Government Intervention or force capitalism?

Mydin to create 1Malaysia shops? Is this nepotism? Too much government intervention. Not knowing the details, I would like to think that the idea is a positive one. Its a great idea to counter the effects of unscrupulous retailers taking advantage of the rising oil prices. Some say too much government involvement is a move to be feared since it's moving towards the socialism ideology. However, I doubt the governments main goal is trying to model a socialist country. As if Malaysia is not already the Big Brother trying to be corporate Malaysia. I would see it more like creating a large corporation with a huge social responsibility. A responsibility to help people. It just so happened that Mydin is one of the first to step up for this role. This bold move to take social responsibility will give Mydin the advantage of being the first in the market to do this. A lot of companies who decides to be more socially responsible tend to excel in the long run. Take for example Walmart, they take pride in helping consumers to get the best prices in the market. In the past, health companies like Pfizer have taken the philanthropic route to provide free medicine to victims, and it gained them trust in many governments to do business. Ford too have taken a social responsibility in the past to provide affordable cars for the common folks who were once only affordable to nobles and the rich. There are many more examples that shows, companies who thinks along the lines of "more than just making profit" can bring a company far. I'm not just saying it, but you can refer to the research done by Collins's et. al. (a bunch of Harvard grad students) in a book called, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Visionary companies that is built with "more than just profit ideology" tend to be very resilient and capable of withstanding major economic downturns. What the government have done here is to force capitalism. The more options consumers have the better for everybody. This is far from socialism or communism. I hope however that the government is not stopping any other tom dick and harry to start their own initiative to help the people by providing more options and cheaper prices. If they are, this is not in the spirit of 1Malaysia. Its about time for Malaysian corporations to think about their social responsibilities for Malaysia and the world.

Fathers Day and the Fortress of Solitude

I have not written anything in this blog after I got married. Well, being married makes you busy ;)

Truth be told, I had no motivation to write in this blog for reasons I myself don't understand. Maybe its the new beginning in life, maybe its the transition or maybe after getting married I'm so eager to look forward in life that I had no time to reflect on the past. Today however, I decided to write a little something. Last Sunday was fathers day. So I thought about writing a little something about dad.

My dad was never around most of time due to his work. Which makes him far from winning the father of the year award. But I guess he realizes this and tried his best to guide me whenever he can. Because of his work, he can't be standing over my shoulder all the time to make sure that I'm ok. But Dad had a lot of stories to share. Some stories that goes a long way in giving guidance. At times I feel like Kal-el (superman's real native name) from the planet Krypton. Why, because I rarely see dad, but his advise seems to always be available whenever I visit my ice crystal palace (The Fortress of Solitude). Unlike superman, I don't have super speed, fortunately, my ice crystal palace was not somewhere in the north pole but just right there in my head.

Dad had many stories that tie back to a simple quote. One of his favorite quotes is, " Whenever someone hurt you once, you hold back, and if they hurt you twice, you hold back, and if they hurt you the third time you punch them in the face." He tells me a story of how he had a fight with a fellow classmate back during his younger days. I guess the moral of his story is don't ever take shit from people. You hold back when you can, but if its over the line, you show them truthfully that you are not someone that can be pushed around. Till today, I hold to the same principle and am glad that I'm not someone who can be pushed around and bullied easily.

There are many more stories that relate to his simple quotes of wisdom. Many of which have helped me through the hardest times in my life. I know now that Dad will always be with me. Whenever life brings me down, all I have to do is run back to my Ice Crystal Palace, my very own Fortress of Solitude to find guidance and I'll be flying again doing whats best for myself and the people I love. Nothing can bring me down for long, because dad, you will always be there in my fortress of solitude. Thank you Dad...and happy fathers day.