Following the success of the award-winning carnival, WOW Kampar 2017, a total of 165 Bachelor of Communication (Hons) Public Relations students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) of UTAR staged another comeback this year with more “WOW” factors through “WOW Kampar 2019” carnival. The three-day carnival was held at Grand Kampar Hotel in Kampar, Perak from 29 to 31 March 2019.
The enthusiastic WOW Kampar 2019 committees
The carnival aimed to promote Kampar, the former tin mining town as a tourism destination as well as to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Kampar being declared as a district in Perak. It was co-organised by the Kampar District and Land Office (PDTKpr), Kampar District Council (MDKpr) and Grand Kampar Hotel; and supported by the Perak State Government and Tourism Perak Management Berhad (Tourism Perak). The WOW Kampar 2019 was the second installation since its first version in 2017.
WOW Kampar 2019 is officially launched (from left): Low, Hew, Khairul Amir, Su, Khairul Anwar, Prof Choong and Dr Lee
Themed ‘Celebrating a Decade of Kampar’, the sprightly carnival kick-started with a grand launching ceremony, which saw the presence of Member of Parliament for Kampar Thomas Su Keong Siong representing Perak State Tourism, Arts and Culture Committee Chairman Tan Kar Hing. Also present to grace the ceremony were UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong representing UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, Dean of FAS Dr Lee Lai Meng, PDTKpr District Officer Khairul Anwar bin Ramli, MDKpr President Khairul Amir bin Mohamad Zubir, Executive Director of Grand Kampar Hotel Hew Fen Yee and President of WOW Kampar 2019 Low Shun Jun.
Low emphasising the objectives of WOW Kampar 2019
In her speech, Low explained besides being a fun-filled carnival catering to people from all walks of life, the carnival is also a platform to promote Kampar as a tourism destination. “Not only is this former tin mining town rich in history, but it is also an education hub housing institutions of higher learning such as UTAR and Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, as well as international school such as Westlake International School. Through this carnival, visitors are able to explore the cultural, culinary and even entrepreneurial side of this decade-old district in the Kinta Valley,” said the Year Three PR student.
She added, “As an undergraduate for an education institution that gained its strength from the local community, we truly appreciate UTAR for providing us with the opportunity to reintroduce and re-energise our second home, Kampar. WOW Kampar 2019 represents a platform for us to have a sneak peek on the operations of the industry that is awaiting us.It is safe to say that the time and ambition we had associated with this event for the past months have dragged us out of our comfort zone and I amhappy to say that the 165 committees involved in the event have prevailed from the tumultuous journey and we had gained something invaluable throughout the process.” She also thanked PDTKpr, MDKpr, Perak State Government, Tourism Perak Management Berhad, Grand Kampar Hotel, sponsors and media partners, namely The Star and J-On for the support given throughout the six-month planning process.
Prof Choong complimenting the efforts of the committees in giving back to the community
Delighted by the hard work put in by the PR students together with the co-organisers, Prof Choong said, “I believe the process and success in organising an event of such scale should serve as an inspiration to all of our undergraduates. It encourages them to hone their capabilities and acquire new practical skills apart from academic studies. I am proud to witness and share this moment with each of you here as I understand the amount of resilience required to prevail from the challenges during the journey. UTAR, being an educational institution that was nurtured by the community, has always strived to produce undergraduates that possess adequate knowledge to contribute back to the industry. More importantly, the inculcation of the value of contributing to society has always remained a focal point in the institution itself. Therefore, I hope that WOW Kampar 2019 would inspire undergraduates to continuously contribute and be ever innovative in giving back to society.”
The arrival of guest of honour Su accompanied by Low (left)
Impressed by the efforts in promoting Kampar as a tourist destination, Su in his speech thanked and congratulated all parties involved in making WOW Kampar 2019 a reality. He said, “Congratulations on the job well done. Comprising five major components, namely Trade Show, Sports and Recreation, Entrepreneurship, Edutainment and Media and Communication Awards 2019 (MENTION 2019), I was told the three-day WOW Kampar 2019 offers visitors over 90 vendors and food trucks, 100 activities, 30 programmes and over 100 attractive prizes to be won. I hope the carnival would offer the visitors the perfect platform to engage with local communities. He added, “Besides celebrating Kampar’s decennial anniversary of being declared a district, I hope that 2019 will be a year in which Kampar will be known locally and internationally as one of Malaysia’s interesting and significant destinations.”
Renowned artist Eser Loo Yise kicked off the launching ceremony with three songs
Kampar community thronging the WOW Bazaar
WOW Kampar 2019 was made up of five components which are Trade Show, Sports and Recreation, Entrepreneurship, Edutainment and Media and Communication Awards 2019 (MENTION 2019). Under the Trade Show component, an exhibition titled “Hello Kampar!” was held to allow visitors to learn more about the district and how it has developed over the years. In addition to that, visitors discovered more information about internet technology, tourism, automobile and lifestyle at the corporate fair “ZOOM Kampar”.
Another attraction of WOW Kampar 2019 was “WOW Kampar Challenge 2019”, comprising seven types of obstacles that test one’s physical stamina under the Sports and Recreation component. A blood donation drive in collaboration with Ipoh’s Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun was also held.
Blood donations in progress
Another remarkable activity was the “Petting Zoo” where animal lovers can adopt a pet throughout the carnival’s duration. The carnival was further spiced up with WOW Bazaar where visitors were offered a wide array of food, beverages, household products and healthy lifestyle products by more than 90 vendors and food trucks.
Some snaps of vendors and food trucks at WOW Kampar 2019
Apart from that, in support of the silver state’s go green initiatives, WOW Kampar 2019 also highly encouraged visitors to support its “Collection of Recyclable Items Campaign” by recycling unwanted and recyclable items.
“Express your Imagination” colouring and drawing contest
The “Express your Imagination” colouring and drawing contest for children and teenagers was also held in conjunction with the week-long school holidays. Among the other crowd-pullers were the tin mining exhibition titled “The Tin from Kampar”, which was also held to enable the visitors to have fun while learning about Kampar’s past through several live demonstrations, Tun Tan Cheng Lock exhibition, Nasi Lemak Challenge, hair donation, Cantikampar photography, arts and crafts exhibition and workshops. There were also a series of educational workshops for children and teenagers organised by FAS.
A visitor trying his hands on how dulang washing is done
Tea art class for tea lovers
Warming up session before the start of WOW Kampar Challenge 2019
Some of the obstacles completed by participants during the running challenge
Several outstanding UTAR students and local residents were also honoured for their achievement and contributions to the university. The list of awards and recipients is as follows:
MENTION 2019 (Media & Communication Award 2019)
The recipients of MENTION Award
The first WOW Kampar was held in 2017 and has received accolades as an award-winning carnival. It has received various awards such as Anugerah Galakan Kecemerlangan Acara from Perak State Government, Gold Award from MPRA 2016/2017 and second runner-up for the Best Communication Campaign in IMPACT17 among the universities in Malaysia and ASEAN. Read more at:
Gold in Malaysia PR Awards 2016/2017
Photos courtesy
of WOW Kampar 2019 photography team.
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