CSR

As a result of strong project management skills, our Foundation students pulled together a successful sustainable community project at the Community N U project-based competition. The impressive outcome generated from their project won them the First Prize, awarded by Soroptimist International Club of Bangsar (SICB) & the Soroptimist International of Shah Alam (SISA).



Our student teams prepared 2 projects, that were focused on helping the community by applying the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). One of the projects was to teach life skills to orphanages and old folks’ homes, whereas the other was to teach single & young mothers to upcycle unwanted products to sustain their living.

Prior to the final presentation of their outcomes, our students went through an intensive training session as they were taught on funds management, events management and leadership skills in order to utilize the seed money provided, to achieve the best outcome possible. A total of 14 students took part in the workshops & the competition from Foundation & Diploma programmes, under the coordination of Ms Ruthira, Ms Zafeena & Ms Cynthia from the School of Foundation.

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It was not just about the victory or the prizes won, but the experience as well. Our pre-university students enjoyed the process of attaining new skills throughout the project – these were important management skills that can aid them in being an outstanding university student and beyond. We were glad to see them embarking onto this opportunity!

Apart from their knowledge attained from classroom encounters, our students learned more about the environment through a meaningful outing held recently at Bukit Kiara.

Under the guidance of their lecturers, Aziah Abdollah, Tulasi Sathyabama and Cynthia Paul together with the KL and RSC Hiking Group, 70 students of the School of Foundation participated in a cleanup mission together with another 70 passionate members of the public, to care for the environment and to contribute efforts of beautifying the city. 

It was shocking to see the heaps of rubbish cleared from the forests; the efforts made by our students and the volunteers were impressive, as they cleared out the rubbish scattered around Bukit Kiara. They’ve spent significant energy hiking the trails, while collecting and carrying the trash down the hill. It was definitely not an easy task to accomplish; Kudos to the participants for their perseverance and dedicated efforts!



​We have always put an emphasis on loving our green environment, to protect the environment and to preserve our lush, green forests. This time, the School of Foundation has definitely made significant changes to the surroundings of Bukit Kiara by participating in this activity. Despite the physical burnout afterward, our students learned so much from the experience and had managed to establish new friendships with the hikers, in which their communication skills had significantly improved while participating in the good cause.

On Tuesday, May 26, 2015, APU School of Computing and Technology in collaboration with National Kidney Foundation Malaysia (NKF) and GO Communications Sdn Bhd organized a competition to develop a mobile game application to educate young people on the importance of caring for their kidneys in order to prevent Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), a condition that damages one’s kidneys, decreasing the organ’s ability to remove harmful waste from body. CKD is a common, life-threatening illness that often goes undetected at a very advanced stage. 
                                                                                           
Three teams which consisted of students from APU’s Mobile Multimedia and Gaming module, participated in the competition. It took four months of brainstorming and coding under the guidance and supervision of lecturer Mr. Jacob Sow, but the results were well worth the effort put in. Each of the three teams produced their own mobile game application. They all featured entertaining and interactive ways to innovatively drill into users’ minds the symptoms and effects of Chronic Kidney Disease, as well as measures that can be taken to prevent the disease.  However, it was “Kidney Rescue” designed by Lee Chee Yan and Amatullah Ashfaq that ultimately stood above the rest to win the competition. The panel of judges for the competition consisted of Ms. Shobana, Head of Branding, Communications & Fundraising, NKF and Mr Muhammad Ehsan Rana, Head of School of Computing, APU. Mr Gurpardeep Singh, Vice President, Operations at APU presented tokens of appreciation to the representatives of both organizations.
 
NKF also announced “Kidney Rescue” as its first-ever mobile game application right after it emerged the winning entry in the competition.

 
Message of Mr. Chua Hong Wee, CEO of NKF
“There is a dire need to educate young people on the importance of looking after their kidneys. CKD has serious implications on the quality of one’s life. However, many people, especially young ones, underestimate the severity of kidney disease. Education is key here. This is why we have collaborated with Asia Pacific University, to creatively yet effectively utilize technology to open young minds to the growing prevalence, seriousness and prevention of kidney disease.”
 
National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping Malaysians suffering from end stage kidney failure who lack access to or cannot afford dialysis treatment. NKF currently has over 1,600 dialysis patients receiving subsidized dialysis treatment in our 28 dialysis centres nationwide. For more information on CKD and National Kidney Foundation Malaysia (NKF), please visit http://www.nkf.org.my or call 03-7954 9048.

“The love for all living creatures is the noblest attitude of men“ – Charles Darwin
 
The School of Foundation (SoF) has for a long time been a caring supporter of the SPCA Ampang. This CSR activity has been ongoing since March 2016 where more than 150 students of the APU School of Foundation have participated actively in the SPCA Pet Care Program - a program which teaches quality pet care skills to volunteers. Upon graduating from this program, our students diligently volunteered their time at the SPCA, namely taking care of and rehabilitating animals that have been abused and who required a lot of comfort and care.
 
The goodwill gesture of our students was recognized by the SPCA when the SoF recently received the Most Supportive Pet Care Program Participants award from DYMM Tengku Permaisuri Selangor, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin. The award ceremony was held at the welcoming pet-friendly premises of the SPCA Ampang recently, in conjunction with World Animal Day.

 
Lee Wen Han, a student who participated in the programme shared his good experience in this programme, “Taking part in this program has really opened my eyes to the fact that pets really do need love just as much as we do. Seeing how they are so scared to even leave the kennel after being abused by their previous owners breaks me. I am indeed very grateful to SPCA and APU for opening up the opportunity for me to volunteer and help build a better environment for them to continue growing”.
  
Well done to all students and staff who participated in the programme; it was a good effort in nurturing caring citizens of the future!

Hunger knows no barriers, however, our staff and students are ever-ready to lend a helping hand.

Recently, 45 students and staff participated in Kechara Soup Kitchen’s weekly efforts of food distribution to the needy, under the leadership of Ms. Geetha Rubasundram, lecturer of the School of Accounting, Finance & Quantitative Studies (SAFIQS), Yelena Stepanenko and Abdulrahman Ali Ali Shagea, who were Level 2 students of SAFIQS.

Food packages, groceries, and items of clothing were distributed to the needy at Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) Kota Damansara, in which our students showed their love and care by volunteering to arrange, label and distribute the goods to the families. Prior to this initiative, a representative from Kechara Soup Kitchen, Mr. Justin Cheah conducted a briefing at APU with regards to his experiences as a volunteer with the NGO. A donation drive followed after, in which APU staff and students contributed a total of RM2,050 to the organization.

As part of the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL)’s efforts to beautify the city, our lecturers and students from the School of Media, Arts & Design (SoMAD), School of Foundation, Faculty of Computing, Engineering & Technology (FCET) and Faculty of Business & Management (FBM) participated in the mural painting project, initiated by iM4U, Malaysia’s leading youth volunteer community.

The project took place over 3 days in Taman Tasik Sri Rampai. A wall of 350 feet (L) x 4 feet (H) has been completed, in which the students incorporated the uniqueness of Malaysian culture and heritage, as well as the logos of APU and APIIT. Despite having to complete the mural painting under the scorching hot weather, our students enjoyed the process as they took their drawing skills into practice.

In 2015, the Wishing Well Coin Donation Device was designed and built by a group of Engineering students from the IEM-APU Student Section (IASS). Since then, APU staff and students have been generously contributing coins and bank notes to the Wishing Well, that climbed up to 3 levels.

2016 was a fruitful year for the Wishing Well; at the end of 2016 - a thorough calculation took place, and it was found that a total donation of RM 1,615.00 was collected throughout the year! 

All proceeds went to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia. A simple yet meaningful hand-over ceremony was held, in which the Dean of Faculty of Computing, Engineering & Technology (FCET), Prof. Dr. Ir. Vinesh Thiruchelvam handed over the funds to NKF representative, Ms. Stephanie Wee, under the witness of Dr. Thang Ka Fei, Dr. Chen Tet Khuan and Mr. Jacob Sow.    

On behalf of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia and the committee, we would like to thank all donors for your love and generosity channelled towards the underprivileged kidney patients and their families. Special thanks to all student volunteers who contributed time and effort in developing, installing and improvising the Wishing Well Coin Donation Device, as listed below:

Please continue your donations to NKF in support of improving the lives of kidney patients and their families, as well as the operations of the kidney dialysis centres. Your generosity and contributions will be highly appreciated.

As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, a group of students from the APIIT School of Media, Arts and Design (SoMAD) contributed in the Subang Jaya City Council (Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya – MPSJ) efforts to beautify the walls at the food truck area in Jalan Kenari, Puchong.

This project was assigned to us by iM4u and has received tremendous response from the SoMAD students and lecturers, in which the mural was painted over 4 days, from Thursday, 8 September to Sunday, 11 September. Apart from contributing to a good cause, the students also gained the opportunity to apply the artistic skills learnt in their classes.

The lecturers in SoMAD has coordinated and planned for this initiative to take place, good job and well done to Wong Chee Meng, Christine Lim, Debbie Liew, Fitri Anas Muhiddin and Siew Yen for making this happen! We look forward to seeing more participation in upcoming CSR projects like these.

Click here to view directions to the mural painting:  https://goo.gl/maps/ioHC9MHANvT2 

A group of students from the APU School of Accounting, Finance and Quantitative Studies (SAFIQS) recently participated in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Forum titled “CSR – Myth or Reality” on Monday, 18 April 2016.  The forum was part one of the 3-phased CSR project plan initiated by the school. 

At the forum, Mr. Justin Cheah from Kechara Soup Kitchen Society, Mr. Suresh Naidu from Fun Charity and Ms. Julianna Ooi from Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Family Reproductive Health Association (FREHA) provided an insight into their experiences as youth volunteers and the various projects carried out by their organisations.  The session also included a briefing on Integrated Reporting by Ms. Geetha Rubasundram, which includes Corporate Social Responsibility as part of the Value Creation process and reporting. 

The forum marked the start of the second phase whereby the students would be raising funds via a donation drive to fund the final phase – a half-day outdoor activity hosted by APU students for a group of orphans from selected orphanages.