USM, PENANG, 1 March 2016 - The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) marching field (Padang Kawad USM) was a spectacle of lights last Saturday when members of the USM Indian Cultural Society (Persatuan Kebudayaan India – PKIUSM) successfully created the largest logo using Indian oil lamps.

Organised by PKIUSM, 10,000 oil lamps were arranged and lighted up to form the society’s logo in the shape of a peacock measuring 65m in length by 37m in width.

This feat has earned USM a place in the Malaysia Book of Records for the largest oil lamp formation under the ‘Human Achievements’ category.

PKIUSM vice-president and project director Suthan Kumaravel, 24, said the logo was 20% larger than the previous record held by the Jalan Daud Johor Umno Youth’s MSC Logo in 2003 which was created with approximately 1,000 lamps and measuring 53.8m by 30m.

 

“At first we were not sure if we could pull it off as the winds were strong that evening. But in the end, we were all so happy when we heard the confirmation that our feat has made it into the Malaysia Book of Records.

“We started assembling the lamps on Friday morning right up to Saturday evening with the help of 58 organising committee members, while it took about slightly more than an hour to light up all the lamps with the help of some 300 USM students of all races,” he said.

Suthan added that this project called ‘Sigaram Thodu’ organised in conjunction with the Indian Festival 2016, was also held as part of PKIUSM’s initiative to create a new branding image for their society.

Also present to witness and share the joy was the Director of USM Student Development Centre, Dr. Nazaruddin Zainun who represented the Vice-Chancellor.

Earlier in the morning, the opening ceremony of the two-day Indian Festival 2016 was officiated by the Special Advisor to the Minister of Transport, Tan Sri Datuk Seri Dr. M Kayveas.

Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe

Text: T. Nandhini / Photos: Koshigan (USM internship student)