Young people these days do not see the importance of being civic-conscious.  They often smoke, litter, park inconsiderately without giving a hoot about it.  Therefore, TAR College final year, Advanced Diploma in Mass Communication (Advertising) students took the initiative to promote civic-mindedness at TAR College with the Bear-Tahan (a Hokkien phrase which sounds like “beh-tahan”, which means, intolerance towards something or someone) Campaign starting from College grounds in the hope of spreading it to the public.  The campaign was held from 13-15 December 2012 at Canteen 2 Foyer.

This campaign launched by Mr Lee Hwee Chuin, Head of School of Social Science and Humanities (SSH) included activities like “Trash it Right”, “Park it Right” and “Speedy Cleaning”.  As for performances, there was dancing and singing by Jackson, Champion of Gatsby Styling Dance Contest Malaysia & Pan-Asia 2010/2011, Stanza (Beatbox), winner for TAR College Johor Branch Talent Night, Mr Julius Ang, lecturer of SSH, on the keyboard and other volunteers.

‘Bob’ the Bear, the mascot for this Bear-Tahan campaign symbolized a figure that stood for civic-mindedness.   Whenever students did not behave, Bob cautioned them to do what was just and proper.  Mr Lee Hwee Chuin, the Head of SSH added: “I believe that it is an individual’s responsibility to actively participate in and contribute to society and more importantly, community well-being”.

For this special event, the students managed to secure a total of RM 92,342 worth of sponsorship in terms of monetary value, in kind and also in terms of media space on television and radio where they promoted civic-mindedness through a self-made TV Commercial.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1: “Speedy Cleaning” activity conducted by the student organisers.

Photo 2: ‘Bob’ the Bear making sure that the student cleans up after she has eaten.