Asian Geographic 2017

CULTURE

MARTA KASZTELAN is a freelance journalist and

documentary filmmaker covering Southeast Asia and Eastern

Europe. She is based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

THOMAS CRISTOFOLETTI works in Southeast Asia as a

humanitarian photographer and videographer.

Lokman explains that children of Global Ikhwan
employees usually go to “normal schools” from the age
of seven to 12 and then, depending on their parents’ wishes,
further their education in Malaysia or Egypt, concentrating
on Islamic studies.
In Malaysia, the company runs 50 educational
establishments for children and young adults – all registered
with the authorities. Students sit the same exams as those
taken at government faith schools, in addition to studying the
movement’s religious curriculum.
For girls aged 13 and over, the Sekolah Menengah Islam
Global Ikhwan is located in Puchong, in the southern suburbs
of Kuala Lumpur. Here, daughters of company employees
attend classes with orphans or students from families with
limited means. The education is free, in keeping with the
company’s ideology of “doing good deeds and spreading love”.
“For us at Global Ikhwan, it is so scary to watch the
youngsters’ morale degrading so fast in today’s world,” says
Wan Nor Fauziah Meor Mohammad, the school administrator.
“As Muslims, we need to prepare them, so they can choose
between hell and heaven. It is our responsibility.”
Accordingly, the students’ lives revolve around prayer and
religious studies, Arabic, maths and vocational training that
mirrors the corporate activities of Global Ikhwan.

The girls can choose whether they want to pursue

gardening or work at a café, a laundrette, a second-hand

shop or the nursery, which cares for the infants of school

staff during work hours. They also learn how to cook and

clean. This, says Lokman, prepares them for employment by

Ikhwan, and facilitates intermarriage within its worldwide

network of employees.

“We are trying really hard to remain a religious business,”

Lokman explains. The only means of truly achieving this,

he says, is the intermarriage of company employees, who

today number 4,000. They come from countries where the

business operates: Saudi Arabia – where most of its profits

reportedly come from – Egypt, Indonesia, the UAE, Turkey,

Jordan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Germany and Britain,

to name a few. He adds: “It’s easier because we have the same

principles and understanding.” ag

left Students pray at
the Sekolah Menengah
Islam Global Ikhwan
school in Puchong

bottom left Puan Wan

Nur Fauziah (centre) at

the Sekolah Menengah

Islam Global Ikhwan

school in Puchong

below Aisyah Yob

supervises three

students during a

cooking lesson at the

Global Ikhwan school