Eid Mubarak

And so yesterday mark the 1st day of Syawal in the Hijri calendar, which means just one thing; Eid-ul Fitr which is the biggest celebration in Malaysia (though not in Canada) is happening. After a month of fasting, now the Muslim are celebrating their 'victory' starting from yesterday.

So, I on behalf of all MASAT committee would like to wish Eid Mubarak to all Muslim members of MASAT and Muslims around the world. Have a happy and joyous Eid.

Here, a photo of us (with some from Hamilton) having a 'Open House' at one of our member, Fazry's house.

Report : MASAT Iftar

AUGUST 19 - Last Friday night, the MASAT Iftar event was successfully held on Multifaith Center, UofT. Everything went well, except the Tarawikh prayer wasn't done there as everyone went home early that night.

On behalf of MASAT, I would like to gratitude CMA (Canada Malay Association) for organizing this event as well as MATRADE who sponsored it. A great thanks too, to both Malaysia Kitchen and Zabiha Halal who provided the delicious food.

I hope that such events will be held again in the future not only as to celebrate the Ramadhan, but to have a meet together with our fellow friends and families from Malaysia.

Here are some pictures. The rest of the pictures can be seen on the GALLERY section.

To MASAT members, you don't want to miss this. Check the details out on CMA Website.

T-shirt

To every MASAT member, a very good news to you all of you. We will finally have our Official MASAT T-shirt. You guys should know that we have been trying to design and come out with a T-shirt for a few times now. And now the long-awaited T-shirt is here. You can check out the design below. Just a roughly drawn sketches and colors of the T-shirt.

So, to all MASAT members, here are a few details of the T-shirt:

• It is a POLO T-shirt, which is meant to be simple. And it has a collar, just like common polo T-shirt
• There is a line "www.masatoronto.blogspot.com" at the back of the collar.
• A simple yet stylish logo inscribed on the right sleeve.
• PRICING: the exact price is not confirmed yet. But it will be on $15CAD - $17CAD (depending on the number of orders).
• AVAILABILITY: You will be getting the T-shirt on October, if everything went smoothly.

Interested? Then, fill up the following Google Form: MASAT Polo T-shirt, by this Saturday, August 13, 11:59pm.

Don't miss this great opportunity. This is a limited, stylish design made by non other than us. Plus its really cheap, compared to usual POLO T-shirt price. Get it now or you'll regret later.

**Any concern or comment about the T-shirt, you can email us at masat.uoft@gmail.com.

MASAT Iftar

Attention to all MASAT members. We are now still in Ramadhan. Which is famous for its Iftar (the act of Breaking Fast). So, MASAT and CMA (Canada Malay Association) will co-organize an Iftar which will happens in a few weeks. Details as below:

• Friday (August 19, 2011)
• 8:00pm to 11:00pm
• Multifaith Centre, Koffler House, UofT
• Free admission

All foods are generously provided by Zabihah Halal and Malaysia Kitchen, which make it a FREE dinner for everyone. All MASAT members are invited, at least to the one who is still in Toronto. So, regardless of Muslim or non-Muslim. However, be wary of your dressing and manners as it is the month of Ramadhan.

To those who are interested, you are required to SIGN UP the following Google Form: MASAT-CMA Iftar. (the same form sent to your email by MASAT) by Tuesday, August 9th, 11:59pm. It is a must for all attendees as we want to approximate the amount of food to prepare as well as to avoid any leftover.

So, SIGN UP, COME, ENJOY.

Summary for Questions

Well, I guess our MASAT Facebook page has been fired-up with lots of questions from the juniors as well as some seniors. So, here is some summary of some very popular and important issue to take note:


[1] Start of Fall 2011 class
      - Monday, September 5th > Orientation program for First Year students begin.
      - Thursday, September 8th > Engineering lectures begin.
      - Monday, September 12th > Arts and Science lectures begin.

     *other important dates - check this PDF files HERE


[2] Temporary Resident
To First Year students, as you guys will flew in earlier than your residence (assuming most of you stay in residence) or you rental-house check-in date, you will most likely being placed to a hotels or apartments until the check-in date. Although it is quite hard to find a cheap room for such a long period (approximately 5-7 days, assuming of August 26th being the earliest day of arriving), MASAT members will try their best to find some way to minimize the cost but still manage a comfortable living space. So, lets hope it will be done. If not, we'll figure something else out.


[3] Off-Campus Housing
An off-campus house or resident is very hard to find, at least for a reasonable price. So, us seniors can't really just go out for one day and find one that suits your money. So, to juniors who wish to live off-campus, and asking seniors to find them one must be patient as it is subject to availability. And it really depends on how much you're willing to spend, the location, the layout of the room and the list goes on.

So, it is advisable for you to take it yourself if you can. Try kijiji.ca or craiglist.ca or places4students.com or many other rental house listing (Google it), where people often post ads about house rental. We seniors can help by contacting them and managing the contract while you are not here. Check out this UofT website too. http://www.housing.utoronto.ca/.


[4] Icputoday.com
Check out this website, created and managed by the seniors of "International Canadian pre-University" programs at Taylor's College. Browse through it to find very important information posted there.

Since Malaysian students who are going to Canada do not consist of only ICPU students and students under scholarship, this website opens up its scope to other Malaysian students as well hence covering an even broader topics. Not only is it an information centre, it is also a place where Malaysian students share their experiences studying and living in Canada. Behind this website are Malaysian students who are currently studying in Canada at various universities.

[5] Banking
There's a lot of banking institution here in Toronto. The top four being Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto Dominion (TD Bank), Bank of Montreal (BMO), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). There's HSBC too (the only bank which has its branch in both Canada and Malaysia) but it is too far away and there's hardly any ATM around.

So newcomers, you can decide which bank you want to register for. As far as I understand, all these four offers Student Account, which has some benefits. And all these banks do have ATM scattered all over Toronto. I personally use TD Bank. But, as I said it depends on you. Just choose one and you're good. Though some seniors do said that you should choose RBC as there's more ATM and you don't have to pay the service to send money from Malaysia to Canada (or the vise versa, can't remember it).


Well, I guess it is too much for this post. I'll post up another Summary for other issues later. By the way, enjoy the holiday as

Art & Science Enrollment

This announcement is for all the students who wish or have to take up Art & Science subjects as a credit. For example, 2nd Year Mech. and 4th Year Mech. have to take it up this year. So, it depends of your course. But, you can still take them even if you don't have to.

Below if parts of the email from the Office of the Registrar in regards of this issue:

As part of your degree requirements you are required to take a total of 2.0 credits in Humanities and Social Sciences/Complimentary Studies elective courses. ... On August 9th, 2011 you will be able to begin selecting HSS/CS elective courses that are being offered by the Faculty of Arts & Science.  To ease the process of choosing a course, the faculty has compiled a list of courses that satisfy the HSS/CS elective requirement.  This list can be found of the Office of the Registrar website at: http://www.undergrad.engineering.utoronto.ca/Office_of_the_Registrar/Electives.htm

So, couple of important points to take note.

• Check if you are required to take these course or not.
• The enrollment date starts on August 9th, 2011. Mark your calendar. You don't want to miss the subjects you wish to enroll, as the number of students are limited (depends on courses).
• Check the available courses at the link above.

Ramadhan Mubarak

First of all, this website hasn't been updated for some time for some reason, which I totally apologized. I will be more productive from now on. So, lets hope that this website will be updated regularly, from time to time.

So, if you realized it's a great time for Muslim all over the world as it is now the month of Ramadhan, where every Muslim have to fast for one month. So, I on behalf of MASAT Executive wants to wish all Muslim all over the world especially Muslims of MASAT members or will-be MASAT members, "Ramadhan Mubarak" or in other words 'May you have a blessed Ramadhan'.