BY EDWINNIE EINSTEIN UNJI
UNIMAS’ (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak) Perpustakaan Tun Abdul Rahman Ya’kub (PeTARY) launched its PeTARY OPEN DAY AND LITERACY 2022 from December 5 to 9 this year, and it drew a lot of attention from book vendors, food vendors, and students from other schools.
With UNIMAS’ reputation as one of the most well-known universities in Kota Samarahan, it is not surprising that these events will attract a large number of people who will participate in either opening up vendors or simply visiting.
During the event, there were not only food booths, but also book stalls.
“The organiser invited us to participate in this event, which we gladly accepted because we want to promote books published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). We were pleased to receive the invitation because we believe that DBP is an important organisation for students to learn what and who they are,” said Ahmad Nasuha Musa, a librarian for Pusat Dokumentasi Melayu, a subsidiary of DBP.
“We also want people to know that the books published by DBP are not only for educational purposes, but also include religious books and writings, languages, dictionaries of other languages, and Sarawak folktales,” he added.
It is not uncommon for students from within the university to participate in these UNIMAS events, as students from the Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development took advantage of the opportunity to promote their faculty and their course.
“Our lecturer created a website called PS4S for students to answer multiple psychology questions, and depending on their results, they may or may not contact experts about their mental wellbeing and mental health support, and we want people to come and participate in this test,” said Ariff Azim, a third-year psychology student at the Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Development.
“It has been a long time since the university organised these big events, so the atmosphere that we felt here is wonderful, and surprisingly more people came to us for their mental wellbeing test,” Ariff added.
Students from other schools also came to the event, in addition to students from the university.
Teachers from Sekolah Menengah Agama [SK (A)] Ibnu Khaldun had come with their students to the event as well.
These school students can be seen walking up and down the venue, which makes UNIMAS students happy because they believe their university’s library is something to be proud of.
“We were invited by UNIMAS to attend this event, and we decided to bring a group of students to experience what university life is like,” said Mohd Fayruss Yatmin, a teacher from SK (A) Ibnu Khaldun.
“Because of the attractions like games and prizes that are being given out here, I can tell that my students are happy and content when they visit this university,” he added.
Being at UNIMAS for the first time, the students are overjoyed by the occasion and they purchase food from food vendors, read books from the library, and interact with university students.
“If UNIMAS invites us to tour their campus again in the near future, we will gladly accept because, as teachers, we want the students to see and learn more about the campus and UNIMAS itself,” Mohd Fayruss said.
This event also featured 3D printing technology and handcrafted items.
With waves of laughter and music in the background, this event will be remembered fondly by students, lecturers, teachers, and vendors.
In November of this year, UNIMAS held its 26th convocation, and the university became the main attraction for street vendors and visitors to come and visit.
- This article was written by a student from the Strategic Communication Programme at the Faculty of Language and Communication, UNIMAS.
