2016 KULN Annual Report

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Our Prime Minister is very committed to the green initia- That is one initiative. Under my ministry, we are
tives. We are committed to reduce carbon emission by 40% now looking to build buildings on the principle of
before the year 2020. Alhamdulillah, we have seen many sustainability. Nowadays, constructions do not only concern
improvements in this aspect under the authority of Kement- designs and other techni-calities, we also give sustainability
erian Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air (KeTTHA). One of the of the future buildings a high consideration. All building
direct initiatives being that all government buildings must materials must be environ-mentally friendly. We have also
have concrete initiative to obtain the label “Green Building”. extended our efforts to be more environmentally friendly in
This label concerns reductions in energy outputs and carbon our management of roads and slopes. After the flood
emissions. We have many levels of Green Building recogni- disaster that plagued our coun-try last December, the
tion which indicates the level of “greenness” for each build- importance of being environmentally friendly in our
ings. We have Silver, Gold and Platinum, with silver being management of land and roads has become even more of a
the lowest and Platinum being the highest. We now have 2 priority. All ministries are working together to observe this
buildings with Platinum Green Building recognition. effort.

Where does the job scope of Ministry of Works and Ministry What are the Initiatives by the government to rectify
of Transportation overlap? traffic jam?

Ministry of Transportation’s job scopes mostly concern air We have WCA, amongst other things. In the North-South
and sea infrastructures. They are not responsible for the region, we already have 2 highways. One from Taiping to
building of roads; that is under our job scope. However,
they are in charge of regulating the roads. We are more Banting. There is also proposals for the highway to extend
towards the building and maintaining of infrastructures. So, from Banting straight to Melaka. For the East Coast we have
there is a bit of overlapping between the ministries which the East Coast Freeway from Karak, Kuantan, LPT 2. From
are mostly managed through joined committees. But in Kuantan to Kemaman. The connection from LPT to Kota
Bharu is still in process. Before this, in Kelantan, it has been
essence, over-lapping is minimal as we are quite clear of our announced that there is a “Highway Rakyat” by the state
respective roles. gov-ernment. The federal government is concerning itself
with the building of central spine road from Betong to Kota
Bharu. In Rancangan Malaysia Ke-11 we have plans for
roads from Ketereh to the borders of Pahang.

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What are the government’s processes to tender avoid There is something called Urban and Rural Transformation
monopo-ly by 1 company? Program as part of the government’s initiatives for this area.
Under the Urban Transformation Program, the government
All projects managed by JKR is done through open tender. has identified cities like Penang, Johor and Pahang in which

We also have what we call selective tender. This is involv-ing Rapid Bus have been introduced with the assistance of the
works that need to be prioritized so we would recruit federal government. At the same time, we are setting up Ur-
companies which have prior experiences and sound finances ban Transformation Center where government agencies are
to award them with the tender. Otherwise everything is being placed at 1 place to reduce mobilization of the people
open tender. If you are interested in the future, we look at where they can go to government offices without much has-
your financials, experience, capabilities and capacities in sle. To balance up development to not forget the rural areas
awarding tenders. we have what we call regional development particularly in
the East Coast, North, South, Sabah and Sarawak regions. We
One of the 7 NKRA by the government is to improve urban pub-lic have identified respective cities in the areas and are
transportations. One of the initiatives being Gombak Inte-grated commit-ted to developing them. This is to deter migration
Transport Terminal (ITT) and based on the GTP report, one of the from rural to urban places such as KL.
key challenge of ITT is construction delay because of land issue. So
the question is how is the state government’s co-operation with 18 PILLAR I: INTELLECTUALISM
the federal government to rectify this issue?
On February 17th, Azmin Ali, MB Selangor claimed that the rea-son
These are all the issues that we are facing right now. Land falls why the State Government pulled out from KIDEKS project is
under state government’s authority. For example, in our case of because the Federal Government failed to prepare 3 assessments
Lembah Klang where we have to manage about 7 mil-lion which are traffic, social and environmental impact. But you
vehicles going out and into the city per day. In order to this, we countered by claiming that the federal government did prepare all
have to have a more connected road system. We are now that last July. Azmin Ali also said that the government failed to
looking at 5 ring roads and we need all spokes to con-nect in broadcast toll rates during the concession and the return rate of
order to avoid any bottlenecks as what we experience right now investment. What are your thoughts on that? In my opinion, Azmin
with Jalan Duta and Sungai Besi where conges-tions are Ali is seen as fighting for the people because supposedly, he is
prevalent and unavoidable. With the goal to reduce congestions, against KIDEX for the fact that people would have to move because
we first proposed KIDEX to address the prob-lem of road of the project amongst other things while the federal government
congestion in Puchong and Damansara as one of the spokes to is seen to be more on the side of corporations. So my other question
connect the roads. The other spokes include is, does this mean that the federal government really is on the side
of big corporations instead of the people?
DASH and DUKE freeways. Issues arose because of policy
change within the state government of Selangor. Before this, Whatever suggestions made by the private sector, are made based
only when a proposal has been approved by the economic upon the needs of the people. What we see in Puchong right now is
planning unit of the state government does the project begin really bad. LDP’s level of service has become too severe. That’s
with all the necessary studies. Now, the policy has changed
with the state requiring prior studies before a project can be why, there is a proposal for a shortcut. This proposal is first made
approved. This would cause the companies who want to to UKAS and when it is agreed upon, it must be brought to the state
send in the proposals to incur costs in advanced without the government. So this issue is brought first to the former MB, Tan Sri
security of knowing that their proposals will be approved. Khalid Ibrahim. At first, a consensus has been reached.
Besides that, all local councils have different practices which
caused even more problems on our part to conduct projects. Because of that, the companies in charged had started to do
Those are parts of the issue concerning Gombak ITT in order
for us to get development approval. traffic, social and environmental impact studies. This all concerns

the local council. Development approval must come from the

There are many efforts to transform transportation system in local councils. The issue with KIDEX is it has been approved by
the areas such as KL and Lembah Klang. What about other
areas?

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the state government, and it is in the ongoing process of public What other steps have been taken by the government to en-
engagement. Unfortunately, after the power exchanged hand into gage youths and students to expose them with the real sce-
another MB, the dynamics have changed. Only then do they start nario about government works instead of them getting
introducing new rules and regulations. Only when everything their news from unreliable sources such as Whatsapp,
Twitter or Facebook?
has been approved that alignment can be firmed up. The freeway

designs can be put into place etc. After all of that has been ap- Information is readily available from all ministries through
our respective webpages. However, the challenge is that
proved, only then the financials can be prepared and released to good news are not trendy. People are more concerned about
sen-sational news. That is nature of human beings. Our
the public. This is where the information about rate of returns on problem is that we are prone to believe everything in the
investment etc. can be revealed to the public. In general however, social media without doing prior research. That’s why we all
have the responsibility to verify the reliability of the sources
rate of return on investment must be under 10%. But until all the and the content of the news received instead of accepting
alignments have been firmed up, all of this information cannot be everything as facts and sharing it without limitations.

released to the public. When things are uncertain, we can’t reveal it Words of Wisdom?
to the public. So this is the risk that concessions would have to bear
although it is not fair to them because initially it has been To those graduating, congratulations on your achievements. More
approved. This is not good because it deters confidence from importantly to those who are still studying, bear in mind that we
are not studying just for the diploma, but we study to jumpstart our
private sectors to invest in our country. And at the end of the life. The important thing is to apply what we learn in real life.
day, this will affect the people.
Knowledge does not only comes through formal education but
Is it true that motorcycles would have to pay road tolls in can be obtained from a multitude of resources including
the future when they use the freeways? interac-tions with the surrounding community. Retain what is
good and bring it back to your apply in your own life.
Actually this question was raised by Kuantan MP as to why
motorcycles do not have to pay tolls. So, my answer was based
on the law. According to the law by JPJ called road transport
ordinance. The ordinance defined that transportations that can
be tolled must have more than 2 wheels. There are only 2
places where motorcycles have to pay tolls:

Penang and Singapore Bridge. So no, the rumors are not true-
the government has no intention to force motorcycles to pay
toll because the ordinance has been clearly defined.

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STUDENT ACTIVISM: IS IT A DISTRACTION? 19

TEH TARIK SESSION

STUDENT ACTIVISM:

IS IT A DISTRACTION?

Prepared by: Atikah Puteri & Haziq Farhan

Student activism is often misinterpreted as student involvement. Student activism is activities joined or organized by student in

order to make a political or social change. Student involvement on the other hand is any kind of activities joined by the student such as
intramural sports competition, acting for Malaysian Cultural night and others.

To kick the discussion off, I would like to pose the Some people are actively engaging in these student activities
question whether student activism is a distraction or not? to bring about to change to the nation’s policy to the extent of
breaking the contracts that they had signed (scholarship). Do
you think that these people are doing the right thing?

It depends on the student’s ability schedule. A member gave A student who is actively engaged in these kinds of activity
her situation as an example. Last semester, there was prac- should always be aware of what the risk that he is facing and
tically nothing in her schedule so she can give the utmost also the reward that will be sowed from breaking such a law. If
focus to her studies because she has not joined any of the he deemed that the reward truly outnumbers the consequences
student bodies available or programs. This semester howev- that will happen after that, then by all means, do proceed. The
er she needs to balance out her academic schedule with the same could be said by for the other situation. The student
demanding task of being the secretary of an organization should also bear in mind the other party that will
and one of the International Night committee. However, as a
stu-dents we must remember that we are here for our be involved if the contract is revoked. Remember that you are a
studies, so we need to put our academic calendar as one of student and that you will not have the financial capabilities to
the highest priorities in our schedule. repay what you have used which will be evoked when you break
the contract. Malaysia is indeed a country that clearly states in
Distraction is usually things that do harm to us because we its constitution that freedom of speech is a right
are not paying attention to the ones that need it, such as our
education. However, by actively involved in student on which every Malaysian will have. So you should exercise
activism, a lot of benefits can be obtained. Our soft skills these rights in order to get your opinion heard to the
especially are not taught in classrooms. There will be highest authority. Students are the ones who will vote for
nothing that provides the closest feel as to being in the real the ruling government in the future and to be left in the
world rather than ac-tively engaging in these activities. To unknown is just delaying the inevitable, they will have to
say that it brings harm is definitely not accurate. voice out their opinion in the future.
Furthermore, every individual will have their own capacity
in which they can work and also study. By constantly Now that we have heard the arguments presented for both side of
pushing himself to be better, they will learn how to manage the coin, I would like for several of the participants today to bring
their time wisely which is much needed in the real world.

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about their own opinion to the discussion after being involved
in such a lengthy discussion. Is student activism a distraction?

1. To say that student activism is a distraction is simply not 4.College student especially the ones studying abroad are
true. Each person can contribute in their own way be it by expected to achieve greatness so to simply focus on
actively engaging in a political party or even just sharing a academic is not wise and is a waste of talent. Student
post on Facebook activism is a must in honing the student’s potential.
5.It is a distraction because the idea that you need to finish
2. Everybody has the right to voice out their opinion thus I up the paperwork for the project you will be hosting will
disagree that student activism is a distraction. always be there on the back of your mind even though you
have perfected your schedule to accommodate these extra
3. Each student should know what they are capable of and challenges.
plan their way in accommodating their capabilities so I
would not say that the student activism is a distraction.

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PILLAR I: INTELLECTUALISM

TEH TARIK SESSION

REFUGEE CRISIS: RESPONSIBILITIES

OF GLOBAL CITIZENS

Prepared by: Elsa Athira Asri & Atikah Puteri

Syrian refugees have been forced out of their homes since the year of 2011 and the number of people that suffered from this had been

steadily increasing. The discourse, delivered by Professor Mahmoud Hamad, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Drake University,
was centered on the causes of this incident and what we, as a global citizen, can do to help these unfortunate people.

History and Cause of Syrian Crisis: Being the smaller force, the people struggle to win this war

as the government is restricting the borders resulting arms
and ammo is really hard to obtain.

To start things off, Syria simply does not have any politi-cal The initiatives from the international community to help
entity. Army intervention is always happening in Syria them:
because of this absence of political entity. This army also is
comprised mainly of the people from the Alawites. People of A lot of them opt to flee to Turkey because they provide
Syria are divided into mostly two religious beliefs, the Sunni financial support for them. In Jordan, however, they are not so
and the Alawites. The Sunni were the largest and were the lucky and are forced to go to camps. The Arabians are not very
most educated of the two. They also have more land while hospitable because of the differences of culture between the
the Alawites only gets civil services. Being born Sunni will Syrian people and the Arabians. What unites the people in the
most likely made education a lot more reachable so young- Middle Eastern is not Islam, but their culture. Things start to
sters of the Sunni will often times pursue college education. change when the Syrian refugee starts to arrive in the
The Alawites on the other hand, cannot afford this expen- European countries. Sweden is one of these European
sive education so they opt to join the army. As more of the countries.
Alawites joins the army, they are now the dominant group
in the army. When the European countries are involved in this conflict, it
becomes a Western problem. The United States are then
The repercussions by this oppression towards the Sunni pressured into taking an action. Whether any action taken
and their action: by the international community will ever be enough, it
simply would not. Too much financial investment is needed
At first, they thought that they can revolt and do just what and no country will be willing to sacrifice that much of
the people of Egypt had done. The people of Egypt used the money to a foreign country separated by a sea.
power of revolution to bring down the ruling of Haman.
However, the ruling government of Syria is very different.
They retaliate any and all resistance shown by the people
with tanks and special infantry forces. Nothing was held
back. The people decide to go on militaristic movement be-
cause of this extreme retaliation from the government.

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The initiatives that can be done as students to help:

Obviously, any and all financial aid is appreciated and doing so
is very easy. Just go online and place your donation to the
organization that is responsible in handling these funds. The big
thing is to enlighten and educate the people around us about
the hardships that the Syrian people are facing. For example,
the United States of America is as big as a continent on its own.
Everybody can help by telling their friends about this event. As
a Muslim student, you need to show that Islam is not about
what it is usually portrayed. A religion of violence and war.
Show to your classmates that you are an exemplary student, be
excellent. Destroy the stigma.

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TEH TARIK SESSION

FINANCIAL CRISIS: EFFECTS

TOWARDS GLOBAL CRISIS

Prepared by: Atikah Puteri & Haziq Farhan

The financial crisis of 2007-2008, also known as the Global Financial Crisis and 2008 Financial Crisis, is considered by many

economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It threatened to collapse the large finan-cial
institutions and prolonged unemployment.

Professor Rick Long, our speaker, is an Assistant Professor of
Finance at Drake University, Iowa.

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The bursting of the United States (U.S.) housing bubble, which peaked in 2004, caused the values of securities tied to U.S.
real estate pricing to plummet, damaging financial institutions globally. The crisis played a significant role in the failure of
key businesses and a downturn in economic activity leading to the 2008-2012 global recession and contributing to the
European sovereign-debt crisis. These chain of events started off unexpectedly when we thought that everything will be
going smoothly. When we take a look at the history of this crisis, we can see the human nature that goes between being
greedy and too fearful. The market fluctuated due to human actions. Because of the greediness, people simply signed up to
30 year house mortgages to earn extra money in easy way. The bank just kept the loan as long as people paid for the house
mortgages. It was in 1980s when the interest rate went up to almost 14%. A lot of people thought of taking out their money
from the banks. Banks offered another alternative to sell the mortgages for their assets. People thought that was not a good
idea to get a better loan as they didn’t want to take such risk.

During 1997 was when the Asian financial meltdown. The Asian fi-nancial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped
much of East Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion.
The crisis started in southern

Thailand. At the time, Thailand had acquired a burden of foreign debt that made the country effectively bankrupt even
before the collapse of its currency. As the crisis spread, most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies.
The “Asian flu’ had also put pressure on the United States and Japan. Their markets did not collapse but they were
severely hit. The indirect effects included the housing bubble. America did not want to invest because of the high risks;
therefore, they bought bonds instead.

During late 1990s, those evets built up. Interests were cut down to prevent recession from happening. The houses are now
being invested heavily and thus the market of household went up. Everybody wanted to invest in housing. They bought
houses and lease them. Typically,

it looked like a high-quality investment. There were deregulations in banking which allowed bank to buy mortgages.
It was very easy for anybody to buy house for as low as 0% down payment. Wall Street packaged the mortgages and
get high return on them. This caused people globally to want those mortgages.

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PILLAR I: INTELLECTUALISM

The greediness played it role and caused the Wall Street to was the beginning of the financial crisis once again. The
earn on house mortgages as much as they could. It was then banks were forced to hold a lot sum of money in reserve
when the housing market were getting slower. A lot of peo- to prevent from collapse due to insufficient capital.
ple didn’t have enough money to invest in housing. The
little money they had went to food and other necessities. The U.S. government took initiative to quantitate money by
People started to give back the mortgages to the bank for printing money to drive interest rates down. There was no
money. They got a free put option and it was the best inflation and a very high unemployment rate. This was when it
decision they could make. was decided to raise the interest rates. The European also used
the same corrective method and it took about 10 years to get
The chain of event then started. All the bond holders would like back from the growth that it was before. U.S. dollars became
to sell the bond but there was no demand from the buyers at the global currency and there are more variability in currency.
all. This forced the value to go down tremendously. Some A lot of currency is being hold in the global scale. Who knows
banks did not have enough capital and the regulator claimed will the dollar always stay as world currency.
that the holders of bankruptcy. The liquidity just stopped. U.S.
government started to intervene. General Mo-tors company Lesson to be learnt from all of this is people get real greedy
who sells cars and gave out loans to people to buy their cars, and becoming out of control. In a capitalistic system, we
faced a problem as nobody was paying their loans. So General need to be careful in investing our money. If the offer looks
Motors wanted the government to protect their companies as a too good to be true, then usually investors don’t try to invest
defense system. Lots of things were going on with the housing. in things like that. Do some research and homework before
Regulators and financial systems were constantly in conflict. going on further with these investment things. Above all, al-
Back then, people were buying too much of stocks and had high ways remind yourself not to be influenced by the
debts. Banks can choose to be either an investment bank or greediness. You can buy stocks from public company and
universal bank. This split worked until 1960s. A lot of the bank earn profits from rating these kinds of bonds. In conclusion,
just died and nobody even remembered. Then, the regulations play safe and the middle road is always the best option.
loosen up and that

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RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

TEH TARIK SESSION

RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

Prepared by: Azizah Masturina & Haziq Farhan

Race is a group of people that share the same history, heritage and ancestors. In Malaysia, the race of children in interracial

marriage will follow his or her father. Malaysia is made up of different races and it is known as a multi-racial country. In
Malaysia, we have three main races: Malays, Chinese and Indians. There are also other races that made up Malaysia such as
the Baba Nyonya, Eurasians and indigenous people. Ethnicity is defined as a social group that has a common language, culture
and religion. Sometimes ethnicity can be a part of one’s identity.

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Race and ethnicity play a fundamental role in creating our identity. Who we are and how we live our life are affected by our
race and ethnicity. Sometimes a particular society may be segregated by race and ethnicity. This is because the ethnic group
will act in a certain way in accordance to the race of that person. Racial tension may arise if the society can no longer tolerate
with the differences.

“RACE IS A STREOTYPE, NOT BIOLOGICAL “

Race is not biological. Theorists usually relate race with stereotypes. Every racial stereotype has its own history. For instance, a lot of
the racial stereotypes of African Americans originated from the slave trade. The notion that African Ameri-cans are good dancers, for
example, originated from the fact that slave traders used to make the African slaves dance to keep fit during long voy-ages. In
Malaysia, there are different stereotypes given to each races. There are both positive and negative stereotypes for each races.
The Chinese are often associated with being rich. This is probably due to fact that during the British colonization, the British
implemented the “divide and conquer” strategy and gave the Chinese the advantage of living in cities as traders and merchants.
They are usually considered hardworking and over achievers. The negative stereotypes of the Chinese race include “bad driv-ers”
and “foreigners.”
Indian Malaysians are often regarded as sweet talkers because they are said to be good with their words. Therefore, Indians
are normally associated with being good lawyers. In addition, Indians are also associated with being doctors, cab drivers, and
athletes. The bad stereotypes of Indians are that they are drunks, smell bad, are gangsters.

Malays are famous for their tardiness. They are known to be lazy and incompetent. These two go along with the stereotype
that Malays are average in everything they do. They are deemed “keyboard warriors” who like to argue and complain on the
Internet.

These are just some of the stereotypes associated with these particular races. We are now faced with the question of whether being
part of a certain race make us all these things. Does being Malay or Indian automatically make person lazy or a gangster?

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PILLAR I: INTELLECTUALISM

ETHNICITY Malays and indigenous people. A lot of people feel
that this is unfair to the other races. Therefore,
Unlike race, ethnicity is based on tradition, culture and some of them are resent-ful and demand for equal
language. People of the same ethnicity usually speak the opportunity. How does the Malay-sian
same languages and have the same traditions. Their lives are government justify these privileges? The
mostly shaped by the same culture supplementary to the government argues that this is necessary in order
eth-nicity they belong to. The question arises is whether or to level the playing field. Years of being colonized
not someone can change his or her ethnicity? Is it the same have caused retardation in the development of the
as converting to a different religion? Malays. The government does not want the Malays
to be left behind.
In Malaysia, it is not possible. If a Chinese person were to
practice the way of life of the Malays, by law, they are still Today, Malaysia is moving towards an open
considered Chinese. Legally, a person has to fulfill a set of economy, which means equal opportunities to
criteria to be considered Malay. A Malaysian’s ethnicity is every person, regardless of race. This economic
very complicated as it is written in the country’s constitu- policy focuses on helping the people in the
tion. Thus, in Malaysia, ethnicity is something rigid, solid, lowest 40 percent in annual income.
and permanent.
“We are now faced
RACE AND ETHNICITY ALL AROUND THE WORLD with the question of
whether being part of
During ancient China, if one learns and practices the culture of a a certain race make
certain race, that person will be considered of that race. The area us all these things
in which the culture is dominant covers a large geo-graphical
region in Eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying (stereotypes). Does
greatly between provinces, cities and even towns. being Malay or In-
dian automatically
Important components of Chinese culture includes make a person lazy
literature, martial arts, cuisine and religion.
or gangster?”
In Malaysia, legal status brings about privilege. Malays are
more privileged compared to other races in Malaysia. One -Professor O’Neil
has to look at the historical context in order to understand
the situation. When Tanah Melayu was demanding indepen-
dence from the British in 1957, the British said they would
only grant the country independence if it granted the
Chinese and Indians citizenship. In return for this gesture,
the Malay leaders demanded special privileges for the
Malays and indigenous people of Tanah Melayu.

These privileges include a quota on how many non-Malays a
university can accept, and government scholarships for

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WHAT IS SOCIAL CONSTRUCT? because of the different races living together
harmoniously in a country.
Social construct is a social mechanism created and developed by
society. When something is a social construct, it means that the Somehow, we need to maintain the cultures and
idea had been ‘constructed’ through cultural or social practice. languages we have in Malaysia.
Besides race, gender and sexuality can also be considered as a
social construct. What does it meant to be male or female? We 2. If race is a stereotype, you can change it!
can see the differ-ence in the role of females in Malaysia and the
US. In Malaysia, women tend to focus more on their marriage Now that we know race is just a set of stereotypes
and children; sometimes even abandoning their careers for the set upon a particular group of people, we are
sake of their families. While in the US, women are more focused certainly capable of changing it! The first step in
on their careers and it is a norm for women to get married later doing so is by being aware of racist remarks and
in her age or to not get married at all. connotations in everyday life. Don’t turn a blind eye
on a person who is being clearly racist. Next, don’t
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS teach the next generations how a certain set of
people behave. Let them explore and find out for
1. Vernacular schools in Malaysia themselves. Finally, initiate change by investing in
self-development activities and change the
Vernacular schools in Malaysia are schools that operate perception of other people towards yourself and
according to the Chinese or Indian ethnicity. Some people your ‘race’. Social change is best brought by the
have the opinion that vernacular schools should beabolished people themselves, not an overarching force like the
and that everyone should attend reg-ular public schools. government or the law.
There are many viewpoints to this idea of having one
institution for every student.

In public schools, students are ranked and classed
according to academic achievement. Some Malays are
worry that, since a lot of the people living in rural areas are
Malay and have limited access to good education, the
Malays will fall to the bottom of the ranks.

There is also the question of the official language to be used
in schools. Chinese and Indians want to protect their
language and have their children learn in their mother
tongue. Abolishing vernac-ular schools means that they
would have to learn in Malay, the country’s formal language.

There is the fear that the vernacular schooling system will cause
the to be no interactions between students of different
ethnicities and result in ethnocentrism. Malaysia is unique

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PROFESSIONALISM

““Ordinary professionals focus on giv-ing
worthless advises; extra-ordinary

professionals focus on giving results.”
― Ashish Patel

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EC FEST 2015

MEETING WITH YB KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN

Prepared by: Azizah Masturina & Fikri Ashraf

On February 19th 2015, Kelab UMNO Luar Negara Iowa (KULN Iowa) had the chance

to attend the first ever East Coast Festival, which was held in Pennsylva-nia State
University. During the event, we were offered the opportunity to meet with the
Malaysian Minister for Youth and Sports and Leader of UMNO Youth, YB

Khairy Jamaluddin. The meeting allowed us to ask the following
questions regard-ing UMNO and KULN:

1. Why is UMNO still relevant to Malaysian politics?
2. Is the involvement of non-Malays in the KULN USA committee

permissible?
3. What is his expectation of KULN?

YB Khairy provided satisfactory answers to these questions. In
answering the first question, the young minister stated that there is no
other party as solid as

UMNO in Malaysia since UMNO is the backbone of Barisan Nasional.
Hence, it is still relevant and must be relevant to the society and political
environment of Malaysia. Regarding the involvement of non-Malays in KULN,
YB Khairy states that non-Malays should be welcomed as the club aims to
build a strong community for all of Malaysia, not just the Malays.

On the final question, YB Khairy says that first and foremost he expects
every member of KULN to be registered members of UMNO Malaysia and strive
for the betterment of Malaysia.

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28 PILLAR II: PROFESSIONALISM

MYLEADS 2015

MALAYSIAN YOUNG LEADERS
SUMMIT 2015

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Representatives from Drake University Prepared by: Azizah Masturina & Fikri Ashraf
and Iowa State University
Last September, Kelab UMNO Luar Negara Iowa was invited to attend the

Malaysian Young Leaders Summit (MyLEADS) that had been held in

Chicago, USA.
During the summit, the Council of Midwest Malaysian Students
(COMMS) was formed. COMMS is a student-run organization that serves as a
resource for Malaysian Students Association to work together to further the
inter-university rela-tionship among the Midwest region. KULN Iowa’s

External Vice President, Muhammad Fikri Ashraf
Abdullah Hasin, who was acting as the Provision-al
Chairperson of COMMS conducted the election of
its committee. One of the members of KULN Iowa,
Sabrina Khairulnisan was elected to repre-sent
COMMS as the Secretary-General.

Besides COMMS, there was also an election for
committee members of the National Assembly of

Malaysian Students in America (NAMSA), which is
the umbrella-body for Malaysian student orga-
nizations throughout the United States. Muham-
mad Fikri Ashraf Abdullah Hasin (VP KULN Iowa)
was elected as the Vice President of NAMSA.

The selection of KULN Iowa’s members in these
organizations is very significant as it aids in realizing KULN Iowa’s vision
of making the club recognized and helps in the betterment of Malaysia.

Syazwan (KULN President) and Iqbal (VP of Professionalism) had the
chance to conduct a forum titled “COMMS: What’s Next?” where the new
elected committee was asked what their plans were for COMMS and an
exchange of ideas took place. KULN also had the opportunity to present
its initiatives and suggest blueprints that COMMS should have in order
for them to stay on the right track during their term.

In conclusion, MyLEADS was held in a good and effective way. The for-
mation of COMMS will help a lot of students studying in the Midwest and
throughout the United States. Student involvement and collaboration are
crucial in producing future leaders and building a better Malaysia.

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FEEDBACKS & RECOMMENDATIONS: COUNCIL OF MALAYSIAN MIDWEST STUDENTS 29

FEEDBACKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

COUNCIL OF MALAYSIAN

MIDWEST STUDENTS

Prepared by: Iqbal Rafi & Haziq Farhan

On September 6th, 2015, KULN Iowa representatives attended Malaysian Young Leader Summit where delegates of the summit

agreed on establishing the Council of Malaysian Midwest Student (COMMS). KULN Iowa and other student organizations are given the
opportunity to provide feedbacks and recommendation for COMMS consideration.

FEEDBACKS & RECOMMENDATIONS

1. COMMS should create a solid blueprint on what it sees itself being in the next couple of years after its
establishment. This blueprint will greatly help Malaysian students in the Midwest region to better understand what
COMMS can do for them. The blueprints should include but not limited to COMMS’ vision & mission, objective,
initiatives and its rationale, action plans, key stakeholder involved, KPIs and timeline for each of its action plans. In
addition, the blueprint can be done by setting up a special task force ranging from different MASA members (an
inter-MASA task force). We strongly recommend that various feedback from Malaysian student in Midwest to be
considered by organizing town hall meeting with help from MASA of each university in Midwest.

2. COMMS should promote and improve awareness on national issues among Malaysian students in the Midwest region.
Intellectual discourse such as debate, forum and discussion should be widened from university level to regional level.

KULN Iowa recommend that COMMS approach current intellectual discourse event organizers in the university level to learn
about their best practices on organizing such event. These organizers include and not limited to MAHEC (Sembang

Lepak Ilmiah-SLIM) and Michigan MASA (Malaysia Studies Forum) apart from KULN Iowa (Teh Tarik Session). However, KULN
Iowa strongly believe that promoting discussion on national issue alone is not enough. Malaysian students in the

Midwest should be exposed to different ways to register as a voters and the importance of exercising their rights
in a democratic country such as Malaysia. The youth will be the largest voters demographic in the next general
election and it is important for eligible Malaysian students in the Midwest region to exercise their right.

3. COMMS should promote more students engagement with employers be it from Malaysia or US. This can be achieved
via video conferences with the employers, career fair and publishing newsletter on various career opportunities.

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4. We strongly recommended COMMS to follow the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) principles when it comes
to orga-nizing its events or initiatives. These principles are, high impact, low cost, rapid execution and sustainable.
These principles will ensure COMMS to deliver effectively and efficiently to its stakeholders.
We humbly present our suggestions and feedbacks to be evaluated by COMMS and understand that whatever
COMMS decides on is for the best interest of everyone.

Regards,
KULN Iowa

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2016

PILLAR II: PROFESSIONALISM

MASA - KULN IOWA

INTERN INSIGHTS 2015

Prepared by: Syazwan Rahman & Hanisah Rahman

Process and Tips In Getting Internships

• It’s tedious and time-consuming – so start early!
• Put some numbers in your resume (statistics/findings based on your research) to
show that you are well- versed in the subject
• Keep updated with the current issues around the world (especially in the US and
Malaysia)
• Fully utilize the power of LinkedIn and Career BluePrint!
• Be logical and confident in whatever you are saying
• Be conversational and loosen up a little bit during the interview
• Remember to always, always have your
business professional on!

• Know what company you wanna be in
and what exactly you want to get out of
the internship
• For less competition, apply your
internship during fall or spring rather
than summer
• Phone interview – make sure your voice is
clear, sharp and no background noise
• Skype interview – have a suitable back-
ground and always wear full suit!

Our speakers and
moderators

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Culture differences between Malaysia and

US companies
In Malaysia, there is a lot of supervising and there is clear distinction between an
intern and the manager

• In the US, the boss is also a brother –
interns are treated the same as other colleagues (the same goes to private
company in Malaysia)
• In the US, you have more autonomy/control on your project

Some sharing from Dato Noripah

• Show your appreciation – send thank you emails to those who helped you get the
internship and even after you’re done with the internship.
• Make efforts to know people in the company & utilize all the chances to make con-
nections
• Before you join the company, know the culture beforehand
• Don’t be afraid to reach out to higher level managers – you’ll actually impress
them!
• Start looking for your own mentor to guide and motivate you
• “People who don’t respect your brain, are the person who envy you”

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2016
POLITICAL MATURITY: PLATFORMS FOR YOUTH

TEH TARIK SESSION

POLITICAL MATURITY:

PLATFORMS FOR YOUTH

Prepared by: Atikah Puteri & Haziq Farhan political decision
making. However,
Youth is the transition from childhood to matu- some leaders
serve the society
rity adulthood. As a youth full with passion and energy, we well in order to
should channel them to go out there and learn about the get closer to the
world. Instead of getting to know the world through media God. Back to the
bias. It is important to step out of our comfort zone and open basic, politics and
up our mind to learn something new. Spent our time wisely religion depends
to explore stuff from every different perspectives. Youth on our education
should participate and contribute to today system. We should
not be skeptical
politics because youth is the face of the future about other
politics. Therefore, this is to break the ice of politics religions and be
exposure about politics to the youth. Challenge self to more open. As for
interact with the world by meeting with high level the society, we
people and can learn from tremendous job they did to would get to know
build our country. on how the
government’s
What have you learned from the internship? initiatives impact
the diverse society
We can learn on how politics work. There are many of Malaysia.
things that can be learnt from the political internship Correspondingly,
program starting on how to do Photoshop and we could see on
profes-sional editing for marketing purpose to how the soci-ety
organizing a big forum event. Marketing is important plays a vital role in
as it is one of the method to communicate our government’s
ideology to the soci-ety. It is a golden opportunity to policy making.
be able to join field trip to grass root level and Political intern can
roadshow to introduce the ideology to people. be the platform to
unleash the
What is the impact from the internship program to self, potential in youth
religion, society and country? to prepare
themselves to lead
From the political internship program, some might start to Malaysia in the
dream to become a respectful and knowledgeable political future.
figure. Some would say that most of the politicians would
separate religion from politics as it would be hard to put those
two together. Guidance from the religion become the base in

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Our speakers and moderators for this sharing session,
(from left) Iqbal, Mateen, Haziq, Fikri and Syazwan

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KULN IOWA ANNUAL REPORT
2016

32 PILLAR II: PROFESSIONALISM

What had sparked the interest to join political intern? a quote from one of the speakers, “We can ignore politics
yet still politics will influence our life.”

There are two main questions demand to be answered: What can youths contribute to the country?
•“At this age, what have I contribute for the development
of my own country?”

•“What can I do for the unfortunate people in my own Youth has been acknowledged as potential voters.
coun-try?” Therefore, youths are most welcomed by the politicians to
contribute to politics. It is upon us to make effort to be seen.
BIPARTISAN – involving the agreement of two political Youths should be included in every decision making for the
parties that usually oppose each other’s policies country. Pre-pare ourselves with knowledge and skills to be
a good leader. Above all, we must have a clear political view
Sharing session seems a good platform to promote bipar-tisan. and a grab any chance coming. Be open and listen to others
As youths, we can start small by having a respectful sharing instead bashing without concrete facts.
session with friends over dinner or even during leisure small
talks. The topics can range from current issues to our own Conclusion
personal vision for the future of Malaysia. This is a good start to
encourage others and as a benchmark to our effort for a better Knowledge is fundamental to determine our political
Malaysia. However, low political maturity due to our ignorance maturi-ty and our cause in politics. Youths contributions are
to our own country might be the barri-er to discuss about import-ant for the future of our country. Make a difference
bipartisan. As ignorant as we can be, here we want to see by starting small with going out of our
comfort zone and build networking.

Iqbal Rafi (Second from right) provided some insights from
his experience as a Perdana Fellow to the Minister of Finance

II, Dato' Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah

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BERSAMA PUAN NISAH HARON: SASTERA DALAM KEHIDUPAN 33

BERSAMA PUAN NISAH HARON

SASTERA DALAM KEHIDUPAN

Prepared by: Hazman Danial

One of the most insightful event that KULN Iowa until the year 2006. Throughout her career as a writer, she had
produced 40 short stories, 5 novels, a number of essays and
partook in was actually a collaboration between several orga- poems
nizations both here in the States as well as back in Malaysia. On
the 10th of October 2015 at Iowa State University, KULN Iowa that are published in the literary section of a newspaper and
worked hand in hand with Malaysian Association of Drake Both the lecture and the writing workshop from Puan Nisah
University, Association of Malaysian Students of Iowa State Haron provided its participants with a very deep insight on
University, Malay Heritage Club of Iowa State Univer-sity, and the topic. Our members gave a very positive feedback on
University Teroka Anak Muda to organize an event that focused events.
on improving the participants’ writing skills. We were honored to
have Puan Nisah Haron as our guest speaker for the event. She The followings are some of the benefits of the program
gave a lecture on the topic “Literature in our Everyday Lives” that were highlighted by our members:
and held a writing workshop to work on improving the writing
skills of its participants.

Background on the speaker • Research on our nation’s well known poems. The meaning
behind them go further than just the surface and knowing
them would leave you more enlightened than before.

• Puan Nisah Haron emphasized on the importance of
docu-menting your everyday lives in a professional manner
such as through writing blogs. Write your entries using
proper language because this kind of language is the one
that will last through time, and thus understandable by the
next gen-eration.

All in all, we were glad to have Puan Nisah Haron to share
her experience and knowledge with us. Each participants
man-aged to reap something invaluable through this
experience and KULN Iowa hope to host an event of this
nature again in the near future.

Puan Nisah Haron is a renowned writer both
domestically,and internationally. Ever since she was fifteen
years old,writing has always been an integral part of her
life. She hadearned her Master’s Degree in Law and Literature
in 2006, and 2013 respectively, from the Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Before she focused on her
literary works, she had dwelled in a career as a lawyer up

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INTRODUCTION

The idea behind today’s topic is to prepare students before entering into the professional working world.
Most of the students will be entering into the professional world in a year or two but a select few are already
gaining professional experience.

Today’s speakers are Shaiful Amri, Muhammad Fikri, and Iqbal Rafi. Shaiful Amri has been an intern at
Lifeworks Company since February 2014. He started the internship when he was still a sophomore in college.
Listening to Dean Blum’s advice of starting an internship as early as possible and took a step ahead from other
students by applying to Lifeworks Company. Muhammad Fikri is an international trader of Iowa. He founded
Pkey Enterprise in 2014 and has been running the company ever since. Iqbal Rafi was a Perdana Fellow under
Malaysia’s Second Finance Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONALISM

Professionalism is a manner of being professional. Professionalism can also be defined as a process of
upgrading our life to the next level. Professionalism can be divided to 4 levels: noob, immature, intermediate
and professionals.

CONNECTIONS AND NETWROKING IN THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD

Always take the opportunity to try to get to know a lot of people. This is because we do not know who
our connections will be in the future. The very first tip to approach someone is to smile. Introduce yourself first
and be friendly. Start with a professional tone first and once we have established a good relationship only then
can we tone it down to being social.

In order to build a reliable and strong connection, we must first make ourselves an asset and not a
liability. We can include the difficulties we have faced and things we did to overcome them into the
conversation. But try not to sound boastful. Get to know people, as well as their needs and wants. Make
ourselves appealing to them when we have something to offer. An employer wants a strong personnel who can
help them with their business. A customer wants to buy things and get excellent service.

The key word in maintaining a connection is trust. Always get your job done on time and earn respect.
Be efficient and manage time wisely. With connections comes great power. We can use the connections we
have to get other things we want.

In a professional relationship, it is never a good idea to disclose our personal income. However, we need
to show the progress we are making in our career. Next, we should never talk badly about our company or
whom we are working with. If it is an internal issue, we should not involve outsiders.

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COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE PROFESSIONALS
In an advanced world of technology, it is easy for us to maintain a relationship with anyone. Make full

use of the technology to keep in touch with our connections. Make ourselves visible by sharing our progress or
even just for small talk about current issues. Try not to lose contact with our connections.

Sometimes, miscommunications could occur or we could have contradicting opinions over several
matters. We should not let it ruin the relationship we have. There are a few strategies outlined by our speakers
to tackle this problem.

First, we must fully and truly understand the main content of the discussion. Always be prepared and
alert during every conversation. Jot down the important points of the discussion to make sure we do not forget
them because sometimes a negotiation can last for a few weeks or even months before coming to an agreement.

Second, do a follow up to keep the other side and ourselves on the right track. This is important before
taking any actions. We do not want to waste our time and focusing on doing the wrong thing.

Third, most of the time a verbal discussion is better than emails and messages. Talking is a better way to
solve any miscommunication. The best form of it is to have a face-to-face conversation. Body language, facial
expressions and tone of voice are all great signs we can try to read and to understand the people we are dealing
with.

Fourth is to always plan a strategy beforehand. This is to make sure that we are ready at all times and
be prepared for anything that might happen. We will also be able to take control of the conversation and not
lose track.

ETHICS IN PROFESSIONAL WORLD
Be brave and take the challenge. Never be afraid to try because we do not know when it might be our

lucky day. Charisma plays an important role to make ourselves looks presentable. Demonstrate the skills we
have to capture the interest of others. However, attitude will always be on top of people’s mind about us. Having
the right attitude is equally important to acquire the right skills. Attitude can be built and skills can be learnt.
Therefore, there should be no excuse.

First impression is fundamental. Be on time. Being on time is a way of showing respect to others.
Punctuality is an essential component of the character of an upstanding man. Always dress decently. Suit up. It
is better to be overdressed rather than being underdressed.

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Start small and start early. As defined, professionalism is the process of upgrading our life to the next
level. Starting small means we can always being professional even though we are not there yet. As a student,
we can start by practicing to write formal emails. Be it just an email for our absence in class; make it formal and
professional. To start early means to start now! Better late than never.

Learn from mistakes. Never be afraid of making mistakes but do not do silly things that can tarnish our
credibility. Remind ourselves that we are constantly being judged on our attitude and how we react in certain
situations. Do not stand up to our ego as that is the last thing we want to do after making mistakes. Take
responsibility for what we had done.

“Be extra careful with the social media. Because once things have been posted, they will always be
online.”

Practice makes perfect. Always find initiatives to level up. For example, we can go to a career fair just to
practice our communication and social skills. Go out of our comfort zones. Solve the inner conflicts that prevent
us from moving forward. Through those small experiences that we have, we will make ourselves more
professional every time.

CONCLUSION
People will have high expectations on us. Never be afraid and always take that as a challenge. Never stop

discovering your passion and strength by trying new things. Get to know ourselves more and have a clear idea
of what we want to do and what we are doing.

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DINNER WITH DATO’ SERI AHMAD
SHABERY CHEEK

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

Dinner with Minister of Agriculture
Dato' Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
Venue: Fawn Cuisine
Date: Today (14oct Friday)
Time 645 pm

Objective

14th October- Members of KULN and representative from Drake
MASA had a dinner with Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) delegation, including
the minister itself, Dato’ Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek. Every year, MOA will
send a delegation to World Food Prize Festival that will be organized in the
Iowa State Capitol, in Downtown area in Des Moines, Iowa.

As KULN we are really happy that we had the opportunity to meet
and chat with our former president of UMNO Oversea’s Club, Dato’ Seri
Ahmad Shabery Cheek and also had the opportunity to listen to his speech
and ideas on the future of KULN and also opportunity that we have as a
student. Dato’ Seri talked a lot on our independency and also sovereignty of
our food industry back in our beloved country Malaysia and his future plan as
the Minister of Agriculture in Malaysia.

It was a very fruitful discussion and we look forward to meet delegation from
MOA next year!

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Islam is unique and holistic. One of the criteria of Islam that makes the religion distinct from other religions is that
it has clear and direct ways of expressing what is halal (permissible) and what is haram (prohibited) in all aspects of life
including business. In fact, even in the Koran (Muslim’s holy book), there are so many verses that concern financial
management and business ethics. Today, Islamic teachings and values about business and money have given birth to a
more standardized financial system, which we call Islamic finance.

Islamic Finance is one of – if not the only – alternative to investing in conventional finance. It is a financial system,
instrument and institution that is designed to be consistent with the core principals of sharia laws and its practical
applications to Islamic economics. There are strict regulations in Islamic finance that prohibit its participants from engaging
in forbidden economic activities such as gambling, alcohol, pork, pornography and weapon manufacturing. Besides, the
concept of ‘money making money’ or Riba’ (Interest) is also prohibited in Islam. This is because there is no actual
productivity in interest based transactions and in Islam, money is treated not as an asset but as a medium of exchange.
Also, interest will allow an unjust risk distribution between the debtor and creditor. Hence, based on these arguments,
Islamic finance has emphasized a few concepts to replace interest: profit-loss sharing and underlying asset. Apart from
that, any financial instrument that involves Gharar’ (speculation) is prohibited in Islam as well.

Nowadays, Islamic finance is a global phenomenon. The total market capitalization for ICM is roughly $400 Billion
and the number of Sukuk (Islamic bonds) issued has doubled since 2008 to 2014. These notions show that this financial
system is widely practiced across the world, not only by devoted Muslims who are demanding for permissible financial
products and services, but also the investors from the west who demanded a more ethical and certain investment
alternative to recover from the Global Financial Crisis 2008.

Q&A session.

1) Why is sukuk (Islamic bond) is more preferable to the creditor?
o Projection of money is fixated in the first agreement rather than in the interest.
o The availability of capital

2) The terrorism act and its impact to the growth of Islamic finance.
o Affect in a very micro way. Consumer acceptance is diminishing in non-Muslim’s
communities. For examples, UK and US are moving away from anything that is Islam.
o Solution: Rebrand Islamic finance so it becomes more palatable.

3) How does court fix a default?
o Depends on the country.

4) Currency exchange. Haram or halal. How does two institutions that practices these two different
financial system conduct businesses.
o Permissible if exchanging money for the services but prohibited if it is done for profit basis.
The same goes with international trade level.
o Speculation of currency is not allowed. And there is no actual productivity in currency
exchange.

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PILLAR III

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The Meals from the Heartland

"We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then
in time of need, someone will be there for you."
- Jeff Warner

The purpose of the community service is so
that KULN members get to experience the
gain knowledge of local resources available
to solve community needs. Understanding
community needs helps foster empathy and
self-efficacy. In addition, joining the
community service team enhances the
leadership concepts of “contributing to the
community and giving back to others”.

Here in Des Moines, Iowa, there are lots of community service provided by various non-profit organization

Meals from the Heartland is one of the a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organizations. They are made up of volunteers from
those of businesses, schools, churches, community organizations and beyond that are providing services for packaged
meals for delivery to malnourished people in Iowa, across the United States and around the world especially for those in
Haiti. The mission of Meals from the Heartland is “Empowering people to save the starving.” Through this program,
people in need across the globe manage to survive from day to day.

Being resourceful looking for an opportunity to contribute in community service, Syamil Adha had signed us up
and joined the group of people who contributed greatly at the Meals from the Heartland. Incidentally, we were there
during one of the busiest time of the. Different members were assigned to different kind of tasks and everybody had to
assist with the clean-up at the end of the day. Every time you volunteered for this program, you earn about 2 to 3 hours
of community service.

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On March 24th 2016, there were five the level of training for employees working in the food
members of Kelab UMNO Luar Negara (KULN) and industry in general needs to be increased, which is why we
a friend gathered and went to the Meals from the need to wear a hair cover and a pair of glove while handling
Heartland’s office, which was 15-20 minutes from the dried ingredients. The officers gave us a brief
our residences. When we reached at the front explanation how things goes, also provided us with a well-
door, we were required to register. There were lots designed, informational training session on the job. Our
of people from another organization as well were duties were to fill meal bags, weigh them, seal them and
there to help out. stack them in boxes. Packagers begin with empty baggies
and end up with thousands of lifesaving meals that will feed
Before we were divided into different tasks, the hungry people around the world.
officers gave few speeches and showed a video of
people that hopefully we will be helping in Haiti.
The video also showcased how they helped to
prevent more starvation by organizing these
programs. Due to a heightened public awareness,

The figure shows that they are pouring the dried ingredient
into a small bag that was held by a girl in white shirt.

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This figure shows that Syamil is sealing the packages carefully. The package must not have any air inside it and it must be
air-tight for a long lasting dried meals.

Our President (FIKRI) is packing food to be distributed to all over the world.

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In conclusion, the Meals from the Heartland’s project coincide with my personal goals. This is because, Meals from the
Heartland taught us that we could make a positive impact on the world just by lending a few hours of our time to the
cause.

Below are a few excerpts of the feedback from our members about the event:

“The community service accomplishment that I'm most proud of is the work I did to help organize the event at the Meals
from the Heartland. My job was to design and organize activities that all of KULN members can join and anticipate.”
Mohd Syamil Adha.

“I feel I learn lots of things when I joined community service. It opens up my eyes to see the world in different
perspective. It’s a wonderful experience that we get to help those in need and I have realized that my strengths is that I
still could use my effort to contribute in such awe-inspiring event like this.
” Nor Adlin Izurin Dzulkifli.

Website: https://mealsfromtheheartland.org/

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Fundraising Nasi Lemak
1. Introduction

On January 6th, 2016 our friends Azizah Masturina and Adlin Izurin got involved in a car accident which had caused
them a lot of money in order to compensate the other party. KULN IOWA felt responsible to help them by
conducting a fundraising with $100 of capital. The event was led by Elsa Asri.

2. Objectives
Help the needy: Azizah and Adlin, to earn money as much as we can to lift up their burden a little by selling
Malaysian traditional food: Nasi Lemak. All of the revenue earned were channeled to them after the fundraising
event has ended.

3. Location and Time
Location: vicinity of Drake campus
Time: on Saturday

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4. Customers
Customers were mainly Drake University students which are comprised of Malaysia, international and
American students

5. Activity Flow

A week before : We advertised our fundraising on campus

Two days before : We bought all the ingredients needed for The Nasi Lemak

One day before : Prepared the ingredients: cutting onions, marinated chickens and etc.

On the day : Cooked the Nasi Lemak and sent them to customers who ordered 3 days before the

cooking took place

6. Financial Summary
The budget given to us for this fundraising was $100. Total expenses was $100 with a 150% profit margin.

7. Marketing Strategy
Every member played their roles by spreading the words via their Facebook walls

KULN as drake club
Throughout the 3 years that KULN Iowa has operated here in USA, we’ve faced multiple challenges in
progressing our motives and spreading our message. One of the most common challenges is logistic. Thus,
during spring 2016, KULN Iowa decided to establish itself within the Drake University community officially by
registering the club officially at Drake.

The whole process began by submitting information regarding KULN Iowa on Drake official website
which includes the names of people on the board of committee, club’s logo and the club constitution. Aside
from that, KULN Iowa also approached Professor Mahmoud Hamad, a political science associate professor at
Drake University, to invite him to become the advisor for the club in Drake University. Much to our delight, he
accepted the position.

A week after submitting the information to Drake, KULN Iowa was contacted by the Jared Freemon,
Chair of the Student Affairs Committee (part of the Student Senate), to arrange a meeting to further elaborate
about the club before presenting it to the Student Senate. During this meeting, matters of how the club could

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contribute to the Drake community, projection of members and potential growth, and whether other

requirements are met were discussed thoroughly. As a result of this meeting, KULN Iowa was approved by the

committee and sent to the Student Senate for a final review.

On April 7th 2016, KULN Iowa was approved by Student Senate and has officially become an
organization which is part of the Drake community. This was a pivotal moment for KULN Iowa due to the fact
that it could now hold events on campus and thus allow us to attract a more diverse audience to our events. It
could contribute largely to how KULN Iowa could grow further and amplify its influence over the Drake
community as well as throughout Iowa.

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ANIMAL CARE - CATS & CRITTERS

FURRY FRIENDS REFUGE

Prepared by: Hazman Danial

On the 11th November 2015, KULN Iowa brought forth another volunteering opportunity for the Malaysians here at Drake

Uni-versity. Before, KULN Iowa and its volunteers had helped thousands of human lives. So this time around, KULN Iowa took a
slight turn and we changed our focus to animal lives! From 12:00pm to 3:00pm, we had a total of 12 volunteers and they brought
their animal loving hearts with them to Furry Friends Refuge in West Des Moines.

Background on the organization KULN Iowa’s Roles

Furry Friends Refuge is a nonprofit humane organization that We mostly helped to clean their litter boxes and cages. Aside
helps animals in the area of West Des Moines, Urban-dale, and from that, we also provide the cats with more food or water,
Clive. It is also the first no-kill community in Iowa. depending on their needs. Most important of all, we
provided the cats with company.
The organization is managed by volunteers and all donations
that they received go directly to programs that serve the ani- This volunteering opportunity served as a reminder to its
mals. Unlike local traditional shelters, this organization does not participants to not overlook the lives of animals. The situ-
receive any assistance through government contracts. ation of these animals are much like the refugees who had to
run away from their homes. The majority of these cats are
Furry Friends Refuge is comprised of people who really care placed in the shelter because they are no longer wanted by
about animals and they promote animal welfare through their owner. Thus, they are now stuck inside their small
education and celebration of the human/animal bond. They confinement, waiting and hoping for new homes. All of our
combat animal mistreatment and insist on humane treat-ment volunteers were able benefit greatly from this opportunity.
for all animals. Furthermore, they offer several pro-grams to
assist their furry friends in need. Among their many programs For some, they were able to vent out their stress from
are the adoption program and community out-reach program. school-work through this opportunity. KULN Iowa however,
These programs help place animals from the organization into believes that the ones who benefit the most from this
new homes and promote a better animal welfare by sending opportunity is not the volunteers, but the cats. As one of our
speakers to various community outlets. member would say, “It’s not always about us, sometimes, it’s
simply for oth-ers.” And in this case, it’s for out furry friends.

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BANJIR 2014

SKUAD BENCANA JERANTUT

Prepared by: Fikri Ashraf & Azizah Masturina

Last winter, one of the members of Kelab UMNO Luar
Negara United States, Muhammad Fikri Ashraf Abdullah Hasin
(External Vice president at that time), had the opportunity to
help Jerantut’s community by serving in Skuad Bencana
Jerantut (SBJ). SBJ is a disaster relief organization that was
established a few years ago, and has become one of the most
important flood relief squads in Malaysia.

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Last year’s flood was particularly bad and can be
considered one of the worst floods to ever hit Malaysia. Being
appointed Media Director of the squad, Fikri was involved in
almost every rescue mission and helped document the lives of
the flood victims throughout the tragedy. His involvement also
includes helping civilians who were stuck in isolated places near
the Pahang River. The environment was said to be very hectic
as every person tried to help each other out of the flooded
areas. This experience allowed Fikri to see the bond between
fellow human beings, regardless of their ethnicity. Fikri also
expressed his amazement at the level-headedness of the
Village Head in han-dling the situation.

Besides going on rescue missions, Fikri also worked at SBJ
Headquarters helping other volunteers pack food and
emergency supplies such as candles, clothes, et cetera.

The increasing number of volunteers, Fikri explains, really
shows that youth today are aware of their role in helping the
community. From what he has observed, Fikri believes that
Malaysia as a nation has truly achieved “1 Malaysia.” The
sincerity and commitment of volunteers from different racial
back-grounds shows that the racial difference does not matter
when our hearts have truly become one.

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EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & DESIGN DIRECTOR
Muhammad Fikri Ashraf Abdullah Hasin

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Syamil Adha Malik
Atikah Puteri
Azizah Masturina
Mathoridie Sobri

MANAGING EDITOR
Azam Ali
Adlin Izurin
Haziq Farhan
Haziem Hanaffi

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Elsa Athira Asri
Safiah Azahan
Atikah Puteri Abdul Aziz
Hazman Daniel

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INTELLECTUALISM.
PROFESSIONALISM.
COMMUNITY SERVICE.

KELAB UMNO LUAR NEGARA IOWA, USA

Email : [email protected]

Facebook : Kelab UMNO Luar Negara Iowa USA
: @KULNIowa (twitter)

Alamat: Malaysian Intellectual Hall

1209, 23rd St
Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A

“We appreciate any source of donation so that we can do more activities and events for the betterment
of Malaysia.”