Every person is unique in his or her own way; therefore every person has something that someone else and the society can benefit from.

Regardless of who we are and what background we derive from, all individuals possess value. The values that all individuals in society possess can produce a powerful drive for the benefit of society if collated together and used with the correct strategy for success.

Many times, we do not recognise, let alone use the values within us to the maximum efficiency level; however with those persons who do recognise the values they have within themselves, with the correct environment and support, they generally excel in the fields they desire.

Empowering an individual to maximise full use of his or her values refers firstly to the process of creating the correct environment for the individual to understand him or herself and secondly for this individual to instil within him or herself a vision of what he or she wants to develop to become. Once this is achieved, the supplying of the correct tools for empowering personal development growth can be provided.

The tools can come in a variety of forms including one-to-one advice sessions, group meetings, workshops, multimedia messages, philosophical discussions, book reading, personal experiences, personal mentors and other methods depending on the individual’s personality; the most important factor is that the tools must be compatible with the individual. Furthermore, the lowest common denominator of all options of tools is the ability to develop an individual in becoming capable of independent strategic thinking i.e. independently revising his or her own thoughts constantly from what is less correct to what is more correct; creating a catalyst of personal drive and self development within him or herself.

Once the individual has developed a personality that is considered above the norm of society, the individual will naturally attract attention of those whom he or she interacts with and establishes a more likely position of being able to provide personal development empowerment tools effectively to those who desire to develop their own personalities. Once this individual motivates and supports the development of those wanting to develop themselves, this individual has begun to transform into a sophisticated leader capable of developing other leaders.

Empowering a specific group of people requires specific strategy for that specific stratum of society due to the complexity of mankind, his nature and culture. The strategy to empower any strata of society naturally involves more generalisation than the strategy to empower a particular individual, however, the strategy for the stratum still needs to be specific enough to reflect that stratum’s reality. For this reason of specialisation, MUSST was formed to ensure that the stratum of society referring to ‘Malay students from Malaysia studying in the UK and Ireland’ are catered for to ensure that any form of personal development strategy is developed based upon the norms, cultures and traditions of this stratum.

MUSST recognises that many Malay students develop themselves in a number of ways from different platforms and opportunities whether it be from student societies, student politics, religious activities, social activities, cultural activities, part-time vacancies or any other manner. Each type of platform and opportunity used may develop a certain type of thinking and a certain type of experience which others not involved in that platform can also benefit from. MUSST therefore aims to bring the Malay students who have developed qualities and gained experience from the UK onto the same platform, hence acting as an engine capable of exchanging qualities within itself and dispersing these qualities primarily to the rest of the Malay students in the UK and thereafter to the wider society.

By enhancing the personal quality of Malay students, they will be able to bring added contribution to the development of Malaysia. The MUSST philosophy will naturally transgress to Malaysia upon the students’ return, triggering more engines to drive Malaysian society forward and therefore producing more Malaysian citizens who add value to Malaysia.

In summary, as positive change in thought leads to positive change in action and therefore achieving positive self-development, MUSST is a platform to trigger and develop thought using issues that interest the Malay student community in the UK. If different ideas are presented on a platform of intelligent discussion together with the common culture of open-mindedness and eagerness to learn from each other, personal development of the participants of the platform can be accelerated immensely. The culture of intellectual discourse will produce individuals more likely to develop innovative ideas hence begin their personal transformation into the thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.

Learn, Lavish & Lead
Suhaib Shafii

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