KUALA LUMPUR, 4 December 2016 - An 'orang utan' sculpture made by students from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of the Arts emerged as the champion at the 3R Sculpture Competition organised by SWCorp Malaysia, in conjunction with a carnival held by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

The victorious group members comprised of Nor Fatihah Yusof, Putri Intan Sari binti Amrizal, Ain Munirah binti Ahmad Kamil, Intan Eva Natasha binti Hadzamee, Muhammad Riduan bin Raja Yunus and Noor Hafizah binti Rosli; all under the supervision of a Fine Arts lecturer, Norshahidan Mohamad.

Also present to witness the competition in Kuala Lumpur was the USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Development Affairs and Alumni), Professor Dato' Dr. Adnan Hussein.

He was truly proud with the achievement of the USM students.

"Congratulations on the success, which has made us all very proud through the creativity displayed, and which has attracted those present," said Adnan.

As the champion, USM took home the cash prize of RM3,000.00.

According to the Dean, USM School of the Arts, Associate Professor Omar Bidin, the 'orang utan' was chosen as it is an endangered species and to create an awareness of it to the public.

In addition he said, the sculpture showed the effort of the students in collecting used tyres and using them as material to create this sculpture (waste to wealth) through the concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

Meanwhile, a group member Nor Fatihah regarded this win as an achievement for all the group members who have worked very hard in creating the sculpture to further inform and remind the public on the issue of extinction and also recycling.

She also credited the School of the Arts for giving its endless support and encouragement.

Fatihah and her group members would also like to emphasise to the public that the used tyres, being the material used in creating the sculpture, can be of use in other different ways, and not just to be burnt or simply discarded in a wasteful manner.

The sculpture, at 6 feet high and 6 feet wide, took 168 man hours to create, utilising 3,000 screws and more than 200 recycled tyres.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Photo: Prof. Dato' Dr. Adnan Hussein / Nor Fatihah Yusof