Promoting M’sian culture abroad
AS QUOTED by Tony Robbins, “It’s not the events of our lives that shape us, but our beliefs as to what those events mean.” These words best describe the experience of a group of 12 students and two lecturers from different campuses of UniKL who conducted a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project at Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology, China.
The unforgettable beautiful memories remain firmly present in the heart and spirit of each participant, even after coming back to Malaysia. The experience was crucial as it helped improve everyone’s insights and experience.
This is because it was conducted abroad and most of them had not been involved in any programmes conducted in a foreign country before.
The CSR project was conducted on Sept 24 at Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology, China. They started the programme by showing a slide presentation to introduce the beautiful Malaysia to a group of Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology China students. The presentation focused on Malaysian food, cultures, races, attire and festivals.
The Chinese students were also exposed to some basic Malay expressions. Everyone listened attentively to the presentation as throughout the session, pop quizzes were given to test the students’ understanding of Malaysia.
The Chinese students enthusiastically answered all the questions and were given small tokens for any correct answers given.
After the introduction to Malaysia, the Chinese students were divided into three checkpoints. They were instructed to move in a group from one checkpoint to another.
The first checkpoint required them to wear traditional clothes such as baju kurung, baju kebaya and baju Melayu.
The second checkpoint required them to wear batik and pelikat cloth in different styles.
At the last checkpoint, they were taught to play a traditional game called batu seremban. They were guided by UniKL students and lecturers at each checkpoint.
This activity was not only to deepen the understanding of Chinese students on Malaysia’s cultures, but also to instil in them a greater interest in the Malay language.
One of the pivotal parts of this CSR programme was the opportunity to build a stronger relationship between Malaysian students and Chinese students. Both parties greatly enjoyed the experience and dispersed with a sincere hope that this kind of event should be organised again.
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