IMU Reunites with Alumni in Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru, 19 July 2019 witnessed yet another gathering, organised and sponsored by the Alumni Relations Office (ARO). Alumni Gathering: Johor Bahru was the fourth gathering held this year after Kuching, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, which were selected as the major cities for the gatherings in 2019. The gathering was held at the Renaissance Hotel, Johor Bahru. The alumni started trickling in, to register by 5:30 in the evening with all of the alumni excited to see their former lecturers at the gathering. Puan Noraidah Yusoff, IMU Registrar kick-started the event by welcoming the alumni. She also shared her thoughts on the gathering which she found to be a good networking platform for her to meet with the alumni. The alumni were then presented with the latest updates of the IMU Hospital, which is scheduled to be completed by 2021. The presentation from Prof Dato’ (Mrs) Kew Siang Tong about the hospital sparked our alumni’s interest and many expressed their excitement to see the hospital serving the community one day. The event continued with a video presentation by the Alumni Relations Office (ARO), which highlighted our IMU alumni who came back to serve IMU as lecturers and clinical staff after their graduation. The heart-warming video ended with a special message from Prof Peter Pook, who welcomed the alumni back to their ‘home’. This Alumni Gathering would not be complete without a sharing session by one of our alumni. Dr Mafeitzeral Mamat. He shared his life back in the days where IMU was still called International Medical College. From the batch ME2/98, Dr Mafeitz also showed the attendees many nostalgic photos of himself as well as his batch mates. The alumni sharing concluded with a few words of wisdom from Dr Gandhi Nathan Solayar, the President of IMU Alumni Association. Indumathy Kasavan, our Alumni Liaison thought that the gathering served as a bridge between IMU and the alumni. Throughout the years working as the Alumni Liaison, she has always been thrilled to meet the alumni, especially during gatherings like this. She truly thought that getting to know the alumni in person was a rewarding experience for her. “The best part of the gathering is when the alumni introduce themselves to each other and that sheer moment that sparked the eye contact between them was the start of the networking”, said Indumathy at the gathering. The Alumni Gathering: Kuala Lumpur is happening this coming November, at the IMU campus in Bukit Jalil. It will mark the end of the Alumni Gathering series for this year.

The Alumni Gathering series is no stranger to the IMU alumni. The gathering first started in 2016 and up until now, Alumni Relations Office (ARO) had visited more than 10 major cities in Malaysia and as well as in Asia. The gathering is organised with the aim of spreading awareness and engage with the alumni. The states or cities were selected based on the number of alumni according to our database. Besides connecting and reaching out to the alumni gatherings. many ideas, feedback as well as experiences were shared during the gathering and many alumni praised ARO’s effort in engaging with the alumni, wherever they may be.

In 2019, the first Alumni Gathering of the year was held in Kuching, Sarawak. It was held in March, which received many positive feedback from the alumni.

Sri Lanka was chosen to be one of the major cities to visit in 2019 due to a large number of Sri Lankan students who have studied at IMU. Spearheaded by Saravanan Muthiah, Head of Student Services, the alumni gathering in Sri Lanka took place in June. The gathering in Colombo, Sri Lanka was also attended by A/Prof Ranjit De Alwis, Associate Professor of School of Medicine. Following Sri Lanka, Hong Kong was chosen to be the next gathering destination as we were aware of a Chiropractic alumni there. Vicky Ho Wei Kye, from the batch of 2012 was more than happy to attend the gathering. She also volunteered to share the news to other alumni residing in Hong Kong when she heard that we were coming to Hong Kong for a simple get-together.

Written by Asyraf Zulkipli, Alumni Relations Office (ARO)