4 Sisters @ Being ME2 : Muslimah Empowered, PICC

one thing that I really looked forward months before going back to malaysia is this event : women’s only islamic conference ‘Being ME 2 : Muslimah Empowerment’ with the theme ‘Divine Liberation’ held at PICC (putrajaya international convention center), putrajaya on 29th june 2013. not just because of the many benefits that I will get from all the wonderful talks, but also because I shared the experience with all my sisters!

I was really excited about this!

unfortunately this outing was not complete without my other sis syimot who had to stay at home taking care of her 7-month baby miqail; last minute adik ipar aku busy plak tak dapat jaga baby. (so after the event four of us lepak at her place makan-makan borak-borak bising-bising! best sangat!)

click here for more info on Being ME 2 : Muslimah Empowered – maybe you can catch the next event Being ME 3 insyaAllah!

 

sharifuddin sisters : from left yong syimee, syigim, azi & syida inside the hall at PICC, seated, getting ready to absorb knowledge and wisdom. such a priceless moment for me to hang out with my sisters at such an event. wouldn’t believe how rare it is to gather all 4-5 of us without abah, or our husbands and kids!

 

the participants heading towards the hall as the door finally opened that morning. my picture here doesn’t do justice to the wonderful sight of our malaysian muslimah. myriads of color, pattern, style and beauty – it was a festivity of jubah, abayas, and shawl segala macam lilit! aku balik dubai pun tak nampak macam ni punya meriah kih kih.

 

the stage was set for a whole day of empowering muslimah and inspiring young women. a T-shaped stage like in a fashion show. we were seated at the VIP area (bukan sebab important sangat hihi but it’s because we’re the early bird ticket-buyers huhu)

 

we went inside pretty early. got seated somewhere at the front. comfy seat. air-cond tak terlampau sejuk. great view of the speaker. decent view of the large screen. strategic spot at the sides in case we need to leave for the restroom, or something. overall, a good spot. asam boi pon dah ready haha.

 

this is my first time at PICC so sangat kagum. the wondrous ceiling was like wow. like I’m attending final juara lagu or something. huhu.

 

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there are many interesting talks scheduled for the whole day at Being ME 2 – ‘women of substance’, ‘one woman, different hats’, ‘muslimah : identity given by Allah’, positive mental attitude’ and many more. the talks are held at 2 different venues : the main hall, and the workshop in a smaller room (picture below). so you could either go to the main hall or to this room to hear the topic you’re interested in.

I wanted to catch as many talks as I could, but it frustrates me when I wanted to listen to 2 different talks happening at the same time at 2 different venues. kena la sacrifice one talk, and go listen to the other.

also because of this, at times my sisters and i had to separate when two wants to listen to sheikh A, while the others want to stay and enjoy the talk by ustazah B. but the engaging talks make up for it. I managed to catch talks by sheikh daood, prof dr muhaya, IIUM rector prof. dato dr zaleha, tasneem ghauri and of course the muslimah heart-throb fatih seferagic. never a dull moment.

 

the ‘workshop’: this is the 2nd venue for the other talks that are taking place.

 

since this room for the workshop is significantly much smaller, most of the time you see the participants sitting down on the carpet floor for lack of chairs. it got more crowded when it’s a particularly popular speaker (like the adorable fatih seferagic), sampai kena tutup pintu tak kasi orang masuk dah!

it’s NOT particularly comfortable of course sitting cross-legged on the carpet for 1 hour while other people get to warm their bum on kerusi empuk, but somehow it doesn’t matter when all you want to do is LISTEN and take in as many beneficial points as you can. duduk bersempit-sempit kaki kebas pun jadi lah asal dapat dengar antipatinya.

 

 

cuma satu je aku tak puas hati betui nampak ade satu minah ni dapat duduk atas kerusi, siap chop tempat utk member dia (tu takpe lagi) lepas tu dia bole TIDO! imagine I was sitting on the floor, and see THAT.

ok chop tempat aku tak kisah sebab I would’ve done the same thing for my sisters. tertido pun dimaafkan la kalo dah tak tahan sangat tapi tengok la tempat dan keadaan : seriously, what was she thinking? sitting comfortably on the chair with the best view, surrounded by eager participants who had to sit on the floor sebab takde space – and she had the nerve to SLEEP? international speaker talking in front tengok pun buat malu je!

may Allah reward us for our patience and endurance!

 

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in between talks ladies could go and jalan-jalan. there was a bazaar open with many, many stalls selling jubah, tudung, islamic books, locally made beauty products and many more. my sisters bought knee-length blouses and I bought myself the popular inspirational book yasmin mogahed, ‘reclaim your heart’. such a soothing read. review coming!

 

yong dah rambang mata hihi

 

right at the end of the long trail of stalls is the escalator leading to the surau. super crowded as all the muslimah rushed to answer the call to pray. alhamdulillah. everyone in orderly manner and moved fast after prayer to let in other people.

not only were there bazaars, there were also a lot of activities happening at other spots like ‘genius-aulad kids’ zone’ where mommies can drop their kids to enjoy storytelling, tazkirah, playtime and even naptime!

 

look who’s talking!

 

there’s also a ‘sister’s corner’ held at another room in PICC with tv al hijrah personalities sharing their experience as a muslimah in their profession. there were also manicure and henna design that I really wanted to have done on my hands but the line was too long! there was a 40 minute waiting period – as it was already late afternoon, tak jadi lah.

and then there’s irma hasmie sharing and caring with the sisters in the audience. I really don’t know who irma hasmie is (pelakon ke penyanyi ke pengacara tv ke) aside from the fact that she’s a popular personality who had ‘berhijrah’ and sported a lovely demure muslimah look now. she seemed nice. hihi.

 

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how’s makan time? there’s a foodcourt in PICC and that morning we had our breakfast there, buffet style. the food is good, reasonably priced. bihun goreng singapore style dia sedap! asal kenyang to start the day, alhamdulillah. lunch pun kat situ.

 

my sisters : nyam nyam ngap ngap

 

I had nasi lemak and a bit of singapore bihun, but to me the singapore bihun is much more delicious. should’ve taken more of that!

 

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anyways, one of the sweet (funny) memories at ‘being ME 2’ was also when we met this ex-UIA student during a talk by IIUM (international islamic university malaysia) rector prof. dato dr zaleha kamaruddin. she was sitting right in front of us.

before that dr zaleha had already asked all the UIA students/grads among the audience to raise their hands, and of course la with pride I raise my hand, prompting the girl in front of me to ask later on,

• “budak uia ye?” I was like yeap. “uia jugak ke?”
• and the girl replied, “tapi I dah lama dah grad,” in a very akak-akak way, brushing me off as if I were STILL an undergrad student at uia.
• before I could correct her, my sisters in amusement replied, “dia ni laaaaaagi lama dah grad. dah 10 tahun kot. haha”
• the girl was stumped. realizing all at once that I turned out to be much, much older than she is.

ok pointnye story ni ialah aku nampak muda macam budak degree ok!! hahaha. aku gembira dengan cerita ini. sekian, terima kasih.

cerita masa fatih seferagic kasi talk pun lawak. tapi nanti-nanti la aku cerita.

 

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so who were these other awesome speakers and what did I actually get from listening to them?

well – talks that inspire. words that motivate. wisdom that will make you open your eyes. anecdotes that amuses and tickle your funny bones.

too many words of wisdom that we picked up during this wonderful event. from the helpful tips shared by international qari fatih seferagic, to the engaging tales told by sheikh daood butt, up to the motherly love exudes from prof dr muhaya – too much to share in one posting. insyaAllah I will share it bit by bit as I go along updating my long-abandoned blog!

being at ‘Being ME 2 : women empowered’ with my beloved sisters has certainly empowered me as a woman, as a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and most of all as Allah’s servant. not just knowing our place in society and family, but our duty to Allah. it made me feel so much pride to be a woman, realizing all the wonderful things I could do, most importantly as a mother.

not just about how to memorize the Quran effectively, but how to encourage our children and make it easy for them. not simply for us to think positive but to bring out the best in other people through your positive attitude.

we are part of a bigger picture – and that’s what muslimah needs to realize and understand what we can offer the world.

“worship Allah FIRST, and everything else will fall into place,” tasneem ghouri (motivational speaker, quran teacher, counselor)

 

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on a lighter note, this is one of the best hang-outs we’ve had in YEARS ever since 3 of us got married and having kids. it was just us girls, without abah, without our husbands, without screaming kids demanding more cookies – just us sisters. memang liberating habis! hihi.

also I would like to congratulate my bro-in-law nash (married to syida) for a successful, smooth-sailing and interesting event. he is part of the team behind the scene; as the sales manager. well done, bro! 

watch this space for my take on the speakers like fatih seferagic, sheikh daood and prof dr. muhaya. anyone for Being ME 3?