Academic and International

International Night – a night of culture sharing of various countries

By: MOHAMMAD HAKIMI KAMARUDIN, CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIVISION

Some 900 international students from 30 countries were involved in the International Night event organised by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) International Office held at Block W, UMP Gambang Campus on December 19, 2018.

Among the guests present were UMP Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Sri Dr. Daing Nasir Ibrahim and the university’s management including Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), Professor Ir. Dr Wan Azhar Wan Yusoff and International Office Director, Dr. Nik Aloesnita Nik Mohd Alwi.

The International Night started in 2009 aimed at fostering closer ties among the international community who came from many countries and for them to share their cultures with the locals.

They would display an array of their popular traditional dishes and delicacies, song and dances as well as other unique features of their cultures.

Professor Dato’ Sri Dr. Daing Nasir said by having this programme, it would help to bridge the gap between the local students and international students.

He said the International Office had also introduced a volunteering programme called International Office Buddies.

“This programme provides the opportunity for students to consistently work together in various activities especially in promoting the university’s internationalisation agenda which is one of its key agendas.

“The variety of cultures from many countries has shaped the art and culture landscape of UMP. At the same time, it helps to instil a high level of understanding and tolerance among the students,” he added.

International Student President, Mustaf Mohamad, who is from Somalia, said the programme served as a platform for international and local students to display their talents and cultures of their respective countries as well as help to increase awareness and knowledge on the ethnicity and cultures of the countries.

“At the same time, it helps forge closer ties among students of the same country and lessen their longing of food they normally enjoy at home such as mutton masala, Punjabi Pulao, Bhojpuri Chicken, Libya Dessert, Chicken Biryani and Niger Jollof Rice,” he said.

Academic and International

Mandarin language offered to industries at UMP aimed at enhancing professionalism

By: YONG YING MEI, MANDARIN LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL CENTRE (MLCC)

Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) is now offering Industrial Mandarin language to industrial workers aimed at enhancing their skills and is organised by its Mandarin Language and Cultural Centre (MLCC).

MLCC offered the course to 30 employees of Alliance Steel (M) Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB) on December 21, 2018.

ASSB operates a steel manufacturing facility at the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) here.

MLCC Director Yong Ying Mei said it was not only about learning a third language at its basic level but more to master it for a professional reason, a skill that was very much in demand by the current market.

“The mastering of a third language needs to be further enhanced although the participants themselves already have a decent command of the language. There is a need for this in order to ensure smooth implementation of tasks given and for better interactions.

“UMP is a technical university that has experienced lecturers who can assist industrial workers here. In fact, the cooperation forged with Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) recently that will establish the Confucius Institute or Kong Zi Institute will not only benefit the university students but also the local community,” said Yong.

According to Mohd Shahrill Riza Mohd Fadzilah who is ASSB Human Resource Executive, the Industrial Mandarin course offered would help improve communication skill of those in the operations.

“We get to learn more vocabularies in Mandarin for practical use in the steel manufacturing industry. Every technical head comes from China and each leads a team comprising Malaysian workers so there is a need to know and master the language and its industrial terms as well.

“Seventy percent of workers in ASSB are Malaysians who do not understand the technical terms and names in Mandarin. In order to ease the language barrier, the company works together with UMP by having this Industrial Mandarin course for the workers,” he said.

Business Management Executive, Dzuliskandar Abdul Wahab, 31, from Melaka, said he took the opportunity to participant in the course although he had learned Mandarin during primary school.

“The course offered has helped me in learning more technical vocabularies used by staff from China.

“Having good command in Mandarin has been helpful especially when working in a company with the majority of workers from China. It ensures smooth communication,” he said.

As for Norfazila Sukur, 23, who works in the statistics department, said although she studied Mandarin in primary school, the technical language in Mandarin could not be learned elsewhere.

“The course offered by UMP really helped her in identifying names of equipment used in the plant that were written in Mandarin,” she added.  

ASSB Administration Officer, Chong Zhen Yeap, 26, said the Malay employers were always taught on the vocabularies and terms used in the plant to help them understand better, adding, it was actually a fun process.

Two ASSB employers who were from China also took part in the course – technical worker Dong Xu, 29, and Pn Wu Change, 31, an officer with the company.

Dong Xu said UMP lecturers did not only teach the language but also introduced the culture and other aspects too.    

They were also learning the Malay language from their Malaysian colleagues so they could work better and handle meetings more effectively.

Academic and International

Rushdi Gaafar – A Yemeni with the flair for Malay language

By: MOHD FERDAUS MUSA, CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIVISION 
 
Yemeni Rushdi Gaafar Ahmed Baragaa was picked to represent Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) in the International Malay Language Debate Competition (PABM) that was held at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) in Terengganu on December 20, 2018.

Rushdi Gaafar, a student at Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering (FKKSA), was selected due to his proficiency in the Malay language.

It was his first attempt in such a competition and he did not do badly because the Yemeni was placed ninth out of the 27 participants. Quite an impressive achievement for Rushdi Gaafar who loved nasi lemak and lontong.

Rushdi Gaafar said the debate was based on a topic titled ‘First Class Undergraduate Propels Progress for the Nation’ and he competed under the international student category.

“I took part in the competition because I am really fascinated by the Malay language. The language is simple, beautiful and the sentence structure is easy to learn.

“When I have good command of the language, I am able to understand the culture here and it helps with my studies here. I am happy to be able to speak and understand the language,” said Rushdi Gaafar who had been living in Malaysia for four years.

He was now trying to learn and understand the Malay poems.

Rushdi Gaafar also said he was thankful to have his lecturers, language teachers and staff in UMP who had helped him with the language.

It would indeed be among the best memories for the Yemeni once he graduated from the university.

Student Activities

Nurul Atiqah – a budding engineer who is equally good on the theatre stage

By: SITI NUR AZWIN ZULKAPRI, CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIVISION 

Not everyone is born gifted or blessed with talents. In fact, if it is not discovered or honed, we may not know how far one can go.

That was the case with Nurul Atiqah Mohd Aidi, also known as Ika, a student of bachelor’s degree in mechatronic engineering who used to be a shy girl and a bit of an introvert. 

However, it is different now. Ika is now a bolder and more confident person, not afraid to be in front of the public.

It started when she first entered an English drama competition at school, just for the sake of trying out new experience. However, Ika, 23, did not expect that it would lead her to representing her school at the district level.

Since then, she would always find the opportunity to learn about theatre and dancing from her teacher who was actively involved in cultural activities while schooling at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Jasmine 2, Kajang, Selangor.

She would always watch plays such as Mahsuri, Mana Setangginya, Badai Semalam, Menggamit Kenangan 60-an and Natrah at the Istana Budaya.

When Ika was in Form Three, she joined a theatre production titled, ‘Forest’ as a crew. The production was performed by autistic children for the Malaysia Books of Records.

“I had not expected my interest in acting can be further expanded in UMP. There are a lot of facilities and programmes that give opportunities to students to be involved in arts and cultural activities.

“In UMP, I am one of the members who are actively involved in the Senandika Theatre Group, under the Culture and Arts Secretariat (SKK). We started with the play titled, Taubat (2016), which was also a platform to discover new talents from among first-year students.

“The next play that I performed was a collaboration with Waris Theatre Production of SKK, called DORM 12,” she said.

Her passion for acting has indeed paid off as the Kuala Terengganu-born lass was named the Most Promising Actress for the year 2016 and received the Best Performance Award for DORM 12 from the Centre of Sports and Culture.

Ika had also entered a Story Telling Competition on My Country for the Pahang zone that was organised by the Information Department. She was placed fourth.

In 2017, Ika got the opportunity to participate in Pahang Theatre Festival (FTP) and performed ‘ASRAMA-RA’, a script written by Khairunazwan and directed by her friend, Fendi Shah. 

“We emerged as the champion for FTP and moved on to the finals as the best six theatre groups in Malaysia. We won second place in Malaysia Theatre Festival (FTM) 2018,” she added.

Ika also said she continued to be actively involved in theatres in UMP and performed in several plays such as ‘Selamat Tinggal Bunga Ku’, ‘Rumah Lama Kampung Baru’ and ‘Penglipur’.

On her studies, Ika said she would try to balance her time the best possible way, adding, she would concentrate fully during classes and make sure that she understood the subjects taught.

Ika said she would also do revisions with her friends and complete her assignments at the library.

“I would also do my revisions after stage rehearsals. Normally, rehearsals are carried out between 9 pm until midnight and after that, I would spent two hours to study” said Ika who wanted to be a mechanical engineer.

On public appreciation towards theatre, Ika said she hoped they would be able to understand more about the performing art because it could make them be people with more quality.

Theatre activities should be upheld and not side-lined by main stream development and modern gadgets, she added.

“I hope that theatre enthusiasts will carry on with their fight and continue to be passionate in this field so it will continue to be inherited by a versatile generation. I hope that UMP’s Culture and Art Secretariat will continue to move forward and be well-versed in developing the next group of actors and actresses,” said Ika.