Articles

Golden Hour: A Dialogue of Light, River and Silence

By Nisar Hussain
Column: Diwan-e-Aam

They say every city has an hour of pure beauty, but Melbourne’s hour of radiance is that fleeting moment the world calls the Golden Hour. It is the time when the descending sun drapes the Yarra River in molten gold, and the towers standing along its edge catch their own reflections, shimmering with a borrowed brilliance.

This sight is not merely something to be observed; it is something to be felt. One senses as though the light itself is leaning in, speaking softly and deliberately.

Step away from the haste of the city, and as dusk settles, the boats gliding silently along the Yarra create the impression that even time has paused to watch.

The lights scattered along the banks, the mirrored silhouettes of buildings, and the delicate blend of pink, orange and gold produce a rare harmony where nature and civilisation seem to embrace. This is the moment that gives Melbourne’s Golden Hour its unmatched splendour.

At the heart of the city, the Yarra flows with a dreamlike quiet as evening spreads across its surface. From aboard dinner cruises like the Spirit of Melbourne or the Golden Hour Cruise, the city appears transformed, reflected, softened and almost mythical. During this slow three-hour journey, stretching from dusk into night, food, music, scenery and silence merge into a seamless, contemplative passage of time.

Sitting at the edge of the boat, when a lone streetlight casts its trembling reflection on the water, the city seems awake yet gentled, as if its pulse has found a steady calm. This hour belongs not only to photographers but to all who seek meaning in the language of light.

The angle of the sun, the orange glimmer rippling across the river, and the flickering lights beneath the bridges all converge to turn an ordinary instant into a framed memory.

A professional camera is not essential; the only real requirement is a heart that knows how to feel light. A wide-angle lens can help weave river and skyline into a single visual poem. Even so, the truth remains that sometimes the most exquisite picture is the one captured only by the eyes, unbound by frames and unpossessed by technology.

As the boat continues forward, both shores bathe in light. Buildings, bridges and their reflections intermingle until the boundary between life and dream begins to blur. It is more than leisure; it is a pause, a quiet conversation with oneself. In those moments, you cease to be a tourist and become an observer. You step out of life’s race and enter a space where earth, sky and heart turn the same shade of gold.

Every Australian city has a distinctive evening charm. The magic of sunset over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the scattered light along the Great Ocean Road, or Brisbane’s gentle twilight on the river all have their own allure. Yet Melbourne stands apart. Here, light walks beside the river, rebounds from glass façades, then dissolves into the air like breath.

Life’s most precious moments are often found not in noise but in silence. Time spent on the Golden Hour Cruise is such a moment, where you, the river, the city and the light breathe in a single rhythm. When the boat returns to the quay and Melbourne’s night lights awaken, you realise you have brought back not just a picture but a feeling. It is grounded, serene and golden.

And this is the moment the city calls you toward. Come not merely as a tourist but as a silent witness to the light that restores Melbourne’s soul each evening. Pause for a while, breathe, and see how, at times, even light carries a quiet voice.

Articles

A Glimpse At Maj. Gen. Irfan Malik’s 02 Year Tenure

Umair Mehboob

“Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time”. Voltaire

Although this quote of the French philosopher Voltaire can aptly be applied and usually does apply to every phenomenon around us, but more so, and that too with a sluggish pace, in the matters of institutional reformation and broadly, statecraft. However, there are some glaring examples of able navigators for whom this aphorism appears to work swiftly. One of them is Maj. Gen. Irfan Ahmed Malik HI (M), who in his two years tenure (since he became the HOD of ML&C Deptt) has done wonders of the sort, which, to a bare reader, would be a fantasy tale. Yet here we are, having witnessed the stupendous transformation of ML&C Deptt from one barely able to keep rolling to the one navigating now the colossal number of affairs to perfection.

When Maj. Gen. Irfan Malik took over the command in Sep, 2023, ML&C ship was already sinking with over 8000 litigations attributing singularly to Uniform Taxation policy and the Cantonment Boards which come under the umbrella of ML&C Deptt were on the verge of bankruptcy due to adverse Court decisions barring the collection of Tax (the main source on the basis of which service delivery is ensured to over 5 (M) residents in 44 Cantonments all over Pakistan). The situation was unpropitious and the morale of officers down. Yet with sheer brilliance and pragmatic approach, Gen. Irfan turned the tides in a span of 08 months. The long overdue Constitutional Amendment was made restoring the ML&C Deptt’s ability to collect tax and ensure stability in services.

Concurrently, Gen Irfan realized that the trust of public can only be restored by transparency (faltering otherwise) and in the 21^st Century, transparency is a function of automation. With this peculiar notion in mind, he proceeded to reduce human interaction to facilitate general public (at the cost of antagonism of many officials whose vested interests were directly hit by this intervention). The ML&C Management Information System (MIS), the first of its kind, was developed and implemented. It led to the integration of all core works of the Deptt. The system streamlined finance (Taxation, Billing, Audit, Procurement), HR (Recruitments, Payroll), Services (Application / Complaints) and legal dimensions. Likewise, ML&C IT Policy, 25 was dished out to protect IT assets and data. He also realized that only a loyal and mentally devoted workforce (a factor of ownership by the leader) can lead to the reformation he had in mind — after all, it is the infantry which will translate any vision (howsoever noble) into reality. The process started and that too on an ultrasonic pace (but without compromising the transparency and due process).

The record of 30000+ employees was digitized. The paperless domain was introduced covering aspects like real time posting / transfers along with mobile notifications. This specific process which otherwise, would have taken ages, took a mere calendar year. The discipline dimension was also not overlooked: with the introduction of AI based attendance app having features of Geo fencing, timestamp and liveliness.

To eliminate the menace of ghost employees, the payroll was linked with attendance. On the pragmatic side, process of HR Rationalization (mammoth in scope but do able in the eyes of Gen. Irfan) was undertaken. A quintessential study was conducted by the brilliant minds of ML&C Deptt to resolve issue of overstaffing, ghost employees and irregular appointments. A novel concept of “Basic Functional Unit” was introduced and new scale registers were formulated accordingly. It led to the identification of around 2500 surplus staff with a financial impact of 1 (B) / per annum.

The list is long: it might seem a eulogy but in fact is a statistical compendium of the things done in Gen. Irfan’s tenure. The Cantonments Servant Regularization Policy was introduced in 2024 (with the noble intention of regularizing those employees who truly deserved regularization and were otherwise serving on contract / adhoc or daily wage basis for years, and in some cases decades). One area that was neglected by successive regimes was promotions, again it might seem exaggeration but pending promotions of 2776 employees (since 2019) were made including time scale and regular ones thus boosting the morale of a huge workforce and restoring their confidence in leadership. The loopholes in erstwhile recruitment and promotion policy were plugged. Gen. Irfan will take personal pains in ensuring that he chaired every interview of direct recruitment with a single notion in mind — meritocracy. Moreover, the welfare of employees, again a pivotal thing in organizational culture and workforce productivity was not downplayed.

Gen. Irfan ensured that long pending cases of pension and commutation were paid, PM’s assistance package was implemented but side by side, accountability was also ensured with over 100 inquiries initiated and miscreants shown the door. The rare combination of overwhelming administration coupled with compassion precipitously resulted in two outcomesperformance and loyalty of workforce (the second thing being Aristotle’s favourite virtue in his Virtue Ethics). Well researched policies were promulgated like CB Polio Eradication Support Policy, ML&C Rent Controller Policy, Code of Conduct for drivers, Health and Education Policy, to name a few.

A nationwide internship programme was launched covering areas like Legal, Health, Engineering & Horticulture.

To sum up, Gen. Irfan single handedly steered ML&C Deptt out of crises. His profound, pragmatic vision he ensured was translated into reality. His interventions would have stupendous repercussions. His legacy will live for times to come.

The writer is a Civil Servant presently serving as CEO Murree Cantonment. He can be approached at engg.umair07@gmail.com