Study hard, play hard
THE Malaysian 100m record of 10.29 came within 0.62 seconds of being broken at the Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia ( NUMed) games. NUMed undergraduate Baraa Iyad Chkir won gold in the 100m sprint with a time of 10.91, beating entrants from seven other universities participating in the fourth annual NUMed games.
Competitors from eight universities from across Malaysia and Singapore descended on NUMed for the inter- varsity competition. The games were opened by NUMed Academic Affairs dean Dr Kenneth Keegan at a ceremony in the EduCity Indoor Arena theatre. After a day of exciting sports competition, spectators flocked to the stands of the EduCity Stadium to witness the closing ceremony and the awards.
The 100m was not NUMed’s only gold standard performance – NUMed students excelled in track and Field with golds won in the high jump, 4 x 100m and the long jump in both the male and female categories.
Muhamad Asif Fahmy Elvi Sazali brought home the gold for NUMed in the men’s tennis singles.
There were also some notable performances with the table tennis mixed doubles, table tennis women’s singles and high jump and long jump teams all picking up silver medals. They were joined too by the basketball team, the NUMed Stallions, that narrowly missed out on the gold in a closely fought final.
The NUMed games were first held in 2012. The university’s Student Association has played a key role in its success, turning it into a highly anticipated annual event. Since the inaugural games, it has grown from 80 competitors to 350 students not only from Johor, but throughout the whole of Malaysia.
This year, the event took on an international element with the participation of the National University of Singapore ( NUS).
The success has also been built on the sports facilities available at EduCity, the location of the NUMed campus in Johor.
The complex has proven to be the perfect venue as it includes an outdoor arena and pitches for field sports and athletics, an indoor arena and facilities for sports such as badminton and netball, a gymnasium and 50m swimming pool, allowing for all manner of sports competitions.
A large number of those competing for NUMed had been training for the games with one of NUMed’s societies run by the Student Association.
The university puts a lot of emphasis on an all- round experience for students, which means ensuring all students enjoy a vibrant social, sporting and cultural offering to complement the high- quality medical and biomedical education provided at NUMed, the first fully owned international branch campus offering a degree in medicine conferred by a UK university. Since its establishment, over 20 new student societies, clubs and organisations have been set up and are flourishing.
NUMed Student Association president Burhan Mahmood said, “The NUMed games was a proud moment for the university, not just because of all the medals won. The games were a result of four months of hard work by the Student Association. The best part was to see the wider NUMed community work together, members of staff and the student body volunteering to help organise the first ever international NUMed games.”
Newcastle University UK has established an international branch campus in Johor to provide its undergraduate degrees in Medicine ( MB BS) and the Biomedical Sciences ( BSc). Both programmes offer opportunities for periods of study in Britain.
The programmes of study are equivalent to those of Newcastle’s UK- based provision and lead to the award of the same degrees. By choosing to study at NUMed Malaysia, students will obtain a reputable UK qualification from an internationally recognised university at a cost significantly lower than studying in the UK.
A Foundation Certificate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences is also being launched this month, the successful completion of which will lead to progression to the MB BS or BSc ( Hons) Biomedical Sciences programme.
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