by Razif / @razifohnas

“Buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih.”

Roughly translated in English as ‘filter muddiness, take heed clarity’, the idea of learning from others is very much imbedded in the DNA of every Malaysian. Though we forget that the dominant western media influence have created a real vacuum in the department of ‘retaining cultural customs / traditions’, youths around the world are slowly picking up the pieces again as the richness of experience of living from different cultural perspective is far more interesting than imitating reality television which usually breathes an irrelevant cultural context.

I don’t live with the 90210 address code, though I enjoyed the drama when I was very young. The fact that many reality television characters are very rude with their elders, I could’t even get away with any profanity further than the word ‘B’, what else raising my voice to elders.

The values I grew up with is truly golden, as it allows me to communicate effectively (through body language, minus the language barrier) across various culture, regardless where ever I go. Thank goodness.

I was watching to Monocle recent conversation on Museums as Soft Power and its functions within governmental bodies in promoting their local culture to others. I was blown by one of the speakers opinion about ‘Soft Power’ as a term and how he approaches the idea of a successful country. Simon Anholt, an independent policy advisor, spoke of the idea of how is success measured for a country to have respectable reputation.

“You have to make yourself useful around the place, then people will appreciate you more”. Very much against the term of soft power, he suggested that cultural institutions can be effectively created together by the people. He continued by saying, it doesn’t cost much, though takes longer time but people appreciate / like it more.

We have yet really to take advantage of a more progressive form of aesthetic of our very own cultures. Imagining the experiential richness of the idea itself is very exciting. Traces of historical wisdom, coupled with todays technological advances, its only time that we be able to experience the great human civilization that it has been since.

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Trained as a designer and a futurist at heart, Muhamad Razif Nasruddin obsessively dabbles in design theories and history since his first year in university. With an academic background of science stream in secondary school, he believes that ‘art & design’ was the one that captured the capacity of human imagination and created the modern society that it is today. He also secretly wants to own a Ducati Streetfighter machine.

HAPPY TRAILER from Wadi Rum Films on Vimeo.

In Kuala Lumpur
12th February at 3:30 pm
at MAP @ Publika
Level G2-01, Block A5
Menara Kencana Petroleum
1 Jalan Dutamas 1, Off Jalan Duta
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Be Happy!

DesignLab: Design Thinking Workshop from thinklab© on Vimeo.

The term design is now being heavily used in a lot of different fields other than design itself –and we are very much psyched about it!- Coming from the believe that design is not exclusive only to designers, but for everyone.

The next step that should be taken is to empower everyone with the tools needed to actually design things and not just make things. Design thinking is an innovative tool made to understand complex challenges and create simple and clear solutions. Design thinking also directs the usage of the word design more towards a verb rather than a noun, revealing design as what it is; a whole process and not just an outer coat.

This design dimension is fast becoming a catch phrase not only amongst designers but also tech entrepreneurs, engineers and managers. In this MAKMAL© Series, we will uncover what is Design Thinking, investigate why it works and the possibilities it offers to the future of design industry and education.

The panel of speakers

Alexdrina Chong; Founder, So + Co

Kal Joffers; Director, Tandamic

Muhammad Aziph Dato’ Mustapha; Chief operating officer, Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia.

Date: Thursday, 9^th February 2012

Time: 7pm to 11 pm

Venue: White Box, MAP KL

Solaris Dutamas

Registration Fee: RM 80 For Studnets

RM 180 For Professionals

Sasaran village; in rural Kuala Selangor;  hosted the 2^nd Sasaran International Arts Festival last December. International and local artists flocked by bus loads to take part community-oriented art. Local residents received their guest artists either with shy smiles or firm handshakes.

At first glance, Sasaran village looked like any obscure road-side settlement. One is easily deceived by mundane shop houses façades that hide the bustling river front activities. Fishing is the mainstay of the local economy. This village is situated on converging rivers of Sungai Buloh and Kuala Selangor, hosts a myriad economic ecosystem that centers on fishing. From collecting, separating, selling off to suppliers and processing into `belacan’ paste; Sasaran is where it all happens. This small yet robust industry generates hundreds of local jobs.

We observed a disconnection of the life above dry land and that under the highways. Exacerbating this state is a local attitude that does not regard fishing as a desirable or respectable vocation. Children here do not aspire to become fishermen. This significant facet of Sasaran was ignored and marginalized within the village context. Development efforts had failed to integrate the river-fishing economy and left it to eke out a meager existence for survival.

Part of DA+C’s ongoing mandate is to cultivate Asian values in media art. Here, we work with technology-based media to encourage a vision that benefits local communities. In Sasaran’s case, we wanted the community to acknowledge their contribution to the village, both economically and as part of the local culture.

From the day in fishing village, we concluded on the workshop’s objective. We wanted the children to be more aware of this vibrant community within their own backyard by capturing the fishing village and its activities on digital media.

It was imperative that we create an environment where the kids’ would feel comfortable with voicing their opinions. This would provide a conducive platform for experimentation and expression. Facilitators encouraged the kids to joke, dance and play while creating a storyline for the performance. The facilitators also participated in games, further dissolving the formality of teacher-student dynamic to make the children feel at ease.

Firstly, each child was introduced to a digital camera. Holding a camera each, we escorted them to the piers and pointed out the interesting subjects. By snapping photos, the children became keen observers. The village seemed to become more significant with each frame. A 9-year-old participant exclaimed, “I’ve never been on field trip like this before!”

The multimedia pieces expressed each child’s interpretation of village life. Nearly all incorporated humor. One boy imagined a mutated crab and fish admonishing the fishermen who had caught them. In another, a man and his cat sit riverside yearning for fish.

For the final step, the children performed a short play depicting the activities they had captured. They coordinated their roles with changes in backdrops. The audience requested two repeat performances.  The children expressed their honest gratitude when they shouted in chorus, “please come again next year! We want to learn more.” Touched by their appreciation, we agreed to return if invited again.

Advances in technology and digital media are largely channeled towards mainstream consumers. While Malaysia is no exception, DA+C believes that technology media must expand with constructive values that resonate with the struggles of a developing country.

A common challenge for rural areas in Malaysia is to instill pride in its residents; for Sasaran village, this meant acknowledging and appreciating its fishing community. The week-long program explored the idea of `identity to empower,’ as it allowed kids to learn about their own community through creative multimedia expression. Through their performance, they related their experience in the fishing village with a renewed sense of pride. Technology just helped us make the story more exciting.

Credits:

DA+C facilitators:  Lim Kok Yoong (Interactive artist), Fairuz Sulaiman (Video artist), Catherine Kong (Architecture) and Suzy Sulaiman (Architecture)

Multimedia University Students:  Okui, Nana, Hanafi, Afif and Ayu.

Balai Seni Visual Negara@edu: Tan  Hui Koon.

Special thanks to the organizers of Sasaran Arts Festival 2011 who poured us with their kindness and support throughout our stay at Sasaran village.

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With her architectural training, Suzy has lead research projects for private and non-government organizations like Heritage of Malaysia Trust, Arts Ed and National Visual Art Gallery. She is the director-producer of Digital Art + Culture festival (www.dacfestival.com), a catalytic event where technology media explores Asian heritage. With 8 years lecturing in architecture theory and culture, Suzy’s work focuses on the convergence of community building, architecture and digital technology.

by Razif / @razifohnas

Sigh.

It’s really tough trying to get designers in Malaysia to talk.

Or give their opinions on any thing. The fact that when they do, there is very little to debate about. Sometimes you wonder, is it that they lack vocabulary, or just being indifferent about a particular subject.

It’s easy to blame the education system, or the Asian parental style, or the fact the design industry in Malaysia is still young.

An industrial designer friend once said if your sketchbook is filled with sketches alone, you have a problem. I think he meant that sketching alone is not enough to qualify someone as a designer.

Truthfully, I feel the entire industry represents the fear of being criticized.

*tepuk dahi/ slap forehead moment*

If you criticize someone, it doesn’t mean they hate/envy you. It’s perhaps trying to get you to see from a different point of view about things. If you think being defensive about your work is healthy, think again.

Designers I know are often working the hardest defending their work rather on the work. I hate the tone of this piece, but perhaps we (including me) should be more aware that criticism is an important tool for learning.

The row of criticism, in truth won’t really kill you.

It’ll just make you better, seriously.

Note: Happy Chinese New Year to my Chinese side of the family and friends!

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Trained as a designer and a futurist at heart, Muhamad Razif Nasruddin obsessively dabbles in design theories and history since his first year in university. With an academic background of science stream in secondary school, he believes that ‘art & design’ was the one that captured the capacity of human imagination and created the modern society that it is today. He also secretly wants to own a Ducati Streetfighter machine.

Banana: A Singlish, Malaysian slang for a Chinese person who speaks English, yellow outer skin but white inside.

Yep, that’s what I am. And that’s what my mother is aiming to cure me out off. Hence sending me 2,307 miles, 3,712 km away from nasi lemak, char kuey teow, thinklabbers, family and friends.

Everyday, I’m sitting amid people from all over the world, staring and committing to memory, square boxes of lines angled, curved and hooked.

Hello 汉语！

The first exam I had to sit through was to test my standard of Mandarin, a placement test to box me in a classroom with a bunch of foreigners, and 普通话。

The first day, sitting down and looking around. I couldn’t help but be curious about the motivation behind my classmates. All in all there are about 20 of us, coming from all corners of the world, ranging from early teens to mid 30’s.

Asking around, here are some snippets from my classmates:

Nick from Germany, cites his curiosity for China and her culture. I often get into interesting discussions about “western” and “asian” mannerisms with him.

Bordering on the philosophical.

Alex from Sweden, was looking into a future where he is going to do business with China.

Moreover, there seems to be a lot of Japanese and Koreans, bonded by their companies and universities culture or business programs respectively.

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 Angela Low is currently a student enrolled in Fudan University, studying mandarin as an attempt to know her cultural roots. Interested in earning a livelihood through business centralizing on design, she daily thinks about start-ups, collaboration possibilities and team dynamics… balancing them out with reading stirring stories and quotes. Young and offbeat, she seeks travelling opportunities, and dreams to work with passionate people and outstanding teams. A goal to psycho (read:motivate) herself to work on strengthening her repertoire of skill.

by Nuha

New resolutions? No, I say I’ve had enough resolutions’ last year and I plan to bring it forward as part of my cousin’s advice as well. The fact that I achieved few targets last year is really up-lifting my burden. All thanks to Allah, and my parents and families. I owe them big time.

Anyway, looking back in the past year, 2011, the last tri-month (I’m not preggar, mind you =P), was awesome! I had an interview for a new job. The very next week, 2nd interview, and the very next month, the new company has given me a new lease of life! I am no longer working in the playground manufacturing company but an event company where I got to explore new field of design. I am so grateful that they are willingly to ‘risk’ me in. And for that, to Allah I put on hopes and praise gratitude.

It is a totally new environment, from the software, work space, working hours, work attire, working attitude, colleagues, etc. I thought all 3D software’s would be almost the same feature but this time around, I was totally wrong. I have to learn and clear my memory from the previous software skills (which is merely impossible since I have a good memory, masha Allah. Haha). Just imagine using software that almost 3 years competently and now I have to change the whole thing, that’s not a piece of cake, man. Nevertheless, this opportunity is like a dream comes true, and I won’t go and throw this out of window. I will strive and make this happen for an opportunity doesn’t knock twice. It’s a kick-start for me as well to move on to a higher level. I know that I have to learn and work hard, but it’s worth a try.

Now that I’m in the Malaysian-Chinese company, (previously was Malay-based company), I have to survive on my own. There are very few of Malay restaurants in the area, and finding a Halal restaurant is not easy-reach even though I’m still in Malaysia. Even so, I might have to drive to seek Halal food and finding parking is really an issue since it’s a commercial area. This has made me thinking how hard to survive oversea, and I have to salute those (who is a Muslim) who can strive without you having had to be compromised with the regulations of Islam rule. My solution; bring food from home, which I try to make it a habit next week forward. (I might sound exaggerating, yeah, I know it’s not THAT HARD to find stalls or restaurants serving Halal food, but I’m a picky eater and I find this little option lead me to this solution).

Surau, or praying room is not provided in the company. Well, there are only two Muslims including me, so I can sense that there are no reasons they have to provide one, plus it’s not a big company and we’re all cramped up ourselves. Nonetheless, they are so very respectful that they allow us to perform our solat in the 2nd floor meeting room and if it’s equipped, we can solat in hidden corner where none of them can see us. They’ll lower the voice tone and let us alone worshiping Allah. It is a shoes-off company for your information, so the floor is clean.

When it comes to colleagues, they are very helpful especially my department. I can’t say enough gratitude towards my colleague named Epei. She is very kindhearted willingly to teach me nearly everything I needed to know in this field. Thank you so very much.

Thus, I’m hoping and praying that I will strive and sharpening my edge and skills towards better self-development this year. It sounds more like resolution though?

Nope, it’s my target.

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My real name is Nur Hidayah Abd Rahman but more likely to be known as Nuha, constantly mistaken as a secondary school student for my appearance. Nevertheless, I have a big dream; transforming the planet into a better place by keeping the world green. I try to educate my family and friends to be ‘kind’ to our home, Mrs Earth so that we’ll live healthily without have to go to Kepler-22b Planet which is approx 600 light years away.

Graduated in Industrial Design, I previously received six awards in MGDM (Malaysian Good Design Mark) while working for playground manufacturing company, and now working in exhibition & interior design firm. Which is a bit different from what I learnt back then, but it is just that I love to seek challenges within myself and push the boundaries of what I’m capable of.

by Razif / @razifohnas

I remember during my college days how computers took over the precision dependency of the technical drawings tasks, and made us, the students felt productive in adapting to the tremendous amount of work dedicated for our final project. AutoCAD was amazing. It was one program to another. Though computer only began to shape the way we made things, we had fun exploring what more it could do and self-taught ourselves on other programs such as Macromedia Flash 4 and other Adobe stuff.

Though many of the bootlegged software we had back then was considered as irresponsible, but it opened the door for many students to pursue which skill based they’d prefer to be in and master them for them to be relevant to the market in the industry.

The attitude of wanting to be ahead of the game was perhaps what drove our class to be one of the most eccentric diploma graduates from UiTM. It was either competing for thicker pages for our thesis (though many were just photocopy of references), or more-than-required-amount of perspectives (mind you most of them were in either A1 or A0 sizes), expanding our skills to the utmost ambitious (sometimes pointless) designs were our high water mark of our much-little human achievement.

At the end, the common notion amongst the classmates were, if you can’t impress with your work, might as well showcase the work ethic.

Skill based in the computer age is a strange dynamic cycle indeed. It’s fast pace technology is constantly displacing the skill of the previous dominant program. As new programs surface, more robust and reliable, new language / skills is needed to master them, and by the time you master one, another program takes place of the other. This sort of cycle does make you think, what’s worth spending, money on technology or investing on people with great understanding about design.

And through my experience in the industry, the best designers, they all say the same thing.

Skill based is very important, but skills alone won’t get you ahead in the creative industry.

I say, go out and enjoy life. See how design fits your lifestyle, and build around that.

You’ll have the best time of your life.

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 Trained as a designer and a futurist at heart, Muhamad Razif Nasruddin obsessively dabbles in design theories and history since his first year in university. With an academic background of science stream in secondary school, he believes that ‘art & design’ was the one that captured the capacity of human imagination and created the modern society that it is today. He is also secretly wants to own a Ducati machine.

by Angela Low.

Walking down fabric market while waiting for my friends, I took the opportunity to stroll down the tiny alleyways, passing by mad Shanghai road users and the like. While snapping pictures and soaking in the noise, I saw a tiny hair salon wedged between a similairly tiny restaurant and house. Inspired by IDEO’s Paul Bennett on his habit of getting native haircuts to get a “feel” for a country and looking for ways to kill time, I did the same. The price was also attractive to a money tight student. 10yuan (rm5), why not?  But as the mandarin saying goes, 一分钱，一份货。In this context it means, I got what I paid for.

While my inadequete mandarin barely got me by, I finally communicated to the hairdresser to trim my hair while keeping my fringe. I was lead to a crimson seat, sat down and I start looking around. Their salon felt homey, cramped, and DIY. Think ad hoc colorful plastic portable tool trays, personal scissors totting by each dresser, no uniforms, lady boss in her mid age running her salon etc.

Back to my hair cut, a worker of about mid 20’s worked on my hair. Throughout, she was silent, wholey focused on her task at hand, speedily snipping away and my haircut was done in a mere few minutes. However, the lack of communication made me uneasy worse still, my head was handled with the finesse of a cabbage gutted and chopped.  After all horror, while paying to the lady boss, I started reflecting on the experience. Primarily, I started questioning why am I actually willing to pay 10 yuan while not making a fuss.

Eventually by musing, I got to the point of questioning value, service and money, and how they seem to be linked.

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Angela Low is currently a student enrolled in Fudan University, studying mandarin as an attempt to know her cultural roots. Interested in earning a livelihood through business centralizing on design, she daily thinks about start-ups, collaboration possibilities and team dynamics… balancing them out with reading stirring stories and quotes. Young and offbeat, she seeks travelling opportunities, and dreams to work with passionate people and outstanding teams. A goal to psycho (read:motivate) herself to work on strengthening her repertoire of skill.

It was the year 2011.

A lot of things happened, especially within the Malaysian local design community recently. In this entry, we are listing major highlights for design community for the 2011, from local designers’ achievements to great design events within the country.

The categories are as the following.

1) Impressive Works.

a) Architecture: Elena Jamil

Millenium School Bamboo Project

Malaysian Architect Elena Jamil produced an award winning project for the Millennium Schools Design Competition on Bicol Peninsula, Philippines. Appearing on the Design With The Other 90% CITIES, her project is deemed to be best model for typhoon-prone locations.

b) Fashion: ULTRA

Winner of Innovation in Design and Sourcing Award. 

ULTRA, lead by two great local fashionistas, Chanela Jamidah and Anita Hawkins, have put the Malaysian fashion industry on to the global map by winning INNOVATION UK Winners 2011, for Winner of Innovation in Design and Sourcing Award. Organized by Ethical Fashion Forum, the duo was merited for their ten-piece modular interchangeable wardrobe, designed to dress a woman for a year.

c) User Interface / Experience (Visual Communication): Toh Ying Wei.

 Fast Track to the Mobile App Design Challenge

Toh Ying Wei graduated in Bachelor’s degree in Interface Design from Multimedia University, Malaysia in 2007 and continued her Master’s degree in Interaction Design from Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea. We found out about her winning work, Bridge (an integrated mobile tool for small team collaboration across time zones) , from many local designers that tweeted about her project that appeared in CORE77. She currently resides in Seoul and works as information architect.

d) Architecture: Meor Haris K Barin

Architectural Work Cover of BLUEPRINT Magazine (UK) Issue 306. 

Former student from UiTM and recently graduated from Bartlett School of Architecture drawing for his final project, Meor Haris K Barin work was featured on the cover of BLUEPRINT magazine, UK print, on August 2011 month’s issue. We hope this would be a great start to a great promise for this young hopeful architect in the international scene.

2) MAJOR DESIGN EVENTS.

a) DATUM 2011

It was perhaps one of the best architectural conference thus far in comparison to previous years. With great texture of architectural dogmas and the conference being the highlight of the festival, it is no wonder that many will expect a stronger following coming to 2012 within the local architecture scene.

b) Kuala Lumpur Design Week 2011

“Reach For The Stars” as this year’s theme, the KLDW 2011 brought the event to a more central location this year, partnering with MAPKL in hosting the largest annual design event in KL. Adding more variety to the already jam packed events during the entire fest, photography was given the centre stage in this years event following the growth of the profession of recent years.

c) DA+C

George Town Festival 2011 is perhaps the biggest news for 2011′s amongst local creative events. With a month filled with various events from international dance troupes to food fests, DA+C (Digital Arts + Culture) was the highlight for many visual art enthusiasts across the country. First of its kind, it was spellbinding and also groundbreaking for the visual arts scene in Malaysia. Local designers and artist such as Fairuz Sulaiman, Motiofixo and Efozy bringing their flavor into the event was indeed seen as the beginning of new visual scene into the creative industry. Kudos!

d) 6th thinklab© Design Conference

It was perhaps one of our biggest design conference outside Klang Valley (the only one so far actually). With great lineup of speakers on the first day and also fun filled activity on the second, we were extremely happy how it turned out especially after months of preparation moving into the date. Of course, we’re already looking into making the conference better for 2012.

3) The Appearance of Design Industry inside the Malaysia Budget 2012

40. Design services industry which requires creativity and innovation, can contribute towards enhancing product function and safety, reducing cost as well as fulfilling consumer’s preference. In addition, this industry also plays an important role to continuously improve productivity, quality and competitiveness of products. To promote creativity, innovation and modern technology involving local designers, the Government proposes the industrial design services be given Pioneer Status with income tax exemption of 70% for 5 years.

We couldn’t be more happier when Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak announced this year’s Malaysia Budget 2012 in helping to increase the productivity for the Industrial Design scene in Malaysia. This is the first time ever, the government is looking into making an impact in this area, thanks to MRM with their tenacious pursuit in improving the design industry in Malaysia.

Though it is already 2012, we would like to acknowledge those who have been with us and supporting the industry in pushing our Malaysian creative industry to new heights.

For some of us, the journey has just begun.