COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has forced most governments around the world to temporarily close the educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was no exception to adhere to this ruling that was set out by the Malaysian government starting from 18th March 2020.
In line with the closure, UTM MyLinE had introduced a Stay-at-Home competition during the months-long of work-from-home for all non-academic staff. This is an additional task apart from the monthly online tasks that they are encouraged to do to get CPD points.
MyLine or Online Resources for Learning in English is a service that offers resources for self-access language learning covering study skills, academic reading, writing, listening, grammar, and other resources for learning in English.
For this Stay-at-Home competition during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, they had to complete a task specifically created for the competition. This competition was aimed to encourage the non-academic staff to share what they had read during the MCO period. The participants were required to submit a review of a book that they read. The competition ended on 28th April 2020 with cash prizes offered to the top three winners.
Ms. A. Rafidah binti A. Mohd Yunus had been chosen as the grand prize winner with her sharing of a book entitled ‘Digital Minimalism’ by Cal Newport. She bagged the prize of RM150.00. The second place was awarded to Ms. Nazrinda binti A. Samah with a cash prize of RM100 while the third place went to Mr. Mohamed Hafiz bin Mohamed Tajuddin with a cash prize of RM50. Prizes are all sponsored by MyLinE.
Most of the participants gave positive feedback and hoped this kind of competition for non-academic staff can be held again in the future.
The top three winners of the Stay-at-Home competition
Authors: Hema Rosheny Mustafa, Fatimah Puteh, Awis Rumaisya Azizan, Shazwani Abd Rahman, Rika Diana Busri & Nur Shamsinar Ramli