Following the completion of the first part of the graduation projects, the designer has gained a range of useful knowledge during the overall process of her works. She has now grown to be more considerate and not having different perspectives towards the mental patients. Overall from the previous project’s research, she has concluded that people frequently associate wellness with only physical health, but in fact, it is much more than that. Thus, wellness should not only be taken care of physically, but as well as mentally. According to research (Steber, 2019), when a habit interferes with your physical or mental well being, it is considered as a sign of mental illness. Therefore one of the reasons mental illness can be formed are by habits. Aside from that, some of the habits that a person performs may also be an indication of mental illness. Just as similar to bad habits will harm your physical health, some bad habits can also harm your mental health. These habits, for instance, can increase your risk of developing mental illnesses. 

 

Wellness is the act of practising healthy habits in order to achieve better physical and mental health outcomes. For better or worse, our habits are also one of the keys to an individual’s wellness. In fact, our behaviours and habits have an influential impact that affects our physical health, mental health and quality of life. A person’s mental health is important in our daily life as it affects how we interact with others and deal with different situations. As a result, there will be a slight change of intent from the previous projects. In the upcoming projects, the researcher intends to research on a wider context about habits. Whereas for the specific context, the researcher intends to find out how our habits or behaviours can influence us in our well being and gives us a sense of belonging.

 

For the independent project, the researcher aims to look into the quirkiness of the Malaysian’s habits. As a Malaysian that has been living in Malaysia, a multi racial country for years, there are quite an amount of habits that only being a Malaysian would relate to. These cultural habits are usually only performed by Malaysians which gives out a more quirky impression to others. Due to the different races here in Malaysia, various cultures have been so well integrated into our way of life that many people are unaware of the habit’s formation. Despite the sheer diversity of the population, it can also be used as a way for Malaysians to recognise their compatriots without being told just by their actions and behaviours, which are so called the Malaysian habits. 

 

The research methodologies that will be utilized in this project are through both primary research and secondary research. Online questionnaires will be distributed, and interviews will be conducted with a group of university students. Interviews would be conducted with interviewees via online platforms or questionnaires, allowing the researcher to collect and have a better picture in mind of what are the quirky things that Malaysians do and how it makes it an iconic thing in Malaysia. In addition to the primary research in hand, the researcher will then conduct secondary research. Secondary research such as reading articles, watching documentaries, and considering social media content, will be conducted for a better understanding and development of the project on the chosen topic. Not to forget the Malaysian researcher herself, the research will be based on personal experiences as well. Existing data is summarised, compiled, and observed in order to improve overall research effectiveness. With all of the information in hand, the researcher will compile it and proceed in accordance with the project's direction and approach.

 

Speaking of habits other than relating it to mental illnesses, the researcher, as a Gen Z herself, realised that there are a variety of behaviours and habits that most people practice nowadays to keep themselves up to trend. It is no longer a new normal but instead it can be stated as an “in thing” that almost everyone does. People are constantly following up with the latest trends due to the FOMO (fear of missing out) and YOLO (you only live once). A more straightforward explanation, it simply means the fear of being left out and excluded by society. Moreover, It usually appears that we are in control of our own thoughts and actions, but social psychology tells a different point of view. The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another is defined as social psychology. We communicate with others everyday and the influence of others on us is one of the lessons of social psychology. Therefore, we do not have as much control over our thoughts and behaviours as we believe. Instead, we take our cues for how to act from our surroundings, particularly from other people. In research by Effectiviology (n.d.), they have stated that an effect named “bandwagon” is a cognitive bias that causes people to behave in a certain way because they believe what the others do are similar. The bandwagon effect, for example, can cause someone to adopt a certain political ideology because they see other people in their social circle adopting the same ideology.

 

Moving on to the external project brief, the researcher intends to study the current generation's trendy habits or behaviours in the 21st century. Mainly including good and bad habits of the current generation. As a result, the research will be conducted using both qualitative and quantitative methods, and will be divided down into primary and secondary research. First and foremost, primary research will include the distribution of online questionnaires as well as interviews with a group of university students. University students were chosen as the research audiences as most of them are from the group of people from Gen Z. This will allow the researcher to collect more interesting datas and form a better picture in mind of the habit formations of the 21st century generation. Additionally, moving on to a more in depth understanding, secondary research such as reading articles and watching documentaries will be conducted for a deeper understanding and for a better development of the project on the chosen topic. Not to mention, as a Malaysian, the research will also be based on some personal experiences. To improve the overall effectiveness of research, existing data is summarised and compiled and to be observed. With all of the information in hand, the researcher will then all be gathered and proceed as the direction and approach towards the project.

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In order to achieve a more valuable outcome, researching is an essential part during a project’s process. It is critical to conduct research as it provides effective solutions for different problems and challenges. According to a research (Blog, n.d.), educational research is a type of investigation that uses empirical methods to solve educational problems. It employs rigorous and well-defined scientific processes for data collection and analysis in order to solve problems and advance knowledge. Not only does research provide data for learning, it also enables students to apply their knowledge in real world situations. Thus, for both the independent project and external brief, research was done mainly with primary research and secondary research. 

 

One of the research methodologies such as primary research such as questionnaires and interviews were utilized as the kick start for both projects. For the independent project, the purpose of the study aims to investigate the quirkiness of the Malaysian’s habits. The online questionnaire titled “How Malaysian are you?” was sent out for data collection purposes. In the questionnaire, some common quirky Malaysian habits questions such as Malaysia's communication style and habits, (slangs, rojak language, vulgar words), Malaysia's daily life habits, Malaysia's eating habits, Malaysia's childhood habits and others. The respondents were also asked on their personal Malaysian habits based on their personal experiences. Whereas for the interview session, the researcher has interviewed four interviewees including Chong, Liew, Teh, and Lee. All four interviewees are university students as the researcher believes that compared to other groups of people, university students have more flexibility and time to explore what is around them. As a result, their chances of knowing and exploring what other people do tend to be higher than the others.

 

Same goes to the external brief, primary research has also been conducted for more favourable data collections. The goal of this study is to look into the trendy habits or behaviours that shape the twenty-first century generation. As a result, in primary research, a group of university students were targeted as the main group of research audiences for this project as most of them are from the group of people from the Generation Z (Gen Z). Knowing what are the trendy things going on most out there, this will allow the researcher to collect more interesting data and form a more complete picture of the development of the generation in the twenty-first century. “Habits that form the twenty-first century generation” is the questionnaire for this project asking questions including some common habits that the twenty-first century generation does such as using social medias, consuming alcohol, having sex, smoking or vaping, procrastination, or even following the ongoing trends. The researcher has also asked the respondents to describe and talk about their personal habit experiences. Interview was carried out at the same time as the independent project. 

 

Based on the overall questionnaire result for “How Malaysian Are You”, majority of the respondents agreed on the common typical Malaysian habits that was asked. Some of the typical Malaysian habits that they agreed on are mainly the Malaysian’s communication style (using manglish, slangs, and more than one language in one sentence), the hand of god (using hands to stop oncoming cars to say thank you), motorcyclist fashion style (backward jacket sensation), being late (on the way but actually still at home), eating habits (anything can be our 3 meals, anything needs to be spicy and driving to another state just for food), roti man (chasing after the roti man that passes by our house), childhood snacks (malaysian childhood snacks are about the same), appellation (calling everyone auntie/uncle/boss/lenglui/lengzai), support for holiday (support Malaysia’s badminton competition for holidays), Maggie Hot Cup (essential when travelling), Milo truck (Queuing up for milos from the milo truck),  footwear (outdoor shoes/ slippers not allowed indoor), hesitation (having problem deciding where to go and what to eat) and lastly, mamak (supper, mamak after drinking, “yum cha” session with friends during midnight).

 

For “Habits that form the twenty-first century century generation” ’s  data analysis, the researcher has also concluded a few common things that the current generation do in the twenty-first century. Starting off with the first habit, using electronic devices for social media interactions (posting before eating, checking on social media, cannot live without, to play games). Secondly, smoking/ vaping (regular cigarettes/ e-cigarettes/ shisha). Thirdly consuming alcohol (while underage). Fourthly, sexual activity (never had sex before reaching the age of consent). Fifthly, staying up late (staying up till late night). Sixthly, procrastinating (dragging things until the very last minute). To sum up from the questionnaire, there are also other personal habits that the respondents perform such as complaining about the government, saying thank you again instead of you're welcome, eating local delicacies from different races, eating ice cream with french fries, eating hup seng biscuits with Milo, haggling, being a busybody whenever there’s traffic accidents, answering ‘anything’ when being asked on what to eat, eating rice as breakfast and driving without wearing shoes. 

 

Moving on to a more in-depth understanding, secondary research was also conducted for both projects. Secondary research such as reading articles and watching documentaries for a deeper understanding and a better development on the chosen topic. The researcher has researched a variety of other typical habits that Malaysians have for the independent project. For the external brief, the researcher has researched on why and how all of the habits were formed for the common twenty-first century generation. Through the research, the researcher has found out that the habits actually originated from common teenage problems and had led them to such habits. Not to mention, as a Malaysian, some of the research is also based on personal experiences. Some of the experience that the researcher has witnessed based on the common problem faced are like males wearing make up, having ear piercings, nail polish (due to not having good self esteem), taking tik tok videos in public (seeking for attention, end up getting cyber bullied online and offline), getting drunk and high (engaging into sex uncontrollably/ sex before age of consent/ pregnancy), doing minor cosmetic plastic surgeries (increase body image), keeping themselves up to trend (to have the same topic with others), smoking (cigarettes/ vaping/ shisha) and also flexing branded/ designer items (holding yourself up to impossible standards).

 

For the independent project, the researcher decided to come out with her own version of a Malaysian card game. “Wanna be part of Malaysians? Play this lah!” is the final designed piece produced by the researcher. The outcome is a set of illustrated card decks designed based on the quirkiness of the Malaysian habits, together with another set of explanations to match the card designs. The illustration style that was implemented in the project is the modern cartoon style. Remembering during the researcher’s childhood time, she likes to watch cartoons and this is one of the most common art styles that you can see on the cartoon. Therefore this style has inspired her to create her card deck illustration style. The main characteristics of this art style are thick outlines, very geometric shapes, and colourful colours. With the illustration style, the researcher has illustrated a whole list of quirky habits that only being a Malaysian would relate to. 

 

As years pass by, there are many more new generations that were borned and that also simply means there will be many more habits made by the new generations. As a 21st generation herself, she has actually encountered and witnessed most of the habits that are trendy. Some amazes her whereas some just leave her questioning. The ones in the researcher’s project are still considered acceptable to her and as well as happened on the people around her, but there are still other habits or acts like the latest generation does such as their way of communicating, their way of dressing and many other more that she thinks she's way too old or outdated for it. As a result, it is not a new normal anymore if there are more upcoming habits or acts by the future generation, therefore in order to stay up to date, what you have to do is just keep checking on the latest trends and follow them.

 

Moving on to the external brief project, the researcher has performed this project with a series of posters with the help of portraits and typography based on the twenty-first century generations' trendy habits/ behaviours. Not to forget, the types of habits concluded from the research can be used to show the different types of habits that the current generation is into nowadays. These habits can truly portray how the current generation in the twenty first century acts. The researcher intended to produce the outcome in a poster form as she thinks that posters are credible. Poster advertising is a distinguished tradition that continues to thrive where people are more likely to trust poster advertisements because they are more visible and accessible in public places. 

 

In total there are 7 posters, which includes 7 different scenarios of the current generation’s habit such as smoking cigarettes , applying cosmetics (men), undergoing plastic surgeries, staying up late, addicted to electronic devices, consuming alcohol and having sex before reaching age of consent. All of the models are mainly university students, which is mainly the researcher’s targeted audience for this project. As can be seen, each picture is taken in a dark and plain environment; this has provided the “serious” mood that the researcher wants to portray to her audiences. Whereas for the typographies that are along the sides of the portraits, those are mainly criticisms that people that do the same thing will receive from the others. The overall design concept is based on the “serious” mood, therefore there are no other colours in the poster except for colours of white, grey and black. 

 

In conclusion, as a typical Malaysian that has been living in Malaysia for 21 years, everything has already been a norm for us, and we have grown used to this occurrence. What the researcher is actually proud of being a Malaysian is that despite the fact that we are a multicultural country, we can still all be able to live harmoniously and peacefully in this wonderful place. She is also truly thankful to the spirit of Satu Malaysia (One Malaysia), if there weren't the multicultural spirit, Malaysia would not be such a unique country. Last but not least, Malaysians do have many quirky habits that people from other countries might not see or relate to, regardless if it is good or bad, but this is what distinguishes a true Malaysian.