Fun meets nature in UiTM Sarawak students’ ‘Picture Perfect’ project

KUCHING (Dec 14): The theme ‘Nature Meets Modernity’ was the highlight of the ‘Picture Perfect’ programme undertaken by the Diploma in Hotel and Tourism Management students of
Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak Campus on Saturday.

According to the lecturer-in-charge and project advisor Nuraini Putit, the activity at Samajaya Nature Reserve here represented the mandatory assignment for Semester 3 students, the HTT 262 Event Planning Management (HM1113B).

“This will constitute 50 per cent of their whole assessment for the semester,” she said when met at the park.

“The HM1113B project is carried out every year, but the theme is not specified by the lecturer.

“Instead, the students themselves come up with proposals based on the specifics briefed to them on the first week of class.

“After that, one proposal is chosen that meets the criteria of the syllabus.

“From there, they would plan from A to Z – working papers, budgeting, engaging collaborations, seeking contacts and supplies.

“As their lecturer and project advisor, I evaluate: from brainstorming, up to the event itself, and until post-mortem,” she elaborated.

The programme gathered a total of 39 students, who were later divided into 13 groups of three.

Coordinated by the project leader Dawien Kahtigalis Daniel Deri and his assistant Nurul Asyiqin Zeffri, the participants firstly sat for a briefing on the fundamentals of photography, conducted by Garry Brandah, a member of Royal Photographic Society.

“Picture Perfect was my proposal,” said Dawien.

“It was inspired by a game that I was playing, which featured the elements of a treasure hunt, where you must unearth and claim objects.

“However, I thought: ‘Why don’t we go find things to take photo of’.

“So I drafted the proposal, presented it to the class, had it assessed and polished by the lecturer a few times, and finally, it was chosen for the project,” said the 19-year-old student.

Nurul Asyiqin was tasked with handling the event’s venue.

“At first, we did a familiarisation trip here – the whole class. The initial suggestion was Friendship Park, but our lecturer said it did not meet the theme ‘Nature Meets Modernity’, as almost everything there was man-made.

“Then, our lecturer suggested Samajaya Nature Reserve, which is quite near the campus,” said the 21-year-old Kuchingite.

In explaining ‘Picture Perfect’, Nurul Asyiqin said apart from fulfilling their assignment requirement, the project also involved the elements of nature knowledge and treasure-hunting, where the organising committee had set up 10 stop-points for the teams – one leading to the next.

“Each station had a riddle that each team must solve; for example: ‘My house is myself’, of which the answer should be a turtle.

“After that, each team took photos of the subjects, and that’s how they collected their ‘coins’ to improve their chances of winning the prizes.”

On her view of the project, Nurul Asyiqin regarded the organising aspect of it as ‘a very enriching experience’ for her and her course-mates.

“We learned a lot about handling an event, from confirming the venue to outlining the programme.”

Adding on, Dawien said they not only picked up skills related to their studies, but the experience also pushed them to think on their feet and make fast decisions in addressing challenges.

Asked about his direction after the diploma programme, Dawien said the degree level would be the next step, while Nurul Asyiqin wanted to immediately gain working experience in the events sector.

Going back to the project, Nuraini said apart from fulfilling their assignments while having fun doing them, her students also learned about entrepreneurship and self-dependence.

“I want them to know that organising and managing an event is not easy.

“The ‘Picture Perfect’ project, I believe, has given them a glimpse into the industry that is related to what they are studying now, and also, they get to learn how to establish connections and do networking.

“On the entrepreneurship part, I am proud of my students doing the fundraising for the project themselves through bake sales and seeking sponsorships.

“I advised them on some aspects, but for the other things, they did it themselves.

“I want them to learn,” said the lecturer.