Miri – 24 October 2014 – The Student Council and International Students Association of Curtin University, Sarawak (Curtin Sarawak) jointly launched the ‘Curtin Olympics 2014’, the university’s first international sporting event for its campus community, on Monday. 

More than 300 students and staff members of the university are participating in the five-day event featuring 11 sporting events ranging from table tennis to cricket.

The extravagant opening ceremony on the campus included a flag parade featuring the flags of the 46 nations students and staff of the university are from. SMK St. Columba Miri’s marching band and children from Kompleks Kebajikan Hamidah Yakup and Rumah Anak Amal Kesayangan Kami also took part in the colourful ceremony.

The event allows students and staff members of the various nationalities and backgrounds to unite through sports and celebrate the multi-national, ethnic and cultural diversity of the campus.

“The main objective of this event is not just for students and staff to participate and aim to win, but for the various communities on campus to learn to integrate”, said organising chairman Mahjoob Hasib in his opening speech. 

His speech was followed by one by Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski, who congratulated the Student Council and International Students Association for organising this inaugural event and expressed hopes that it will continue to be an annual event.

The Curtin Olympics 2014 is being sponsored by Assistant Minister of Communications and Assistant Minister of Sports Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who is also the chair of Curtin Sarawak’s management board; Samling Strategic Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Interhill Group’s After School Project, Green Sports, True Label Pharmacy and Curtin Sarawak’s Sports and Recreation Department and Office of Student Affairs, as well as the Student Council and International Students Association. 

For more information on Curtin Sarawak, visit its website at www.curtin.edu.my, its Facebook page at facebook.com/CurtinUniversitySarawakMalaysia, Twitter profile at twitter.com/curtinsarawak, YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/CurtinUniSarawak, or Instagram at instagram.com/curtinsarawak.