An Open Letter To The Omani Youth! From The Archives! Reply

 Dear All & After Compliments;

February 28th 2011 – The Original Post!

        

 

You will forgive me in reminding you a bit about myself but for those who know me well will vouch for me that I have always stood up to face my Management Teams in whichever company that I had worked for as a Human Resources Professional, Consultant, Expert and Advisor to push for Omanisation, Omani Recruitment and for Training and Development. I had never bothered that it may cause permanent dent to my career and future prospects – because I believed it in my blood that it was the right, principled and decent thing to do so always!

Some of the students that I have looked after some of them are today Their Excellencies, some in The Royal Family and many as CEOs, Directors and Board Members of many companies in Oman – and even outside Oman. My records speak for themselves. You are most free to check around and ascertain for yourselves – if need be.

Last two weeks I wrote the following articles with you most in my mind. Time To Hear and Dealing With Situations In Life. You can find both these articles in my website http://www.majidall.com and http://www.majidwrite.com

A long time ago when I was a boy of eight years old I wanted to play with a blade. My late grandfather was dead set against me being given the blade – though I threw in tantrums and emotions to get it. In the end he relented – saying to my late Mother – give him the blade! I was soon bleeding and had to be medically treated. The point is in being obstinate and wanting to play with things that are harmful to me – but not listening to elderly advice and caution being given to me. In the end the person who suffered most is me!

There is a similar expression in Arabic for children who want to play with matches – you get your hands burnt as a result of your not listening to advice being given to you. Another one is throwing a stone at a beehive – and they will come out to sting you. It is you who brought out the bees – they were quietly doing their works and livelihood in their beehive – till you provoked them!

I will also tell you this from my personal experiences and exposures which I will share with you. To make changes you yourself must be part and parcel of the change process – that is with you inside it – not as you fighting it from the outside. I found this the hard way in life. When I became part of the team and being supportive – I got faster and more rapid progress than confronting it and fighting it from outside.

The reason is simple. You become part of The Team and you are acceptable and recognised – and people open up to listen and hear you. This took me a long time to get to understand – and I wished I had done it earlier in order to be more useful to the cause that I was after!

When you fight the cause from outside you naturally bring resistance to change – as we all know change is not easy and there is a natural resistance to change. We all know this very clearly – and even our conscious and sub conscious mind speaks to us in the same voice and tone. That small thin voice inside wanting to speak to you – and telling you that though you are very frustrated and angry – but what you are doing is not right, correct or ethical – or professional – simply and smugly put.

I am not going to bring our Omani ways, values, heritage traditions and customs in doing things – because we all know this deep within ourselves. That is the Family sit together as one to discuss things as one Family – united under One Flag, One Nation, One His Majesty. I invite you to read my article here too under my website above or here – http://knowledgeoman.com/en/?p=165 – All Under One Flag. Visit also Forty Years On under the same site!

My pleas and requests to you that we should always remember that we have enemies both from within and outside who want desperately to cause harm, disaster and havoc to us – because they cannot be like us or simply hate us to see the progress, development and our peace, security and stability.

We have a very good thing here in our country – Allah God Be Blessed. We should come together to keep it – nurture it – let it grow and prosper – protect and defend it. We should not put sand in our food – then we will not be able to eat it – or if you spit on it – or do bad things to it – then how can you eat it yourself? Ask yourself this critical and fundamental question – please!

I beg of you to cool down and let things take its natural cause. The Leadership under His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said – Allah Give him long life and health – Amin – is already listening and hearing you – and changes have already started to be formulated and to be implemented. There are some things that in your levels you will not be able to know and appreciate why maybe taking a longer time or need more efforts to implement. Only The Leadership and The Decision Makers will know – and not to our levels – some being very sensitive, critical and confidential – if not State Secrets themselves.

Make your own right decisions and follow your conscience. Most importantly do not harm others – or cause yourself to be in harm’s way. Or destroy others’ properties – because you would not want others to do the same towards you. A Muslim brother is one who wants others to have the same best things he wants for himself.

I know these things I came to know the hard way when I came to know later why some things took longer to implement – and it is not my intention to bore you with details – or to brag or and blow my own trumpet.

If you remember what both Gandhi and Nelson Mandela have said – when they wanted changes in a peaceful way they got all they wanted. India became Independent – despite years of fighting. So were the unexpected results of end of Apartheid in South Africa – the point is success came more faster and more rapid after doing it all more peacefully – whilst failed miserably when force was used before!

Let us go back to our Omani ways and to our Religion – and our Islamic ways of doing things and in solving our issues and the difficulties and complexities between us – Amin.

May Allah Protect and Preserve our beloved Nation of Oman – Amin. And our His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said – May Allah Give him long life and health – Amin

Let us hope and pray for wisdom, pragmatism, tact and diplomacy – Amin

 Take Care!

 By Majid Al Suleimany

 February 28, 2011

Tags: An Open Letter To The Omani Youth.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 8:36 am and is filed under Good ArticleMy OpinionOman Observer Article. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

 

The Marriage Proposal! Reply

 

Proposal B

For Wednesday September 18th 2013

 Between Us Only!

The Marriage Proposal!

Or From The Pampers To The Wedding Dress!

If friendship is your weakest point then you are the strongest person in the world – Abraham Lincoln

There is something quite definite about our (late) parents that though they are not that highly educated – but they are more smart, intelligent and wiser than what we are – and ever hope to be in life! As time goes by – the graph will only take a more dip downwards than the status quo!

Long time ago – when I was showing the plot and drawings of my villa in Qorum Heights – the small villa but with the big heart – my late father was lamenting that he does not see a spare bedroom in the sketch! So I asked him – what for dad? You mean for the guests? No – he sadly lamented – just in case for one of your daughters – if she decides to return home!

Marriage Prop AProposal C

Images – The Wedding Propsal  – For Demonstration Purposes Only!

Though they are not really for us – to be with us forever – still the daughters are our responsibilities – even after long they have got married – and have children too! Then I recalled the incidents when my late sister used to come back home – and nobody had asked her anything – until she was cooler and calmer – and now was ready and wanted to talk! A few days she herself would return to her husband – on her own too!

One of my friends and peer at work at one time had invited me to the coming wedding of his son. As we sat talking – he was lamenting to me that if you do not learn from others experiences – then God will teach you instead! So I could see the man was highly stringed and troubled – and wanted to talk! So I prompted and encouraged him to go on and to do so!

So the poor man broke down – and he narrated to me that his son was going to get married to an offspring that came out of two groupings of people that – putting it rather mildly – he was ‘not too keen with’!  That is God’s mysterious ways of giving you Life’s Teachings! The man used to boast to me how in his job pursuits he used to make ‘special attention’ to these two groups – and where it would go on okay with anyone else – but with the exception of them!

Proposal D

Images – The Wedding Propsal  – For Demonstration Purposes Only!

A great sign of great leadership is seeing something with your own eyes – and you acting upon it immediately afterwards. It is said that the Great Prophet PBUH was passing one day – and he heard a woman singing sadly  to herself that she was ‘missing her husband’ – who had gone off to the wars then!  So a rotation system was introduced instead – to bring some of the men back home!

This happened to me too this week! I was outside the housemaid room – and I thought I heard crying! So next morning – as diplomatically and tactfully that I could muster – I asked her – what gives! Bear with me for awhile – but it will be clear at the end of this article – as to why the poor lady was crying too!

Anyway – this week I had received a ‘high powered’ delegation coming to ask for ‘the hand of my last daughter! Like any other father – I was torn between seeing her go away from the home – and seeing that my daughter was moving on with her life – and after starting work on completion of her Engineering Degree in the UK! For a girl to take such a field – and to be able to work in the desert locations – is in itself a great example and demonstration how far ahead and developed Oman has become now!

With people reporting to her – who were all ‘born and bred’ males – but modernity had caught up with us! As a person in HR – I recall many incidents of the so-called ‘stout and strong minded real men’ – who had refused to formally report to the fairer sex – until and unless the ‘books were thrown’ at them! Those were our old ways – we now have even their Excellencies the Ministers too!

They say the world is a small place – because you never know whom you will meet later in life – or need from that someone! Even if you think that you are rich and powerful – and ‘nothing can ever touch you’ – as in the last week’s article – The Sealed Fates in Life! You may think someone is insignificant and unimportant – and then you are forced to eat your own words – whether by mitigating circumstances and or by nature itself! Whether you like it or not – because events and fate have caught up with you now – and you are just helpless and impotent!

So I had a long chat with the Filipino housemaid. Then she told me – Oh Pappa – I came to Oman when MM was only one year old – today she has blossomed to be a fully fledged woman (girl) – and getting married too! From changing her pampers – to now assist her in wearing a bridal dress! How time flies – she sadly lamented! You know Pappa? Your above article last week made me think a lot – like many of your articles do!

My late father used to watch his grandchildren – and great grandchildren play! He used to ask us – Do you think they will remember and know each other (in the future)? So I used to tease back – Of course they will! You must be joking – my father sarcastically hit back – if even their parents ‘do not know each other now’ – how do you expect their children – and grandchildren – to remember! My later father never minced his words – calling ‘a spade a spade’!

I wished the old man was around – because he would see his granddaughter getting married now – and I will be keeping the room for her – just as he had advised! Though I am trying hard to resist in the temptation to convert it into an office – because I now use the dining room as also an office – books take a lot of the space – and the ‘friction cause and strife’ with Great Madam Wife – GMW – especially when guests are invited! Just gathering storm clouds – and for more storms coming ahead – unless I can get some money quickly now – for a much needed break! I have never been on a holiday break for the last 5 years!

My granddaughter was then saying to us – so Aunty MM is getting married now? Soon she will have babies – and what will they call me? We just look at her in ‘shock and awe’ – especially seeing she is just 5! Who is teaching them these things? Where do they learn such things? The mind just boggles….!

Gets scarier and scarier – by the day!

Take Care!

By: Majid Al-Suleimany

Scary! It Is The Younger Ones That Are Going Fast Now! 2

Between Us Only!

 This Is Scary!

 It Is The Younger Ones That Are Going Fast Now!

Before I start on today’s topic, I just want to reiterate the point that I am fully in support and fully agree with what the Young Omani Lady Writer – Window – Miss Khadija Al ShuhiyaThe tale of the job grade. All my books and articles have carried the same theme and focus – www.majidbooks.com 

It is great to see such a young Omani Lady Columnist writing on the same emanating from her and her peers personal experiences. I wrote almost the same with my article – The Chicken and Egg Story – in March 2003 – 8 years ago!

See her article here – http://main.omanobserver.om/node/74922 – Image Below.

Above Image – The Young Omani Lady Writer – Window – Miss Khadija Al Shuhiya.

***

 Anyway, I was talking with my good friend BA on how many people that had even gone on Early Retirement after us have now gone – younger by age in comparisons! I have read somewhere that says that something like 33% of people who opt for retirement die in their first 10 years or so! It does not provide any statistical evidence or backup on the assertion – but it does make a lot of sense and realism to me!

When my elder brother and my elder sister died (both born in Oman and taken to East Africa at ages of 12 and 10 respectively with my lad dad and elder mother – my elder mother was lamenting why God Did not take her instead of her children – and can be best classified as a Mother’s anguish than anything else untoward in losing faith etc! I tried my level best to counsel and offer her my sympathy, support and condolences!

 This bit is very scary! I have been noticing that nowadays so many young people are going – not by accidents as we may think and imagine – but more due to diseases and natural deaths – though the word in itself of natural is a misnomer – because we can ask ourselves well what is normal – and what is not! What is black and white – and what is grey – and scary!

 Young people going by heart attacks, strokes, diabetics etc! Even high fevers, colds and flu even! Can you imagine? It seems the body resistances are too low – or it is we all agree it is God’s will – because Death does not distinguish between young and old, rich or poor, or by nationality, religion, race or creed! We have all to go one day – some sooner than later!

 What is left in the world is just your legacy and what you have left behind – nothing less or more. If you are a bad and evil person the best that you will get is stoic silence – and that is from good decent people only. The rest will accuse and curse – as even as you are being buried. I have written so many times on this particular topic – as in my articles and books – www.majidbooks.com

 The point I want to make is this. I have noticed that many people have changed for the worse now! The situation has gone even worse than before! It has gone ……. Even bad! People still think that death is far away – and it will not catch them one day!

There is too much meanness, viciousness, vindictiveness, divisions, bad hearts, polarisations, bad intentions and wills – and some think they are more important than others – and have more rights too! Despite all things we see in real life happening in front of our eyes – and not far from us either!

Frankly, I am not a vengeful and vindictive person – I think I am confident and convinced in saying this! I aim only to speak the truth always – with sincerity and being genuine and sincere always!

Personally in my life I try always to my best efforts to respect and esteem everyone – whatever religion, race or creed – and I expect the same from everyone in turn. Bottom line I know I try best to be kind, nice and helpful – because I am afraid of My God – the Punishment of The Grave – and Eternal Hell Fire as a Believer! Even that ant you trample on viciously will have you punished in your grave and Day of Judgment – let alone doing it to a fellow human being – believer or not.

What are all these things for? Why are we doing all these bad and mean things to each other now? As Alexander The Great had said – I came to this world empty handed – and I leave to my grave empty handed!

Allah God Protect and Preserve us all from His Anger and Fury – Amin

This article is dedicated to my nephew – my late brother’s son Hashil Suleiman Said Al Suleimany who died of illness at an early age of 42 on December 9th – 2011 – and May Allah Rest his soul in eternal peace – in this world and the next – Amin – he and his fellow all youngsters taken so early in life – Amin! Amen!

 By:

 Majid Al Suleimany