SPDeC's Youth Social Responsibility Progam Sets New Standard

By Nur Dalilah Dzulkarnain, Foundation/3^rd, PG

Tronoh, 29^th March- Held to provide a platform to develop technical and soft skills as well as introduce high schoolers to the engineering way of thinking, ASME-UTP-SC with sponsors from Gempak Starz and IM4U held their first ever SPDeC Youth,Social Responsibility (YSR) program, in conjunction with Student Professional Development Engineering Conference Malaysia 2014.

A total of 85 students from three different schools which are Methodist Girl’s School(MGS), SMK Simpang Pulai and SMK Sri Iskandar had participated in this 3 day program starting from 27^th March to 29^th March.

Mr Ahmed Fouad, head of ASME Asia Pacific, was invited as the honoured guest at the closing ceremony and he gave a short speech on the importance of working together as a team in such programs and having leadership qualities from an early age. Among his words of wisdom were, “Don’t be followers, be leaders”. He also congratulated the winners of the games and activities conducted by the SPDec comittee.

Participants waiting eagerly for their tie-breaker question during the Quiz.

The 3-day event was the first YSR program of such length and will serve as an important example to future programs by other clubs and events.

Ms Vanisha Kumar, 2^nd year 2^nd sem/CE, the Head Of Department of  YSR went on to share that the program was a big success and they are looking forward to holding similar events in years to come, besides improving on what they were lacking in this time.

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A Fun Day with Kids: Take the Roads in PETRONAS – University (T.R.I.P-U) 2013

By, Neroshinni Balachandran, Foundation/3^rd CE

Seminar Room 2, Undercroft, 1^st March – With a big applause, 33 orang asli children from Batu Empoh, Tapah arrived at the hall with the youngest being 7 years old while the eldest 16. The first venture of 3^rd semester foundation students was a homestay programme for the international students at Kampung Orang Asli, Batu Empoh, Tapah.  Their next vision was to expose the children to university life with ‘Take the Roads in PETRONAS – University (T.R.I.P-U) 2013’ program. The participants were genuinely impressed with our laboratory facilities and advanced studying environment during the campus tour. The next agenda was a motivational talk to overcome participants’ obstacles in school and team-building games as well as a lesson in mind mapping techniques by our facilitators. In the evening, all of them were brought to the netball court for futsal and poison ball game sessions. Prizes were given afterwards and the eventful day ended at 7pm.

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Professional Training and Grooming Etiquette (PRESTIGE)

By Neyley Adriana, Foundation/1st

Tronoh, 8^th March –The popular annual event, Professional Training and Grooming Etiquette (or more commonly known as PRESTIGE) have made its debut yet again this year at Seminar Room 7, Undercroft and was held by Peer Helper Club. Over 100 enthusiastic students participated in PRESTIGE in the hopes of learning how to give their appearance and personalities a makeover. The event aimed to teach and train its participants on grooming etiquettes, how to look professional and how to give an impact to people, especially during job interviews.

The event kicked off at 9.30 am with a session called “Re-groom, Re-brand, Re-fresh” featuring Madam Murshidah, a famous advisor for personal grooming and a corporate image consultant. Her session began with an ice-breaking session where the participants had to draw an image of themselves in order to portray their personality. Afterwards she gave a talk concerning “Love and Respect”, whereby she emphasized on how confidence, and positive vibes will induce a positive aura to those around us.

The second module continued at 11.30 am with Madam Murshidah again as the speaker with the topic entitled ‘Present with Impact’. This session focused on professional communication skills and appearance. Madam Murshidah gave useful tips on how to look presentable in front of people, especially during job interviews where you would want to impress your (future) employer. In addition, she touched upon topics such as self-esteem and how to improve it, as well as how to speak to people confidently.

The event continued after lunch with the third module, ‘What Employers Want’, delivered by Muhammad Gadafi, UTP Alumni. He told the participants of his experience upon entering the industry, and spoke about having the right attitude in the working environment.

Later at noon, the participants were enlightened by Mr.Saiful Nang, a famous Malaysian photographer and a successful entrepreneur, with the fourth and last module, ‘Aspiring to Excellence’. Supplementary to sharing his humorous life experiences, Mr Saiful also shared his road-to-success story and encouraged the participants to start a business (even without any money), emphasizing that perseverance and dedication will lead to success. Uplifting and insightful, his talk gave the participants an idea of the challenges that they will inevitably face in the real world.

“This event really motivates me and teach me on the proper way of grooming etiquette and not to forget meeting many successful people and knowing their recipe of success was something that I would not forget”, said Arshad Arifin (PE, Foundation 1^st). The event finally came to an end at 5pm. For all the beneficial knowledge that PRESTIGE brings, we hope to see more of it in future.

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International Culture Night 2014

By Rannad Atef, PE, 1st/1st & Munir Juman, PE, 1st/1st

Chancellor Hall, 14th March – The biggest yearly cultural event in UTP, International Culture Night 2014 was held on Friday night in the Chancellor Hall. With more than 20 performance from different countries, universities and groups the ICN 2014 aimed to bringing unity and joy to the students and guests of UTP.

‘My expectation is that ICN 2014 will be awesome’ said the project director of ICN 2014 Mr. Mohamed Akhter Hussein (2nd/2nd-PE). Mr. Akhter also said that he had 107 committees working hard to make the ICN 2014 a hit.

There were performances from Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, South Sudan, Mozambique, India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Florisscia John with Trio, The Stage Breakerz (TSB), UTP Bhangra Group and UTP Preforming Art Group (UPAG).

Amongst the guest performances included dances Asia Metropolitan University (AMU), University Malaya (UM) Bangladesh and Mozambique Capote with Virtuoso. Also there were performances from exchange students from Japan and a beautiful performance on the piano by Colin Woolums from USA.
The beauty of ICN this year was the diversity in showing the cultures as dancing wasn’t the only art form on display. Some countries and groups used music to deliver their cultures which add more diversity to the cultural event. Shiva Selventiiran, TSB performer, said that he was very excited to be part of the ICN for the very first time and believed that ICN is the occasion for TSB to mesmerize the audience with their out-of-the-world performance.

All-in-all, ICN 2014 was not without its flaws, especially technical missteps, but judging by the audiences’ reactions ICN 2014 proved to be a smash hit, and the next installment is still very much eagerly awaited.

Post by Mustafa Mustafa.

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Block B: Brand New Cocu Subjects In The Works

By Munir Juman, PE 1st/1st

Tronoh, 13^th March – According to Miss Hellina binti Ahmad Kamil, the senior executive of UTP Co-curriculum Unit, there will be at least 4 new co-curriculum subjects introduced to the UTP students. Two new subjects to be brought in are photography and futsal. “We will be presenting the proposal to the Academic Committee (AC) this month and (if approved by the AC) the Senate next month. Hopefully, students can expect to register for the two subjects starting next semester”, confirmed Miss Hellina.

For the second phase, percussion and a uniformed body seem to be in line. As stated by Miss Hellina, the proposal will be presented to the AC somewhere in May and the two new subjects will be made available for the students starting from September 2014 semester. “We’re thinking of Askar Wataniah, St. George and JPA for the uniformed body but, most probably it would be Askar Wataniah”, she added.

Ms Hellina letting us in on the latest from Block B.

Also, she cleared the air regarding swimming as a co-curriculum subject in UTP. “Actually, swimming has already been approved by the AC and the Senate. Basically, it is already a subject and the syllabus is there. Our dilemma is in regard to the unavailability of instructors. So, we’re working on this for now”, she clarified. However, she finished with uncertainty, mentioning that these are all in process and it depends on the AC and Senate to approve the proposals. 

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GE Personality Development Workshop

By Nur Dalilah Dzulkarnain, Foundation/3^rd, PG

Tronoh, 5^th March-  Aimed at increasing leadership skills and teaching people how to be inspiring leaders, TEC invited a representative from GE Corporation to give an informative talk on how to communicate like a leader, in a two hour GE Personality Development Workshop.

Ms Xiao Qhing of Outreach and Talent Development unit in GE Asean was invited as one of the speakers and Ms Ramia Balakrishnan of GE Asean answered questions regarding internship possibilities by the audience. Participating as a participant of the workshop myself, Ms Xiao started off by defining leadership and according to her, a good leader is not the one that manipulates others to gain power rather, the one who inspires everyone around them to climb through the ladder of success together.

She went on to share about the various leadership styles and reminded us that personality is what we are born with but the style of a leader is something that we need to learn. Dividing these styles into four parts which are the relator, the expresser, the analyser and the director, the audience began to grasp an understanding of what style fits them best.

As thoughtful as the workshop held, participants came home along with a certificate of participation and a birds-eye view on the leadership world.

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Sports & Co-curriculum Appreciation Night 2014

By Aravindhan Anbalagan, Foundation/3rd

Tronoh, 26^th February – Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS’ Sports & Co-Curriculum Appreciation Night 2014 was held in the Main Hall with an objective to show an appreciation and acknowledgement to UTP’s students and staff who have contributed in the upbringing of the University’s reputation through sports & extra-curricular activities for the year of 2013. The event was honoured with the presence of YBhg Datuk Ir (Dr) Abdul Rahim B Hashim, UTP Vice Chancellor, Tn. Hj. Mohamed Noor Rosli Baharom, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Alumni, as well as UTP staff and students. This year’s special guest was YBhg Dato’ Dr.Fazley Yaakob, a multi-talented celebrity, motivator, actor, singer, chef, businessman and much more. He shared the secrets behind his great achievements and gave a motivational talk, besides also singing his latest song ‘Chocolate Cake’- all the while snapping photos with almost all the guests in the hall without hesitation. The event got merrier when it was time for the award giving ceremony.

This year, the Best Sportsman title won by a professional in Taekwondo, Mr Lee Kian Seng who was a gold medalist in MASISWA (Majlis Sukan IPTS Malaysia) Taekwondo Championship 2013, 3^rd Perak Junior Taekwondo Development League Circuit 1 & League Circuit 2 and a huge success in the 32^nd Perak Closed Taekwondo (WTF) Championship 2013; while the Best Sportswoman title was won by a skilful netball player Nur Amalina Binti Ahmad Baharuddin, due to her great performance in SUKIPT(Sukan Institusi Pengajian Tinggi) 2012, MASISWA Zon Utara 2013, MASISWA Champion Of Champion 2013, and SUKMA (Sukan Malaysia) 2012.

The Best Sports Team awards were given out to the UTP Rugby, Netball and Kayak Teams. UTP Kayak Team also secured the Most Promising Team award. The top three clubs of 2013 were the UTP Debate Club, Society of Petroleum Engineers UTP, and Rotaract Club, who all gained the Best Club award with UTP Performing Arts Group and UTP Debate Club once again grabbing the Best Co-Curricular award.

The High Impact Corporate Social Responsibility Educational Program awards were given to ENACTUS UTP, MEDTECH UTP, SEDEX 31 UTP, Counselling & Student Development UTP, and AIESEC UTP while the High Impact Corporate Social Responsibility Socio-Economic Program awards were given to Sekretariat Rakan Muda, MPPUTP, and UTP ALUMNI’s program in collaboration with ENACTUS UTP.

The Special Achievement awards were acquired by UTP Gamelan Group (Sanggar Kirana) for their first album ‘Gatra Pertama’; Mohd. Zulkefli Mohd Jamaluddin for his published book ‘Rintik – Rintik Hanya Singgah’; and Sekretariat Rukun Negara UTP with their project ‘Larian 70 Jam’ which was listed in the Malaysia Book of Records.

Last but not least the International Achievement awards were scooped up by AIESEC UTP, SPE UTP, Rotaract Club, UTP Debate Club, UTP Tronoh Theatre Shop, and UTP Performing Arts Group. Our Deputy Vice Chancellor Student Affairs & Alumni said that the students and staff should continue this legacy of success, and to not lose momentum in order to maintain the reputation of the university in sports and extracurricular activities. He also thanked the students for their wonderful performance and promised to continue to build the infrastructure to support our sports and co-curricular activities.

SPE-UTP-SC proudly retained the Best Club/Society Award after missing out last year, having previously won 3 times in a row.

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Banana Relay Run

By Rannad Hamadah, 1st/1st PE

UTP, 22^nd February 2014 - In collaboration with the Co-curriculum unit, the American Association of Petroleum Geologist-UTP-Student Chapter (AAPG-UTP-SC) managed to organize their very first event this year: the “Banana Relay Run”.

A number of 11 teams, each consisting of three people, had participated in the run. With banana in hand, a member from each team had to run from the chancellor complex, around the lake, and back again in order to pass it on to their teammates.

According to Project Director, Ooi Phey Chee (PG 3^rd/2^nd), the goal of this event was to bring the members of AAPG-UTP-SC together and to introduce them to students from other departments. After a lot of effort and an exhaustive run, winning teams were celebrated and awarded with medals, certificates and cash prizes by Mr. Askury Bin Adb Kadir, Advisor of AAPG-UTPSC, along with other special guests.

Millian Edward Kei (PE 3^rd/1^st) of the winning team said that he had really enjoyed the run and is eager to take part in more sport and outdoor events in the future. As for Mr. Askury, he was proud of his enthusiastic members and is looking forward to upcoming events organised by AAPG-UTP-SC.

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International Exhibition Week

By Neroshinni Balachandran

Pocket D, 19^th February 2014 - Pocket D was lit up with foreign traditions during the three days of International Exhibition Week organised by International Culture Night (ICN) 2014 committees supported by International Student Council (ISC). The purpose of this exhibition is to introduce international cultures to students as well as staff, and also to promote ICN 2014 which will be held on the  night of 14^th March 2014. There were 11 booths representing diversified cultures from participating countries. Booths set up by UTP students themselves, both undergraduates and post-graduates, distributed their traditional food, and exhibited cultural items ranging from flags, garments, dolls, ceramics, and musical instruments. ICN 2014 itself had their own ticketing booth which was made and decorated from scratch by the committees. The Best National Costume Competition was also held and the winner with the most Facebook likes will be announced during the actual ICN. The week was further spiced up with remarkably entertaining flash mob performances by UTP dance groups such as Interbeatz, Bhangra and Stage Breakerz. In selected booths, students were given free food and were given chances to try on some traditional costumes of other countries. The HOT Team would like to congratulate the ICN committees for their successful International Exhibition Week and wish the committees all the best for their upcoming ICN 2014.

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Mindsets Matter; Sexism in Our System

Mindsets Matter; Sexism in Our System

By Ashley Ng, CV, Foundation/3rd

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“Equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women, and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it. We need equality. Kinda now.”
― Joss Whedon

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A month ago, our university played host to NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women’s (NIEW) Great Gender Debate 2013. Conducted in the British Parliamentary debate style, each team consisted of two people, one male and one female, where topics under the scope of gender issues were debated and discussed.

It is an event especially significant to science, engineering and technology universities of our kind, sometimes infamous for their inherently sexist policies and ideologies. Be it the university’s selection process or common female students stereotypes, sexism is still an underlying issue in our society especially in the areas pertaining to education and career paths.

In the US, women account for only one-fifth of engineers at national universities, and that number has been dwindling. It isn’t that these women are under-qualified or unevenly matched to the men: in fact women are outpacing men in overall participation in higher education, taking the SAT’s more often, and earning more degrees than men. It’s that there is a constant threat of stereotyping towards these female engineers, and the constant reminder while in university that engineering is apparently a “male-driven field”.

As actual Engineering/Technology students we see with our very own eyes how unbalanced the representation of men and women in these fields is. Sexist behaviours of the students in these institutions do nothing to help this situation.

From memes posted in Facebook groups meant for all students that generalise the populous of engineering student genders to policies that discriminate against women (for example the gender-segregated schedule for the gym schedule that forces girls who want to work out to have to struggle to find a time to actually work out) there is an obvious disparity between the way males and females are viewed in our university.

Stereotype 1: Girls in engineering are "boyish", "unattractive" and "unwanted".

Stereotype 2: Girls in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering simply don't exist apparently!

Stereotype 3: Females cannot do engineering, duh.

Negative effects of sexism

Perhaps the most noticeable gap in our university exists between the number of male and female students exist in the Mechanical Engineering and (to a lesser degree) Electrical Engineering programmes. In fact, the number of male students outnumber the female students in every engineering programme (except maybe Chemical Engineering). Why?

Ask almost any female engineering student and they will tell you why they wanted to be an engineer, or more likely why people around them discouraged them from wanting to be engineers. We live in a Patriarchal society, run by mostly men. This has led to many unfortunately sexist and misogynistic views of women and men. Because of the patriarchy, men are expected to be manly and to be tough 100% of the time, and women are to never cuss like sailors or enjoy football or want to be engineers or scientists. Little girls around the world are forced into gender-roles, given dolls to play with and told that to be rough and inquisitive and intuitive are masculine traits and should be left behind as they grow older.

These stereotypes and the behaviour towards females already in these fields serve to push girls away from engineering. Standford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research released an article stating that “extensive empirical research on stereotype threat has demonstrated that if a person is exposed to a negative stereotype about a group to which they belong (e.g. women, Asians, African-Americans), they will then perform worse on tasks related to the stereotype.” It goes on to discuss the “powerful effects of negative stereotypes on the psyche,” stressing how “stereotypes decrease self-assessments of ability, lowering the likelihood that women will enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.”

It doesn’t help that memes like the above play into these stereotypes. They’re not even that funny, and only serve to discourage the female students already in the programme. They ignore completely the minority and propagate the stereotype that these programmes are only for males. Speaking to a female Mechanical Engineering student, she notes the domination of discussion and attention given to them by lecturers.

While it could be argued that this is due to the small number of girls, it is in fact a systematic cycle of oppression. Girls are discouraged from entering the programme (perhaps by family, or circumstance), then those who are brave enough to take a stand (or are interested enough to overlook the discouragement) and enter the field are discriminated against for actually being in the programme, by the very people they are to call friends in the programme.

Hope for the future

Question: Why is it so important to talk about equality?
Answer: Because talk leads to action.

As (to paraphrase our university’s motto) future engineers of the future, we play a huge role in equalising how all members of the human race are treated. And if the debaters that ran rampant around our campus on the 23rd to the 26th of November have anything to say about our futures it’s that it should be one of equality.

If we can get people talking about the future, if we can get people talking about equality, then we can get the ball rolling. Organizations like our university must “control the messages they are sending, by making sure there are no negative gendered beliefs operating in the organization.” Whether it be by regulating the amount of “hate speech” against females by fellow male students, or by actively encouraging more female students to enter these fields to somewhat equalise the ratio between the genders, any change for the better would be encouraging.

All this begins, of course with us asking questions and demanding that the cycle be broken.
While definitely there will be girls (and boys) who don’t like the STEM fields for non-sexist/stereotypical reasons we must make sure that those who do are encouraged to enter and stay in those fields.

Gender stereotypes that define what a little girl can grow up to be must be broken. Little boys and girls must not be told that there are girl and boy subjects; rather that all subjects are for everyone.
It starts with us opening our minds and our arms to show them the welcoming side of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These fields are fields of logic and critical thinking. If we allow gender stereotypes to blind us, our science is sullied and the whole point of these fields will be moot.

It all starts with us, those who are already in these fields, encouraging our little sisters and our juniors and telling them that it’s okay to want to be an engineer.

If we can’t even accomplish that, then we have no hope of equal opportunities.



Editor's note: The content of this article is the opinion of the author alone and does not represent the views of HOT as an organisation.

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