Sons versus daughters

Generally daughters stand by their parents. In this modern world, parents still pray for the gift of boys rather than girls. Chinese tradition is that the child should carry the surnames. Girls tend to be more filial towards her family as they place more importance on family values. Girls support their mothers morally, financially, mentally and physically even when they are married. Do boys display the same behaviour? Your guess is as good as mine.

Girls also do not enjoy the same privileges in terms of family wealth. In terms of family wealth, the boys tend to have a bigger slice of the cake. Why girls do not get equal share of the cake when they are also part of the family? Why do parents differentiate between sons and daughters?

Do parents hope that their sons will support them financially after their retirement? Parents still claim to have sacrified their life for their sons. Do their sons think wise?

Following traditional Chinese culture, daughters are not allowed to pay their respect to their ancestors at the grave simply because they no longer carry the family surname.

Gender should not be used as dividing factor and parents should give undivided love and affection to their sons and daughters. Forget about the notion of surname not being passed on to the next generation.

Food for thought.

Langkawi Visit

Recently, I have had my vacation at Langkawi. It has been sometime since I last visited the island. Langkawi has been developed and due to its duty free status, it has attracted tourists from near and far.

Makam Mahsuri
The famous tale from Langkawi was associated with a woman, Mahsuri who was accused of adultery. She was executed despite her pleas of innocence. When she was executed, it seemed white blood was flowing from her body. From the story, she has proceeded to curse the island for seven generations.

Dataran Lang or Eagle Square
The eagle is symbolic of Langkawi island as its name was derived from the Malay word of eagle. Dataran Lang is located at the jetty of Kuah town.

Galeri Perdana
Galeri Perdana houses the archives of state gifts to Tun Dr Mahathir during his reign as the Prime Minister. Galeri Perdana houses 3 blocks of building, Block A - Block C.

Pantai Cenang and Pantai Tengah
The seaside resort hotels are all located in this area.

Pulau Dayang Bunting (Isle of Pregnant Maiden)
One of 99 islands surrounding Langkawi and apparently, there is a legend attached to it. I did not have the opportunity to visit this island.

During my tenure of stay at Langkawi, the weather was hot. My fond memories of Langkawi would have been the visit to Galeri Perdana and the Thai food.

Something for sharing.

Be Engaged

Be engaged is the buzzword in any Organisation. Employees engagement is the extent to which the employees are totally committed to the organisation. This can be measured by 3 factors:

1st factor of `Say'
The employee consistently speaks positively about the organisation to co-workers, friends and customers. The employees feel proud to be a part of the organisation.

There is a co-relation between employee engagement and a wide range of organisation performance. It has shown that an engaged workforce means higher customer satisfaction, better returns in terms of profit and higher productivity.

2nd factor of `Stay'
The employee is very loyal to the organisation and despite opportunities to work elsewhere, the employee stays as he/she wants to be a member of the organisation.

Employees want to know that they have a promising future in the organisation and that their efforts are adequately rewarded. There are factors that affect existing levels of engagement:

o sense of accomplishments;
o customer focus

3rd factor of `Strive'
The employee gives extra effort that contributes prositively to the business success.

In my organisation, the current focus is on employees engagement. We as employees have been receiving updates on how to stay engaged via the bulletin and emails. We even appoint a `BE (Be engaged) champion'. The role of the BE champion is to co-ordinate activities within the department by getting the staff engagement. Guess what, my name was recommended to be a BE champion. However after nomination, I have not been selected which could be a blessing as the role to champion for activities and getting the staff engaged is definitely a tall order.

Something for sharing.

Assertivesness

What is the difference of being passive, aggressive and assertive?
An illustration will bring more light
Being passive (child)
Passive response would be let the person stay in front. If you are not able to stand for yourself, you are being passive.

Being aggressive (parent)
Aggressive response be would be assumed they did on purpose and say `Hei, no cuts.'
If you able to stand up for yourself but disregard the rights and feelings of others, you are being aggressive.

Being assertive (adult)
As assertive respone would be `Excuse me but I was in line.'
Assertivesness is the ability to express one's feeling while respecting the rights of others. Assertive communication is direct, open and honest and able to state the facts right without offending others. Many view assertiveness as a personality trait that a forunate few are either born with or develop during their formative years. Assertive persons have positive self esteem.

There are 3 skills of an assertive persons:

The ability to say `no'
Many people may find it difficult to turn down a request for fear of offending the other party. We may say `no' in a diplomatic manner by offering alternatives.

The ability to ask
One should learn how to ask without imposing by making the request at the right time. When to ask and how to ask are also equally important factors.

The ability to craft assertive messages
Adopt assertive bahaviour such as maintaining good posture and looking people in the eyes and being decisive.

Now the in thing is being assertive and not aggressive in your approach to life.

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