Genius-Aulad from Boycotting to Branding Forum

Genius-Aulad Developing Young Minds

As-Salaam Alaikum

Dear Family,

Genius-Aulad is an early childhood Islamic School which goes beyond just providing a sound religious education by opening the student’s minds to the world in which we live.

Using English as their medium of instruction; the founders and Directors of Genius-Aulad; Brother Mohamead Hafiez Shah, wife Sister Zaliza and instructors provide a creative atmosphere through which the students can develop into well rounded World Muslim Citizens.

This breadth of education allows the students to not only learn in a responsible way about the realities of Gaza, but they are also provided the opportunity to do their part to help its victims.

Most recently, the school and students hosted a forum in which parents, entrepreneurs and guests were all in attendance.

The title of the Forum…

The Muslimpreneur: From Boycotting to Branding on Sunday March 1, 2009!

1. To not forget about Gaza.

2. To provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to interact with the panelist on issues of Boycotts and Branding.

From a couple of the comments raised during the discussion phase of the forum; there are still those who do not see the usefulness of Economic Boycotts.

If this is a concern; perhaps there are many others who hold the same view.

If so, is it possible that we (various action groups) who are at the forefront of the call for boycotting; bear much of the fault for the lack of clarity?

As one audience member pointed out:

Presently, there are groups like PPIM (Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia) asking people to boycott as few as three (3) products while others have list of a hundred and still there are those that advocate boycotting every product that comes from a particular country.

Suffice it to say that these mixed messages often cause confusion and sadly apathy among some consumers. As this point was addressed in a previous article; we invite the reader to read the article:

MEDIA STATEMENT IN RESPONSE OF THE ARTICLE IN MALAY MAIL DATED JANUARY 14th 2009 PAGE 2 TITLED ' US GOODS BOYCOTT WILL NOT WORK'

(Click Here!)


The same audience member further suggested that it would be good for the groups to come out with a common list that the consumers could adhere to.

On the question on whether boycotts work; historical evidence was provided as a means to show that boycotts do in fact have an impact on those that are at the receiving end of the boycott.

A few of the historical cases which were referenced:

• The General Electric (GE) Boycott

• The Boycott against Apartheid in South Africa

• The Nestle Infant Formula Baby formula Boycott


The moderator then raised a very poignant question: “How long should we boycott”?

It is when we do not, that we feel that we have somehow wasted out time.

The truth is Boycotting can bring about two detrimental problems that corporations would like to avoid.

1. Bad Publicity

2. Loss of revenue

Also, Boycotts succeed partly because the damaging publicity gives an advantage to their competition.

They (corporations) are forced to use their financial and human resources to put out the fire at one location while at the same time try to build at others.

Eventually, they or their stockholders will decide what makes good financial sense!

What we need to do is exercise patience while channeling our money away from Coca Cola, Colgate Palmolive and Starbucks.

By doing this, our actions will stir enough concern in other corporations for them to re-think their corporate policy.

However, as was discussed during the forum; it is not enough to just boycott. There must be good quality alternatives in the market that are just as attractive as those which come in from abroad.

To accomplish this, the panelist encouraged the entrepreneurs in the audience to move from the mindset of local branding towards global branding and improved quality and service.

This is where local entrepreneurs have to put in the extra effort by seeking advice, moving out of their comfort zones and spending money to move beyond the competition.

There is no reason why Muslims can not develop the type of food establishments that are presently in the market.

In doing so we are creating the employment that some believe will be loss as a result of boycotts.

However, we as an Ummah have to realize that in addition to creating employment; it is equally important for Muslims everywhere to support Muslim businesses!

Concluding remarks:

As a result of the excellent work by Genius-Aulad, the thought provoking questions by the moderator (Sister Zaliza bt Alias) the informative exchanges between the panelist, the audience the forum was resounding success!

The Panelist:

Muneer A. Rasheed (International Advisor and Consultant of PPIM)

Tn Hj Burhanuddin Md Radzi (producer of UPIN & IPIN 3D animation)

En Ishak bin Husin (producer of BIOMIL milk powder )

Pn Mona Din (WANITA IKON 2008 , Anugerah Wanita Waja)

Handing over of all the student’s postcards “To My Friends in Gaza” through ISLAMIC RELIEF MALAYSIA

Genius-Aulad presenting Islamic Relief Malaysia with a check in the amount of RM25K for the victims in Gaza. All of which was generated from the sales of the T-Shirts that were designed by sister Asniza Anuar and coloured by the students!

Brother Mohamead Hafiez Shah(r)presenting a check to Islamic Relief Malaysia

The following are some additional snapshots from the forum.

From Genius-Aulad back to Muneer's Blog!