UTAR peer helpers at the airport before leaving Malaysia
Twenty volunteer peer helper UTAR students went on a one-week study tour to
Taiwan from 13 to 19 May 2013 and visited Feng Chia University and Tamkang
University. The study tour was organised by the Counselling and
Guidance Unit of UTAR Department of Student Affairs (DSA).
At the famous tourist spot Feng Chia night market
The students learned about art therapy when they were at Feng Chia
University (FCU) in Taichung. They were required to express and share
their feelings through graffiti and drawings to discover their inner selves
before applying therapy to 'heal' themselves of behavioural shortcomings.
Divided into two groups, the students shared their drawings and experiences
and learned the skills of listening and expressing themselves through
speech.
Having fun at the art therapy workshop
The UTAR students visited the counselling centre at the university and were
impressed with its advanced stress measuring instruments. Led by
Amanda Chen from the FCU Office of International Affairs, they interacted
with FCU students and were touched by the university's hospitality.
Chen (left) presenting FCU banner to UTAR DSA Head Loh Nyuk Leung (centre)
and staff Tan Chin Yee
UTAR and FCU students interacting
At Tamkang University in Taipei, the UTAR students attended a workshop to
learn counselling skills. They played both the roles of counsellor and
the one to be counselled. The workshop had facilitated them to learn
certain essential counselling skills such as self-psychological construction
and self-understanding.
Tamkang University Graduate Institute of Educational Psychology and
Counseling Chairman Prof Yang Ming-lei (right) presenting his university's
banner to Loh.
The university had arranged various short tours for the students to better
understand about Taiwanese people and culture. The most memorable
short tour, according to the students, was the 10-kilometre bike ride from
Guandu to Tamsui where they enjoyed sceneries of beaches along Tamsui and
Bali. They also visited Longshan Temple, Taipei 101, Yehliu Geopark,
Jiu Fen Old Street, Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf and many other places.
Role playing during the counselling skill workshop
During the study tour, the students sampled many local delicacies, some of
which at night markets. They learned that Taiwanese are polite with
'excuse me' and 'thank you' being their most regularly used daily words and
are highly social-conscious. In most places in Taiwan, people practise
refuse sorting for recycling purpose and personally carrying garbage to the
garbage truck.
Besides learning about counselling, the short but memorable study tour had
also brought UTAR students from different campuses together, where they
shared experiences with and learned from each other.
Students in front of Guandu Bridge
Capturing a memory at Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf
Students at Taipei 101
A happy moment at Tamkang University
Recap session the night before leaving Taiwan
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