Commitment towards ensuring community well-being and good health for sustainability

With this global Covid-19 pandemic, people have become more conscious of their health and the need to stay safe and healthy. UTAR as a University by the people, for the people, has always endeavoured to support the local and surrounding communities while making efforts to ensure a sustainable and safe environment for the good health, safety and well-being of the community. UTAR’s social and community efforts are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including the SDGs on safe communities, good Health and well-being, and collaborative partnerships. The University has organised many community activities and collaborated with government ministries in support of national initiatives for the people.

UTAR as a Pusat Pemberian Vaksin (PPV)

Responding to the national effort to tackle Covid-19, UTAR has collaborated with Sungai Long Specialist Hospital to participate in the national vaccination programme for the community to receive vaccinations at the Multipurpose Hall of UTAR Sungai Long Campus. With appointments arranged through MySejahtera, the vaccination programme started on 31 May 2021 and completed at the end of August 2021.

UTAR also participated in the national immunisation programme with the first drive-through vaccination centre in Kampar which started on 21 June 2021 and this was followed by the additional on-site vaccination inside Tun Ling Hall in UTAR Kampar Campus which started on 15 July 2021. UTAR collaborated with Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah (PKD) Kampar and the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) Perak with its Kampar Campus serving as a public vaccination centre from 15 July 2021 and it is still on-going with MySejahtera appointments.

As part of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, the vaccination centre at UTAR Kampar Campus administers between 1100 and 1300 vaccination doses per day. This is also the University’s effort to support the aim of the Malaysian government to vaccinate as many people as it can per day to ensure the safety and well-being of the people and the community. To make the town safe and its economic activities alive, getting the community vaccinated is of priority.

UTAR is also very thankful that this community initiative to be a PPV centre has received great support from the community as well. Grand Kampar Hotel graciously sponsored the hotel accommodation and the meals for the doctors and nurses volunteering in the immunisation programme on campus. Grand Kampar Hotel also sponsored the daily meals for the UTAR volunteers working on campus for the duration of the COVID-19 immunisation programme since June 2021.

UTAR also thanks Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew for his generosity in donating 1 million face masks to UTAR. The face masks were distributed to various parties including PPVs, NGOs, schools, old folks homes, new villages and vaccinees. There were several other sponsors including Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) and Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) who donated in support of UTAR’s participation in the national immunisation programme.

Blood Donation Campaigns

Another community effort by the university is the Blood Donation Campaigns, organised by the First Aid Society of UTAR Kampar Campus, with the intention to encourage more UTAR staff and students to donate blood to save lives. Originally held twice a year since 2008, the campaigns are now organised three times per year since 2011. On 10 August 2018 the University was awarded the “Penganjur Cemerlang: Kempen Terbanyak (Best Organiser: Most Number of Campaigns)” and “Penganjur Cemerlang Kategori IPTS (Best Organiser for Private Institutions of Higher Learning Category)” awards by the Perak State Health Department at the appreciation night, which aimed to celebrate and acknowledge organisations who have contributed significantly to blood donation initiatives. Representing UTAR to receive the award was Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong.

The last Blood Donation held before restrictions were in place due the pandemic was on 24 July 2020 at UTAR Kampar Campus Multipurpose Hall. The objectives of the campaign remain which were to collect blood packs for Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh as well as raising awareness among UTAR students about the importance and advantages of blood donation and organ donation. The organising committee targeted to collect 100 blood packs on that day.

Orang Asli Project 5.0

UTAR also extended its community efforts to the Orang Asli community. In January 2020, the Community Service Society, in collaboration with CRSM, organised Orang Asli Project 5.0, a three-day programme aimed to inspire children towards the importance of education and interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM), to encourage cultural exchange and conduct community service session for the community.

The programme was conducted in Kampung Ulu Jelintoh, Gopeng, Perak, which benefitted 500 people from the community. Throughout the duration, the programme saw the team lending hand in various aspect, which included repairing the community hall, setting up a mini reading corner filled with books, painting mural, playing musical instruments, and conducting small gotong-royong with the children to educate them about the importance of cleanliness and hygiene for health and well-being.

Apart from having a good laugh at the camp fire on Saturday night, where everyone enjoyed cultural performances and good food, the activity of cooking together has enabled the team and the community to establish strong relationship, and facilitated cultural exchange. The children, in particular, very much enjoyed the activities which involved critical thinking skills and STEM elements. A teaching session of English vocabulary and story-telling session was also conducted. With the assistance of CRSM, basic health screening and hygiene awareness sessions conducted received good response from the community. The session also emphasised on the importance of keeping one’s health in check, and the community was informed of the ways to maintain good health and well-being.

The underprivileged is also prioritised in the University’s effort of giving back to the community. For instance the 3’O Project, which stands for three types of homes, consisting of OKU homes, Old Folks homes and Orphanage homes. Student committees from Community Service Society organised a social work visitation to each type of homes to contribute their community service in each trimester. It was a voluntary visitation to raise awareness of UTAR students on care, love, and the spirit of contributing to the society. The social work also aimed to provide communities with a clean, safe, comfortable and loving environment. The students conducted activities to wash and clean the surrounding area, paint murals, beautify the surrounding areas, and collect donation items in advance before the event and donate to the orphans.