Design. Research. Technology. Experience. Life.

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In my move from Penang to Melbourne, I became aware that the dispossesions of a theory of modernity were being reinforced by some later trends in urban studies. It was then I realised that the rest of the world didn’t necessarily think of Penang or any other Malaysia city for that matter, in the way I did. Of course, anyone from outside the city was not going to understand how that place could be the centre of my world, a core reference point for life choices and ambitions.

Penang, the best place to be!

More about Penang

Ferry from Penang island to the main land, Butterworth

Burma Road, Penang, (1905)

‘Satay’ and ‘hawker styles’ way of cooking is one of Penang best food attraction!

I know I haven’t been writing much lately, was sick on and off for two weeks, and spent most of the time I have left reading on papers, journals and books. I went to 3 days International Conference; Nation, City, Place: Rethinking Nationalism, brought by Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at University of Melbourne from 14 -16 July, 2006.

The reason Im interested to go to this conference even though it is not a Communication Design Conference (I wish they have this ), because there are few interesting paper that will be presented. One of them called Niche Cities: Global Capital, Property Development and the Branding of Cities by Peter Raisbeck. This paper triggers few thought from my personal view as a communication designer.

Peter is interested in the tower/high rise building and global cities, that represent countries. His argument is towers/high rise building can be a symbolic image for corporate company and at the same time, can represent the country as a icon. He also argue the uses of tower as a branding strategy to promote the cities. His case studies is about three different countries, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea. This tower can be cultural specific but also open to global requirement. “Tower as an aesthetic icon’. For example in Seoul, Korea the highest tower in Korea is a Samsung Tower. It is not owned by a public company but owned by the corporation. Peter argues that tower represent and promote countries, even though it is owned by non-public company.

My Questions is:

By building the high rise tower, is it a part of branding strategy to promote the country? Or it’s the other way round? Promoting the corporation using the countries? (It looks like big competition going on between the countries )

Peter Raisbeck quote from his abstract:
“In order to understand how the identities of these cities have been branded the paper will survey recent and emerging academic literature on place branding. The brand personality; positioning and attributes of each these national cities under discussion will be mapped. This will identify the key branding attributes, which have emerged in the promotion of cities as destinations of investment capital. These attributes may relate to amongst other things “ corporate governance, institutional stability, notions of speculative opportunity, technological advancement and perceived barriers to investment. These attributes will then be compared to how these cities have been branded as places of leisure and tourism. What attributes differ between the marketing of these cities as places of investment as compared to places of entertainment and tourism.”

In the chapter of The Shaping of Malaysia (1999), Alberto Gomes wrote

” In 1991, Dr Mahathir announced a new goal of nation building for Malaysia that he called “Vision 2020′. He envisaged that by the year 2020 Malaysia will be fully industrialised country with truly united Bangsa Malaysia ( Malaysian Race ). As Harper indicates, in this rhetoric:

Bangsa Malaysia represents not only the culmination, but also the end of nationalism. Whereas earlier nation-building had attempted to create a hybrid and generated suspicions and tension, the Bangsa Malaysia will be based on people’s own cultures, values and religious.”

I’ve read this book, all about Malaysia such as policies, cultures and history. Written by Malaysian and non-Malaysian, different authors. Not all the contents interest me except the chapter called ‘Peoples and Cultures’. It wrote about the history of formation Malaysia and how we develop. I don’t know how many Malaysian are still interested in Vision 2020, but

I think we should be Bangsa Malaysia (Wawasan 2020) and proud to say to others that we are all Malaysian, one nation, multi culture!

‘Malaysia Boleh!’ (1991)

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–>I had a discussion with Laurene (my supervisor) about some of Malaysian traditional games last week (13 July 2006), then to make it more real, I actually make one, just to show her what it’s like but not from stone because I could not find the perfect stone and I think it’s quite dangerous to play with stone (the selected stone has to be round and light), so I make it from lentil and textile. Belows are my creation, a transformation from traditional to modern design.

–>I thought that she will find it different and unusual, but instead she knows these games, not by the material, but by action. Althought she played this game with different material. Thats how she notice it has similar as the game she use to play in her childhood time.

One of the question she asked that interest me is :
Is these games can be recognise as a global game? Does it reach a global level?

I think it has different names but it does have similar action on how to play.
1.Batu Seremban or Batu Tujuh (seven stones) in Malaysia
2. Jacks in Australia and New Zealand

3. Knucklebones in Egypt and in Europe

4. Otedama in Japan

As I notice with all these games it usually played by girls not boys. Perhaps because it has the graceful action, the posture, the technique and the action by it self just perfect for girls in the olden days.

I’m still in the working progress researching this topic. And my questions is:
Can we recognised Batu Seremban as one of Malaysian Cultural Identity, although it has similarity with other traditional games in other country?

Where these games come from? Which roots? Does it has a connection with the “World War”?
If anyone have any comment about this topic please do make some comment.

I discuss about my research with Yoko trying to get to know what i want to do with my research, as Laurene said I should do something.
But what is doing something if i’m not sure where I stand..where should i position myself in my research. It seems like I need to read more and add my knowledge in this research. But Yoko said, just start to do something.

Well, we discuss and think may be I should do a small project that have relation to Malaysian product.
Something that I can define as ‘Made in and by Malaysian’

I created this image for the 4th GRC visulized the narrative of my research trip in Malaysia. Apart from the actual image is taken from ‘Malaysian Year Book 1967’ which I got from a second hand book store in Penang, I also add in some of Malaysia icon/symbols taken from LAT sketches.

The interesting part in this image is the name of each Malaysian state. It is an old spelling of the state influenced from the British Era. Some might not be in the map anymore because it has been changed. I highlighted the Penang Bridge, Petronas Twin Tower, Malaysian Airlines and Visit Malaysia 50 years logo. There are more icon/symbols of Malaysia, than what you can view from this image, actually much more than this such as food, places, games etc.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

–>What can we consider our (Malaysian) identity? We do have Proton which is said by our ex-Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as Malaysian National Identity. But how is Proton now? Is Proton surviving in the globalisation market? it seems like Proton is having quite a hard time struggling to survive in the global market. And we also have Malaysian Airline System (MAS). That is also Malaysian National Identity. Although MAS is also struggling to survive. How about Petronas Twin Tower? Yes indeed, i guess we can acknowledge that Petronas Twin Tower is Malaysian National Identity too. And KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport).

But this is a huge things..i mean big project…what about our local product that can be consider as our identity? What is Malaysian Product?
I’m trying to identity what can we called Malaysian Identity? What is our national identity? What is our cultural Identity? In my project base research, these are the things that i should identify…before i start another project i guess…Well that what i think at this moment..so i will start doing it..by collecting images of these and try and put this images together as a collage or in other medium…perhaps exploring this images is different ways..
-Nurul Rahman

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

–> Design Retreat Artwork
This is some of the images from my outcome when we did the Design Retreat Camp in Bonnie Done, Victoria.

I assume not much people know about Malaysia, so I decided to use my blog to promote Malaysia as a holiday get away.

If you like hot weather, beaches, asian culture, loves food and advantures then Malaysia is a place to be!(a part from other interesting places)

Citrawarna Malaysia (The Colours of Malaysia)

The Colour of Malaysia 2006 is a magnificent event showcasing the fascinating facets of culture and arts of our multiracial community in a fun-lled carnival atmosphere. Over the years, Citrawarna is acknowledged to have played a pivotal role in the growth of the nations tourism industry, but today it has also garnered a revered place in the contemporary culture of Malaysia.

Fast Fact About Malaysia

Country The Federation of Malaysia comprises Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Geographical Location Located between 2º and 7º north of the Equator, Peninsular Malaysia is separated from the states of Sabah and Sarawak by the South China Sea. To the north of Peninsular Malaysia is Thailand while its southern neighbour is Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak are bounded by Indonesia while Sarawak also shares a border with Brunei.

Area 329,758 sq km

Population 25 million

Capital Kuala Lumpur

People Malays who make up about 57% of the population are the predominant group with Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups making up the rest.

Language Bahasa Melayu (Malay) is the national language but English is widely spoken. The ethnic groups also speak various languages and dialects.

Religion Islam in the official religion but all other religions are freely practised.

Government Parliamentary democracy with a bicameral legislative system. The Head of State is the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Head of Government is the Prime Minister.

Climate Tropical climate with warm weather all year round. Temperatures range from 21ºC (70ºF) to 32ºC (90ºF). Annual rainfall varies from 2,000mm to 2,500mm.

Major Holidays New Year’s Day Hari Raya Aidiladha* Federal Territory Day ** Chinese New Year* Awal Muharam* Birthday of Prophet Muhammad* Labour Day* Wesak Day* King’s Birthday* National Day* Deepavali# Hari Raya Aidilfitri* Christmas* Note: (*) – National holidays (**) – Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur & Labuan only (#) – Except Labuan & Sarawak

Economic Profile Manufacturing constitutes the largest single component of Malaysia’s economy. Tourism and primary commodities such as petroleum, palm oil, natural rubber and timber are other major contributors to the economy.

Belows are few links that i find very interesting to browse through to get to know Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia

Malaysian Timeline

Places and People
I assume not much people know about Malaysia,
so I decided to use my blog to promote Malaysia as a holiday get away.

If you like hot weather, beaches, asian culture, loves food and advantures then Malaysia is a place to be!

More about Malaysia

I assume not much people know about Malaysia, so I decided to use my blog to promote Malaysia as a holiday get away.

If you like hot weather, beaches, asian culture, loves food and advantures then Malaysia is a place to be!(a part from other interesting places)

Citrawarna Malaysia (The Colours of Malaysia)

The Colour of Malaysia 2006 is a magnificent event showcasing the fascinating facets of culture and arts of our multiracial community in a funfilled carnival atmosphere. Over the years, Citrawarna is acknowledged to have played a pivotal role in the growth of the nations tourism industry, but today it has also garnered a revered place in the contemporary culture of Malaysia.

Fast Fact About Malaysia

Country The Federation of Malaysia comprises Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Geographical Location Located between 2º and 7º north of the Equator, Peninsular Malaysia is separated from the states of Sabah and Sarawak by the South China Sea. To the north of Peninsular Malaysia is Thailand while its southern neighbour is Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak are bounded by Indonesia while Sarawak also shares a border with Brunei.

Area 329,758 sq km

Population 25 million

Capital Kuala Lumpur

People Malays who make up about 57% of the population are the predominant group with Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups making up the rest.

Language Bahasa Melayu (Malay) is the national language but English is widely spoken. The ethnic groups also speak various languages and dialects.

Religion Islam in the official religion but all other religions are freely practised.

Government Parliamentary democracy with a bicameral legislative system. The Head of State is the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Head of Government is the Prime Minister.

Climate Tropical climate with warm weather all year round. Temperatures range from 21ºC (70ºF) to 32ºC (90ºF). Annual rainfall varies from 2,000mm to 2,500mm.

Major Holidays New Year’s Day Hari Raya Aidiladha* Federal Territory Day ** Chinese New Year* Awal Muharam* Birthday of Prophet Muhammad* Labour Day* Wesak Day* King’s Birthday* National Day* Deepavali# Hari Raya Aidilfitri* Christmas* Note: (*) – National holidays (**) – Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur & Labuan only (#) – Except Labuan & Sarawak

Economic Profile Manufacturing constitutes the largest single component of Malaysia’s economy. Tourism and primary commodities such as petroleum, palm oil, natural rubber and timber are other major contributors to the economy.

Belows are few links that i find very interesting to browse through to get to know Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia

Malaysian Timeline

Places and People