The Surau

A very unique indeed to this year’s teambuilding. There was a dedicated surau for us to pray and hold kuliah. Congratulations to the AJK for putting this extra effort forward. I know there must be some cost involved to rent the room but the availability shows our concern to the better and bigger spirit of teambuilding. There would be a time when the surau is one of the venue for the activity. I hope this trend will continue in the future. Looking at the usage of this surau, the best term to describe it is the word pathetic. Just like in the kampong, surau is for the olds and retired persons only. If this old man can monkey-jump sideways,hug the smelly guy on the giant slipper and coconut bowl like you don’t have enough change to go to the bowling alley, then those young ones can sit down with us and read something like they have just lost a handphone to play with. 

Teambuilding is about understanding each other and that is to understand what the others are doing. We had a full schedule at the surau but everytime it seemed to be half-full (well half-empty is more like it). Maybe the program was not suitable for the young ones, maybe the program was as “old-fashioned” as those olf folks, or maybe people just find an excuse for not going. Whatever it was, I think it is a good start and we must remember the next time we plan the teambuilding program---never to overlook this spiritual event. If we could utilize a couple of hours in the early morning to set our common goal in life and connect everyone with the faculty in a religious context , we might find a key to our solidarity as one faculty. Religious sensitivity in the faculty can also be tolerated by having understanding on our practices. This is not only between Muslim and non-Muslim but also among Muslim ourselves. We have different views on Islam and practice differently according to our own understanding of Islam. The thing is that it is good to go back to Islam but we want everyone to understand what we do, for everyone to avoid overlooking Islamic practices when a particular program is designed. When we hold meetings at all levels, the agenda must include doa pembukaan ,doa penutup and observe the prayers time. The outdoor activities must observe proper dress codes, strict gender interactions, and prayers time. The understanding of all these requirements won’t be exercised if everyone is ignorant of the need and importance of the practices.

I would like very much to see spiritual empowerment being nurtured in the next teambuilding program. Program Qiam to be one of the activities in the agenda to train the hearts and the minds sensitive to iman and islam; which has a powerful binding medium between differing and contrasting souls. I hope someone will understand all these and put them into real events.