PETRONAS Country Managers' Annual Roundtable Dialogue Visit to UTP on 6 & 7 March 2010

On 6 and 7 March 2010 (last Saturday & Sunday), 11 PETRONAS Country Managers (CM) and 3 representatives from 3 PETRONAS Country offices visited UTP for the annual PETRONAS Country Managers’ Roundtable Dialogue Visit to UTP. This was the third time (year) it was organized. The program was organized by PETRONAS International Business Unit (IBU) and UTP.

Those PETRONAS CM/Rep. that were present were, En. Wong Kong Weng from China (CM), En. Ismail Abdul Rahman from Indonesia (CM), Mr. Marcus Allus from the Philippines (CM), Tuan Haji Nusral Danir from Sudan (CM), En. Abu Bakar Salleh from Thailand/Myanmar (CM), En. Izuddin Husaini M Yusof from Egypt (CM), En. Mohd Ridza Md Shariff from Turkmensitan (CM), En. Awang Othman Awang Jaya from Vietnam (CM), En. M Hamid Mohamad from Chad (Rep.), En. Eelasegaran Nadarajah from Uzbekistan (CM), En. Fodzi Bidin from Pakistan (Rep), Tuan Haji A Hamid Hashim from Iran (CM)and En. Amer Syahremy Saifuddin from South Africa (Rep).

The objectives of their visit were as follows :

1. To have an engagement session with the UTP International Student Council (ISC) to learn about its function & roles in UTP and issues on the international students’ welfare.
2. To have an engagement session with all UTP PETRONAS sponsored international students by each respective country in order to motivate them and help solve their academic and welfare issues.
3. To have an engagement session with UTP management team (led by our honorable Rector), PETRONAS Education Sponsorship Unit (ESU) management team (led by En. Shanizam) and IBU management team (led by its GM, En. Yahya Talla) to discuss on matters related to the UTP international students and potential collaborations on various subjects.
4. To have a friendly sports match (volleyball) with the international students.
5. To conduct the structured job interview for final year international PETRONAS sponsored students.

The visit met its objective and on Saturday night, 6 March 2010, all of the respected visitors including the IBU team, were invited to attend and witness the ‘Festival of Colors of the World’ event organized by SSSD of UTP at UTP’s Chancellor Hall. They experienced for themselves the colorful festival of dance from various Malaysian universities and selected universities from Thailand, Indonesia and Korea. They were impressed with the grandness and well- organized event done by our own students.

Finally, special thanks to all who were directly and indirectly involved in making the event a success especially from the wise leadership and guidance of our Rector, Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Hj. Kasim and our Director of Student Services, Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor Rosli Baharom.

Kind Regards,

Marfauza Mat Jusoh

Senior Executive

International Student Unit

SSSD

Education Trip To Sabah - Part 1

Educational Trip to Sabah (ETS) will be schedule on 13th – 20th March 2010. It will be organized by Student Support Services Department (SSSD), Student Representative Council (SRC) and International Student Council (ISC).

The objectives of the program are to expose UTP students with industry in East Malaysia, expose international students to the diverse culture, history and traditions of Borneo, familiarize students with the incredible diversity of the eco system, understand its importance and enhance the love for it and encourage a caring society by reminding students of their responsibility towards the surrounding community through community service activities.

ETS program is very unique and different from any other educational trip especially on 16th – 17th March 2010, of which the participants will climb Mountain Kinabalu. The Mountain Kinabalu height is 4095 meters (13,435 ft) above sea level, ETS participants will try their best to climb the mountain with one objective to conquer the peak of Mountain Kinabalu with a group of 40 people (UTP students and PETRONAS officials).

The organizing committee has scheduled few phases of selection process to select qualified candidate to participate in the ETS. This includes interview sessions, fitness tests and climbing Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill), Taiping Perak. The Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill) height is 1036 meters (3,398 ft) above sea level.

For the interview sessions and fitness tests about 120 turned up after the committee screened the applications. Among them 56 candidates qualified to climb Bukit Larut after passing the fitness tests. On 05th – 06th February 2010, all candidates went to Kamunting to climb Bukit Larut, Taiping, Perak. The delegates stayed at Youth Complex Kamunting and were warmly welcomed by Mr. Kahiruddin Bin Abdullah, Assistant Youth Officer Taiping who guided and gave some advice and tips to climb Mount Kinabalu. They will again climb Berincang Mountain, Cameron Highlands, Pahang schedule on 26th – 27th February 2010 for the final selection. The Berincang Mountain height is 2031 meters (6666 ft) above sea level. Those successful candidates will be announced on 01st March 2010 to represent UTP and their countries.

International Student Unit would like to give our utmost gratitude and thanks to our Vice President of Education PETRONAS, Y.Bhg Puan Juniwati Bt Rahmat Hussin, Honorable Rector, Y.Bhg Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Bin Haji Kasim, Director of Student Services, Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor Rosli Bin Baharom, Senior Manager of Student Support Services Department, Encik Muhammad Syazwan Amarjit Abdullah, Sports and Recreation Unit of Student Support Services and others who were involved directly or indirectly in making this program a success.