Keeping Culture And Arts Alive At College
 The KSS-Kayvan at an education trip to Pontian, Johor. Mr. Uthaya Sankar SB is standing in the 2nd row (in blue shirt) |
9 August 2005 The KSS-Kavyan association objective is to promote and embrace the culture and traditions of Malaysia . “A distinct point in private higher education institutions is that students are fully immersed in a westernised culture. The study programmes from international universities, eat, drink, and wear clothes of western influence. We find that a lot of Malaysian tradition and culture diminish during student life in colleges,” said Uthaya Sankar SB, lecturer at PRIME College USJ, President Kavyan and Advisor to the KSS. “It is the main purpose of the KSS-Kavyan societies to cultivate and preserve the beautiful culture and traditions of Malaysia .”
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“The students of KSS-Kavyan are the go-getters of tomorrow who cherish the culture and arts of their roots in Malaysia ,” said Uthaya. “I congratulate them on their successful activities to promote Bahasa Malaysia and to build awareness of to many cultures of our nation.”
The medium of communication and teaching in PRIME is in English.
“It is good for students to focus on English for it is the language of the global workforce,” acknowledge Uthaya. “However, the KSS-Kavyan society aims at preserving Bahasa Malaysia , and encourage all members and friends to converse in BM during meetings and activities.”
The KSS-Kavyan Appreciation Night was filled with laughter and cheers as students and lecturers recapped and played videos of activities they held over the months. The activities were like on traditional games, fashion show on traditional costumes, recital of short stories written by Kavyan members, stage performances of sketches and drama, visit to cultural villages and others.
A notable amount of non-Malays are members of the KSS-Kavyan societies. It was a good mixture of the three main ethnic groups of Malaysia – Malays, Chinese, Indians and some international students.
“The activities are fun,” said Priya, a student of PRIME and committee member of KSS-Kavyan. “What I liked best was the recital of short stories. It was fun to take turns reading them. Sometimes we make mistakes reading them but we laugh and carry on.”
The activities carried out by KSS-Kavyan is a good way to build understanding amongst the various races and strengthen ties, adds Priya.
One of the KSS-Kavyan activities that the students particularly cherish was during their trip to Pontian, Johor for a gathering of young Malaysian writers (Perhimpunan Penulis Muda Nasional).
“It was an enjoyable trip as we got to mix with other people from various places, went jungle trekking and did some fear factor inspired activities! We also visited many historical sites and took in the spectacular view,” said the students.
Another student and committee member, Cheryl Lim, said that she was happy to be part of the society as she got to practice her Bahasa Malaysia. “I will definitely renew my membership in the society again.”
The student members of the KSS-Kavyan societies are grateful for the guidance and support of their lecturer Uthaya. “We are delighted Mr. Uthaya is dedicated to us and the society and we thank him for everything he's done for us.”
“I am very proud of the students of KSS-Kavyan for what they have accomplished. Spending time to guide them has been a great opportunity for me, to know them better as people rather than just students,” said Uthaya.
PRIME College offers programmes ranging from engineering, business, information technology, multimedia and early childhood education. To find out more about PRIME, call 03-8600 1888, email infousj@prime.edu.my or log on to www.segi.edu.my