Faculty of Business and Management (FBM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia recently collaborated with the Malaysian Women’s Graduate Association (PSWM), on a special Webinar program, You Are The Source of My Inspiration (KSIK).
The motivation program anchored on three PSWM inspirational icons, Rashidi Abdullah (Shidi), Khairil Azreen Mohd Jasni (Khai) and Dinie Rashid (Dinie). The inspiring fact is that all three of the icons were not born blind but one day in their teens found themselves blind.
Assoc. Prof. Dr Geetha Subramaniam, an FBM lecturer and also an exco-member of PSWM, together with two lecturers from FBM, Mrs Ainie Hairianie Aluwi and Mr Muhammad Abd Hadi Abd Rahman organised the three-hour programme, assisted by students from the Human Resource Society UiTM, Puncak Alam (HURES). The President of PWSM, Datin Fauziah Mohd Ramly, moderated the session with Mohammad Danish Durrani (HURES representative) as the emcee.
Considering all the challenges faced by students, with the shift of campus experience to online classes, this program was designed as a motivational session with a difference for the UiTM students.
Despite the loss of their sight, the three young men shared how they used their enhanced senses to develop other talents, like singing, playing instruments, creating and reciting poems. This talent management would not have happened if not for the President of PSWM Datin Fauziah Mohd Ramly, who recognised their hidden talent, nurtured them with love and brought them out as role models who could motivate the younger generation of students at schools and universities.
Throughout the Webinar, the PSWM icons touched the hearts of the UiTM academics and students by inspiring them with their experiences in overcoming adversity. The underlying theme throughout the webinar expressed by Shidi, Khai and Dinie i.e “To have an attitude of gratitude for everything you have” kept the 650 attendees spell-bound for a good three hours.
The participants listened to the experiences of these icons who are in their 20s who highlighted that “There’s no point of having Sight without Vision”. Some of the feedback from students include, ‘Very Touching”, “We feel so small in front of these three Blind youngsters”, “Such a peaceful and calm presence”, etc.
They further showcased their talents and mesmerised everybody with their guitar, poem and songs. In fact one of the icons –Dinie beat hundreds of youngsters in a highly competitive talent show called BIG STAGE and successfully made it to the top five finalists, coming out fourth placing. Despite his sight impairment every week he put up a very impressive performance in terms of singing and dancing too.
This type of university – Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) partnership should definitely be conducted more for the betterment of students and society. As Fauzi says, “Go, Go, Go – Sky is the Limit”.