JCLA student ambassadors reach out to community through B-Carnival

Miri – 31 May, 2010 – A team of student ambassadors of Curtin University Technology, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak)’s John Curtin Leadership Academy organised a charitable Blind Carnival or ‘B-Carnival’ in support of the Sarawak Society for the Blind recently.

The B-Carnival, which comprised a food fair featuring a wide range of local and international delicacies, was held in conjunction with the Sarawak State-Level Blind Sports Carnival held at the Dewan Suarah Miri.

The event received a tremendous response from the public and RM20,944.30 was raised through the food sales for the Sarawak Society for the Blind.

The B-Carnival was part of a portfolio of activities under the JCLA’s ongoing Blind Campaign or ‘B-Campaign’, an initiative aimed at raising public awareness of the blind and the issues they face, and also raise funds for the Sarawak Society for the Blind’s proposed mobile eye clinic.

The B-Campaign, themed ‘Play, Care and Share’, comprises three key activities – organising a Blind Seminar (B-Seminar) and Blind Carnival (B-Carnival), and creating a related website (B-Site).

According to B-Campaign project manager Lim Sze Zhong, the B-Seminar is focused on raising awareness about blindness amongst secondary school students.

“So far, we have staged the B-Carnival with great success and are now in the process of completing the B-Seminar, which is a two-part seminar during which the participants will experience what it is like to be blind, learn how to care for the blind, and listen to talks by two doctors from the Miri Hospital, both of whom have extensive knowledge and experience in caring for the blind,” said Lim.

The B-Seminar has been held at three schools in Miri, namely SMK Dato Permaisuri, SMK St. Columba and SMK St. Joseph. In August, it will be held at three more establishments, namely SMK Chung Hua, SMK Riam and Curtin Sarawak itself.

B-Site, meanwhile, calls for the creating of a website to ensure the sustainability of the B-Campaign.

“The website will ensure that the Sarawak Society for the Blind has a channel through which they can disseminate relevant information such as the location of their centres. It will also be an online donation facility, allowing the society to receive financial assistance from the public to support its daily operations, special projects and programmes,” said Lim.

The JCLA programme is developed in honour of John Curtin, the fourteenth Prime Minister of Australia and after whom Curtin University is named, with the objectives of instilling in student leaders his three core values of Vision, Leadership and Community Service.

The programme aims to produce student leaders who can help ensure the sustainability of campus clubs and societies and improve campus life for students, and at the same time, give them the opportunity to get a head start in their careers.

“Every year, we provide the opportunity for potential students to apply to be in the JCLA. They are shortlisted based on their academic performance and co-curricular activities commitment,” said Curtin Sarawak’s University Life Manager Haslina Malek, who oversees the JCLA.

For more information on the JCLA, contact Haslina at 085–443939 or e-mail haslina.m@curtin.edu.my