Apart from raising funds for the UTAR Hospital Project, the “Flea Market and Food Fair 2020”, organised by the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) from 10 to 14 February 2020, also highlights the hospital’s initiative of giving back to the community when it becomes a new specialist training hospital, which is expected to be fully operational by 2022. The hospital will house 250 beds for conventional medicine and another 100 beds for traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine.

Held along the walkway between Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, the flea market and food fair, which gathered community, vendors, staff and students to set up various stalls and provided visitors fun-filled activities, successfully raised a total of RM3,518.40 for the hospital project.

Among the highlights was a tarot deck reading stall, which attracted many curious visitors who wanted to learn and unfold interesting stories, in relation to the past, present and future of one’s life. Another crowd-puller was two stalls offering bubble milk tea and fruit juices respectively. The bubble milk tea stall also attracted regular customers from a group of South Korea international students, who not only showed their support, but also commented that the reasonably-priced drink was tasty.

In addition to a successful fund-raising event, the flea market and food fair also embraced United Nations (UN)’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Goal 5, which focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Entrepreneurship opportunities were provided to all staff and students involved, with a record of over 30 students involved in managing their small business and the majority consisting of females. The event enabled these students to enhance their entrepreneurial skills, along with cultivating additional soft skills. In further educating students and staff on entrepreneurship, a training from one of the sponsors, Kitea Bubble Tea, was organised. The training provided participants with marketing knowledge and skills and saw the management team sharing their business experiences. Students also commented that the training was beneficial as they learnt much about managing cash, ways to effectively interact with customers and the importance of teamwork. The other achievements from the event also included excellent teamwork between staff and students in ensuring the success of the event. Having SDG 3 which is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, in mind, the event also saw a booth set up by the Perak Community Specialist Hospital (PCSH). The booth offered visitors free blood glucose tests.