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| This is Omar Ali Syaifuddin Mosque with its impressive golden dome in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Negara Brunei Darussalam, an oil-rich sultanate on Borneo island, in Southeast Asia. I took this picture when I came here to do the Friday prayer, February 4, 2005, where I met several women worshippers and countless men. The topic of the 'khutbah' or sermon conveyed by the Imam during this congregation was about the extreme danger of smoking. There are several mosques in Bandar Seri Begawan, with at least two most beautiful ones with their many big and small gold-covered domes. I was told that so noone would ever be tempted to scrape the gold coating, a layer of thick, hard and clear glass covered each dome. |
| MARHABAN! SELAMAT DATANG! WELCOME! SUGENG RAWUH! AHLAN WASAHLAN! "HOUSE OF CREATIVE WRITING, LLC" is devoted to two divisions: Language Service Department and Writing & Creative Writing Department. Please feel welcome to browse our website to discover what you need and what we can do for you! |
A BRIEF HISTORY OF "HOUSE OF CREATIVE WRITING, LLC" It was in March 1996, when Ninie Gaspariani Syarikin gave birth to her youngest of three sons, and she was taking about 5 months maternity leave from her job as a broadcast journalist that she conceived the idea of establishing her own home-based translation business in Washington, DC. The idea was to try to still earn some income, while bonding with and taking care of her baby at home. Besides, being a competent linguist and scholar of literature, who has a strong affinity and sensitivity with languages, literatures and cultures, Ninie simply could not stop utilizing her skills to write and translate. Even back then, she had had 17 years' experiences of professional language teaching, writing, translating and interpreting that she brought from her home country, Indonesia. When living in Medan, North Sumatra, aside from her main job as a university lecturer, Ninie also managed a language service at her home office that she called "House of Language Services." She did lots of translation work, as well as gave private English lessons to groups of people. She had been doing all of that since she was a young university student of English language and literature at the Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Central Java. She then became an instructor/ lecturer at the English Department, Faculty of Letters of the State University of North Sumatra (USU) in Medan; obtained a scholarship in "Methods of Employing Literature in Language Teaching," at the SEAMEO Regional Language Centre in Singapore; later attended the George Washington University in Washington, DC, under the Fulbright Scholarship Program, administered by the Institute of International Education, in American Studies with emphasis on American literature; and finally, after returning to Indonesia and teaching back for three and a half years at her home institution, USU, Ninie immigrated to the United States permanently, to work as a writer, translator/interpreter and reporter. During her being a stay-at-home Mom for those almost 5 months, Ninie -- who had published both in Indonesian and English, articles, reports and poems, in women’s magazines, journals and bulletins in Indonesia during the 1980s and 1990s; led the publication of the University of Sumatera Utara's newspaper bulletin "Informasi Kampus" in 1992-1993 as its Editor-in-Chief; and who had been an Associate Editor of the George Washington University's Art and Literary Magazine "Wooden Teeth" in 1987 -- started writing simple children stories to read to her own. With Umar being the baby in the house, Mohamed and Ibrahim were 7 and 6 then. They had many children story books, but Ninie wanted to convey something else, too. Out of the process of writing creative compositions for her children, as well as her long and deep passion on writing poetry and stories, she ‘named’ her home “House of Creative Writing.” In the mean time, Ninie started getting -- later numerously -- projects of translation and interpretation, editing and proofreading, language teaching, linguistic review and consultation, voice-over, cross- culture training and many other language- and literature-related assignments. For example, she was invited and paid to read her poems in cultural shows, such as in Spring 2000 & 2001, by the invitation of Ms. Christel Stevens, the Dance Specialist at Arts and Cultural Heritage Division, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Prince George's County Department of Parks and Recreation. The occasion was the celebration of the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. Up to now, Ninie reads her poetry from time to time in various occasions. Because of this, her website www.houseofcreativewriting.com is devoted to two divisions: one is for her language services, where you can contact her as a linguist for your linguistic needs; and the other is for her writings, where you can contact her as a writer and commission her to do some writing assignments that you would need. And certainly, you will also get to enjoy reading some of her collection of poetry, reports and other writings. So, do come back often to check what Ninie has put and added in her website. All of this is an on-going effort, with a fierce competition between time and energy, work and family. Keeping her job as a broadcast journalist, managing her business and raising her family, as well as finding the time to write, Ninie has long made Washington, DC, where her three sons were born, her home. If you find "House of Creative Writing, LLC" useful, helpful, informative, even entertaining, by all means, refer it to your friends, relatives and business colleagues. Please feel free to write Ninie with your ideas, suggestions and comments, both for the translation/interpretation and writing divisions. Be sure to check our MISSION & STATEMENT OF PURPOSE, you'll be happy and satisfied to use our services! It has been a long way, 16 years since the conception of the idea, with over 20 years of writing, translating and interpreting experiences. Ninie and her "House of Creative Writing, LLC" continue to thrive, to serve and interact with the communities and many entities for many years to come. Her motto is simple: WILL DO THE COMMUNICATION FOR YOU! |
| Hibiscus is a tropical flower; I grew up with it. Lots of them in my islands, Bangka-Belitung. Some are red, pink, and some are white. In Indonesia, generally, it is called "Kembang Sepatu," which means 'shoe flower,' rather curious why it is called so. In Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, it is called "Bunga Raya," which means 'flower of celebration,' and sounds more deserving to me. It is the national flower of Malaysia. In the chain of small islands of Indonesia, along the Sumatran coast in the Strait of Malacca, like Batam, Bengkalis, Bintan, Karimun, Kundur, the Malay people there also call Hibiscus, "Bunga Raya." Thus, both names are recognized in this area. |
| HOUSE OF CREATIVE WRITING, LLC Services in English and Southeast Asian languages, focusing on areas of marketing and implementation in Southeast Asia and the United States of America. Copyright©1996-2012. HOUSE OF CREATIVE WRITING, LLC. All Rights Reserved Website designed and maintained by The Syarikin Brothers For comments and inquiries about this website, please contact: webmaster@houseofcreativewriting.com CONTACT US! |
| W E L C O M E ! to the House of Creative Writing, LLC |
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