From the Land of Mata Ayer

 Kali terakhir saya menukilkan ruangan ini adalah pada Jun tahun lepas, pada PKP 1.0 dan kadar jangkitan COVID-19 di Malaysia kian menurun. Rata-rata masyarakat pada ketika itu masih mempunyai harapan bahawa pandemik ini boleh diharungi bersama-sama. PKP yang pertama itu menyakitkan, tetapi masih ada sinar harapan.  Setahun kemudian, sinar itu semakin malap apabila kita sepertinya tersangkut dalam lingkaran PKP yang tidak habis-habis. Zass..setahun habis macam tu ja. Dalam satu perbualan dengan Prof F yang saya kasihi, beliau menyebut tentang perpecahan halatuju unit-unit masyarakat semasa pandemik. Meskipun kebanyakan ahli masyarakat sedaya-upaya mencuba mematuhi SOP untuk mengawal jangkitan penyakit, masih ada kumpulan-kumpulan tertentu (ahli politik, VIP, selebriti, rakyat biasa yang ingin beraya misalannya) serta industri-industri yang menyebabkan usaha kolektif ini gagal. Kerajaan menuding jadi kepada rakyat, dan rakyat menuding jari kepada kerajaan. Dalam keadaan ini, ki...

I'm pretty amused that this week I have been working and 'nudged' to configure the theory selection for my thesis. I had practically left it at the back of my mind as I thought perhaps a conceptual framework is succinct. However, during the latest meeting with my supervisor, he probed the matter. I understand that choosing a theory is like applying lenses, you change the way you see things/ object/ ideas. What I have yet to understand is the part where we need to shift from macro view, to micro, and so on so forth. Perhaps I've been burrowing in the rabbit hole for some time already. Digging through the materials, reading, annotating, and sometimes questioning myself 'why on earth are you doing this?'..haha. But my supervisor has an important point: I need to be able to view things using helicopter view. Second, this week I attended an online workshop on Atlas ti. The global pandemic had saved me hundreds in terms of transportation costs, may reach thousands eve...

Bismillah, Disclaimer: This is my reflection after being in the program for almost 4 months. Definitely, a long way to wade through and hopefully survive insyaAllah. So what does it feels like? To be frank, it feels like a steel bar is being added onto my shoulder..lol. Just kidding. It does feel like a new responsibility is being handed to me, an ordeal which I sought. Gladly, both my supervisors kind of grilled me during the registration day. The big question of the day is: 'what is my intention in undertaking this PhD?' I see it as a goalpost that I need to reach before getting to other destinations. I see it as a process, a 3-year period in which I will independently design my learning experience. At the end of the period, I hope to acquire skills and add some values to myself and the community I worked with. It is an intermediary, not the end. InsyaAllah, being a student of knowledge is one of the personal jihad which I can work on. So how am I doing now? ...

Bismillah, Today I'm not going to talk about the leap of faith in Assassins Creed, which Cal (Michael Fassbender) attempted to save himself.  Google defines leap of faith as 'an act of believing in or attempting something whose existence or outcome cannot be proved'. In other words, to make a big decision which may have a big impact on one's life, with no guarantee whether it'll end up a success or a failure. It can be choosing between furthering your study and become an academician or enter the industrial world, getting married or changing the stream of your study. Some decisions may have a bigger impact in our lives, compared to the others. This has been one of the longest period which I've stayed at home since the last 5 years. With the flexibility and ample of time in hand, post-graduation has really got me thinking. Somehow the transition between university life to the next phase isn't as fast and smooth-sailing as I've imagin...

Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, I'm back after 6 months!  Completing my final year studies and finishing all the projects on time did really acquire me to make some sacrifices, my blogging time is one of it. Nevertheless, I've successfully graduated from UTP since the last two months and here I am now, back in Perlis. Frankly saying, I think this is the longest period of my stay at home since I started my degree studies 5-years ago. Most of my semester breaks were spent doing SRC works, couple of Minggu Aluan Siswa (MAS) weeks and study related matter. For now, It's kinda payback time. 😂 Alhamdulillah, last weekend I attended Akademi Dakwah Muslimah at Tasoh Lake Resort, organized by Jabatan Mufti Perlis. The 2-day seminar covered 6 topics which I found to be very attentive and practical as a Muslimah. Being a student not from Islamic Studies background did give me the chills at first, however after a couple of hours listening intently to the speakers, I've gott...

Bismillah, Antara perkara yang dipelajari semasa berpraktikal hampir 6 bulan di Kerteh ini adalah untuk belajar hidup bermasyarakat. Melalui program-program Nisa', usrah Ameerah, aktiviti BAKIP dan juga interaksi dengan staf-staf Carigali sendiri, menjadi pelajar engineering tidak bermakna dengan penggunaan jargon-jargon teknikal dan laras bahasa berkadar tinggi.  Segala ilmu yang aku pelajari hanya akan jadi bernilai apabila aku benar-benar faham, lalu dituturkan dengan bahasa yang lebih mudah agar bermanfaat kepada pendengar. Supaya mereka faham dan maklum akan hal yang sebenar, tanpa mengira latar belakang. Ada Apa Dengan Menjadi Orang Masyarakat?  HAMKA menyebut akan erti orang bermasyarakat dalam tulisannya Pribadi Hebat yang bunyinya begini : " Dia suka bergaul, suka menolong, tidak menyisih dari masyarakat,  tidak memikirkan kepentingan diri sendiri atau keluarganya sahaja, tidak gila pangkat, mengerti kedudukan orang lain dan merasa dirinya ikut dal...

Pembuka kata dari HAMKA dalam tulisannya Pribadi Hebat Membaca buku HAMKA, dan beberapa tokoh lain misalannya, sangat menyentuh tentang pentingnya menggunakan masa muda sebaiknya. Seperti Sultan Mehmet Al-Fatih yang berjaya membuka Constantinople pada usia 21 tahun, pada usia 22 tahun kota apa yang bakal aku buka? Itu satu soalan yang selalu terbit dan terngiang-ngiang dalam minda.  Hero dari Zaman Silam Rasulullah s.a.w pada masa mudanya sudah merantau ke ceruk negara, ketika usia Baginda 25 tahun sudah 18 kali menjejak negara luar sehingga ke Yaman, Syria, Basrah dan Bahrain. Kisah Ashabul Kahfi dan Ashabul Ukhdud (rujuk Surah Al-Buruj ayat 4-8) , juga berkisar tentang pemuda-pemuda yang cuba mempertahankan keimanan mereka, lalu diuji dengan cubaan yang berbagai-bagai. Mereka dari zaman masing-masing, kita pula bagaimana? Dalam suasana yang rencam, ditekan dengan cabaran ekonomi, sosial dan akhlak yang membingungkan, siapakah pemuda yang bakal bangun untuk memp...

Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, last week I had a chance to attend 'Seminar Akhlak' organized by Gabungan Belia Institut Ibnu Al-Qayyim in UIA. I can say that the 6-hour trip from Dungun to KL was worth it as the content of the program were superb!  As their first time organizing this inaugural seminar, the programme secretariat did a great job.  Really wish that I could do the same in UTP, hopefully Biiznillah :) Well, moving on to the content of the seminar, we were intrigued to listen to the 5 speakers, each of them specialized in their own field.  I have my own stand in seeking for 'ilm, that knowledge is knowledge, haq is haq, bathil is bathil.  We need to appreciate more in order to learn.  I'm not saying that our system of tarbiyah/education is inadequate,  it lined up everything that is essential.  Yet, as a Muslim progressing towards betterment,  we should put effort in closing the gaps, as the boundaries of knowledge reaches no ho...

Assalamualaikum :) This has been my 6th month residing in Kerteh, finishing my internship journey.  Time really flies without mercy here, it's all up to us to decide on what to fill it in. Khalas Today I was given an opportunity to visit a reed bed site in a nearby plant.  Well, as an intern, a number of questions spontaneously popped up in my mind.   What is reed bed? The answer of this question, given by Mr. Wikipedia is r eed beds  are aquatic plant based systems which allow bacteria, fungi and algae to digest the sewage and clean the water.  It actually looks almost like our own Malaysian-grown 'lalang' or paddy. This is how it looks like.  (Pics from Google, most probably not in Malaysia) Our expectation of seeing a typically complicated industrial effluent treatment site left us in awe as actually, reed bed looks just like 'sawah padi'.  Apparently, there are certain species of reed equipped with abilities to filter spe...