PENANG, 1 April 2013 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) bagged three major awards in conjunction with theMalaysian Universities Cultural Council (MAKUM) Arts Awards Ceremony and MAKUM Secretariat Presentation Ceremony held in Kuching recently.

Heading the list was a postgraduate student of the School of Communications, Lee Kean Wei, who won the Best Script Award in the 1Malaysia Arts and Cultural Heritage Video Documentary Competition, Blue Ocean Strategy through the documentary, The Heirs.

The documentary tells the story of the death rituals of the Teoh Chews of the local Chinese community which is encountering problems of bequeathing the culture to the next generation.

USM Cultural Officer, Zulkifli Che Hussin and Assistant Cultural Officer, Mohammed Al Hafiz Md Sani also enjoyed their moments of triumph when named as the recipients of the prestigious Gendang Sari Utama Award.

The coveted award was contested for the recognition of the MAKUM officer who is most active and committed in participating and organising various MAKUM activities.

USM was also selected as a recipient of the Saron Wangsa Seri Perdana Award, a recognition given to the University for actively participating and organising MAKUM activities.

USM personnel also emerged as finalists in several major categories of the competition which included Gambang Mustika Award through Nur Najjua Mohamad and the Bonang Emas Award for Men and Women through Mohammad Affan Abas and Alia Farhana Mohamed Isa respectively.

The three awards were to recognise the contributions and commitment of the club, men and women who are most active in participating and engaging in cultural activities at the international level as well as in MAKUM.

The awards ceremony was graced by the presence of MAKUM Chairman-cum-Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs and Alumni, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Prof. Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman.

In the meantime, USM Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dato’ Omar Osman congratulated the USM students and staff for making the university proud with these excellent achievements in the cultural arena.

He also hoped that the success will spur the USM community to continue to excel in all fields, and make positive contributions to the university. – Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe