RM11,000 raised by Chinese and China students of Sunway for Sichuan quake victims

The devastating earthquake that tore Sichuan, China on May 12, measuring more than 8 on the Richter scale resulted in a death toll in the tens of thousands while those who survived are struggling to rebuild what’s left of their lives.

This grim scenario prompted the Chinese Cultural Society (local Chinese students) and the China Students Association (students from China) of Sunway University College to organise a donation drive for the Sichuan quake victims from 20 – 23 May at the cafeteria. A student in the American Degree Transfer Programme in Sunway, Darren Wang from China, did his part by selling his awe-inspiring Chinese brush paintings. Wang a graduate of the Guangsi Fine Arts Institute and Qinghua University is an accomplished artist who is a master in the art of Chinese brush painting. He made a brisk sale of his masterpieces and donated all proceeds to the Sichuan victims.

A concert by the students on 23 May added some soothing entertainment as they and their lecturer advisors took to the stage with a mixture of Cantonese, Mandarin and English songs. A total of RM11,115.00 was collected and the students arranged to channel the much-needed funds to the quake victims through World Vision in Malaysia and the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia equally. Ms Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director presented the cash to the two organisations after the concert.

A committee member of the Chinese Cultural Society, Adrian Tok said “I felt proud to help out. We heard so much about the suffering of the quake victims and the situation was becoming worse and worse and I am very happy to be a part of this effort to help the Sichuan quake victims”.

The lecturer advisors to the students were Ms Mandy Wong, Mr Chong Chin Yoon and Mr Michael Moey. Sunway University College has attracted international students from over sixty countries. Students from China are one of the highest international groups at Sunway.

The International Students Office at Sunway which looks after all international students assisted another group of students to collect RM3,000.00, 3 big boxes of baked beans and a large bundle of clothes which were sent to Mercy Malaysia through The Star Publications to help the Myanmar Cyclone victims earlier.

Sun-U's One Top Model

As part of their subject,Community Service, Diploma students of semester 5 studying in School Of Computer Technology are organizing a modeling competition with the objective of raising funds for World Vision Malaysia in aid of the victims of Myanmar Cyclone, China Szechuan Earthquake and the 'orang asli'.

The event is on the 13th June (Friday), starting from 7.30pm in the Multi Purpose Hall,Sunway University College

With performances by Prema Yin (http://myspace.com/premayin)

Hosted by Prem & Jules (http://www.flyfm.com.my)

Judged by MXV (http://michaelvoon.com)and more

Tickets are priced at RM10 (Pre Sales), RM15 (Door Sales).
For ticket purchase, please contact Isaac at 014-3232487 or Bala at 012-6760574

All proceeds will go to World Vision Malaysia to aid the victims of China SzeChuan Earthquake, Myanmar Cyclone + Aboriginal People (Orang Asli)

If you guys would like to contribute more than the ticket fees, you are more than welcome to do so!

We hope to see you guys there!

Join our facebook group! too

Lecturers' Appreciation Day

Mrs Sim, can you give us handouts ah? Dun wan to copy lar. Mr Ganesan, can give me a few more marks ah? I need only 4 more to pass lar, pleease! Mr Kamal, sorry I'm late. My alarm didn't ring lar!

Ugh. I don't know how they do it without strangling someone by the end of the day.

Hence, driven by guilt (I'm guessing), the Student Council decided to organise a Lecturers' Appreciation Day in view of the upcoming Teachers' Day.

Students voted for their favourite lecturers and the top 3 from each programme were invited to attend the event at Michaelangelos, Sunway Pyramid (host and sponsor). The restaurant allocated the outdoor area, overlooking the entrance to Sunway Lagoon. Very nice, I must say.

While the hungry students and academics tucked heartily into pasta, chicken and french bread, their eyes were fixed on the stage.

Ravelution performed a skit on how lecturers can see the potential in each student that other could not, and bring out the best in them.

They managed to invite an upcoming local singer to perform. Ok, I've never heard of Mia Palencia before today, but she probably gained a few new fans today (I bought her CD and got her autograph!). This soulful Sabahan reminded me of Anggun and Colby Callait rolled into one. What's nice is that she sings of stories close to home.

Lounging under the canopy while the wind blows through your hair and letting your thoughts melt into her deep velvety voice... Oh wait. I actually have to go back to work after this, don't I (cue sound: broken record, glass breaks)? Sigh.

Sharpening their wits for a “classy” debate

The students in the Pacific Rim Asian Studies class in the American Degree Transfer Program (ADTP) at Sunway were given a unique assignment: to prepare for a Grand Debate, by pitting all they had learnt in class into a war of words. The marks for this went towards their final year end mark.

The 24 students of the class came from Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, USA, Kenya and Korea and were divided into debating teams of 6 students per team. There were three frontline debaters and three “backup” researchers. The debate was in the British parliamentary style and there were two rounds. The top two best teams of the preliminary round went on to the final round which was held recently at Sunway. The debate motion in the final round was “This House believes that the 21st century will be the Pacific Asian century”

 

The two groups drew lots 24 hours before the debate to decide on their positions, if they were the proposition or the opposition. This stretched the teams to sharpen their arguments in a short time which made the debate edgy. The audience was made up of Sunway students and staff who came eagerly to watch the verbal banter delivered by the students.

All the proposition team debaters were from Malaysia and the opposition was made up of two Indonesians and a Kenyan. There was a rose among them, the only female debater, Nurfizny Ramdhani, who was from Indonesia. The chairperson was Nigerian student Nwankwo Alexander Chiedozie who awed the audience with a crisp delivery of his thoughts on the debate. Fellow classmate Diana Udodirim Nwakanma, also from Nigeria was a lively Mistress of Ceremonies.

It was a debate which allowed the unique style of each debater to show through. This was followed by a 40 minute Q&A session between the audience and the debaters. The Chief Judge was Datuk Professor Dr Khoo Kay Kim, Professor Emeritus of the Department of History, Universiti Malaya. Professor Khoo shared “I was impressed with the standard of the debate and also the multinational flavor of the ADTP which made the faculty vibrant and lively” He added “The Pacific Rim Asian Studies course here is a good starting point for an Asian Studies Centre. We need to understand Asia from the perspective of Asians and not necessarily from a westerner’s viewpoint”

The winning team was the opposition team and the best debater was Mark Nathaniel Barki from Indonesia. The winning team was unanimously decided hands down by the team of three judges.

Dr Anindita Dasgupta, the senior lecturer of the Pacific Rim Asian Studies said “This testing of the students’ knowledge in front of a live audience encouraged analytical thinking and boosted confidence. More importantly, the students learnt to defend their arguments which will come in useful as they will be expected to do so in real life”.