A DEDICATION

(To my friend, Abdul Shahrin, who led a team of Singaporeans in successfully operating and maintaining the Palm Jumeirah Monorail System in Dubai between 2008 to 2010)

The islands of exquisite grandeur were built, Monuments of multitude shapes and shades raised, The Lines drawn, Technology harnessed To serve men and to move them around Wow, great, one, in his ignorance, may bleat. These are nothing, when life not breathed into them, Meanings not turned into methods, Symbols not deciphered to make sense, And one is not there to lead, to prod and to plead, To give raison d tre and vibrance, To shield and to shed tears, To heal and to help; Sir, youve been there for all of us In times of needs as well as deeds You made us feel proud and tall, Prouder than being a winner in the Olympics! Taller than the cloud-scrapping Burj al Khalifa! Thank you for the life-time opportunity to serve under you. Thank you for your indomitable presence. May God Bless you. By: Sayed Majunoon (12 Feb 2010)

A Slice of Singapore
In the land, far and foreign, Amidst the arid, sandy expanse, As we toiled while pining For the comfort of familial surrounding, You were there to prod and prime us To give sustenance to the idea Of sacrifice, professionalism and camaraderie, To remind us that were not all alone; You gave us reasons to move on, To render more than what we possi ly could; You rought us cheers li!e a deft magician "rawing loaves of read and ottles of !aya# From your travelers ag; You rought us cheers, preciously lugged within your heart And with glint of win! on your eyes Than! you, $ir, for not failing to ring A slice of $ingapore on each visit to "u ai%
&#coconut 'am or read spread ( &$ayed )a'unoon, *+ Fe ruary ,-**(

AN ODE TO FRIENDSHIP
Endless meetings, gatherings, briefings and presentations, Damned statistics, reports, executive summaries, justification papers, Customer satisfactions, Regulatory rendezvous, industrial standards, Stakeholders, matters of staff, inter-departmental pressures, The ways of modern management are wide and varied, Confusion is the order of the day for connectedness; Resource deployment, budgetary allocations and delays, Headways, dwells, loops and layovers Throughputs, mileages, downtime and loading factors; The maze seems thicker and deeper. To the uninitiated, its a sheer mind-boggling mess. But Shahrin, you seems to weave through well. You see a method in all these madness, As if you see an order in its innate chaos. A gentleman and a scholar, Sir, you are, With a heart of steely firmament rooted to the ground While the mind soars over the realm of ideas. Your firmness of actions always complements The fairness of your dealings. How then is it possible to have a heart That is soft, warm and healing?

Perhaps, one has to be hard to be soft Or doggedly persistent to be pliant. If not for Dubai, we wouldnt have known you that close As a caring boss, a trusted friend and a loving family man; But then, how could we possibly not remember The Lifes lessons dispensed as a daily dose? You were calm, collected and clear, even under trying moments; A magician, lightening the burden of Duty With an elegantly disarming sense of humour. This is not a goodbye as you are not leaving us But from the common space which we eke out for living. This is not a farewell as we are connected By a bigger and endearing space of friendship. We pass through this world but once, But how Providential it is that our Lives Converged all this while to bear testimony To the essence of friendship that enriches us. May Allah, The Almighty, Bless you and your family. Thank You Sayed Majunoon 28 September 2012