I N F O PAC K
Contents: 03
Introduction
13
Flagship Events
07
Chairperson’s Foreword
16
Events
08
Introduction To Offices
18
Perks Of Getting Involved
Introduction
UKEC – an acronym for the United Kingdom and Eire (Ireland) Council of Malaysian Students is an umbrella body for Malaysian student societies across Britain and Ireland. Officially founded in 1995, the council serves as a common platform of interaction for Malaysian students across the region, at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. UKEC traces its humble origins as far back as the pre-war years when a group of hopeful students initiated an unofficial student movement in London.
This movement was instrumental in creating a socio-political network among the educated Malayans back then. Camaraderie created through this network pioneered the fight for independence and later helped establish Malaya’s post-Merdeka governments. The country’s first two premiers, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj and Tun Abdul Razak were among the prominent members of the network. It has been widely said that the nation first two premiers started discussing the road to independence in the 1940s.
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This new council tapped on the new technology; most importantly the internet in connecting with the student population at large. The union of Malaysian students then spearheaded many beneficial activities with emphasis on raising awareness of national issues among the bright young minds. In 2006, the council unanimously voted to include Malaysian societies in the Republic of Ireland under its wings and embarked on a re-orientation program to make itself relevant to the changing demographics of the Malaysian student population. However, this united movement disintegrated from the 1960s, when more Malaysian students attended British universities outside London. Malaysian societies in these universities were then founded and hence the need for a centralized organisation was muted. As time progressed and the Malaysian student population burgeoned, the need for a common platform for Malaysian students across the country resurfaced. To address this need, a group of pioneering undergraduates formed an organisation which brought together the leaders of Malaysian student societies in universities nationwide.
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From then onwards, UKEC, a politically neutral student movement has grown beyond leaps and bounds into becoming a mature student movement with the assistance from the Malaysian Student Department (MSD) and financial aid from generous corporate sponsors as well as government agencies. In the 2008/2009 Annual General Meeting, the Supreme Council mandated the National Executive Council to lead a re-branding and restructuring program to improve the student movement’s delivery and ensuring sustainability of the organisation in the future. The council headquarters is currently located at Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, London – a site hosted by the MSD.
UKEC’s mission is to contribute towards nation building by championing our brand of student activism
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UKEC’s mission is to contribute towards nation building by championing our brand of student activism, the one that contributes in: Community Development Tackling Brain Drain Developing Employability Strengthening Unity Providing Platforms for Non-Partisan Intellectual Discourse 6
Chairperson’s Foreword It is an honour to be able to present to all of you a little bit about what UKEC is and does through this little booklet. The United Kingdom and Eire Council of Malaysian Students (UKEC) has personal meaning to me not just because I’ve been involved in its operations since I was a fresher but also because it’s activities and discourse were part of the reason I chose to study in the UK as well. As a Council, we are only as strong as the support and engagement we get from our members. As you will see in this booklet, the past year has seen us strive to ensure that our engagements with students and student organisations alike have been one of collaboration and equal respect. To that effect, I’d like to welcome all of you to the new journey you will embark on in university and should there be anything that you wish to pursue or need help in, rest assured that UKEC is always here to assist you in any way we can.
Daniel Subramaniam, Chairperson of UKEC 2015/2016
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I N T R O D U CT I O N TO OFFICES
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Executive Council i) Chairman/ Deputy Chairman Office The function of this office varies slightly from those of other offices. Rather than having fixed projects to conduct throughout the term, this office works on an ad hoc basis on initiatives carried out by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. This office oversees and conducts the Council’s advocacy and activism work which includes researching developing current issues as well producing and analysing survey results on them. Beyond that, the office also looks into developing greater engagement with student societies by working on new initiatives that can better assist these societies.
ii) Secretariat Office The secretariat office is the engine of UKEC dealing with administrative aspects of the organisation that keeps the council up and running, as well as overseeing all the behind the scenes work. Our work includes the oversight of the delegation of tasks to the Executive Council members, dealing with external enquiries and e-mail, organising UKEC’s Ordinary General Meeting as well as the Annual General Meeting and recording meeting minutes. Apart from that, we are in charge of producing templates and forms, storing paperwork and documents and lastly, producing UKEC’s Annual Report.
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iii) Treasury Office The Treasury Office is the financial controller for UKEC, with the approval of the chairman we are the body within UKEC that allocates and distributes funds for each of the branch (ie UKECareers). Our main objective is to maintain sustainability of funds for UKEC daily operation and flagship. The Treasury Office is also the arm of UKEC that liaisons and approach Corporate Companies already or are interested in becoming our sponsors.
iv) Strategies Office As the name suggests, this department works on the internal and external strategies employed by UKEC. Internally, the Strategies Office aims to make UKEC more efficient and systematic through the implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and post-mortem reporting. Externally, we hope to strengthen UKEC’s position amongst our stakeholders, which include but are not limited to, Supreme Councillors, Malaysian students in the UK and Ireland, and our sponsors.
v) UKECareers Office UKECareers acts as the careers and employability arm of the UKEC. Our main mission is to tackle brain drain back in Malaysia by providing young and talented Malaysian graduates in the UK and Ireland with the opportunities back home to shine and champion as leaders in their respective fields. UKECareers is also in charge of hosting one of the best careers fair in the world, The Malaysian Careers Fair in partnership with GRADUAN. We strive to not just provide graduates with opportunities back in Malaysia but also be involved by improving the employability skills of Malaysian graduates making us one of the best talent pools for employers.
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vii) UKECares Office Championing nation building through community development and humanitarian awareness, UKECares serves as the charity and volunteering branch of UKEC. We strive to make our Malaysian community better by educating young Malaysians in the importance of humanitarian values and compassion for others. In the past, we’ve had numerous successful project which are now independent and run on their own, UKECharisma being one of them. Currently, we are running the Summer Volunteering Programme, Malaysian Care Day and UKECreate.
vi) UKECatalyst Office UKECatalyst is the intellectual arm of UKEC. We serve the purpose of nurturing and encouraging young Malaysian intellects in the UK to participate in scholarly discussions as a part to catalyze nation building through youth empowerment. The Catalyst office is the proud organizer of Projek Amanat Negara, the most famous intellectual dialogue for Malaysians in the UK, where it acts as a platform for discourses between student leaders and prominent figures in Malaysia. We also host student dialogues such as In Focus where this gathering of bright young minds will highlight on an issue and construct feasible solutions to resolve issues the nation is facing.
viii) UKEConnect Office UKEConnect is responsible for the branding of UKEC and remain as one of the most diverse arm of the council. We strive to reach out to as many Malaysian students as possible in UK and Ireland, and convey what we at UKEC believes- developing student activism and national unity. We at UKEConnect remain open-minded on exploring new avenues in approaching students both at regional and personal level, working hand in hand with Malaysian societies, ensuring that our events remain accessible to students regardless of distance, boundary and portability.
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Supreme Council All the presidents of these affiliate societies are by default members of the UKEC Supreme Council alongside another elected executive from the respective societies. The Supreme Council is a body that gives the mandate to the National Executive Council and debates the policies of UKEC as a whole. According to the Constitution, Article 14 (a) and (d), the Supreme Council must meet at least once a year and can seek a fresh mandate if it loses confidence in the leadership of the Chairman. The quorum for a legitimate Supreme Council Meeting is 2/5 of the supreme council members serving the affiliate societies at the time of the notice.
The 12 regions are:
1. Scotland 2. North East 3. North West 4. Yorkshire 5. Wales 6. West Midlands 7. East Midlands 8. East Anglia 9. South West 10. South East 11. London 12. Ireland
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The UKEC reaches students across the United Kingdom and EIRE through a division of 12 regions, each headed by their own Regional Chairman. The council also has a Non-Regional Chairman who serves student bodies not affiliated with any particular region.
UKEC F LAG S H I P E V E N TS
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PROJEK AMANAT NEGARA (PAN) Projek Amanat Negara, commonly known as PAN, is an annual initiative that serves as a platform for intellectual discourse between leading figures of the political, social and economic fields as well as Malaysian student leaders. It is regarded as the biggest Malaysian students conference in the UK and has been hugely successful in previous years, even providing the impetus to organise the annual Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
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CAREERS FAIR UKEC and GRADUAN are taking a proactive role in providing a platform for career opportunities for Malaysians in the United Kingdom. We have been hosting the biggest exclusive career fair for Malaysians in the UK for 12 consecutive years, attracting 40 Malaysia-based companies each year. At the fair, Malaysian talents from all over the United Kingdom get an opportunity to secure a career back home in Malaysia! UKEC-GRADUAN bring you TOP Malaysian based employers with a desire to recruit Malaysians in the United Kingdom. The career fair also serves as a platform for graduates to explore other opportunities when they return to Malaysia, for example in furthering their studies with professional bodies.
MALAYSIAN STUDENT LEADERS’ SUMMIT The Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit (MSLS) is an annual flagship event organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council of Malaysian Students (UKEC) and sees the participation of Malaysian student leaders from various universities around the world. The two-day summit, organised entirely free of charge for all participants, aims to foster development of our future leaders and provide them with an open, non-partisan platform for intellectual discourse. It is an avenue for intellectual and productive dialogue between Malaysian student leaders and prominent national figures.
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U K E C E V E N TS
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SPEAKER SERIES DUBLIN Speaker Series Dublin is UKEC's effort second year in a row in tailoring our events to students in Ireland. It was a collaborative event organised by UKEC's arm Catalyst and Connect, together with UCD Msoc and Kelab UMNO. With the unique demographic of student in Ireland, we decided Hacking Medicine would be a theme that would excite medical students here which was proven right. We delved into life outside medicine, exploring topics like politics, humanitarian aid and entrepreneurship.
CV WORKSHOP UKECareers team organised a CV writing workshop as preparation for excited and enthusiastic Malaysian students prepare and look forward to the much-awaited UKEC-GRADUAN Malaysian Career Fair. The workshop was divided into an hour of CV writing tips and hands on guidance by industry experts and the second half of the workshop was a panel session where participants were given the opportunity to ask the hard questions on how to impress at an interview. The afternoon turned out to be very engaging as our speakers, Iman Hayat, Nasir Ismail, Eileen Ting, Husni Amirullah, Shah Ali and Dr. Murali were very open and being fellow Malaysians themselves, they were very happy to share their experiences and guide the participants to the best of their capabilities to ensure a fruitful future. Overall it was an enjoyable and very informative afternoon. As much as anything, all participants walked away with valuable industry insight as well as useful information that injects confidence during interviews and to construct a winning CV.
IN FOCUS The event was a fully student discussion that allows students to voice out their ideas on ways to improve the education system in Malaysia. InFocus: Education Reform covered several crucial issues regarding education for instance, the structure of education, budget inefficiency, and teaching profession. The resolutions debated during the program was recorded and compiled into a Resolution Book which was submitted to the Ministry of Education through Education Malaysia United Kingdom.
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Perks of getting involved Nice team to work with. People are professional yet chill. Can take up work to fit your schedule so it doesn't interfere with your studies if that's what you're worrying about. Shafiq Roslan
Getting out of your comfort zone and learn how organisation works during this phase. Also, that feeling to contribute to other Malaysians is indeed amazing.
Putri Serena Anuar Sani
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The provision of career opportunities and insights back in Malaysia despite being so far away from home. Jeanne Tan
Biggest takeaways “The UKEC holds an important My biggest takeaway of joining UKEC; it develops my confidence. Trying something new that I haven’t tried before like joining student council *and if you’re not aware, we are talking about UK-Eire Council of Malaysian Students* and stepping outside my own comfort zones it makes me more confident as it teaches me a lot about people and how to deal with them. Also, I happen to meet some like minded people with whom I would take forward some of our similar interests. It's definitely good to get this kind of experience and all of corporate skills that I’ve gained would be good for my employability too. Employers certainly want to see that I’ve had positions of responsibility, and the experiences would be useful for my internship, or even my future career. Above all, the most important thing is to enjoy yourself. Living abroad for years is not just about study and getting a degree. It is about building friendships, networking and having fun. And UKEC provides the answer for all of these things. Muhammad Firdaus Bin Muhammad Azli
platform to bring Malaysians together to discuss issues on "neutral ground" - so to speak, one which does not happen often in Malaysia given the isolation of ethnic communities.” Timothy Choy Xia Wei
You'll never know what you're capable of achieving until you take the first step and go for it; sometimes you just need a good team to back you up. Yvonne Huen
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T HA N K YO U AND WE WISH YOU ALL T H E B E ST !
E X E C U T IV E C O U N C I L 2 0 1 5 / 2 0 1 6
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