Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung (left) presenting the scroll to a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in English Language.
KAMPAR: A total of 2,299 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) students received their scrolls during the 36th convocation ceremony.
The ceremony was held over three days from Friday (March 17) to Sunday (March 19) over four sessions to accommodate the big crowd, particularly the proud parents, family members and friends.
The guest of honour for the first session was a corporate figure - Datuk Ng Wan Peng - who was a non-executive director for Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd and Hong Leong Assurance.
Present to give away the scrolls were university council chairman Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh and council members Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn and Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung, who is also Star Media Group (SMG) chairman.
MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, who was also present, congratulated all the graduates and urged them to give back to society and assist the government in nation building for the betterment of the country.
In his speech, UTAR president Prof Datuk Dr Ewe Hong Tat congratulated the students for their hard work and commitment.
"On this joyous occasion, let's not forget the role, love and support of your parents.
"Your graduation is a time of celebration but it is not the end of learning, which is lifelong.
"Today marks the start of a next phase in life and a new journey ahead," he said.
Prof Ewe then told all graduates to stand up and bow in a sign of respect to their parents who were seated in the spacious Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik in the main campus here.
Besides students who completed their studies in UTAR Kampar, those from the branch campus in Sg Long also joined their peers in the memorable ceremony.
The graduates include the first batch of five new degree programmes - bachelor of science environmental, occupational safety and health, bachelor of technology in electronic systems, bachelor of technology in industrial management, bachelor of social science guidance and counselling and bachelor of science dietetics.
Prof Ewe also detailed the various accolades, awards and achievements of UTAR including being ranked 77 in the world for SDG4: Quality Education under Times Higher Education World Impact Rankings 2022, QS graduate employability rankings 2022 with a rank under 201-250 in the world as well as QS world university rankings 2023 at 302 spot for employer reputation.
At the height of Covid-19, he said both its campuses in Kampar and Sg Long assisted in administering over 383,500 vaccination doses to the community.
In addition, more than 600 soft skill development programmes were carried out in new villages, Orang Asli and fishing villages and rural schools.
At present, active fund raising activities for UTAR Hospital are ongoing to ensure the smooth running of the not for profit hospital to benefit the poor and needy as well as the local community in Perak.
UTAR now has about 21,000 students and 79,000 alumni.
