PENANG, 13 July 2018 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has once again organised a programme to celebrate Hari Raya with the children at the Paediatric ward in Penang General Hospital (HPP) recently.

This community engagement programme is a way of showing care and concern to the surrounding communities as well as bringing festive cheer to them, being led by Dr. Darshan Singh with the cooperation of USM Division of Industry and Community Network (BJIM).

Children who were placed in the ward received ‘duit raya’ (money packets) and gifts from the programme ‘Tautan Kasih Ramadhan’, organised for the 7^th time by the USM Centre for Drug Research (CDR), USM.

The patients and their caregivers were also treated to performances from a clown and entertained by the staff from the USM School of the Arts and Dewan Budaya, who sang popular Hari Raya melodies such as, Aidil Fitri, Selamat Hari Raya and Rasa Sayang.

Shahida Alani, 11, a cancer patient from the paediatric ward who enjoyed the performances sang along with them, showing that the presence of USM has brought cheer to the children and provided some motivation for them to continue fighting against the illness.

Another patient, Nur Amirah Safiyah, 6, who suffered from osteoporosis since birth also felt the joy and enjoyed herself with the Raya Songs, even though she could not move from her bed after her surgery.

According to Darshan, every year his committee will make sure that such a charity programme will continue to be held, in order to reaffirm the engagement with the communities and in showing the caring spirit, with regard to those who are less fortunate.

He added that, there is a feeling of great satisfaction upon seeing the smile on every patient during each visit, as they cherish the opportunity to be able to provide emotional comfort and support for the less privileged kids.

Text: Puteri Najwa Othman (MPRC intern)/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin