By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, 1 Feb 2016 – The Students Associations of Johor (PERMAJ) and Malacca (PESAMA) of The National University of Malaysia (UKM) joined forces to carry out a programme to assist settlers at a plantation under the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) from Jan 16 until Jan 20 at Bukit Tongkat, Kluang, Johor.

Dubbed  KESELATAN 2016, the programme gathered a total of 130 students from both associations also  aimed at giving experience to students in community service.

According to the Vice President of PERMAS, Anis Syafiqah Sahdon, this community service operation merged PERMAS and PESAMA because the latter had relatively little experience in doing community service.

“Given that PESAMA had not done a community programme in a long time, we decided to hold this programme together to provide opportunity to PESAMA to learn how to carry out off-campus  community works from start until finish,” she said to the UKM News Portal at the programme’s closing ceremony.

She said the merged programme carried out a foster family or adoption scheme with 30 families of Felda Bukit Tongkat.

She explained that they chose this particular Felda settlement as the location for this programme because the previous community services only reached out to traditional villages.

“This is the first time we organised a programme at a Felda settlement and it is the right choice because Felda has adequate facilities for the activities.

“The Felda settlers also cooperated throughout our stay there,” she said enthusiastically.

According to her the main activity was the Islam Hadhari fair during the Prophet’s Birthday Celebration at the Felda settlement.

“We held a cooking competition, group recitations of the Al-Quran and forum,” she said.

She clarified the programme tried to strengthen ties between the local community and  students who come from different backgrounds and cultures from all over the country.

“Through this programme, I hope the locals and students can have a better understanding of each other,” she added.

The closing ceremony was officiated by Deputy Minister of Defence, Dato’ Wira Mohd Johari Baharum.