The Merdeka Month Celebrations are just around the corner, and PETRONAS once again jump-started the spirit of Merdeka among its employees and volunteers through a number of activities.
One of these is the annual PETRONAS Merdeka Team Building Programme, which this year has been specially designed for a group of 240 Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) students who have volunteered to represent the company in the 48th National Day parade in Putrajaya on 31st August 2005.
This year’s team building programme was held at the Teluk Dalam Resort, Pangkor Island from 5th to 7th August 2005. The participation of the 240 students is in the spirit of this year’s National Day parade’s theme, which is “Education – the Core of Human Development”.
The main objective of the programme was to mentally, spiritually and physically prepare the contingent members so that they would be able to project dynamism, confidence and most importantly substantive patriotism, during the parade.
Throughout the three-day programme, the students went through a host of activities that emphasised on character building, team coordination and spiritual motivation. Among the activities were daily practice marches, physical and mental games, motivational talks and endurance challenges.
One of the participants, Alvin Prakash Michael, 21, a third-year electrical and electronic engineering student from Klang said he was compelled to participate in the team-building exercise as the Merdeka Day celebration is a major national event.
“I never got to participate in this kind of event before, but I feel that it is my call now to take part and join in the celebration, to show my pride in being a Malaysian,” he said.
He added that the team-building process was really challenging, because most involved outdoor activities. However, it was a test to gauge how well participants could work as a team and to put aside personal differences.
Another participant, Sharon Ong, 17, from Bintulu Sarawak, currently doing her foundation year in Chemical Engineering said: “The core of the programme in my view is mind building. All the activities required the use of mind, as well as physical endurance. I gained a lot of experience. We must be a team player; it’s not about individual interests. I learnt to tolerate people I hardly know.”
Hasliza Abdul Hamid, 17, of Papar, Sabah, also doing her foundation year in Chemical Engineering, echoed Ong’s views: “It’s tiring but fun. It’s not everyday that you get an opportunity like this. It’s all about coordination. If you don’t coordinate, your team will fail. I used to be a shy person. But after this experience, I’m more willing to open up especially in terms of communicating effectively. I hope me and my friends can make UTP and PETRONAS proud.”
Apart from the team-building programme, PETRONAS has also garnered the support from many of its employees to volunteer and take part in many of the activities planned by PETRONAS in conjunction with the 48th Merdeka Month Celebrations that run from 17th August to 16th September 2005. PETRONAS hopes all these activities would re-enforce the spirit of Merdeka and “Keranamu Malaysia” among all of its employees and Malaysians in general.
Issued by
Media Relations Department
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