Bali is well-known vacation destination in Indonesia, Southeast Asia. Here, I wonder why is the advert for the 2023 Global Muslim Workation (GMW) being held there?! Previous session was held in the historical city of Istanbul, Türkiye, known for her Islamic tradition. So why Bali, known to be a Hindu-majority province? With a slight doubt in our mind, my wife and I just registered and bought the flight ticket to Bali, not knowing that the gate for transcendence and growth was waiting to be opened.
Our intentions was to spend our overly delayed “honeymoon” since 2020 when COVID-19 lockdown happen throughout the globe, while at the same time, to network with other Muslim professionals and be inspired by them. Prior to this, I joined the Productive Muslim’s Annual Intention Masterclass to (re)set my high-himmah intention to socialize and internationalize the Islamic governance initiative, where we already established in the local Brunei market. By the end of the year, I am committed to spread it! Joining me and my wife was two other friends who I worked with quite a lot, Jannah and Dr Mona. Accomplished professionals in Brunei and committed to serving the Ummah. Us four make up the Brunei “contingent”.
Day 0: Feeling Euphoric from Diversity
We checked into Paragon Bali Resort, a nice place close to the international airport. Later that night, we have an informal onboarding session over dinner, where we mingled with the organizers and some of the participants. I asked Nabeel, the lead organizer, why they chose this place. He explained that this is a nice place for people from all over the world to connect due to its international flight connections, and the different scenic away from the “normal” urban bustle. Initially, they were expecting more from the region, especially from Indonesia, Australia and the Asian continent. To our surprise, there are even people coming from the USA, Morocco, Germany, UAE and so on! Fantastic! This was going to be a great program with “crazy” commixture of experience, knowledge, and interests.
Day 1.1: Dream Big and Persevere
And I was right. Day 1 was out of this world, literally. Not overshadowing the rustic venue for the event at the Bali Castle, the first day was already packed with an amazing lineup of speakers. The morning session started with Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the Malaysian astronaut, sharing his journey on setting a very high target (e.g. becoming an astronaut) and persevering towards achieving the goal. After achieving his biggest dream, he is now focusing on raising his children as best as he can.
Global Muslim Workation at the Bali Castle
Day 1.2: Learning and Humility Are the Secret Ingredients
Javed Malik, a seasoned professional in the aviation industry, was singing gems after gems after gems. He shared personal stories and events that was full of wisdom. What was apparent throughout them is to to keep to one’s purpose in life, and working hard towards manifesting the right values, despite what other people say. He also emphasized the value of learning, coupled with humility, in order to shaped oneself to grow, even in difficult circumstances. Accompanying his was his lovely wife, whom we all acknowledged to be an important ingredient for his successes as well.
Day 2.1: Reflect and Be Aware of Our Selves
Mizi Wahid, a close friend of ours and whom we often invite to come to Brunei, shared his session that speaks to the spiritual heart. It is about self-awareness: of the dangers we bring to ourselves consciously or unconsciously, and how we should handle them. Often, the obstacles to success is actually self-sabotaged. Here is where Mizi and us in Sollu Consulting believe in, and hence, we offer our heart-centered Islamic life coaching services. Listening to him and his stories further highlight the great need for our service all around the globe, because a lot of people are in such predicament.
Day 2.2: Parents are Foundations for Great Enterprise
Focusing on the Indonesian scene, Tika Mulya, coming from the fashion industry, and Dima Djani from Fintech, were a weird combination that works. Despite the different industries, each spoke of their own success and failures while still in their youth. Interestingly, they highlighted the role of their parents, especially their mothers in shaping who they are and their business.
Day 3: Be True for Your Growth and Productivity
Day 3 began with a panel of women, Dr Sari Chairunnisa, the Vice President of Research and Development at Paragon Technology and Innovation, and Hannane Ramdani, the Productive Sister. Vivy Yusof was supposed to come on the day, so we bought two books for her to sign. Unfortunately, she could not make it due to her husband not feeling well (again, family is important). Nonetheless, the two amazing ladies, along with Mariam Rehman as the moderator, surfaced the struggle of identity formation as part of the growth process. Dr Sari was living under her mother’s shadow and have come to accept this and utilized it for her own positive growth. Hannane shared her struggle in the global professional space with her hijab and identity. Although they shared micro-episodes of their life, as Mariam emphasized throughout the session, the little steps made them who they are truly. So accept our reality, be true and grow authentically.
Day 4: An Enterprise is a Stepping Stone for Transcendence
Ashik Ahmed, co-founder of Deputy, shared his an amazing journey. After building his successful business, he realized that he was a bottleneck for the company. Knowing this, he then decided to leave so that the company can grow even further. Now, he goes on to pursue other goals, transcending beyond. So, earlier this year, he went for ‘Umrah, and soon, he will perform his Hajj! During his sharing session, he emphasized that our first duty is to Allah, followed by our family, and then the rest.
Day 5: Always Shine Light in Creative Entrepreneurial Ways
The last day of the program was in Ubud, an hour trip away. The place is known for arts and crafts, and is the right place for the two final sessions. The first is by Peter Gould from Gould Studio, sharing his Heart of Design, highlighting the roles of Ikhlas (sincerity), Niyyat (intention), Ihsan (excellence), Ridho (Divine acceptance), Amanah (accountability) and Barakah (abundant blessings). When designing, be it a project, system or our own life, all these principles and values are important for more meaning. Although my wife and I are familiar with the content as we have previously attended his online course, Peter updated his content with updates from OkayBears, another jaw-dropping NFT initiative based on the value of hope, which resonated with so many people all over the world.
Heart of Design at Ubud, Bali
The final session is by Barakah Blue. After praying Jumuah prayer in the open space surrounded by nature, he recited poems from his latest book the Art of Remembrance. Set to be within the cosmos, the tunes flowed with the wind, leaves, light and shadows, along with the audience, swept away to the world of imaginary Khayaal. The session was a calming close to the program to bring us back and closer to the One.
Although the speakers organized were amazing, the participants and the people we met in Bali with different religious beliefs (taxi drivers, launderette, artists, entrepreneurs, etc.) just made everything much more real and grounded and amazing. Allahu akbar! We left with the resounding spirit of transcendence and professional growth through purification of the spiritual heart. Next: waiting for another adventure in Bangkok for interreligious and intercultural dialogue training with KAICIID.
