Sunway’s Return Tray Campaign

“Buy, Eat, Bus” is a return tray campaign (RTC) organised by students and staff of Sunway’s Department of Communication and Liberal Arts together with Sunway’s Health and Safety Department.

The campaign aims at inculcating the culture of clearing and returning trays after meals among Sunway’s students to help maintain a clean cafeteria for all. The president of RTC, Nicholas Hoe Wei Nian who is pursuing his BA (Hons) in Communication, specialising in Public Relations Project Management hopes to “Raise as much as 80 percent of cleanliness awareness among my peers on campus.”

The campaign’s opening ceremony featured an impressive 5-minute long flash mob by Sunway’s students at the cafeteria; speeches by Hoe, Professor Pua Eng Chong, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academics and Dean of Faculty of Arts, and Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director of Sunway Education Group. The ceremony concluded with an “ice-breaking” session with the mentioned guests, hammering an ice block to officiate the launch. Other guests joining the session included Tan Kheng Loon, Director of Operations and key facilitators of the campaign, Associate Professor Dr Lee Ei Leen, Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts and Head of Department of Communication and Liberal Arts, and Simon S. Sannasy, Manager of Health and Safety Department.

(from left): Catherine Lee, Elizabeth Lee, Professor Pua Eng Chong, Tan Kheng Loon and Associate Professor Dr Lee Ei Leen officiating the launch of the RTC Campaign

Commending the organising committee, Elizabeth Lee said “Your hard work in leading, planning and organising this project spearheads the move for graciousness within our Sunway University Community. You are nudging all of us in the direction of taking a few extra steps to clear our own trays after a meal. It is a simple act, but if everyone does it, it will make a big difference. This little thing that we do will show that we have consideration for the next person.”

Returning tray is a common practice in many advanced countries. The culture is still at its infancy in Asia, with campaigns budding mainly in Singapore. Sunway University is one of the pioneers of such campaigns in Malaysia as it hopes to educate students, both intellectually and morally, with the ultimate goal of advocating cleanliness nationwide, starting from its campus.