Great teamwork and beautiful bouquets

DSSC Kampar staff on duty at the flower bouquet counters in front of Dewan Tun Ling.  From left: Kong Hoi Yoon, Alison Yoon, Lee Sie Yun, Phoon Yee Yan (student volunteer) and Erica Chua

Hats off to the team of staff in the UTAR Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC) Kampar Campus and student volunteers. Together they hand-made 600 flower bouquets with a total sales amount of RM38,476 over the two convocation sessions held in January 2022. The money raised goes towards the development of UTAR Hospital.

The DSSC team in Kampar got together to study the logistics, divide work assignments and worked hard to make the UTAR convocation colourful and meaningful for both graduates and their families. The staff sourced and purchased the flowers from Cameron Highlands, collected the flowers from the supplier, unpacked them, pruned and sorted out the flowers, bought wrapping papers and ribbons and wrapped each bouquet individually by hand with much care and attention - from the choice of flowers in the bouquet to the colours of ribbons and wrapping papers, and the design of the bouquets. Each process is tedious but the DSSC team of staff worked tirelessly days before the convocation, working into the night to get the bouquets out for convocation.

It was the great teamwork, much dedication and the patience of the staff and the student volunteers that made it all happen. The team of 12 DSSC staff, including the Head of Department Ms Hee, and the 5 student volunteers that created this magic which brightened up the entrance to Tun Ling Hall.

Parents and graduates were greeted with the colorful bouquets as they reach the entrance of Dewan Tun Ling where the convocation ceremonies for 8-9 January and 22-23 January 2922 were held in UTAR Kampar Campus. These two convocation ceremonies were the first two physical ceremonies held since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.

At the convocation, DSSC staff were assigned to the sales counter outside the hall and they worked from 6am to 5pm; going back to the room at the end of the day to prepare for the next day’s bouquet sales. It was all hard work with a lot of sweat and tedious attention to details but it was worth the efforts.

The sales were encouraging and the team of staff learnt a lot while working together. Thanks to these DSSC staff for making it all happen.  Special thanks to the five student volunteers who are Chiew Chien Yi, Natasha Low Khamay, Phoon Yee Yan, Pung Hai Thing, and Tan E Tern. Thank you for your support and assistance. 

Sales were so good that they eventually ran out of UTAR teddy bears.

Beautiful and reasonably priced bouquets

The supply of fresh flowers ran out and artificial flowers were just as colorful

Encouraging sales at the counter

DSSC staff arranging the bouquets

Entrance to the open-air counters

 

The good weather created great outdoor photo opportunities for the graduates and families

UTAR souvenirs were also sold at the open-air counters in front of Dewan Tun Ling