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@ Halal | September-october . 2020

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation ( MDEC ) Chairman Datuk Wira Dr Rais Hussin believes that Malaysia could become a world pioneer in Islamic financial technology ( fintech ) as the country is already a world leader in the Islamic finance sector .

He said Malaysia is in a strong position to harness various opportunities that Islamic fintech has to offer .

As reported by The Islamic Finance Knowledge Repository ( I-FIKR ), according to the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), Islamic bank loans expanded by 8.9 per cent year-on-year ( y-o-y ) in 2018 , compared with the 2.5 per cent that conventional banks generated .

“ This highlighted rising demand around the world for Syariah-compliant financial services . Islamic finance is now entrenched in Malaysia , accounting for 32 per cent of financing to customers .

“ Yet , according to the IMF , Islamic fintech is still in its infancy in Malaysia , with just a handful of startups and small and medium enterprises ( SMEs ). Both are not as agile in accelerating its transformative potential as compared to countries such as Indonesia ,” he said in the “ Thoughts ”, a column in Bernama .

Rais said the growth of Islamic fintech in the country would impact development in rural areas , especially among ethnic Malays .

“ This will become the backbone of this community as unique financial-inclusion opportunities will ensure they can catch up and increase their contribution to Malaysia ’ s socio-economic development ,” he said .

He also noted that on the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution ( IR 4.0 ), Malaysia is also blessed with the chance of re-engineering the human experiment using technologies that decentralise authority and de-emphasise divisions along the lines of colour , creed and country — what the Japanese have coined as “ Society 5.0 ”.

This concept is now being adopted here as “ Malaysia 5.0 ”, he said .

“ In describing the next stage of the evolution of societal communities and socioeconomic trends , Society 5.0 is built around the needs of a human-centred society .

“ MDEC is now poised to take a leading role in catalysing the transition to Malaysia 5.0 as a new narrative of the nation . This includes introducing and using emerging technologies that are now considered as essential tools in the new Malaysia 5.0 digital economy ,” said Rais .

On the challenges , he noted that many of the micro-SMEs , which consist of 21 per cent female entrepreneurs or founders of SMEs in the country , require assistance as they lack business connections and Internet presence , besides having limited awareness of tools , access to funding and education .

Stated in a report by Al Bawaba , the dubbed “ Nurflix ” is Malaysia ’ s first Shariah-compliant streaming service and has attracted more than 10,000 subscribers since July .

Nurflix is the creation of Syah Rizal Mohamed , who wants to produce and release original content for the platform before its official launch in January .

“ We spent $ 9.7 million for the startup , but the company will produce 1,000 ( items of ) original content in multiple categories like mainstream , educational , spiritual and motivational and kids , with about 12,000 episodes in the first five years of operating ,” the 43-yearold CEO told Arab News .

He also plans for Nurflix to acquire content from local and international producers , as long as they align with the service ’ s production guidelines , with a focus on markets in Malaysia , Brunei and Singapore before setting up internationally .

“ We see ourselves covering the Southeast Asian region in the next five years with our readiness to establish hubs in the Middle East and Europe to gain traction in the international market .”

He said the decision to tap into the streaming service market was driven by the rapid growth of video-ondemand media and consumers choosing this , as well as over-the-top subscription services , as their main form of entertainment .

Consumers agreed that there was a market for a halal content platform .

“ The Islamic streaming service just enriches the Islamic entertainment ecosystem because there is a niche for it ,” 25-year-old public relations executive Puteri N . Balqis told Arab News .

Media consultant Amir Hadi Azmi said a Shariah-

In conjunction with Malaysia ’ s National Day , a local lifestyle brand dUCk comes out with a special collection annually .

Three years ago , , it celebrated local kuih sellers with a line of scarves inspired by the colours and textures of these delicacies . The year after , the Merdeka collection had a stylish Malaysian map printed on the scarves . Last year , P . Ramlee movies and the national flower , the hibiscus , took centre stage , with a range of floral scarves called Zaiton , Saloma , Juwita , Faridah , Latifah and Azizah , The New Straits Times reported .

This year on Aug 31 , 2020 , the brand launched its biggest coup yet - a collaboration with Malaysia ’ s beloved cartoonist Datuk Mohammad Nor Mohammad Khalid , popularly known as Lat .

Released in conjunction with the 63rd National Day , Lat ’ s illustrations will appear on dUCk ’ s sellout scarves ( in shawl and square ), lipstick , shopping bag , pouch , mug and notebook that was launched exclusively on the FashionValet mobile app .

The scarves offer eight shades and features “ the familiar ink strokes of our idyllic countryside ”, according to the brand and each one is named after a character in Lat ’ s Kampung Boy-- Mat , Kim , Ana , Normah , Priya , Frankie , Ester and Matilde . compliant streaming service was an exciting niche , particularly for more conservative users , but that the concept was not unique to Islam or Muslims .

“ In America , for example , there is a service called Pure Flix which caters to more conservative Christian viewers ,” he told Arab News .

Amir Muhammad , managing director of Kuman Pictures , said that as a producer , the more outlets that were made available to content producers and filmmakers , the better . Kuman Pictures , which is known for releasing horror and thriller content , could create appropriate content if need be .

“ I have not seen their actual guidelines , but if they want halal horror , we will give them halal horror ,” he told Arab News .

The Nurflix CEO said there would be a Content Advisory Council and that it would be headed and supervised by Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin Al Hamid and Ustaz Raja Ahmad Mukhlis .

“ Productions , including third-party content providers , will be monitored by the council to ensure the end product abides by the set guidelines . Nurflix is unique in the market because it is not just offering Islamic-guided content . The production will be monitored by the council to ensure all aspects of work are conducted in a Shariahcompliant manner .”

The shopping bag – another highly-sought after product in dUCk ’ s line-up – features a “ bustling local market scene ”. The pouches are called Bas Pendek , Keretapi Ku and Kayuh Lah , and is made of canvas with internal zip pockets .

The lipsticks are called Laura , Siew Lim , Cik Siti and Pooja and the mug and notebook will also come with Lat ’ s signature artwork .

Datuk Lat says he hopes the illustrations will resonate with Malaysians , across ages , cultures and races .

“ The beauty of our Malaysian culture comes from our strong roots in tradition . Most of us may live in big cities , but the good times in the kampung , back in our hometowns , are the things we ’ d love to have again ,” he says .

The dUCk group founder Vivy Yusof says collaborating with the cartoonist still feels like a dream come true . “ I have tried to get in touch with him for over a year and him being a private person , it wasn ’ t easy . But I kept trying . I knew I wanted to collaborate with this legend for Merdeka . It was him or nothing ,” she says .

“ I really hope people will love our collaboration , one that celebrates the man who has brought so much joy to the nation with his comics . It ’ s the perfect Merdeka collection ,” she says .