Selamat Hari Guru! (Happy Teacher's Day!)

Salaam...

Nampaknya, sepajang bulan Mei ini, kita menghargai semua golongan "pekerja" yang menyumbang kepada kesejahteraan negara bermula dengan Hari Buruh (yang juga Hari Wesak untuk penganut agama Buddha di Malaysia) pada 1 MAY 2007 (juga cuti am di seluruh negara).

Kemudian, macam-macam hari untuk Media Antarabangsa, Bomba & Penyelamat, Pertahanan Awam, Jururawat (ada lagi tak yang tertinggal)?....

Minggu ini pula, Hari Ibu (Ahad lepas), Hari Belia Negara dan Keluarga Antarabangsa dan hari ni pula, Hari Guru. Lepas ni, Hari Telekomunikasi Sedunia pula... (I like this because I'm also in telco businesses... e.g. KedaiTelekom.com and Telco-Us.com)

Oya, Selamat HARI GURU untuk semua pendidik-pendidik di mana saja anda berada sama ada anda memilih kerjaya tersebut di sekolah rendah, sekolah menengah, institusi pengajian tinggi atau di mana-mana saja - orang industri boleh juga mendidik melalui program-program seperti business mentorship/coaching. Saya sendiri mempunyai beberapa mentor dari kedua-dua akademik dan industri, baik dalam mahupun luar negara. So, thank you TEACHERS!

Some of my fine teachers who I'm still in touch with include Mr Teh (my English teacher at MRSM Kulim) and wife (my Chemistry teacher), and Mr Lee (my Math teacher, also from Kulim). I plan to meet my other teachers too like Cikgu Othman and Pn Syariah (husband-n-wife who were my Geography and Bahasa Melayu teachers), Cikgu Jarini (Bio), Mr Faruk Senan (Pengetua MRSM BP & Kulim) and many others including those in Bloomington and Ann Arbor (if I ever made it there again). Some of old friends including one from sekolah rendah are teachers too -- good for them!

Seperti yang ada sewajarnya sedia maklum, beberapa bulan kebelakangan ini, saya cukup sibuk dengan projek Pekerja Di Rumah atau Usahawan Mikro (termasuklah pelajar-pelajar di IPT, graduan-graduan tak bekerja dan ibu-ibu yang cukup bekerja keras membesarkan anak-anak dan menjaga keluarga di rumah, atau bapa-bapa yang makin ramai bekerja di rumah semasa isteri keluar bekerja -- 70% pelajar IPTA di Malaysia hari ini adalah wanita, justeru, lebih ramai wanita muda berbanding lelaki akan dapat kerja di korporat dan badan-badan kerajaan). Maklumat lanjut boleh didapati di http://PajamaNation.com.my

(nanti saya cerita lebih lanjut, time permitting -- la ni, kena buat kerja sekolah, and kerja lain untuk pelanggan-pelanggan).

At Pajamanation, one of the 40 political agendas we're pushing for is to create more professions called "Formerly Teachers Now Entrepreneurs" (FTNE), and vice-versa, ie. FENT. I'm sure you've all heard of the Teachers-Doers analogies. We think that many good teachers today are poor at coaching entrepreneurship, and many successful entrepreneurs are terrible at teaching just about anything. When teachers are more open for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs are open with giving back thru teaching, we believe that we'll have better breed of entrepreneurs, especially in Malaysia. Then only will "Keusahawan Kerjaya Pilihan" will come out true. More mothers can then join entrepreneurial ventures, and more families will prosper. Less unemployment too, among fresh graduates and young professionals.

(Psst: Our Founder & CEO is a full Professor of Entrepreneurship and also a Resident Entrepreneur at a leading business school in the UK).

I know of several teachers, who are starting to venture into businesses. And many entrepreneurs who are also venturing into teaching/coaching (you've seen the ads in mainstream media and online -- all kind of seminars for financial or social/business improvements). Many entrepreneurs are publishing books, and many teachers will also publish books, but not on their past topics of English, Physics, Math etc, but how to crunch these knowledges into a productive return for you, your family and your country.

I know of many university professors who are fine entrepreneurs themselves. Ada pendidik-pendidik di MARA misalnya terus menyumbang dengan menjadi penasihat badan-badan keusahawan (misalnya Persatuan Francais Malaysia) selepas bersara. So, things are going for the better here in Malaysia. May our economy keep getting better (it's already the best ever this year, surpassing our best record prior to the 1998 economic meltdown!) too.

Again, sincerely, Selamat Hari Guru (your contributions to the youths and nation building are utmostly appreciated!).


Thank you!



--
Nasir Sobri
Pajamanation Malaysia