Emel by Melinda Looi goes aquatic

Source: Melinda Looi blog. From left: Julian Hyde General Manager Reef Check, C wearing Lyrata from the emelxSerenaC collection, Iking wearing Longhorn in Pink from the emelxDaphneIking collection, Melinda Looi, the designer herself, wearing a Striped Shore Modern Jubah, Atilia wearing Pussilus in Purple from the emelxAtiliaHaron collection, and Aishah Sinclair wearing Stenella in Peach from the emelxAishahSinclair collection.

Emel by Melinda Looi has collaborated with six celebrities, collectively known as the Celebrities with Pet Projects or CLPTS, to produce this year's Raya collection, themed Colours of the Sea. Emel is Melinda Looi's annual charitable collection, for which part of the sales proceeds will go to a charity. The word 'emel' is derived from the word 'amal' (أمل), of Arabic origin. Amal means hope, expectation, and aspiration. In Malay, it means good deeds or charity.

The CLPTS ladies nominated the non-profit Reef Check Malaysia as the official charity. RM50,000 from sales proceeds will be donated for coral reef conservation. Reef Check partners with a global network of trained and certified EcoDiver volunteers to conduct annual Reef Check surveys that assess the health of reefs around the islands of Malaysia. Reef Check Malaysia also conducts education and awareness programmes, along with coral reef rehabilitation programmes.

The Malaysian celebrity designers for emel by CLPTS' Raya collection 2016 include Serena C, a TV host and emcee; Daphne Iking; singer, yoga instructor and entrepreneur Atilia Haron; radio announcer, TV host and fitness enthusiast Aishah Sinclair; Sazzy Falak, a TV presenter and actress; and Dynas Mokhtar, a TV host, actress and avid diver.

Emel by Melinda Looi offers a range of ready-to-wear apparel collection ranging from the traditional baju Johor, baju Kedah and the ubiquitous baju kurung*, to more modern, edgier pieces as well as some sophisticated evening looks for dressier occasions, all of which will be priced affordably.

Colours of the Sea is inspired by the beauty, colours and serenity of underwater life and is characterised by exclusive prints, laces, fringes, beading and Melinda Looi's trademark bias-cut skirt. Many of the designs are inspired by baju kurung. The emelxSazzyFalak - Royal Star Blue Peplum Kurung, which has a peplum-style top with textured lace on the sleeves and hem plus a matching adjustable belt, and the emelxAishah Sinclair - Delphis, which is a baju kurung with a box-cut organza top that can be worn tucked in or out over an A-line skirt.

Source: Melinda Looi blog.
Emel x SazzyFalak - Royal Star. The 
emelxSazzyFalak - Royal Star Blue 
Peplum Kurung has a peplum-
style top with textured lace on 
the sleeves and hem. A matching 
adjustable belt is included.

Melinda Looi is also offering custom-made children's wear for Eid that can be modelled on the emel Raya collection. 

Interested?

Visit the Melinda Looi Bangsar Showroom for bespoke children's outfits. All proceeds will go to Reef Check Malaysia. Call or text + 601 2875 0899 with enquiries.

The emel collection is also available online direct from Melinda Looi, as well as at fashion marketplaces Zalora and Fashion Valet.

View the associated videos for Aishah Sinclair, Atilia Haron, Dynas Mokhtar, Serena C, Sazzy Falak

Hashtags: #aishahsinclair, #atiliaharon, #bajukurung, #bajuraya, #ColoursOfTheSea, #ColourfulRaya, #daphneiking, #emel, #emel2016, #emelbymelindalooi, #fashion, #emelxCLPTS, #emelxAishahSinclair, #emelxAtiliaHaron, #emelxDaphneIking, #emelxDynasMokhtar, #emelxSazzyFalak, #emelxSerenaC, #raya2016

*The traditional Malay baju kurung has a tunic top with a high neck and long sleeves worn over a matching ankle-length skirt.

This year, our CLPTS ladies nominated Reef Check Malaysia to be the official charity, where RM 50,000 from our sales proceeds will be donated to focus on coral reef conservation. Co-presented by La Cremeria, in support of Reef Check. Shop now at emel.my (link in bio), Zalora and Fashion Valet! #emelxCLPTS #emelbymelindalooi #ColoursOfTheSea #ColourfulRaya #emel2016 #raya2016 #emelxAishahSinclair #emelxAtiliaHaron #emelxDaphneIking #emelxDynasMokhtar #emelxSazzyFalak #emelxSerenaC #fashionshow #bajukurung #bajuraya

A photo posted by Melinda Looi (@melindalooi) on Apr 26, 2016 at 3:23am PDT

Great Women Malaysia launches collaboration platform for female entrepreneurs

Source: Great Women Malaysia. Puan Nadira Yusoff.

Great Women Malaysia today kicked off the Great Women Connect Series, a platform to spark opportunities for women-in-business globally to share ideas and experiences in trading. It also aims to facilitate global partnerships, establishing networks and realising potentials especially for those with intentions and readiness to go outside Malaysia.

Great Women Malaysia (GMW) is an initiative aimed at helping and facilitating Malaysian women in the underserved and rural communities move up the economic and value chain through participation of entrepreneurial or artisanal activities, focusing on fashion and lifestyle industry.

The GWM is part of a larger initiative called ASEAN Great Women, which enables Great Women initiatives from all participating ASEAN countries to collaborate on resources, cultural and ethnic materials, designs, skills and talents, and to develop products that can be commercialised globally. The Great Women development model had its start in the Philippines in 2011, motivated by the need to assist women entrepreneurs to overcome challenges of product sourcing, design, production, packaging and marketing. ASEAN Great Women was launched in 2015 as a regional platform for gender economic empowerment as well as competitive supply-chain integration in ASEAN.

The Great Women Connect Series seeks to develop the women's professional sector locally, regionally and globally in three main areas of economic, professional and social life. It aims to do this through dialogues with local and global initiatives. The series will also mobilise international diplomatic support for the advancement of women in society.

According to Puan Nadira Yusoff, head of Great Women Malaysia, “Empowering women and fully engaging them in the business and economic sectors has become a key global development priority, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region where significant gender gap in economic participation persist. Promoting opportunities for both women and men makes good economic sense. It is important that both men and women are able to fully contribute to national and regional economic growth and trade. And this is the reason why we hold today’s interactive session.”

“Women’s SMEs in Malaysia have experienced strong annual growth albeit a relatively low initial level of women’s participation in SMEs. While cultural norms continue to limit women’s role in business, the general business environment in Malaysia is comparatively favourable. Women-in-business needs support from the government as well as from initiatives like us,” she added.

Puan Nadira Yusoff is a thought leader in the Malaysian's entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as CEO at Nadi-Ayu Technologies. She is involved in programmes that are initiated by the ministries in Malaysia, such as 1ASEAN Entrepreneurship Summit (1AES), 1Malaysian Entrepreneurs (1MET), Global Entrepreneurship Movement (GEM), GREAT and many more. She currently leads several NGOs/initiatives namely Great Women Malaysia (GWM), Women Entrepreneurs Network Association (WENA) and Girls in Tech (GIT).

Representatives from the Sharjah Business Women Council of the UAE participated in today's session, including Nada Al Lawati, Founder and CEO of Seed Group International, Huda Al Lawati, Senior Private Equity Professional, most recently Chief Investment Officer for the Abraaj Group in MENA, Sally Denton from Head of Irthi, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council (part of NAMA*), Dr Amal Al Ali, Founder of CARDIFF Management Consulting & Training and Assistant Professor in Sharjah University, Ayesha Jasem, Membership and Services Senior Executive of the Sharjah Business Women Council, and Lina Mohammed Hamdan, Senior Manager - Strategy of the Sharjah Business Women Council.

Interested?

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog posts about the launch of GEM in Malaysia and WENA's Vital Voices Mentoring Walk in March 2016

*The NAMA Women Advancement Establishment was set up in the UAE in December 2015. It aims to develop opportunities for women in the economic, professional and social sectors. NAMA Women Advancement Establishment will also organise training, mentorships, provide advice and examine law and legislation concerning women.

Indonesia's OJK and Islamic Development Bank agree to collaborate on research, training, Islamic financial services

Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, OJK) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to promote cooperation between the two institutions. The MoU was signed between OJK Chairman Dr Muliaman Hadad and IDB Group Chairman, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali.

The MoU aims at enhancing existing cooperation between OJK and IDB in the areas of research, training and advisory services, Islamic financial services, and exchange of expertise and knowledge with other Indonesian entities and private sector institutions, as well as establishing a special center of excellence for microfinance under OJK in Jakarta.

Dr Muliaman said the development further consolidates the long standing partnership between OJK and IDB while Dr Ahmad noted that there have been over four decades of extensive cooperation between IDB and the Republic of Indonesia as a founding member. The IDB Group Chairman added that cooperation with OJK will pave the ground towards materialising IDB’s top priority development programmes in Indonesia.

IFSB, INCEIF renew cooperation agreement

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and INCEIF – The Global University of Islamic Finance have renewed an agreement to facilitate international cooperation between the two organisations to provide relevant activities relating to capacity building and awareness promotion in Islamic finance. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on the sidelines of the 12th IFSB Summit in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 19 May.

This mutual co-operation aims to strengthen the efforts of the two institutions in promoting an exchange of information, undertaking research, development, training and education in the Islamic financial services industry. More specifically, the MoU identifies the following areas of cooperation between the IFSB and INCEIF: 

• Jointly exploring and undertaking various research issues concerning Islamic financial services industry. 
• Providing reciprocal staff development and exchange programmes. 
• Building awareness among the industry players through jointly conducting learning and awareness programmes including among others: conferences, seminars, workshops, roundtables, trainings (including custom-designed learning and training programmes). 
• Cooperating in providing technical assistance to facilitate the implementation of the IFSB standards and to assist in building the necessary financial infrastructure for development of a sound and stable Islamic financial services industry. 

Under the first MoU, signed in 2012, the IFSB and INCEIF successfully held a series of six Executive Forums (EF) covering topics in Islamic finance. The IFSB-INCEIF Executive Forums on Islamic Finance aim to provide a platform for industry’s global leaders to discuss emerging issues facing the global Islamic financial services industry with an emphasis on issues related to supervision and prudential regulation at the national and international levels.

The next Executive Forum on Islamic Finance, themed Building Momentum for Islamic Liquidity Management, will be held 3 to 4 June 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hybrid II exhibition at the Islamic Museum of Australia explores the paths of Australia and Pakistan

Source: IMA website.

The Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA) and Joshua McClelland Print Room will be presenting HYBRID II, a collaboration between Damon Kowarsky and Atif Khan. 

Hybrid II is a collaborative exhibition produced by artists Kowarsky from Australia and Khan from Pakistan, exploring the countries' shared colonial histories and the post-independence establishment of national identities and images through a series of prints. 

The exhibition will run from May 8 to August 8 2015 at the Islamic Museum of Australia.