National River Clean-up 10th July 2011

Do you know that our picnic-rivers are under threat? If you have enjoyed picnics by the river with family and friends, you may want to act NOW and conserve our watery wonders from dirty and stinky rubbish...in fact, the extent of pollution and deterioration of nature is beyond imagination.

Today, much of our natural beauty have perished at the hands of mankind. As layman,we regret having to witness tremendously horrifying destruction of Mother Nature, and continuous slaughter of our eco-system. Deliberating on these selfish actions is exasperating, and may go beyond our jurisdictions. So, let's identify opportunities to conserve nature at our own backyard, in our neighbourhood or some place where we can perform our responsibility as a concerned citizen.

At UNITEN, undergraduates are involved in diversed community service, and the most recent is National River Clean-up project in collaboration with KAGUM. A total of 87 staff and undergraduates joined the nation's call for conservation of our picnic-rivers. 4 KAGUM members provided the team with the necessary groundrules for river clean-up and joined us in clearing rubbish at the picnic site. Some rubbish are simply ridiculous; for example, who would need a cellphone charger by the river? Indeed we found 'just that' during our national river clean-up project on 10th July 2011.

Finally, we jumped into the river and connected with nature in ultimate bliss!! We pray may our picnic rivers remain this beautiful forever...Our volunteers collected a total of 618 kilos of rubbish from the site. In fact, several other voluntary groups have collected even heavier garbage... and this makes us wonder about the mentality of these litterbugs and selfish picnickers.

It's time to act and volunteer for river clean-up. For those who have participated in such activities, CONGRATULATIONS! The rivers are crying for our help! So, please share your experience with our readers in this blogosphere about your experience as a volunteer for any national river clean-up activtiy, and let's motivate others too.

The Pledge

An undergraduate journey begins with high hopes, zest and commitment. Lectures and tutorials, labs and projects, make life hectic enough that some may have to sacrifice time for fun and excitement. This goes on for some good 10-12 weeks before the exams come around. The final exam is like an ultimatum - the final determinant to the undergraduate pursuit throughout the academic semester.

As if this is not enough torment, undergraduates - final year and foundation students alike, are confronted with a dilemma - that it may not be as easy to get a job when they finish their studies(unless the country's economy booms and foreign investment soars, etc..) Newspaper articles and research reports caution us about employability in every way. Universities conduct trace studies and produce statistics on graduate employability.

Let's admit that gone are the days when even the highest CGPA can guarantee a job almost immediately. Nevertheless, the academic scroll is still very important because it also means you will be shortlisted for rewarding scholarships, awards, as well as job interviews.

Please prepare for employability early, as soon as you hear about it:) Think about this - having spent almost 5-6 years in a good and competitive university, isn't it ironic that a great mind with excellent CGPA, a stunning personality, and a host of soft skills illustrating leadership, team work and communicative competence, can't bring you close to a decent job! Of course you WILL get d job!

On this note, cutting-edge graduates prepare for the final selection interview. This is the time for you to articulate your skills and abilities, demonstrate your cutting-edge qualities, and impress your panel of interviewers. As mentioned by Crosby (1999), "No matter how skilled students may be, those skills will not lead to a job if potential employers do not know applicants have them."

I remember a comment posted by "Zack" earlier with regard to this employability odyssey. She succeeded in her final selection interview not only because of her work experience, but also her active involvement in campus activities that have made her more matured, confident, and ready to undertake real-life challenge.

Well, life is really about experiencing a lot of the ups and downs, success and turbulence, etc. Make time for friendship, interpersonal skills and leadership. Join clubs and societies, competitions, and speak UP. Brilliant ideas are supposed to be shared with the rest. If you want to make a difference, in the near future or later, you should start now. The odyssey can be a winding, less travelled road, or a trodden path - but you have a share in paving for a more reassuring future. The onus is really on you.

ok.I may not be the best person to comment on this. Hence, I'd like to invite opinion and feedback from the blogging community who are indeed at the receiving end of this employability craze - readers and writers in this blogosphere who have been recruiting, employing, selecting candidates, and those graduates who have successfully passed the test of the final selection interview- please drop us a line or two in response to this issue.

Welcoming the New Semester:)

Soon, the new semester will open and I certainly hope to meet enthusiastic undergraduates who are determined to succeed academically as well as socially, emotionally and spiritually. Theory and experience has taught us a great deal about interpersonal and intrapersonal strength in coping with challenges in the university. Let's pray that you take heed to this and muster more courage in your struggle for excellence in tertiary education.

Easier said than done? But things always have to start with something, somewhere, so let it begin with my kind reminder cum advice.

I guess I'll be teaching public speaking this time around, but there's no confirmation yet. If so, I'd be more than excited. Really, I just can't wait to groom more public speakers, scout talents for UNITEN EDSoc.'s debate team, and witness a whole class of future leaders speaking up their minds on issues and matters of importance and grievance, planning for their immediate future as well as the nation, deliberating ideas, and debunking invalid arguments. Let's just say that I anticipate a class of active and enthusiastic learners wanting to polish their public speaking skills, and not to forget, budding talents who are grasping with theory and interested in further practice on the public speaking challenge.

If you are a writer, not yet a speaker, you are also most welcomed to join the circle. I believe that speaking and writing are so beautifully connected. The only difference lies in how much guts you need to speak your mind. Seriously! But if you don't care about guts, face, and pride, and your only concern is passing the course with flying colours - then public speaking course will turn the writer in you into a fantabuluos public speaker. Just remember to talk a lot outside class, guess that's a handy kit:)

You may want to visit this link and read my simple article on the speaking-writing connection. hopefully, this piece of mind will motivate you a bit more...

<http://ezinearticles.com/?Public-Speaking-Challenge-And-The-Writing-Connection&id=1137252>.

Looking forward to seeing all of you again in the real classroom, and the speaking community.

Part-time Jobs for Undergraduates

Some people work for money while others work for experience. Some wish to beef up their resume and add credentials in their dossier; thus, stand a better chance for employability. Nevertheless, as an undergraduate, perhaps the priority has to be more of gaining experience as well as extending social and future business network. This is because part-time jobs can also be essential in grooming entrepreneurship skills among undegraduates.

When I was an undergraduate, I spent some of my long semester breaks doing odd jobs like working as a waitress in a restaurant where I also picked up some cooking as well as communication skills, and as a lab assistant in a glove factory where I put my chemistry knowledge to some use. I also worked in a biscuit factory until I got fed up of eating free biscuits - all those delicous love rolls and crackers. Furthermore, I gave tuition classes to primary school children, and was a personal tutor to two well-off children in KL for some time.

Many of my friends were doing part-time jobs while studying mostly because the scholarship or study loan was rather inadequate. Nevertheless, there were friends who could afford almost anything, but still engaged a part-time job for their own reasons. Apart from the extra money, I did all the jobs because I wanted to know what working life is like. One good lesson I learnt from my part-time jobs back then was this: studying is definitely tough and challenging - but working and earning some money on your own without that scroll is nothing easy!!! So, I kinda cherished my undergraduate years ultimately.

I believe that undergraduates nowadays take up part-time jobs because of innumerable reasons. As long as they have a good intention, it should be a worthy experience. It can make them more matured in dealing with everyday challenges and confronting obstacles. Nevertheless, they must prioritize on their education and never get carried away with the monthly income. University education is still very necessary, and undergraduates need the scroll in order to enjoy a more promising future.

I believe many of you have done part-time jobs before. Please share with us your experience and fond /miserable memories. For those who plan to have a part-time job during the long break, what kind of jobs are you looking for and why?

Involvement in Campus Activities

Recently, I attended two great events organized by the university students: A Malay theatre: "Selendang Milik Laila"and "Indian Cultural Nite 2008". Frankly, I think the undergraduates have done a fantastic job. It's definitely not an easy task: putting the task force together; coordinating specific duties that require maturity, knowledge and external contact; and ensuring quality product to meet the expectation and satisfaction of the audience.

First, the theatre production - "Selendang Milik Laila". Putting up a live performance requires absolute planning and accurate execution of strategies. Can we imagine a slight blunder backstage? onstage? The actors will get distracted, mood will diminish, and the audience will probably lose their concentration. But the students' production was next to perfect. The actors and actresses played their roles very well. My children like Tok Ketua, and the audience like him too. Tok Chik was another interesting character, typical kampong folk, and a cheeky old man.

The protagonist looked cool on his 60's bike (good prop). Some of the audience and I was just a bit worried about the kampung house or hut..luckily the zink did not slip. Overall, promotion was done early enough (with the banners) which attracted a multi-ethnic crowd. I was there - and it was full house! Isn't that a good indication of success, already?:)Bravo. The technical crew (Rahim & friends) did a fabulous job in supporting the production.A salute to the director and script writer. Finally,I must thank Hadi for his kind invitation. I took my girls with me, and I believe they learned a great deal from the theatre. Here's their photo against the banner. Perhaps, they should turn it into a novel and the sales will go to ASTENA proportionately. Long Live ASTENA.

Next, Pushpa invited me to a UNICS cultural night last weekend. When I told my children about it, they were so excited and couldn't wait for the event. We had all the reasons to be there: 1. Indian cultural dance is our family favourite 2. they promised a non-stop showcase of varieties of Indian dance 3. Navin was the emcee 4. hey, it's free...come on..where can you get anything valuable yet free, these days?

My girls wore their Indian costume, bought in Little India in Penang. It was fun and enjoyable, mesmerizing and captivating. The event was very well organized, guys with walkie-talkie were almost everywhere, even on stage, and there was no hiccups at all. The emcees tried dancing and singing, and that was also pretty entertaining. The most impressive thing about the event is that it was full-house, and the crowd was multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, with students, lecturers, and lots of parents. I was so glad when one of the parents actually won the lucky draw. Of course, the fact that I saw many of my own students and ex-students on stage (Rao's breakdance was fabulous) and behind the succesful production is the next best thing. Thumbs up everybody.

Actually, there are many more events like this on campus and this provides a sturdy platform for our undergraduates to enhance their soft skills and also talent. We don't learn about leadership and team work only in class or through organizing academic and social projects, but also from cultural events like this.

Nevertheless, some may be skeptical and wonder - aren't the undergraduates supposed to concentrate on their studies - revisions, assignments, and projects? Why do they choose to be actively involved in campus activities?? Well, only those who have experienced organizing and participating in campus activities can provide us with the authentic answer.

Finally, lat's have a more balanced life everybody - join the campus activities and make a difference. Varsity days become more colourful with these activities:)