Aiman Azlan's Blog

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the garbage collectors didn't collect the garbage in your neighbourhood once, just once? Wouldn't that be awful? That was the question asked to me by my mother. A simple question that shifted my perspective on the idea of work.

Assalamualaikum. How to make the right choice for university? Disclaimer: I am not an expert and I don’t claim to be one. What I’m about to say is mostly based on retrospection and personal experience. So please don’t take it as facts. Take it as an opinion to consider. When we talk about university or education in general, we can’t separate the conversation from talking about career as if the degree that you get at the end of university will determine your career path. That is not entirely true. Often times, life is not that simple even though we like to think that it is. I know a friend who is majoring in Biology, minoring in Earth Science and Sociology, but he wanted to be a graphic designer. In fact, he’s already getting paid for doing it so technically he’s already started his career as a freelance graphic designer. So, there you go. Say that you want to choose a university on the basis of what kind of career you want to pursue afterwards. There are two things tha...

Photo by altemark A Powerful Tool We need to remember that the internet is a very, very, very powerful tool - for better or for worse. Through the internet, you can start a revolution that will free your country from tyranny. Through the internet, you can organize a charity drive and gain hundreds of thousands of dollars within a few days. Through the internet, you alone can spread good and healthy messages to millions from all over the world. And through the internet, you can do Harlem Shake. (facepalm). We owe it to ourselves to use it wisely. A tool is only as good as the person using it. A Tool, The User, and The Manual Anything that is a tool can be used for either good or bad (or naughty). Whenever a tool is not used for what it was designed for, the situation almost always goes downhill from there. Take a knife for example - a very useful tool. But if you give it to a person who doesn't know how to do it, or a person who uses it for wrong reasons, you wi...

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy My Sociology professor showed us this pyramid in class today. It's the revised version of Bloom's Taxonomy. It is a useful tool to evaluate how students (i.e. us) are doing in school. The further up we go in this pyramid, the better we are at grasping the knowledge. When I look at this pyramid and think about the education system that I'm currently in, I can't help but think that I may be lingering mostly on the bottom of the pyramid (Remembering/Memorizing). The best that I have been to is probably the Applying level (I might even poke into the Analyzing level a little bit), partly due to the help of teachers and my own personal motivation. I believe both elements are essential in order to move up the pyramid - mentor's support and personal motivation. If I'm not interested in the subject, I won't invest my energy in it. If I don't have my mentor's support, I may get lost. But still, why can't I go further...

Photo by Umar Mita 1. Don't vote for a party just because your parents are voting for that party.  A legal voter is at least 21 years old. I hope that person is mature enough to think for him/herself. Allah commands us to have ihsan (excellence) with our parents. That does not mean that we nod our heads and agree with everything. There is also ihsan in disagreements if one exercises Prophetic manners. 2. Don't vote based solely on popularity or current trend. Educate yourself. Listen to all sides, consider them, perform istikharah (recommended), and make a decision. 3. Don't hold any ill-feelings towards those who don't support the same party as you do.  What kind of environment are we creating for future generations if two people who support different parties can't get along? What maturity are we displaying in that? If a person wants to vote Party A, then respect his/her decision. It's his/her right to do so. You can try to convince him/her ...