SIDMA SABAH

Celebrating 51 years of the beloved Malaysia's independence, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Pintar Campus has been filled with the true spirit of unity where students and staff of the University gathered together during the launching of the Merdeka month celebration in a true reflection of a multi-racial and multi-cultural society living in harmony.

The highlight of the day was the Merdeka sharing session with three remarkable figure in Malaysia's socio-politic scene, Tan Sri Datuk Seri (Dr.) Aishah Ghani, Emeritus Profesor Tan Sri Dr. Khoo Kay Kim and Dato' S. Veerasingam.

Sharing their view on the topic of Perpaduan dalam Membentuk Kesejahteraan Malaysia, the session begins with Tan Sri Aishah Ghani reminding the audience on the importance of unity in the fast moving information technology era where people tend to disregard aspect of living in harmony.

As a former cabinet minister and Malaysia 's first woman senator, Tan Sri Aishah call for students to be proactively involve in various academics and extra curricular activities to foster better relationship between different community and ethnic group.

Profesor Tan Sri Dr. Khoo Kay Kim later shared his opinion on how Malaysia can sustain to be the model of multi racial nation which can be achieved through instilling and educating young mind on the value of living in peace and harmony.

Being the nation's expert historian, he added that love and passion is the true driving force that could bring our country to another level of success, in the field of socio-politic and economy.

Dato' S. Veerasingam then took over the stage and touched on a lot of issues pertaining to national unity and reminded the audience of the struggle that our warriors have went through just to ensure we are free from being colonized.

His speech also brought the audience's attention to the fact that unity would be impossible to be achieved without great mutual understanding and tolerant between different ethnic groups.

In his welcoming speech before the session begin, President and Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Datuk Dr. Md. Zabid Hj Abd. Rashid said he is delighted with the month long Merdeka celebration as the audience in general should try to understand the deeper meaning of independence while taking chance to particpate in the activities been planned for the programme.

Prof. Zabid then called on students to reflect on the country's success in their study and be thankful that Malaysian of all races, religions and cultures had come together to build one country and one nation a Malaysia that has become a model for success; a task which took the country 51 years to achieve.

We must be thankful for the prosperity enjoyed by so many of us, prosperity which is still just a dream to people in many countries in the world, he added.

Thanking the three guests for the meaningful session, Prof. Zabid then presented them with token of appreciation from the University and later distributed Jalur Gemilang to the deans of faculties.

The programme ended with a sing-along session of Negaraku and Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan , the theme song of Malaysia 's 51 st Merdeka celebration which was led by Duta Budaya, choir consist of the University's student.

Other activities for the celebration are Merdeka cake decoration, poetry writing competition, Merdeka info treasure hunt and a Mini Merdeka Gallery. A group of 40 students of the University will also be participating in a special dance, Komponen Rakyat Bersepadu in Dataran Merdeka on the 31 st August 2008 during the National Level Merdeka Day Parade.

Closing ceremony of the month long Merdeka celebration is schedule on the 29 th August 2008, with a highlight of a special session, Erti Merdeka with the University's Pro Chancellor, Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid.