Asmani Binti Imam, head janitor at UNMC with Wong Xiao Cheng, team member of Curb Your Ego.
Dignity is a basic human right and yet all too often, hectic lifestyles and thoughtlessness mean that we fail to offer everyone around us the respect that they deserve. So, recognising this problem, students at The Nottingham University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) have developed the “Curb Your Ego” Campaign. This aims to encourage all members of the UNMC community (and beyond) to respect others, regardless of their position, beliefs and social status, to be less judgmental towards others and to be more humble.
“We want to create a world in which people are able to set aside their position in society, their financial standing, intellectual ability, educational level and even their good looks and charming behaviour and to treat everyone with respect and dignity,” said Cassandra Tam, the head of the team.
“We believe that a friendly gesture can make a lot of difference in terms of appreciating and valuing other members of our community and society. This concept has to be introduced within a community so that people spread the message more easily.
The idea of the campaign rose from the notion that all forms discrimination, war, abuse and violence are rooted in ego centric tendencies and when people set aside their pride, many issues can be resolved” said Cassandra.
Pro Vice Chancellor and CEO/ Provost of UNMC, Professor Christine Ennew said “Diversity, tolerance, understanding and respect are the hallmarks of an international education."Curb your ego" is a great, student-led campaign to remind us all of the importance of showing respect to others and valuing the contributions that everyone makes to our community and to society more broadly."
Curb Your Ego Campaign
The students, currently in their first year at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS), generated the proposal for the Curb Your Ego Campaign as part of the required work for their Entrepreneurship & Business module. The group of 6 were introduced to the concept of social enterprise after attending a forum attending the Youth Social Business Summit 2012 organised by myHarapan.
But their proposal for a social enterprise moved from theory to practice when they decided to implement the idea under Enactus UNMC (formerly known as SIFE), a student society at the University.
The committee introduced Pledge-bands (rubber wrist bands) and are inviting staff and students to buy these to signal support for their campaign. Staff are encouraged to buy multiple pledge bands and give them to colleagues. By wearing the wristband an individual pledges to refrain from prejudice and discrimination, and to respect and value others.
Curb Your Ego was launched on 1 April 2013 at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Week one of the campaign focused on creating awareness of the programme among staff while the second week specifically targeted the student body.
Having launched their campaign via Facebook page and on campus, the Nottingham team have already received a request from Taylors University to transfer this project to their own university community
The committee members have great plans to extend this campaign to University of Nottingham campuses in the UK and China during a forthcoming student exchange programme.
Team members are Cassandra Tam Chiu Ying, Joel Kuan Kok Hao, Cham Jia Shen, Wong Xiao Cheng, Lee Kai Rong and Ter Ven Siew.
Watch the Promotional video and follow the Campaign on Facebook.
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More information is available from Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus at +6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia; according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2012, ‘Of all the British universities, Nottingham has embraced internationalism the most.’ It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and ‘the world’s greenest university’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fundraising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 9th April 2013