The handover ceremony of the Student Representative Council (SRC) from the 2018/19 batch to the new SRC 2019/20 batch was held at UTAR Sungai Long Campus on 5 July 2019. The SRC ceremony aimed to officially announce the SRC members for 2019/20 and accord recognition to the work of SRC 2018/19.

Kampar SRC members 2018/19 with Prof Chuah (back row, seventh from left)

Sungai Long SRC members 2018/19 with Prof Chuah (second row, seventh from right)

Present to witness the ceremony were UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Registrar Yim Lin Heng, Faculty of Accountancy and Management Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Dr Hen Kai Wah, Department of Student Affairs Sungai Long Campus Head Loh Nyuk Leung, Department of Student Affairs Kampar Campus Head Chiang Jeng Fong, along with 66 SRC members of 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Prof Chuah emphasising the importance of teamwork

Recording his sincere appreciation to all the outgoing SRC members, Prof Chuah said, “The SRC will make you a better leader in the future because it enabled you to learn the skills needed to negotiate with a management, in this case, UTAR.” Emphasising on the importance of time management, he said, “As SRC members, you will have more opportunities to work on your soft skills like communication skills and negotiation skills; also how to be flexible yet logical.” He then thanked all the outgoing SRC members and congratulated all the newly appointed SRC members.

Prof Chuah also stressed on the aspect of teamwork. He said, “SRC is all about a team, not individual. All of you have to work as a team. You have to discuss among yourselves to make a decision. The decision should be made based on a sound judgement; judgement based on either basic principle, fundamental of natural law or the social norm. Working in a team means, learning to accept even if the decision is non-agreeable to you. You have to go along with the decision of the majority but of course, it depends on how talented you are to influence the decision or direct it towards the decision that you hope to achieve. Here is where you work on your skills.” He also advised the students to balance their studies and duties as SRC members. He ended the speech by saying, “I hope all of you will continue your effort to carry UTAR’s flag high wherever you are and in whatever position you may hold in the future.”

The outgoing SRC members were then awarded certificates of appreciation by Prof Choong. It was followed by the handover ceremony and a group photograph session.

2018/19 SRC Chairperson (Kampar Campus) Loh Jia Hui said that it was a touching day for him since he was in the SRC for two years continuously. “I’m very happy to say that I didn’t regret anything, although I’ll be graduating later compared to my batch mates. I really appreciate all the things that were given by my team including their tolerance and care during the difficult days,” he said in tears and continued, “The most challenging part of my journey was channelling the information to all the students as well as handling the stress that comes as part of it. However, I’m thankful because it provided me the opportunity to learn networking skills and communication skills besides learningthe way to handle stress.” Loh advised the newly elected SRC members to be responsible and wished them the best of luck in their journey.

2018/19 SRC Chairperson (Sungai Long Campus) Ng Jia Wei mentioned that he was in the SRC for two years as well. He said, “Throughout these two years, I really enjoyed being with the SRCmembers.” He likened the SRC to an ‘Ice Kacang ABC’ and said that the SRC is made of people from different backgrounds and expertise. He also said that he was fortunate to get the best bowl of ABC. He then explained that the “ABC” stands for Attitude, Belief and —Cocaine which goes to say that SRC makes one addicted to their responsibilities. “The toughest part of the journey was having to communicate with the SRC members because sometimes when ideas clash, we need to negotiate to make things happen and that consumes a lot of time. However, the best part was gaining the confidence to do public speaking. Now, I can express myself boldly. I’m grateful for this opportunity.” He ended his speech, saying, “For the incoming SRC members, I wish you all the best and I hope you all do well because UTARians deserve the best.”

From left: Outgoing SRC chairpersons Loh and Ng delivering their speeches

The ceremony ended on a high note with a video presentation prepared by the SRC Sungai Long Campus. It was indeed a vibrant and energetic ceremony. Both the outgoing SRC chairpersons worked together very well and it is an undeniable fact that UTAR always chooses the right group of students to be the SRC members.

From left: Ng Jia Wei, Loh Jia Hui, Prof Choong, Prof Chuah and the newly elected SRC Chairpersons Lam Jeen Yee and Leo Cheong Zhe

SRC Handover and Installation Ceremony 2019