THE University of York Student Union recently held the Love York Awards 2017, a prestigious annual event aimed at recognising and rewarding the achievements of students at the university.
This year the Student Union received a record number of nominations, amounting to 380, from 260 people.
The event, which took place at the university’s Central Hall, was hosted by Rob McLoughlin, a multi-award-winning broadcaster from BBC.
Present at the event was the university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Koen Lambert, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning Professor John Robinson, CEO of York Mind Alyson Scott, Executive Director at Ernst and Young Tim Hill, among many other highly distinguished individuals who were invited to present the awards to the winners and highly commended winners across 15 different categories, which included ‘Society of the Year,’ ‘Committee of the Year,’ ‘Best Event’ and ‘Outstanding Leadership.’
Receiving the Highly Commended Award for Best Event after being shortlisted alongside seven other nominees was the recently established York Asean Society with its event ‘Discover Asean Week.’
Former president of the York Asean Society Awangku Syafi bin Pengiran Abu Bakar, and his committee members after receiving the award
Presenting the award to the group was York Theatre Royale Artistic Director Damien Cruden, who, in his speech, said that the award “seeks to celebrate events that go above and beyond, and are not only of great quality, but with a great atmosphere and purpose.”
Receiving the award was the founder and former two-term President of the York Asean Society, Awangku Syafi bin Pengiran Abu Bakar, along with three of his committee members from Malaysia and Indonesia.
The award was determined based on whether the event was; a new exciting event or a development of a pre-existing event; evidence of a strong practice, planning and teamwork; evidence of dedication and hard work in order to overcome difficulties; and engagement with a variety of people whether they be student, staff or local residents.
Discover Asean Week, which took place in January, was deemed to have met the aforementioned criteria. It was the first of its kind in any UK university and was orchestrated by the York Asean Society in collaboration with six other Southeast Asian societies at the university ie the Brunei Society, Malaysian Society, Indonesian Society, Singapore Society, Filipino Society and Thai Society.
The week-long event aimed at raising awareness on Asean and contributing to its community-building effort, while celebrating the socio-cultural and culinary diversity of the region.
The event featured one event each day in the week which included an academic forum on ‘Asean Integration’ that was graced by Indonesian Ambassador Dr Rizal Sukma; a Night Market-themed fundraiser from which £200 was donated to the Rohingya refugees; a ‘Nusantara Day’ exhibition where the Malay culture was showcased to the student body, and a Lunar New Year celebration, among other exciting events.
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