Sunday, December 29, 2013

Green Living

My husband and I are tree hugging enthusiasts. For our first home, we wanted to contribute actively in preserving and conserving the environment by utilizing energy efficiently and by supporting environmentally-friendly products.

Refrigerator:
We researched on the internet on the models that are available in the market. Since a refrigerator would be on for 24 hours, we needed something that did not emit CFC and was energy efficient. We were almost sold on Panasonic Econavi for its inverter model, but the energy rating was only 3 stars. In the end we got the Sharp Plasma Cluster model with non-CFC and 5 star energy rating.

Washing machine:
We did background research on several models,  between a top-loader and a front-loader. Once we decided, we turned our attention to how the machine uses energy. We were sold on the Samsung Eco-Bubble model. This machine creates bubbles to wash the clothes faster and using less water. For a better illustration, have a look at this video:

Air-conditioning:
Initially, I was against air-conditioning as most models use CFC gases. However, with new technology, eco-friendly ACs are currently run on non-CFC gases just like the refrigerator. I was intrigued with the Panasonic Econavi model because not only does it not use CFC gases, but it acts as an air filter and purifier to filter the dust in the air. This comes in handy when your areas are affected by national crises like haze, or say your neighbor is doing renovations. In addition, it has an inverter which can detect the number of individuals and activities in the room. If there are many people, the AC will decrease the temperature. Similarly if the activity increases the temperature in the room, the AC will decrease the AC temperature to cool the room. I found that quite fascinating. The model is also energy efficient.

I have not bought an AC yet. I am planning to make room for it- if I do it will be for my bedroom only.

Mattress:
We wanted to get a mattress that would support our back and sleeping patterns, and at the same time made in an eco-friendly way. We managed to get just that:

Energy saving bulbs:
Our house is stocked with energy saving light bulbs. 

Fans:
Every room in our house has fans. I just love the feeling of wind blowing in my face!

Windows:
Our house has so many windows! The upside to this is we get a lot of natural light and reduces our dependence on artificial lighting.

Electric sockets:
We make sure we switch off our electrical switches, plugs and chords when not in use.

Water:
We try to conserve water for active washing and not let the tap run unnecessarily.

Water Heater:
We were planning on installing a water heater, but realized like most machines, it will expire in 10 years. Furthermore, Malaysia only has summer all year-long, so we really don't need a water heater to bathe unlike in countries that have fall, winter and spring. 

Bath Tub:
We decided against the bath tub and opted for the shower as we don't accumulate unnecessary water for bathing.

Car-pooling and public transportation:
We currently carpool together to work. If I work late, I take the train and he picks me up at the nearest station. We try. It's not easy in Kuala Lumpur, but we try.

Home-cooked meals:
We've been trying to get home earlier to cook at home instead of buying food. It's definitely a challenge working in the city, but do-able with discipline.

Drinking water:
I've changed my diet for the last 5 years to drink water for meals and to rejuvenate. I only drink flavored or juices during special occasions. Husband is starting to as well.

Clothes:
To wear existing clothes instead of buying brand new clothes.

Planting our own vegetable garden:
Once we move in, my dream is to start planting vegetables, onions, chillies and spices in my backyard.

Chickens:
My husband has yet to know this but I was also thinking of raring chicken! 


Will update you on how the last two goes! Hahahaha


Sunday, November 17, 2013

The First Woman in Asia to Lead a Central Bank: Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz



Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

She is indeed an inspiration for me.

She is brilliant, humble, and does her work quietly and ultimately makes decision for the betterment of a nation and her people.

She is a role model for the younger generation to aspire to be the best at what you do be it being a baker, a designer, a writer, a waiter, an engineer, a doctor, etc.

Be useful to your family and society.

Have integrity.

May we have many more like Dr Zeti.


"She had accomplished so much by the time Wharton Magazine published its 125 Influential People and Ideas issue in 2006. Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, G’74, GRW’78, had steered the Malaysian economy through the Asian financial crisis in 1998 soon after becoming interim governor of Malaysia’s central bank. Her steady leadership earned her the full-time governorship of Bank Negara Malaysia in 2000—making her the first female in all of Asia to become head of a central bank. Dr. Zeti then set her nation’s economy on a sustainable, more inclusive course and in the process became an economic leader across Asia and the Islamic world. Since, she has earned accolades as a top bank governor—if not the top one—and continued to be a pioneer. Malaysia weathered the global financial crisis of 2009 with minimal damage, for instance, and when Dr. Zeti raised interest rates in 2010, India and China followed. - See more at: http://whartonmagazine.com/issues/fall-2013/dr-zeti-akhtar-aziz/#sthash.UUyj8w8u.dpuf"

http://whartonmagazine.com/issues/fall-2013/dr-zeti-akhtar-aziz/

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Green Wedding: An Unaisah Azlan and Corinna Chai Inspired Event

So most of you already know that I got hitched this year. It was something very unexpected for me, but what I consider as Allah's Will.

The solemnization and reception was very simple and laid back.

Our theme was Green Wedding; where we wanted to minimize wastage and using the outdoor garden concept. My bridesmaids and family members were asked to wear blue attire but only something that they own or borrowed. We didn't want them to make a dress just for my wedding.

For those of you who are interested in the people I hired to assist me in looking like a bride, here are some details:

Make-up for solemnization and reception: https://www.facebook.com/blushingbrides.corinna

Solemnization dress: Own materials

Reception dress from designer Unaisah Azlan from www.studiotwentysix.blogspot.com

Photography by: Es Studio http://es-studio.blogspot.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/esstudioKL

Personalized shoes by: Cipela Couture at https://www.facebook.com/cipelacouture.













Monday, November 11, 2013

Pyramids in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Did you know that there are pyramids in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Neither did I until the van I was in drove passed it.

There are 3 pyramids that are larger in size comparatively to the Egyptian and Mexican pyramids.

It was just discovered in 2005. How amazing!

See it for yourself!



Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Traveler's Paradise

My family made a collective trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina to spend our Eid'ul Adha with my brother in-law's family.

Although this is our second trip back as a family, it was especially meaningful as we brought back 3 new family members: my husband Syafiq, my brother in-law Shahir as well as my 8 month old niece Sumayyah.

Bosnia has so many attractions to offer:
  • 3 pyramids newly discovered in 2005
  • Scenic rivers and mountainside
  • Historical Ottoman cities
  • War memorials and destruction
  • Halal food
  • Affordable shopping even for Asians and Third World nations such as carpets, pottery, embroidery, genuine 100% leather shoes, jackets, handbags, etc.

The 4 Pyramids in Bosnia

Here is a video travelogue of our trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQuA1HibGhQ

Enjoy!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Of shortcuts and Happiness

I learned that there are no shortcuts to Happiness. Every event has its purpose. The challenges and pain are worth it because...Allah is worth it.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Sometimes

Sometimes when I have happy news to share I find myself staring at your phone number. Then I would just look at bottom right corner of my computer screen. For some reason your name is always there. 

My fingers would tap the table. 

I love just being able to call before. 

Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner.

Ice-cream.

Parks.

Hangouts.

Travels.

Then yesterday I had an urge to call. Text. 

I just wanted to tell you about my day

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Malaysian Success Story

"A clam wishes to be, 
like the fishes in the sea, 
swimming freely full of liberty, 
Discontented with themselves, creating calamity. 

It takes an outsider to crack her smile but not herself. 
And it takes an outsider to see the pearl in her...but not herself" 


 http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/02/12/the-malaysian-success-story-of-communal-harmony/ 


The Malaysian Success Story of Communal Harmony

by Abdul Malik Mujahid


I was captivated while praying for the wellbeing of an eight-year-old boy with the rest of Malaysia. William wandered away from his mother in Kuala Lumpur the week I was visiting in January 2013. Police officers, neighbors, politicians, and radio jockeys all searched for him. I, too, kept praying that he would be found alive somehow before I left the country. But alas, the day of my departure, the newspapers carried the story of his body being found.
Only a mother can truly feel what it is like to lose a child.
What touched my heart so much, however, was not just William and his grieving parents, but also the reaction of Malaysians themselves.
Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-faith country. Its culture is defined by their unique successful model of co-existence and respect for each other individually, as well as communally.
Neighbors – Muslims, Christians, Malays, Chinese, and Indians – distributed fliers of the missing child as they searched for him. I noticed the women police officers dressed in Hijab, along with non-Hijabis, looking for William. All newspapers, Malay, Chinese, and English, were busy searching and reporting.
It was, however, not an occasion where an interfaith coalition would deliberately rally in a planned exercise in solidarity, as happens in the United States after each attack on a mosque. Coming together regardless of faith, language, or culture is just business as usual in Malaysia. It is not something Malaysians do deliberately. It is simply part of the national ethos.
And it was William who brought my attention to this aspect of Malaysian society.
William’s parents are Chinese Christians in a predominantly Muslim Malay country which considers Islam its state religion, organizes Hajj and Zakat officially, and engages in Islamic banking at the highest level among all Muslim countries.
Malaysia is a nation of 29 million with Malays making up 60.3%, Chinese 22.9%, and Indians 7.1% of the total population.
Chinese and Indian laborers were mostly brought here by the British when they occupied Malaysia. They were poor workers, struggling at mines and plantations. Today, they are thriving communities. According to Forbes Magazine’s list of the 40 Richest Malaysians, at the top is a Chinese Malaysian, next an Indian Malaysian. The next eight are all Chinese, with only one Malay Muslim making the list. Today, the Chinese account for 70 percent of the country’s market capitalization, according to one report.
There is certainly some resentment about this. However, unlike Indonesia, which has gone through more than one violent campaign against Chinese control of the economy, Malaysia has been able to build socio-economical and political acceptance for this success story by channeling potential Malay resentments through ethnic quotas. Amy Chua actually thinks that this model is worth learning from for other countries where majorities resent minorities’ success.
However, this is not just about ethnic quotas.
The Malaysians’ social contract was born during their freedom struggle against the British, in which the Chinese agreed to special rights for the Malay majority and Malays agreed to grant citizenship to a million-plus Chinese in the 1950s. That communal understanding provided a framework for harmony and growth which has benefited all communities.
Malaysia, as a result, has achieved better minority-majority harmony and peace as compared to neighboring countries, where economically stronger minorities have been persecuted as in Indonesia, suffering several violent attacks or against the poorer ethnic minorities as in Thailand, Myanmar and Philippines.
It was an elderly Chinese cab driver who first alerted me to this historic understanding, saying that it has worked for all communities in Malaysia. However, he warned me that young people sometimes don’t understand the wisdom of this arrangement.
This understanding has translated into Malaysian culture of communal co-existence.
A common street scene in Malaysia is a working woman dressed in Hijab walking side by side on the street, chatting and laughing together, with a less-covered Chinese or Indian woman in a miniskirt. Visible Islam and visible non-Islam exist right next to each other in Malaysia.
It contrasts strongly with the neighboring Chinese-controlled Singapore, where Malay Muslim girls are not allowed to wear a headscarf in school because of a government ban.
During my stay, the newspapers also featured stories about the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday celebrations. The birthday of the Prophet is a big deal in Malaysia. Their king, a constitutionally elected leader, was present at the major mosque of the capital during ceremonies whose theme was “Moderate Islam is the way.”
But it is not just the Muslim holiday which was visible that week. Chinese New Year preparations were reported upon on the daily basis. The lobbies of the Petronas towers, which not long ago displaced Chicago’s Sears Tower as the tallest building in the world, were festooned with red Chinese New Year decorations.
Then there was a whole special section in Malaysian newspapers about a Hindu religious holiday. It was a Southern Indian festival where most of Malaysia’s Tamil Hindus come from.
This accommodation of religious diversity contrasts strongly with India, where newspapers hardly ever mention the Muslim Eid celebration. This is in a country where 150 million Muslims reside.  India political culture suppresses community identity by using the word “communal” as a pejorativeterm.
The Malaysian model of successful pluralism is unique. I don’t know any other place in the world where the government pays for minorities to run their schools in their own languages. Malaysia has government-financed primary schools in Chinese and Tamil (Indian) languages, along with public schools. During my visit, I watched television programs in three languages: Chinese, Tamil, and Malay.
While nation-states around the world were busy over-emphasizing the individualism of citizens and their rights at the expense of allegiance to ethnic identity in the last half century, Malaysia was engaging the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities in its society and politics as a group. This was done far before India and China became synonymous with the term “rising superpower”.
Now that nation-states around the world are weakening, and ethnic demands and solidarities are rising from Kurdistan to Catalonia as Al Gore puts it in his latest book, The Future, it is important for the world to look into Malaysia’s model of ethnic recognition and co-existence instead of investing all resources in a militarized suppression of these demands. In many countries, minorities control the economy, which the majority population resents. And electoral politics is likely to make things difficult for those minorities as a result.
The Malaysian model is not new. For Muslims, it has roots in the Prophet’s Charter of Madinah which recognized pagan and Jewish tribes by name, gave full freedom of religion, life, security, and autonomy in their own laws, all while calling them and the Muslim community together “one Ummah”. This is probably the source of Malaysia’s multi-cultural, multi-ethnic ideology which Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, an eminent Malay professor, has written about.
Malaysia’s model of communal harmony imposes a political structure as well. It has a steady model of racial coalition politics. These coalitions are not born out of any occasional parliamentary political necessity for short-term working relationships. They are a long-term, thoughtful strategy of working together for the mutual interests. The ruling coalition and the opposition coalition are both multi-racial alliances. While the dominant alliance has more ideological harmony and working relationships between the Malay, Chinese, and the Indian parties, the opposition alliance has an interesting mix of an Islamic party demanding Islamic laws, the pro-West liberals, and a Chinese party with historic ties to the ruling party of Singapore. But it is a multi-racial coalition nevertheless. Only in Malaysia could an Islamic party be a part of such an ideologically diverse coalition.
American scholars who have been desperately looking for “moderate Islam” have somehow missed Malaysia. Maybe it is their social science bias that individual rights are everything and communal identities are nothing but trouble, or perhaps a bit of Islamopobia playing a role in neglecting this “Muslim” success story.
There is no human endeavor that can be perfect. And that is true of Malaysia as well, which is the longest lasting parliamentary democracy in the Muslim world. While there, I read about Malay Muslims’ discomfort with a Christian missionary strategy to call Jesus Allah in the Malay language Bible. The Sultan of Selangor declared that Christians cannot do that. The Muslims from the opposition alliance supported the right of Christians to call their Jesus by any name.
The government remained mostly silent to the controversy until someone crossed the invisible Malaysian line of racial and religious respect. When a little pro-government politician threatened to burn the Bible which uses the name Allah for God, the police moved in, registering a case of sedition” against the politician.
Malaysia takes ethnic conflicts very seriously. Since 1969, when Malaysia faced some race riots, any deliberate attempt to hurt a religious or racial group is taken very seriously. Attacks on places of worship do happen, but far less than in the US. Individual freedom to be irresponsible is contained for the sake of communal harmony.
They got peace.
No wonder as many tourists show up in Malaysia every year as there are Malaysians: 28 millions of them last year.
It is a happy country. 58% of Malaysian youth surveyed say Malaysia is moving in the right direction as compared to only 24 percent of the U.S. college students surveyed feel positive about America’s future.
The Malaysian GDP is growing an average of 6.5% for almost 50 years. Not too fast. Not too slow. That is the Malaysian way.
Malaysia will likely continue to grow. It is ranked the 12th most business friendly country in the world; first in terms of ease of getting credit and fourth in protecting investment. It is better than Canada, Japan, France and Israel in terms of business friendliness. It is also the only Muslim country in the top ranking of Doing Business 2013, a World Bank and the International Monitory Fund (IMF) report. Interestingly it is the IMF and the World Bank that Malaysia defied under the leadership of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to protect its national interest during the financial crisis of Southeast Asia in 1997.
I have visited Malaysia every few years since the 1970s. I have always found it moving forward, more developed, ever respectful of the “other”, and dare I say it: very Muslim.
Malaysia must tell its success story to the world. And please don’t mess with success!

Abdul Malik Mujahid is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, served as the Chairman of the Council of the Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), Chairman of Sound Vision being the oldest Islamic multimedia teaching companies in the United States, served as National Coordinator of the Bosnia Task Force, a coalition of American Muslim organizations Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the similar Kosovo Task Force, executive producer of Chicago's RadioIslam.com [5], a daily one hour (6 to 7 PM CST) talk program on WCEV 1450 AM, and has authored one book, "Conversion to Islam: Untouchables Strategy for Protest in India," which won the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award in 1990 from the American Library Association (to name a few of his many accomplishments).

Monday, February 4, 2013

Just Imagine

Imagine if you and your family were staying in your house. 

One day, your neighbors broke into your home and forced you and your family to live in your store room and bathroom. You don't have access to the front or back door where it can lead you to the hospital, groceries, or basic amenities. 

Then your neighbors move in. Not just across the street, but all over the world start moving in and settling in your home. 

Worse, through out the years the bathroom and closet space gets smaller. Your neighbors start guarding your closet and bathroom doors, even patrolling inside to ensure "their" safety. 

 Well, that is what happened to the Palestinians. 

That is their living condition for more than 50 years. 

 How would you cope? What would you do? 

 Those who do not know say it's a Muslim issue. Little do we understand that it is actually a very basic human rights issue. 

 One can argue that the land does not belong to Palestine. If that were the case, neither were America, Australia, and many countries. How is the Palestinian-Israeli issue different than other state conflicts? The people are brutally oppressed. Living in small plots of land having no access to basic amenities. Missiles and gun shots are fired into these plots daily. 

 How would you cope? What would you do? 

 For arguments sake, Palestinians treated the Jewish community with respect before the Zionist movement began taking Palestine to create Israel. Palestinians did not force the Jewish community into plots of land. 

Why can't the same respect be afforded to Palestinians? Why are they (the Zionists) so angry? 

 How would you cope? What would you do?