Wakaf and Petition

On 30th August 2010 (Monday) we've opened a counter at the School of Social Sciences for those who want to donate telekung, prayer mat and islamic books. This is the first phase of Wakaf Project and praise to Allah, we received several donations in terms of telekung, prayer mats and holy books. We thanked all of you for your generous donations towards our project and we ensure you that we'll do whatever it takes to achieve our mission! All of the items that have been donated will be given directly to the BJC's prayer room as a sign of supports from the local university students, staffs and nearby community.

Apart from opening up a counter for donation, we also held petition signings session. The objective of this petition is to get as much signatures and support as possible from the students and this will serve as an eye-opener when we show it to the BJC's management. It will show that we have the support from the local communities and in turn create a stronger platform in improving the BJC's prayer rooms. Although the counter and the petition signings were held for only three hours, we managed to get at least 100 students to sign the petition!   We hope that we can get more signatures and support from the rest of USM students and staffs and finally make changes to the musolla.

Our next counter for donation and petition signings will be held on 20th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th September 2010 at Foyer DK. Hope to see you there! :) Again, thanks for your support!!

Wakaf Project Phase 1

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In this holy month of Ramadhan, why don't you dig out unused prayer mat/prayer gear in the closet and give them out to us for we shall donate it to BJC musolla ourselves!! We will open up a counter in the School of Social Sciences (USM) on 30th August 2010 as the first phase of this project and we are currently planning a much bigger event to promote this good cause in USM for the second phase, so stay updated! You don't want to miss the opportunity to contribute something back to the society! Each and everyone of you regardless of faith play a vital role in changing the world! This is only the first few step of many great things to come!


p/s: if you don't have the time or means to go to us (to donate), we provide a pick-up service so just give us your address!!(apply only in USM)

Video Musolla for all by Student 4 Change

Here's a video for public viewing..Enjoy!

BJC management

We have already submitted our proposal to BJC Management stating our propositions to relocate BJC musolla to a much accessible place and of course with a much better facilities for ablution and are able to cater a lot of people at one time. We've approach the management last Friday but only to find that the management were quite out of hand to entertain us for the moment. We will further keep updated with them in order to fight for the society's right to have a better prayer room in Bukit Jambul Shopping Complex.

New building, Great facilities, Clean environment..but NO Surau??? WHY???

Today 22 Aug 2010,we went to Penang Times Square, a new shopping mall develop by Ivory Properties near KOMTAR, to INVESTIGATE the  facilities there, Is it suitable for all sorts of people? Is it Disabled people friendly? Does the management care about their customers? Here as you can see, we have taken a few picture:

Accessible ATM machines

Directions

Its also Disabled person friendly, they provide a lots of ramps inside and outside of the building.

Wide open space toilet with fully equip for disable person.

Clean and comfortable baby diaper changing room, they have it on every floor.

Super clean toilets with a touch of elegance.

They are fully secured with CCTV in every store and every floor, makes customer and shop owners feel safe in the building.

Nice indoor stage for special events.

Great outdoor stage, its superb for major events such as Gigs, Concerts or Carnivals.

Beautiful fountain makes a family's day out even happier.

Wide open outdoor space, suitable for organizing a big events.

BUT...

above all of the facilities they have provided to comfort the customers and visitors, 

ONE major question still remains...

WHERE IS THE PRAYING ROOM FOR MUSLIMS?

Is it near?

Does it have proper location?

How clean is it?

Is it Disabled person friendly?

So we took the initiative to ask the nice polite Indian lady at the information counter.

Here are the conversation (conversation was translated in English) 

*S4C : Student4Change

  Lady : Indian Lady

S4C : Excuse me, do you know where is the Surau?

Lady : Sorry, we dont have any Surau in the building but you can go to the Mosque outside of the building near the BSN bank.

S4C : How far is it from here (the information counter)?

Lady : Its not far actually, just about 10 minutes walk from here.

S4C : Do you know anyone who is in charge of this building?

Lady : Sorry I dont really know, but I can give you the management office number. You probably can ask them  about the Surau.

S4C : Thank you so much for your help.

Lady : I'm glad I can help. You're most welcome.

So, after the conversation has ended, we went and search the Mosque she was talking about...and here it is...

Is it far?

Here is the mosque..quite small, no cross over bridge, not even a zebra crossing and its outside of the building!

How do they aspect Muslims to pray there? For a normal person it'll probably be fine, but what about the disabled Muslims? Can they commute that far? Can they even cross over safely? Is there any blind trail for the blind? These are the question we should asked at the management and let them know we do care about it. If they can provide enough and sufficient facilities for the sake of their customers and visitors, WHY can't they provide a proper, clean, medium-spaced, fully equipped praying room which located inside the building? Is it highly cost? Is it much more expensive than an outdoor stage? This is what we're trying to highlight over here, corporate social responsibility! Just because there is a musollla not far away, a corporate can simply neglect their responsibility towards the community or even their employees welfare!  We hope that the  management will take this matter seriously. We will try to address this matter to the management. 

Feedback

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We have just received feedback from Queensbay management saying that they are taking the problem seriously under the Operations department. Let's all hope that the air-conditioning system will be back on in a wink!

Inquiry

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We have asked Queensbay Mall management regarding the malfunctioning air-conditioner in the female section of prayer room, but up till today there is no answer from them. We will meet them in the near future to address the matter.

We have also received information that Penang Times Square does not have any prayer room. We are sure to look into the matter as soon as possible.

Ramadhan Kareem

WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OF YOU 

A

BLESSED RAMADHAN AL MUBARAK!! 

BJ Complex and Queensbay Mall

Hello,

Our first ever project is to change the current condition of prayer rooms in three major shopping complexes which are BJ Complex, Prangin Mall and Queensbay Mall. These places might have improved in certain ways especiall Queensbay Mall (they have the best prayer rooms), but still there are slight problems that require the attention of the administration there.

This previous Saturday, we went to take some photos and do some comparisons between the prayer rooms. We managed to finish two (BJ and QB). Unfortunately, Prangin Mall is yet to come. Perhaps we'll upload it in the next entry. To those who never prayed or visited the prayer rooms in these mall, we'll present you the pictures and you can decide for yourself how much they need improvement. We'll kick things off with BJ complex first.

the air conditioning system was down and the size of the room is too small and could barely fit 20 people in there

this needs to be repaired... looks as if it's about to fall onto the floor

even the door seems ancient

it didn't even have a doorknob! 

this is where you're supposed to take wudhu' ! i'd rather climb the stairs and go to the toilet instead

it is situated at the parking lot which is quite a distance from the shopping area and quite hard to find also

BJ Complex has a lot of empty lots on the top floor. they could easily relocate the prayer rooms up there instead of down at the parking lot. We've noticed that the prayer rooms have actually improved this year. they've changed the previous torn carpet to a new one. They've even painted the walls. But still it needs a new location. Some place bigger with improved air conditioning system. The administration needs to put the prayer rooms in a place where it is easy to find. In the near future we will confront the administration about the problems.

Next stop is Queensbay Mall where the prayer rooms are way better minus few problems.

way systematic and comfortable with slippers 

way bigger than BJ's with more 'telekung' and praying mats 

sadly, the ceiling's damaged and no one removed it for weeks

yup no ceiling

From the pictures taken you can see the big difference between the two places. BJ Complex needs a prayer room just like the one in Queensbay Mall. Queensbay Mall's prayer rooms do have some flaws however. The air conditioning system in the female section has been down for more than one month already and the management didn't even bother to repair them. The ceiling's damaged and people could easily get hurt from the pile of ceilings on the floor especially children. Apart from that, the room is big enough to fit many people. The 'telekung' and praying mats are also enough to cater a big crowd at one time. The place to take wudhu' is in an excellent condition!

Then again, we haven't yet seen the prayer rooms in Prangin Mall and we will in these upcoming weeks. Seeing these pictures, you can judge them by yourself and please do tell us what you think. Your opinions are very much welcomed and appreciated! Perhaps we can forward them to the complexes administrations! Thank you for stopping by!

Student for Change

Student For Change Organization

 

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e-mail : student4change@yahoo.com

A Brief Introduction

Hello everyone. As stated on the right side of this blog, the purpose of us creating this blog is to create awareness among the students and locals regarding the condition of the prayer rooms in Bukit Jambul Complex. Since this is our first ever entry, we want to give you guys some heads up on who we really are and the extent of our project.

We are a group of 10 university students from University Science Malaysia which is situated in Penang Island. We have recently established a committee named Students For Change. This project is also part of our coursework. It is actually done under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The name of our committee itself would give you at least some idea on the extent of our community project.

We have been tasked with improving the condition of the prayer rooms at Bukit Jambul Complex. For those of you who are familiar with BJ Complex especially Muslims and locals, you would get what we meant by the condition of the prayer rooms. The rooms are in a devastating condition where in it is too small for Muslims to pray there and the place to take wudhu' is a toilet! And not to mention the cleanliness of the toilet is at the lowest. Hence, the existence of our committee and project.

In the upcoming weeks, this blog will be focusing on the prayer rooms and our efforts to make them a better place to pray. And we welcome anyone out there to share with us your opinions and perhaps suggestions in improving the prayer rooms.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to spread the words! We appreciate your support!