Season 1 | Episode 26 | Show Notes & Transcript
Episode Title: Love and How To Be A Socially Responsible Student | Occupational Wellness With Author-Publisher Hidayah Amin II
Music Copyright and Attribution
- “On My Way” by Kevin MacLeod. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
- “Inspiration” by Ethan Tay. February 20, 2021 (Sydney, Australia). This work is an original contribution by the artist for the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
- “Pro Wellness” by Ethan Tay. March 9th, 2021 (Sydney, Australia). This work is an original contribution by the artist for the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
- “Sunrise Tweets In Milton” by Syazana B. Mohamed Sani. September 2021 (New York, U.S.A.). This work is an original contribution by the founder for ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
- “Tweets and Crows In Milton” by Syazana B. Mohamed Sani. September 2021 (New York, U.S.A.). This work is an original contribution by the founder for ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
- “Coffee Shop 01” by Hardi Kamsani. September 2021 (New York, U.S.A.) This work is an original contribution by the artist for the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
- “Coffee Shop 02” by Hardi Kamsani. September 2021 (New York, U.S.A.) This work is an original contribution by the artist for the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
- “Coffee Shop 03” by Hardi Kamsani. September 2021 (New York, U.S.A.) This work is an original contribution by the artist for the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast.
Co-Sponsors
Hardi Kamsani and Azman Repin (M. S.)
Hosts
Azimah Azman, Azfar Azman and Syazana B. Mohamed Sani (M. S.)
Guest Speakers
Hidayah Amin of Helang Books (Singapore)
Special Appearance
Azan Ariffin (Repin), Aini Salim and Muhd Amirul Azan
Volunteer Contributor
Hardi Kamsani (Audio Editing and Sound Design)
Scriptwriter | Producer | Director
Syazana B. Mohamed Sani (M. S.)
ASK Trio About Wellness podcast is a production of ASKtrioWello LLC (New York).
Disclaimer
The information provided in the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast is for educational purposes only. You should consult your doctor, specialist or physical trainer for advice on your physical wellness goals before you plan to follow any of the suggestions or recommendations in this podcast.
All Rights Reserved ©ASKtrioWello LLC 2021.
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TRANSCRIPT
[Intro]
Hello! Holã! Marhaba!
WELCOME to the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast! Join me, Syazana Sani and the Astro Duo, Azfar Azman and Azimah Azman, your hosts from New York. Let’s strive to educate, regenerate and elevate family institutions through optimal productivity and wellness education, one episode at a time.
[Intro to Segment I]
ARE YOU READY to listen to inspirational stories of trust, respect, acceptance, integrity, love and social responsibility from multicultural families and special needs communities? Sit back, relax and be inspired by the awesome people that we highlight in the first segment of the podcast…
Segment I | Love and How To Be A Socially Responsible Student
[Azfar] Welcome back to the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast! This episode is co-sponsored by Hardi Kamsani and my dad, Azman Repin. Thank you and may God bless you.
[Azimah] Hello! May peace be upon you! Welcome to our favorite season of the year: Fall of 2021! Woohoo!
[Syazana] Yeah! We love the colors of fall. We’re still in the first season of the podcast and you are listening to the 26th episode of the podcast with me, Syazana, and the Astro Duo, Azfar and Azimah.
[Syazana, Azimah] The green leaves of the trees in our neighborhood are bursting with colors! Yeah! We see lots of red, yellow and orange in the beginning of fall or autumn.
[Syazana] Guess what, everyone? We’ve been missing our co-host Azfar who is now in Singapore to serve the country, National Service or NS, for two years.
Honestly, our family’s emotional wellness has been on a roller coaster: sometimes we’re good, sometimes we’re down. We’re trying our best to cope with this separation anxiety and uncertainty especially because we are thousands of miles apart. We’re making daily du’as or supplications for Allah SWT to protect him and help us cope well with the 2-year separation.
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah SWT for He has gifted us with extended families and close friends who are kind, loving and making sure that Azfar does not feel too lonely there.
Now, let’s listen to a short video of your brother, recorded by your dad and dedicated to you, Azimah!
[Audio recording: Dinner at East Coast Beach, Singapore.]
[Azfar] Hello, Azimah! I’m at (the) East Coast, makan (eating)! I’m having Satay and also other food. I have with me: uncle, aunt and Amirul...
[Uncle Azan] Hello, Azimah! We eat Satay here. Come to Singapore faster!
[Aunt Aini] Hello, Azimah! We’re enjoying ourselves!
[Cousin Amirul] Hello, Azimah!
[Azfar] Love, hugs and kisses! Muahhh!
[Syazana] Wow! Satay! My favorite! Satay at the famous East Coast beach. Malay-Indonesian Satay is grilled meat on bamboo sticks such as mutton and shrimps. Thank you to my brother-in-law, Azan, his lovely wife, Aini, and son, Amirul for your kindness. May Allah SWT bless you and reward you for your good deeds. Ameen.
Next...do you remember what we talked about in Segment I last week?
[Azimah, Syazana] Yeah! We talked about being socially responsible.
[Syazana] Excellent recall! It is always important to be socially responsible and even more so during the current global health pandemic of COVID-19.
So the new school year for the Ballston Spa School District has started in the first week of September two days after Labor Day. Azimah: Can you tell us how students like you can be socially responsible when attending school in person?
[Azimah] Sure! Here are my DOs and DON’Ts of attending school in person:
1️⃣ ✅ Check that you are free from any symptoms of common illness. That means before you hop on the school bus or get in your parent’s car, you know that you have no signs of
- fever
- coughs
- running nose
- sore throat etcetera.
2️⃣ ✅ Consult your parents if you are not sure about your health condition before going to school.
❌ DON’T ignore the symptoms or go to school when you know that you are not feeling well.
❌ If you are NOT having any symptoms or any illness, DON’T fake it or pretend to be sick.
3️⃣ ✅ Remind your parents to read the latest emails on school updates and guidelines including the Coping With the COVID-19 guidelines.
4️⃣ ✅ Be alert, observant and check on your friends’ well-being too. For example, inform your teacher if your friend looks unwell.
5️⃣ ✅ Always strive to put on your best behavior whether you’re on the bus or in school premises. Know exactly when you have to put on your masks and when you can take it off.
6️⃣ ✅ Have faith and trust that the school staff are doing their job with integrity and have your best interest at heart.
❌ If you are symptomatic and was sent home during the day, do NOT be disrespectful or disobedient.
❌ DON’T make things difficult for your school teachers and staff to do their job.
[Syazana] Thank you for your suggestions, Azimah!
Did you know that we receive feedback on our YouTube channel and the Podbean Podcast App & Player recently?
[Azimah] Oh really? That’s awesome!
[Syazana] On our ASKtrioWello YouTube channel, someone with the username “Cedrick” made a positive comment:
[Azimah]
“Great video! Looking forward to seeing more uploads!”
[Syazana] Thank you so much! We appreciate your feedback and will continue to upload more audiograms and short videos in the future.
On the Podbean Podcast App & Player, we received more comments from our loyal listener & fitness guru, Coach Zarina aka “sunnysideza”:
- Episode 20 with Author-Architect Ivy Ngeow: Thank you for sharing the link. My teen daughter and I are looking forward to do it. Love the quote, thanks, Ivy (Ngeow).
- Episode 21 to 24 with Social Work Consultant Brother Mohamed Ali Mahmood:
- Interesting! Looking forward to hear more from Brother Ali
- Great tips! Thank you.
- Thanks, Brother Ali! Great tips for the family.
[Azimah, Syazana] Bravo! Hey! We’re close to crossing the next milestone of 1,000 all-time downloads! As of September 24, we’ve recorded 894 downloads and it looks like we might achieve this by the end of the year, insha’Allah, God willing!
[Syazana] That’s it for Segment I this week.
[Azimah, Azfar, Syazana] Stay tuned to the next episode...and listen to stories of trust, respect, acceptance, integrity, love and social responsibility in the colorful fall.
~ End of Segment I ~
Coming up next…
In the second segment of the podcast, we’ll learn about productivity and the nine dimensions of wellness—physical, emotional, environmental, spiritual, social, intellectual, mental, occupational and financial wellness—so we can survive and thrive in this unpredictable world.
~ End of Segment II ~
Segment II | Occupational Wellness With Author-Publisher Hidayah Amin
[Azimah] Now it’s time to welcome our guest...Author-Publisher...Hidayah Amin.
[Syazana] Welcome to the show, Hidayah!
[Azfar] Welcome to the ASK Trio About Wellness podcast!
[Syazana, Azimah] Hey! We’ve heard the recent hot news! Let’s congratulate Hidayah Amin for winning the prestigious NUS Singapore History Book prize award for her book, Leluhur: Singapore Kampong Gelam.
Bravo! Bravo! We are very proud of your latest achievement, Hidayah! You, go, girl! Yeah! Girl power!
[Hidayah] Thank you!
[Syazana] Once upon a time, Kampong Gelam was the centre of trade and commerce connecting Singapore to the rest of the Malay Archipelago. It served as a religious, intellectual and social hub for the Malays in Singapore and functioned as a Pilgrim Hub for pilgrims bound for the Haj.
In 1989, Kampong Gelam was gazetted by the Singapore government and it was accorded the status of a conservation area. Kampong Gelam was home to modern Singapore's pioneers, entrepreneurs, craftsmen and residents.
You can get the book from book stores in Singapore, such as Wardah Books, which ship both locally and internationally. Check out its website at
https://wardahbooks.com
Okay, let’s move on to the questions for Hidayah this week...
Question #3
[Syazana] Which of the six values of TRAILS (which stands for Trust, Respect, Acceptance, Integrity, Love and Social Responsibility) is most important to you? Why?
[Hidayah] I think all these values are important: trust, respect, acceptance, integrity, love and social responsibility but the most important to me in my professional life is integrity.
People want to get ahead, earn more money, gain power and standing.
If you have integrity, you will
- NOT cheat people;
- Be professional in your work;
- Treat people fairly;
- Not plagiarise; and
- Be ethical.
I wouldn’t say I make a lot of money in my professional life. My books and the things I do, I do it with a high level of professionalism: I do it properly, I pay my staff, I don’t shortchange people I do know people in the industry where they will take all the money and pay their staff pittance (a tiny payment or small reimbursement for work) and they’ll say “Oh! Business is bad! Business is bad! But hey, you still drive the Mercedes 200 class!
If you have integrity, it shows the kind of person you are. You live by a certain moral code, ethical way. In that way, you’re setting a standard of conduct for people and people know that.
Even for me, when they look at Helang Books and when they buy my books, they know that they buy quality work. I don’t shortchange anybody. We put in a lot of effort. So to me, once you have integrity, the rest will fall in(to) place. If you have integrity, people will trust you, people will respect you, people will love you. Your readers will appreciate because readers are not stupid. When they look at a book, they know…
“Oh! I got shortchanged!”
“What kind of rubbish story is this?”
“How come it’s so expensive?”
I would like to think that when they read my book, they know that it’s worth the money that they spent and worth the time that they spent reading it, then they will actually appreciate and they love what you do. Some of our books have a lot of content and the theme is about the community. Once you have integrity, the rest of the values fall in place.
[Syazana] How can you build good relationships with people of other races and faiths?
[Hidayah] In my professional life and even personal life, I do meet people of various ethnicities and faiths. So how can we build good relationships with people?
Be a decent human being yourself. If you’re a good person and you don’t judge someone by the color of their skin, by what they believe in and you embrace the differences, I think that is the start of a good relationship. You don’t see that person superficially. You respect the person as an individual.
By being a good role model of your community meaning that you don’t discriminate, you don’t look down on people. You don’t have to do major things to build good relationships.
By respecting the other party and by having conversations, I think that is a start. Like where I live, there’s a lot of old Chinese families, sometimes you’ll see them.
“Oh hello, uncle! How are you?”
Just talking or asking them how they are. *(And) All these conversations, it maybe small but it actually is the start of something, you know because I think everybody is so busy, so engulfed in their own world, best is to start small and just don’t judge someone for the color of their skin or for what they wear: whether they wear hijab, whether they wear a cross.
By being good decent human beings ourselves first, that’s the start for us to build good relationships with other people.
[Azimah] What inspired you to become an author and entrepreneur?
What challenges did you encounter in your journey to achieve occupational wellness?
[Hidayah] I love my job as a producer. I’ve always liked creative things. This writing and publishing came just by accident. What happened was I wanted to write a book about my childhood home that has been in our family since 1912.
It was taken away by the government under the Land Acquisition Act that gives them the right to take away freehold lands from families for purposes of national development. So we had to leave the house. The house is now so called historic just because we used to be part of the Malay Royal grounds. In fact, our house was beside the Istana or the palace of the Malay Royalty.
When we had to leave, I was devastated, and angry, and hurt. Nobody could be bothered about my family who lived there. Nobody knew about my great grandfather who was one of the earliest pioneers and entrepreneurs and philanthropists of Singapore. Nobody knew about us and it was as though we were written off. There’s no story about us in the whole Singapore narrative. I was devastated! In fact, I wrote a book!
[Syazana] Oh yes, everyone! The title of the non fiction book that Hidayah wrote is Gedung Kuning: Memories of a Malay Childhood.
[Hidayah] This was about 11 years ago in 2010. I finished the book in 2009. It’s basically 28 stories of the family which has a lot of themes. I wanted to preserve all my childhood memories, and the history of the house and of my family, of my ancestors.
I sent it (the manuscript) to a well known publisher. I can take rejections but you don’t have to take a year to say “no”! So knowing how argumentative I can be, I actually asked “Why can’t you publish my book?” I think it is well written. They had their reason and they said that it’s not commercial. To me, I don’t accept that especially when the publishing house was not for commercial; it was a university press. And I thought being part of the alumni would help me but NO.
Nobody knew me in the literary circle so I collaborated with the Singapore Heritage Society. My friend who was a member said, “Look Hidayah. Why don’t we help you publish this book?”
So I met the President of the (Singapore Heritage) Society. The book is about history and heritage and they will gladly support (it). I didn’t know anything about publishing. It was a very steep learning curve: very, very steep. *(And) Of course the processes are the same in any creative line in the production. You have pre production, editing and writing, and research.
Then, I didn’t have a lot of money to get a graphic designer—friends designed the cover. I learned design software. Me and Dr. Kevin Tan, the President of the Singapore Heritage Society there, worked on it for many weekends and until past midnight.
Nobody knows Hidayah Amin. And then Kevin asked me “So Hidayah, what shall we have as your insignia? We need to have an insignia.
[Syazana] You might be wondering:
What is insignia? According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, insignia is “an object or mark that shows that a person belongs to a particular organization or group, or has a particular rank.”
[Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/amp/english/insignia]
[Hidayah] I was thinking: Hmmm. What shall my insignia be? I remembered, outside my house at the gate, there are two stone eagles. I was a very imaginative child. I used to imagine these stone eagles guarding the house and I used to talk to them. And then I thought: Hmmm. I want to bring as much (SIC (many) memories of my childhood in this book. So okay! Helang!
[Syazana] Oh, in case you don’t understand the Malay language, Helang is the Malay word for “eagles”.
[Hidayah] Instead of Eagles Books, right, so Helang Books! That’s how Helang Books was born.
[Syazana] Wow! That’s awesome! Thank you, Hidayah!
[Azimah] Thank you so much, Hidayah!
[Syazana] In the next episode, Hidayah will continue to answer more questions and offer more tips for teens to achieve occupational wellness.
[Azimah] So stay tuned to the next episode with Hidayah Amin...
~ End of Segment II ~
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We’ve now come to the end of the show today. If you have enjoyed our show, like us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @asktriowello a-s-k-t-r-i-o-w-e-l-l-o. Send us your feedback to [email protected] or [email protected].
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~ End of episode ~
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Notes
Helang Books is an imprint of Archipelago Consultancy,
a Singapore-based consultancy providing high-quality services in the areas of Research, Heritage, Education and Creativity. Helang Books has carved its niche in publishing important history and heritage books, as well as award-winning children’s literature.
Find @helangbooks on FB, IG, Twitter and YouTube Channel.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
