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Singapore Muslim Apparel Boutique, Meem Clothings, Showcase Collection At Tokyo Modest Fashion Show

Nur Hanis, along with her husband Haikal Aziz, are the Singaporean owners of Meem Clothings, an online apparel boutique based locally.

Selling mostly hijabs and scarves, they base their collections on the key principles of simplicity and modesty.

And their latest collection – the Suminagashi series – is designed exclusively for the first ever Tokyo Modest Fashion Show.

The designs are inspired by the Japanese marbling art of ink dropping, or “Suminagashi”, the eponymous title of the collection, resulting in a seamless amalgamation of the two cultures.

The internet has been showing her plenty of love:

But being the breeding grounds of dissension, there have been detractors online as well:

We’re still proud of you, though, Nur Hanis, for putting Singapore on the international fashion map! Keep doing what you’re doing.

Source: http://mothership.sg

November 25, 2016
Mufti Singapura: Zakat Perlu Ditambah Bila Ekonomi Terdesak

DI sebalik kebimbangan ekonomi yang tidak menentu, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis) komited meneliti dan memantau perkembangan selanjutnya jika terdapat tanda bahawa masyarakat memerlukan sumbangan zakat lebih besar.

Jika timbul keperluan itu, Muis akan membuat penyesuaian bagi golongan berkenaan.

Mufti Ustaz Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram menekankan bahawa apabila timbul keperluan khusus, contohnya kelembapan ekonomi, Jawatankuasa Zakat Fitrah akan membuat pertimbangan dan menyesuaikan peruntukan setiap asnaf berdasarkan keperluan masyarakat.

“Pada masa begini, peruntukan ‘biasa’ untuk asnaf fakir dan miskin akan ditambah, demi memberi sokongan tambahan kepada mereka yang memerlukan dan menyokong bantuan di peringkat nasional,” ujarnya.

Perkara tersebut pernah dilakukan oleh Muis ketika berlaku kemelesetan ekonomi dari 2008 hingga 2009.

Pada 2009, Muis menambah peruntukan dalam bentuk Dana Ihsan bagi mereka yang terjejas oleh kemelesetan ekonomi pada masa itu.

Selain itu, Mufti menambah bahawa walaupun keadaan ekonomi kini tidak menentu, sumbangan zakat tetap kekal stabil, malah bertambah secara perlahan.

“Apabila masyarakat mempunyai kesungguhan memenuhi rukun Islam dan menghulurkan melalui Muis kerana keyakinan mereka dalam sistem yang kita ada, jumlah zakat semakin meningkat.

“Ini membolehkan kami menyemak tangga pendapatan per kapita (PCI) keluarga untuk melayakkan sesebuah keluarga mendapat zakat,” ujarnya.

Menurut beliau, pada 2014 Muis telah menyemak PCI dan meningkatkannya sebanyak $30 dan ini membolehkan lebih ramai layak menerima bantuan. Tahun lalu pula, Muis berjaya menambah bantuan khusus kepada fakir miskin sebanyak $2 juta secara keseluruhan setelah menyemak PCI.

“Semakin institusi zakat ini diyakini dan masyarakat memberikan sokongan yang meningkat, lebih banyak golongan yang dapat dibantu dan diringankan beban mereka,” katanya.

Source: www.beritaharian.sg

November 25, 2016
Angry Abang: Malay Community Must Not Look Down On Members Who Speak Malay

So everyone is talking about this Coco girl who is faking her accent to claim that she is mix. And everyone is like slamming her for it. Some people are going to the extent of saying that she is forgetting her roots and that she is just some Malay minah.

I would just like to then ask a question—How about the Malays who are being fucking put down for TRYING to speak MALAY, but now feel inferior, cos people keep saying that they have a funny accent?

Bear with me…. I am trying to make my point.

I am MALAY. I am fucking proud to be a MALAY, because I believe that the MELAYUS have a rich culture and tradition. However, I have a problem. I have a speech problem. It was hard for me to admit it back then, but thanks to the people around me, I am slowly gaining the confidence to speak the language.

It all started with my life in primary school. Not to sound pompous, but somehow, I was among the few Malays who got into the A class. I was in primary 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A. My father was a very strict man (actually he still is). If I were to drop in my grades back then, I would have to answer to the buckle of the belt. So that explains my grades, and my overachieving nature in primary school. Being the few Malays in my class, and a painfully shy one, my close friends are therefore those in the same class as me; all of them are non-Malays. I did try to mix with the Malays from the other classes during the common Malay Language classes. However, the Malays in the other classes weren’t so open to making friends with me, cos they say “I eat ‘babi’ with the students in my class, and therefore I am haram”. So I spoke a lot more English and a bit of Mandarin in primary school. However, I did well in Malay writing classes—I even have a few of my writings published in the newspaper… My mum even had them laminated and stuck onto the fridge till today. But I couldn’t speak Malay fluently.

In secondary school, I had to take Malay O level twice cos the first time I took it, I scored C5 for the first attempt… and having Malay teachers who literally slept in class wasn’t helping the situation. But I finally managed to get A2 in the end. The oral examiners weren’t so impressed with the way I spoke in Malay.

In Madrasah, there is also the equivalent of PSLE. For the oral examination, you had to read a few pages of the Quran, which I did. In my head, I thought I did okay… that is until the Ustazah, who is the teacher, openly asked me if I had mixed parentage. I innocently told her that my father is Malay and my Mother is Javanese. I had no idea why she asked the question in the first place. She then asked her next question—Abeh kenapa awak baca Quran macam ada slang? (translation—Why are you reading the Quran with an accent?).

Many years ago, I was also dropped out of a Malay production because apparently my accent couldn’t be improved within the rehearsal period.

Then I also attended an audition for another Malay stage production. During the audition, I was asked to do a monologue in Malay. I did. At the end of the audition, the director, asked me in a condescending tone, “when you sleep, do you dream in Malay or English?” At this point the other panellists started laughing. I remembered walking out of the audition room feeling humiliated and hopeless. I remembered cursing the production and hoping that it would never fucking make it to stage… this is something that I am not proud of. Anyway, the production never did make it to stage. I also remembered wanting to give up speaking Malay or ever wanting to do any production in Malay.

However…

I persevered. I still kept on speaking the language even though I have to, most of the time, struggle a lot. And I am not afraid to claim out loud that I am Malay. And right now, I am using my company A.D.I Concept as a platform to front productions that explore Malay cultures, tradition and the different superstitious beliefs. I am still trying to improve on my Malay, even though the accent is still stuck there.

The point I want to make out of this long post is… There are MALAYS who are fucking trying to be proud of the language and culture and tradition. WE ARE FUCKING TRYING. SO BEAR THAT IN MIND BEFORE YOU PUT US DOWN JUST COS WE HAVE AN ACCENT. WE ARE FUCKING TRYING.

Terima kasih kerana sudi membaca. Thank you for reading.

Source: Adi Jamaludin

November 25, 2016
Rohingyas Fleeing Burma’s Scotched-Earth Campaign Turned Away By Bangladesh

The broad estuary of the Naf River separates Bangladesh and Burma. On both sides of the Naf, armed forces have massed of late. The countries aren’t at war — against each other at least. Rather, the soldiers are on the lookout for members of the Rohingya ethnic group. Burma wants them out. Bangladesh wants them to turn around and go back.

On Wednesday alone, Bangladeshi police said that more than 500 Rohingya Muslims made a desperate voyage across the Naf, adding to the thousands who have crossed in recent days. For the past month, human rights groups have documented the burning of entire Rohingya villages by Burma’s military. But the Bangladeshis, who for the most part share the Bengali language and Muslim faith with the Rohingyas, say they have no room for refugees.

“We nabbed them after they illegally trespassed [into Bangladesh]. They will be pushed back” to Burma, local police chief Shyamol Kumar Nath told Agence France-Presse.

Fleeing Rohingyas who have spoken with reporters and human rights activists recounted killings and rapes in their villages. They fear suffering the same fate if Bangladesh forces them to make the return journey.

The news agency Reuters reported that escalating violence has killed scores and displaced about 30,000 in recent weeks. The violence seems to have been triggered by an attack on Oct. 9 against Burmese border police that killed nine. Police blamed Rohingya militants — accusing them of ties to radical Islam — and began a scorched-earth campaign. The roots of anti-Rohingya sentiment go back decades, if not centuries, in Burma, a majority-Buddhist nation also known as Myanmar. Rohingyas are denied citizenship in Burma.

Burma’s de facto leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has expressed concern about the fate of the Rohingyas but has also accused them of causing the violence. Suu Kyi has had to balance her record of human rights activism with a growing tide of Buddhist nationalism that has emboldened the military, which ruled the country for decades before her.

Since communal violence occurred between ethnic Burmese and Rohingyas in 2012, more than 32,000 Rohingyas have legally registered as refugees at camps in Bangladesh. According to the AFP, many of those who have fled in recent days are hiding out in those camps, hoping to blend in. Thousands more are waiting to cross the Naf into Bangladesh.

“Difficult as it is for the Bangladesh government to absorb large numbers, it seems to me there is no other choice,” said John McKissick, who heads the U.N. refugee agency’s office in southern Bangladesh. “Because the only other choice is death and suffering.”

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

November 24, 2016
Wanita Rohingya Diperkosa Askar Myanmar?

MAUNGDAW, RAKHINE: Sekurang-kurangnya 50 wanita di dua kampung di sini dirogol tentera Myanmar kelmarin sementara 25 penduduk lelaki ditahan.

Kejadian berlaku selepas sekumpulan 200 tentera Myanmar memasuki Kampung Kyar Gaung Taung pagi Ahad lalu. Mereka menggunakan pembesar suara, memanggil penduduk keluar, kononnya untuk menemui mereka. Penduduk lelaki yang bimbang ditangkap melarikan diri.

Mereka yang tidak melarikan diri diarah berkumpul di kawasan sawah, bersama penduduk wanita.

Di situ, tentera berkenaan mengganggu dan ada yang merogol wanita terbabit, sementara penduduk lelaki dan kanak-kanak didera.

“Kira-kira 50 wanita diperkosa oleh tentera itu. Dua puluh lima penduduk lelaki ditahan. Mereka masih ditahan dan tentera belum lagi meninggalkan kampung berkenaan,” kata seorang penduduk, semalam.

Seorang penduduk, Amir Hussein pula melaporkan, seekor kerbaunya dicuri tentera Myanmar sebelum mereka membakar rumahnya.

“Mereka menyembelih kerbau saya dan memakannya,” kata Amir.

Pada masa sama, sekumpulan 300 tentera mengepung kampung Myaw Taung sebelum merogol penduduk wanita dan mendera lelaki tua.

Source:www.malaysiandigest.com

November 24, 2016