University of Nottingham Malaysia
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University community pulls together to support community

UNM Heroes - article 1

Staff, students and alumni from the University of Nottingham Malaysia have been channelling their knowledge and expertise into supporting local communities and frontliners being affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Outreach by alumni

Alumni of the University have been doing their part to support the community.

In Malaysia, alumni of Nottingham University Business School Malaysia (NUBS) are involved a number of initiatives to deliver food supplies to those in need and frontline workers. MBA alumnus S T Rubaneswaran invested in Masala Wheels, a social enterprise in Petaling Jaya that has launched the FoodWithoutBorders campaign to provide over 6,000 meals to students, hospital frontliners, welfare homes, refugees and other vulnerable communities in the city of Petaling Jaya. Another MBA alumnus, Zarina Suleymanova who runs Sassorosso, an Italian restaurant and wine retailer in KL, has also been supplying meals to frontliners in the Kuala Lumpur city centre. Alumni have also connected and are supporting non-profit organisation Buku Jalanan Chow Kit to help feed the children of the workers there. MBA alumnus Sameeta Kaur who runs Virtual Health Angels, a social enterprise that links arts, health and well-being, has been running webinars on self-development, mindfulness and coping with these unprecedented times.

In Sri Lanka, Chrish Johnathan Ram and his family who run the Ram Social Services Foundation is currently sourcing and supplying basic food items such as rice, dhal, legumes and dried fish to the underprivileged impacted by the pandemic.

Besides food, NUBS Malaysia MBA alumnus James Wong who is the CEO of major Malaysian-based construction and property development company Mudajaya Group Berhad has been providing sanitisers to police who are working during RMO.

Businesses and services run by alumni are also adapting their services to offer support. MyBurgerLab is also deploying team members to assist the elderly and anyone less mobile. MyBurgerLab is co-founded by Teoh Wee Kiat and Chin Ren Yi, business School and engineering alumni of the university respectively (they were jointly conferred the university’s Alumnus of Year award in 2014 for their innovative entrepreneurial efforts). Zero Waste Malaysia which was co-founded by Khor Sue Yee worked in collaboration with Caremongering Kuala Lumpur is providing a platform to help those in need by bringing together volunteers and areas in need.

Outreach by students

Students have also been getting involved and leader of Al Hasan Volunteer Network has created an amazing initiative, providing cooked meals to the elderly, refugees, underprivileged and front liners. IEM UNM, a student led society has donated and delivered groceries to Joy Garden Old Folks Home to make sure they have sufficient food suppliers during the MCO.

Another student, Jasmine Chong has composed a song which she dedicates to medical workers. A third year chemical and environmental engineering student Jasmine is also a Youtuber who has more than 30,000 subscribers for her own channel of songs she composed.

She has dedicated a song to medical workers in Mandarin.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0OCYuUgwXNUVFSRiMQ9Dxw?view_as=subscriber

Outreach by staff

Staff have also been stepping in to support their local communities with practical help. One example is the member of staff who distributed biscuits and drinks to essential services staff who are based on campus during Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO), assisted by human resources and security to ensure the food items reach the staff on campus. Some of our staff members have been supporting families who lost their jobs by paying for their weekly groceries.

Professor Graham Kendall, Provost and CEO of the University of Nottingham Malaysia said: “We have a very special and compassionate community on campus here at the University of Nottingham Malaysia that continues even when people move on, it’s wonderful to see everyone pulling together during these difficult times and turning their skills to help those who need it most. The outpouring of support has been really amazing.

A special thank you must also go to the staff who are still on campus keeping essential services running. Cleaners, security staff, hall wardens and tutors have all been going the extra mile to ensure campus is kept spotless and safe.

“Also I would like to thank all staff who have been working very hard to ensure the delivery of our services to students, both academic and professional services staff have been working the extra mile in serving the UNM family,” said Professor Kendall.

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For media enquiries please contact: Josephine Dionisappu, PR and Communications Manager University of Nottingham Malaysia at josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my  

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named both Sports and International University of the Year in the 2019 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.

Posted on 22nd April 2020

University of Nottingham Malaysia

Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih
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Malaysia

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