Nine UPM students gain priceless experience in New Zealand

SHAH ALAM - Nine Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students have gained a priceless experience after participating in a mobility programme to New Zealand for 14 days.

The programme's director, Nor Izwan Hakimi said the students got to sit in classes at two famous universities: the University of Canterbury (UC) and the University of Otago (UO).

During their trip, they visited research stations, the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre, and a wildlife park called Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.

"This park has unique animals like kiwi and kea birds.

"We also visited an industrial place called the Alliance Group Smithfield slaughterhouse.

"The students learned about how animals are prepared for food in a way that follows halal standards.

"One special thing about this programme was that students did street da'wah in Queenstown.

"The students also visited the Canterbury An-Nur Mosque Islamic Centre, which was the site of a terrorist attack in 2019.

"There, the students heard about the event that took the lives of 51 people," he said in a statement today.

Nor Izwan also added that the locals were delighted to perform Kapa Haka, a Maori dance and song, for the students.

"The students also had the opportunity to play a Maori stick game called Tī tī tōrea and learn how to make scones, a type of bread made with oat flour," he added.

The trip, which took place from Aug 2 to 16, aimed to provide exposure to the students, open their minds, and improve their soft skills.

Nor Izwan hoped that the programme would become a benchmark for UPM and the Faculty of Science in organising more high-impact mobility programmes in the future.