Page 14 - 01_2021 PULSE@FASS e-Bulletin

PROTÉGÉS Issue no. 1 | 2021
PROTÉGÉS

ASIAN UNIVERSITY VIRTUAL FRIENDSHIP GAMES:

A CHANCE TO SHINE

BY QISTINA NADIA DZULQARNAIN

Nur Dini Husna, the Champion in the Spoken Poetry category.
On the 30th of January 2021, the first-ever Asian of the Mr. Ambassador title which came as a complete
University Virtual Friendship Games (AUniVFG) was surprise to him. “At first, I was only interested in joining the
hosted by the University of Immaculate Conception, Spoken Word competition under the E-Literary category
Philippines (UIC). Under the theme of “Journeying with my friends but Mr Hilmi, our administrative officer at
Together to Foster Camaraderie Among Students in the faculty nominated and encouraged me to compete in
Building a Resilient Higher Education Institution through the Ambassador of Goodwill category. I had my doubts
Friendly Virtual Competitions”, the AUniVFG is dedicated about competing, but my friends also motivated me to
to creating long-lasting bonds between participants from challenge myself and I decided to give it my best shot”, he
various universities across the globe. explained. As the only candidate from UM competing for
the title, Safwan described how questions posed as
The games were divided into categories such as E- “tough but well-thought out” with topics covering issues
Literary, E-Games, and E-Cool-Tural, with students from of psychology, youth leadership, and self-integration.
universities all over Asia participating. Indonesian
students from Universitas Katolik Santo Thomas, According to Safwan, the question about Asia in general
Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, Universitas Pandidikan was the toughest as it required contestants to craft a
Indonesia, and Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic message for an Asian organisation. “My answer
University represented their nation while those from Fu highlighted how poverty is a major problem in Asia. Our
Jen Catholic University and National Quemoy University attention is often focused on popular urban areas, which
competed as delegates from Taiwan. Furthermore, eager causes secluded rural areas to be ignored. Due to them
students from the University of Saint Joseph from Macau, having little visibility, sponsorships and government
Catholic University of Korea, and the hosting university funding are hard to attain. I believe that by increasing their
displayed their talents as well. visibility, we can tackle the issue on a national and
international level”, he elaborated.
Alongside the three students sent by Universiti Malaya
(UM), numerous students from other Malaysian Nur Dini Husna Yusnaidi, a third-year student also from the
universities such as Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Department of English, was another winner, when she
(UKM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), and the bagged first place E-Literary Spoken Word category,
Management and Science University (MSU) also outshining hundreds of other competitors with her
participated in this international event. emotional poem. Dini described the piece (which she
wrote in one night) as being about loss, and how she
By the end of the event, Mohd Ikmal Safwan, a third-year believed that “everyone has experienced the loss of
English Literature student from FASS became the winner someone they love before, and so a sense of familiarity is

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