UTAR celebrated the long service of its staff, as well as the teaching and research excellence of academics at the UTAR Staff Long Service and Excellence Awards Ceremony, held at Kampar Campus on 2 August 2023.

The annual ceremony aimed to reward staff who have served the University for a decade and acknowledge academics for their excellent teaching and research endeavours as well as the administrative staff for their service excellence. For the first time this year, the ceremony also awarded staff who have served for two decades.

Present at the ceremony were UTAR Chancellor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Toh Puan Ena Ling, UTAR Education Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Sak Cheng Lum and Puan Sri Sak, UTAR Council Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Ting Chew Peh, UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat, Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Goi Bok Min, Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Registrar Loh Siaw Yien, and Division of Human Resource Director Marchie Lim Pin Sim, faculty deans, directors, heads of departments, award recipients and staff.

Prof Dato’ Ewe expressed, “To all the recipients today, on behalf of the University, I would like to express my heartiest congratulations and appreciation for your contribution to the students and the university. Thank you for your initiative in putting the hard work and showing your colleagues that the pursuit of excellence at work is the best way to gain recognition and gratification. As we honour your service milestone of ten years and 20 years today, we hope that this also serves as an inspiration to other colleagues to continue to help the university to grow and enhance its level of service, teaching, learning and research excellence. I hope you will continue to inspire your colleagues and students towards the same path of progress with a positive attitude and continuous drive towards achievements.”

He continued, “The university cannot progress without teamwork and neither can you or I alone bring about progress. We need to all put our heads and hands together to make this university work and move ahead towards excellence in teaching, learning and research. As they say, united we stand, divided we fall- so we have to always remember to work in the interest of the university and for the people especially the students under our wings. The university has always promoted excellence as the way forward toward achieving its goals and vision. Hence, it is with great pride that I congratulate our Excellence Award recipients in the categories of Innovation, Research, Teaching, E-Learning, and Staff Service. Upon receiving your award of excellence, I hope that you will lead the way to guide and train your staff and fellow colleagues to learn and follow your best practices. This recognition of your hard work and contribution will hopefully inspire you to attain greater performance and work towards greater successes ahead.”

The ceremony reached its first highlight showing the recipients of the Long Service Award from both Kampar and Sungai Long Campuses. All recipients of the Long Service Award walked away with a crystal trophy.

Ten Years Long Service Award recipient Abdolrasool Taghvee said, “I deeply felt that UTAR was my second home and everyone treated me as a member of a lovely family. I am proud to be a UTARian and I am highly motivated to do my best for UTAR. Thank you so much again for the opportunity awarded to me to work for UTAR.”

Twenty Years Long Service Award recipient Er Pek Hoon enthused, “It is a great honour to be part of UTAR’s two-decade-old commitment to nurturing generations of thinkers. We stand together in pursuing UTAR’s mission of Broadening Horizons, Transforming Lives.” Another recipient of the 20 Years Long Service Award, Ko Chin Hock, commented, “感恩，知足。十周年，二十周年，希望还可以为优大再服务十年；三十周年见。Gratitude, contentment. Tenth anniversary, twentieth anniversary; I look forward to serving UTAR for another ten years; see you on the thirtieth anniversary.”

Twenty Years Long Service Award recipient Dr Sharon Jacqueline Albert Wilson also expressed, “Twenty years ago I wanted to be called to a vocation where I could serve and be used as an instrument for the betterment of others. God put me in education for a reason. Looking back over the years, God has truly used me and continues to use me and He has placed people in my life for me to learn from and share experiences with. I have been blessed and I hope to be a good steward in years to come.”

Other 20 Years Long Service Award recipients also included Ts Sun Teik Heng @ San Teik Heng, Lau Siew Yung, and Dr Ng Lee Peng.

Taking the centre stage subsequently was the presentation of the Excellence Awards. Each winner of the Teaching Excellence Award, E-Learning Excellence Award, Research Excellence Award, Innovation Excellence Award and Staff Service Excellence Award walked away with a cash prize of RM1,000, a certificate of acknowledgement and a trophy; while the winning research centre for the UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award took home a grant of RM100,000.

The list of Excellence Awards winners is as follows:

UTAR Teaching Excellence Award (in no particular order)

1. Dr Tan Chun Hui, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science
2. Teoh Shen Khang, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology
3. Dr Ng Oon-Ee, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science
4. Leu Kim Fey, M. Kandiah Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
5. Nazreena binti Mohammed Yasin, Centre for Foundation Studies (Kampar Campus)
6. Diong Fong Wei, Faculty of Arts and Social Science
7. Chan Wan Ling, Centre for Foundation Studies (Kampar Campus)
8. Yip Chan Ling, Faculty of Creative Industries
9. Catherine See, Centre for Foundation Studies (Sungai Long Campus)
10. Phoon Sheong Wei, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science

Chan enthused, “This is a very meaningful recognition for a lecturer as it reflects the efforts they put into teaching. Being in CFS (Kampar) for years, I know that many of my colleagues are very committed to teaching too. I consider myself lucky to be receiving this award as there are more well deserving candidates I know of. So I hope to see more and more lecturers being recognised for their outstanding performance as it serves as an encouragement for us to keep going forward. Once again, thank you UTAR.”

Leu expressed, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to UTAR for conferring upon me the Teaching Excellence Award. This award brings me immense joy and a deep sense of pride. I shall commit to upholding the standards of excellence that this award represents. Meanwhile, I am grateful for the support of my colleagues, students, and mentors, all of whom have contributed significantly to this achievement.”

UTAR Staff Service Excellence Award (in no particular order)

1. Poon Jia Sying, Division of Human Resource
2. Yeow Sze Min, Registrar’s Office
3. Komathi Rethinam, Department of Safety and Security (Sungai Long Campus)

Yeow commented, “Ten years ago, I began my journey at UTAR as a Foundation Y1S1 freshman. Today, I am deeply honoured and grateful to receive the Staff Service Excellence Award. I extend my sincere gratitude to UTAR for recognising my efforts and providing an environment that fosters growth and excellence. I am thankful for all the guidance and support I have received throughout the journey. This recognition would not have been possible without continuous support, mentorship, and cooperation from all my colleagues and friends. Thank you all for making this journey memorable and rewarding.”

Komathi said, “This accomplishment is a significant milestone in my professional career. Success allows me to grow by investing in search of new opportunities.”

UTAR Innovation Excellence Award (in no particular order)

1. Assoc Prof Dr Yamuna Munusamy, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology
2. Dr Mathialagan Muniyadi, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology

Dr Mathialagan expressed, “I feel privileged to receive this innovation excellence award. Never-ending thanks to UTAR management for motivating researchers like me with such an honourable award. My utmost thanks to Dr Yamuna Munusamy for being a motivator, and continuously mentoring and pushing me to be a better educator and researcher.”

UTAR Research Excellence Award (in no particular order)

1. Assoc Prof Dr Tan Chee Seng, Faculty of Arts and Social Science - Category of Social Sciences, Arts, Humanities, Management and Accounting
2. Ir Prof Dr Huang Yuk Feng, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science - Category of Science, Engineering, Technology and Medicine

Prof Huang said, “Thank you to UTAR for the honour and the award. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who have helped in my team’s research endeavour, particularly the undergraduate and postgraduate students for their enthusiasm in research.”
Dr Tan also commented that he is thankful for the award. He also said that the recognition has helped him understand the importance of being open to exploring new perspectives because, as he quotes, “If you never try, you will never know”.

UTAR E-learning Excellence Award (in no particular order)

1. Assoc Prof Dr Abdelhak Senadjki, Faculty of Business and Finance – Category of Management, Accountancy, Business and Finance
2. Lee Kin Keong, Faculty of Creative Industries – Category of Social Science, Arts and Humanities from FCI

Lee Kin Keong enthused, “It is such an honour to receive the E-Learning award, knowing that the dedication to continuous learning and adaptability in the digital age has been well recognised. Embracing innovation opens doors to endless possibilities for growth and success.”

UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award (in no particular order)

Centre for Healthcare Science and Technology (CHST)

CHST Chairperson Assoc Prof Ir Dr Chee Pei Song expressed, “Thank you, UTAR for recognising CHST’s contributions to healthcare research and technology. This award motivates us to work harder and uphold UTAR’s name with pride. We will continue to make a positive impact on healthcare technology and shape a better future.”

Special Mention Award for Research Centre in the fields of Arts, Social Science, and Humanities:

Centre for Applied Psychology (CAP) of Kampar Campus

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