Corporate Communication students organise Smash it, Beating Heart Campaign

Smash It, Beating Heart pre-event poster

A group of 22 UTAR Bachelor of Corporate Communication students organised a heart disease awareness event, titled, ‘Smash It, Beating Heart’. It was split into two parts, which began with the pre-event, titled, ‘Together, we HEART it’, that took place from 17 to 18 April 2023, at UTAR Multipurpose Hall, Sungai Long Campus. The second part is the badminton tournament, the main highlight of the event, which will be held on 29 April 2023. Guided by their advisors, Faculty of Creative Industries (FCI) lecturer Ms Khor Gee Khing and FCI Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Dr Cynthia Lau Pui-Shan, the main objectives of the entire event were to increase awareness about the rising heart disease issues among Malaysian young adults and to promote a healthy lifestyle through physical sports activity.

Smash it, Beating Heart officially kicked off with the pre-event opening ceremony on 17 April 2023. Present at the ceremony were Councillor of Kajang Municipal Council (MPKJ) Ms Lim Kim Eng representing Chairperson of Selangor State Executive Councillor for Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Orang Asli Affairs and Member of Selangor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Kajang YB Tuan Hee Loy Sian, UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat, FCI Dean Dr David Tneh Cheng Eng, Dr Cynthia, FCI Deputy Dean for Student Development and Industrial Training Ts Ang Kok Yew, FCI Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Mr Thinavan Periyayya, Head of Department of Media Mr Anthony Gandolfo, Head of General Studies Ms Ira Meilitia, Acting Head of Department of Mass Communication Ms Chew Wee Lee, and Event Chairperson Lee Rong Wei.

Prof Dato’ Ewe delivered an insightful speech on the importance of the event, saying, “Heart disease is a leading cause of death globally, and it is a growing concern in our community. Many people believe that only adults are at risk of developing heart disease, but studies show that even teenagers are at risk. However, heart disease can be prevented and managed with early detection, proper treatment and lifestyle changes. Thus, I am glad to note that the various activities happening during this two-day pre-event will be able to promote heart health and raise awareness about heart diseases at a young age.”

Prof Dato’ Ewe delivering his speech

Ms Lim Kim Eng also gave a speech, congratulating the committee for organising such a huge event. “As we gather here today, we recognize the growing importance of heart health awareness in our society, and I believe that an event like this will be able to provide an excellent platform for us to share knowledge and work together towards promoting a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, I would like to commend the Corporate Communication students of UTAR for putting in the effort in organising a huge and important event like this to promote the significance of heart health among young adults.”

Ms Lim Kim Eng giving her speech

Finally, Lee welcomed the attendees to the ceremony, as he said, “Our objective is to promote Malaysian young adults to adopt a healthy lifestyle through physical sports activities and to increase awareness about the arising heart disease issues among Malaysian young adults. Additionally, our event fulfills the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being. With that being said, we invite you to take part in the various activities taking place today and tomorrow, as well as visit the available booths and get yourself checked up with our Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) services.”

Lee welcoming the participants

The pre-event opening ceremony reached its main highlight, with the official launching of Smash it, Beating Heart conducted by Ms Lim Kim Eng, Prof Dato’ Ewe, Dr David Tneh and Lee. A brief token of appreciation exchange and group photography sessions signaled the end of the ceremony.

Official launching of Smash it, Beating Heart

Ms Lim Kim Eng (middle) receiving a token of appreciation from Lee (left) and Prof Dato’ Ewe (right)

Prof Dato’ Ewe (middle) receiving a token of appreciation from Lee (left) with Ms Lim Kim Eng (right) watching on

Throughout both days, a marketplace comprising of a variety of booths were set up. There was a total of 19 booths on display at the market. The products being sold at these booths included healthy food, cosmetics and miscellaneous items. There were also minigames and quizzes related to health for the attendees to participate in, as well as information boards around the hall displaying information regarding one’s heart. TCM services were offered to students and staff too, not to mention, a CPR workshop was conducted on the second day of the pre-event. Finally, the event had a total of 11 sponsors, which were split into three categories; Platinum, Gold and Silver. The Platinum sponsors were Yole Malaysia, Red One Network Sdn Bhd, Xin Chinese Medical Hall, Beacon Mart, Absolute Protech Sports (M) Sdn Bhd, Fabian Platform Network Sdn Bhd, GoodMorning Global Sdn Bhd and Above Creative Events (M) Sdn Bhd. Meanwhile, the Gold sponsors were Happy Lemon Sdn Bhd and Hive United (M) Sdn Bhd, while the silver sponsor was Bubbly Jaime Aromatherapy.

Ms Lim Kim Eng, Prof Dato’ Ewe, Dr David Tneh and Lee touring the booths

The many booths in the pre-event’s marketplace

The students attending the CPR Workshop

Meanwhile, the Smash it, Beating HEART Men’s Double Badminton Tournament took place on 29 April 2023 at Sportizza Badminton Balakong. A total of 16 teams participated in the tournament, which featured ten teams from varying universities or colleges around Klang Valley and six teams of working adults. The tournament aimed to showcase the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle through physical sports activities and increase awareness of the rising heart diseases among young Malaysian adults. It also provided an excellent opportunity for participants to showcase their skills.

The winners of the Badminton tournament were as follows:

Ranking	Team Members
Champion	1. Song Puok Chern
	2. Tan Kian Ann
Second Place	1. Tay Hao Ze
	2. Liew Hao Wei
Third Place	1.    Muhamad Fikri Bin Daud 2.    Nur Fathi Hilmi Bin Mohd Sazali

The organising committee with the tournament winners

The participants in action at the tournament

One of the event sponsors, Xin Chinese Medical Hall, also donated a total of RM1,140. This donation was raised by providing TCM treatments throughout the two-day pre-event, held on 17 and 18 April 2023. A mock-cheque handover ceremony was therefore organised on 2 May 2023. Prof Dato’ Ewe was present to receive the cheque on behalf of UTAR from the Xin Chinese Medical Hall representative, Ms Connie Shu Siew Ing.

Xin Chinese Medical Hall Chinese Medicine Practitioner Ms Connie Shu (third from right) presenting the donation to Prof Dato’ Ewe (second from right), witnessed by FCI Deputy Dean Dr Cynthia Lau (most right), event advisor Ms Julian Khor (most left), Smash it, Beating HEART Organising Chairman Lee Rong Wei and Deputy Chairman Wan Jing Thung