By: Siti Nur`Ain Feisal

SERDANG – 6 August 2021, history is made for Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The special programme which was conducted to enliven the UPM 50 Years Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1971-2021) has had a significant impact despite its implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the highest participation of 6203 alumni, the programme has been awarded the largest participation in the university alumni fitness event in The Malaysia Book of Records (MBR).

This virtual program starts from February 5 to July 30, 2021. The event allows participants to choose fitness activities that suit them including walking, running, bicycle riding and even horseback riding. Participants may choose this categories for 50 km, 25 km, 10 km and 5 km distance. Each category will receive exclusive merchandise including a medal shape of UPM 50 Years Golden Jubilee Celebrations official logo which will definitely be a memento throughout the ages.

This program is a collaboration between Alumni Relations Centre UPM and UPM students under Chapter Student Ambassador (CSA), UPM Alumni Association (PAUPM) and KDS Apparel. Virtual The Malaysia Book of Records certificate handing over was attended by Prof. Dr. Roslan Sulaiman, UPM Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Dr. Arifin Abdu, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni); Dato' Raihan Sharif, President of the UPM Alumni Association (PAUPM); Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arba'ie Sujud, Director of Alumni Relations Centre; Mr. Fahmi Azar Mistar, Deputy Director of ARCUPM; Encik Edwin Yeoh Teong Chin, Senior Record Consultant, The Malaysia Book of Records; Cik Sabrina Abdu Hadid, Program Director of UPM Alumni Golden Fit, University Management Committee, UPM Senior Officers, alumni and campus staff.

As the President of the UPM Alumni Association, Dato' Raihan Sharif, sees the program connecting alumni to the alma mater. According to him, the program is two-pronged in promoting a healthy lifestyle for the participants and beneficial to UPM in ensuring that the alumni information is kept up to date. On behalf of the alumni and PAUPM, he congratulated and thanked the organiser and also to The Malaysia Book of Records Consultant for the honour of this certificate. 

Alumni Relations Centre UPM Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arba'ie Sujud said UPM Alumni Golden Fit has created a significant alumni contribution namely the establishment of Selangor Chief Minister Scholarship to UPM students and the construction of the UPM 50 Years Sculpture which will be built later. All this will be an important moment in remembering the UPM Golden Jubilee Celebrations.

"I believe that the success of this program is the result of a strong relationship between alumni, students and the campus community. Without a strong relationship it is not possible for the program to gain the impact as expected. This is the spirit of love and togetherness that we want to strengthen in line with the slogan 'Kami Bangga Menjadi Alumni UPM' with the aim of "Bersama Mencitra Alumni UPM" can be realized, he said.

Surely the most important thing behind this great success is the unwavering support of the Universiti Putra Malaysia Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Roslan Sulaiman. In his speech, he expressed his admiration for the students' perseverance in realizing the fitness event in order to instil the UPM 50 Years Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1971-2021) despite the bitterness of COVID-19 pandemic. He congratulated the CSA students, a chapter of students under ARCUPM, for successfully implementing the UPM Alumni Golden Fit program with great excellence.

"This success is a sign of agreement and solidarity of all parties involved, especially the campus community and UPM alumni in ensuring that the virtual fitness program reaches success as expected. This success is our collective success, this is what I desire through the call of al-Falah, which I expressed in the Vice Chancellor Narrative, to show the excellence of UPM. UPM is like an ark that sails across a vast ocean that requires the support of its dwellers to get to our destination. On this occasion, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the Selangor Chief Minister through the Menteri Besar Incorporated for sponsoring the UPM Alumni Golden Fit program. Through this sponsorship, we have successfully attracted more alumni to participate in this program. The alumni involvement in each program has shown the alumni togetherness to help UPM staff and students especially those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Vice Chancellor added, through Putra Cakna initiative, he also hoped that more alumni would come forward to provide assistance that could be benefitted by the target group. One of the initiative is Putra Cakna Heart2Heart (H2H) Programme, led by ARCUPM, PAUPM, and BHEP, targeting 50 laptops to be donated to identified B40 students.

"I hope more alumni will coma forward to extend the help that can be utilized by the targeted group," he said again.

Before ending his speech and mandate, Prof. Dr. Roslan expressed his deepest appreciation and gratitude to the program committee of UPM Alumni Golden Fit and also to The Malaysia Book of Records consultative committee for the awarding of this certificate and at the same time officiating the certificate handing over of The Malaysia Book of Records UPM Alumni Golden Fit 2021.

With the end of his speech, a major award has been given to UPM and the slogan Kami Bangga Menjadi Alumni UPM certainly brings a high sense of pride to UPM alumni and all its residents.

Date of Input: 13/08/2021 | Updated: 05/10/2021 | alif.isnain