Launching ceremony of iVillage Progressive Web Application; Exploring Malaysia’s New Villages Book Volume 1; 3rd UTAR New Village Community Project Exhibition

From left: Prof Dato’ Dr Chin See Keat, Academician Dato’ Ir Lee Yee Cheong, Dato’ Low Kian Chuan, YB Senator Dato’ Dr Mah Hang Soon, Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat and Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong at the launching ceremony

UTAR Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC) of Sungai Long Campus organised the Launching Ceremony of iVillage Progressive Web-Application; Exploring Malaysia’s New Villages Book Volume 1 and 3^rd UTAR New Village Community Project Exhibition on 31 March 2022 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. The exhibition took place from 31 March to 2 April 2022.

The event was attended by Deputy Education Minister YB Senator Dato’ Dr Mah Hang Soon via Zoom. Also present were UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, President of Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) YBhg Dato’ Low Kian Chuan, Founder & CEO of Kuala Lumpur City College and Key Founder of the Malaysian Retailer-Chains Association (MRCA) YBhg Prof Dato’ Dr Chin See Keat, YBhg Academician Dato’ Ir Lee Yee Cheong, UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Chairperson of Centre for Chinese Studies (ICS) Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wun Bin, representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), UTAR staff and students.

Among the SMEs present at the exhibition were Founder of Wave Rest House & Café Steve Lee, Co-Founder of Canton Recipe Sdn Bhd Edwin Chin, Founder of P-Lab Chok Yen Hau, Business Development Director of Chop Guan Kee Sdn Bhd Teo Xiao Hui, Owner of Heritaste Jennifer Tan, Founder of Play Klang Coshtel Jomy Yaw, Marketing Co-ordinator of Play Klang Coshtel Koo Shin Ler, Founder of Artsense Studio Yap Chun Siong and Founder of LOVE18C Eddie Lee.

Prof Ewe emphasising soft skills are the foundation of building good relationships

In his welcome remarks, Prof Ewe thanked Dato’ Mah for attending the ceremony through the Zoom platform and said, “Over the past 10 years, UTAR has conducted 1,985 community projects and has covered 580 New Villages out of a total of 613 New Villages in the country. A total of 24,878 students participated in these community projects. We have also conducted many such community activities in other villages including 14 Orang Asli villages.”

Dato’ Mah applauding UTAR for modernising these New Villages into sustainable social and economic communities and preserving the heritage of the New Villages

Congratulating the organising committee for their success and hard work in overseeing the New Village projects, Dato’ Mah said, “I applaud UTAR for modernising these New Villages into sustainable social and economic communities and preserving the heritage of the New Villages. The New Village Community Project serves as one of the solutions for the residents of the New Villages to retain younger generation citizens in the village and develop the village with their ideas, creativity and innovations.”

He added, “Proper education and training, as well as collaborative efforts between government, private sectors, local communities and non-governmental organisations, will most certainly aid the continuous socio-economic transformation of New Villages and also enhance the SMEs' adoption of emerging digital technologies for sustainable business development. I have no doubt that iVillage along with the support and collaboration from all participating parties will bring the existence of many new villages in the country as well as dissemination of information of such villages to the public.”

The launching ceremony ensued with a video presentation that showcased the milestone achievements of UTAR New Village, iVillage (Progressive of Web-Application) and Exploring Malaysia’s New Village Book.

Front row, from left: Dato' Lee, Prof Ewe, Dato' Low, Prof Dato' Chin and Prof Choong with participants

Dato’ Lee (second from right) donating RM10,000 to support UTAR New Village Project

Held over three days, the exhibition was filled with a series of exciting activities, namely new village talks and forums (held in hybrid mode), virtual performances by UTAR students, New Village exhibition, New Village's product display and sales. 

The new village talks saw speakers sharing their respective topics. Dr Wong presented on “The Value of Century-Old Towns and New Villages – Kampar, Perak”, Chok presented on “From Local DNA to Local Brand”, Jomy Yaw presented on “Klang, the Cultural and Creative Tourism Education Centre” and Dr Yang Zao from UTAR Faculty Of Medicine and Health Science presented on “Chinese Medicine Workshop: Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Care for Elderly”.

Furthermore, the forum “Seeking the Uniqueness and Potential of Malaysia New Villages” saw the attendance of three panellists, namely Edwin Chin, Teo and Steve Lee; it was moderated by Chok. According to the panellists, the most important element to promote the new villages and its product is to incorporate innovative ideas while maintaining traditions. They also emphasised on sincerity; while advertising through social media would definitely draw more customer, they believe sincerely treating and maintaining relationship with people can attract long-term customers and create long-lasting income.  

From left: Chok, Edwin Chin, Steve Lee and Teo sharing their business insight at the forum

Prof Ewe (in blazer and red tie) touring the exhibition along with guests

Some of the local products from the new village

Exploring Malaysia’s New Villages Book Volume 1

For more details about the uniqueness of the nation’s Chinese New Villages, click /span> wwww.newvillage.com.my