The Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC) of UTAR Sungai Long Campus organised a leadership workshop at SJKC Kampung Baru Paroi, Seremban on the 22 February 2020.  The main motive of this workshop was to plant leadership qualities and to enhance teamwork among the 61 primary students who took part in the workshop.

The activities at the workshop were handled by UTAR students and led by DSSC staff Lim Jia Jia. The event first started with a warm-up exercise and selection of leaders. A series of station games with a theme that incorporated the quality of leadership was also prepared for the school children.

The first station game was called “Blindfold”, where the leader had to direct a blindfolded teammate through obstacles to achieve their mission. The second station game was called “Cross the lava pit”. It focused on team building and teamwork. The third station game was called “Centipede wearing shoes”. In the game, participated teams were given the same goal and the goal was to complete as many laps as possible while protecting a balloon that was balanced using a plastic. The fourth station game “Tiktactoe” highlighted the importance of strategic planning, while the last game “Telepathy” incorporated the power of communication where a proper message had to be sent to each other without assumptions.

Besides emphasising on instilling leadership characteristics among students, the workshop also provided opportunities for students to improve their soft skills such as communication, networking and leadership skills, teamwork, friendship and many more. The organising members made sure that the students were grouped with new members and not just among their friends. Moreover, the event also saw a prize-giving ceremony for the winning teams of the station games. Certificates of participation were also handed by school Principal Goh Choon Lan to the organising team.

One of the organising team members Chan Sze Mei said that she saw a lot of cooperation among the students. She was happy to see the students enjoying the activitieshe said, “Primary school students usually lack the sense of responsibility as they are not often exposed to things like this.”  She also rated the leadership skills of SJKC Kampung Baru Paroi students, giving a solid 6 out of 10. “We organised a lot of team building activities.  Hence, we hope this would enhance the teamwork skills among the students,” she added.

An 11-year-old student from SJKC Kampung Baru Paroi, Jasmine Arissa, who was the leader of the winning team, said she really enjoyed the workshop and she looks forward to having more workshops like this in the future. When asked her “What do you understand about leadership”, she said, “It is to make sure people do not get hurt, to make sure they have the same goal and to make sure you do not lose your teammates.” She also added that the facilitators were friendly.