By Sobrina Rosli

THE designs all around us are there for a purpose, says the 23-year-old budding designer.

"It has been hard to be accepted as different." So says budding designer Norhafilah Amin who wants to identify a psychological disorder prevalent among Bruneians and design an object that would help ease their pain. She who in university designed a jacket that doubles as a "portable window" and can be worn by claustrophobic people.

Twenty-three-year-old Norhafilah is a Bruneian who recently returned from London with a BA (Hons) Design from Goldsmiths, University of London.

She has plans to go to graduate school, but at the same time she's raring to be able to apply in Brunei what she has learned from university.

This, despite the likelihood that she could be facing a struggle in expressing her passion in a society that has yet to openly embrace unconventional ways of approaching challenges.

For Norhafilah, designing is not only about art; designing can create solutions to problems. She believes objects have a role for society, people and the environment. Behind every object there should be a meaningful purpose beneficial for everyone, she says.

"I want to apply what I have learnt in the United Kingdom and apply the knowledge to Brunei's environment," she says. "I want to find a problem in Brunei, maybe a prevalent mental psychological disorder among our society. Understand the problem, find a way of approaching, design an object that would help ease their pain and not let them be just dependant on pills."

She took on the theme of claustrophobia for her final year project in university.

"I had a claustrophobic friend and the subject interested me because it offered me a way to think of ways to facilitating their disorder. Eventhough my tutor said it would be a challenging subject, I was confident to find a way. I was a bit stuck at first, but through research, interviewees, experimentation, I began to understand the disorder and to open my mind to ideas to create an escape access from claustrophobia," she recalls.

"I created a jacket with a folded 'window' at the back of it that would be easy to hang. This idea is to make sure that whenever a sufferer feels claustrophobic for example, in a room that has no windows he or she can take the jacket off and unfold the 'window' and hang it. The foldable 'window' has a scenery which would give a sufferer a calm feeling upon view," she says.

Since her return from London she has realised that sometimes it is not easy being different here and is giving herself time to adjust into her society whilst exploring ways of realising her role here at society.

"A lot of people have different views about me," she says. No, there's no tinge of frustration in her voice. No resentment. No awkwardness in her bearing. She is unperturbed. "I still want to explore my opportunities here. I am happy to say some people are proud of me being different."

Her interest in designing came from her aspirations of becoming a fashion designer when she was younger an interest encouraged and nurtured by her parents.

"I remember buying mini memo pads and drawing mini cartoons I saw from television. My mini cartoons were different because I gave them different styles and a fashion sense," Norhafilah says, reminiscing her days of watching the cartoon Hercules, one of her favourites.

Norhafilah's passion for art grew stronger as she got older, though her teenage years in highschool restricted her from it for three years, leaving her to fulfil her hunger for art only at home.

"When I was being allocated for a Form 1 class, I wanted to take art but they did not accept me because they thought that with my good grades I wasn't suitable for an art class. Eventhough I knew I had the talent, I was very disappointed. Instead I was given agricultural science. The art subject was taken away from me until I reached Form 4," she says.

It was not easy for her to be allowed to venture into her passion academically in upper secondary.

"My parents had to write a letter. I had to convince them. I had to state my reasons why I wanted to venture into the field. I found it really hard how rigid the education system was. They should understand why students choose specific fields, understand these talents because it is their responsibility," she emphasises.

She was eventually allowed to venture into the art track which later allowed her to acquire a structured approach to art in terms of the rules to styles of art and the guideline to the shading and drawing. She viewed it as a 'starting point' for her. The opportunity in this field would pave the way for her to have her first taste of the design world in Form 6.

"I had a choice between Fine Arts or Design. I chose design because I wanted to do something different, eventhough I was more into Fine Arts before, I wanted to do something different," she says.

Her design study in the United Kingdom opened new avenues for development.

"I learnt how to understand design by approaching from several aspects, such as the environment and people by interviewing them to get ideas on how a product can be a solution to their lives. I want people in Brunei to design their own products and not look elsewhere. But the ways of approaching has to be from more than one view," she says.

Norhafilah found the acknowledgement of the art and design field as a pivotal area that needs to be enhanced and developed for the future of Brunei.

"The system should take the risk to nurture these talents. The system has to slowly understand what young artists want to do because it can make a difference to Brunei," she said.

Among her aspirations is to have a role in Brunei town and planning development.

"The designs all around us are there for a purpose. I want to give an understanding and appreciation to what's around us. I hope to understand how Brunei is being developed and approach it in, perhaps, an eco-friendly way. It is challenging but we all have a responsibility towards society, religion and the environment," she says.

To make local artists understand the society, there has to be a concerted effort and open communication from all levels of a society, she says.

"Get to know the psychologists, the sociologists, those in law to understand your subject better. Get to know the issues in their area and then find a solution. Don't be afraid on what you want to achieve, take risks and it will be rewarding."

-The Brunei Times/Asia News Network