KUALA NERUS—More than 20 student volunteers from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) have been involved in the Face Shield Heroes project.

The Face Shield Heroes project is organized by The Clean Air Forum Society of Malaysia (MyCas) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project also receives support from more than 10 NGOs including Majlis Dakwah Negara Terengganu and Pertubuhan Ikram Negeri Terengganu.

UMT Face Shield Heroes project is led by Ts. Dr Hajjah Noor Zaitun Yahaya, a lecturer from the Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatic. She is also President of MyCas and Director of Covid-19, NGO Frontliner Support Team.

According to Dr Noor Zaitun, the work began as early as 23 March involving planning and fund collection. To date, UMT student volunteers have produced more than 3000 FPE units and Isolation Sets. These have been handed over to the Terengganu Department of Health to be distributed to the hospitals and quarantine centres around the state.

She said that the target is to produce at least 8000 face shields to be distributed to the relevant authorities.

The making of face shields takes place at UMT Residential College as the student volunteers are all staying there. These volunteers are the committee members of the Student Representative Council and the Residential College Representative Committee. They are supervised by a Residential College Fellow.

Dr Noor Zaitun said that strict monitoring is carried out during the production of FPE to ensure compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Labelling, and Safety Data Sheet of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulation 2013 (CLASS Regulations) that was gazetted on 11 October 2013. Materials, place of production, packaging, labelling, and transportation regarding FPE are checked so that they comply with the standards set by the Malaysian Department of Safety and Health.

In addition, the volunteers must show that they are healthy, do not cough, or have a flu. They must wash their hands first with hand sanitizer as well as wear gloves and face mask before starting to do their work.

UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr Nor Aieni Mokhtar said that UMT is very honored to be able to help the front liners. UMT’s contribution is one of the ways to show support to the nation in this trying time. “Though the contribution may be small, it is very meaningful,” she said.  

Nirwani Dewi Maniandi, a postgraduate student from the Environmental Technology programme, is one of the volunteers. She has been helping with the quality control aspect of the produced FPE. Beside feeling proud to be part of the team, she is also able to put in practice what she has learnt in the Occupational Health Safety subject. She also learns about the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that takes place during the supply of FPE to the Terengganu Department of Health. “At the same, we can fill our time during the MCO with meaningful activities,” she said.

The Face Shield Heroes project is funded by financial contributions from NGOs, corporate bodies, and the public. Individuals or institutions interested in making contributions to the project are welcome to do so. Contributions can be made into the following Maybank account: 5630-6414-4012 (The Clean Air Forum Society of Malaysia). Financial contributions are tax-exempted (subject to approval from the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia). To obtain a tax-exempted letter, contributors may submit the proof of payment at cleanairmalaysia@gmail.com or contact MyCas Treasurer Dr. Mohd Shahrir at 017 – 9681102 or shahrir@umt.edu.my.

For further information:

Ts. Dr Hajjah Noor Zaitun Yahaya
Lecturer
Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, UMT

Cum:

President, The Clean Air Society Forum of Malaysia
Tel: 017-9884115
Email: nzaitun@umt.edu.my

Published by:

Corporate Communication Centre
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu