Time To Let GO

At our Wednesday weekly breakfast gathering (no particular significance on the choice of day) held in the lower lobby of our local mosque, friends and neighbours spend about an hour and a half to share thoughts, information and opinions on current issues openly and without any fixed agenda. Provision of breakfast food is arranged by the operator of the sundry shop-cum-canteen of the mosque and sponsored by either the operator or individuals voluntarily. These meetings of minds of men and women, who are almost all retired professional individuals from both the private and public sectors, have been going on for over a year.

For years, ever since I moved into this community about thirty years ago, several groups of individuals have been going out, and on almost daily basis soon after the pre-dawn prayers, for breakfast at any one of the many eating shops and stalls in town. Of course over this period in time many have gone (May they rest in peace) and new ones have joined in, but the tradition continued. However the current batch of retirees, amongst the congregation, felt that better utilization of the time spent can be achieved if this gathering can somehow be structured (albeit loosely) and then see to what level the group can move on to. Indeed, the group has recently put up a letter of protest and suggestion to the local authorities over an issue affecting the community, after having discussed the issue at the gathering. So, the group can move on to be a pressure group, a think tank, an advisory group or anything for, the benefit of and be useful to, the community.

At the last breakfast gathering, and since this is the New Year in the Muslim calendar, attendees were asked if any would share their resolution(s) or anything similar on this New Year thing (within a ten minutes time limit). I stood up to talk about my decision to ‘let go’. I have, by default, and by being the eldest in the family, chaired my family grouping, the ‘Warisan TCC’ which is an association of family members that was started off by my late father. I recently decided to decline election as Chairman and paved the way for the next generation to take the lead. It is time to ‘let go’ and allow the young to take over the helm. I briefly explained to the breakfast group how Warisan TCC was formed and what the benefits gained by the members were and this generated a lot of interest amongst the listeners. What was to be a ten minute talk turned out to be a half-an-hour discussion and that span of time was certainly not enough to cover everything about what Warisan TCC was about. It may well be a study of ‘how to’ later on.

The above is an example of how the breakfast group make useful of the time available and what else can happen if the group decides to see things through to an upper level. May the Almighty be pleased with our efforts………

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya