KUCHING: The polytechnic, which is a technical and vocational institution, is the best platform to produce creative and innovative students.
Fatimah (centre) gives her thumbs-up after trying on a burger patty. Also seen are (from right) Polyteknik Kuching deputy director (Academic) Anwar Dris, Malaysia Polyteknik Training Department assistant director (Academic) Mohd Ghaus Abdul Kadir, Ong and School Management Sector head Freda Abdul Latif.
Final semester students and their inventions displayed at the exhibition. — Photos by Muhd Rais Sanusi
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, who emphasised this yesterday, said it was time for the community to move from being users to a community of creators and creative thinkers.
His text of speech was read by Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah at the closing ceremony of Polyteknik Kuching’s Innovation Festival and Project Display June 2014 held at the institution’s Silver Jubilee Hall in Jalan Matang here.
“Innovation can be the driver to change the way Malaysians work, particularly in Sarawak,” he said.
Innovation, he elaborated, can be defined as a change of mindset to get results or better productivity from time to time.
“It is not only applied in science and technology or for professionals but should be understood by all segments of society,” he added.
A total of 133 groups of final semester students from six academic departments presented their projects in the two-day programme themed ‘We Love to Innovate’.
In addition, there were also 27 teams taking part in the innovation competition which focused on green initiatives.
Jabu pointed out that the programme was an ideal platform for young creators to showcase their inventions and products.
Jabu also pledged RM10,000 to Polyteknik Kuching to support the cost of organising the programme.
Meanwhile, Fatimah advised female students taking up technical skills and education to work hard to prove themselves against societal norms with the given opportunities nowadays.
“I am very proud to learn that there are 2,074 female students (42 per cent) and 223 female staff here in Polyteknik Kuching,” she said.
“In this challenging world, we need to keep our motivation high as we continue to interpret our creative ideas into a product or service. We need to always think outside the box,” she added.
She also pointed out that today, innovation and creativity remain vital ingredients to the success of any product such as the headbands and accessories from Sereni & Shentel and bracelet and charms from Pandora.
“We need to create a creative product to offer something different to the market,” she added.
Polyteknik Kuching director Clara Ong in her speech emphasised that the programme reflected the commitment of the polytechnic to provide a platform for students to display their final semester projects and to share experience on the process of producing them.
“It is also a good opportunity for students to showcase their skills and innovation capabilities to the industry players,” she said.
“Moreover, this exhibition is also intended at introducing students’ innovation products to those who are interested in commercialising them,” she added.
Ong revealed that the programme was organised every semester to encourage more participation among staff and students.
At the festival, Polyteknik Kuching also presented certificates of appointment to five secondary schools as part of its ‘Sekolah Angkat Polyteknik’ which was aimed at building and sharing knowledge as well as to attract and develop students’ interest in technical education.
The schools that were adopted were SMK Matang Hilir, SMK Matang Jaya, SMK Petra Jaya, SMK Semerah Padi and SMK Agama Matang.