In order to gain blog of scope (modified from Economies of Scope), I will write few topics in just one entry.
Endurance
As exam season has started, I have to do a lot of revision to prepare for the exam. However, my endurance is very low. I can only withstand 30 minutes for reading or 1 hour reading + making notes. I can't focus any longer than that duration. May Allah help make revision easy for me.
Economy
This week I made revision on Business in Competitive Environment. I learn about market, competition, innovation, government's role and globalisation in this course. There are two interesting points I would like to share here. They are about macroeconomic policy and innovation.
Monetary policy is one of the subtopics mention in macroeconomics topic. In capitalist world, the govenment's monetary policy controls the interest rate in order to control country's economy especially inflation and fluctuations in exchange rate. However, interest (riba') is haraam (unlawful) in Islam. I wonder what is the instrument available in Islamic economic system to control the economy. What will Bank negara do to control our economy if our country embrace Islamic economic system fully. Currently Malaysia boasts as the centre of the world of Islamic banking. But that is Islamic banking what about other area? I'm interested to know the answer. Hopefully I can find the answer after the exam.Micheal E Porter said in his article about "The Competitive Advantage of Nation's":
A nation competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.
It is interesting to know that problem, pressure and competition in the industry lead to new innovation. This is clear in many examples shown in the article. For example, Japan has pioneered just-in-time-production manufacturing technique in order to deal with storage problem.
I think what is happening in Malaysia is the other way round. Politician interference, cronyism and corruption seems preventing domestic rivalry, thus affecting innovation. That is my assumption based on my conversation with some staffs in GLCs and other sources. I don't have data to support my argument. However, it is clear that Malaysia still struggling. Just look at Proton, it has been operating for more than 23 years, but Proton are not able to compete with foreign cars. Why?
In terms of rivalry, the rivalry spirit amongst the Malay is very high. Just look at food industry. When you see a mak cik successfully open warung goreng pisang di Jalan X, you will find other people will open a new warung on the same road, bagaikan cedawan tumbuh lepas hujan! Interestingly, everyone will sell the same thing. Funny isn't it? This is not innovative. One sad thing is, sometimes, when they cannot compete with the leading seller, they will use black magic to make his/her competitors bankrupt. Why this should happen? Another weakness I could see is, they just focus on one attribute which is rivalry, not other atrributes such as factor condition, demand condition, supporting or related industry and strategy. Neglecting this factors will not help them to be the leader in industry.
What can we learn from this as an individual. I think this can help us to understand the hikmah of problems and challenges we faced in our daily live. Maybe Allah want to make us a better person by going through hard life so that we will be a better person in the future.
I think what is happening in Malaysia is the other way round. Politician interference, cronyism and corruption seems preventing domestic rivalry, thus affecting innovation. That is my assumption based on my conversation with some staffs in GLCs and other sources. I don't have data to support my argument. However, it is clear that Malaysia still struggling. Just look at Proton, it has been operating for more than 23 years, but Proton are not able to compete with foreign cars. Why?
In terms of rivalry, the rivalry spirit amongst the Malay is very high. Just look at food industry. When you see a mak cik successfully open warung goreng pisang di Jalan X, you will find other people will open a new warung on the same road, bagaikan cedawan tumbuh lepas hujan! Interestingly, everyone will sell the same thing. Funny isn't it? This is not innovative. One sad thing is, sometimes, when they cannot compete with the leading seller, they will use black magic to make his/her competitors bankrupt. Why this should happen? Another weakness I could see is, they just focus on one attribute which is rivalry, not other atrributes such as factor condition, demand condition, supporting or related industry and strategy. Neglecting this factors will not help them to be the leader in industry.
What can we learn from this as an individual. I think this can help us to understand the hikmah of problems and challenges we faced in our daily live. Maybe Allah want to make us a better person by going through hard life so that we will be a better person in the future.
Da'wah
Read an article about athan here. I believe this issue is quite old. Surely as a Muslim, I feel uneasy when someone questioning our religious practice. However, I disagree with the provocative approach used by the writer. I think it is better if he explain in a good manner or by engaging with the people who are questioning the athan. I like the idea that human are given intelligance, when we are presented with rational arguments, we can make good judgement. Not everyone have bad intention. Maybe they just don't understand. Rasulullah always show great mercy upon people against him. Remember the story about an old Jewish women who throw rubbish to him? Despite that, that approach just cause more retaliation, disgust and the message about the beauty of Islam not conveyed. I think provocative is more suitable in controlled condition, the right place, right time , right condition, the right person.
Umrah
My Grand parents, Mak Long, Pak Lang and Pak Njang will go to Makkah next week to perform umrah. May Allah bless them.
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