SELF-REFLECTION

 

Self-reflection may feel like the latest new thing but the concept is nearly as old as time itself. Way back in Ancient Greece, Socrates told his executioners that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” While that statement may be a bit extreme - life is life, after all, and always worth living - examining your beliefs, your attitudes and your actions, is a vital part of personal change and growth. What exactly is self-reflection and how does it help you achieve your goals for personal growth?

Remembering the past - and more importantly, analyzing it for patterns - is the way that we learn. When a football coach sits down with his players to watch last week’s game, he is not doing it for entertainment. He uses it as an opportunity to point out how each player’s actions and patterns contributed to a win or a loss and to recommend changes to strategy so that the players improve their performance in the next game.

The post-mortem is not confined to sports, of course. In a poetry slam, for example, performers often watch videos of their own performances to see places where their delivery could be better or to take note of where the audience reacted in an unexpected way to their words or gestures. There is even an actual tool to help athletes and other performers make the most of their self-reflection. Reflecting on your actions and attitudes is one of the most effective ways to identify areas where you need to change, recognize places where you have grown and keep you moving forward to achieve your personal growth goals.

Let us start with this understanding: the purpose of self-reflection is not to beat yourself up for being a bad person. The point is to examine how well you are meeting your goals, recognize where you are in comparison to where you were, and mark your progress toward where you want to be.

Here is the first exercise in self-reflection to get you started on your way to a more examined life. These questions will help you set a baseline, recognizing where you are and what you need to be happy, successful and fulfilled.

Before you start answering them through, think about the ways you learn best. Write out things in long hand in your journal which helps you really focus and think about the answers before you write them down. Your mileage may vary - maybe you do your best thinking out loud. In that case, use a voice recorder app on your phone. Whatever works best for you is right for you.

1. What are your strengths? Make note of the things you do well, the things that make you proud of yourself.
2. What are your weaknesses? Note your personality traits or personal habits that you think make you less effective.
3. What makes you happy? Write down the things in your life, big or small, that bring you joy.
4. What are the things that dim your joy? Write down the things that bring you stress, anxiety or otherwise make you less happy.
5. What changes would you like to make in your life?

As usual, we remind you to take your Memo Plus Gold daily. It will help to keep you alert and mentally sharp. For more information or to order for Memo Plus Gold, please visit : https://oze.my.

RM50 juta untuk PLKN 3.0 tak membazir, persatuan belia tolak gesaan Ahli Parlimen

 

PLKN diperkenalkan pada 2004 sebelum ditangguhkan pada 2015 dan dimansuhkan terus tiga tahun selepas itu. (Gambar Bernama)

PETALING JAYA: 

Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM) menolak gesaan Ahli Parlimen Raub Chow Yu Hui supaya kerajaan menilai semula Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) 3.0 kerana mendakwanya membazir.

Presiden Mohd Izzat Afifi Abdul Hamid berkata perbelanjaan RM50 juta bukan membazir kerana ‘dilabur’ untuk membangunkan modal insan yang kepentingannya sama seperti pendidikan dan kesihatan.

“Kesan pembangunan modal insan mungkin tidak dapat dilihat hasilnya dalam masa terdekat tetapi pada masa depan.

“Bahkan saya rasakan peruntukan RM50 juta itu sedikit dibandingkan kos sepatutnya dikeluarkan untuk melaksanakan PLKN secara menyeluruh,” katanya kepada FMT.

Selasa lalu, Chow dalam perbahasan Belanjawan 2025 di Dewan Rakyat membantah dan meminta kerajaan menilai semula pelaksanaan PLKN yang akan dihidupkan semula Januari tahun depan.

Wakil rakyat DAP itu berkata perbelanjaan itu sepatutnya disalurkan untuk sektor pendidikan dan kesihatan atau kepada program berimpak tinggi untuk belia seperti Rakan Muda.

Untuk rekod, PLKN diperkenalkan 20 tahun lalu membabitkan pemilihan rawak belia berumur 18 tahun untuk mengikuti latihan termasuk berkait ala ketenteraan.

Program itu kemudiannya ditangguhkan pada 2015 dan diperkenalkan semula setahun kemudian dengan anggaran pelaksanaan penuh pada 2019. Bagaimanapun, program itu dimansuhkan pada 2018.

Izzat berkata isu pernah dikaitkan PLKN sebelum ini seharusnya tidak berberbangkit susulan tambah baik dibuat dapat mewujudkan pentadbiran lebih telus.

“PLKN ini dijalankan di kem tentera bukan lagi kem milik perseorangan atau mana-mana syarikat luar,” katanya.

Turut senada dengannya aktivis belia Mohd Imran Tamrin yang menegaskan isu peruntukan tidak seharusnya berbangkit dalam usaha memupuk perpaduan serta melahirkan masyarakat berketahanan diri serta berdisiplin.

“Ada beberapa perkara boleh ditambah baik dan pihak kerajaan telah meneliti semuanya.

“Peruntukan RM50 juta untuk PLKN 3.0 juga wajar, dibandingkan kos sebelum ini yang menelan ratusan juta,” katanya. - FMT

SIS warns of potential ‘backdoor’ laws via FT’s mufti bill

Sisters in Islam warned that the proposed Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill 2024, if passed into law, could limit Islamic jurisprudence in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: 

A women’s rights group has warned that the proposed Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill 2024, if passed, could facilitate the creation of “backdoor” laws through a misuse of fatwas.

Sisters in Islam (SIS) advocacy, legal services and research manager Waheda Rufin said this process could be utilised to indirectly criminalise certain acts, bypassing altogether the legislative process.

She said a fatwa, once gazetted, cannot be questioned, and may be prosecuted under Section 12 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997.

“For instance, instead of criminalising sodomy, a fatwa could be issued declaring same-sex relationships forbidden (haram). So, instead of criminalising the act of sodomy, they just criminalise the act of defying the fatwa, not the action itself.

This process allows a law to be made outside of Parliament and the state assemblies, she said during a media briefing on Wednesday.

Waheda pointed out that in February, the Federal Court struck down an attempt to introduce sodomy as a shariah offence, holding that the Kelantan state assembly was not competent to include it as an offence in the state’s Syariah Criminal Code.

The gazetting of a fatwa would potentially allow the Islamic authorities to introduce the same law via the “backdoor”, she said.

SIS said another central issue lies in Clauses 13 and 14 of the bill, which allows the FT fatwa committee to consult the Muzakarah Committee, a key body within the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs, on the issuance of fatwas affecting “national interest”.

The group warned that if both committees concur, the FT mufti may issue a fatwa on the subject which will have the force of law upon gazettement.

Another contentious aspect of the bill, SIS said, was the narrowing of accepted Islamic jurisprudence schools, which could limit broader Islamic scholarship in the country and fuel sectarian divisions.

SIS communications manager Ameena Siddiqi said the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 presently allows for Islamic law and practice to be interpreted according to any recognised mazhab.

Ameena Siddiqi.

Section 3 of the bill, however, seeks to restrict the practice of Islam to only the four major Sunni schools: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali.

“The proposed bill would revoke the autonomy of Muslims in the Federal Territories to practice schools of thought of their choice, which is contrary to Islamic jurisprudence’s inherent diversity,” she said.

The bill, which was tabled for its first reading last July, has encountered significant opposition from various groups, including Muslim scholars and political figures.

It is scheduled for debate during the ongoing Dewan Rakyat meeting. - FMT