Folks! It has been awhile. We have some serious catching up to do.

A little over a month ago I talked about how nervous I was to go to Gombak and now, halfway through my first semester here, I can say that I am still very much nervous. But I did learn a lot of things in a span of 8 weeks.

For some reason, I decided to join a couple of things in my degree life. One is theatre and the other one is a festival. Some of my friends who have known me longer know how much I enjoy theatre and how determined I was to join one once I get to Gombak. Fun fact, my interest in theatre came from watching High School Musical, the part where Troy and Gabriella were painting trees or something backstage. I’ve always wanted to do that. To build something for a play, I mean. Not to be the actual trees.

Now let me tell you something about IIUM Gombak. We have so many production houses and theatre performances. As a first-year student, I was shocked. Then I followed some of my friends who were going to an audition for a production house (without actually knowing which production house or even the name of the show, might I add). And that is how I ended up being a “propper” for Notorious Playhouse (@notorious playhouse) for two plays so far; Ceritera Kampong Melor and 100 Hari.

My experience with Kampong Melor was exhausting, to say the very least. We had rehearsals on weekdays, from 10 p.m. and it sometimes stretched until 1 or 2 a.m. And not to mention, I have 4 classes on Monday and Wednesday and I would usually have a heavy meal after my class at 3.30. Needless to say, by Zohor I switched to auto-pilot. Despite all this, though, I’m excited for 100 Hari. The workload for it is far greater but we also have double the number of people in our team this time so I have confidence in us. The head of props said it best, “theatre work is very exhausting, but sometimes you just get addicted to it.”

Not only do I get what I wanted (to be a part of theatre), I gained experiences and met new people or built friendships with people I already know. And by the way, I’m not thinking of being a cast for a play anytime soon. I’ve seen the way they are trained and that shit is scary. For now, I’m happy with being a part of the crew. I do want to write, though. But that’s a story for another time.

Next up is LITSFEST (@litsfestivalmy) (IIUM Literary, Theatre and Short Film Festival). I signed up to be a writer for the exhibition and it turned out that we needed to be interviewing people for the content. The one that I am involved in is Humans of Gombak Exhibition. As the name suggests, we had to interview people who live in Gombak and how this place is their home. Long story short, I got to interview two people. One of them is my lecturer, Dr. Bukuri and the other one is Tok Siak Nizam from Masjid Zakaria.

The whole experience of talking to people and listening to their stories was surreal, if I may say so. 

Dr. Bukuri’s story was very touching, because she came from Albania at the age of 21 and has been here for the same amount of years. I’m not going into details, of course, but I want to mention her advices to us. First of all, she hopes that we ditch the “local”, “foreigner” mentality especially in IIUM. We are all Muslims, of the same family, so why do we treat other differently? The next advice is to be a good Muslim, first and foremost. It doesn’t matter what profession we venture into, as long as we do it Lillahi Taala, nothing will go to waste. Always strive for the betterment of self and ummah, and that is possible in whatever field we are in.

Tok Siak, on the other hand, hopes for the educated students to come back and help the community. Be involved in charity work, volunteer in providing education for children who may be less fortunate. His other advice is for us to put aside our political views and build that ukhuwah again because “kita solat qiblat yang sama, masjid yang sama.” When my friends and I went out to Masjid Zakaria for the interview, we were moved by the warmth in the community and how they welcome us, some strangers with a big smile on their faces. Some of them did turn us down for the interview but not a single person was any less than polite in doing so. It was refreshing. Faith in humanity restored!

And you know what? Pakcik pakcik masjid ni memang baik betul la, I kenot. While we were doing one of our interviews, a pakcik came over and gave each of us roti that was meant for the men who came for Jumaat prayer. Our last interview was done in a group of pakcik’s and my dear God, not only do they have good stories, they were very friendly and open to even joke around with us.

I feel like these past two months have been insane but I already know November is going to be worse. With preparation for 100 Hari (it’ll be staged on Nov 27, see you there!), LITSFEST (Nov 5-15), submissions of assignments, and everything else in between, shit’s gonna get crazy. But I am also excited for a lot of things.

Oh! My short story got picked for Clairvoyance (IIUM Literary Magazine) and we have an open-mic session this upcoming Tuesday, I’m joining a Self-Publishing Workshop the next Tuesday, I have Arty Charity on Friday, Nov 15 and for the whole period of the festival I will be one of the curators for Humans of Gombak Exhibition. These are all events organised by LITSFEST team (shameless plug), so I might see some of you guys there. My friends and I are also going to Night of Poesy and yall already know I’m a sucker for poetry presentation. I actually wanted to join and recite a poem but sadly I couldn’t get in but that’s fine. Bukan rezeki kali ni.

Okay, this has been long enough so I guess I’ll wrap things up by saying, even though all of this new experience is scary and tiring, not once do I regret anything. Because I learn a lot and I am somewhat happy to challenge myself even if it is in a small scale. I wish to continue challenging myself because it has helped me grow a lot.

I’ll see you guys in November. Bye!

-Nik