“VIRTUAL SUMMER CAMP 2021 DESTINATION: MALAYSIA” – EXPLORING NEW PLACES, PEOPLE AND CULTURE FROM YOUR COMFORT ZONE
9TH October 2021 – Universiti Malaysia Pahang through its Centre for Modern Languages (CML) and Centre for International Relations (CIR) again managed to organize a virtual summer camp this year, this time with a group of 12 students from Hebei University, China who were joined by their liaison officer, Ms. Lisa Zhang Mengxue.
While the first Virtual Summer Camp was 5 days long and had participants from several universities from China and Japan, this Summer Camp was comparatively much shorter and spanned 4 hours from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., successfully held via Zoom platform. The purpose of this virtual summer camp was to let the students from Hebei University improve their English language command through the interaction with UMP camp trainers and facilitators while exploring the beauty of Malaysia, and richness and diversity of the Malaysian culture albeit remotely via an online platform.
The camp which was fondly dubbed ‘Camp Rasa Sayang’ had its theme revolved around traditional Malaysian attire and dances. The main trainers for the session were Mr Shamsul Harbi and Madam Amy Zulaikha Mohd Ali who are both English language instructors from CML. Making the event merrier were Madam Ezihaslinda Ngah, Dr. Wan Jumani Fauzi, Miss Arulselvi Uthayakumaran, Madam Farah Liyana Ahmad A’azmey and Mr Khairul Amri Abdul Aziz, other CML English Language Division staff who joined the session as co-trainers.
The trainers were assisted by camp facilitators, UMP students Jonathan Ng Tze Herng, Ariff Azrai bin Azlan, Sharlene Esoothas, Reeshaanthiran Jayaram and CIR Buddy cum Technical Support, Ericsson Yong. They were all enthusiastic in sharing their knowledge in promoting Malaysia, Pahang and UMP as one of the key regional educational hubs to the participants.
The programme was kickstarted with the opening ceremony and orientation session at 9:00 am. It was followed by the main training sessions on traditional Malaysian attire and dances 30 minutes later. The intercultural dialogue was lively with the trainers and facilitators sharing the traditional attire they were wearing. The camp participants were then introduced to other various traditional attire before they were shown dances from the different major ethnic groups in Malaysia, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak. They were then divided into three groups named Team 1, 2 and 3 respectively, and were assigned to learn the Sumazau dance in the hands-on activity session assisted by the camp facilitators.
Of course, to dance the dance, one had to have the right attire. The students from Hebei University were very deeply involved in the hands-on activities arranged for them with the helping hands of the facilitators who guided them in making costumes from recycled materials and any available materials they could grab around them. In addition, the facilitators also trained them on how to perform the dance. Learning the steps and moves proved to be not an uphill task for them as most of them seemed to be able to do the dance pretty easily while adorning themselves with the makeshift costumes that actually resembled the traditional Sumazau dance costumes. They seemed to enjoy themselves to the max when they recorded themselves doing the traditional dances to share with the other participants in the later part of the session – the group presentation session! As displayed, being in a higher learning institution does not always mean that it is all about having to be a bookworm and all about assignments and exams only.
The programme called it a day with a closing ceremony emceed by Madam Farah Liyana Ahmad A’azmey. It was started with a speech by Yang Jiayao – a student representative from Hebei University, who expressed how interesting the experience was. It was then followed by a speech from Professor Xing Huibin – the Deputy Director of International Cooperation Office of Hebei University, who fully supported the programme and hoped for more future collaboration, preferably face-to-face! Then, this was followed by a video of the group presentation. It began with a quick overview of the students making their costumes, then, the training process, and finally the students, dancing to the tune of the music of the Sumazau dance! Before proceeding to closing speeches, “The Best Group” award was announced by Dr. Wan Jumani Fauzi, as the lead trainer. Group 2, as the recipient of the award will receive a token of appreciation from CIR which will be posted via mail. To close, the programme was also graced by the speeches from Associate Professor Dr. Nik Aloesnita Nik Alwi – the Dean of the Centre for Modern Languages (CML) and Dr. Mohd Azmir Mohd Azhari – the Director of the Centre for International Relation (CIR). The programme ended sharp at 1:00 p.m.
All in all, everyone was exhilarated with this unforgettable event despite still being in a pandemic. It seems that the pandemic has not hampered our spirit and efforts to go global!
Prepared by: Khairul Amri Abdul Aziz
