By: Dr. Mohd Noor Hisham Mohd Nadzir, Luqman Hakim Muhamad Firdaus, Sofea Nadira Mohd Sazali, Syed Alif Imran Syed Khairil Akbar Alif Aiman Azhar and Nurul Azwa Aszaha
SERDANG, June 20 - A total of 170 participants participated in the "Bio-Superhero Outreach 3.0 (BSO3.0) 2021" programme held for five days, from June 16 to 20.
The programme was organised by the Biology Student Club (KMB) from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), which is also an Affiliate Member of MySTEM Ambassador, UPM, in collaboration with the Youth Empowerment Centre (PERKASA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Psychology and Social Work Student Club (PSYCLUB), UKM.
The programme themed "New Norm Biology Adventure in Community" successfully attracted students from different age groups and learning institutions and communities from various organisations.
The programme garnered participation from PPA Desa Rejang (seven), PPR Pantai Ria (eight), PPR Seri Pantai (four) and others (151).
Other entries were from GENIUS PINTAR College (139), a programme under PERKASA, Science Secondary Schools (five), National Secondary Schools (four), and one participation each from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Tunku Kurshiah College and Secondary School.
Three types of activities conducted were “Hero Trivia” on June 17, “Run Hero Run” on June 18 and “Alphabet Challenge” on June 19 in collaboration with PSYCLUB, UKM. The activities were implemented through an online application using social media platforms.
The programme served as a platform to encourage students’ involvement in activities that will increase their awareness and knowledge of the importance of biological knowledge and mental health by practising it in the new norm.
Dr. Mohd Noor Hisham Mohd Nadzir, Adviser for KMB and the programme, said BSO3.0 2021 was a programme carried out by KMB to encourage participants to be actively involved with the vision of improving biological knowledge and applying it in daily life.
He added that it differs from the other KMB activities organised previously as this BSO3.0 2021 programme was co-organised with Let’s Listen to Nature 5.0 from KMB and Semarak Remaja 1.0 from the PSYCLUB.
"BSO3.0 2021 is one of many UPM's initiatives, in particular, for the Department of Biology to introduce biological knowledge and relate mental health issues to the environment and its importance to students," he said.
Luqman Hakim Muhamad Firdaus, the programme director, said the new norm was not an excuse to not run a programme as such. It was a new knowledge for students to think critically to solve a problem even though only using an online platform to communicate with each other.
"Through this programme, the public can be educated on biological knowledge and mental health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope BSO3.0 2021 can open the minds of the public about biological knowledge and provide opportunities to those without a background in biological knowledge to explore it in-depth,” he added.
Three participants who actively participated in the programme were awarded RM100 each by the Faculty of Science, UPM. At the same time, two groups that obtained the highest overall mark were crowned as winners and received prizes amounting to RM1,500 sponsored by MTC-PERKASA and MySTEM UPM. - UPM
