Night of Remembrance

"Salam selamat pagi. Syukur pada Allah dengan izinNya kita mampu untuk membuka mata serta bangun pagi ini. Allah masih memberikan rezekiNya pada kita untuk terus beribadah kepadaNya sehingga sekian waktu. Mari kita beristighfar memohon keampunan atas dosa-dosa yang lepas. Hari ini merupakan hari terakhi kempen palestin. Doakan ia mampu memberi kesedaran yang mengetarkan jiwa untuk kita berjuang membebaskan palestin daripada cengkaman Yahudi. Doakan program pada hari ini berjalan lancar. InsyaAllah... let's do our best for today. Mohon izin daripada Allah atas kejayaan program ini."

This was the message I received from Salman (director of the Palestine Awareness campaign) on the morning of the final day of the Palestine Awareness Campaign (PAC). We were to have the Night of Remembrance (NOR) that night; an evening dedicated to performances and talks to remind us of how much more we need to do for palestine. The finale to our month-long campaign.

Preparations for the Palestine Awareness Campaign. Setting up the flag (in the process).

That message greatly moved me when I read it. I recalled that we had all types of obstacles and challenges throughout the month and even before that. A lot of it to do with our lack of management and planning skills- so we got in "trouble" with admin, lecturers, student affairs etc. In fact, due to our oversight and shortcomings, it created a lot of stress and complications. Even the week before, even though we were having our assessment on friday, we were still running around CUCMS on thursday til the evening settling the issues.

Our events included the Opening Ceremony (worrying over even the smallest things like "If dato' pulls down the officiating banner, what if the whole thing falls down?"), the Forum about "Does Israel deserve its right to have a country?" by Dr Hafidzi and Pn Juana Jaafar, and the Night of Remembrance + Closing Ceremony. Of course we also had other things such as Information board, booth, sales, quiz...

Panelists : (middle two) Juana Jaafar (Activist from Global Perdana Peace Foundation) and Dr Hafidzi (Director of Palestine Centre of Excellence). Picture courtesy of Amal Sharifiza.

The Night of Remembrance was also mind-boggling. We had a lot of performances and on the last minute, 3 performances pulled out including our highlight which was the performers from Palestine. Salman was in charge of ANOTHER ongoing event that evening; there was extremely heavy rain which flooded the dinner place that was set up outside; and it seemed like our NOR could not be started on time.

I was extremely worried because we did not fully prepare for the night. Amazingly, alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly and the performances were BEYOND expectations. The performance from the 2nd years, from my batch, from our dean, from Viva Palestina (sister noorazian) truly mesmerized me- from beginning to end. People after the NOR were very happy and when I met Prof Hatta (dean), he also expressed his delight:)

I have to thank my batch, seniors & juniors for being supportive and attending the night, all the committee members for putting in your effort to make this a success, Nab and Harith for guiding us throughout, Prof Latif for advising us and suggesting the NOR in the first place. Endless thank you's to the countless people who helped:)

Part of the Committee: Alia Nadhirah (Asst. Director), Siti Hazwani (Secretary), Mohd Salman (Director)

When I think it over, for me, it was all really worth it- despite the stressing situations. All my effort, all my time. I think sometimes when I do something, I forget to stand back and look at the big picture. All the issues on protocol, procedures were quite frustrating but they were still important. However, as long as I have contributed and done my best to create an impact, that should be the main concern.

In terms of the awareness raised; I wonder, was it all worth it? I self-reflected and asked myself if this campaign has really reached its objectives or created any impact at all for the CUCMS community. Because if it hasn't, as harsh as this may sound, all of it was for nothing... Has it changed the heart of anyone? Has it increased their knowledge of the current issue? Has it reminded us that there is still so much more to do? Has it sparked an ounce of interest or caused anyone to take action?

InsyaAllah, I really hope it has. Even if it is just in ONE person. Because one person is enough to make all the difference in the world.

I've learnt so so much from organizing and handling this project. Invaluable lessons from painful mistakes, insight and new information, meeting amazing people...

Palestine Awareness Campaign; truly a memorable month:)

my child

if i had my child to raise over again:

i'd build self esteem first and the house later,

i'd finger paint more, and point finger less,

i would do less correcting and more connecting,

i'd take my eyes off my watch and watch with my eyes,

i would care to know less and know to care more,

i'd take more hikes and play more kites,

i'd stop playing serious and seriously play,

i would run through more fields and gaze at more stars

(adapted from Chicken soup for the soul, by Diane Lemons)

Rejuvenated:)

I've done a lot of thinking, resting, contemplating and now I am rejuvenated:) Sometimes, it really does take a failure to get you standing and bouncing even higher:)

Updates from the past week:

27th April: Palestine Awareness Campaign Opening Ceremony

Alhamdulillah, we managed to get the information board up in time. It's not actually on a board but really on the wall. This is only a quarter of the whole thing because we go according to weeks. One theme per week. Our first theme is about The Conflict. (2nd week The Israeli, 3rd Week The Palestinians, 4th Week The Solution).

The Opening Ceremony went well too:) There were a lot of adrenaline-pumping moments and heart-jolting seconds. But really, Alhamdulillah and thanks to the team for making it run smoothly. Thank you to my batch for being so cooperative and making the opening ceremony a success- we honestly couldn't have done it without all of you. When I requested that everyone attend, I was so happy and touched to see everyone there and waiting patiently.

2 more weeks insyaAllah.

Our Opening Ceremony Banner- hand painted by the team:)

Artwork inspired by Muhammad Ali www.aerosolarabic.com

1st-2nd May: Mercy to the Worlds Seminar by Sheikh Tariq Appleby organized by Al-Kauthar institute

This has got to be the most interesting and engaging seminar I've ever attended- since Teacher Rasyidah's Islamic Studies classes. Mercy to the Worlds is about Rasulullah's life through the Makkan Period. What I love most about it is that (firstly, it is in English!) Sheikh Tariq is very interactive in his class. The seminar not only reminded us about the seerah but really, how it can be applied to our life now- which greatly makes it relevant for us to learn. Sheikh answers all the "why why why" questions - which he sometimes makes US answer them- but when those "why" questions are answered, everything makes it all the more clearer and I love it when I ponder and go, "Ah... that makes sense now."

I especially loved it when I found out that Kausar was there:) Really felt like old times- in Teacher Rasyidah's class:P I've missed that a lot. Upcoming Seminar by Al-Kauthar insitute will be Coolness of the Eyes by Sheikh Tawfique Chowdury. I would greatly recommend these seminars because indeed, I guarantee they are very structured and of unquestionably high quality. www.alkauthar.org

8th May: Iman's:) I had Mandarin Oral exam that morning and Alhamdulillah, our lao shi is extremely understanding:D After that, my parents picked me up and we headed over to Iman's. Due to her extremely tight schedule of meeting everyone else and also heading back to Canada in just a couple of week (and as she proclaimed, "Als' busy schedule"), this was the only date we could meet up- plus she booked me a month earlier so Iman, just so you know I said no to everything just for you. Another 3 more years til we meet again:(

9th May: The Chicken-Saving Episode

Ahmad found one of the chicks half-drowning in this bucket of water in their pen at Janda Baik. It must have fallen off the ledge and into the water. He only noticed it when he decided to play with the lil chickens and then he saw this chick half drowned and all wet:( We think it had been there for an hour because it was hardly breathing and looked lifeless. He quickly wrapped it in towel while it shivered to its bones. It was extremely weak and only managed to open its eyelids a few times. I thought, "Please don't die lil one:("

It was still shaking really badly and so Ahmad decided to speed up the drying up process- by heating it in the frying pan. It got really nice and toasty:)

A funny image. We placed the towel- but forgot to turn it around occasionally so it turned... brown. But the chick's fur dried up much faster and from its closed eyes, it was able to flap its wings and walk around again in its pen:)

Next week we'll be starting Cardiovascular system- just one more block til the end of my 1st year. It's been really so fast!

Homerun:)