Engaging the community through research
UNIVERSITI Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) recently launched a research project on the Perak Chinese tin mining industry. The two-year UTAR Centre for Chinese Studies Research (CCSR) project titled
is supported by the Perak Chinese Mining Association and will connect the dots between Perak’s tin mining industry and history of the Chinese immigration to Malaya as well as the development of townships in Malaya between the 19th and 20th centuries.
According to principal researchercum-chairperson of UTAR CCSR Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wun Bin, tin mining was a thriving industry which made significant contributions to the country’s economic growth in the 19th century.
The proliferation of tin mining industry in Kinta Valley opened up employment opportunities and attracted Chinese immigrants to settle down permanently in Kinta Valley as tin miners.
The swelling number of Chinese tin miners and rapid growth of the industry later brought about the establishment of the Perak Chinese Mining Association in 1935 to protect the rights of tin miners back then.
Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, who was invited to launch the project, lauded UTAR’s effort in initiating the research project. Chew, also a UTAR alumna, thanked the university for its quality education.
“This project is a tribute to the tin mining industry forefathers who played a meaningful role in the country’s development back then,” said Perak Chinese Mining Association advisor Tan Sri Hew See Tong, who is also the project’s advisor alongside Perak Chinese Mining Association president Datuk Chin Lean Choong.
UTAR president Ir Prof Academician Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik highlighted the fact that UTAR is an institution of higher learning which remembers its founding principle of “by the people, for the people”.
“The research project is also a way to give back to the community.
“UTAR is not merely a university which does research for its own interests, but also actively engages with the community and makes contributions as such,” said Dr Chuah.
Established in 2002 with just 411 students, UTAR today offers more than 110 programmes to over 24,000 students.
The fields include Accountancy, Actuarial Science, Agriculture, Arts, Business and Economics, Creative Industries and Design, Engineering and Built Environment, Information and Communication Technology, Life and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Process Management, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Social Science and Education.
It has nine faculties, three institutes and three centres located in three Klang Valley campuses in Bandar Sungai Long, Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya and the main campus in Kampar.
UTAR has a total of over 35,000 alumni. Over the years, 97% of UTAR graduates are employed within six months of graduation.
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