Inbound Exchange Students: One day trip to Sky Mirror @ Sekinchan

A one-day trip to Sekinchan, Selangor was organised by the Centre for Extension Education (CEE) on 2 June 2022 for UTAR’s Inbound Student Exchange Programme (SEP) students, with the hope of bringing sweet memories for them during their stay in UTAR and Malaysia. Sekinchan, better known as the beach-side fishing village in Sabak Bernam, Selangor is located about 100 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur. Three inbound students, namely Takumi Tsuji and Shion Taniguchi from Toyama University, Japan and Iori Dake from Komatsu University, Japan participated in the trip. It was also participated by staff from CEE. The students were here for the academic student exchange programme under the Faculty of Accountancy and Management and the Faculty of Creative Industries.

The trip featured various activities such as boat riding, sky mirror tour, paddy fields tour, Pantai Redang Beach tour and many more. The name Sky Mirror was created because of the mirror-like reflection of the sky on the island (also known as Malaysia’s Salar de Uyuni — a “mystery island” ) that will only present itself for several days every month, where low tides result in reflective shallow waters, thus creating many unique photography opportunities. The students shared, “The sand on the island was so soft; we could sink our toes into the soft sand, fly a kite, or just sit down and enjoy the warm sunshine and sea breeze.”

A visit to Sekinchan will not be complete without marvelling at its beautiful stretches of rice paddies, covering a total area of 180 square kilometres, that make up the iconic landscape of the quaint town. The participants headed to the Sekinchan paddy fields before visiting the Redang Beach and the Wishing Tree. The students took the opportunity to write their wishes and tossed their red ribbons up to the Wishing Tree.

Iori Dake said, “Thank you so much for planning this amazing trip today! I enjoyed visiting wonderful places and trying Malaysian food. It was an awesome experience for me.” “Thank you UTAR! I truly enjoyed the trip,” shared Takumi Tsuji.