Agora

I will be in Singapore March 13th - March 19th for WorldMUN 2012 So, I have a million things to do before leaving for Malaysia & Singapore. Yes, I will be leaving on March 6th til March 22nd for a short return trip to my home country and the WorldMUN (Model United Nations) conference in Singapore. Before leaving, however, I have to finish two research papers, an economics midterm, complete position paper, draft some talking points for an informal meeting with prominent opposition party MPs in Malaysia (more on this in a future blog post); print out my business cards; dryclean my suits, pack my suitcase, buy new pair of shoes since last pair is a little worn out and do research on Pakistan everyday leading up to the conference on March 13th. I claim that it is 'hectic' because time management is not my forte. Besides, I have also made some time to hangout with some friends and close one before I leave (for some, I will be missing their birthdays). So, you can say ...

A Jewish child smiles before his artistic creation during the 'Paiting Pain Dreaming Peace' exhibition in San Fransisco. The exhibition sought to bridge Palestinian and Israeli cultures by bringing their children together in collaborative art. In my previous blog post, 'On Success: The Road with No End', I mentioned that the road to our success is a never-ending journey, since our perception of it is transient. Despite its ephemeral qualities, success is arguably the anchor of our careers. We motivate and push ourselves to succeed. Success of course, is in the eye of the beholder and suum cuique -  to each his own. What I also tried to clarify, was that success is not a destination but rather a journey on a road. This road, of course, is never ending because we will never get to a destination called success. I mentioned that we tend to fall in love with our misery because we always feel that success is that far away.  What I truly believe is that all of us must ov...

 We have a dangerous love affair with guns.  A little digression - a side route if you will, from the road with no end. In two of my lectures this morning, I began to realize the extent of a 'gun' culture in our world. Specifically, I am referring to how much the mentality of violence is engrained within us. I say this for two reasons: the romanticization of gun-based violence and the subconscious acceptance of violence as a necessary tools. These are what I believe to be the reasons why 'disarmament' or 'anti-small arm proliferation' talk are merely pie in the sky talk - we have to strike at our very own roots and discard our implict glorification of arms and violence. First, the romanticization of guns and weapons by the media, our conversations and social understandings. Make no mistake, I am not accusing anyone of being pro-guns or pro-violence. I will reserve my judgments on that matter here; instead, I am blaming our adventurous spirits and our...

'Everyone lives with an tries to hide fear. A rich man fears the loss of his property, the leader fears he will be outmaneuvered...everyone has his own fear and must learn to live with and conquer it.' - Mochtar Lubis If there is only one universal truth, it is that all of us are seeking success. This will not be a blog post to preach about the right ways or strategies to attain success - there have been numerous before me that have done so with elegance. What they have not really addressed, however, is our tendency to fall in love with our own misery. Here, I mean that our perception of and quest for success is often muddled and obstructed by our fear and obstinate  attitudes. Over the next few blog posts, I will start a series of reflective and exploratory writings to decipher the meaning of success. I also wish to offer my views on the correct frame of mind to achieve success. In these posts, I will propose several ideas that I have harbored in recent years....

Yes, we blog to convey our ideas. Yes, we blog to express ourselves in a domain accessible to millions of people. Yes, we blog to reveal our stances on particular socio-cultural issues. But, I hesitate to proceed with the next point in this post, because I am also prone to this mistake. This mistake I speak of is overzealousness and vanity. When we highlight a political issue for example, we choose quotes, pictures, words and frame the blog post in such a way as to reflect our own opinion. That is absolutely expected - no problems there. However, when we start to assert elements of absolutism and excessive negativity (in the form of accusations or skepticism) we begin to lose that moral high ground. We start to appear defeated, unwilling to compromise, almost  childish. Moreover, overzealousness invites ignorance, and ignorance welcomes irrational judgments. When we are too self-absorbed in our own opinion, we inadvertently shut off other avenues of thought. When we attribute ...

Okay, maybe the launching of this blog was slightly premature. Since I am no techie, there are two sets of redundant tabs at the top of my blog space. I will try to figure those out, I just have to link them to my pages widget, I think. I will figure this tech crisis during the intermittent rests I take when writing my papers. Those willing to help me solve this problem will be awarded a large medal of Good Samaritanship when all is said and done. Maybe that or a large shout-out in the next blog post.

I have spent many years marveling at the creativity of countless blogs and talented writers, only to realize that the capacity to reproduce such works of art and self-expression is only a few mouse clicks and words away. Recently, direct inspiration from my peers has motivated me to start up my own blog and this I did for several reasons, and you can read brief snippets explaining the birth of this blog in the picture panel above. Most importantly, I pledge to maintain enough discipline, loyalty and interest to perpetuate this blog, particularly because I am one who enjoys a good sounding board. A huge bonus for me would be if said sounding board actually talks back. So, Dennis' Agora welcomes an exchange of ideas and constructive dialogue in this place of gathering. Obviously, the onus is on me to provide thought-provoking material. A word of caution, however: there will be a slight (just slight) lean towards political topics. Those that know me personally will understand t...