Wednesday 18 July 2012

Serius FOA - Surau Dalam Pusat Beli Belah : Kenapa Tiada Yang Senonoh?


Masalah lama yang masih tiada penghujungnya

Kita bangga negara Islam kini mempunyai bangunan tertinggi di dunia. Kita juga bakal bangga dengan menara jam tertinggi didunia besebelahan Masjidil Haram. Kita kagum melihat KLCC tesergam indah di tengah Kuala Lumpur. Bangunan serba moden dan canggih terbina disebuah negara yang belum mencapai tahap negara maju. Siapa yang pernah ke Dubai akan menceritakan betapa selesanya sistem pengangkutan di sana. Mereka pasti tak henti-henti memuji betapa cantiknya Burj Dubai dan The Palm.

Tidak dapat dinafikan sejak 20 tahun kebelakangan ini, banyak bagunan mega canggih dan hebat senibinanya dibina di atas bumi negara orang-orang Islam. Ibu saya pun kagum melihat perubahan Kota Makkah sejak kali terakhir kesana menunanikan hajil awal 90an yang lalu. Jika dulu beliau terpaksa berpanas ketika bersolat di Masjidil Haram, kini sudah ada sistem kipas yang berputar secara automatik bila cuaca mencecah suhu tertentu. Bak kata ibu saya;

"Sekarang pergi haji lebih selesa dan senang dari dulu.Boleh concentrate nak beribadat sahaja. Tak perlu risau lagi dah"

Despite of these modern architectural wonders in the Muslim world, one thing haven't changed. At least in Malaysia the problem have yet to be solved.

Have you noticed that despite the awesome advancement in the world architecture, we have yet to solve the problem of suraus smelling like feet. We now have concrete mix that is lighter yet with higher tensile strength than the ones used 10 years ago. We now have mobiles with more processing power than a PC but those damp carpets inside the prayer rooms are still as wet as it was back i1998n ! We now have malls with butler services , luxury boutiques, personal shopper services and the best gizmos imported from Cupertino but the suraus in these PRESTIGIOUS LUXURY MALLS are still hidden away next to the motherfucking toilet.

Now let's talk about the first problem in this entry. The other problems regarding suraus will be discussed in the days to come. I want to keep it short so none of you fuckers will complain that it is TL:DR

QUESTION ONE : Why can't we solve the problem of suraus smelling like feet and the persistent dampness?

It was there when I was ten years old at Plaza Peladang Kedah and it's still here when I went to the surau at ONE UTAMA a few days back. In contrast the toilet next to the surau changed drastically since OU was opened more than 15 years ago. The porcelain tiles were replaced with marbles ones. I must say the toilets in most new shopping malls look better than the ones in 3 Star Hotels.The stalls are now roomier and a Bangladeshi chap is stationed there all the time to make sure the floor is always dry. This is a far cry from the dank, waterlogged and smelly toilet that is was just 5 years ago. Best of all I no longer have to pay for the "pleasure" of using the horrible toilet.

ON A SIDE NOTE

Kenapa tandas berbayar keadaannya lebih MOTHERFUCKING SHIT dari tandas free? Bukankah tandas berbayar seharusnya lebih terjaga? Have you guys tried using the toilet inside Hentian Puduraya before? A few years ago before it was closed for renovation, I had an awesome urge to take a shit there (I was picking up my sister). Went to the toilet, paid the 20 cents entrance fee and went to look for an empty stall. First one was clogged with solid shit encrusted inside the toilet bowl like dried Milo. The second one does not have a functioning flush. A brown floating turd bobbed on the surface of rancid yellow piss. The third one is just a little bit cleaner than the toilet from Trainspotting



I really need to take a shit but I lost the nafsu to berak then and there. Ran out while at the same time squeezing my sphincter all the way to the Nandos next to Puduraya. Went into the loo and I let it rip. It was still the best shit I ever had. It went out in one awesome explosion that would make the dudes on Jackass happy. You'll never know how awesome an invention a sitting toilet connected to a sewage system is until you are denied one at a very crucial shitting moment.

ANYWAY

The surau in OU in contrast barely changed. They changed the carpeting, repaint it and the ablution area was retiled. But despite of this NOT MUCH have changed architecturally. One walks into the surau, buka kasut, walked on the sticky plastic mesh (with slime mold on them) and then proceed to the prayer hall.

Does anyone else find the smell disturbing. I mean Islam is a religion that puts a lot of premium on cleanliness. I don't think "cleanliness" is the thing that pops into your head when you visit the suraus in the shopping mall. If you are not a Muslim and you accidentally walked into a surau you might have the impression that Muslims love praying in molding and stinking prayer rooms.

SO HOW DO WE SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?

The main reason why the surau's are so smelly is due to the lack of air circulation. Suraus in Malaysia are always designed as an afterthought. I can't blame the architect though because MOST SHOPPING MALLS are not owned or designed by Muslims. Usually they just choose an empty room tucked away in a corner somewhere and convert that into a surau. 90% of the time these surau have no windows. So what happened when you have wet feet and zero air circulation going on for years? You will have that unmistakable smell of fermented feet juice.

The only two places I know where the inclusion of a surau was not an afterthought is KLCC and Alamanda Putrajaya. In these two KLCCB owned malls, the surau's design was carefully thought after. The suraus there are not rooms converted haphazardly at the very last minute. To the people who designed these 2 suraus I must say thank you for making them one of the most comfortable surau in Malaysia. I just dunno why no other malls that was designed after KLCC and Alamanda was finished didn't just copy paste the design.

Personally speaking I think we could reduce the problem of smelly feet by doing away with the closed designed of the surau.Firstly I suggest all future surau do away with the solid brick walls. Instead make it an open design. Tear down the walls and replace it with wooden lattice. This will automatically increase the air circulation.



Secondly install one of the floor air blower at the ablution area. Better yet maybe design a "feet dryer" where warm air is pumped on the feet of the people coming out of the ablution area into the prayer hall. The carpet will still get a wee bit wet but it wont be as drenched as it is now.

Thirdly it is all down to you and me. Maybe next time when you are taking wudu' make sure shake off as many access water dripping off from your body. I've seen pakciks drenching himself while taking wudu' and they walk straight into the prayer hall.

Sure I heard the story before. Most muslims wont dry off the water from taking the wudu' because apparently "dosa kecil terhapus keluar dengan setiap titik air wudu yang menitis". I dunno how legit this story is but I remember hearing it as a kid.

After the pakcik finished praying, I saw a human shaped puddle on the carpet! There are not many Muslims who own shopping malls. The non Muslim owners will never feel obliged to make the prayer rooms for Muslims more comfortable. I am willing to bet that most of them never even saw the inside of the suraus in their own building. I also reckon they don't even know the current design lead to accumulation of mold and odour.

When we cannot force building owners to design or modified the current surau to be less smelly. maybe we must then modify ourselves. Dry off your feet as much as humanly possible before walking into the prayer hall.

Kalau itu also tak boleh buat maybe its about time we stop using carpets inside surau. Just put lantai jubin like the ones we put inside kitchens.

What do you guys think? What can be done to improve the design of the suraus inside the shopping malls. Thanks for reading

p/s : I helped build missiles. I helped protect this country. You should be rewarded for that. But instead they give it to the plastic surgeons, you know they lied to me.

KREDIT GAMBAR

75 comments:

  1. setuju. kebanyakan surau rnr sgt selesa. surau dlm mall besenye berkuap n busuk. telekung dah berkurap kat dagu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dh tu, ko tlng la basuhkan. xkan tgk jer..

      Delete
    2. telekung dah berkurap?kenapa perlu telekung?tu pasal org suruh berhijab!tak payah susah2 cari telekung bila nak solat
      asik nak salah kan pihak lain jer...allah tak paksa pun solat kat surau atau masjid,solat lah di mana2 asalkan tempat tu bersih dan tidak menimbulkan syak wasangka

      Delete
    3. bawak la telekung sendiri...tu pn susah ke...sume bnde nk kene suap...berjalan pandai, tp bab2 mcm ni xkn nk kene ckp jugak...

      Delete
  2. surau in Space U8 is the best!
    tapi mall dia boring la

    ReplyDelete
  3. inb4 "tu la pasal aku tak sembahyang bila pergi shopping mall"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Assalamualaikum,
    saya juga ada 3 entri tulis pasau surau...dan pernah letak gambar surau di lapangan terbang dhaka bangladesh.

    ada 2 hal pasal surau kita: pihak pengurusan tak ikhlas sedia tempat untuk surau hingga letak tepi gudang serombong entah kat mana, kedua; pengguna surau itu sendiri. Dah ada surau yang selesa di soping kompleks tertentu, penggunanya pulak tak reti nak jaga kebersihan. Sedih!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No need to repeat everything that have been said above. Your effort in writing apparently become worthless.

      Delete
  5. lg satu, surau dekat mall tak perlu carpet. biarkan sahaja guna jubin yg cantik. lepas tu bg la aircond kuat sikit.

    cth terbaik Jusco AU2 Setiawangsa
    cth tak baik, Carefour Wangsa Maju, aircond kedekut malas nak servis agaknya, satu carefour tak rs dingin kalau dah tgahri/ptg.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. surau wangsa walk mall jangan lupa bau kaki dah jadi bau rasmi kat situ.dengan bau pencuci lantai dia yang pekat nak mampos sungguh menusuk hidung

      Delete
  6. Those cones at the alamanda's parking had "KLCC" written on it. I think they have the same management.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yup. same management. mesra mall kemaman terengganu also include

      Delete
  7. BRING BACK FOA YOU MFING LAZY ASS!!!

    or

    Dear Obe, please reactivate you FOA blog. Things like this I love to read.

    Anyways, I am currently engaged in designing our new JKR district office, of which I will implement your suggestion into our design. When the office is ready, I'll gladly post the surau pics for you (provided aku tak kena pindah memana).

    Thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. yeah,same macam kat downtown cheras ,dah la bangla jage, charge skali masuk 30 posen ,air takde, paip patah . memang demsyik

    ReplyDelete
  9. surau selayang mall bau KFC

    ReplyDelete
  10. sy rela g shopping awal2 n sblm kol 3 da blk..selesa solat kt umah jer

    ReplyDelete
  11. surau alamanda kata ok? dah la kecik, carpet busuk, lepas tu bila time solat je terutama waktu pendek macam maghrib, berapa juta la orang gomen gi alamanda tu berebut2 beratur nak amik wuduk, nak solat lagi la dah tau orang ramai tengah menunggu kat belakang, tok imam boleh pulak baca surah panjang, baca doa panjang2. akibatnya berapa juta yg tak dapat solat sebab dah termasuk waktu isyak...

    mohon surau2 di seluruh shopping mall dinaiktaraf dan juga mohon semua orang yg nak jadi imam time solat maghrib tu baca surah yg pendek dan tak payah la berdoa lepas solat utk bagi peluang orang lain juga solat... ana mohon mohon

    blog oh sangat kecewa dengan surau di shopping mall

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know about man surau but woman surau in alamanda is pretty good. Telekung bersih. Tak berbau. Kalau semua orang sembahyang hujung waktu memang la surau jadi sesak.

      Delete
    2. betul tu...biasa gi surau alamanda memang lar sesak sket dah ramai yg nak solat...tp cuma nak tegur gak lar ada segelintir yg tak solat tp dok melepak kat dalam tuh...ada gak yg dah solat tapi masih duduk kat sejadah siap bermekap segala...sedangkan org lain tgh tunggu turn nak solat...nak tegur kang sentap plak...kena sama2 bertimbangrasa lar...

      Delete
    3. ohh dilema ompompuan yg ku belum penah dengar lagi...

      Delete
  12. sbb org islam harini byk mengumpat. bukan setakat mulut jer busuk, kaki pn busuk, makan ikut suka hati, sistem pencernaan badan tidak berfungsi, habis bau hapak bau bangkai keluar. xcukup ngn tu, makan sampai buncit. Pastu duk depan pintu tandas, bila org nk lalu, cuba kempiskan perut dgn tarik nafas.

    Cuba bayangkan jika 5 orang budak gemuk berada dalam tandas berukuran 5 kaki..konfem bau bangkai akan terkeluar dari segala celah dan melekat kat dinding..

    Cara nk settle : Makanlah ikut sunnah supaya tidak gemuk dan tidak menyusahkan orang lain yang terpaksa cari jalan alternatif sbb perut orang gemuk tutup jalan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. apa kebodohan kaitan yg ko cuba sampaikan ni?kalau makan ikut sunnah tu ye,gemok dan orang lalu lalang tu kejadahnya?...

      Delete
    2. bila gemok menyusahkan orang. ko xfaham ker... masalah dlm tandas awam banyak yg laluan sempit. so bila org gemok duk kt tengah jalan tu, susah untuk org lalu. Orang gemuk banyak bau busuk. bodoh betul ko nih. nk ayat straight tu da point. xnk berfikir langsung.

      Delete
    3. ko la yang bodoh faiz fakhirin...abis kalau memang dia dah makan ikut sunnah, tapi badan gemok sbab penyakit ko nak salahkan sapa pulak...bodoh tahap king the singh ko nih...

      Delete
    4. Nak salahkan org gemuk pulak si bodoh ni. Kecik hati org2 gemuk seMalaysia..

      Delete
  13. I haven't been to Pavilion in years, but as far as I can remember, the musolla there was nice. And KLCC as well.

    But then again, haven't been around in quite a while.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes. pavillion wins.

      Delete
    2. betul. setuju juga. pavilion terbaik.

      Delete
    3. was nice ? so it's not nice anymore ? i see

      Delete
  14. dalam toilet mesti ada exhaust fan utk hilangkan bau.

    surau selalu letak FCU satu blow udara sejuk, tapi return air masuk balik dlm FCU. aku belum pernah tengok ada exhaust fan situ.

    ReplyDelete
  15. boleh install satu exhaust fan kecik dalam surau.
    korang masuk dlm toilet, ada satu fan kecik situ. itu lah fan yg aku maksudkan.

    klu x nak, pasang wall mounted exhaust fan 6".(airegard jenama yg aku tau)
    mesti bau hilang.
    harga sebijik dlm 1k kot.

    bab bau dlm surau ni bleh settle. pls note muslim engineers!

    ReplyDelete
  16. baik surau kt TESCO kltn air cond ok , carpet bersih tmpt wuduk kaki smpt kering dn tandas duk jauh dr surau

    ReplyDelete
  17. setakat ni surau kat shopping mall area kl yg best is pavillion.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Obe, I voted you for PM and all problems solved

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahaha...solved or semakin bertambah parah...hahaha

      Delete
  19. surau WANGSAWALK paling busuk peneh aku pegi...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Check this. One of the recent great malaysian designed surau.

    http://www.razinarchitect.com/project_sni_01.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. ini cadangan aku:

    jangan bagi aircond, bagi kipas je...
    pastu korang nak bagi kipas tu maksimum pun takpe, baru ada pergerakan udara sikit... lagi bagus kalau ada kipas, pastu ada tingkap..jadi la open air macam surau baru kat RnR Plus.

    sediakan paper towel.
    ini mungkin benda yang luar biasa kat malaysia, tapi kat negara orang putih, masjid2 semua ada sediakan paper towel supaya kau keringkan air lepas kau amek wudu'. percayalah, solat jadi lebih selesa bila badan kering dan orang sebelah kau kering, tak memercikkan air kat muka kau bila kau tengah solat.

    paper towel tu lagi bersih dari guna hand-dryer yang bising je lebih, tapi tangan tak kering pun...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tp aircond pon circulate udara jugak. dehumidify lg. mmg la rase mcm takde tp sbnrnye lg bagus aircond.

      Delete
  22. bayar la bil Indah Water anda...! hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  23. Top 3 best surau in malls:
    i. New surau at parking level @ Sg Wang
    ii. Surau OU new wing
    iii. Surau basement pavillion

    Top 3 worse surau in malls:
    i. Surau midvalley (sblh aeon) - bau terbaek!
    ii. Surau KLCC underground - bau terbaek!
    iii. Surau pavillion on 3rd flr (kot) - bau

    ReplyDelete
  24. Banyak komen gebang pasal sembahyang. Nak itu nak ini. Konon nak selesa. Dekat rumah memasing silap haribulan kiblat pun tak tahu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kiranya komen ko lain dari yang lain la ni? Kiranya ko sorang yg tau kiblat kat mana? Ni tajuk pasal surau la bai..mesti la citer pasal sembahyang. Puihh

      Delete
    2. komen macam cybertrooper gerombolan

      Delete
  25. Pernah gi surau central market? rasa cam bukan kat malaysia jer. Btw hampir sama ngan cerita dalam post ni:

    http://mynameisnazir.blogspot.com/2011/12/tempat-jumpa-tuhan.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. surau atas bumbung tu ke? tapi takde lah busuk kan?

      Delete
  26. Excess water la, bukan access water.
    Tu la, suka sangat kutuk orang lain punya English.

    ReplyDelete
  27. cadangan;

    rasanya lepas ni arkitek kena ambil port dan fikir macam mana nak elakkan daripada kawasan surau menjadi lembap sebab lembap tu punca bau kepam. eloknya kena ada cross ventilation yang berfungsi dengan baik. contohnya apply dinding berupa mashrabiyya. cahaya matahari boleh masuk, angin pun lalu. tak pun kalau dah terdesak, dinding sebelah atas surau tu dilubangkan. macam rumah melayu tu.

    tempat ambil wuduk pun kena jauhkan sedikit dari ruang solat. kalau ruang terhad, lebih baik jangan guna karpet, sebaliknya guna tile. nak mop pun senang. lagipun karpet tu cuma senang untuk gantikan sejadah je.

    lagi satu, buat surau dalam mall ni memang tak boleh jenis afterthought.kalau boleh biarlah dinding surau tu menghadap luar, bukan surau tu letaknya dekat tengah2 bangunan.

    just my two cents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. idea ko akan aku tweet pada Dato Sri Najib Kesayangan OBE.

      Delete
    2. buah fikiran cik aida bernas sekali. mohon pihak bertanggungjawab pertimbangkan idea cik aida

      Delete
  28. From my point of view.. our design regulation or any akta which specify how a surau should be construct in a shopping mall does not exist. if we have these design guideline and regulation ofcourse these building developer need to comply with it. So who should amend or proposed it. supposely it should be the respective gov or institute profession.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Surau spaceu8 bukit jelutong shah alam terbaik

    ReplyDelete
  30. Bill Foster, Falling Down (1993).

    bring back FOA obe! i missed guessing these quotes that you've put on every single post u made.

    ReplyDelete
  31. great article by the way bagi manusia2 pembaca BS berfikir sikit. architecturally, bagi aku arkitek mana2 pun mesti tahu yang design dia kena kompromi semua, dah tau malaysia negara majoriti Islam (walopun majoriti sipi2) buat laa surau senang nak carik, dah laa letak surau jauh disudut dunia mana ntah, memanglah pengudaraan tahap bau kaki (yang kadang2 kalo hidu lama, cam sedap plak bau dia, lulz). kalau nak letak pun jauh2, bagi laa station 'bangladeshi chap' kat situ, siap dengan Febreeze yang mungkin boleh buang sikit bau kaki tuh... and yes, instead of carpets guna tiles, and kalo nak sedia sejadah pastikan tiap2 hari laa cuci, ini sejadah pun bau kaki ape pasal -__-

    but my suggestion bagi arkitek2 yang mungkin akan bina islamic mall masa akan datang, letak surau tempat yang senang orang cari, bukan tepi2 mana entah, pastu kalo takde aeration yang sempurna, guna lah some kind of good technology, kan sekarang banyak air cond yang serap2 bau dengan ion bagai tuh..

    ReplyDelete
  32. kebanyakan surau kat shopping mall sangat kecik dan sempit. bila nak solat terpaksa berebut2 tempat dengan orang. bau memang takyah cakap la.

    surau paling best yang pernah masuk adalah surau kat pwtc. memang macam 5 star hotel. luas dan sangat selesa. sila pegi kalau tak percaya :P

    ReplyDelete
  33. BAHASA JIWA BANGSA..
    bahasa melayu la bro...gua x paham.
    jgn nk suruh aku google translate..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. baik ko blaja bahasa inggeris la bro... jangan harapkan sangat google translate tuh..

      Delete
    2. Belaja la bhasa lain sekali...asyik bahasa melayu jer. Bila ko nk pandai.

      Delete
  34. Thanks for the effort putting up this post. My piece of mind:

    1. No cost effort: attitude change to self responsible and loving cleanliness

    2. With cost effort: Malaysian able to build things including suraus. Able to fork out budget from somewhere. BUT they never budgeted for maintenance. So that leaves those surau or even masjid in the state what we are not happy today. Even we ourselves need to allocate maintenance cost

    Fikir fikirkan

    ReplyDelete
  35. pangil lah sukarelawan2 pelajar kau tu wat keje amal.nak puasa ni kan..ganjaran lebih ni bai puasa nti. duk komplen tu ini apa dapat.

    ReplyDelete
  36. so far,surau pavilion is the best surau in kl yang aku penah pegi.
    design wise A+,material used A+,traffic flow A+.

    *trust me,i'm an architect.

    ReplyDelete
  37. aku sungguh2 x sangka Obe berjaya membuatkan readers bg komen2 yg sgt membina dan positif utk entry pre-ramadhan ni. i should salute to this very constructive discussion.

    standing ovation.
    jazakallah.

    ReplyDelete
  38. surau dekat space u8 so far paling terbaik.eventho letak karpet, but there's no smell at all!comfortable and very soothing. check it out here>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWYZH9WrcyY

    ReplyDelete
  39. Skang ade je surau yg siap azan ade imam bilal bertugas mcm kat stesen bas larkin. Tapi rase2 situ jelah yang ok, lain mcm hampeh

    ReplyDelete
  40. semua arkitek, masa student, dah diajar macam mana nak design setiap space. termasuk surau. sedangkan aku pon habiskan 1 semester utk solve and cari solution utk problem ni. well, the solutions as listed above. but when it come to industry, we are working with our clients. dan Malaysia sendiri ada UBBL (uniform building by law) utk panduan2 arkitek2 ni.

    dalam UBBL, ada kriteria2 utk surau terutamanya dlm shopping kompleks, tapi undang2 tu hanyalah syarat minima yg perlu dipatuhi. dan client and the developer biasanya bukan beragama islam, so diorang just take the minimum criteria and put it into their bulding. simple as that.

    utk client yg beragama islam pula, adalah cabaran yg amat besar utk buat surau dlm shopping kompleks yg very well ventilated and efficient. and when it comes to budget, there goes like existing surau nowadays.

    extra: not really sure but, according to UBBL, a shopping complex doesnt need to have a surau, if there are existing mosque/surau around 1-5km from the site.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Bawalah kemana shj telekung travel yg kecil saiz nya muat letak dlm handbag.senang di bawa kemana shj.jom order di facebook telekung travel sharzlin atau email sharzlin83@yahoo.com. Murah sgt cuma rm20shj. Kini tiada alasan utk tidak solat lagi.

    ReplyDelete
  42. interesting page!!

    http://www.facebook.com/telekungtravelsharzlin

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails