UTAR expressed appreciation to its staff with the annual UTAR Staff Long Service and Excellence Awards ceremony, held online via Microsoft Teams on 11 August 2021. The e-ceremony celebrated and rewarded staff who have served the University for a decade and acknowledged the academics for their excellent teaching and research endeavours, as well as the administrative staff for their service excellence.

Present at the award e-ceremony were UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Yow Ho Kwang, Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ts Dr Faidz bin Abd Rahman, Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Registrar Yim Lin Heng, Division of Human Resource Director Marchie Lim Pin Sim, deans and directors, award recipients and staff.

In his opening remark, Prof Ewe congratulated the award recipients and thanked them for their accomplishments and contributions. “I hope today’s award will continue motivating you to support and help the University to grow and enhance its level of service, teaching, learning, and research excellence,” said Prof Ewe.

He continued, “Despite facing the Covid-19 pandemic and challenges, we are also presented with new opportunities that have produced perseverance and resilience in us to continue providing a better service and quality work to ensure that we and the University stay ahead of the competition. As online teaching and learning continue to be implemented, I am glad to see that our staff is able to apply their newly learnt IT skills and software knowledge to make online teaching and learning a good experience for the students. Thank you for your effort and keep up the good work. I hope this same spirit of contribution will continue to see us through the new challenges ahead and steer us towards innovative successes, especially in teaching, learning and research. We are, after all, a University by the people, for the people – working in the interest of the University, the community, nation and the students under our wings.”

He added, “As we enter the University’s 19th year of operation, I hope we continue to stay united to help the University excel in the years ahead. Evert single improvement will bring impact in the long run. Your continuous support and contribution have enabled the University to continue to perform; our academics have also won many awards and recognition and our students have excelled in many fields. Through everyone’s effort, the University has attained many positive performance indicators of success. All these achievements would have not been made possible without the tremendous support and encouragement from our Chancellor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, the Board of Trustees, and our Council Members. I must also say that we have been very fortunate, and on behalf of the University, I would like to express my most sincere and deepest gratitude to all of them for their undivided support and assistance for UTAR. Lastly, I hope that you will lead the way to guide and train your staff and fellow colleagues to learn and follow your best practices. This recognition of your hard work and contribution will inspire you to attain greater performance and work towards greater successes ahead.”

Following was the highlight of the e-ceremony that displayed over 160 recipients of the Long Service Award from both Kampar and Sungai Long Campuses. The recipients each received a crystal trophy. The e-ceremony continued with the presentation of 23 Excellence Awards recipients.

The list of recipients is as follows:

Long Service Award recipients (Sungai Long and Kampar Campus) (in no particular order)

UTAR Excellence Awards 2020 (in no particular order)
Recipients of the excellence award category received a cash prize of RM1,000, a certificate of acknowledgement and a trophy.

Innovation Excellence Award 2020

The innovation project consists of the above recipients. Each received a certificate and a trophy, and the cash prize will be shared equally among them.

Ts Dr Yew Ming Chian enthused, “This fantastic award will help me remain focused and dedicated to my work.” Meanwhile, Ts Dr Yew Ming Kun, expressed, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to UTAR for the recognition. We will continue to strive for excellence.” LAr Ts Beh Jing Han, added, “We would like to express our deepest gratitude to UTAR for the recognition. This award would not be possible, without UTAR and the team.”

Research Excellence Award 2020 (in no particular order)

Category of Science, Engineering, Technology and Medicine

Category of Social Science, Arts, Humanities, Management and Accounting

Ir Dr Lim Boon Han commented, “Thank you UTAR for this award. I will continue to strive for high quality and impact research works.” Meanwhile, Dr Lee Hui Shan added with a piece of advice, “Grab the opportunities being given and never give up because great things take time.”

E-Learning Excellence Award 2020 (in no particular order)

Category of Health Sciences and Medicine

Category of Science, Engineering and Technology

Category of Social Science, Arts and Humanity

Teaching Excellence Award 2020 (in no particular order)
Recipients:

Sreenivasulu Sura (FMHS)
Dr Chee Pei Song (LKC FES)
Dr Teddy Lian Kok Fei (FAM)
Jeevamalar Kumarasamy (FCI)
Dr Wong Lih Lih (Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS))
Teen Soh Hong (CFS Sungai Long)
Mohd Yusof bin Zulkefli (Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS))
Dr Chng Lee Muei (Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT))
Dr Aun Yichiet (Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT))
Dr Ooi Zhong Xian (Faculty of Science (FSc))
Dr Charles Ramendran S PR Subramaniam (Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF))
Rachel Tham Jia-Hui (CFS Kampar)

Dr Teddy Lian Kok Fei enthused, “I feel very honoured to receive this award and wish to thank the President, Dean of FAM and Head of Department of IB. This award is an important effort in maintaining teaching excellence at the university and will assist UTAR to remain as a premier university in the world.”

Mohd Yusof bin Zulkefli commented, “As for me, I am very happy to receive this award. However, this award is not everything. I still need to explore more and improve my teaching skills. I hope that I can do better in the future and contribute more to the education field.”

Sreenivasulu Sura also expressed his delight, “I am deeply honoured to receive this award. My heartfelt gratitude to UTAR and especially FMHS for providing a conducive environment. This award will motivate me to achieve greater heights.”

Dr Charles Ramendran said, “I quote ‘If you have failed to discover, I would have failed to shine’. I am truly inspired by the recognition award in my career and this achievement is a proud moment. All the praise and gratitude goes to the Almighty God. I am taking this opportunity to thank my wife Mitra for her enormous support and dedication throughout my life; a life that I could not imagine was made possible through your direction. Next, I am very grateful to the pillars of the Faculty of Business & Finance who have been the strongest point of my journey as an academician and I am also thankful to my family, friends and students for being very supportive.”

Jeevamalar Kumarasamy said, “The pandemic has given and taught us all a different perspective in teaching and learning, where we are experiencing the rise of online learning. As educators, we are all lifelong learners where we need to keep learning and find ways to make our teaching engaging and effective. Thus, receiving the teaching award on behalf of FCI is definitely a motivator for me to strive to do more and better. I am thankful for recognising my efforts and hard work. There is still a lot of work for me to be done. There is no end to the constant technology change and teaching strategies. This is just the beginning. Like the quote by Brad Henry, ‘A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination and instil the love of learning’. I believe that when learning is fun and enjoyable, the educator is approachable and easy to communicate with, the students will strive to learn better and do their best. They are, after all, the future of our country.”

Staff Service Excellence Award 2020

Administrative Staff (Category A) Recipients:

The two recipients received a certificate and a trophy each, and the cash prize will be shared equally among them. Hazlinda binti Hasim said, “Mixed feelings. I feel honoured to be recognised by the upper management but at the same time, I feel sad as my mother could not see my achievement. The most important thing is that this award really boosts my determination to strive better in my career path.”

Support and General Staff (Category B, C and D) Recipient:

Melinder Rani Darshan Singh also commented, “I feel honoured and grateful to be the recipient of this award for Faculty of Arts and Social Science. It gives me recognition and boosts my confidence. I would like to sincerely thank my Head of Department, Siti Ummaizah binti Meor Musa for nominating me. Thank you for recognising my work. Lastly, I would like to thank UTAR for this opportunity. An award like this enhances staff motivation and makes staff feel appreciated. I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much.”

UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award 2020
Recipient: Centre for Power Systems and Electricity (CPSE)
CPSE will receive a grant of RM100,000.00 for a research centre in the field of Science and Technology.

Chairperson of CPSE Ir Prof Dr Lim Yun Seng enthused, “I am extremely pleased to receive this remarkable award. All the members of CPSE will definitely cherish this wonderful moment as this award marks a remarkable achievement for our research centre after all the members have contributed so much in various aspects of their research and development. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for all the possible means of support provided by the IPSR staff, especially Ms Banu, Puan Zahrah binti M.Razak, Cik Azahian binti Abdul Kadir and Puan Azura binti Abdullah. I would like to thank the brilliant leadership of the UTAR management team particularly Prof Ewe, Prof Faidz and Dr Yong Thian Khok. Finally, I would like to extend my appreciation to my faculty, LKC FES, especially, Prof Dr Goi Bok Min, Dr Yap Wun Shen and Dr Chang Yoong Choon, for their support and encouragement. Last but not least, we will continue to perform our academic duty as necessary in research and development so that UTAR can be a well-known research university particularly in the area of power.”