its lights during Earth Hour - the KL Tower and the Penang Bridge.

Mankind are narcissistic by nature and we can continuously live in careless complacency indefinitely as long as it does not affect us. But when it does, we start to panic and figure out how to act. More often than not, it will then be too late. This does not mean we are ignorant creatures that will never change. When pushed to the edge, we cling onto the cliff for our dear lives. When stripped off of our possession, we feel the loss and yearn for the familiarity again. At the precipice, we change...

This is our time now, it is our precipice and time is still our ally. Most of us do not realize that if we continue on with our old habits, no matter how small or insignificant it is like the wasteful use of water, electricity or paper and littering, all this contribute to the subtle but impactful deterioration of our environment.

This is called the Butterfly Effect where small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behaviour of the system.

However, imagine what can also be achieved if we start to ensure we save that little bit more of water or paper everyday or do a little bit of recycling weekly. When you explode the efforts of billions of people, you observe the impact on the world at a scale of epic and profound proportions. All it takes is only a little from you. Nothing more. That is what Earth Hour symbolizes.

I can only do my part and express my views here in hopes of inspiring others to share my opinions and spread their beliefs to others because our generation is the deciding dynamic...the DETERMINANTS of our future where our descendents will look back in time and judge us for what we did today. It is as simple as that. We are the ones, not our parents...but WE.

So let me return to the beginning and reaffirm that if the ice is left in its own fragile state without outside interference, it will remain stable and long-lasting but introduce a new variable into the environmental equation - the icicle, no matter how small or insignificant it is...and it will destroy the balance within and shatter the ice shelf forever.

It is up to us to create our very own butterfly effect of our generation for good, or for worse for it has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.

The Flickering Millstone

Subatomic particles flicker in and out of existence depending on whether I am watching them or not.

~Everyday Immortality / Deepak Chopra~


Living today was like tiptoeing along the insipidly thin cord of rickety nature. The diaphanous makeup of the rope which I gaited on was perilous and tenuous indeed. It felt like I was languidly skimming through twines of fallacious caricatures with a pensive mood as my only companion.

It was a day when I realized even the most majestic and mightiest of arial predators can easily become the most prominent of preys for the land marauders simply for being too prevailing in its firmamental ecology. Even the swiftest and lithest of eagles get shot down by credulous hunters for flaunting its guile conceitedly.

I never would have thought I was capable of such a ludicrous mistake. It was because of my ingenuous imprudence that led to the disappointment and inconvenience of others. My oversight in my work today dashed the sanguine optimism of an individual. The most anguished part of all was that I already received the gratitude and appreciation before all hell broke lose.

Time is what I hope to transpose. Its antithesis being that of a defaulted day. But I realized the seeds of the inevitable fault was already sowed a few weeks back and there was nothing I could have done today that would have reversed the inexorable. It was preordained that the yield of prejudice would have indiscriminately sprouted from the ground of self-reproach today. My terra firma of culpable disposition.

As I drove back torpidly in my insidious indolence, I mollified myself in my own existence of placating flashbacks. This was when I discerned the fathomable flickering of my proverbial surroundings. I recalled that I am but only one of the many millions of playing pieces in the boardgame of comtemporary musing that we all have come to know as Life.

What happened to me today was a direct result of the infinitesimal undertakings in my life. When I saw this rapport between today's events and the people surrounding my proverbial environment, the affinity harnessed could not be more edifying and humbling. I could then relate to the didactic individual involved who was disappointed and realized that even subatomic particles of immaterial things are made up of atoms anyway whether it is static, in motion...or flickering.

I will not muse on this issue further after tonight because Life has a very cynical face to it - when I am not looking or seaching or yearning, it rewards me in the most unsuspecting way; when I deliberately seek and crave for an elucidation, it mocks me in the most comtemptous manner. Hence this existence that I have created for myself and the people that I work with while silently perceiving the millstones of my experience.

I will continue to remind myself that an error only becomes a mistake when it is repeated.

Our Legacy

A mother's touch is what breathes life into this world...

It is merely a feel, yet its effects are felt throughout the lifetime of a baby. It is so fragile, yet its nurturing power can smother the greatest fears a baby can face. It is sturdily delicate, yet its tender fostering is the only incalculable force in the world that can mold a life form into a toddler, an adolescent, a teenager and finally into an adult from the humble creation of a baby. This single inimitable feat cannot be replicated on any other known existing creatures or materials, natural or otherwise.

From this, a child of innate providence in its cocooned state of undeveloped individuality will come into being and into our lives. It is then that we realize how frail and forlorn this world was before their existence. The loneliness within that knew everything we kept inside is then dispelled away from our hearts.

Arising from the embers of loneliness, our hearts, minds and souls converge into a state of awareness knowing that what was before is not the same when realizing that the love of our lives, the love that we need, the love of our dreams and the love that we want ultimately come from the same source. The babies of today...our children of tomorrow...the hope for the future.

Therefore, we must cherish and care for our children to the very limit of our abilities and the best of our potential. They are the legacy of our birthright and if not cared for adequately, our heritage in this world would have been wasted down the age.

When you gaze upon the tiny frame of a baby, you are looking at the person that will inherit your affluence to live in your future and shape it for the next generation.

When you stare at the bulging sole of a baby, you are looking at the filial legs of your progeny who will carry you on in your twilight years.

When you watch the flimsy fingers of a baby, you are looking at the hands that will feed the world of tomorrow.

When you glance at the soft and undeveloped ears of a baby, you are looking at a listener who will heed the call of familial devotion.

When you glimpse the tender pink lips of a baby, you are envisioning the voice that will be the first words, laughters, cries and loving utterances, the source of your all-encompassing happiness.

When you perceive the wistfully dreamy eyes of a baby, you are looking into the soul of your own essence that completes you finally...and that is when you know that you have all the strength in the world to do whatever for him or her.

It is when you realize that this very being you will raise and nurture and eventually learn to love with all the fibre in your soul, will one day give you their every ounce of unending warmth and devoted affection. From there, you will finally understand what it means to love unconditonally no matter what because our babies are actually the reflection of our life. How well we lived ours will be played back in theirs. It is what pushes us on each day in our life in the pursuit of happiness. It is our legacy.

When we finally do pass on, we can tell God that during my time on earth, I learned that being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Dear Malaysian Politicians

Dear Malaysian Politicians,

Please stop the power chase, call for a truce and focus on the economy.

I do not claim to speak on behalf of all Malaysians, but I have strong convictions that many share my sentiments.

Our concern today is not who rules the country or heads the state government but the looming bad economy.

Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat leads, it is meaningless if Malaysians have no job to go to, no money to pay rent and no means to put food on the table.

I am a business owner, like other business owners and managers of corporations I have responsibility to ensure people under my care and payroll continue to have jobs and a decent income to take home. We work hard and willling to go the extra mile to make sure our nation only survive this crisis but come out stronger and wiser. We need your help.

Let me explain. I am in the business of Training, Development and Consultancy and have 20 people in my team.

Saedah is 42. She keeps the office clean and helps organise the training rooms. She has four children and her husband is unemployed. She was first hired on a part time basis, because she is very hard working and has a great attitude, we offered her a full time job to help provide a stable income for her family. Even then, when her third child started school this year, it was a struggle for her to buy new school uniforms and other necessities. Saedah lives on a 'kais bulan, makan bulan' basis, so, if she is jobless, her tap runs dry.

Samsuri is 27 years old. He lives with his sister and her family in a low cost government flat in Sunway. He does our despatch, helps with various clerical works and occasionally acts as a driver. During the first week at zubedy, we learned that he not only did not have money to buy new clothes and shoes for work, he had no money for lunch. Like Saedah, if has has no job, his tap runs dry too.

Alicia in Client Servicing turns 26 this year. She lives with her dad who is 71 years old and retired. Her mom passesd away when she waas little. Alicia is a hard-working team member, has a gentle caring outlook and fun to be with. (We like to poke fun at her as she blushes easily). Last May her dad went through a major operation, thank God he has recovered well. Alicia needs a job, both for herself and her dad.

Sudesh, 38, is one of our facilitators. When his father passed away last year, he moved back and lives with his mother in Seremban. He shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban daily, leaving home sometimes as early as 4 in the morning and returning late at night. He is no stranger to hard work and sacrifice, he knows what he needs to do to survive and to care for his mother, but he too needs a job.

Like fellow Malaysians, every one of us in zubedy needs employment, those that live from hand to mouth like Saedah and Samsuri and others like Alicia and Sudesh with family to care for. We Malaysians need the Malaysian economy to be strong. We need you, our leaders, to work hard and to work together to make our economy viable.

So this is my plea.

Pakatan Rakyat, please stop your attempts to take over the federal government and persuade BN's lawmakers to join you. Stop all legal proceedings, no more 916 and let go, just let go. The nation can wait till the next general elections if they want change. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and gracious and give you their support in the next elections.

Barisan Nasional, please stop any attempts to take over PR states and win over PR's lawmakers. You have proven your point with Perak. The nation can wait for the next general elections if they want your party. Focus all your talent, energy and hard work in steering the country out of an economic downturn. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and smart and give you their support in the next elections.

BN and PR! Call for a truce. Get together and compromise. Someone has to give in. Or has hate consumed your heart till it blinds you? You can do it. You have enough intelligent people between you. I am sure you can find solutions. Take the nation to heart. That is why you are in politics in the first place.

Focus on the people.

Focus on the economy.

Anas Zubedy
Managing Director
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd


Post credited to letusaddvalue.blogspot.com.

Let There Be Truce

It has been a year since our nation's 12th General Elections. As with all things that we go thru in life, we reflect...just like how we reflect on our actions and consequences at the end of each day; how we recall the learning we gained throughout the years on each New Year's Eve; how we reminisce down the lane of token memories during the anniversaries of our birthdays or marriage; how we echo the thoughts, hopes and dreams of the people close to us; and how we replicate the achievements and recognitions of a successful company year during the annual business planning session.

But how do we evoke the sense of partisanship towards our nation, where patriotism and nationalism, like the ideology between a citizen and civilian, are now indistinct from the departed devotion of a drifting nation impelled by its directionless custodians and wardens?

I do not have the answer, and many do not. But I can try by mirroring the erudition of our nation's last General Elections that was the political tsunami then.

Let us begin by serving a slice of truth as starter where it is no secret that the National Front has no need for a celebration as they had the worst election ever in their history and justifiably so. The irony actually lies in the true hors d'oeuvre where the People's Alliance are actually finding it hard to celebrate anything, considering the fact that it was their best elections ever. Therein lies the satire of silent mockeries from a paradoxically-aware nation.

For the entree, I would like to think that the nation is still abundant with hopeful individuals of idealistic conviction or realistic fervor. One such implicit individual by the name of Anas Zubedy perpetrated an unthinkable but not so inconceivable act of voicing out the cry of the nation to our misguided and imprudent stewards.

On the 26th of February 2009, Zubedy sent a message to the entire nation in a full-page advert on The Star. In that page, he called for a two-year truce between the Front and the Alliance to accept the current status quo of the power equation and to stop all further power struggle. He highlighted two important things that both parties should concentrate on - our nation's economy and the strengthening of their respective internal team.

Two days later, our DPM acknowledged Zubedy's message with one of the key contents being the following:

"...his letter was not only fair, but clear in pointing out the real issues that we as a nation must focus on to move the country forward...I acknowledge your call for a united and effective front among us..."

The de facto leader of the Alliance has yet to officially respond but has indicated that some soul searching is needed by the party in light of the recent events.

Zubedy's message is significant to me because apart from touching on the issue that is close to my heart, his message was also conceived on my birthdate and published the next day nationwide. I take it as a gift from this realm where I was born into, at a timing so pertinent to reinvigorate my sense of citizenship and faltering faith in this country.

As we battle the tide of global economic recession and keep ourselves abreast with what little tolerance we have left for our nation's political seesaw, we must determine if we are to be citizens or civilians in this time of upheaval. A civilian is someone who is looked-after and taken care of during times of peril, a nation's resource, and a statistic. A citizen is someone who decides, chooses and acts in tumultous times, a nation's source, and a strength.

With the message now spreading, and with the spear tip of recession already penetrating our nation's economical epidermis, it does not take wisdom to see that Zubedy's calling, which echoes the calling of millions in this nation, is the sensible and sagacious one...that we should all band together and save our nation from the impending economical turmoil that has already consumed hundreds of thousands around the world, and millions more if the right actions are not put into place now and the right reactions not harvested from the field of repetitious rectitude. The Front and the Alliance, setting aside all differences and with all means necessary, must ensure that the nation survives through the ominous crisis with minimal pain.

In tandem with this, and resonating some of Zubedy's message, both parties should take this opportunity from the truce and spend time rebuilding their leadership team and the party as a whole. As the Federal government, the Front's caretaker need to look into building a solid, unyielding, honest and devoted team to lead the nation. The stalwart of the Alliance can start forming a shadow cabinet and reinforce their ranks. We need a true, formidable, and strong opposition party in this country if we are to slowly graduate into a two-party system - just like the Democrats and Republicans in the States. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved that carries the name of our nation in their passports.

It is high time we stop all these puny and petty internal squabbling. We must realize that these paltry tactical espionages and detestable politicking are becoming jokes of the nation if not already for the world.

If only these self-styled leaders could see that weak leaders try to win by weakening their enemies but great leaders win by strengthening their own ranks first.

Everyday Immortality (4)

Subatomic particles are not material things; they are fluctuations of energy and information in a huge void.


As I gaze upon these words above, an instantaneous state of comprehension clasped the actuality of my existing psyche. I did not require any assistance to sort out the affirmation from my amorphous credence of nebulous hallucinatory. I could discern the very simplistic and one-dimensional words of friendship, hopes, dreams, and deceit.

In my preceding reflections of these quotes, I concluded that the make-up of immaterial things were progenies of a life's hopes, dreams and energy. Therefore, the people that we come into contact with are playing pieces in the boardgame of comtemporary musing. They make up for what we all call our daily proverbial surroundings...the milieu of infinitesimal undertakings in each of our respective lives.

Within this proverbial environment that we call our norm, we are relentlessly inundated by the deceitfulness of individuals that culminates up to the huge void within us all. Humans are creatures of habits and we live in incessant denial. If only we were feeble in this persistence...because an environment of fervent fraudulence is what embodies the huge empty space within us all. It is how we know that we are living in reality and not in some flight of the mind's eye.

It is such a coincidence that I am pondering on this quote from the aftermath of a very similar and relevant incident that occured yesterday.

I am thinking at the moment that the friendships I have made thus far in my life, and the people that I have known to date, are the source of my hopes and dreams. They fill me with energy. But they also surround me with deceit on occasions. These interrelate with each other to give me a grasp on my reality, knowing that I cannot have one without the other...it is called denial. With this knowledge from yesterday...this information, I am able to better endure, survive and exist in my sometimes unsympathetic ambiance moving forward...