Kedai Kopi Stevens 2011

Date : January 23, 2011

Kedai Kopi was held in Stevens Institute of Technology to prepare students for the upcoming Alif Ba Ta program.

Before beginning our discussion, we were introduced with Alif Ba Ta. The name comes from the first three alphabets in Arabic alphabet. Alif stands for Agama (Religion), Ba stands forBangsa(Race) and Ta stands for Tanah Air (Country). The first Alif Ba Ta was held in Stevens, second was in SUNY Buffalo and third was in RIT. This year, the fourth Alif Ba Ta is going to be held in Stevens.

The theme for this year is “Longing for free minds”. In order to prepare ourselves with the program, this Kedai Kopi was intended to discuss about the theme so that everybody will have a general idea about it.

Longing for free minds.

Moderator : Mohamad Shahrir Tamrin

What is free mind?

· Open minded mind.

· A mind that is not influenced by others.

· Seeing something with a different perspective than others.

· Not being judgmental. Accept something as the way it is.

· Not dormant.

Moderator pointed out that the word “longing” means “a desire that can’t be fulfilled”. He suggested that instead of the word “longing”, the word “need” seems more appropriate.

What is mind?

Mind consisted of 2 main thinking. The first is a thinking that has already been preset in our mind since birth. This thinking defines the functionality of our body. For example, how to eat and how to breath. It is not possible to change this type of thinking.

The second type of thinking is accumulated throughout life from birth to death. This is the kind of thinking that can be changed according to the learning process.

Mindset of typical Malays

· Expecting too much help from others.
We are more prone to receive help instead of doing something ourselves. For example, when facing with an issue, we tend to ask other people for help, instead of finding the solution on ourselves.

· Lack of confidence.
We care too much on what others are thinking about us. In a way, we are being controlled by others without our knowing. We are afraid to speak out because of our self-consciousness. One of the many causes of this problem is because of the way we were brought up in our childhood.

· Too fanatic.
In a certain issue, we are only biased to one side. We do not bother to listen to the other side’s opinion.

· All talk, no action.

· View responsibility as a burden, not as an opportunity.
When given a responsibility, we look at it as a burden to ourselves. Responsibility should be viewed as an opportunity; to improve others and also to improve ourselves.

· Low self-esteem.
We see ourselves as inferior compared to others. We do not focus on our own strength; instead we only see others as more superior than us.

Solution

· Equip ourselves with knowledge.
Read more materials in order to gain more knowledge. For example, by reading books that will open up our mind on other people’s view on things. Moderator suggested “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini for starters.

· Back to basic. Get our intention right.

· Explore our histories (History of Malay and Islam). Know our roots. There’s a commonly used expression, saying “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” by George Santayana. Thus, by knowing our history, we can improve our

· Find our own fault first.
Before pointing fingers at others about a certain problem, we should see our own fault first. If we keep on finding other people’s fault, we won’t improve ourselves. The point of finding fault is for us to improve ourselves. So, if we keep on trying to put the fault on others, when are we going to improve ourselves?

· The role of teachers.
Since preschool, most teachers have been spoon-feeding us with information. We are trained to receive information and our main aim is to get a good result in examinations. The main purpose of education is to produce versatile and all-rounder students. So, instead of just getting the information from classes, we should also develop our own skills.

· Blogging.
We should use blogging as a medium to share our knowledge and opinions to other people. Since blogging is a medium nowadays, it’s easier to let our ideas known to other people and for them to share their opinions too.

· Contribute to society.
Find our own way to contribute to the society. Most of us nowadays want to succeed in our life just for the benefit of our own self. So, instead of that, why not we think on how we can contribute to our society and country after we succeed in whatever we do? We should also try to give back to the society in every form that we can.

· Break free from our comfort zone.
It has been a custom for us to do what we do best. We refused to try doing other things just because we are afraid we are not going to be good in it. However, by not trying new things, we won’t know what other things that we may be good at.

· Quit comparing ourselves with others.
We feel inferior because we keep on comparing ourselves with others. We should know our own limitations and strengths. Optimize our strength because that will be the key to success.

Summary

· "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

· “Life is not just about receiving; it is also about giving back.”

Prepared by,

Nor Rabi'ah Mohd Nawawi

Photographer : Nabilah Farhana Yahya