Homestay di Raub Pahang

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
" Keseronokan dan keunikan merasai pengalaman menginap di homestay sering kali menjadi buah mulut para pelibur khususnya pelancong domestik.

Konsep inap desa itu pasti akan membuatkan sesiapa sahaja yang mendengar berasa teringin dan teruja untuk merasai sendiri tawaran pakej yang banyak disediakan di negara ini.

Oleh itu, jemputan Kementerian Pelancongan Malaysia untuk mengunjungi rumah peserta Inap Desa Kampung Sungai Pasu dan Kampung Gali Hilir di Raub, Pahang tidak dilepaskan oleh Kosmo!.

Inap Desa Sungai Pasu sememangnya tidak asing dalam kalangan pelancong dalam dan luar negara. Cuma kunjungan kali ini turut memperkenalkan tarikan di sebuah lagi inap desa iaitu Kampung Gali Hilir.

Inap Desa Sungai Pasu yang berdaftar dengan Kementerian Pelancongan sejak tahun 2002 merupakan salah satu daripada banyak inap desa yang aktif di negara ini.

Terletak hanya 13 kilometer dari bandar Raub atau 150 kilometer dari Kuala Lumpur, keindahan kampung dengan kedudukan rumah yang tersusun dan masing-masing dihiasi landskap pokok bunga di pekarangannya sudah cukup menyenangkan pengunjung.

Pengalaman desa

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JKKK), Mohd. Zambri Maarof, 45, berkata, sejak memulakan operasi inap desa pada 1992, kini terdapat 22 buah rumah yang terlibat menyediakan pakej inap desa sekali gus memberi pengalaman kehidupan desa sebenar.

Katanya, pelancong akan disajikan dengan gaya hidup kampung tradisional bersama keluarga angkat dalam suasana damai dan udara yang bersih lagi menyegarkan.

Katanya, keistimewaan dan keunikan Inap Desa Sungai Pasu datangnya daripada aktiviti-aktiviti yang disediakan peserta program inap desa yang terlibat.

"Selain mendalami budaya masyarakat Melayu Pahang, antara permainan tradisional yang boleh disertai ialah permainan tradisional seperti bermain gasing, congkak dan batu seremban serta persembahan tarian," katanya.

Selain itu, tambah Mohd. Zambri, pengunjung turut didedahkan dengan aktiviti harian penduduk tempatan yang mencari sumber rezeki melalui aktiviti menoreh getah dan bekerja di ladang kelapa sawit.

Selain daripada itu, pertunjukan masakan hidangan tradisional Pahang dan Jawa juga sentiasa mendapat perhatian tetamu inap desa. Masakan seperti sambal goreng tempe, sambal hitam, ikan masak tempoyak dan pulut turut disediakan para wanita tempatan selain kuih-muih tradisional.

Kampung terbersih

Peserta program inap desa, Norhaila Serahan, 36, berkata, kerana keindahan dan kebersihan di sini, Kampung Sungai Pasu pernah memenangi pertandingan kampung terbersih peringkat negeri selama beberapa tahun.

Katanya, ketibaan pelancong akan disambut dengan majlis penuh tradisi dan berwarna-warni bagi memperkenalkan adat budaya tempatan.

"Setiap pelancong akan dilayan seperti sebahagian daripada keluarga tuan rumah. Mereka akan makan apa yang tuan rumah makan dan bergaul mesra dengan ahli keluarga tuan rumah."

"Tuan rumah akan menyediakan bilik mengikut kehendak dan keperluan pelancong. Mereka akan tinggal sebumbung bersama peserta (tuan rumah) inap desa di sini," katanya.

Majoriti penduduk kampung itu, jelasnya, terdiri daripada orang Melayu berketurunan Jawa yang telah menetap di daerahtersebut sejak lebih 50 tahun lalu.

"Pertembungan budaya antara Jawa dan Melayu sekali gus menghasilkan cara hidup dan adat resam yang unik serta menarik," ujarnya.

Di samping itu, jelas Norhaila, kampung itu turut didiami masyarakat Orang Asli suku Che Wong yang mengamalkan cara hidup separa moden.

Para pelancong dapat melihat dan menyaksikan sendiri cara hidup unik masyarakat minoriti itu.

Lazimnya, para tetamu inap desa akan dibawa melawat ke perkampungan Orang Asli untuk menyaksikan demonstrasi menyumpit dan tarian sewang serta budaya hidup suku tersebut.

"Tetamu homestay juga berpeluang menyumpit dan mencuba tarian sewang yang sangat mengasyikkan itu," jelasnya.

Ternakan ikan

Di Kampung Sungai Pasu, keluarga peserta program inap desa itu turut mengujakan tetamu dengan tarikan di kolam ternakan ikan air tawar mereka.

Ternakan ikan tilapia, patin dan tongsan sudah menjadi sebahagian daripada usaha menambah sumber pendapatan mereka. Lebih menarik, para tetamu homestay dibenarkan memancing tanpa bayaran.

Antara aktiviti lain dalam pakej penginapan homestay itu termasuklah lawatan ke Pusat Perlindungan Gajah dan Deerland di Lanchang, Temerloh. Tetamu boleh merasai sendiri pengalaman menunggang dan memandikan gajah.

Bagi yang inginkan lebih elemen lasak, aktiviti sukan air seperti berakit dan berkayak serta terbang keluang (flying fox) turut disediakan di Taman Tasik Sungai Pasu.

Di samping itu, pelancong turut dibawa dalam aktiviti treking di Hutan Simpan Ulu Dong untuk melihat bunga rafflesia yang tumbuh liar.

Sebagai tarikan bonus, inap desa tersebut juga terletak hanya lima kilometer dari pusat rekreasi Lata Jarum dan Pulau Chekas yang terletak dalam kawasan hutan simpan tersebut.

Tangkap itik

Sementara itu, Pengendali Tasik Kampung Sungai Pasu, Salman Wagirun, 43, berkata, inap desa di sini turut menawarkan pelbagai aktiviti rekreasi di Tasik Kampung Sungai Pasu yang telah beroperasi 18 tahun itu.

"Peserta inap desa diberi peluang untuk berkayak mengelilingi tasik dan duduk bersantai sambil memancing ikan dengan hanya menggunakan pancing tradisional."

"Selain itu, aktiviti yang cukup menyeronokkan ialah menangkap itik dan ikan di dalam lumpur, berakit serta bermain gasing," katanya.

Tidak ketinggalan, terdapat juga tapak perkhemahan seluas 1.2 hektar dan dewan serba guna juga turut tersedia di dalam kawasan tasik seluas 3.2 hektar itu.

Tasik pelbagai guna itu sememangnya menjadi tumpuan untuk bersiar-siar dan bersantai, apatah lagi di tengah-tengahnya telah dibina sebuah jambatan.

Dengan keadaan sekeliling tasik yang dipenuhi rimbunan pokok buah-buahan, sesiapa sahaja akan berasa damai dan seronok.

Tambah Salman, kedamaian itu sememangnya sukar diperoleh di bandar.

Keseronokan berkayak, menoreh getah dan melakukan aktiviti-aktiviti kampung sememangnya cukup bermakna terutama bagi yang sudah lama hidup di kota konkrit.

Justeru, bagi yang inginkan kelainan semasa bercuti, merasai kehidupan desa di Inap Desa Kampung Sungai Pasu dan Kampung Gali Hilir, Raub, Pahang adalah pilihan terbaik.

Untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi Mohd. Zambri di talian 019-9906222 atau penyelaras homestay, Sumi Ngah di talian 019-3142558.

Sumber: Kosmo! Online

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The Everyday Entrepreneurs of Kibera

(Post: English)
" Kibera is full of entrepreneurs; so many that it's hard to decide whose story to tell and who best represents life in Kibera. The stories that we hear are often the rare tales of overnight success or the polar opposite - a failure and a 'lesson learned.' "

But there's a whole group in the middle that never make the headlines. Instead, they are making a daily living from a solid business, representing a core group of entrepreneurs who have neither made millions out of cents, nor squandered investments.

These "everyday entrepreneurs" work hard, in clever ways, building their success steadily over time.

They're a critical part of the discourse because they can teach us the most about the everyday challenges of micro-enterprise and offer valuable insights about how to grow the economies of slums at a broad level.

A picture of Kibera is not complete without them. So, let's get to know Dorphine and her family, and their story of how a small idea and a little risk grew into a solid family business.

Dorphine is the oldest of eight kids ranging from age 11 to 26, and her life and livelihood in Kibera are steeped in the family business.

Her parents came to Kibera in 1991 from Kisumu in search of work. Like many migrants, they couldn't find steady jobs, so after a few years they decided to create their own.

They began by selling mandazi (fried dough) on the road in front of their house because startup capital was low - one needs a big wok, oil, flour and a household charcoal stove.

Business was good for Dorphine's family, but there were lots of other people selling mandazi, too. Competition and low profit margins forced them to get creative, so they added fresh skuma (kale) to their offerings.

A few years later, with money they had saved from the mandazi business, they transformed part of their house into a small shop, selling vegetables as well as basic items like soap, soda, tissue, and cooking oil to the community.

The shop prospered but still, with a growing family and school fees, Dorphine's parents had their sight set on bigger business. They began to save again.

After two years of putting away a few shillings a day, they were able to open a small "hotel" (equivalent to a café) in 2007. The hotel was a big hit. Vumilia, the matriarch, has a gift for cooking and quickly established a loyal following.

And then the new road came - right through Vumilia's hotel. Prime Minister Raila Odinga had made a promise to his constituents to build a paved bypass road that reached from one end of Kibera to the other.

In order to build this massive piece of infrastructure within an existing grid of tiny alleyways and pedestrian roads, many buildings would have to be removed, and Dorphine's family's hotel was one of them.

This fate initially caused worry - how could the family earn enough income to support eight children and continue to pay school fees?

Soon, however, it became clear that the road could provide a new opportunity. Everyone within the road's path was given permission to find another spot within Kibera to resettle their home or business.

The road's right-of-way also freed up a new piece of previously unbuildable land adjacent to Vumilia's and along the path of the new cross-Kibera thoroughfare.

According to Dorphine, her family "grabbed the land immediately," and then "grabbed more." They built a new Vumilia's twice the size of the old one, complete with a paved sidewalk out front.

Today, Vumilia's is nearly always full and averages about 100 customers a day. There's still a lot of competition in the area, but Vumilia's has a prime location and, as Dorphine says, people come "because the food is clean and homemade by my mom."

Mom, by the way, still runs the place. All eight kids and Dorphine's dad also work there, rising at 4am so they can sell tea and mandazi to people on their way to work.

The older children have all finished Form 4 (the equivalent of high school senior year in the U.S.), gone on to earn advanced diplomas, and now work at Vumilia's full-time while they search the Nairobi job market for something "better."


The younger ones attend private school – there are no public schools in Kibera - and go straight to work at the hotel after school. After the rush, they do homework, and the family sits down at the table in the corner of the hotel to eat dinner together.

The siblings eventually retire to their house, which is connected to the hotel. The hotel stays open until 10 pm, seven days a week.

Being tied to the business means family members are always at the hotel, so they are always in Kibera. Suppliers come to them and they can sometimes go weeks without setting foot outside of Kibera.

Dorphine's parents were recently relocated to "upgraded" housing (described in my previous post), but this change has been difficult because the new housing is relatively far from their business (almost an hour by foot), and transportation consumes a lot of time and income.

Like many business owners in Kibera, Dorphine's family has made inroads toward financial stability, but challenges remain.

As Dorphine says, "When we sold skuma, we struggled; when we got our small shop we paid school fees but we were still struggling. Then came the first hotel and it was better but still a struggle, and now we have the big hotel and it is better, we're covering our expenses, but it's never enough."

Source: Forbes.com

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Jana Pendapatan Dari Rumah

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
" Rutin harian Siti Sumera Deyana Sukri, 26, sama seperti wanita bekerjaya yang lain. Seawal pukul 6 pagi dia mula sibuk menguruskan anak-anak dan menyediakan sarapan pagi. "

Selepas menghantar anak sulungnya, Adam El-Badri Suhaidi Badri, 6, ke tadika dia bergegas pulang ke rumah kerana perlu bersiap-siap untuk ke pejabat.

"Tetapi perjalanan ke pejabat hanya mengambil masa tak sampai seminit pun memandangkan pejabat saya terletak di luar kamar saja (ketawa)," terang Siti Sumera Deyana atau mesra dengan panggilan Mea sambil menunjukkan pejabat mininya yang kemas dan menempatkan para-para kayu yang dipenuhi koleksi fabrik serta pakaian jualannya.

Jelas Mea, meskipun pejabatnya di dalam rumah, tetapi itu tidak bermakna dia bebas melakukan apa saja terutamanya dari aspek masa. Dia menyifatkan setiap detik begitu berharga dalam menentukan untung dan rugi penjualan produknya.

"Setiap hari tepat pukul 8 pagi saya mula bekerja. Tugasan pertama saya memeriksa senarai tempahan produk daripada pelanggan dan mengemaskini stok-stok terbaharu dalam blog."

"Kemudian saya beralih pula pada proses pembungkusan sebelum ke pejabat pos untuk proses penghantaran menggunakan perkhidmatan pos laju," tutur Mea yang sempat melayan telatah dua permata hatinya walaupun sibuk mencatat senarai tempahan.

Selain ketepatan masa, Mea yang mengasaskan Mea Sukri Shoppe yang menjual pakaian secara dalam talian turut menitikberatkan soal penampilan diri dan pemakaian.

Jelas anak kelahiran Kota Bharu, Kelantan tersebut: "Jika di pejabat pekerja berdisiplin mematuhi etika berpakaian, mengapa etika ini perlu dihapuskan apabila kita bertugas di rumah? Lagipun imej yang kemas dan cantik menyuntik semangat bekerja yang tinggi."

Berbicara tentang keputusannya bekerja di rumah, anak bongsu daripada dua adik-beradik itu memberitahu segala-segalanya selepas dia melahirkan anak pertama.

Tambah graduan Diploma Pengurusan Perniagaan, Kolej Pusat Teknologi dan Pengurusan Lanjutan (PTPL): "Sewaktu menamatkan pengajian, usia anak saya baru saja mencecah setahun. Jadi, saya tak sampai hati keluar bekerja dan membiarkan si kecil dijaga pengasuh."

"Namun, saya akui duduk di rumah saja mengundang kebosanan. Sebab itu, saya meminta izin suami untuk berniaga menerusi internet dan segala perihal perniagaan dijalankan di rumah. Ini bermakna selain berniaga untuk membantu menjana pendapatan peribadi, saya juga dapat memberi tumpuan sepenuh masa kepada anak-anak."

Dalam pada itu, Mea turut menyatakan idea bekerja di rumah timbul hasil pembacaannya di internet mengenai topik konsep pejabat ringkas di rumah atau SOHO (Small Office Home Office).

Dia mendapati kebanyakan wanita di negara-negara maju memperoleh pendapatan lumayan menerusi konsep kerja SOHO.

"Lagipun sekitar 2009, peluang pekerjaan di luar amat terhad gara-gara krisis ekonomi," terang Mea yang merujuk kepada kegawatan ekonomi dunia yang mengakibatkan seramai 17,126 pekerja wanita di Malaysia hilang dan berhenti kerja.

SOHO 30 tahun

Tahun ini hampir tiga dekad terma SOHO digunakan. Sejak kehadiran teknologi canggih seperti komputer dan internet lewat 1990-an, negara maju dilihat semakin rancak mempraktikkan konsep SOHO.

Kebiasaannya trend kerja itu menjadi pilihan individu atau syarikat yang menjalankan bisnes kecil-kecilan.

Lazimnya, konsep SOHO dipraktikkan kelompok individu yang menjalankan bidang perkhidmatan seperti perakaunan, perhubungan awam, penulisan, penterjemah atau pun konsultasi berkaitan kertas kerja bagi sesebuah syarikat.

Konsep SOHO dilihat bukan saja menjimatkan kos pengangkutan malah, turut mengurangkan pencemaran udara dan bunyi di jalan raya. Secara tidak langsung mengalakkan orang ramai menjana ekonomi negara tanpa mengabaikan tanggungjawab kepada keluarga.

Berdasarkan kajian yang dijalankan oleh kerajaan Amerika Syarikat (AS), setakat ini di negara berkenaan sebanyak 75 peratus rakyat tempatan selesa bekerja di rumah.

Ekoran daripada itu, pihak kerajaan menjangkakan pada tahun 2013, jumlah individu yang bekerja di rumah akan mencecah 119.7 juta orang, manakala 1.19 bilion di serata dunia.

Jimat perbelanjaan harian

Bagi Fatmawati Abdullah, 30, dalam tempoh enam bulan bekerja dari rumah dia tidak terlepas berhadapan dengan cabaran-cabaran tertentu.

Dia yang bertugas sebagai perunding perhubungan awam di sebuah agensi perhubungan awam swasta mengakui pada dua bulan pertama, dia berasa janggal dan sunyi kerana melakukan tugasan tanpa dikelilingi rakan sepejabat. Akui Fatmawati ia sedikit sebanyak menyukarkan dirinya melakukan tugasan dengan baik.

Enggan membiarkan situasi berkenaan berterusan maka Fatmawati atau mesra disapa Bee, mengambil keputusan bekerja di luar rumah untuk sementara waktu.

"Bayangkan selama sedekad saya sudah terbiasa bekerja di pejabat dan dikelilingi rakan sekerja. Jika tertekan atau pun kepenatan menyelesaikan kerja menimbun, rakan-rakan menjadi tempat mengadu. Tetapi situasi ini sukar didapati apabila bersendirian bekerja di rumah. Semuanya perlu diuruskan sendiri tanpa bantuan teman-teman."

"Namun, lama-kelamaan saya dapat membiasakan diri bak kata pepatah alah bisa tegal biasa. Kini, rutin kerja harian kembali normal. Setiap hari selepas bersiap, saya akan duduk di pejabat yang diletakkan berhampiran meja makan."

"Selain mengemaskini e-mel, saya akan menghubungi majikan untuk bertanyakan tugasan terbaharu dan menguruskan temu janji bersama pelanggan," ujar Bee kepada Kosmo!.

Tambah graduan Ijazah Hiasan Dalaman, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), biarpun konsep kerja sebegitu masih baru dilaksanakan oleh warga tempatan, tetapi Bee menyifatkan SOHO membantu mengurangkan kos perbelanjaan bulanan dan masa.

Bukan itu saja, kini anak kelahiran Kuala Terengganu tersebut gembira kerana tidak perlu lagi tertekan dengan kesesakan lalu lintas sepanjang perjalanan ke pejabat. Pada masa yang sama berjimat RM800 sebulan daripada membayar caj parkir, minyak kereta dan tol.

"Saya keluar rumah sekali-sekala itupun berjumpa pelanggan, menguruskan acara dan menghadiri mesyuarat bulanan bersama majikan."

"Hakikatnya, tidak sukar untuk bekerja di rumah, asalkan pejabat mini dilengkapi komputer, mesin faksimili, mesin cetak, internet dan telefon. Kelengkapan ini memudahkan urusan komunikasi," ujar Bee.

Sumber: Kosmo! Online

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Patio Sundries Store

(Post: English)
" You can really find everything you need in Kibera. Fresh kale, tomatoes, onions and all kinds of grains are available just outside your door 15 hours a day, seven days a week. "

There's a hardware district including a lumber yard, stocking everything you might need for an emergency repair or a new addition. And a convenience store, with various sundries, is never more than a few steps away.

Everything a family needs is right in reach, so when 600 of Kibera's families were relocated to "upgraded housing" - a complex of several multi-story towers with only a few small variety shops to serve them, it's no wonder that they began to complain.

One resident saw this move not as a problem but as a tremendous opportunity.

His new home was a ground floor unit near the complex's main entrance with an open patio facing the primary circulation route.

Quickly, he seized this market opportunity, and converted his patio into a sundries store that residents say, sees more business than the "official" stores in the new development.

What's the secret to his success? It's not exactly high design, ground-breaking advertising, or even a careful business plan.

To demarcate his shop, he recycled an old street banner for shade and he uses the patio wall as a service counter. But, he meets the needs of the community.

He now stocks everything from aspirin to toilet paper and keeps the wide range of store hours that the residents of the complex need.

While the official shop keepers have to close up to go home, elsewhere, to care for their families, this resident has found a way to do both at once - to stay at work and be home with his family.

So he opens his doors earlier and closes them later, and has thus become the most reliable shop in the neighborhood.

When you pass by his shop, his trick seems simple and obvious.

Good design is more than the physical shape of a place, it's the integration of the very specific social and cultural aspects of a unique community into a building or open space.

This resident discovered and capitalizes on a design opportunity that the architects did not.

Through his patio shop he reminds us that design can and should be a catalyst for economic empowerment, and that in Kibera, like everywhere, location matters.

Source: Forbes.com

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Preserving Traditions

(Post: English)
" Leocadia Cruzgrew grew up in Cosoleacaque, a little community in the southern state of Veracruz, Mexico, where opportunities were exclusively for men. "

Fifty years ago oilfields were discovered in the area mainly occupied by indigenous peoples.

Suddenly the industrialization of the zone risked all the tradition and historic knowledge of her people. Like all the women of her family, Aunt Cayita, as she is now called, learned the art of loom weaving.

"My mother used to tell me, 'Pay attention; this knowledge will stay with you and maybe would be helpful,'" she says. "Now I'm 72 and I keep weaving. This is my life."

Years of practice made her one of the best weavers of the region. Aunt Cayita decided to set up a workshop and employ a couple of the women from her town, which was mired in poverty.

Suddenly, many women from nearby towns began asking her to teach them. She did. In the past 30 years, Aunt Cayita has taught close to 1,300 women this art craft.

The mother of nine (eight of them are men) faced another challenge in the first in the early 90s: how to sell her products.

Aunt Cayita knew a loan officer who told her about microfinance and its potential benefits. Aunt Cayita's first loan was of about $150, which she invested in thread and fabric.

Her last outstanding loan was of about $2,000. Increasing the scale of her business gave her the opportunity to hire more people.

In her workshop now she has 15 employees (six of them are members of her family, and two are men). Her influence in her community were enough reasons for Mexican Government to award her with the "National Prize of Science of Arts" in 2006 for preserving the indigenous tradition of loom weaving.

"I used the money to build a bigger house, because the one I had wasn't enough for me and my family," she says smiling proudly. Furthermore, she has exported to China, Cuba and the U.S., and her work has been part of different exhibitions.

"I keep myself optimistic and I don't have any problem with my way of living. Weaving gives me strength, courage and a reason to continue," says Aunt Cayita, the woman who changed the role of females in the Cosoleacaque community, while her hands play with the thread.

Source: Forbes.com

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