Curtin Sarawak staff donate to charity

Miri – 29 October 2010 – Caring staff members of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) visited the Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup at Bandar Baru Permyjaya, the Miri Sunflower Centre at Jalan Bulan Sabit, and a needy family in Tudan on 27 October 2010 to donate foodstuffs for their daily consumption.

The project was initiated by staff of the Office of Staff and Student Affairs, who held a donation drive at their booth during the Curtin Open Day 2010 held on 18 September 2010.

“The donation drive was entirely the initiative of the staff of from department with support from staff from other departments. I found it to be a wonderful idea as it manifests the culture of sharing and caring within our university community and the desire to give back to the local community,” said Dr Adeline Wong, Director of the Office of Staff and Student Affairs.

Dian Piesesha Sandy, an enrolment assistant in the Student Services Department and one of five staff members behind the drive, said, “I was honored to be part of the team for this project and I am very happy with outcome. I assisted to prepare the materials we needed for the booth during the Curtin Open Day but little did I expect the impact to be so fulfilling. If given the chance to participate in such activities again, I would not hesitate.”

Another member of the team, Kokilah Manogaran, who is a counsellor with the Office of Staff and Student Affairs, said, “Apart from collecting funds for this project, our booth during the Curtin Open Day helped create awareness of the role of our department, which is relatively new.”

The Office of Staff and Student Affairs is a strategic initiative to meet the needs of a growing campus with an expanding base of racial and cultural diversity in both staff and students. Its role encompasses the areas of equity, diversity and social justice; counseling and disability services; health services and operating a First Aid Centre; student conduct; and complaints and grievance management.

Kolkilah said that the department sought to dispel the stigma of seeking or undergoing counseling amongst students and staff of the university during the Curtin Open Day, adding that counseling can offer many benefits, such as advice on careers, understanding one’s personality, and deriving solutions to difficult situations.

According to Kolkilah, the booth at the event included interesting activities such as Art Therapy, Fear Factor, Love Test and Personality Test, which were all designed to create awareness of the department’s services.

The staff members handing over items to the Director of Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup.

Handover of items to the Director of the Miri Sunflower Centre.