In its continuous efforts to cultivate a sense of social responsibility within students, staff as well as the public, the November Blood Donation Campaign ('NBDC') 2016 was organised by the First Aid Unit from 7-11 November 2016. With a good track record of donors supporting the previous campaigns, the current one targeted 1,800 donors. The catchy theme of the campaign, "Be a superhero, sacrifice to save lives" adequately captures the essence of being a blood donor. Organised in collaboration with the National Blood Centre, the blood donated at the campaign ultimately go to the national blood bank which will then supply it to those in need through hospitals.
Bringing the campaign to the spotlight was the opening ceremony which was held on 9 November 2016 at TAR UC Main Hall with Datuk Dr Tan Chik Heok, President of TAR UC, officially launching the campaign in the presence of Dr Noryati Binti Abu Amin, Director of the National Blood Centre. The event began with a speech by Timothy Chan Yu Ming, Chairperson of the campaign. "The reason why we chose the current theme of our campaign is to show that by sparing just a few minutes of your time to donate one pint of blood, you can actually save three lives," he explained enthusiastically. "So, we believe we have indeed made a difference through the many blood donation drives we had organised."
Dr Noryati, in her speech, highly commended TAR UC's blood donation efforts, saying, "According to statistics from 2006 onwards, we have collected 52,929 blood bags from TAR UC till now. We therefore offer our highest honour and respect towards TAR UC as you have helped to save many patients' lives. We thank you on their behalf."
"The demand for blood is continuous making it a constant challenge for the National Blood Centre and all other blood banks to ensure that we have sufficient supply for patients throughout the country. Therefore, it is important for us to collaborate with educational institutions like TAR UC that are very supportive of our efforts," she continued.
Datuk Dr Tan also praised the First Aid Unit's active participation in the blood donations. Quoting the number of donors in the earlier March and June campaigns, he said, "I am proud to note the increasing number of donors among the students as TAR UC does not only focus on academic excellence, we also aim to create a sense of social responsibility within the students in our continuous efforts to produce holistically-developed individuals."
The event then ended with three simultaneous hits on the gong by Datuk Dr Tan Chik Heok and Dr Noryati Binti Abu Amin marking the launching of the campaign.
