Debate. Why do I love debate so much? Honestly, I don’t. I LIKE debate. I LOVE the work behind debate. Two very different things. How did I get involved in debate in the first place? Well, it all started in school when I joined the English Club ever since primary school. I went to 2 different schools, Tarcisian Convent School (TCS) and Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) but I wasn’t really active in debate then, instead I was active in public speaking and story telling competitions, Girl Guide Association, swimming and bowling. So, when did I exactly become actively involved in debate? Here’s my story.
The year was 2007, and I was in my first semester. Few weeks after I got into UiTM Penang, I met one of my seniors in school and now was a senior in UiTM Penang – Nurul Hidayah Ghozali a.k.a Nelly. I still remember the first time I met her on campus at the food court. She smiled and asked me was I from MGS Ipoh and I said yes and she said she and her sister were from MGS too and I trained bowling with her sister in 2003, 2004. At first I did not recall and finally I remembered I used to smile at her in school and also my mom knows her mom and and and not to forget, she’s the best debater in school. So we talked about school and other stuff and finally she asked me if I would be interested to join the debate club and I immediately agreed.
Few days after our so called ‘reunion’, I attended the Annual Grand Meeting. I was elected as the assistant secretary to Amanda Tahir, who was the secretary at that time. I was so happy. I had learned a lot of things from her and also the other seniors from writing letters to the protocols. The next semester, the 2nd semester I was elected as the secretary. I became the secretary for one year and at the same time I was the secretariat for the Setiausaha Agung, Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP). From there I learned more things and I’ve met a lot of people including the Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor of UiTM. I’ve gained a lot of experiences when I was the secretariat.
During the 3rd semester in 2008, the Debate Society of UiTMPP organized our very own first debate tournament, the Occupational Safety and Health Intervarsity Debating Tournament a.k.a OSHIDT (Oh Shit!) Nelly was the program director along with Fatasya (Acha), Emir (Mok) and I was the program secretary. It wasn’t easy for us to organize such huge tournament for the first time. I’ve experienced organizing bowling tournaments before but not as huge as this. OSHIDT was our baby and we had to make sure that everything turns out as planned. It took us more than 3 months to organize OSHIDT whereby we had to find sponsorships, participants, hotel for the grand dinner etc etc. Lucky for us, everyone cooperated. I still remember Nelly, Acha, Mok, Iylia Anis, Fattah, Nia, Arm, Udin, Faiz, Dayah Maksom, Yang and myself stayed in Penang for 2 weeks during our semester break to settle everything. We had sacrificed our holidays to make sure that our baby goes well. Take note that we were working in Penang and the tournament was held in Shah Alam. Allowances were given to us but none of us took even a single cent out of it as the money went into OSHIDT account. After 3 very busy weeks in Penang, finally it was time for us to go to Shah Alam. The 4 day tournament ran smoothly and at the end of the day, we were very much delighted and overjoyed with the outcome of our work.
In my 4th semester I was elected as the Senior Vice President of my beloved club. We did not organize any tournaments but we took part in debate tournaments. In 2009, I took part in only 3 tournaments, Novice Cup, Arau Open and VC Cup and it was during Novice I met this lovely guy and surprisingly during Arau Open I found my true love with the same guy I met in Novice (cewah! poyo:P) Apart from that, I’ve also been to KLiUC Invitational Debate (KIND) and also World’s Universities Peace Invitational Debate (WUPID) and I must say the best ever debate tournament that I’ve been to is WUPID. It is truly a world class tournament and it would be ashamed NOT to take part in it.
My debaters and I never had problems in going to any of the tournaments. The only problem is getting our proposal approved by our admin. I’ve been arguing with them for not letting us participate in few tournaments, but that is simply another story. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve gone through all kinds of things such as begging, arguing, yelling, scolding etc etc. I’ve begged the admin to approve our proposals, I’ve argued with them for not letting us go, I’ve yelled(wait. Yelling doesn’t sound right. Let me rephrase it) I’ve scolded my juniors for not wanting to cooperate or do work properly. I finally became the President of the Debate Society in my final year. For those who don’t know me, I’m a strict person, not that I want to brag about it but it is the truth. Despite being a strict person, I’m NOT bossy. I work with my juniors and friends but in the end I do all the work myself.
I love this club so much that I want everything to run smoothly. I noticed that the number of juniors wanting to join the Debate Society has been decreasing each year, in fact, each semester. This saddens me as we used to have a lot of juniors who were committed, enthusiastic , and supportive. Same goes with the AJKs of the club. I can clearly see that the number of people who really are committed to the society can be counted by half of one hand. This disappoints me a lot.
Before I end my story, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who had worked with me. I truly am sorry if I’ve scolded or shouted or even screamed sometimes to some of you, you know who you are, especially Abdul Fattah Ahmad. I know I’ve scolded you a number of times, Faiz Hassan you too. You’ve seen me shout and the ugly side of me when I’m angry. I really am sorry for the things that I’ve done to hurt your feelings but please know that I’ve done that for your own good, for the sake of our beloved club. To the juniors, please take care of this club, please organize things well. Do remember that I’m always there for you whenever you need help or guidance. Miss Darina, Shaz, Fattah, Aina, Amirul, Faiz, Firdaus, Dean and the rest of the Debate Society (sorry if I have left out your name, there are too many of you) I will cherish the wonderful moments that we’ve gone through as a family and I hope you will never ever forget me. I LOVE ALL OF YOU!
So, that’s it from me. This is Nisa Dottie. Officially signing out from the much loved Debate Society of UiTM Penang.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Hotel & Tourism Management in the Perspectives of Islam
When we talk about the Hospitality Industry, it is always about providing the best services to the customers, assisting our guests with their needs, and always put on a huge smile on your face. If you’ve read books related to the hospitality industry, I’m sure you’ve come across these words: “Customers are always right”. Well surely, as hoteliers, we must always bare that in mind. I, being a hotelier myself, still remember what my Hospitality lecturer told us in our very first class during our first semester. These are the exact words that he said: “Customers are always right. Bullshit!” We were shocked, but it’s the truth. So basically, what we can say about hospitality industry is satisfying customers’ needs and wants.
But what I’m writing today isn’t about who’s always right or wrong. I’m writing about what and how the Hotel and Tourism Industry truly is in the perspectives of Islam and I’ll show you that this industry is actually more than what have been said.
Why am I writing this? Simple. 3 reasons:
1) Because I attended a seminar organized by my University,
2) Because writing has always been my passion, AND
3) A young man with unbelievably good looks told me to do so. *wink*
Hotel & Tourism Management in the Perspectives of Islam Seminar was organized by the Jabatan Mufti Negeri Pulau Pinang and the Centre of Islamic Thinking and Understanding (CITU) of Universiti Teknologi MARA Pulau Pinang. The seminar was divided into 3 sessions. The first and second session were held in the morning while the third session was held in the afternoon, after the Zohor prayers.
I was only told about the seminar a day before and wasn’t really expecting this. When I entered the hall (still not knowing who organized the seminar), I looked around and I saw all the girls including my lady lecturers were wearing tudung (head scarves). So I asked my friend did I get into the wrong hall, and she said no. I asked her again, why are these people wearing tudung because I know most of the people in the hall and some of them don’t wear tudung. And she said it’s because the Jabatan Mufti Pulau Pinang is the one organizing it. So there you go.
The first session of the seminar was lead by Haji Razwan bin Resat, the General Manager of De Palma Hotel. The first thing he talked about was the current scenarios in the hotel industry. He said that the Bumiputeras and the Muslims are the least people who work in the hotel industry. Next he talked about Ruhiyyah approach, in other words, the spiritual approach in the application. There are no exceptions in terms of law, acts, ordinance and enactments which binded the hotel service industry. The Syari’ah approach is an obligation, not an alternative for the hotel service owned by Muslims. Throughout the 2 hour session, Haji Razwan talked mainly about the characteristics of Syari’ah compliance hotel. What are the characteristics you might ask? This is what I can summarize.
The Syari’ah compliance hotel status puts the Halal recognition as a pre-requisite to qualify the labeling compliance. The Halal Kitchen recognition alone doesn’t fulfill the compliance pre-requisite, if there are any on going businesses forbidden by Syara’. Any trade using the Muamalah method is accepted orally in all products selling and services contracts. There are no allocations for any business documentations which have Riba’ elements. All employees should follow the Islam’s dress code which requires us to cover our ‘Aurat. In addition, the Syari’ah compliance hotel also provides a lot of amenities and facilities for their Muslim employees and Muslim guests in order to perform their religion obligation such as their Solat (prayers) and Zakat.
In conclusion, Muslims can work hard in order to work or even manage the hotel industry. But they would have to follow the guidelines already mentioned in the Qur’an in order to be more successful and blessed in whatever we do.
But what I’m writing today isn’t about who’s always right or wrong. I’m writing about what and how the Hotel and Tourism Industry truly is in the perspectives of Islam and I’ll show you that this industry is actually more than what have been said.
Why am I writing this? Simple. 3 reasons:
1) Because I attended a seminar organized by my University,
2) Because writing has always been my passion, AND
3) A young man with unbelievably good looks told me to do so. *wink*
Hotel & Tourism Management in the Perspectives of Islam Seminar was organized by the Jabatan Mufti Negeri Pulau Pinang and the Centre of Islamic Thinking and Understanding (CITU) of Universiti Teknologi MARA Pulau Pinang. The seminar was divided into 3 sessions. The first and second session were held in the morning while the third session was held in the afternoon, after the Zohor prayers.
I was only told about the seminar a day before and wasn’t really expecting this. When I entered the hall (still not knowing who organized the seminar), I looked around and I saw all the girls including my lady lecturers were wearing tudung (head scarves). So I asked my friend did I get into the wrong hall, and she said no. I asked her again, why are these people wearing tudung because I know most of the people in the hall and some of them don’t wear tudung. And she said it’s because the Jabatan Mufti Pulau Pinang is the one organizing it. So there you go.
The first session of the seminar was lead by Haji Razwan bin Resat, the General Manager of De Palma Hotel. The first thing he talked about was the current scenarios in the hotel industry. He said that the Bumiputeras and the Muslims are the least people who work in the hotel industry. Next he talked about Ruhiyyah approach, in other words, the spiritual approach in the application. There are no exceptions in terms of law, acts, ordinance and enactments which binded the hotel service industry. The Syari’ah approach is an obligation, not an alternative for the hotel service owned by Muslims. Throughout the 2 hour session, Haji Razwan talked mainly about the characteristics of Syari’ah compliance hotel. What are the characteristics you might ask? This is what I can summarize.
The Syari’ah compliance hotel status puts the Halal recognition as a pre-requisite to qualify the labeling compliance. The Halal Kitchen recognition alone doesn’t fulfill the compliance pre-requisite, if there are any on going businesses forbidden by Syara’. Any trade using the Muamalah method is accepted orally in all products selling and services contracts. There are no allocations for any business documentations which have Riba’ elements. All employees should follow the Islam’s dress code which requires us to cover our ‘Aurat. In addition, the Syari’ah compliance hotel also provides a lot of amenities and facilities for their Muslim employees and Muslim guests in order to perform their religion obligation such as their Solat (prayers) and Zakat.
In conclusion, Muslims can work hard in order to work or even manage the hotel industry. But they would have to follow the guidelines already mentioned in the Qur’an in order to be more successful and blessed in whatever we do.
Do cats become white butterflies after their death?
Very intriguing question, is it not? Why and where did I get this idea from? Simple. 2 nights ago, I had just reached my campus from the bus station. I’m sure many of you are aware that I am petite, so imagine myself carrying 2 luggage bags, a big paper bag and also a handbag - I looked like a retarded young girl walking alone in the street whose face looks like she really needed help with her things. So anyway, I was walking back to my hostel when suddenly a white butterfly flew across my nose. I immediately recall the white butterfly I saw about 6 years ago (obviously it wasn’t the same butterfly, duhh). You might be wondering what rubbish am I writing now and what do butterflies have to do with cats. Well, you might have guessed it after you first read my title. A little reminder for those who think that stories about cats or animals are boring or ridiculous, read no more. For those who do believe in miracles and have very tender loving towards animals especially cats, sit back and relax, and enjoy my story.
16 years ago, when I was 4 years old, my family adopted a Siamese kitten. My mom saw this mother cat who had just delivered 4 cute kittens and one of them had very beautiful blue eyes. One day, my neighbor saw the kittens in a small pot in her garden and called my mom asking her does she want a kitten? And my mom told us if possible, she wants the blue-eyed kitten. She said she doesn’t want to promise anything because she might not be able to catch that particular kitten. And so she went to catch the kitten and what do you know, lucky for us she caught the kitty that we wanted. I was so excited that I immediately bathed it and we discussed what name should we call it. At that time we thought that it was a girl (a female). When we were all cracking our heads thinking of what name should we give it, the radio was on and that particular moment, the radio announcer’s name is Tammy. So at the very spur moment my mom came up with this idea f naming our new kitty, Tammy. That is the very beginning of Tammy, my new kitty.
Few months after we got Tammy, it started to show its true ‘identity’. We noticed that Tammy is not a girl, in fact, it is actually a male. We didn’t want to change its name, so what we did was we added a new name for it – Boy. Its new name is Tammy Boy. My family and I had raised it to be the smartest, intelligent, adorable and lovable cat. I on the other hand, practically grew up with Tammy Boy since I don’t have other siblings at home. Let me just skip the years that I’ve spent with Tammy because if I carry on telling you what things that he had done and the wonderful times we’ve shared, my laptop might be drenched with tears as it is hard for me to even write what I’m about to write now.
Tammy had always been healthy and we didn’t even realized that it was coming. In the month of February 2004, Tammy had trouble urinating. Whenever he urinates, we could see blood. We thought it was just because of the worms in his stomach, but one day, Tammy really had trouble urinating. He tried to urinate but he couldn’t. We took him to the veterinary to check what seemed to be the problem. My mom and I were shocked when his vet, Dr. Inderjit told us that Tammy had gallstones in his bladder due to lack of water. She tried to take them out, all of them but it was too many. When she pressed Tammy’s bladder I could see the pain in his eyes. I couldn’t see no more so I turned around. Dr. Inderjit said that his condition was quite bad and he had to go through an operation. Mummy agreed so we left him at the veterinary for one night. I kissed Tammy goodbye and told him to be strong.
The next day, I went to school early in the morning as usual and came back at 2 something. I went straight home to see Tammy. When I arrived home, I ran to the back and looked for Tammy. Tammy was put in a white cage that papa had just bought for him for his recovery after the operation. As soon as reached his cage, I could see Tammy was no longer like himself anymore. He moved very very slow and his eyes were too droopy. Mummy said he was acting that way due to the anaesthetic and that soon he will recover. It was only in the matter of time. I could see the stitches on his stomach and his eyes truly sent the message to me that he was in pain. I opened the cage and stroke his head slowly and kissed him. I said “Adik, be strong, Kakak saying Tammy.” Somehow could see tears in his eyes. I looked after Tammy the whole evening, did my homework while accompanying him. That night, we put Tammy in my grandma’s room and I stayed there that night, never left Tammy out of my sight. Mummy was in front, in the family hall when she first saw a white butterfly flying out of Opah’s (grandmother’s) room. She was so impressed with the butterfly because it was really really white and beautiful, nothing like the butterflies that we’ve ever seen. Believe me. I saw that butterfly too.
The next day, on the 10th of February 2004, I went to school as usual, I kissed Tammy before I left the house. After sending me to school, mummy brought Tammy to the veterinary for check up. During my 5th or 6th period (I couldn’t really remember) around 10am, my father came to school to pick me up. He told me that Opah received a letter from the Jabatan Pencen Malaysia and we had to go to Putrajaya to settle some stuff. On the way back, I asked him what about Tammy. He said don’t worry about him. I said ok and we went straight home. I was very excited on going back home because I could see my beloved brother, Tammy. As soon as I reached home, somehow I had a very strange feeling about this. Mummy was at the porch, smiling unwillingly while arranging some things. Immediately after I got down the car and when I was about to ask mummy how was Tammy, mummy hugged me tightly and told me that Tammy was gone. There was a moment of silence for about 30 seconds and both of us burst into tears. I asked her where is Tammy, she said he’s at the back. So I ran to the back of my house where Tammy was at. I simply couldn’t stop myself from crying as I looked at Tammy’s lifeless body in the white cage that was supposed to be used during his recovery. I opened the cage and I could feel Tammy’s body was already hard and cold but it was still beautiful and perfect as ever. I could still see the stitches on his stomach and I still couldn’t stop crying, even now when I recall that moment. Even my parents and grandmother were crying. We were so attached to Tammy and he was really loving and pampered and some might say he was a spoilt brat. We buried his body at our house garden near the pretty flowers are at(I don’t know the name of the flowers).
You might feel this is a little odd when I say that his death really has a huge impact on my life. You might also think that I’m going a little too far on this and I’m being too extreme as some people might call it. My emotions and my feelings are real, and nothing is fake. I know it’s hard for some to believe this, but to those who had experienced the same thing will understand how I feel.
The night when Tammy passed away, mummy told me what happened at the veterinary. Mummy said when Dr. Inderjit was doing the normal check up, she said Tammy was not doing good. His heart beat was extremely slow and his condition was really bad. During his final moment, Tammy looked at mummy, deep in her eyes as though he was telling her that he was about to leave to a much better place, where he could not feel the pain any longer. That long look that had struck her deep in her heart was the last time she could ever see Tammy Boy’s clear blue eyes.
I’ve also heard numerous stories from my friends about the white butterflies found after their pet cats’ death.
After Tammy’s death, after the white butterfly incident, it kept me wondering,
Do cats become butterflies after their death? I know it is a bit silly but do think about it. Is it possible?
16 years ago, when I was 4 years old, my family adopted a Siamese kitten. My mom saw this mother cat who had just delivered 4 cute kittens and one of them had very beautiful blue eyes. One day, my neighbor saw the kittens in a small pot in her garden and called my mom asking her does she want a kitten? And my mom told us if possible, she wants the blue-eyed kitten. She said she doesn’t want to promise anything because she might not be able to catch that particular kitten. And so she went to catch the kitten and what do you know, lucky for us she caught the kitty that we wanted. I was so excited that I immediately bathed it and we discussed what name should we call it. At that time we thought that it was a girl (a female). When we were all cracking our heads thinking of what name should we give it, the radio was on and that particular moment, the radio announcer’s name is Tammy. So at the very spur moment my mom came up with this idea f naming our new kitty, Tammy. That is the very beginning of Tammy, my new kitty.
Few months after we got Tammy, it started to show its true ‘identity’. We noticed that Tammy is not a girl, in fact, it is actually a male. We didn’t want to change its name, so what we did was we added a new name for it – Boy. Its new name is Tammy Boy. My family and I had raised it to be the smartest, intelligent, adorable and lovable cat. I on the other hand, practically grew up with Tammy Boy since I don’t have other siblings at home. Let me just skip the years that I’ve spent with Tammy because if I carry on telling you what things that he had done and the wonderful times we’ve shared, my laptop might be drenched with tears as it is hard for me to even write what I’m about to write now.
Tammy had always been healthy and we didn’t even realized that it was coming. In the month of February 2004, Tammy had trouble urinating. Whenever he urinates, we could see blood. We thought it was just because of the worms in his stomach, but one day, Tammy really had trouble urinating. He tried to urinate but he couldn’t. We took him to the veterinary to check what seemed to be the problem. My mom and I were shocked when his vet, Dr. Inderjit told us that Tammy had gallstones in his bladder due to lack of water. She tried to take them out, all of them but it was too many. When she pressed Tammy’s bladder I could see the pain in his eyes. I couldn’t see no more so I turned around. Dr. Inderjit said that his condition was quite bad and he had to go through an operation. Mummy agreed so we left him at the veterinary for one night. I kissed Tammy goodbye and told him to be strong.
The next day, I went to school early in the morning as usual and came back at 2 something. I went straight home to see Tammy. When I arrived home, I ran to the back and looked for Tammy. Tammy was put in a white cage that papa had just bought for him for his recovery after the operation. As soon as reached his cage, I could see Tammy was no longer like himself anymore. He moved very very slow and his eyes were too droopy. Mummy said he was acting that way due to the anaesthetic and that soon he will recover. It was only in the matter of time. I could see the stitches on his stomach and his eyes truly sent the message to me that he was in pain. I opened the cage and stroke his head slowly and kissed him. I said “Adik, be strong, Kakak saying Tammy.” Somehow could see tears in his eyes. I looked after Tammy the whole evening, did my homework while accompanying him. That night, we put Tammy in my grandma’s room and I stayed there that night, never left Tammy out of my sight. Mummy was in front, in the family hall when she first saw a white butterfly flying out of Opah’s (grandmother’s) room. She was so impressed with the butterfly because it was really really white and beautiful, nothing like the butterflies that we’ve ever seen. Believe me. I saw that butterfly too.
The next day, on the 10th of February 2004, I went to school as usual, I kissed Tammy before I left the house. After sending me to school, mummy brought Tammy to the veterinary for check up. During my 5th or 6th period (I couldn’t really remember) around 10am, my father came to school to pick me up. He told me that Opah received a letter from the Jabatan Pencen Malaysia and we had to go to Putrajaya to settle some stuff. On the way back, I asked him what about Tammy. He said don’t worry about him. I said ok and we went straight home. I was very excited on going back home because I could see my beloved brother, Tammy. As soon as I reached home, somehow I had a very strange feeling about this. Mummy was at the porch, smiling unwillingly while arranging some things. Immediately after I got down the car and when I was about to ask mummy how was Tammy, mummy hugged me tightly and told me that Tammy was gone. There was a moment of silence for about 30 seconds and both of us burst into tears. I asked her where is Tammy, she said he’s at the back. So I ran to the back of my house where Tammy was at. I simply couldn’t stop myself from crying as I looked at Tammy’s lifeless body in the white cage that was supposed to be used during his recovery. I opened the cage and I could feel Tammy’s body was already hard and cold but it was still beautiful and perfect as ever. I could still see the stitches on his stomach and I still couldn’t stop crying, even now when I recall that moment. Even my parents and grandmother were crying. We were so attached to Tammy and he was really loving and pampered and some might say he was a spoilt brat. We buried his body at our house garden near the pretty flowers are at(I don’t know the name of the flowers).
You might feel this is a little odd when I say that his death really has a huge impact on my life. You might also think that I’m going a little too far on this and I’m being too extreme as some people might call it. My emotions and my feelings are real, and nothing is fake. I know it’s hard for some to believe this, but to those who had experienced the same thing will understand how I feel.
The night when Tammy passed away, mummy told me what happened at the veterinary. Mummy said when Dr. Inderjit was doing the normal check up, she said Tammy was not doing good. His heart beat was extremely slow and his condition was really bad. During his final moment, Tammy looked at mummy, deep in her eyes as though he was telling her that he was about to leave to a much better place, where he could not feel the pain any longer. That long look that had struck her deep in her heart was the last time she could ever see Tammy Boy’s clear blue eyes.
I’ve also heard numerous stories from my friends about the white butterflies found after their pet cats’ death.
After Tammy’s death, after the white butterfly incident, it kept me wondering,
Do cats become butterflies after their death? I know it is a bit silly but do think about it. Is it possible?
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