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I have no idea. Leaders are not born. They are made.
Everyone has the ability to be outstanding in their own right - if they want to.
Pathfinders, life-experiences and accidents lead to the discovery and practice of certain values. There is no fail-safe plan; only good guides of conduct. Here are 25.

Death

- The only sure thing in life is death - have no regrets before you die.

Law, Society and the Bar

- Understand law as a business of ideas - a contestation of powerful principles.
- Use law as an instrument of justice and change - an imperfect, fallible but necessary tool.
- Lawyers have diverse roles - policymaker, academician, activist, researcher, revolutionist - what’s yours?
- Persevere and never give up - a perpetual optimist.
- Be constructive.
- Live in the present but think about the future of society.
- Promote peace, dialogue and rule of rights.
- Be genuine and sincere.

Work

- Be passionate, take initiatives and be diligent.
- Trust yourself - believe in your own capabilities.
- Be prepared to admit mistakes and criticisms.
- Continually improve yourself - read widely - think globally.
- Be rationally radical - think out of the box even if it means being laughed at.
- Reduce hostility.
- Don’t be intimidated - live your own life - don’t allow others to dictate.
- Effectively time-manage - “no time” excuse only means you don’t care enough for that matter.
- Work will never end and money will never be enough.
- Stop complaining, and do something about it.
- Never even think of compromising ethics; before you know it, you may have crossed the line.

Life

- Discover your own meaning of life - you may find that the meaning of life is in the search.
- Be open to new experiments of living - never shut yourself away from novel modes.
- Live for, seek and cherish challenges - you will grow because of them.
- Laugh.
- Believe in your mantra - seek your own history and “Personal Legend”¹ - everyone has one.

Remember the song² :

“I ain’t gonna be just a face in the crowd
You’re gonna hear my voice
When I shout it out loud"

This is for the ones who stood their ground
Tomorrow’s getting harder make no mistake
Luck ain’t even lucky
Got to make your own breaks

Better stand tall when they’re calling you out
Don’t bend, don’t break, baby, don’t back down

It’s my life
And it’s now or never
"Cause I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way”
 

*Text of dinner talk organized by the Malacca State Bar Young Lawyers’ Committee delivered at Sampan Bistro, Malacca on 2 September 2006.

*See “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.

*“It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi.