JURNAL 2.

‘Malays giving up too fast’

10 March, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged the Malays to be as competitive in business as they were in politics. The prime minister told the Economic Jihad Congress organised by the Confederation of Malay Economic Associations that the Malays lacked the desire to compete economically among themselves or with others, in contrast to politics, where they could go as far as commit slander.


"I feel ashamed when I hear such talk. I am not belittling my race. But I don’t think this should be the way. They (the businessmen) are giving up without making an effort."


The poor record, however, did not mean the Malays were incapable of prospering in business, as attested by the examples of Malay entrepreneurs succeeding in ventures overseas.


"They not only succeed once but the quality of their work is good enough for them to get new contracts in the host countries.


"Failure is a tragedy with a severe lesson. We should learn from our mistakes and not be discouraged to try again."


The congress aims to revive the spirit of entrepreneurship among the Malays. Abdullah said it was a religious duty for every Muslim to do well in the economy.


Touching on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) buying a majority stake in Rashid Hussain Bhd, the prime minister said the pension fund and its board would not have made the acquisition without thorough consideration.


He said he was confident the EPF would appoint professionals to run the bank.


"I would be surprised if they did not do so. They will definitely get the best professionals to do the job," he said when asked on the wisdom of the takeover as the EPF did not have the expertise to manage a bank.


On Anti-Corruption Agency director-general Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor’s term in office, which is due to end this month, Abdullah said he would make a decision when the time came.

SYNOPSIS

Malays lacked the desire to compete economically among themselves or with others. Not only that, the businessmen are giving up without making an effort. So, we have to realize that "Failure is a tragedy with a severe lesson. We should learn from our mistakes and not be discouraged to try again."

REFLECTION

Malay should stress on their personality and mentality. What I can see that most of the Malays easy to give up especially in business. Personality is the characteristic behavior pattern of an individual. It is influenced by genetic factors along with gender, family, cultural and environmental influences. Thinking, emotions, and behaviors link very closely and each can change the others. Our thoughts are important to us in many ways.
In business, we emphasized certain patterns of thinking in our happiness: acceptance, a focus on good works and virtues, and humor. Our negative and positive thoughts can also cause our expectations to come true, a self-fulfilling prophecy, by affecting how we see things and act. If we always want high profit without gain an effort, we are actually nothing. We probably will not feel like trying very hard and we may interpret our progress as unimpressive. This pessimism may lead our Malay society to give up, perhaps blaming the poor outcome on our lack of ability or other circumstances.
In contrast, if all the Malays have hope and confidently think their efforts will make a difference, they will keep trying for much longer. Positive thoughts such as, “Whatever happens to my business, I won’t put a stop. I will never give up.” These behaviors increase the Malay chances of success especially in entrepreneur. Most of the sentence come from Malay are like this:

Other people seem so much more confident (or successful, popular, etc.) than me.

I don't have any talent.

I have no discipline, no will power.

I am a complete failure.

I am worthless, no good.

I have no patience whatsoever.

I'll never be able to ...

I do not have any brains.

I am a born loser.

I am so weird.

Dwelling on concerns about status.

Dwelling on unattractiveness

Lack of Ability, Mistakes, Failure

I cannot do it. It will be awful.

I'm too nervous. It will never come off right.

See! I will never be any good at this.

I know I will mess it up.

I just know I will make a fool of myself.

I do not want to try. I could never do it.

I am not smart enough. I might as well not try.

That proves I am a total jerk.

What is the use? I give up.

I cannot do anything right.

We as the Malays must recognize that our thoughts greatly influence our emotions and our business problems. Negative thoughts are common in bad moods and depression, and positive thoughts go with feeling good and happy.
Changing habits of negative thinking in business helps a great deal in changing emotions and will help to increase our level in business to compete with others. Negative thinking is counterproductive, self-defeating thinking that makes us feel worse, see things in a worse light, and act in ways that often interfere with goals. The more we think negatively, the worse we feel. Positive thoughts help you feel better, see things in a better light, and act more sensibly and effectively. Optimistic, hopeful after change the Malays mentality, we can improve our chances of success in work and social life.