Students excited, UMP welcomes students back to campus

PEKAN, 24 October 2021 - Excited and proud. Those are the feelings shared by Lee Zhe Shean, 19, a second-year student from the Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) after being allowed to return to campus after a year of online learning.

It was even more gratifying when the hostel key handover session was personally presented by the Chairman of the UMP Board of Directors, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, and witnessed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) who acts as the Vice-Chancellor of UMP, Professor Dato’ Ts. Dr. Yuserrie Zainuddin.

According to Lee Zhe Shean, she was surprised when realising that she was face-to-face with an important person in UMP after Tan Sri introduced himself when she registered.  

“I did not expect that Tan Sri himself would hand over the hostel keys to me.

“Tan Sri is also friendly and easy-going while telling me about himself and my admission to UMP.

“At that time, my family was also shocked and I explained to them that the one welcoming us is UMP’s top management,” she said.

She said this was the first time she and her family set foot in Pekan and the UMP campus.

“I feel very lucky to be one of those who was welcomed by UMP’s VVIP himself,” she said with a laugh.
She also praised the student admission process to the campus managed by UMP staff which was very systematic with the support of the ADAB@UMP app making the COVID-19 screening test process on campus run without a hitch.

Meanwhile, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Aziz spent almost an hour meeting the frontliners of UMP which involve the staff from the Security Division (BKES), University Health Centre (PKU) and the Department of Student Affairs (JHEP) who are in charge of managing the admission of returning students to campus in the second week since 15 October.

He was also briefed on the process of student movement to campus and how the staff conducted the COVID-19 screening test.

In the meantime, the student returning process to the campus also involves staff preparation from the Centre for Property Management and Development (PPPH) in handling student movement using university transportation.

In the meantime, PKU Medical Officer, Dr. Norhilda Abdul Karim said, students have to go through three screening counters and after getting the test results, they are allowed to proceed either to the dormitory or isolation centre provided by UMP.

It is expected that 6,500 students will return to campus in stages until the end of October.

During this visit, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Abdul Aziz and the UMP management were also taken to the Co-curriculum Centre and UMP Diving Centre which will be new attractions for campus residents.

UMP is the only public university (UA) with an on-campus Diving Centre that will be made into a research centre by offering certification courses and professional training programmes in diving expertise to the campus residents and the community.

By: Nor Salwana Mohammad Idris, Corporate Communications Unit, The Office of The Vice-Chancellor 
Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology