The Borneo Collaborative Design Workshop (BCDW) is being conducted in conjunction with the International Heritage and Cultural Conservation Conference (InHERIT 2023). A three-day remarkable initiative workshop was hosted by the University of Technology Sarawak (UTS).
Participating in this workshop were architecture schools from various universities and institutions across Borneo, including the University of Malaysia, Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universitas Tanjungpura (UNTAN), Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), Sabah Institute of Art (SIA), and Kolej Laila Taib (KLT). This marked the first workshop involving six institutions from three Borneo nations.
“Architecture is the learned game, correct & magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.” –Le Corbusier (Architect)
The 34th Architectural Student Workshop 2023, with the theme “REWIND” was hosted by UCSI University, the School of Architecture and Built Environment. The workshop was held from the 8th – 11th August 2023 at the magnificent Resort Taman Eko Rimba Komanwel (RTERK) situated in Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia.
For the past 33 years, the annual event has serves as a platform and opportunity for all architectural students from both public and private higher institution in Malaysia to gather together. The aims of the workshop is to convene, interact, fostering the growth of meaningful relationships and the development of a collaborative architectural community.
For this year, the department of Architecture from Kolej Laila Taib was cordially invited by the host to join the workshop with the 16 universities. The Architectural Students Association, ASA, has sent a team of 15 architecture students and 2 advisors to participate in the main competitions, such as the Society Rebuild, Recurring Memories and Wreath of Rivalry. Other sub competitions also includes Record of Nomads and Alchemy of Light.
Furthermore, it is also the first time in the history of architectural workshop that being held at the nature park through a camping theme compared to previous workshops which are organized at various university campus. Participants not only learned to install the tents and foster a cooperative team spirit among themselves, but also express their thought, opinions and interaction in each activity modules by expressing their creativity.
Last but not least, the annual event provides a lot of inputs and create an eye-opener for our students to expose their skillset, motivate self-independence and cultivate team spirit among themselves.
See you next year in KAMPAR, host by UTAR in 2024!!!
‘The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page’ – Saint Augustine
So, travel we go!
It was an eventful July for the Business Management and Accounting students of Kolej Laila Taib. 43 of them ventured to Kuala Lumpur from 24th to 28th July with 6 of their departmental lecturers.
This trip was organized for the students as part of their coursework where they were required to perform observations which will later be reported in their assignments. To make the trip more educational, corporate visits were also arranged for the students. They had the opportunity to visit Vitagen Malaysia, Ajinomoto (M) Berhad and Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery.
Students were able to see in person the operations of a factory and the production line of Vitagen and Ajinomoto from the filling process to the packing process. These were usually something that they had to imagine or visualize but this visit opened their eyes to the real production. Students also had the opportunity to observe real examples of the diversification strategy where corporations like Vitagen and Ajinomoto diversified their product lines to more than one product.
It was also an interesting visit to Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery. The gallery effectively used interactive displays to teach visitors on trading, e-payment, savings, history of Bank Negara and etc. There were also plenty of information on economy and finances which were really a great eye opener.
An educational trip with a big group of students will bring the best out of the students. Throughout the trip, students got to show off their leadership ability in taking care of those assigned under their wings. They also got to learn the value of cooperation, patience, and punctuality. Most importantly, the trip brought the students closer to each other and with the lecturers, from being practical strangers to friends forever.
All in all, the trip not only enhanced the students’ knowledge of the theories and concepts they learn in class, but they also gained a lot on the individual level and most importantly, friendship. Educational trips as such are highly essential and should be encouraged. It is the hope of the Department of Business Management that more trips like this will be organized in the future for the benefits of the students.
On 14th July 2023, a group of 30 students and 6 lecturers from KLT QS, CE & EE departments visited an apartment development along Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, Sibu. The developer of this project is Sendayan Group of Companies, and the main contractor Zellcom Sdn. Bhd. The site visit aims to expose students to actual construction process. Mr. Ting, the project director, and Mr. Alex Tiong, the site engineer lead the site visitation.
According to Mr. Ting, this project commenced since October 2022, and is expected to be completed by end of September 2024. There are two blocks of 10-storey apartments, 115 units for each apartment. This project provides Sri Pertiwi affordable houses which aimed at those Sarawak family where the household income falls between RM 4000-RM10,000.
The apartment is using transferred beams and shear wall system instead of load bearing wall system. This design will greatly reduce the usage of columns and provides more space. On the other hand, Mr Ting stressed that resources such as time and labour is reduced abundantly by using reinforced concrete wall as it requires less labour and can be completed in shorter time. This project also applies plastic formwork instead of plywood formwork which allow longer life span and smoother surface of the concrete wall.
At the same time, Mr. Alex Tiong also showed the safety measures that being implemented on sites, such as temporary staircase to higher level, temporary handrail along the in-progress staircase, and also the temporary railing support for workers on top of the wall.
It was a beneficial experience that all participants learn different type of construction methodology and able to witness the actual site activities.
A courtesy visitation organised by Miri College Community (KKM) to the Department of Architecture and Interior Architecture, Kolej Laila Taib (KLT) was held successfully on the 23rd of June 2023. The objective of the visitation was an essential part of the benchmarking session and exchange of knowledge between the two colleges. The Director of Studies, Mr. Wong Xuan Yuan started the sharing session on the establishment and introduction of Kolej Laila Taib, followed by the diploma programmes offered by the college.
Throughout the meeting, both colleges highlighted the importance of the certificate and diploma programme, especially after the release of the SPM result. Consequently, the significance of the diploma programmes as the feeder for students to further their studies at the university level is also being emphasized. According to one of the lecturers from Miri College Community, Ms Norayushafira, for the past few years, KKM produced a lot of excellent and quality students who enrolled in KLT for both diploma programmes and received good feedback and job application from the industry practitioner. Also, the next agenda discussed was concerning further collaborations between the two colleges in years to come and underlined the importance of industry engagement for lecturers and students.
A group of 47 students from Kolej Laila Taib had perform their community services in several community centre which located in Sibu area. The students were divided into 6 groups, each group involve of around seven to eight persons. Each group had to perform their community services in community centre for two days.
The first group of students were going to conduct their community service at Tempat Transit Gelandangan (TTG) Sibu. TTG Sibu is a place that provided temporary shelter for homeless persons. According to the students, they perform cleaning works for the first day. They do housekeeping for the surrounding area. Some of them were responsible to sweep and mop the floor inside the room. The next day, they also provided some arts and crafts activities like drawing and painting on paper for the homeless person to join.
Second group of students had chosen to perform their community services at Sibu Animal Rescue Society. Sibu Animal Rescue Society is a non-governmental organization which is dedicated to animal rescue missions and adoptions. They take unwanted, abandoned, injured, abused, or stray cats and dogs from the street and find a suitable permanent home for them. Their organization is run by volunteers who are willing to sacrifice their time and put in efforts to change the fate of these poor animals. The students were helping to do housekeeping works by cleaning up the dog cage in order to keep the area clean and hygienic.
Next, the third group of students were visiting St. Joseph’s Mission Animation Centre which located at Sentosa, Sibu. They were doing housekeeping works at the garden by throwing away the rubbish and dead leaves. Some of them were sweeping and mopping the floor inside the building.
Another group of students were choosing to perform their community service at Rumah Seri Kenangan which located at Batu 13, Jalan Ulu Oya, Sibu. Rumah Seri Kenangan is a place that provided shelter for the elders. The elders were normally with age of 60 years old and above. For the first day visiting the community centre, students were preparing some refreshments for the elders. Besides that, they also provided small art activities and spending time to talk with the elders. Some of the students were bringing board games and playing together with the elders. The elders were very happy to have someone who accompany them.
Some of the students were spending their time at Sibu Spinal Cord Injury Association. This association has therefore served a good purpose in helping those who have suffered from spinal cord injuries. The majority of the members here had became partially paralysed after accidents, while 20 per cent of them suffered viral infections. The students were helping them to do some cleaning works. They were helping the association to clean up for the room, wiping for glass window, throwing away the rubbish, sweeping and mopping the floor and so on.
The last group of students were going to the Sibu Agape Centre. Sibu Agape Centre is the association for children with special needs. The students were helping them to do housekeeping works. They were sweeping and mopping for the corridor. Furthermore, they also help to clean up the rooms and office.
As conclusion, this is a very memorable moment for Kolej Laila Taib’s students to involve in the community services. Besides, students who participated had also enjoyed and valued for their work during their community services. Lastly, they were also willing to spend their time to help the community in future.
In line with Kolej Laila Taib’s commitment to ensure employability of its graduates, Kolej Laila Taib is constantly in search of collaborations with suitable industry partners to bring to its students the latest employability skills and knowledge of the industry.
On this day, 18th April, 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was officially signed between Manulife Insurance Berhad and Kolej Laila Taib. Manulife Insurance Berhad is a subsidiary company under Manulife Malaysia. They have been providing financial advice, insurance, and wealth management solutions in Asia for more than 115 years. Their commitment is to drive social initiatives across their footprint to foster resilience in communities.
Manulife Insurance Berhad is the Bronze Winner for the HR Excellence Awards 2021 for Excellence in Employee Engagement. Such an award is clearly a proven achievement that Manulife Insurance Berhad has a lot to share with students of KLT on career and the career culture.
The MoU signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Damian Kho, Agency Director of East Malaysia from Manulife Insurance Berhad and Mr. Rail Wong, Unit Manager, representing Manulife Sibu, WongKS Agency. KLT was represented by Sr. Eric Wong Kwong Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wong Xuan Yuan, Director of Studies and Amanda Lai, Head of Business Management Department. The ceremony was witnessed by staff and students of the College.
With the signing of this MoU with Manulife Insurance Berhad, Kolej Laila Taib is again taking a step forward in bringing its students closer to the industry and making them a more valuable asset to the community in the future.
Educational visits / field trips always effectively promote real-world learning, social-emotional development and academic success. Not only it is a fun and a memorable time, there are constant opportunities for students to expand their own individual tacit knowledge crucial to higher level learning and problem solving skills. KLT School of Engineering had organised a field trip to Bakun Hydroelectric Plant on 4th February 2023. There were 32 participants for this educational visit which included 24 students (EE – 9; CE – 10 and QS – 5) and also 8 lecturers.
This educational visit aimed to promote experiential learning through exposure of real workplace environment. In addition, it also helped to engage closer relationship among the students and lecturers.
Bakun Dam is an embankment dam located 180 km from Bintulu on the Balui River. There is a small bakun township which consists of the power plant, staff residential houses, clinic, recreational facilities etc. Bakun Dam is the largest Hydroelectric Power Plant in Malaysia with an installed capacity of 2,400 MW. Owned and operated by Sarawak Energy since 2017, currently it could supply around 50% – 60% of power demand of Sarawak.
During the visit, the students were briefed on the background of Sarawak Energy, construction and features of Bakun HEP. After that the students were brought to the site and briefed by the engineers on the operations of the power plant.
This field trip was successful with all the objectives being achieved. The visit exposed them to the working environment and operations of a hydroelectric plant and thus stimulate students’ interest for their future internship/career.
Kolej Laila Taib had organized an educational trip to Bintulu construction site at 3rd February 2023. The team comprised 8 lecturers and 24 students from Civil Engineering (CE), Quantity Surveying (QS) and Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EE) departments.
The construction site visited was Taman Kozai by Paling Construction Sdn. Bhd. which consist of 3-storey shophouses, 6-storey and 4-storey apartments, and spectra lite double and single storey terrace houses. These development are carried out in phases therefore the site consists of different stages of construction. From there, students are able to witness different stages of construction processes from foundation to completion. The main objective of the site visit is aimed to expose students to an actual environment of construction progress and from there they can relate their knowledge in studies into reality.
The visit was led by the Project Manager, Mr. Hoo Chee Kong and Project Engineer, Mr. Alvin P’ng. Commencing date of the project was end of year 2020, and those completed phases has being occupied now. Two blocks of 6-storey apartments are at piling stage while shophouses and other residential units have been at finishing stage. The construction site has been well managed, hence it is safe and easy for visitors to visit. Mr. Hoo and Mr. Alvin are experienced, professional and not hesitate to answer doubts from the team. The site visit ended successfully and students gained valuable cognition of what they will be contributing to the society in future.
Kolej Laila Taib is committed to bringing the highest quality education to its students. To do so, the College is constantly reviewing its programmes to ensure they are not only academically compliant but also industry relevant. This is to ensure that graduates from the College possess both the theoretical knowledge and industrial insights of their field of study.
On this day, 17th January, 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was officially signed between Delta Leasing Bhd and Kolej Laila Taib. Delta Leasing Bhd (formerly known as Delta Leasing Sdn Bhd) is a Sarawak based non-bank lending institution professionally managed by a group of experienced former bankers that offers auto loans, mortgage loans and insurance services to individuals and Small and Medium Enterprises. The MoU aims to explore possible collaborations for the benefits of the students in areas such as industrial engagement, and talks and workshops.
It was an honour to have Dr Gregory Hii Sui Cheng, the Director of Delta Leasing Bhd, together with Mr. Andy Wong Siew Kiat (Director), Mr. Seo Soon Huat (Director), Mr. Yong King Sung and representatives who visited the College to officiate and to witness the signing of the MoU. Preceding the signing, Sr. Eric Wong, CEO of KLT had a casual dialogue with Dr Gregory on issues relevant to education and what industry players can do to boost education in Sibu, making education one of the greatest attraction and income source for the development of Sibu.
With the signing of this MoU with Delta Leasing Bhd., it signifies a great start for the year for KLT, paving more industry collaborations in the future. KLT is again taking another step forward in producing graduates that are highly employable.
