1. 'Determination' is a necessity for entrepreneurs. 2. Avoid 'bitching' remarks that reduce your motivation level. How to?

‘Determination’.
In my years as an entrepreneur, I am still searching as to what is the most necessary trait to be a good entrepreneur. While the answer can be endless to different people with different views and might change in different times, I personally believe that ‘determination’ is the most necessary trait.

Of course there are other traits like the ability to adapt, to learn, to manage, human relation, strong mentality, leadership, good business ideas etc. but in my opinion all this can be acquired if we have ‘determination’. For some, the main hindrance to start a business is the ‘fear’ of failure. To fear is human; yet, some overcome their ‘fear’ to reach their goals. So how do you overcome your fear? The answer might lies in ‘determination’.

There are people, who go all the way to do the unimaginable things far from the average people initiative, like climbing the peak of Everest, swimming across Pacific Ocean etc. I don’t think that these people are without fear; they just think positively and build their ‘determination’, that’s how they overcome their fear with courage.

Without human ‘determination’, we might never fly across the ocean as the Wright Brothers were not brave enough to invent, America might be discovered far too late if Christopher Columbus were lacking the courage. Fear is inevitable but ‘determination’ overcomes the negativity of fear.

In my early attempt to become full time entrepreneur, I feared that I will fail, that I am worried for my next meal, that people will not support me morally etc. I fought and still fighting my fear with ‘determination’. Yes I was lucky, because my parents as my pillar of strength never fail to encourage me but the rest I have to fight by myself in the never ending battle.

Fostering ‘determination’.

So how do you foster your ‘determinant spirit’? My idea is to build up your confident level, get as many knowledge as you can and surround yourself with motivating family and friends. One way I feel is quite effective to get friends or family that motivates you is to be generous and sincere to motivate others. Also, be open to receive comments as they are valuable for you to improve and move forwards. Why our ex PM adopt 'Malaysia boleh' slogan? It is for the citizen to have high confident and determination level.

As human, sometimes your ‘determination’ level can be hampered by many factors (mostly psychological). The fact is, only you can control your ‘determination’ level. As ‘determination’ is psychological in nature, do avoid negative and insincere comments or words from anybody to lower your spirit.

These comments are dangerous especially nowadays with a specific 'verbal technology' we called ‘bitching’ (no gender bias as both male and female employ this evil techniques). Eventhough it is physically harmless, it is indeed detrimental to your psychological health.

‘Bitching’ versus good comment.

‘Bitching’ – a term made famous in the 80s and early 90s with soaps such as ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Dallas’ and it is still alive these days. “Crystle dear, that dress is gorgeous but you look like homeless queen in it; Oh darling Alexis, you come in time when we need a Christmas tree. Both disappeared to change their wardrobes”. Oh yes, the ‘bitching’ technology is evolving to the extent that some are using ‘religion’ subtly to exploit for whatever reason to dampened your spirit thus lowering your motivation.

For example, I recently received a comment that some of my writing and photos in my blog are sinful for a Muslim (the comment is in a very clever and subtle way) that in a blink, I almost think that the comment might be sincere – yeah right – who are you? God? To suggest I am in sin.

How to identify and differentiate positive comments and ‘bitching’ comments’?

With widespread ‘bitching’, nevertheless, you still need sincere comments so you can improve yourself and your business. Sometimes when we are too emotional, good and positive comments can be mistaken as ‘bitching’. Fortunately, it is actually very easy to identify and avoid the harmful ‘bitching’ that can cause damage to your motivation and 'determination'.

Sincere people actually often think in ‘both sides of the coin’ when giving comments and try to broaden your perspectives. So when the comments arrived, they normally come with logical reasoning that you can easily digest without judging that you are in the wrong. Normally, sincere comments are straightforward.

When people ‘bitching’, there are so many dramas they put to convey their comments like emphasizing their sincerity when in reality they are not (often it goes like this, 'I am your friend so I 'sincerely' want to comment....'). ‘Bitching’ remarks usually have so many express apologies (its the sign of feeling guilty) and so many excuses put into suppose to be straightforward comments ( bitches tactic - 'I am so sorry but I think'...., 'coment, coment...so sorry'). Sorry? When in actual he/she is so please to pull you down.

Why appologize if they are sincere?. One popular 'bitching' technique is that they say they want to give a sincere comment, then they pause for a while and let you wait to build up suspense and tension. What a drama. Why? They know that by playing with time, suspense will increase and you subsequently panic. (drama - 'I need to say something important....10 minutes latter...'your dress is too small for you').

Another 'bitching' example, “the reason I am commenting your writing because I have a friend who is better yet a humble person blah blah blah", "why I commented is because, I had a bad experience blah blah blah thats why I would like to comment blah blah”….shhh if it’s nothing to do with the person you want to comment why 'bitching'. Sincere comments need no apology and excuses. They might also repeatedly say that they take back what they say. Is it logically posssible? The Meta language behind the comments is only for you to stop having high motivation.

A 'bitching person' will always try to convince that you are angry (even if you are not) and mad with them after hearing their 'worthy' comment, so, they pretend to calm you down when in actual you are not even feeling any emotional pain (makes them look that they are in the right). Why? to make you really angry by 'suggesting you are'. Oh yes, they know psychology and they are very intelligent in the wrong side, some of them are really a master in certain language(s). With this, they hope to have the last word (their ultimate victory).

No thank you. I suggest when you encounter a 'bitching' person (also known as a serial critique), dont argue, put them into ‘mute’ mode and 'run for miles'. Yeah running miles from them is a good revenge as these people are normally very lonely (evidently; who wants to be near to these people?). Or maybe they engaged in 'bitching' activities because they are lonely, or they want attention thus became 'comment' 'police', in this case, I suggest they go to a psychiatrist to get cured. As to motives of 'bitching' I sense none other than 'envy', sometimes there are no motives, sometimes they dont realise that they are 'bitching'.

A 'bitching person' will never fail to see the negative sides but too lazy to observe the positives of even in a perfect situation (worse than Simon Cowell from American Idol). I call upon my fellow Muslim to stop the bad habit of 'bitching' as this is not our culture. With freedom of speech, stop policing the right and wrong according to your personal interest. If you think you are about to 'bitch', take a deep breath, quote the '2 kalimahsyahadat' (if you are a muslim), instead of be mad, be happy for others and pray for their success (not a hard excercise right?).

Remember, 'bitching' is not trendy any more. Since I have unravelled a lot of 'the dark art of bitching', we (the entrepreneurs) better becareful than let 'bitches' pull us down and stay determined in our good effort, and 'bitches', you ought to relearn your social skill and get a life (not from soaps). Even Joan Collins or Larry Hagman made less appearances nowadays.

OK, my fellow entrepreneurs, party and festivals are over let us work harder and determine to prove that we can make it.

Ps: Today I want to show the photos of my parents (the pillar of my strength) that I love so much, photos taken in Vietnam. I pray every day for their health, 'murah rezeki', longevity and be placed with 'orang-orang yang beriman'.

Pss: I am not going to appologize if my article is hurtful to some as that will be a drama for 'bitching'.

Psss: Without determination, more than 40,000 people will not have made the walk of yellow on the 10/11. Determined for BERSIH.

The Pavilion shopping mall and happy Deepavali.

Thats me socializing with the quartet.

Dear readers,

As a reward for working so hard, I felt like doing my own thing just by myself - 'window shopping' (the favorite past time of an average KLite). I was tempted to go to the new shopping mall in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the Pavilion, after reading Pak Idrus's (one of my favorite) blog entry of the latest shopping mall. So, in the second day of Deepavali, I decided to check it out myself.

After parking my car in Imbi plaza, I walked towards Jalan Bukit Bintang straight to Lot 10; there was this magnificent sight of the mall visible from Lot 10. I must say that the building is remarkable whilst the architecture has been brilliantly blended with the neighboring buildings, enhancing the view of Jalan Bukit Bintang as a whole.






I went inside from the entrance where a Jaguar is displaying as a price for a competition. Pak Idrus was right quoting the mall as prestigious. I did my shopping at the Levis store, bought a pair of jeans and enjoyed a quartet playing nice jazzy tunes. After strolling all the floors, I went back to my car in Imbi plaza and drove straight home. Yeah, I enjoyed my time there.

Congratulation Kuala Lumpur for given birth to another great shopping mall, hope we can attract more international shoppers to Malaysia.

To all my Hindu friends all over the world, I wish you a Happy Deepavali.

Thats a kolam in Pavilion

Ps: My mother is going to love the Pavilion.

MARA BPU’s (Bahagian Pembangunan Usahawan / Entrepreneur Development Division) open house.

Puan Meriyam, the ex-boss of BPU in elegant red baju kurung.


Tuan Hj Hamid Tan, he is taking our bumi entrepreneurs to the international level of marketing, China, South Africa, Europe, Pakistan, the Middle East..etc. If you are qualified you can get BPU's sponsor to market your products overseas.

Dear readers:

This afternoon at 12.30am, I went to BPU’s open house at the 23rd floor, Mara head quarters in Jalan Raja Laut. I was greeted at the main entrance of BPU by friendly directors and staffs of BPU. Most of them from the top boss himself En Muhammad Sameon , directors, and deputy directors to the staffs are familiar faces and can be considered as friends to me and to all Bumi entrepreneurs. Even the ex–boss of BPU, ‘Puan Meriyam’ (fondly known as Kak Yam to Bumi entrepreneurs) who is currently managing ‘Fitec’, was there at the open house.

The menu was awesome from cendol, nasi beriyani, varieties of ketupat, rendang, soto etc. As I have covered BPU in my previous article, I guess no point to rewrite about them. But those who miss the info on BPU can check out BPU’s page, a part of MARA’s website by itself. All photos from the open house can be downloaded here.

Ps: Selamat Hari Raya and maaf zahir batin to all MARA BPU’s staff and thank you very much. I love you BPU.




Mr Hafiz, our DJ of the event.
At the right (light blue baju Melayu) is our dear En Kamal, ex-boss from MARA Wilayah, now one of the directors in BPU.
Pretty ladies of BPU.

Pss: On behalf of Bumi entrepreneurs, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to BPU for always being there for us. Thank you.
Psss: Tomorrow, our 'Institute Usahawan Bumiputera' in Pertama Complex will hold an open house.
Pssss: Dr Syiekh Muzaffar our first Bumi astronaut from Malaysia was from MRSM, a school of MARA, like myself....thanks Dr, you made us proud.

AutoCAD, computer software as a tool for technical drawing.

I have to admit that most Bumiputera entrepreneurs are still lacking in computer skills, including those who are internet savvy, many are not aware of various important computer softwares that essential to managing and operating a business.

As a qualified and selected consultant for BPU (Bahagian Pembangunan Usahawan) of MARA (Majlis Amanah Rakyat), I have introduced several important softwares from 'Accounting', 'Bar Code applications', 'Project Management', 'Government’s procurement engine' to 'Industrial designing tools' etc. to our entrepreneurs.

This month I am involved in the training of AutoCAD for the Bumiputera entrepreneurs of MARA, hence my busy schedule has started to rule my time. Autocad? Some of us may have very little or no knowledge on this computer application even if our involvement in technical drawing is on a routine basis. So what is AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a computer aided design software specializing in technical drawing be it architectural drawing, mechanical or electrical drawing to general drawing from furniture to embroidery to fashion. AutoCAD is a product of AutoDesk, selling at average Malaysian retail price of RM16,700.00 (+/-) per license (AutoCAD 2008) for one year and license renewal about 10% of the price for subsequent years. I have to admit, that the price is considered expensive, but is the software worth it? Let us see what it can do to business productivity.

AutoCAD has the ability to draw in precise scale and shapes what we have conceptually design in sketch and illustrated right to our computer and latter to be printed or communicated to machines for production; example, embroidery machines or furniture making machines.

The process of drawing by computer using AutoCAD is easy, simple and less time consuming without any assistance from all the conventional technical drawing instruments, provided the operator of AutoCAD has undergone training with specialists or knowledgeable with the software. A picture of a screw driver can be drawn in less than 1 minute by an experienced operator with design and scale accuracy while a full scale building plan can be drawn in less than 7 minutes.

AutoCAD drawing can furthermore transform appropriate single or 2 dimensional drawing into 3 dimensional in very simple steps, therefore, its suitability for engineering or mechanical firms. Architects often use the software to draw complicated building designs from a mere conceptual sketched ideas and watch the almost perfect draft in different angles and dimensions of the building with the 3 dimensional capacity of AutoCAD.

The best thing about the software is that you don’t need to possess advance technical drawing knowledge to operate the software. Just a Malaysian form three secondary school modern math as a basic will be adequate to learn to draw sophisticated drawings using the software.

However, the first-class software is not without flaws (not to mention the high price), as all machines need creative input from human, so does the software. Design is actually from you while the machine delivers precisely whatever you conceptualize or sketch in the human brain into technical drawing.

Nevertheless, do remember, unlike Photoshop from Adobe and the open source GIMP that specializing in graphic and photo manipulation or Corel Draw that specializing in free hand computer drawing, AutoCAD is meant for technical drawing only.

Thus AutoCAD software is very suitable for industry and entrepreneurs such as dress maker and embroidery, any type of contractors (electrical, building, automotive, mechanical) to big scale manufacturing business as long as there are lots of technical drawing involved in the operation.

MARA is organizing several ‘4 days workshop’ conducted by me (personally will impart my knowledge in AutoCAD) in November and December. I welcome and congratulate those selected by MARA to be in my class. For my students, do pay attention as the cost to acquire the knowledge from several Malaysian training providers is very expensive (around RM3, 000.00 per person non intensive and RM5, 000.00 intensive course) although with MARA you are highly subsidised.

Photo from the past.

I don’t exactly have the knowledge on how many years the age of the photo above but I guess it must be taken more than 75 years in Muar. Seated second from left was my late grandmother in white baju kurung while second from right was my late great grandmother (known to my family as Mak Tua, I never have the chance to meet her personally). That photograph was taken in Muar High School where my Mak Tua was the headmistress while my grandmother was the teacher, teaching Japanese syllabus during the Japanese occupation.

As to why I want to do this post is because this is my father’s request as he is the biggest fan of my blog. I won’t post the whole story of my grandmother as I wish to publish it on its own blog or perhaps a book soon after my thorough study of my family history is completed.

However, briefly, I would like to share that my late grandmother was a Japanese born in Singapore to a Japanese couple (the father was a trader) whom later (the mother of my grandmother) let my grandmother (who was still a baby) to her childless Japanese sister (Mak Tua) who was married to a Malay dignitary in Johor while the couple went back to Japan.

During her teenager, my grandmother (raised as a Malay) was married to my grandfather (a Malay penghulu in Benut) that I have never seen as he died when my dad was only 2 years old. The story of the keris(es) that I wrote in the prior post was actually about the inheritance from this line of my family (Malay/Bugis).

Throughout her lifetime, my great grandmother was an excellent businesswoman as she had initiated lots of ventures from school to rest house, coconut plantations etc. I was told that she even produced her own bath soap to testify that she was very enterprising. Dad said several times that my sister from 'www.khadijah.biz' inherited a lot of her enterprising traits from great grandma 'Mak Tua'.

I was made to understand that my grandma’s family who was originally from Kyushu, Japan, came to Singapore many years ago to work, trade and involved in business as the condition of their then hometown in Japan was very poor economically. A manuscript stating that 'the history of Japanese migrating outside 'Japan' since 400 years ago' is in my possession.

Sadly, after the British came back from the world war, Mak Tua the strong lady was inhumanely tortured by the British but survive. Still, she insisted to remain in this country she called home as a devoted Muslim widow with her only 'daugter', my grandmother up till the end of her life.

As far as I personally remember, my grandmother who read only ‘Jawi’ newspaper was an intelligent lady with good mental arithmatic who loves to cook. With an only son (my father) and 3 daughters (2 from the marriage with my step grandfather), she left us in peace about 10 years ago when I was still posted in Papua New Guinea. Al Fatihah to Allahyarhamah.


The last solo photo of grandma before she left us forever in peace a few months later.

I do hope my late great grandmother's (Mak Tua) story as an amazing lady entrepreneur will inspire our lady entrepeneurs today to be bold and brave. Ok Abah, let’s wait when I publish the research on your family, till then you take care dear.

Ps: If any Japanese or their descendants from the photo read this, please e mail me.
Pss: My aunt Hamidah who went to Japan years ago confirmed that we still have an uncle (grandma's brother who resemble the exact facial feature of my dad) and relatives over there. My grandmother tomb (Michiko Bu Wanno) is there in Japan until today as she was declared as deceased when my Mak Tua and grandma refused to go back to Japan when in reality she was still alive then.
Pss: No matter how powerful a human can be, he cant change the course of history and the past.

Food from Johor Bahru to die for - 'Mee Rebus Haji Wahid'.

A few chapters of my life were in overseas but now I am back to my country for good. When I was living outside Malaysia, the one thing I always missed was the local food. Lucky enough, I do have the ability to cook few local dishes although not as professional to be commercialized.

Malaysian food is special to me as they have been blended into our multi cultural orientation. Some Malaysian food like ‘roti canai’ were originally from overseas but have been 'Malaysianized' to adapt for the local taste. I still believe that our local Malaysian food here is relatively cheaper compared to food prices around the world.

There were some local food that I really missed when I lived overseas and the most is ‘mee rebus’ from my hometown, Johor Bahru. In particular, I was missing ‘Mee rebus Haji Wahid’ when I was away.

‘Mee rebus Haji Wahid’ is synonymous with Johor Bahru with a long history of family business establishment even during the time when my mother was a child. Almost all of Johor Bahru residents are familiar with the ‘mee rebus’. Today ‘Mee Rebus Haji Wahid’ is managed by the children of Haji Wahid with many branches in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur.

I say, they prosper over the years from a humble beginning of hawker stall while maintaining the same quality as the original of yester year. For them, modern business expansion techniques, such as the fast food franchise system have no relevancy to them, yet they are able to maintain the SOP (standard operating procedure) of any modern western fast food with the many branches.

I guess, the business SOP is something of their well kept family business secret. I am sure that there are lots of things that a Bumiputera entrepreneur can learn from the home grown ‘Mee Rebus Haji Wahid’, starting from their branding to quality control.

The 'Mee Rebus' is made of yellow noodles with slightly spicy gravy. The gravy is made from sweet potatoes, salted soya beans, dried shrimps, beef, spices and peanuts.

The inexpensive dish is garnished with hardboiled egg, lime, spring onions, celery, green chili, fried shallot, 'pendaram' and bean sprouts. The gravy is thick and fragrant without being too starchy. The high protein, low fat and nutritious dish with remarkable taste furthermore goes well with 'satay'.

I was happy to be back to my hometown Johor Bahru during the Hari Raya and enjoy my ‘Mee Rebus Haji Wahid’.

Ps: Sometimes, retaining our way of traditional food business can be quite as successful or more than the modern fast food business less the huge capital.

‘Jakel’ – the biggest textile and fabric store in Kuala Lumpur.

I thought my sister was kidding us when I overheard her telling my mom about the biggest newly open Bumiputera (with a possibility of immigrant blood like many of us) own fabric store in Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur that was originated from Segamat, a town in Johor. My sister, who is the author of ‘millionaires are from the same planet’, claimed that she knows the Managing Director personally hence could get good discount over there. So, last Saturday she drove us (me, mom and dad) in her Mercedes Brabus to witness the just 3 months old, 6 stories retail store by the name of ‘Jakel’.

Upon arrival I was stunned by looking at how huge Jakel is. My sister was offered a parking space right in front of the main entrance even though we had no prior appointment with the store. That made me feels like a VIP.

Inside, we met with the Managing Director of Jakel himself Mr. Mohamed Faroz Mohamed Jakel who is continuing his father's endeavor in the textile business. Although he was busy with the store management, the 36 year old Managing Director somehow managed the time to entertain us and other clients.


The Managing Director Mohamed Faroz in orange shirt with my sister, mom and dad.

The two ladies (my sis and mom) were very excited at the prospect of shopping with the vast choices of merchandise offered from the all 6 floors that comprise from affordably priced materials to exclusive designer labels such as Valentino, Zegna, Armani, Ungaro etc. We then were chauffeured by the friendly Mr. Mohamed Faroz with an elevator to the highest level (the 6th floor) which displays mostly imported carpets. They both ended up buying carpets of their choices there.

I was really impressed not just by the success of a Bumiputera in running a huge, well organized fabric store in the capital city but was also overwhelmed by the Managing Director personal touch to the clients when we usually see others of his stature merely delegating the task. Obviously, the down to earth Managing Director was really not afraid to dirty his hand with clients. Bravo.





Ps: Hope more Bumiputera will emerge as successful entrepreneurs. Well done Jakel.

Bank Rakyat’s Hari Raya Open House.

The Muslim in Malaysia and all over the world are still celebrating Eid Fitri as the festival is executed in the whole month of 'Syawal' (the month in Islamic calendar). The practice of ‘open house’ in the festive month is the apparent culture for Muslim particularly in Malaysia where we are looking forward to visit and feast at the host’s houses or even at business and office premises.

Nonetheless, a lot of Government departments, ministries and agencies like MARA, DBKL, and Bank Rakyat etc are hosting grand open houses to all. The once a year practice is virtuous according to Islam as it promotes brotherhood, bridging gap among all and foster positive values to all of us.

This afternoon, I went to the 'open house' hosted by Bank Rakyat, Jalan Ipoh branch, Kuala Lumpur where the friendly and most efficient Bank Manager (Encik Azlan Bin Alias) invited me to the premise. It was a full house (most of the guests are clients and associates) but still there are plenty of scrumptious food to enjoy from satay, ketupat, nasi dagang, spaghetti, rojak, cendol etc.

To my amazement, Bank Rakyat which is an agency under the 'Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development', in Jalan Ipoh branch, Kuala Lumpur staffed the most friendly officers compared to the rigid and stiff average bank officers. They seem to be friendly and helpful with their clients, manifested during the 'open house' where they even served food to us.

While enjoying the food, I did some research on their banking facilities through their executives and I must say Bank Rakyat offers plenty of assistance to entrepreneurs especially the Bumiputera.

Now that my tummy is really full, all I have to say is two thumbs for Bank Rakyat Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, job well done.

Ps: Really need a workout at the gym. Hope to join Kenny Sia at the 'Terry Fox Run For Cancer Research' this coming Sunday in KL Lake Garden 8.30am.
Pss: Al Fatihah to Allayarhamah Dahlia my junior from MRSM Kuantan, lost her due to stomach cancer.

Lord of the ‘kerisses’.

About three years ago, my parents handed me 2 ancient weapons (kerisses), not for me to engage in any battle but to keep my family heritage safe for the family and for our future generation. I have no idea of the age of the kerisses but according to my crude estimation they must be more than 150 years old as the original owner was far beyond in the line of my great grandfather on my fathers site.

Up until today I am still clueless as why I have been chosen to be the keeper of the two symbolic weapons, nevertheless, I am grateful and honored to be the present owner of the kerisses and promise to take care of the weapons until the time come to hand down the artifact of my family heritage to the right person in my family.

According to Wikipedia, Keris is a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the southern Philippines. Both a weapon, and spiritual object, kerisses are often considered to have an essence or presence.

Keris blades are usually narrow and have a wide, asymmetrical base. Blade length is highly variable. The blade is made from different iron ores and often contains nickel. Keris blades can be straight or sinuous. With sinuous blades, the bends are called luks. Most keris have fewer than 13 luks and the number of luks should be odd, or the keris would be considered unlucky.

The sinuous blade has become synonymous with the keris. In reality more than half of the old keris have straight blades like mine (refer to the picture above). The luks maximize the width of wound while maintaining its weight.

Functionally, the keris is not a slashing weapon like a bowie knife or other fighting knife, but rather a stabbing instrument. If a keris fighter had stealth on his side, the keris was lethal and the slashing wound made by keris is terrible. The edge of the blade "danced" in the wound, and left the tatters of dead flesh, which began to rot.

In the past, kerisses were worn every day and at special ceremonies, with heirloom blades being handed down through successive generations.

As a Muslim, I don’t believe the kerisses has any spiritual power although for me, they are treasures to be kept as mementos from the past.

Ps : A lot of preparation I have to do for my next workshop on ‘Autocad’ that I will be conducting for MARA very soon. I plan to publish all my lecture notes that have been written by myself to my website www.nafibiz.com soon.


See you on my next post.
Love
Hanafi.

Up market Malay boutiques in 'Shah Alam City Centre (SACC) mall' for Malaysian ladies.

In Europe, the trend on ladies fashion will be determined largely by the seasons. However, we in Malaysia are more likely to follow our big festivals such as Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas. Our haute couture scenes are likely to be influenced by celebrities and local models from local magazines.

‘Baju Kurung’ and ‘Kebaya’ are two Malaysian equivalents to evening gown for the westerner. With the right outfits and accessories, Malaysian ladies can accentuate their beauty and sexiness without exposing so much flesh.

This Raya season, Muslim ladies of all ages from all over the country are demonstrating their latest ‘baju kurung’ and ‘kebaya’ outfits with distinct style of individual taste and creativity. Those with limited budgets will shop at lower to middle class retail outlets around the country while those with money are swarming boutiques or big name tailors. Fabric materials and workmanship are what matter most with emphasize on unique design.

The one up market mall that specializing in haute couture of Baju Kurung is the SACC mall in Shah Alam, Selangor where all the big names in the industry are concentrated in the 1st floor and above of the mall.

A few days ago, I took the opportunity to accompany my mom to the posh mall with my sister and did some study, observation and comparison while my mom and sister were busy shopping.

Even though I am not an expert in ladies fashion and apparel, I must agree that SACC mall is the number one when come to big name designer boutiques for the ladies in Malaysia. While the upper class pricing can be a hindrance to some, you can almost be assured of the design exclusivity and quality of most of the merchandise compared to the mass market produce in Nilai or some bazaars in Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman.

In SACC, a piece of scarf can be spotted in much higher price than the original Levis or Nike shoes but that distinct piece of art mode a worlds apart between a beautiful 'Datin' and common ladies. For Malaysian ladies, the experience of shopping in SACC mall in Shah Alam is like shopping in Paris or Milan designer capitals.

Ps: I am proud of Bumiputera entrepreneurs, boutiques owners and designers achievement in the industry. I believe there are unlimited potentials for them internationally. For Malaysian, do support our local bumiputera industry and happy shopping.

Love,
Hanafi