The Global Buddies Club recently organized the Culture Corner 2022 event which was conducted at Dewan Sri Perdana, the place where all the participants gathered. The event started from 7.30 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on 15th December 2022. The primary objective was to enhance cultural appreciation among Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students of various nationalities as part of our mission to promote diversity in culture, tradition and customs.
Besides, this activity was also intended to let the students had fun and feel the captivating experience during the pandemic season. We believe this event could possibly be a fun way for the participants to learn about different cultures and traditions around the world from the comfort of their home.
We do not want the spirit of Culture Corner programmes, which was organized on a monthly basis before the pandemic, which serves the purpose of embracing the cultural diversity we are all part of, to simply worn off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The total number of participants who took part in Culture Corner 2022 was around 581 people comprises UTM undergraduates and postgraduates students. The participants who were all UTM students are from different countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Yemen, Egypt, Indonesia and many more. A few themes were put in place for each episode of the Culture Corner 2022 such as Cultural Music & Dance, as well as People & Languages.
The participants that represent their own country got the opportunity to perform their traditional and uniqueness of their own culture which includes the ISS in the event consisting of ISS China, ISS India, ISS Indonesia, ISS Nigeria and ISS Africa.
At the beginning of January, the event activity was promoted to UTM students through various channels such as Whatsapp groups, Facebook page, and also through Global Buddies official Instagram page. The response from the target audience was truly overwhelming as they immediately register to join the event. A Whatsapp group has been created for this event to facilitate the communication between participants and organizers.
The participants are required to fill up the registration form created using Google Forms. On the day of the event, a reminder message consisting of all the things that the participants should have to keep in mind during the event, as well as venue and time, were sent in the Whatsapp group.
During the event, the participants were encouraged to actively utilize the Dewan Sri Perdana by being in a group of 10 and brainstorm ideas to come out with cheers and name of the group. The group consists of the combination of local students, as well as the international students.
After the brainstorming sessions, PM. Dr. Mohd Ariffin bin Abu Hassan randomly called out any group and to present their cheers to the audience. After the magnificent introduction by each group, each ISS of representative countries performed their traditional dance to the audience.
Most of the participants enjoyed the dance and danced together in the hall. After the dance session, there was a Kahoot session which involved almost 200 people. 25 questions were presented during the session and the hall was full of intense participants who were eager to win. Only three winners were chosen to receive gifts from the committee.
Apart from that, the best dress for the king and queen of the night were chosen. Not to forget, the prizes and hampers for the ISS who performed. Towards the end of the event, a group picture of the committee and the participants was taken at the stage along with the UTM International staff. The majority of them are certain that they gained a lot of new information and enjoyed the night about international cultures all around the world. The event was interactive and enjoyable for the participants as it was for the previous physical Cultural Cornerback in 2019.
In conclusion, the Culture Corner 2022 was really fruitful and achieved its objectives. The Organising Committee of Culture Corner 2022 believes that similar kinds of events can be conducted in the future to continue enhancing cross-cultural understanding between UTM students from different religious backgrounds and nationalities.
Prepared by:
Corresponding Author: Norfaeza binti Ali
Co-Author: PM. Dr. Mohd Ariffin bin Abu Hassan