The Sentiment of Malay Business

Before I start, allow me to apologize as what I will be saying here might hurt some people. I mean well and may this be a lesson to us all. What I am writing here is just my opinion and what I have been observing for a very long time. I know some of you have parents who runs family business and some of you might run your own business, but still this still runs in our veins.The stereotypes of Malays running a business is setting a bad impression. When talking about the Malays, some might relate it to Islam. Be advised that I am not writing this to put down anybody's business or to defy the Holy Teachings. Again I am writing this because I want to share my thoughts and readers are welcome to comment. I am sorry once again.

This morning (25/3/12 0730) I went to Shell in Nilai. The station is my frequent as I visit the station on a weekly basis. I might as well know the faces of the employees at the station. As I made my way to pay for can of coffee, the employees are talking to each other, about their off days and their politics. There are three people behind the counter, two Malay ladies and a Pakistani guy. The guy seems nice enough to smile at me (as I really needed a friendly smile in the morning). As i want to make my payment, the lady behind the counter is still talking to her colleague. Without even looking at me and greet me as a customer. She seemed very engaged in the conversation. As a customer I felt I was not important as my business there is not needed. Who am I as a customer? Her off days are more important to her than her employment and her responsibility as a customer service agent. It took precious few minutes just to wait for her to stop talking and realize that I was standing there for a good five minutes. The five minutes can be used to serve me as a customer and I could be on my way to work happily.

This is just one situation from hundreds of encounters with Malay business agents.

In my opinion, Malays are more laid back than any other races in Malaysia. As a Malay myself i feel neglected. You are running a business and you did not appreciate your customers. Who are you to judge and treat us like the customers are nothing. As a saying from my own friend who runs 'alah..sorang terlepas, ramai lagi yang nak beli.' This cannot be. I have been working as a customer service myself. We are taught to treasure customers as customers are the source of our income.

• Berniaga itu adalah Fardhu Kifayah
• Berniaga itu adalah sistem muamalat iaitu sistem memberi
• Setiap perkara berniaga wajib berlandaskan dan rujuk dengan hukum syarak.
• Islam pandang tinggi pada peniaga dan usahawan.
• Dalil Al Quran tentang perniagaan ,Firman Allah "Wahai orang2 yang beriman,janganlah kamu makan(gunakan) harta2 kamu sesama kamu dengan jalan yang salah(tipu dan sebagainya) kecuali dengan jalan perniagaan yang dilakukan secara suka sama suka diantara kamu,dan janganlah kamu berbunuh bunuhan sesama sendiri.Sesungguhnya Allah sentiasa Mengasihani kamu."(An Nisa : 29)
• Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w "9/10 rezeki adalah datangnya daripada perniagaan".(Riwayat Tarmizi)
• Rasulullah s.a.w berniaga dan sebelum usia baginda mencecah 25 tahun baginda telah pun bergelar jutawan.

  Extracted from: http://wanmerah.blogspot.com/2012/05/perniagaan-sunnah-nabi-saw.html

To be continued...

When it comes to writing...

What is writing?

Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols (known as a writing system). It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.

Writing most likely began as a consequence of political expansion in ancient cultures, which needed reliable means for transmitting information, maintaining financial accounts, keeping historical records, and similar activities. Around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration in Mesopotamia outgrew human memory, and writing became a more dependable method of recording and presenting transactions in a permanent form. In both Ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica writing may have evolved through calendrics and a political necessity for recording historical and environmental events. The oldest known use of writing in China was in divination in the royal court.

Writing, more particularly, refers to two things: writing as, or is, the thing that is written; and writing as a gerund, which designates the activity of writing. It refers to the inscription of characters on a medium, thereby forming words, and larger units of language, known as texts. It also refers to the creation of meaning and the information thereby generated. In that regard, linguistics (and related sciences) distinguishes between the written language and the spoken language. The significance of the medium by which meaning and information is conveyed is indicated by the distinction made in the arts and sciences. For example, while public speaking and poetry reading are both types of speech, the former is governed by the rules of rhetoric and the latter by poetic.

1. Peter T. Daniels, "The Study of Writing Systems", in The World's Writing Systems, ed. Bright and Daniels, p. 3

1. ^ a b Robinson, 2003, p. 36

1. ^ Wells, H.G. (1922). A Short History Of The World. p. 41.

1. ^ Smith, Frank. Writing and the writer. Routledge, 1994, pg. 142.

A person who composes a story or message in the form of text is generally known as a writer or an author. However, more specific designations exist which are dictated by the particular nature of the text such as that of poet, essayist, novelist, playwright, journalist, and more. A translator is a specialized multilingual writer who must fully understand a message written by somebody else in one language; the translator's job is to produce a document of faithfully equivalent message in a completely different language. A person who transcribes or produces text to deliver a message authored by another person is known as a scribe, typist or typesetter. A person who produces text with emphasis on the aesthetics of glyphs is known as a calligrapher or graphic designer.

Writing is also a distinctly human activity. Such writing has been speculatively designated as coincidental. At this point in time, the only confirmed writing in existence is of human origin.

When it comes to writing the most common problem that a student would face are:

1. Day dream too long (especially when it comes to tests and finals)

2. writer's block

3. no sources and no opinion

4. language barrier.


For the teachers/ lecturers that teach languages (no matter what language) face these problems when it comes to writing. So, what is the best solution to help the students to improve? Should the solutions come from the students or the teachers? Who to blame?

Writing should not be a problem. writing is always easy if you can generate a system. Then again, writing is about creativity. It should not be rigid if not it would be boring. Writing is always about putting out what you want to say and not about caring what other people think. I always ask my class this question. "Why do you think writing is important?" The answers are interesting at times. There should be no reason why we need writing and writing should always comes from the heart.

My system is simple(yes i have a system, to help beginner writers write better!). First and foremost of all is that u understand and understood fully what you want to write. Consider a simple title for your essay or your 'piece':

1. what you want to write about?

2. what you want to discuss?

3. consider the right format, i.e story telling or documentary..

4. who is your audience or who will read you 'piece'?

5. what is your time frame when writing?

With all these elements in check, we can begin writing.