By Syafiah Sakirin
GOMBAK, 27 May 2022: A candidate fighting for the seat of the President of IIUM Student Union (IIUMSU), Nurul Arifah bt Abdul Rashid, unveiled her three manifestoes by prioritising inclusiveness as her main agenda.
This third year Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) student from Kulliyyah of Education expressed her vision by aspiring to bring IIUMSU to move forward toward sustainability while enhancing and developing students’ potential according to IIUM’s philosophy and the concept of Insan Sejahtera, which is “Khalifah, Amanah, Iqra’ and Rahmatan Lil-Alamin.”
Three aspects which Nurul Arifah fights for are:
1. To secure campus environment
To create a secure environment by developing a strategic safety campus plan. It is very important to ensure the safety of students because one of the pillars of sustainability of the organisation or society, the environment, should not be forgotten. In her execution plan, a strategic campus safety plan is very much crucial to help in preventing anything worse and more dangerous happening to the students and the IIUM community.
Some steps are referring to other campuses’ strategic safety plans, establishing a task force, and having frequent interactions with the Office of Security Management (OSEM) and Occupational Safety, Health and Built Environment Department (OSHBE) to get multi-angle perspectives in creating a holistic safety campus mapping. This campus mapping will cover all places in IIUM by highlighting potential hazardous spots for the students. Students are everything when it comes to university and safety.
2. To Diversify Union’s Inclusivity through focused strategic engagement across the campus
Throughout the years, the number of students from various groups participating in the Union including all societies, clubs, programmes, and initiatives in IIUM is increasing. However, there are still many who have not participated and feel excluded such as the disabled and postgraduate students.
Thus, with this focused strategic engagement, the Union will be able to increase the IIUM community’s inclusivity and humanise students’ activism. For this manifesto, she will empower the Community Department in IIUMSU by acquiring necessary data, and ensuring frequent as well as holistic approaches between IIUMSU and the targeted group of students. She also plans to empower the Office of the President to ensure the sustainability of the Union for the representatives from many groups of students.
3. To be the champion in upholding students’ voices beyond kulliyah and locality
In her initiative, Nurul Arifah agreed that having a Townhall can improve the IIUMSU’s governance system. She wishes to have the spirit of champion in herself and in the Union’s executive members as the main goal of the student union which is to fight for the rights of what should have to be done for students.
Once the students voiced their concerns, it is very important for responsible constituencies and authorities to take immediate action and respond. It is also crucial for the student’s concerns to be discussed thoroughly to find the real causes and effective solutions to ensure that the problem never occurs again. In upholding these precious voices of the students and ensuring the good governance of the Union, she believes that giving space to the members in giving opinions is the key.
Students’ voice is not only about their complaints, but for them to share their thoughts about the Union’s development and progress. The outcomes of the town halls then will be filtered, channeled to, and discussed in IIUM Student Parliament for a more holistic and inclusive approach.
Asked regarding her reasons for contesting in IIUMSU Election, she said that she wants to contribute more to society, particularly to the students of IIUM. Consequently, the students may empower and help the Union as well as other people at the same time. “When the Union is fully empowered, it will definitely bring benefits to the students,” she highlighted.
Nurul Arifah insisted that a good leader is the one who walks the talk, and acts as a leader, instead of merely as a boss since actions always speak louder than words or writing. Hence, he or she needs to be on the ground to feel what the people feel.
She added, “Good leaders are also those who know the system or the organisation that he or she is in, very well. With this characteristic, the leader will be well-versed with the workloads, able to handle the resources wisely, and bring the organisation to another step forward.”
“They also have to be critical, wise, fair, and be there on the polling day for choosing the best candidates,” she told IIUMToday.
She expressed her hope that students can choose the best in their minds, hearts, and thoughts for the upcoming election on 28 May (Saturday). She promises to do her very best for the IIUM community. ***