The heydays of the Dragon Year 2024 may be over for the majority, but it is nonetheless the beginning of a vibrant and dynamic year for the international students at UTAR Kampar Campus. As the warm breeze of spring blew through the air on the latter half of the first lunisolar month, a Chinese New Year 2024 dinner was organised on the evening of 26 February 2024 at Restaurant Hao Ran Ju, Westlake Villas, Kampar, to celebrate the spirit of fun gathering and the prologue to a whole new year of education journey for the foreign students, who are far away from their homelands.

Organised by the UTAR Department of International Student Services (DISS) of Kampar Campus, the Chinese New Year dinner saw the attendance of nearly 70 participants. It served as one of the fun activities to allow the international students to alleviate their stress and immerse themselves in the joy and mutual rapport among their peers and mentors. Integrating with the other activities by DISS, the programme as a whole provided a unique multicultural environment to enhance the international students’ learning experience.

As the night enshrouded the sky, the scholars from the local and foreign lands began to burst into laughter. Before the array of dishes arrived at the tables, the students were engaged in a fun icebreaking activity, titled “Who am I?”. The students were tasked with writing their brief profiles on a small paper before presenting it to their peers. The simple yet fun activity was enough to stir the jolly hearts of the students into exchanging jests and casual conversations with one another. As they rediscovered their rapport in the lighthearted moments, arrived furtively at their tables were blessings, in the form of notes, from the vice president, deans, and deputy deans of UTAR. With that, beaming smiles continued to be the prevailing miens throughout the session.

Who could possibly enjoy a joyous moment with others on an empty stomach? The colourful Yee Sang dishes arrived at every table with hodgepodges of starry eyes directed at them. With the announcement made by the student hosts to commence the Malaysian tradition, Lou Sang, the participants stood up uniformly and at the same time restlessly. A round of tossing of Yee Sangs ensued enthusiastically, with every participant attempting a higher toss after another, signifying an auspicious year to come. With an array of Chinese dishes served at the tables, the participants enjoyed a hearty dinner with laughter and conversations reverberating in the atmosphere from time to time.

With stomachs filled with scrumptious food and mouths covered with rich appetising flavours, the sound of spirited voices echoed once more as the participants shared a round of toasts with one another as their sprightly way of delivering their blessings to the others. Before the conclusion of the gathering and dinner, red envelopes and mandarins were handed out to the students by the vice president, deans, and deputy deans of UTAR, adding more auspiciousness and significance to the already joyous occasion.

As the dinner reached its epilogue, the participants shared a merry group photography session together, before they embarked on another new year of education journey filled with myriad possibilities.

Present at the dinner were UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Faculty of Science (FSc) Dean Assoc Prof Dr Lim Tuck Meng, Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) Dean Assoc Prof Dr Au Yong Hui Nee, Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wun Bin, Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS) of Kampar Campus Deputy Director for Student Affairs and Development Mr Lim Khiew Loon, Department of International Student Services (DISS) of Kampar Campus Head Mr Ngan Mun Wai, UTAR Alumni Hou Chaoping, UTAR Student Representative Council (SRC) Kampar Campus International Student Representative Ye Weixiu, former UTAR SRC Kampar Campus International Student Representatives Chen Jiayi and Rao Yun; and UTAR staff and students.