MTAQ Peringkat PCSB Operasi Sarawak, Miri - 13 April 2019

Majlis Tilawah Al-Qur'an, Peringkat PCSB (PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd) Operasi Sarawak, Miri - 13 April 2019

Alhamdulillah marks the 7th year participation in Majlis Tilawah Al-Qur'an PETRONAS (MTAQ) 

This year, for Miri round, I participated in two categories, Hafazan (memorization) and Murattal 

1) Hafazan

This category is what got me participating in MTAQ in the first place back in 2013. 

The format is, they will ask 5 questions (with 1 mandatory Surah Al-Fatihah), randomized from selected chapters (surah) from the Qur'an - from Surah Al-Kahf (18), Luqman (31), Sajdah (32), Al-Mulk (67), Al-Mudathir (74), Al-Qiyamah (75), Al-Insan (76), and Juz 'Amma, (Juz 30, chapters An-Naba [78] to An-Nas [114]). 

The thing I want to tell people is that, if I can do it, everyone else can too. I didn' t memorize these chapters when I was a child back in school - virtually all of these chapters I only memorized after I started work, after the age of 25 (with the exception of the later - shorter - half of Juz 30).

It was back in 2008 when Allah opened my heart to quit listening music, and in replacement, plant the love and interest to learn and memorize Qur'an, slowly but consistently. One Surah at a time, starting with the easy ones. I had never envisioned having being able to memorize much, let alone participate in any form of memorization competition such as MTAQ in PETRONAS. I wouldn't even go to witness the competition, as I considered it to be way out of my league and something beyond my reach. 

But as time passed by and in 2013 when they emailed out the promotional invitation to participate in the event, I realized that I was only a few Surah short.. I might actually be able to participate. When I first signed up, I haven' t actually memorized all the chapters (much of the earlier Surah in Juz 30 I haven't yet memorized at the time) - so I had a lot of preparation work to do beforehand. 

My intention to participate was to use this as an excuse to memorize and constantly strengthen and revise (murajaah) my previously memorized Surah as a commitment to be consistent in the Book of Allah. 

Back then, the idea was to participate, not to win. But surprisingly Masha Allah by the blessings of Allah, I won the Miri stage, in fact winning at Borneo stage and representing Sarawak state for national levels. Of course, I didn't win at that stage, placing only 4th place with the mighty tough competition on that level - but looking back at my humble beginnings, who wouldn't thought? 

Ever since then, I would make it a commitment to participate every year so I can remain consistent in my memorization. Alhamdulillah, Allah has made it easy for me and doing quite well in the sessions. 
Now, people seem to get the impression that this is "second nature" to me, and that my participation is 'dominating' the scene and 'not giving a chance for others' (more on that later). 

The truth is, despite all these years, there is still a lot of effort required of revision required beforehand and even with all that prep, I still get extremely nervous onstage. But Alhamdulillah my wifey is very supportive and always acts as my 'coach' and 'sparing partner' in preparation for them. 

I constantly tell myself, my objective is just to make sure I can recite the book of Allah well - not to win. If I win, it's a bonus from Allah. If I recite fluently but do not win, Alhamdulillah at least I am satisfied I did my best. But if I make silly mistakes, but still win, I won't be happy with myself. 
Admittedly, I have never won Hafazan on the National levels before - the competition gets significantly tough on Nationals, with some years sometimes having several participants making no memorization mistakes at all with consistently good tajwid, and the differentiator only being the voice which tends to be subjective. 

For this category, I have represented Sarawak for National level 3 times now (2013 [UTP, Perak] , 2015 [Bangi] , and 2018 [Miri] ). My best performance was 2nd Place (Naib Johan) back in 2018, with the other two placing 4th. 
2) Murattal
The second category is Murattal - derived from the word "Tartil" (recite slowly and precisely) as derived from the commandment of Allah in surah Muzammil, Verse 4:

وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا
".. and recite the Quran (aloud) with Tartil (i.e. In a slow, (pleasant tone and) style.)" 


This category consists of 2 parts : 

1. Bacaan Murattal - 3 minutes of Qur'an recitation, randomly taken from any part of the Qur'an (3 minutes at Tartil pace is typically ~1 page) - the main criteria is Tajwid and Fasohah

2. Pidato - 7-minute lecture on the theme of Majlis Tilawah Al-Qur'an PETRONAS for that year. For this year, it is "Memperkasakan Kompetensi Melalui Penghayatan Al-Qur'an". 

Pidato: "Memperkasakan Kompetensi Melalui Penghayatan Al-Qur'an" 

This would be the second time I have participated in this category - first time being in 2017. At first glance, this category might seem "easier" than memorization, but in truth it is a different challenge - which in truth one can't truly say if it's easier or more difficult. 

For the Murattal Recitation, because the marks almost totally rely on Tajwid and Fasohah, there is almost no room for error in Recitation of the Tajwid rulings - so I use this opportunity to really clean up my tajwid beforehand. And since the Recitation points are randomized from the Qur'an (as opposed to reciting from memory), there is more 'uncertainty' on possibilities of Recitation errors, something which I am very prone of doing. 

The Pidato portion is the most difficult portion and presents a significant challenge for me. 

Firstly, on a personal level, my Malay is, quite frankly, terrible. I have never been trained for public speaking in Malay back in school, I have never joined debate sessions of any kind, and in fact I scored an unflattering "B4" score back in SPM. And since I immediately continued my pre-University and undergraduate studies in Sydney Australia, I virtually had no chance of any formal training whatsoever. So training to speak in this manner and fashion was something I had to really grind in hours of practice in doing to get it done at a competent level - let alone deliver it effectively. 

Secondly, composing a 7-minute speech is a lot harder than it sounds. 7 minutes is not a lot of time at all, and what you will find is that any form of substantial content will definitely go over time. Sometimes it is called "kultum" (Kuliah Tujuh Minit) - It's supposed to be precise, concise and straight to the point. 

For me personally, I think composing the speech content took roughly about 10-15 hours; but to trim it down to a digestible 7-minutes, took more than that. 

I decided to go for a different approach this time around, focusing on the subject of Competency on a more relatable level in the specific context of PETRONAS. 

Something new for me this year: Little Muawiyah supporting his Abah onstage. Insha Allah nanti dah big boy, kita join sama-sama k, Sayang

RESULTS
الحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات

Alhamdulillah I won first place for both categories 

And Alhamdulillah I also won overall best Participant for the adults category 

Prize : Garmin Forerunner 235

Time to "retire"? Stop hogging the prizes?
Now, let's get honest and dirty here. I get a lot of side comments and slurs about "dominating" the competition, hogging the prizes, that I should give chance to the others, that I should have a "succession planning" instead, etc. 

Yes, I agree we should train successors and nurture potential talent in other staff. To realize the organizational aspiration of increasing the Qur'an competency of PETRONAS staff. But to make it sustainable and truly adding in value, it should also be a consolidated effort of the organization: not hinging on an effort of one individual alone. I have voiced out multiple times that BAKIP (Badan Kebajikan Islam PETRONAS) should organize continuous coaching and training sessions on a continuous basis, and have vocally offered myself that I am ready and very much willing to support this consolidated effort on my part to coach others - but I cannot do it alone. 
It is worth noting that some bosses have mentioned to me that they are 'disappointed' with the low participation amongst our staff. With all due respect, in all honesty and irony, they themselves don't participate and lead by example. When I tell them "you should join lah", they give a ton of excuses like "give chance to the young people". 
Well, how can you be disappointed if they are doing what you are doing - giving excuses? 
I remember one of the leaders (I believe back in 2016 or 2017), once publicly telling the staff that "I expect to see some of my leadership team participate in future MTAQ events" - but he himself never did.