Shell M’sia exits Prestige after going the distance with Unimas

KUCHING: Shell Malaysia will no longer partner Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas) in organising the Practical Environmental, Safety and Industrial Guidance for Student Engineers (Prestige) starting next year.

The programme with Unimas was launched in Kuching in 2008 to promote health and safety culture among engineering students at universities.

Shell MDS manufacturing general manager Tom Wong, in announcing this, said Shell will be passing the baton to Malaysian Gas Association ( MGA) to carry on with the programme in 2017.

“We are very proud to leave this legacy to an able hand and we are very certain that MGA will grow Prestige into richer programme. On behalf of Shell, I wish to record our profound gratitude to Unimas for being a good player in our Prestige venture, and hope you will contribute on with MGA from here.

“I also wish to record our thanks to our two prominent collaborators and partners, DOSH (Department of Occupational Safety and Health) and DOE (Department of Environment) for their valuable partnerships in this programme,” said Wong at the Shell Prestige Award 2016 held at a leading hotel here yesterday.

Wong also mentioned that for eight years, Prestige has been Shell’s avenue to engage the young minds and share its numerous personal and process safety practices.

So far, such campaigns have touched over 1,000 students from Unimas and Universtiti Malaysia Sabah ( UMS), he added.

“Prestige is a programme that allows us to share-out best practices from lessons learnt in the industry in Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), and showcased how safety is applied to the workplace using real-world examples.

“We are pleased to have worked these miles with Unimas to this distance,” he said.

This year saw the participation of 67 students from Unimas’ Faculty of Engineering who stayed in a hotel here for the three-night two-day programme.

They were then divided into seven groups named after Star Wars characters for a competition, and the top three teams get to win prizes. Team BB8 won first place, followed by Yoda Master at second and Luke Skywalker third.

Chairman of Unimas board of directors Datu Dr Hatta Solhi presented the prizes.

Meanwhile, Unimas vice chancellor Professor Dato Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi in his speech read by deputy vice chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) Prof Fadzil Abdul Rahman, thanked Shell for being an industrial partner to Unimas.

He said Unimas engineering students have been participating in Prestige for the past eight years and the university already felt it is already part of the Prestige team.

“Unimas is ever ready to accept Prestige at anytime, be it in terms of students’ participation or support from the lecturers and our technical team.

“Therefore, it is hoped that Unimas can be part of future Prestige events as well as for many series to come,” he stated.