Curtin Sarawak students receive award for advertisement in ‘Dare To Dream Challenge’

Miri – 18 November 2010 – A 30-second advertisement submitted by three Bachelor of Arts (Media, Culture and Communication) students of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) received the Honorable Mention Award for the ‘Dare To Dream Challenge’ held in conjunction with recent International GreenTech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia 2010 (IGEM 2010) held in October at the KL Convention Centre.

The trio, whose team name was B.A.N. Rawk, comprised third year students Belinda Yip Chien Jiun and Chong Ping Xing and first year student Siah Shin Ning, They received their award, trophies and certificates from Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Dato’ Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui.

Two advertisements submitted by Curtin Students were shortlisted for the finals of the ‘Dare To Dream Challenge’ – Legacy by ‘B.A.N. Rawk’ and Extendable by another team that went by the name ‘Dream Maker’.

In Legacy, a boy is taught valuable lessons by his grandfather, such as the notion that whatever we do towards nature will affect future generations. It shows the profound effect a grandfather’s life experiences can have in guiding his grandson in taking care of the environment.

“As nations develop, demands on the earth’s resources and the environment become greater, thus the sudden interest in renewable energy, reduction in carbon emissions and so on these days. What deters us from action, however, is lack of knowledge. Knowledge passed down from our elders is valuable, but we don’t often follow their advice,” said B.A.N. Rawk team leader Belinda.

She added, “The idea we wanted to portray in our video is that knowledge should be treasured. When the importance of nature is planted into young minds, hopefully those young minds will be responsible for the environment when they mature into adults.”

The ‘Dare to Dream Challenge’, designed to promote creative design solutions for raising awareness of green technology and eco-products and themed ‘Green Future – Green Fusion’, was open to students of universities and colleges. Besides Curtin Sarawak, the participating institutions comprised SAITO College, SEGI University College, Tunku Abdul Rahman College, UiTM, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and University of Malaya.

Based on four keywords – Low Carbon, Renewable Energy, Green Technology and Sustainability – contestants were required to present new ideas or proposals to interpret those words creatively.

The challenge’s panel of judges comprised Raja Fuziah binti Raja Tun Uda, an advisor to the World Crafts Council Asia Pacific and honorary member of the World Crafts Council; Wairah Marzuki, artist and former director general of the National Art Gallery; Janet Tee Siew Mooi, director of the National Textile Museum; Nelson Lin Kian On, photo editor for the China Press; and Kenneth Lee, senior country marketing manager for Phillips Lighting.

Dream Maker’s Extendable likened recycling to that of love transferring through the generations of a family.

Dream Maker comprised second year students Lu Hieng Juong, Mary Tang Sing May and Wong Luong Na

“People typically assume that recycling is the responsibility of environmentalists. What we wanted to show in our advertisement is that everyone has a part to play,” said team leader Lu.

He added that the slogan ‘Love is a cycle, recycle for a sustainable love’ used in their advertisement reiterates the theme of sustaining love for future generations through recycling.

The advertisement’s storyline involves a middle-aged father reflecting on his childhood when going through some old photos. He recalls how a homemade photo frame he made using recycled materials captured the heart of a young girl, who later became his wife.

Returning to the present day, a photo of his son planting a tree shows the next generation bestowed with a love for the environment, and a scene shows his son proudly showing a drawing of the family and understanding how, in a way, recycling created their family.

BAN Rawk comprising Belinda Yip Chien Jiun, Chong Ping Xing and Siah Shin Ning with Dato Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui.