A FAREWELL NOTE FOR THE GREAT MARADONA

1) To me Diego Armando Maradona remain the greatest player of all time. Those days when I was 9 years old, I was told Italy was great team, a defending champion of the last 82 World Cup, then I heard France was favorite team - fresh from 84 European Cup glory - a team blessed with many great players including Michele Platini, Jean Tigana, Luiz Fernandez etc. Furthermore France just defeated Italy 3-1 in the quarter final. But then I heard France lost to West Germany in the semis, and I'm sure West Germany should have won the championship, since Argentina not superior as the German was. It was a complete wrong proposition after knowing Argentina defeated them 3-2 in the final. A team lead by Diego Armando Maradona.

2) For those who's know Mexico 86 World Cup, Maradona single-handedly leads Argentina through-out the tournament. I don't think Argentina would win the tournament if it's not Maradona factor. His masterclass was apparent during knock-out stage, particularly during quarter, semi and final stage of the tournament. The most notable one was in the quarter stage against England when he scored twice, first the ugliest one - using his left hand to score. Then came the second goal - the greatest one four (4) minutes later - using his magical dribbling skill, passed through several English players from middle of the field before he slotted in the ball passed Peter Shilton's goal. It was two absolute opposing character of goal scored by him in the same game - a sweet revenged against England after Argentina had just lost in Falkland War against British four (4) years earlier. 

3) Again in the semis, Maradona have shown his magic by showing his dribbling skill against Belgium, where he scored twice in that game. In the final game against West Germany, his decisive pass to Jorge Burruchaga set-up Argentina's winning goal. In a nutshell, without Maradona, Argentina will never become 1986 world cup champion. 

4) In my knowledge of history of World Cup, I never seen anyone that was soo influential to his team, a charismatic leader on the field and sometimes quite controversy in his character. And Maradona has that on and off the field. The beauty of his skill and talent resonated in the field, his controversies sometimes sent shiver down the spine to his teams and supporters, even to the world football fraternities - this intriguing character often fascinated us. In 1994 USA World Cup tournament, his participation ended abruptly after failing drug test. Consequently it demoralized Argentinian team - and sent them packed early in the tournament after losing in the second round stage.   

5) We simply cannot compare him against Pele, both players came in different era. Pele won three (3) World Cups with Brazil where Brazilian team in his era were blessed with many talented players. In fact Pele wasn't actively participated in the 1962 World Cup due to his injury in the early stage of the tournament. While Argentina on the other hand relying heavily on Maradona to lead them in 1986 World Cup triumph. Maradona has only one world cup achievement compared to Pele three (3) times. 

6) Apart from his country, Maradona also stamped his mark in Napoli - a club in southern Italy. Napoli just a modest club in Italian football compare to giant Milan, Inter or Juve in the north. But during Maradona's stint in Napoli from 1984 till 1990, the latter have won 2 scudettos and one (1) EUFA Cup and multiples domestic championships. This feat have earned him a cult status in Naples. Since he left Napoli, the latter never won scudetto again. It's no surprise Maradona still revered by the Naples people. Before he joined Napoli, he played for Barcelona and Boca Juniors in his native country.

7) To sums up his genius - Gary Lineker, Maradona's former teammate in Barcelona and was part of opposing team against Argentina in the quarter 86 World Cup has this lovely story to tell;

   

8) RIP Diego Armando Maradona. I'm sure your legacy will shine through hereafter, it will remain cherish among football fans around the world for generations to come. Goodbye and so long my football hero. 

SUDAHKAH KITA SEDAR?

1) Pernahkah kita terfikir apa yang berlaku sekarang kepada kita, baik dari ekonomi mahu pun politik adalah akibat dari perbuatan kita sendiri? Bukankah kita yang undi pemimpin - pemimpin ini? Maka jika mereka merompak harta negara dan wang rakyat, sedikit sebanyak kita harus salahkan diri kita jugak kerana telah memilih mereka sebagai pemimpin kita. Kita sering salahkan pemimpin - pemimpin politik ini kerana mereka tidak amanah, lebih pentingkan diri sendiri berbanding tanggungjawab mereka sebagai wakil rakyat, namun kita masih pilih mereka sebagai pemimpin kita.  

2) Tuhan telah buka jalan kepada kita untuk memilih pemimpin - pemimpin ini melalui pilihanraya, Tuhan telah menganugerahkan akal kepada kita untuk menilai pemimpin - pemimpin ini, sebaliknya kita gagal guna akal yang dianugerahkan untuk memilih mereka yang benar - benar berkaliber, jujur dan amanah sebagai pemimpin kita. Hasilnya kita dapat pemimpin - pemimpin yang separuh masak, tidak jujur, korup dan tidak amanah sebagai pemimpin kita. Siapakah yang harus dipersalahkan? Tiada siapa lagi yang boleh disalahkan kecuali diri kita sendiri. 

3) Sebagai contoh negeri Kelantan, pada aku rakyat Kelantan tidak harus salahkan pemimpin mereka semata - mata jika mereka merungut negeri mereka mundur dan kurang membangun. Negeri Kelantan adalah negeri yang tiada pendapatan selain dari bergantung kepada bantuan kerajaan persekutuan tiap - tiap tahun, jika tiada bantuan kerajaan persekutuan, aku rasa negeri kelantan akan bangkrup terus. Tapi rakyat Kelantan seperti selesa tak kisah dengan masalah air yang tak pernah selesai - selesai, selesa dengan kelemahan majlis bandaran dalam beri perkhidmatan yang berkualiti kepada rakyat, tidak kisah dengan gaji adun yang terus naik sedangkan negara dan negeri terhimpit dengan masalah wabak covit-19, malah rakyat Kelantan juga tidak ambil peduli pun adun - adun mereka gunakan wang bantuan kerajaan persekutuan digunakan untuk beli kereta mewah Mercedes Benz untuk kegunaan semua exco - exco negeri. PAS adalah contoh klasik orang Melayu yang lebih pentingkan prestij berbanding tuntutan sebagai seorang pemimpin. Perkara yang sama juga berlaku kepada Menteri Besar Kedah pimpinan PAS, apabila beliau meminta diberikan kereta rasmi sebuah kereta mewah vellfire sebaik sahaja dilantik sebagai pengerusi SADA. Sedangkan SADA dihimpit kerugian RM36 juta, dan memerlukan suntikan modal untuk meningkatkan taraf sumber air di negeri Kedah.

4) Sebagai perbandingan cuba kita lihat video di bawah, bagaimana negara kafir Jerman jaga kebajikan rakyat mereka hadapi wabak covit-19. 

   

Jelas pemimpin - pemimpin Jerman mengamalkan ajaran Islam, sedangkan kita orang Islam dan negara Islam melaung - laungkan perjuangan Islam, tetapi langsung tidak melaksanakan ajaran Islam seperti yang dikehendaki oleh Islam itu sendiri. Kita orang Islam harus berasa malu kepada negara kafir Jerman ini. Jelas sekali pemimpin kafir Jerman lebih amanah dan bertanggungjawab dari pemimpin Islam itu sendiri.   

5) Jika negara mundur, jangan salahkan pemimpin kita semata - mata, kita juga harus salahkan diri sendiri juga. Kita juga harus dipersalahkan kerana memberi peluang kepada Najib dan Rosmah, serta pemimpin UMNO yang lain, yang merompak harta negara. Akibat yang akan ditanggung oleh beberapa generasi selepas kita.

6) Kita sering mempersendakan apabila Tun Mahathir pernah menyatakan "Melayu mudah lupa". Aku rasa ramai yang tak faham pun apa yang dimaksudkan oleh beliau "Melayu mudah lupa" ini. Habis kuat yang boleh difahami maksud "lupa" adalah dari erti kata sebenar, sedangkan maksud "lupa" luas dan dalam maksudnya. Selain itu kita juga ego dalam mengakui kelemahan kita, tak nak akui "Melayu itu mudah lupa", tak nak akui Melayu itu rata - rata malas, Melayu itu terlalu tamak dan sering inginkan pulangan cepat yang sering merugikan Melayu di kemudian hari. Inilah nilai - nilai yang buat orang Melayu gagal capai matlamat yang disasarkan oleh dasar Ekonomi Baru. Sejujurnya aku rasa wabak covit-19 ada bagusnya jugak, moga mogahan ia dapat menyedarkan kita kembali, bahawa kita sebagai orang Melayu perlu balik ke pangkal jalan kerana kita telah jauh sesat.

7) Aku percaya ramai orang Melayu yang marah dan tak setujui dengan pandangan aku ini. Tetapi aku percaya orang Melayu telah jauh menyimpang. Jadi aku beranggapan kita perlu set semula langkah kita, perlu kembali ke pangkal jalan kerana sudah jauh sesat jalan. Mungkin kita terlalu ego hendak akuinya atau pun mungkin terlalu lurus - tak nampak masalah yang membelengu orang Melayu ketika ini. Kita mungkin hanya nampak beberapa kerat orang Melayu yang berjaya, yang benar - benar rajin, tetapi sebenarnya masih ramai lagi orang Melayu yang tamak, berfikiran cetek dan malas di luar sana. Sebenarnya ini juga merupakan suatu masalah kepada orang Melayu, kerana kita akan terbuai - buai dengan khayalan kosong yang jauh terasar dari realiti. 

8) Pada aku orang Melayu harus keluar dari zon selesa, perlu berani hadapi cabaran realiti yang membelengu masyarakat kita, perlu berani bercakap benar, berani mempertahankan kebenaran, berani mengorbankan kepentingan diri dalam perjuangan, demi menaikkan taraf bangsa. Kita perlukan "Reality Distortion", yang boleh sedarkan kita dari lamunan indah. Realitinya kita sudah jauh tertinggal di belakang. Kita perlu cari penawar yang dapat mengubati penyakit ini, walaupun pahit untuk ditelan, yang sudah pasti amat mujarab. 

Amazon

1) It's been years I have not updating my blog. I dont know what prompted me to pen my thought this time around. But this Amazon stuff is too irresistible for me to ignore, considering years of roller coaster journey that I going through.  

2) Along the journey, its tested my patience, my dignity, my life and family and even my friendship. Since everybody busy with their own life, its make them seems do not understand your problems are. Moreover, they have their own problem too, which make even harder for them to understand it. I accept this as human factor that normally happen to everyone, including myself. If I were in their position, I might do the same (Honestly I hope not). As what Najieb said to me "I been through life" not "lived a life", to me it was like "a journey not a destination". Even how good my explanations were, I am still skeptical one can understand it, let alone sympathy on me.  

3) While answering my question, Najieb said this to me - "Your wandering was like mine, I've been there. Now, I am comfortable to say I don't know but I know I have value. It is not easy to prove. But I guess I have managed to prove to some people and this is good enough. It is not going to be a lightning speed but resilience is all that is needed". Najieb then continued " I recall when I had to treat myself. I took therapy, LOA, and eventually move on and no looking back. I guess it is not how many times I fell but how many times I bounce back and true as i LOA. It keeps getting better. I mean, now, I can call people like Dato Joey and Travis as personal friends. When I was "terumbang ambing" before". He then ended "The only thing, never forget the hard times. Never forget the experiences gained and move forward. Once you have moved on. You look back, you will understand what I mean". Thanks for this advice Najieb.

4) Come back to this Amazon. What Najieb and I agree were - this E-commerce business is a way forward - that surely benefit to those embrace and make used of its potential in very beginning. When Covit-19 pandemic struck, it's not only send shiver down the spine on entire populations of the world, but it's also hasten the E-commerce business growth. You may look what those technological companies posted their financial result were, and see how much Amazon financial performance was. Their shares and profits improve by leap and bound since then. Najieb have seen this trending quite sometimes now, and I sees the same either. 

5) I have been wandering what kind of business that suited me. Is it technological and engineering business that I am looking? Or F&B / catering that I and my wife doing right now? Honestly I don't know. Along the way, when thing starts crumbling - I decided to coming back to work as salaried worker. While searching for works, Najieb came and invited me to join on board in his journey with Amazon. After long thought and discussed with wife, I decided to be on board with him.

6) Najieb went to Singapore learning this Amazon since he was working with government then, he sees Amazon's potential for future endeavor apart from investing in crypto currency simultaneously. When PH's government fell, he losses his job, by that time he has too many stuff on his plate. Initially he engaged with one young fellow to help him out, but that guy seems lacking in tenacity and unmotivated since this work are quite tedious and resilience. 

7) Me on the other hand, are quite okay, and have little experiences in the past. Furthermore, it doesn't affect my time in operating my restaurant. With little bit of skill on other thing, I was able to complement Najieb's lacking on other area, in achieving our common goal. 

8) As I am writing this piece, we are still in midst of getting our products registered with Amazon. We anticipated this from beginning - expected this bumpy road prior registering with Amazon. It requires resilient and patience to overcome it - and sadly to say - qualities that wannabe entrepreneurs are lacking most, particularly among those searching for quick return - sadly to notes it happen most to Malays. If one can honestly and thoroughly analyze what are the reasons behind Malay's lacking in economic pie after 41 years of introduction of NEP - these were one of the contributing factors - an attributes that resides in the head of many Malay entrepreneurs.          

9) I am lucky since Najieb could see bigger picture, and sees the potential of American market could provide. And he knew it from his Singaporean coaches who's generously enough to share their experiences and even helping us to achieve similar goal. At the same time, he got Travis Marziani's guidance, who are quite successful Amazon's seller in America. So basically we have 2 set of guidance from 2 different regions, that certainly would provide meaningful ideas and guidance to us Insha'Allah. 

10) As I explains above, this piece is basically just a skeleton of our common goal. I hope I could elaborate more details in the future piece once we reach next level. There's still long way to go - a bumpy road ahead of course. I hope we remain perseverance, Insha'Allah.