14th
December 2013 / 9 Safar 1435
May peace be upon you.
“Good
friends, good books and a sleepy conscience; this is the ideal life.” – Mark Twain
It was during an
ad-hoc casual meet up one auspicious morning, somewhere in late September of
2012 which saw to the introduction of a brand new product under the MASSA
portfolio of PKPIM. Attended by its ‘founding-father’, its‘operational
executive’ and a somewhat initially sceptical ‘witness’, the proposal to execute
the pioneer project in IIUM Gombak was officially presented and discussed in
detailed.
The name
“Bibliophilia”,coined and agreed upon mutually by all three was in essence an
attempt to re-inculcate the culture ofreadingbooks among the student community,
in particular members of PKPIM itself as well as being a platform to gather
admires of multiple genres and book-lovers alike. The entire concept was
proposed by Fazril Saleh, the Vice President of PKPIM in charge of campus
relations (now Deputy President) with the hope of it setting a new standard for
upcoming products, a form of reorientation from past programs.
The
responsibility to manage this product at its infancy was handed to Yusof Karim,
the head bureau of MASSA cum head of Publications & Documentations unit of
PKPIM IIUM Gombak. The discussion went on further to stipulate the ‘formula’ by
which Bibliophila must abide by; simplicity,
do-able & consistency. Moreover, it was decided that the Bibliophilia
session will take off on a Friday, usually after Asarprayertill the Maghribadhan’
and from there on out become a weekly event of PKPIM IIUM Gombak.
Thus, is the
origin story of Bibliophilia, now entering its 32nd edition in IIUM
Gombak and has seen approximately 36 different books been elaborated and its key
points highlighted by the students themselves.The original setting for IIUM
Gombak’s Bibliophilia was at The Grill, an open-concept café nearby the campus
library. This continued to be the venue for the entire first semester it was
conducted. Since then, Bibliophilia has had several different locations in IIUM
as its venue due to the gradual increase of its audience member.
Conceptually, Bibliophilia
would often begin with the opening remarks made by the host, followed swiftly
then by the introduction made by the book presenters. The presenters whom
volunteeredmay choose any book he or she prefers and share its contents with
the audience. Subsequently, the host would then allow for an ample amount of
discussion period between the presenters and audience before proceeding with
the final roundtable comments from all those present and lastly deliver the
conclusion& closing remarks. This however varies from time to time
according to the situational context.
The 7th
edition of IIUM Gombak’s Bibliophiliamarks the birth of another offshoot
product, called “SukFelia”coined by Yusof Karim and NoraminRahmat, later on
renamed by the new tenure as “FilmMania”. Deriving its name from Bibliophilia, meaning
‘the love of books’, SukFelia was termed as the love for films or movies,
maintaining the similar method and approach used inBibliophilia. The reason as
to how SukFelia came into existence was mainly because of how often throughout
the previous six Bibliophilia editions that film references were made by the
audience, prompting for film material to have its own product.
Since then, 14
films have already been covered ranging from all kinds of language, themes, film
types and production industries. The FilmMania slot would normally be done
immediately after the Bibliophilia slot, simultaneously on the same day for
IIUM Gombak. It is also noteworthy to
mention that on the 9th edition of Bibliophilia saw its first female
audience, coincidently from IIUM Kuantan and set the trend for PKPIM HEWI’s active
involvement later on in the Bibliophilia/FilmManiaseries.
Verses of the
Holy Quran, namely Surah al-‘Alaq verse 1, Surah al-Zumar verse 9 & Surah
al-Mujaadilah verse 11, all of which points to the importance of ilm’ or
seeking knowledge in Islam were made the fundamental basis by which Bibliophilia
is founded upon. PKPIM’s Bibliophilia has now been expanded beyond the walls of
IIUM Gombak, with campuses like KUIS, IIUM Kuantan, UniZA, CFS IIUM PJ, UKM
& UiTM Shah Alam beginning to follow suit due to the efforts made by PKPIM’s
central leadership conducting a ‘Campus Road Tour’ program all over the country
after IIUM Gombak’s initial success.
The exposure
received by the audienceduring IIUM Gombak’s Bibliophilia, who interestingly
enough usually consist of mainly junior students, are significant as the chance
to exchange thoughts, ideas and share rare books (some even banned) indeed allows
these individuals to further enhance their own understanding of issues and have
discussions that aren’t found in the curriculum or syllabus of their respective
fields of study or study circles. The more flexible and quite open-minded
approach adopted in Bibliophilia/FilmMania has made it very vibrant and an enlightening
product for the youths to be interested in.
Another impact
that this intellectual product has manage to do is it has made the reading
material of its consistent enthusiasts to diversify further and increase in
complexity as well as difficulty, indirectly leading to the expansion of one’s
own horizon or perspective. The balancing act of merging western and Islamic
materials, conflicting points of view throughout the discussion period and the
variety of questions and equally colourful answers are certainly highlights for Bibliphilia/Film Mania,
leaving a long lasting impression to its audience.
Fortunately what
motivates most significant advances in knowledge is not profit but the pursuit
of knowledge itself, the desire and ‘hunger’ in seeking more knowledge that can
be useful for the person and also the surrounding community. This is what
personifies the ‘Biblio’ culture, in tandem with PKPIM’s own principle of
‘culture for knowledge’, the never ending quest for self-awareness that brings
benefit to those who seek it with utmost sincerity and a constant effort worthy
of such a brilliant blessing from The Almighty.
As for the
upcoming plans of the Bibliophila/FilmMania product that for quite a while now
have been in the works include merchandising like T-Shirts and mugs, the
Biblio-TV video casting, inviting distinguish book authors as presenters, The
Bibliophila Convention, the Biblio Booklet, a compilation of past book reviews,
a more rigorous marketing campaign for outsiders and much more. These are some
of the efforts carried out both by PKPIM’s central leadership and PKPIM IIUM
Gombak’s MASSA in a gradual phase accordingly.
As a conclusion,
the writer expresses his deepest gratitude for all those who had participated,
presented and more importantly assisted in making both the Bibliophilia/FilmMania
product into such asuccess. Thank you for the constant moral support, contributionsand
beinga part of this growing family. Hopefully all the wonderful experiences and
valuable knowledge shared would be put to good use and carried out as a
continuous effort by its members to cultivate the ‘biblio’ culture; adeep love
for reading books or any other educational and intellectual materials.
*
The writer is the Vice Amir of
Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM)
IIUM Gombak and also happens to be the initially sceptical ‘witness’, with
perfect attendance.
Past Reviews
1.
Penyelamat Dari
Kesesatan (Imam Al-Ghazali)
The Ronin Age (Peter
Sheldrake) – 12th October 2012, The Grill
2.
MahaMaha (Shanon Ahmad)
The Alchemist (Paolo
Coelho) –19th October 2012, The Grill
3.
TenggelamnyaKapal Van
Der Wijck (Hamka) – 30th November 2012, The Grill
4.
Iman&Kehidupan
(Yusuf Qardawi)
The International Jew, Part
I (Henry Ford) – 7th December 2012, The Grill
5.
Peribadi (Hamka) – 14th
December 2012, The Grill
6.
The International Jew,
Part II (Henry Ford)
How To Think Like
Sherlock (Dan Smith) – 21st December 2012, The Grill
7.
TeguranSuci&JujurTerhadap
Mufti Johor (Hamka)
#
Speedy Scandal (Kang Hyeong-Cheol) – 15th
February 2013, Riverside Econs
8.
RahsiaYahudiDalamFilem
(IbnuYaacob)
#The
Batman Trilogy (Christopher Nolan) – 22nd February 2013, Riverside
Econs
9.
Aminah :
CintaPuteriQuraisy (ZahiruddinZabidi)
#A
Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard) – 28th February 2013, Edu LR 3
10. SebongkahBatu
Di Kuala Berang (Faisal Tehrani)
#The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button (D.Fincher) – 15th Mac 2013,
Riverside Econs
11. AyyuhalWalad
(Imam Al-Ghazali)
#
Passion of The Christ (Mel Gibson) – 4th
April 2013, Edu LR 3
12. Rothschild,
YahudiKepercayaanDajjal (IbnuYaacob)
#The
Da Vinci Code (Ron Howard) – 12th April 2013, Riverside Econs
13. The
Art of War (Sun Tzu)
#TaareZameen
Par (Aamir Khan) – 19th April 2013, Café Econs
14. SyekhSitiJenar
(AchmadChodjim)
#
Frozen (Adam Green) – 26th April 2013, Law Student Activity Centre
15. Versus
(HLovate)
#Sujud
(RahimiZailanni) & #Dear Ridhwan (Aidilrusli) – 10th May 2013,
Riverside Econs
16. Son
of Perdition (Wendy Alec)
#
Valley of The Wolves Palestine (ZubayrSasmaz) – 17th May 2013,
Riverside Econs
17. The
Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle) – 23rd July 2013, Edu LR 6
18.
EdisiKhasMesyuaratSelari
PKPIM Pusat :
Sejarah&PerkembanganGerakan
Islam Abad Moden (RiduanMdNor) – 28th July 2013, KDH
19.
EdisiKhasRamadhan
:
Padang Bulan&Cinta
Di DalamGelas (Andrea Hirata) – 1st August 2013, Restaurant
AsamPedas
20.
EdisiKhasAidilfitri
:
No God But God (Reza
Aslan) – 18th August 2013, Johor Bharu
21. PKPIM
: 5 Dasawarsa (HilmiRamli) – 27th September 2013, Sekretariat PKPIM
Pusat
22. RisalahUntukKaumMuslimin
(Syed Naquib al-Attas) – 3rd October 2013, Riverside Econs
23.
Bibliophilia
Road Tour Kampus PKPIM Pusat :
Manusia&KemarukKebendaan
(Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi) – 9th October 2013, Edu Square Lvl 2
24. Asian
Renaissance (Anwar Ibrahim)
FiqhAwlawiyyat (Yusuf
Qardawi) – 11th October 2013, Café MahallahRuqayyah
25. Pedoman-pedomanBermazhabDlm
Islam (Hafiz Firdaus Abdullah)
#
The Conjuring (James Wan) – 25th October
2013, Bookerz Café
26. Derik
Kerisek (Faisal Tehrani)
#
Fitna (Geert Wilders) – 1st November
2013, Evoke Café
27.
Bibliophilia
Road Tour Kampus PKPIM Pusat
[MaalHijrah] :
MerantauKe Deli (Hamka)
#Istiqamah
(Jamal Khan) – 8th November 2013, Edu Square
28.
EdisiKhas
CONVEST’13 & STABAZ
Badiuzzaman Said Nursi
(Abdul LatipTalib) – 15th November 2013, STABAZ Hill
29. The
Myth of Stress (Andrew Bernstein) – 22nd November 2013, Evoke Café
30. The
Quest For Meaning (Tariq Ramadhan) – 6th December 2013, HS Cafe
31. ABIM
30 Tahun : BeberapaIsuPentingSepanjangTigaDekad (FaridShahran)
#The
Pursuit of Happyness (Gabriele Muccino) – 13th December 2013,
Law-Econs Bridge
