🎤 Exposed: My Experience Working with Amin Idris

Alhamdulillah, Perlis International Sunnah Convention 2024 (PISC2024) last weekend opened up an opportunity to be working and collaborating with brother Amin Idris for the first time, sharing the stage as co-MC’s. 

I've always wondered: how is it like to be co-Emceeing with an actual professional?

So, in this post, I am going to expose: How it's really like to work with the one and only Amin Idris.

In short: He’s a consummate professional, both on and off-stage, and an absolute joy to work with. 

Masha Allah, Allahumma barik.

Here is what I’ve learnt:

1. Dedication - the day before the event, he was shooting for a program in KL that ended 11pm before driving from KL to Perlis, spending the whole night road tripping (by himself!) arriving at 7am on the day of the event, and immediately started. 

But you can't tell. He shows up hitting the ground running, giving 100% like any other day.

Throughout the event, he's always alert, keen to receive instructions, being flexible for changes, and unlike some MC's I've worked with in the past, he doesn't abandon his post; always there, even during my slots.

Every time I express my amazement at his work ethic, he'll brush it off with some phrase like "kerja bro" or some dismissive excuse like "takut dengan Mufti” 🤣 .

In other words: That's the job.

2. Collaboration as MC. 

This event is the first time I've had a partnering Co-Emcee for an Islamic convention - let alone with a well-known public figure and professional speaker - and being the underdog volunteer, admittedly I was very nervous going in. Am I going to look foolish up there against this certified pro?

Should I just render myself irrelevant, take a step back and just let Amin dominate the stage?

Surprisingly, it wasn't like that at all. Working with him has been a very pleasant collaborative experience. I immediately felt we clicked with chemistry on the get go: We would exchange ideas & suggestions, seek and fully support each other's ideas. Onstage, he would always encourage me & open up space to speak, keep the momentum going, and help trigger my talking points when it appears I might have forgotten or shut down 😅

3. Handle Criticism like a Champ - 

As he just learned for the first time (and I've personally experienced), having Sheikh Assim as a panelist is very scary, if you're the Moderator. Be prepared to take a jab or two at your questions! But Amin handled it well, laughing it off with constructive remarks, even inviting Sheikh to "tease him some more" (by which Sheikh Assim happily responded, "no problem").

Amin shared that in the past, when he gave one of the speakers the indication of Times Up, the speaker called him a "dajjal" for "stopping the da'wah". Ouch!

But just as he does with the netizens commenting on his pages, he takes it like a champ and moves on. And this is something we should all learn from. 

Being able to stay cool while handling criticisms requires professionalism, humility and self-confidence. 

4. Akhlaq - I think this is my favorite aspect working with him. He's always got this aura of likeability: very welcoming, friendly, humble, accommodating and inclusive. Having conversations with him can make you feel like old buddies even though we just knew each other. The more I hang out with him, the more I’m inspired - from his origins of writing books at a young age, to his journey achieving 100k subscribers on YouTube, to him never missing his daughter’s sports events until this event (”sebab takut Mufti”)

Beyond that, he doesn’t discriminate his akhlaq, where it's a shaykh, or some random strangers requesting a selfie. 

I honestly feel that this is his underlying drivers of success: his offline akhlaq, coupled with his professional ethic and commitment, that always leaves people with a good impression. Because they enjoy working with him, people call him back to collaborate, therefore continuously creating opportunities and allowing him to always push his limits towards improving.

This reminds me of one of the previous PETRONAS Cultural Beliefs: Nurture Trust. 

Come for the professional services & work ethic, stay because of the akhlaq.

Sorry Amin, terlebih puji sikit. Best kerja ngan hang. It's been an honor & pleasure, my bro.

Semoga dpt peluang bekerjasama lagi (PISC2025 let's GO?)