Counseling Wellness Week 2020

The Counselling Wellness Week (CWW) was organised by the Counselling and Guidance Unit of the Department of Student Affairs (DSA) of Sungai Long Campus for three days from 26 June 2020 to 28 June 2020 with the goal to raise awareness among UTAR students and staff on the importance of psychological well-being and physical health. The theme of the event was ‘Cherish’. It was conducted via Microsoft Teams and game apps known as Gartic.io and Honor of Kings. The event saw the participation of 114 participants and 15 of them were from the public.

The first session saw participants playing a game called “Draw and Guess”. The Gartic.io was used to play this game. Gartic.io is a free-to-play online game that comes with a simple concept; the participants have to draw and guess the words as fast as they can. The second session was called “Origami & Contest”. The session saw one of the event committee members demonstrating the techniques of making make an origami. Origami is a Japanese art of folding papers into decorative shapes and figures which helps one to focus and be aware of what is happening in the present. It also helps one to develop spatial and perception skills, learn mathematics, refine dexterity and hand-eye coordination, as well as improving concentration.

The third session involved “Crossword Puzzle” whereby participants were given 30 minutes to complete a crossword puzzle. The crossword puzzle aimed to improve participants’ vocabulary, release stress, maintain social bonds, improve mental health and eradicate brain diseases. The fourth session saw participants playing “Word Scramble” where they guessed words based on a theme. The Word Scramble aimed to help participants improve their mood. This game stimulates the brain’s “reward molecule”, making us feel happy and motivated. The last session was called “Honor of Kings” or “Wangzhe Rongyao”, a multiplayer online battle arena for iOS and Android users. The game aimed to help participants connect with their friends, improve their social bonding and release their stress.

“This is my first time conducting an event as the chairperson. I was reluctant to try at first, but thanks to my friends, I was finally convinced to take up this role. Unfortunately, the physical event, planned initially, had to be changed but fortunately, we were still able to conduct it online. So, as a first-timer to lead the whole committee, I was constantly worried that I might have failed to carry out the whole event smoothly,” said CWW Chairman Tang Kai Jie from Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES). He added, “Luckily, I had a bunch of committees who were helpful and advisors who were willing to guide us along the difficulties. We worked together to brainstorm the activities and publicise our event on our social media. On the day of the event, we were astonished by the number of participants. All of our efforts did not go to waste. Although the participants suggested us to think of more activities, they were overall pleased with our committees and the quality of the games.” “After becoming the chairperson, I discovered that communication was crucial especially during the pandemic. We weren’t able to have any face-to-face meetings or get to know each other better. However, we still managed to hold online meetings and have discussions. Next, the team has to practice proper team management and planning. This can help each department to understand their work better and avoid submitting their works in the last minute. They have to know well the structure and status of the whole event.” Lastly, he added, “I would like to thank all of the participants, committees and advisors for making the Counselling Wellness Week 2020 a success.”

Loo Yin from the Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) shared his experience of participating in the “Origami and Contest” session. He said, “Throughout the event, I learned that origami is one of the best ways to express emotions. It is okay if you have failed for the first time, keep trying and you will eventually solve it. The same goes with life. I also met a lot of people and made a new friend during the event. Joining events bring more excitements to your life, ain't that great?”

Chin Hui Wen from FAM said, “This is my first time taking part in the Honor of King competition at UTAR. This event gave me the opportunity to meet up with my friends. Due to the Movement Control Order, we could not hang out to meet each other. This was indeed a great opportunity.” She added “I never really thought that we would win the game. You know how the saying goes ‘Throw a lucky man into the sea, he will come up with a fish in his mouth’? The game was not easy but we are thankful to each other for the support. Besides, we would also like to thank the committee of Counselling Wellness Week for organising this interesting event,” said Chin.

Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) student Tai Chian Kwang who won the second place in the Honor of Kings competition said, “Firstly, I would like to thank the organiser for giving me and my friends a chance to participate in this Honor of Kings competition. We were able to work on our skills such as communication skills, teamwork and also gaming skills.” He also said, “We have also met a lot of strong opponents throughout the competition. Even though we got the second place, we were able to understand ourselves better. We were able to identify our strengths and weaknesses. Last but not least, the organiser was very friendly and helpful. Hope there will be more Honor of Kings competition will be organised in the future.”

Participants take turns to draw and guess from each participant in a game

Event committee guided participants to fold origami

Participants could join the contest by sharing their origami and write about their cherish in the CWW event Facebook page

Participants would be given 30 minutes to complete the crossword

Participants would guess the words based on the theme

The chart showed the participant teams and the winner of the competition was WL独霸

Committee group photo was taken via zoom on the last day of the event