Chen Siang Hui and Mabel Lim during the candlelit walk
Earth Hour Carnival 2014 was hosted by The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) and featured a mini concert and exhibition on environmental awareness. Organised by the UNMC’s Nature Club, this is the fourth year the University has participated in Earth Hour.
Some 400 students, alumni, staff and guests attended the event and joined a candlelit walk around the campus. Initiated by Chen Siang Hui, president of Nature Club and Mabel Lim Tze Jia, vice president of Nature Club, the event included informal workshops to raise awareness of energy conservation among UNMC students and generate interest in Earth Hour.
The carnival featured food stalls, sale of eco-friendly products, games booth with “recycle bowling”, a game played with recyclable materials, the donation of recyclable items and information booths. Attendees also pledged to adopt energy efficient habits in their daily lives.
“Nottingham students play an active role in in a range of community engagement projects and research. The Earth Hour event is an excellent example of their efforts to organise an exciting and meaningful activity for the community in and around the campus,” said Professor Christine Ennew, CEO and Provost of UNMC.
According to Chen Siang Hui, who is also a third year, civil engineering student at UNMC, attendance at this event was better than in previous years and this is a clear indication that the community at UNMC has become more environmentally aware, fully understanding that their personal efforts can have a real impact.
“The countdown to Earth Hour (8.30pm) witnessed a performance by ‘The Indonesians’ and Big Bad Sheep, bands which comprise UNMC students.
It was an outdoor event and miraculously the rain stopped just before 8.30pm, when UNMC went into darkness together with other businesses and important landmarks worldwide and this symbolises our active role to curb the effects of climate change,” Siang Hui explained.
The event ended with a performance of Michael Jackson’s Heal the World presented by Jason Ong, a member of Nature Club who is studying foundation in business and management.
One of the AIESEC team members, Dion Visser, from the Netherlands who delivered a presentation on sustainability and recycling at the event, said; “Earth Hour at UNMC was a success, it was a display of cooperation between different student societies within UNMC. It was inspiring to see students of different nationalities and cultures united under a common theme.”
“Part of receiving a quality British education is to be active and involved in extracurricular activities organised by the university which helps students to develop soft skills. Employers are more likely to hire a fresh graduate who has experience in managing activities and projects during their education at the university,” said Professor Ennew.
The event partners for the Earth Hour Carnival are AIESEC, UNMC Digital Arts Guild and UNMC Rotaract Club.
Photo credits: UNMC Digital Arts Guild
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More information is available from Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on + 6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014). It is also the most popular university among graduate employers, the world’s greenest university, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the World's Top 75 universities by the QS World University Rankings.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 21st April 2014