Mara's Penang campus follows Sabah example
Published on: Monday, June 23, 2025
Published on: Mon, Jun 23, 2025
By: Bernama Text Size: Dapur HEP helps ease the financial burden on students. BUKIT MERTAJAM: Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Penang campus has introduced a community kitchen initiative, dubbed Dapur Hal Ehwal Pelajar (Dapur HEP), to ease the financial burden on students, making it the first UiTM campus in Peninsular Malaysia to open the kitchen following its implementation at UiTM Sabah in 2023. Dapur HEP was the brainchild of Prof Dr Mohd Sazili Shahibi, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs (HEP), who conceived it during a meeting with deputy rectors of Student Affairs across all UiTM campuses. It was introduced at the Penang campus on June 4, 2023, under the leadership of the then Deputy Rector of Student Affairs, Associate Professor Dr Basharudin Abdul Hadi. Penang UiTM's Student Residential and Hospitality staff Dewi Anis Othman said the initiative began with only four rice cookers and 20 kg of rice donated by a private contributor. Since then, the kitchen has expanded and is now equipped with two sets of stoves, essential items, and canned food, allowing students to prepare their meals. She said the kitchen operates from the second-floor pantry of the residential college for male students (Intan) and female students (Nilam).
Advertisement 'The kitchen is open daily from 7 am to 11 pm with daily monitoring by the College Representative Committee to ensure cleanliness and maintain inventory,' she told Bernama recently. She said that although the kitchen targets students from the B40 group, it is open to all students as the university understands the financial struggles that many of them face, having to tighten their belts to make it through their studies. Dewi Anis said the initiative has so far benefited 50 per cent of the 5,500 students from seven residential colleges on campus, adding that it won the Gold Category Special Award for Best Dapur HEP at the 2024 UiTM Excellence Awards for National Student Residencies in January. She said the programme also received attention from Asean member countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand, whose representatives visited the campus to study the approach that UiTM Penang adopted, intending to implement a similar model at their universities. 'We hope to expand the Dapur HEP initiative so that more students can benefit, especially students with disabilities. We are currently working to identify a suitable ground-floor location for this purpose,' she said, adding that around 15 UiTM campuses, including satellite campuses, have already begun implementing the Dapur HEP initiative. Meanwhile, a Master's in Chemical Engineering student, Nur Basiroh Mohd Rahim, 26, praised UiTM's effort in opening the kitchen, admitting that it has been a great help in reducing her daily food expenses. 'I would spend around RM15 per day for food, sometimes more during lunch. Dapur HEP allows me to save money, especially on weekends, by cooking simple meals like fried rice and sharing them with my friends,' she said. Muhammad Hakimie Azim Azha, 22, said other universities should emulate UiTM's initiative to introduce Dapur HEP, as not all students come from well-off families. 'Studying at university costs a lot, especially for someone like me who's taking a tourism course, as we often have off-campus trips. I make full use of Dapur HEP. It would be a waste not to, as it helps reduce food expenses. 'I use the kitchen about four to five times a week, and it helps me save around RM15 to RM20,' said the final-year Diploma in Tourism student. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai: Journalists vital in digital era
KUALA LUMPUR: The services of professional journalists is still essential in facing the challenges of a media landscape now dominated by influencers, content creators, and citizen journalists. This is crucial for disseminating authentic and high-quality news content and reports to the public. National Journalism Laureate Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, who is also the Chairman of the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), said that the credibility and integrity of trully professional journalists are highly sought after in an era where everyone has unlimited access to news sources. 'Not everyone can be a journalist. Citizen journalists, for example, can be contributors, but not actual journalists, because an actual journalist needs to be systematically trained, starting from the newsroom. It's not just about having a diploma or a degree. 'The journalism profession requires knowledge of regulations, laws, constant awareness of societal sensitivities, and every report produced must be of high quality with sufficient sources and a fact-checking system because we are responsible for all the writings produced,' he said during an interview with Bernama Radio today. Wong, 64, who has over 40 years of experience in the world of journalism, was announced as the National Journalism Laureate at the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI)-Petronas Journalism Awards 2024 last Friday. The award, which saw Wong etch his name alongside 13 other prominent journalism icons who have received the same recognition, was presented by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir. Touching on his journalism career, which he embarked on in 1984, Wong described it not merely as a job but as a significant trust and responsibility as a chronicler of the nation's history. 'This field doesn't offer the highest salaries or fixed working hours, but it's the most meaningful career. We get to witness history unfold before our eyes, and it makes this career addictive; we are constantly 'news junkies' eager to disseminate information to the public,' he said. The veteran figure also advised the current generation of young journalists to continuously add value to their personal quality and news writing, urging them not to merely process media statements and attend press conferences. 'You need to improve, always be dedicated, write analyses, and commentaries to upgrade yourselves. At the same time, always adhere to principles, have integrity, always continue to improve yourself,' he said. During the interview session, Wong also expressed his gratitude to Bernama following the recognition he received as the National Journalism Laureate. 'This recognition is the highest level, the pinnacle of my career... and it is certainly the highest honour for me to be here as Chairman of Bernama. There are many newspapers, many news and media companies, but there is only one Bernama,' he said.
Barnama
2 hours ago
- Barnama
RMAF Aircraft Incident: CN-235 Experienced Nose Landing Gear Issue
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (Bernama) -- The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) CN-235 transport aircraft that skidded while landing at Kuching International Airport (KIA) this morning experienced a nose landing gear issue. RMAF's Public Relations Division, in a statement today, confirmed the 11.15 am incident, which had gone viral on social media. 'The aircraft from the No. 1 Squadron, Kuching Air Base, encountered a nose landing gear problem while landing after completing a logistics flight from Labuan and Kota Kinabalu. 'All crew members and passengers are safe and did not sustain injuries. RMAF will set up a board of inquiry to determine the cause of the incident,' the statement read. Earlier, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), via its official Facebook page, informed that the runway at KIA was temporarily closed following the incident to facilitate the removal of the RMAF aircraft and runway cleaning operations. A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued and the closure remained in effect until 3 pm. During this period, all flight operations at the airport were disrupted. The airport authorities will provide updates once the runway is declared safe and reopened for flight operations by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM). -- BERNAMA
Barnama
5 hours ago
- Barnama
Indonesia Probes Second Bomb Threat On Saudia Hajj Flight
By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar JAKARTA, June 23 (Bernama) -- A second bomb threat targeting Saudia has been reported, Indonesian authorities said Monday. The threat, made on Saturday via voice communication routed through a Virtual Private Network (VPN)-based radio system, prompted an emergency landing in North Sumatra. bootstrap slideshow The affected flight, Saudia flight SVA 5688, operating the Jeddah-Muscat-Surabaya route, was carrying 376 Hajj pilgrims from East Java and 11 crew members. The aircraft landed safely at Kualanamu International Airport in North Sumatra at 9.30 am. All passengers and crew were evacuated and underwent security checks, police and military officials said. Police counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 spokesperson Adjunct Senior Commissioner Mayndra Eka Wardhana said the message was transmitted while the aircraft was flying over Indian airspace. 'The threat was sent via voice communication using a VPN-based radio system that allows ground-to-ground and cross-border communication,' he told local broadcaster MetroTV. A joint inspection involving the military, police, and other agencies found no explosives or suspicious items on board, according to the Armed Forces Information Centre (Puspen TNI). 'By 7.15 pm, the screening process was completed with no threats detected,' said the centre's head, Major General Kristomei Sianturi, in a statement. The flight resumed at 3 am local time on Sunday after the aircraft was declared safe.
