IZZAT BIN IDRIS

Mini Report

Culture Corner is back! The much-awaited popular student activity has returned for this semester, continuing efforts of internationalization at home and social interaction through cultural activities.

Assoc. Prof Dr Mohd Ariffin Abu Hassan, the Manager (Student Experience), commenced the evening’s activities with the usual ice-breaking session over a cuppa. Students had a little chat before grouping for selfies to be posted on social media with the hashtags #utmculturecorner and #utmawesome. Regulars and newcomers turned up in full force, amounting to over 240 students from more than 24 countries! The students were divided into 12 different groups comprising students from different nationalities and degrees, and were tasked to choose a folktale from one country and write one word related to it from the many languages of the group members. It was an interesting and challenging task that coincided with this week’s theme: Fairy Tales. The activity provided an open platform for group members to communicate with one another and share stories from their various backgrounds., thus generating a fun and inclusive atmosphere as per the objectives of Culture Corner. Afterwards, Dr Ariffin selected a few groups at random to do a short presentation of their group’s fairy tale and associated word.

The evening was brought to the next level with performances from the representatives from Afghanistan, China, Indonesia, Somalia, and Sudan, where they exhibited their unique fairy tales titled “Katawazi”, “The Great Revival”, “Sangkuriang”, “The Story of Elephant and Silver Dik Dik”, and “The Hasty King”, respectively. The Malaysian team performance served as the climax of the evening. with an enchanting performance of “Puteri Sentubong & Puteri Sejinjang”. The performances were informative, engaging and carried valuable lessons that the students can take away and later apply in their daily lives.

To reward students who put in their utmost concentration and attentiveness, a session of Kahoot!, was then played. Always the adrenaline-inducing activity, students battled it out in a multiple choice quiz game online and the three best-scoring students are rewarded with gifts.

We even had a surprise performance by visitors from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE), Vietnam where they performed a Vietnamese song "Green Urban by the Saigon River" which is about the history of Ho Chi Minh city.

The evening would be incomplete without a sing-along session with this week’s song being “Let It Go”, lead by Ms. Fasihah Jaslan, the Manager (Mobility) and a special appearance from Culture Corner vocalist Dr. Norzie.

A group photo marked the end of Culture Corner 20.0. As always, we wish that the bonds formed during the activity will last beyond the evening and we sincerely hope that the students gained a monumental experience from interacting with each other during sessions.

Self Reflection

Overall from the culture corner 20.0 experience, I've gained the the ability to adapt within a group with various ethnicity backgrounds and also enhanced the skills to communicate as a global citizen. Not only that, the activities were also great and I learned a lot of cultures of people from other parts of the world.

Mini Report

Just because something is a tradition does not mean that it cannot be changed from time to time. Hence, this time around, we spruced up our Culture Corner activities in collaboration with the International Student Society (ISS) to hold the biggest and most unique Culture Corner ever.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Ariffin Abu Hassan, Manager of Student Experience, kicked off the afternoon by warming up with some dancing. Then, he gave a briefing about the first activity: International Games with ISS. As a tradition of Culture Corner, students were assigned to groups comprising different nationalities. This time around, all the students were divided into 20 groups and they were to complete all games the ISS organised within a stipulated time. Participants immediately competed with other groups and scores were accumulated at the end, adding to the tally of scores from the next slot.

Representatives from China, Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia were present to demonstrate their country’s traditional games.

First, China demonstrated their beanbag game, where two teams with two players of each play. Description of the game: One team throws the beanbag and another team dodges it and catches it if possible. If one of the dodging players gets hit, he or she is out of the game unless the surviving one catches the bag. When both players from a team are hit, they will be out of the game for that particular round. The next round then starts with the teams exchanging roles. Points are given based on the number of rounds won by each team.

Next, Sudan demonstrated their game of scarves; a game that can use any kind of cloths, not limited to scarves despite its name. ISS Sudan proved this by using their national flag. The game is fairly simple: a team will hold the scarf up like a matador and the other team will try to catch the scarf. The roles are switched after each round.

There was also Pitho Garam, a game from Pakistan, which is akin to slipper tossing in Malaysia but with broken pots. The rules are: form two teams of unlimited members; find a ball and pieces of broken pots; then stack them up. The opposing team would throw the ball at the stacked pot pieces. To win the round, the throwing team must rebuild the fallen stack of broken pots before the opposing team hits them with the ball or else, the round ends without a winner. In play, it proved to be quite difficult to find a winner for this game.

Representatives from Afghanistan demonstrated the rope-jumping game, where players will jump over a rope, but blindfolded. Extreme caution is to be taken as this game has risks of injuries due to players falling on the ground.

Indonesia came to play with a three-in-one game. It was a relay competition of inserting nails into a bottle, passing marbles on spoons and then eating a hanging snack. First, players must insert nails that have been tightened on their waists into the bottle. Then, they pass marbles on spoons to another member in a team in a zigzag path. Finally, they end the run with eating hanging snacks without using their arms.

Besides that, Yemen’s traditional game was quite tricky. First, one team makes a circle and another goes into the circle. The first team would have to try to hit all the players in the circle while a player counts from one to fifty. Hit all of the players before fifty and the team earns a point. Else, the point is not earned. Then, the next round will start with the teams swapped. The game ends when one of the team accrues the pre-determined score.

Another game that was demonstrated was a game from Bangladesh called Fultokka, their version of Malaysia’s nenek kebayan, but using flowers or fruits as names. First, each player needs to identify their pseudonym using names of flowers or fruits; for example, a player could call himself Apple. The opposing team would not know the pseudonyms of the other team. Then, a member of the pseudonym team would cover the eyes of a player from the opposing team and call out the pseudonym. The player with the covered eyes then walks towards random pseudonym team members and identifies their pseudonym. If successful, then the opposing team wins the round.

Finally, Somali representatives demonstrated their traditional jumping game, known as teng-teng in Malaysia, generally known as hopscotch and stone house in some other countries. In the game, a player throws a stone as a marker and jumps on all of the square tiles with one foot, retrieves the marker and jumps back to the starting point. It was believed that it originated in Rome as a form of military training, then kids followed suit but in a fun manner.

With all games by ISS done, it was then time to introduce traditional Malaysian games. The games played were lari dalam guni, tarik pelepah, gundu, lari tempurung and coconut bowling. Lari dalam guni and lari tempurung both have the same rules, which are relay running back and forth but on different objects, using sacks (the bigger, the better) and coconut husks, respectively. Gundu is where rubber bands are used to shoot hanging rubber bands. Tarik pelepah or palm tree pulling is when a player sits on a palm tree leaf and is pulled by another player to the finishing line. Coconut bowling is bowling but with coconuts and water bottles.

After all the hectic competitions, all participants were asked to form “I AM UTM” as a unique group photo. It was amazing to see the result and would definitely be a nice picture to further bring UTM to the world and the world to UTM.

The event then took a 15-minute rest. During that time, everyone went back to playing games but this time just for fun and selfies. Participants were encouraged to use the hashtags #utmawesome and #utminternational to promote Culture Corner. Everyone enjoyed their short time together, including the staff and managers. After that, the prize-giving ceremony was held with Prof. Dr. Nor Haniza Sarmin, Associate Director of Student Services and Global Education Experience, giving out the grand prizes to the five winning groups.

Self Reflection

As part of the organizing team, UTM Global Buddy, I find it hectic especially organizing an event involving a lot of participants not only local but also the internationals. But in the end, it pays off well as I've enveloped the skills of leadership through learning how to handle segments of the program. Me and my team were tired at the end but would not smile ear to ear since the activities held were of so much joy. I also enjoyed being part of the groups in the activities, socializing with everyone from every part of the worlds.

Mini Report

Traditional foods are foods that have been consumed throughout history even before the advent of modernisation and industrialisation of the food supply. Culture Corner, an avenue to champion internationalisation at home through social interactions and cultural activities, is back with a plethora of delicacies from different countries around the world.

Food and Friends is the theme of Culture Corner 22.0, which was overseen by Assoc. Prof Dr Ariffin Abu Hassan. To familiarise students with each other, an ice breaking session at the start of the evening gave them a chance to have a little chat before taking selfies to be posted on social media with the hashtags #utmculturecorner and #utmawesome. The attendance consisted of both regulars and first timers, amounting to over 130 students of all degrees from more than 24 countries. The students were divided into 12 groups of varying degrees and nationalities and were served with dishes from the participating countries. While tasting the uniqueness of each dish, students were given a platform to openly communicate with one another over a wide range of topics. This provided a fun and inclusive atmosphere throughout the event.

Eight different countries showcased their tantalizing foods and recipes through individual presentations. The first country that kicked the evening into gear was Bangladesh who served “Shemai”, “Jhal Muri”, “Chhola” and “Lassi”. Next up was China who brought sweet dumplings. Egypt served “Ful Mudammas” and “Koshary”, sharing detailed information on how to make them. “Nkate Nkwan Ne Omo Tou” and “Kelewele” were prepared and served by representatives from Ghana. Pakistan served chicken biryani and described how to prepare it to the participants. Sri Lanka’s representative made “Kiribath”, served with a side of banana. Yemen illustrated how to prepare a dish named “Kabsa” while Afghanistan presented about their dish named “Aashak”, both of which were served to participants. Malaysia’s presentation and serving of the famous “Nasi Impit” with “Kuah Kacang” and a side of “Rendang Ayam” marked the end of the session. While the participants were enjoying the delicious dishes, a sharing session was opened to recollect experiences and hear feedback on Culture Corner 22.0 and beyond.

A session of Kahoot! was then played, headed by Ms Fasihah to test the participants attentiveness of the presentations and to reward those with utmost concentration. Always the adrenaline-inducing activity, students utilized their quick reflexes and competed in a multiple-choice quiz, where the three best-scoring students were rewarded with gifts.

The evening would be incomplete without a sing-along session, with this week’s song being “History”, led by Valerie Michelle, performed together with UTM Global Buddies. A group photo marked the end of Culture Corner 22.0. 

Self Reflection

This was my third culture corner that I've joined throughout my studies in UTM and I've built quite some relationships with the local and international students. I would always meet with my friends during culture corner. Furthermore, the activity were nevertheless never boring. During that day, we get to enjoy delicacies from other parts of the worlds prepared by the international students themselves. I even got the chance to meet Prof Dr Nor Haniza Sarmin the Associate Director of Student Services and Global Education Experience of UTM International. I've no doubt increased my social skills with all the students either from the locals or other countries as a global citizen. I was also lucky to get experience to be part of UTM Global Buddy to organize this cultural event.