UCSI Sarawak Campus students lend support during Semadang Tagang Festival 2017
KUCHING: UCSI Sarawak Campus, along with various government ministries and agencies as well as private businesses, offered their collaboration and expertise at the recent third edition of Semadang Tagang Festival.
Forty-five volunteers from UCSI University found this experience both entertaining and enriching.
One of the reasons for UCSI’s involvement in this event was expressed by Robinson Ken from Penampang, Sabah, who is a student volunteer studying at UCSI Sarawak Campus. He felt that the festival was a wonderful platform from which tertiary educational institutions could become involved in developing the local community.
“Thefestivalshowedhowtourism can help the local community grow their entrepreneurship skills which then helps elevate their household economy,” he said.
The Semadang Tagang Festival is a tourist attraction which takes place 30 minutes outside Kuching, where tourists can experience and enjoy local music, dancing, food bazaars, fishing competitions, the Miss Tagang beauty contest, cooking competitions, kayaking, exhibitions and games for the children.
The annual festival aims to promote eco-tourism destinations and products in the Kuching area, and to encourage tourists to travel further inland in order to experience the picturesque riverine environment.
The Semadang Tagang Festival 2017 also is intended to promote water sport activities, while at the same time encouraging local communities to maintain the natural environment and protect the unique ecosystems along the rivers. Leander Michandawe, from Pontianak, Indonesia, who is also a UCSI student volunteer, enthused that the festival was very amazing.
“What I especially loved about it was the various competitions such as fishing, kayaking, cooking, darts and the beauty contest. And the surrounding community was very much involved in the whole event.”
Meanwhile, UCSI University Sarawak Campus chief operating officer Mukvinder Kaur Sandhu stated: “It is imperative for our students to be involved in festivals such as these, especially so when the sustainability of the natural environment is involved.
“We would like to continue to work with the community of Kampung Semadang in sustainability research and development projects, in addition to events such as the annual ‘ Tagang’ festival.”
UCSI University Sarawak Campus houses the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management (FHTM), the Faculty of Business and Information Science ( FOBIS) and the Centre for Pre-U Studies (CPU).
FHTM offers three degree programmes – BA ( Hons) in Commerce, BA ( Hons) in Event and Tourism Management, and BA (Hons) in Hospitality Management. Diploma programmes are also available including Diploma in Hotel Management, Diploma in Culinary Arts and Diploma in Leisure Management.
FOBIS offers the following programmes: Diploma in International Business, BCom ( Hons) in Accounting & Finance, and BCom ( Hons) in Marketing.
CPU offers Foundation Studies in both Arts and Science, an excellent pathway to furthering one’s studies in Medicine and Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Architecture, Engineering, Social Sciences and Applied Science programmes.
Enrolment is open for the upcoming September 2017 intake. For more information on the event or course enquiries, call UCSI University Sarawak Campus on 082- 596 965, or log- on to its Facebook page, www. facebook. com/ucsisarawak.