Showing posts with label Journal Reflection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journal Reflection. Show all posts

Journal Reflection 14:: Nasi Ayam Hainan::

Assalamualaikum. How are you? We hope that all of you are in pink health.

Today, i (Farah) want to share with you about eating Nasi Ayam Hainan. 
This is very interesting because before this I only eat Nasi Ayam Hainan cooked by Malay and serve with Malay ways.
For your information on 30th April i have my lunch with my friends at Ampang. My roommate Sis Safiah introduced me a place that serve Nasi Ayam Hainan originally Chinese recipe. Firstly, i asks her is the shop got its Halal Certificate. She said yes. Alhamdulillah. Besides, the workers are Muslim.

What is Nasi Ayam Hainan look like here?

There are two types of chicken that you can order
1. Steam chicken 
2. Roasted chicken
Therefore, the 4 of us chose Steam chicken. Seriously, it is different that the roasted.
 In addition, the Nasi Ayam Hainan is served with Soup, Cucumber, Bean Sprout, Ginger (blended), Soy Sauce, Chili. See the bean sprout make it different. However, i don't really like bean sprout. Hee. 
Then, i ordered Air tebu Cina (Chinese Sugar Cane) for drink. 
Hmmm....well the drink taste like Air Mata Kucing or Air Kundur. Hehe. 
Maybe it is something that is not really a  Chinese Sugar Cane...may a combination of Air Mata Kucing and Air Kundur perhaps.

Maybe i can search for the recipe and do it myself at home.
So my ladies and he-man friends can try it. 
Hehe
^_^

That's all from me
Adios! 




Taken from Mr Google (not the same with my experience)


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Journal Reflection 13 ::Treasure Hunt::

Today, 6th May 2012 I  went to Bukit Cerakah,Shah Alam. I am the participant of Treasure Hunt.This program was conducted by Personal Growth Group (PGG) which is one of the club under Counseling Services Centre. In this program there are 3 international students which are 2 brothers from Yemen and a Somalian brother.It is very  interesting when dealing with them. From my observation  during the program,I can see that the two  brothers are very cool and energetic.They were very  friendly with Malaysian students and never give up in this programs.

One brother from Yemen called Ayad, like to ask my group members about Malay culture and language.He told  us that he have learned 400 Malay words and sometimes he cannot remembered all the words that he have learned. However, he ask us to correct his spelling when speak Malay.







The other brother named Mansur  also from Yemen and he likes to mix with Malaysian people and learned about our culture. Since he became the member of PGG's club, he took this  opportunity to know Malaysian very well and he also tried to the get as much he can tor build networking with Malaysian students. He also respect Malaysian culture and  he wish to visit our house during Eidul Fitri.

However,I did not have many chance to talk  with Somalian brother because of time consuming. The Somalian brother  looks steady and cool with his group members. He is enjoying today's activity.


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Journal reflection 12 : Nasi Kerabu


On 2nd May, we have get our lunch near Batu Caves.Then,my groupmates suggested to take our lunch at Kedai Nasi Kerabu Nara.'Nasi kerabu' was most the famous food in Kelantan.Suddenly I'm shocked when it have different kind of Nasi Kerabu  which were 'nasi kerabu ayam Nara','nasi kerabu sambal tumis' and nasi kerabu merah'..I'm from Perak and before this,I did not like these 'nasi kerabu'..However,after lunch today I felt these foods was delicious..Malay culture is majority in Malaysia however,it differ in terms of dialect,food traditional,event and so on.

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Journal Reflection 11::Multiculturalism?::

Do you think that Malaysian people are engaged in different festival that are contradicting with their belief and religion?

For example, a Malay people visit Indian family during Deepavali.
Or a Chinese came to Malay family during Hari Raya.
Are this situation common in our society?

Some of us, Malay people for example, when they went to some ceremony that involving different races, they will feel weird and awkward. Why? Because they might think,

'Oh, that food must be cooked by non-muslim. They must put pork at that food'
'I feel awkward with the food that I ate just now. Is it halal or not?'
'Rather than I go to this ceremony, better I stay at home. At least I did not waste my time  at there'
'Oh  my God. What happen? Why they must worship that thing during open house? Annoying!'

Look. Some of us still have our own stigma about this. For us, it is better to befriend with the same race because we share the same value and norms rather than knowing people with different race and religion even though they live beside our house. Don't you think that it is shameful for us as Muslim?

Is there any surah that our God told us not to approach them or befriend with them?

Of course the answer is NO.

If we look at our surrounding outside, open up our mind regarding this, we will realize that actually we are too selfish and not practing 'weness' in our life. Can you imagine that in this world that there is people who will not help one person from his badly injured because of different races? Do you think that it is impossible to happen nowadays?

I can see that currently whenever I go to everywhere; shopping complex, lake or garden, I wills see the same situation; Malay only with Malay, Chinese is only with their Chinese friends, Indians with their friends as well. So, where is the cultural diversity here?

You got the answer. I am sure of that.

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Journal Reflection 10: What is LGBT?::

What  is  LGBT?

Here, we took this definition from  wikipedia.




''LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the community in question felt did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred. The initialism has become mainstream as a self-designation and has been adopted by the majority "sexuality and gender identity-based" community centers and media in the United States and some other English-speaking countries.
The term LGBT is intended to emphasize a diversity of "sexuality and gender identity-based cultures" and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or cisgender instead of exclusively to people who are homosexual, bisexual, or transgender. To recognize this inclusion, a popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer and are questioning their sexual identity as "LGBTQ", recorded since 1996.''





LGBT in the U.K. Military


Homosexuals in the armed forces have had a tough time for centuries, regardless of the country they have pledged to defend, whether it is the United States, China, or somewhere else. The same holds true in the United Kingdom (UK), where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) persons were prohibited from joining or serving in any branch of the armed forces until 2000.   Until that time, the UK policy was pretty direct: Allowing gays in the military would be bad for morale, making them vulnerable to blackmail or subterfuge from foreign intelligence agencies. Thus, they were banned from serving – which ignored one wee fact: that about 70 percent of the public who were polled around that time said a soldier’s sexual orientation was a non-issue. Still, the UK Ministry of Defense enforced the policy with great vigour, sacking about 60 armed services members every year. In UK military circles, transgender equality maintained the same traction it had for generations – little or none at all. But that was about to change.


SOURCES:LGBT UK

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Journal Reflection 9::Malay culture and Bumiputera::

The Malay are Malaysia's largest ethnic group, which is over half the population and the national language. With the oldest indigenous peoples they form a group called bumiputera, which translates as "sons" or "princes of the soil." Almost all Malays are Muslims, and  they practice the  same  values  although  the tradition  and  norms  are  different  due  to  their  family banckground. Traditional Malay culture centers around the kampung, or village, though today one is just as likely to find Malays in the cities.  Apart  from  Malay, we also  has  bumiputera  that we  already mentioned above.       Especially in Sabah and Sarawak,  they have their own native people who live there  long time ago.

 Here we  provide  to  you our  Malaysia  culture  that is very  unique   and  attractive.. Check  this out!







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Journal Reflection 8 ::Culture Shock::

There’s a lot of issues regarding culture..how about culture shock? Is it OK to be discussed here?  =)
Let us look on the definition first..

-CuLtUrE  ShOcK-
Culture shock exactly means the impact you may feel when you enter a culture very different from one to which you are accustomed. OR
The presence of seemingly irrational, inscrutable, offensive, or even hostile aspects of the target culture.

If one has been living in another country for a long time - noted the obvious differences, felt comfortable, then begun to realize there are other more fundamental, but subtle differences - finally they will learn that folks have different ways of solving the same challenges. The problem is then that one may suffer even more severe cultural shock upon returning home. In some places the cars are too large, the people too hurried, and many unusual things perhaps.


Culture shock can be in terms of:
  • Body Language
  • Names Behaviors
  • Law
  • Other



What are the causes that lead a person to face culture shock???
  • It may happen when you take a culture for granted
  •  Can also occur when changing jobs, even if you don't move. That is, corporate-culture shock.
Culture shock can be in terms of:
  • Body Language
  • Names 
  • Behaviors 
  •  Law 
  •  Other





Next......

Symptoms of culture shock are:
  • ·         excessive concern over cleanliness and the feeling that what is new and strange is "dirty." This could be in relation to drinking water, food, dishes, and bedding.
  • ·         fear of physical contact with attendants or servants
  • ·         a feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one's own nationality
  • ·         irritation over delays and other minor frustrations out of proportion to their causes
  • ·         delay and outright refusal to learn the language of the host country
  • ·         excessive fear of being cheated, robbed, or injured; great concern over minor pains and irruptions of the skin
  • ·         terrible longing to be back home, to be in familiar surroundings, to visit one's relatives, and, in general, to talk to people who really "make sense."



To make it in simple way, once we feel like very awkward with the new situation, yes, we may have culture shock..agree or not???


Let me give some examples....
  • ·         A girl who comes from a ‘girl school’ since her primary school up till secondary school for example untill Form 6 and lives with her family and never experience being in a hostel might have cultural shock when she step into university to further her study. Of course, she will meet variety kinds of people out there. Without a proper adjustment, many problems can occur.


Below is another example of culture shock..

Extracted from The Star 

  • ·         In Greece, for example, smiling when you meet someone for the first time appears as a weakness. Many Greeks think that Americans smile too much and therefore are weak, and many Americans think that the Greeks are too stoic!!

So, people....think, think and think...MULTICULTURALLY...   =)





By Noor Fazalina


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Journal Reflection 7:: Cross Cultural - Unity in Diversity::



On 4th and 5th April,Counseling Services Centre (CSC) of IIUM have conducted the workshop on self empowerment which are the special program for IIUM International Student. I have attended one of the session of these workshops and it was session 1 and the topic was Act Locally,Think Globally.There were three speakers have been invited by this CSC and they were Assistant Prof.Dr.Pute Rahimah Makol,Sociology & Anthropology Department,Kulliyah of Institute Revealed Knowledge,IIUM,Madam Kaossar Banu Ropun from Alumni & Career Services Division and Brother Mohdlyuddin Mohd Sulaiman,Lecturer of UITM,Shah Alam.Please enjoy this video above.I’m so sorry because of low quality of the video because it’s from handphone video.InsyaAllah,u will get more information after watching and listening this video.From this,you may know other culture and how foreigners in Malaysia either students or workers survived.
 
By : Saidah Hanisah


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Journal Reflection 6: CELPAD and my perception towards it ::


When  I  was  small, I was not really aware  about  my  surrounding.  My culture as well. Since  I  grew  up at a small village which all of  them are  Malays, I was  not really  acknowledge about other  cultures like Chinese and Indians.  And when I  grew  up bigger up  to  secondary  school, my  friends   and colleague,  all  of them are  also  Malays.  I did not have time to think about other races and always keep in my mind that my race, Malay is the best. For  me, compared to other  races and cultures, Malay  culture  is  solely  give  us an expressive of  our  thinking and perceptions  about  life  because Malay is  Islam. And apart from Malay, non-malay who are Muslim are not  my choice to be my friends.

All of the negative perception has changed when I step into this university. During my first semester in UIAM, I have to stay at CELPAD  for one semester. In that class, I have to mingle with various people from the world with different cultures, races, traditions, norms and also skins. But of course they are muslims. Getting involved with them in one group for discussion and presentation really made me feel enthusiastic and excited to know them more about themselves.

During Hari Raya   Gathering. We  shared lots  of  Kuih  Raya  and    soto
sponsored by  our  lecturer,  Mdm  Radziah


Here, I've got lots of  friends from   Yemen,  Afghanistan, Guinea,  Somalia, Indonesia, Singapore, Palestin, Vietnam and many mores. My perceptions towards them  changed to  360 degree. I learn on  how to make conversation   in English with them  although we were same  in  using broken English,  asking them  about their families and  traditions,  exploring their point  of views  about our cultures  and join  their cultural activities  at hall.  What an  excitement and unforgettable  moment  in my life!

My best  friends,  Ezra  and  Eshrak which  are   from
Turkey  and  Yemen


At CELPAD also, I remembered one thing. It's quite funny I think. One  of my friends  from Afghanistan asked  me  about  my opinion regarding interracial marriage.  He  just want  to know whether  I agree or not with that. I  just answered it depends  on people on how they arrange and adapt to it.  If they assure that they can get many benefits through it, why not. Then he scolded me and told me that by hook or by crook I must agree with that. No depends he said. Erkk, I think that he already fall in love with some malay girls at here perhaps. And that's why he asked for my opinion, as a Malay.

In reality also, I am not a pure Malay. Yes, I was brought up as Malay people with full traditions and norms, but the truth is, my accent is mix with chinese. My grandfather was from Hong Kong and he came here on early 90s to do his business. I am not sure what kind of business that he had but my father said that he got married with my grandmother, which is Malay after converted to Islam. Then the couple stayed at here till their death. My father believed that we may have many relatives which stay at Hong Kong untill now, but since I did not get ample information regarding this truth, I did not find that evidence to prove this. But I'm sure that one day if we are meant to be, surely we will meet and shake our hands as blood relatives.


by  Farihah Mohamad

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Journal Reflection 5: Walk for Children::

Assalamualaikum… 

 26th February  2012 

This  event occurred  at Padang  Merbok,  Kuala  Lumpur as  my  friends  and  I  has agreed upon to participate  this meaningful  event.  In  this event  I  can  see almost  90  percent  of  participants  are  foreign  people,  and  mostly  they are  from  Europe  and  United States.  Also Chinese and Malay also take part but they are minority.  Nevertheless 

I noticed that no Indians were at there, and after that I found that most of that participants actually are from international school, including the parents of that participants. Handicapped contestant also took part in this walkathon. Here also the committee told us that this event can be joined by everyone, which is from toddler to old folks. What a pleasant thing indeed.






So, we decided to take part in 1.8km walk for children as we decided to  finish it early plus we noticed that this part has conjoined by kids and adolescents.  Here we took a few moment to get know to each others and introduce ourselves to the, asked them from where they are from and the most awesome is they greeted us nicely and told us that they love to be at this country because of  its serenity and tranquility that is rarely found at other countries. As Malaysian, of course we are truly honored and be proud when heard that compliment.

 


Hence, our goals that   we already  accomplished  that  are to acknowledge other cultures  around us   and  creating friendship  bonding  have  done  successfully.  We  felt very  happy  and hope that  may  we will find this  event  on  next year. Insyaallah.

p/s: Although this event i'm the only person in this group join it, but my group and i decided to share it with you guys. May it give u benefit.


by Farihah  Mohamad

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Journal Reflection 4:: Discussion in Class::



Malaysian Culture (Pederson & Asma)

These are some of our opinion regarding Malaysian Culture based on Pederson & Asma. 

Do you think Malaysian Culture is salad bowl or melting pot?



Opinion 1:



Monochromic vs. polychromic

In my point of view, Malaysian culture is more polychromic rather than monochromic. We can see around us that most of Malaysian culture is not always on time. Some of them really did not care about punctuality and do not know on how to manage time very well. For them, time can be changed so that they are never afraid about the promptness of time.  But it can be deniable that some people like Chinese are very strict about time and they will do everything in an exact time properly. We can take a look at most of Chinese people attitude regarding their daily life especially when they run business; they value time and make punctuality as a priority one. Nevertheless in overall, I can see that Malaysian culture including all races is not monochromic type. They are suitable to put into polychromic type which is for me compared to other cultures like American culture and Japanese culture, attitude of Malaysian culture regarding time is left behind. It  is actually depend to every person in themselves about their time management whether they could be categorized as systematic people or vice versa.  (by Farihah Mohamad)


Opinion 2:


More relationship than task-oriented. (Task is subordinate to friendliness)



In such a multicultural country, relationship with others is really crucial in order to make the society understand each other’s cultures. Completion of particular tasks is important in a company for instance but without relationship with others, a task will be very difficult to be settled. If you are task oriented, you prefer to work on a project until it is complete but without relationship, it may leads to misunderstanding perhaps. (by Fazalina)

Opinion 3:

 More religious than Secular

 Malaysian culture not more into religious and also not into secular because Malaysia follow Quran and Sunnah but certain thing like hudud are not enforced due to protect human welfare, while our culture not more into secular because of religious teaching is everywhere and never disappeared, as a school counsellor if there is conflict about this statement, what we may do is guide their belief system to the right one so that there is no confusion. (By Nik Nurul Fatihah)

Opinion 4:

More group than individual oriented

I agree that Malaysian people are more group oriented than individual oriented even they have multiracial in this country. Most events in Malaysia involve all races although they have different culture. For example, the residents work together in cleaning their neighbourhood places and they also participated in the events that have been conducted in their neighbourhood like sport, family day and so on.Besides, during wedding ceremony, they invite their friends from different culture and have sense regarding food especially for who are vegetarian, allergic etc. (by Saidah Hanisah)






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Journal Reflection 3 :: Ummatic Week 2012

We are at Nigeria. Peace.

Picture worth a thousand word


This is so true.


I feel glad to be one of the IIUM student. This is because the opportunity that  my friends and I  have experience during the Ummatic Week. The five of us grab the chance to visit booth at IIUM Cultural Activities Center (CAC). 
This is so amazing because we can meet our friends from various country. For your information there are about 35 countries took part in this event.







The purpose of having Ummatic Week is to display the diversity and uniqueness of cultures at the university. It highlighted the culture of various country including Malaysia. 




We found that Maldives is a very beautiful country. The country of China booth attract us with it prosperous color. Representative from Nigeria are kind, one of them is fluently speak in Malay Language. And yeah, we spent there the longest time trying their traditional dress.

I will continue with more info and picture of Ummatic Week 20112.

 As a conclusion,the representatives of each booth welcomed us with warmth hearted. At their booths they give an explanation and information of their country, citizen, traditional food and dress and also their mother tongue (language) etc.
Besides, we also taste their food. The food might be made from ingredients that we Malays used, but the way there were cooked were different. What a pleasure to experience it in IIUM.

Please, come again!

^_^



Ummatic Week 2012 - free slideshows

By Farah Hana Shihabudin

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Journal Reflection 2:: Suprising Info::

Retrieved from Google Images

During class, Dr Siraje mention that he found that Malay people belief that they have 'angin' in their body. This is very common with me. Why? This is because whenever i felt tired or a little bit stress I will feel the 'angin' (wind) in my body. Different people may feel at different time. In order to overcome the 'angin' I have to massage myself. Then after two three times 'burbing' and I feel better. 
But for my beloved lecturer, he did not experience this. As for your information my lecturer country of origin is Uganda.  He even go to the man that offering Malay traditional massage, but there is no 'angin' come out. In addition, commonly in Malay culture when the masseur start to massage his/her customer usually the 'angin' will divert to the masseur and he/she will burp or fart.
Amazing right?
How about you reader, have you ever experience this situation?

By Farah Hana Shihabudin

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Journal Reflection 1 ::Watching Movie - IN TREATMENT::

Retrieved from Google Image
On 29 February 2012, Dr Siraje has bring us a DVD. I am very curious about the title of the DVD and also its content. The title of the DVD is IN TREATMENT. After watching one episode of the movie, I realize that working as a counselor is a very challenging profession. As the movie consist of Cross-cultural Counseling, a counselor should have a vary of information of other culture. A counselor also must understand about their client culture. This is vital to avoid creating harm to the client and also the counselor him/herself. I hope that i can watch all the episodes of the IN TREATMENT.


During the Movie Popcorn

One of the character in the movie
Classmates


p/s: Maybe we could find/purchase this DVD online or borrow it from Dr. Siraje right. :)

By Farah Hana Shihabudin

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