A total of 251 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) public relations undergraduates showed their volunteerism spirit during the opening ceremony of their PR campaign, “Volunteerism V”, at its Kampar campus on Monday, February 1.
This year’s campaign constituted five groups with each championing a sub-theme namely, Depression (D), Recycle (R), Technology Escapism (E), Animal Protection (A), and Malaysian Culture (M), which are collectively known as ‘D.R.E.A.M’.
Gracing the joyous occasion was Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dato’ Lee Chee Leong. On hand to receive him were UTAR President, Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, Kampar District Council Secretary, Nor Akmal Yang Ghazali representing Council President Khairul Amir Mohamad Zubir, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Dr Alia Azalea and Volunteerism V Main Director, Alex Leong Kar Yin.
Leong clarified that the multi-faceted sub-themes are aimed at giving back to the Kampar community through a series of on-campus and outreach activities to be held throughout February and March.
“In short, ‘Depression’ is to create awareness about the adverse effects of depression; ‘Recycle’ is to encourage the love and care for the environment; ‘Technology Escapism’ is to create awareness about smartphone addiction; ‘Animal Protection’ to encourage people to have empathy for animal welfare, while ‘Malaysian Culture’ is to preserve Malaysian cultures which are on the brink of disappearing,” explained the second-year student.
Meanwhile, Nor Akmal looked forward to collaborating closely with the students for the fifth time to engage with the Kampar community on a wider scale. “The campaign is a catalyst in the formation of human networks besides serving as a learning platform beyond the classroom for students to develop networking and management skills,” he stated.
Initiated in 2011, the PR campaign has since gained momentum in becoming a significant annual event at UTAR Kampar Campus.
Citing the exemplary achievement by the previous year’s campaign in bagging the bronze award in the Malaysia PR Awards (MPRA) 2014/2015 for the first time ever, Professor Chuah encouraged the current organising committee to take that as a motivation for continuous improvement.
“Bear in mind that your degree will earn you a bronze medal; your experience will earn you a silver medal; your human network will earn you a gold medal; and your right mindset and attitude will earn you a royal medal,” Professor Chuah concluded.
Ed
