By Hafiz Asnawi
GOMBAK, 22 April 2015: In conjunction with the Earth Day 2015, the Academic Staff Association (ASA) of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is organising a series of events to create awareness on environment.
A ceremony to commemorate the event was officially held today at the university’s Riverside steps in front of the Kulliyyah of Education (KOE) attended by the Rector, Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamaruddin. Also attended the ceremony was the President of ASA, Dr. Maszlee Malik.
Parked under the theme of ‘Our River, Our Life’, the event aimed to create awareness of the need to care for the environment. Dr. Maszlee Malik said, ” I hope this event will be successful not only for today but in the upcoming future as well.”
“IIUM is giving its full support to celebrate Earth Day in order to increase awareness among students and the community in IIUM,” said Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha.
She added: “By preserving the nature, we can give the good natural environment for our future generation to enjoy the beauty of nature itself.”
With the event to be held until Saturday, 25 April, an innovation competition will also be conducted by the committees. Students will be able to win MYR10,000.00 for a suggestion on how to improve and clean the Sungai Pusu, which flows across the Gombak campus.
There will be a song writing competition and a fund raising activity. Other than that, campus-wide marathon to promote healthy lifestyle, and tree planting as well as bench installation alongside the main river will also be held.
The Rector also introduced the practice of 3R. The concept, which stands for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, is for students to implement the idea of preserving nature in their daily life. The idea is to construct the young mind to love the nature and save the environment. The focus is not only on students alone but also for those who live within IIUM as well. ***
