KUALA LUMPUR, Thursday 5 August 2004 - UCSI students and staff had a field day recently being fire fighters for one day when its Rakan Muda Secretariat organized The Battle of the Firefighters. 

Over 30 students participated in the firefighting operation, led by Sergeant Mokhtar bin Che Ngah from the Fire & Rescue Services Station at Taman Segar, Cheras. 

The vice president of Rakan Muda Secretariat at UCSI, Andrew Arulnathan, said the exercise was to get young people like himself to be more responsible citizens. 

“When there is a fire,” he said, “we should do our part to control it until the Fire & Rescue Services personnel are able to get to the site.” 

He added: “A fraction of a second and a quick action could save a life. We can make a difference by equipping ourselves with some useful firefighting skills. Who knows, our lives could be at risk if we do not know how to deal with a fire.” 

A staff, Choong Lai Lai, who also participated in the firefighting exercise said it was a “very fun” experience. “I want to encourage more students and staff to be involved in such events in the future and learn something about firefighting,” she said. “Fire can happen anywhere, whether it is in home or in the office, or right here where we are. Therefore it is important to learn more about safety and how to escape a fire.” 

The participants were taught the proper way of holding a water hose that weighed 20 kilogrammes. 

Being blindfolded, they were required to walk around the area, guided only by a rope while being blindfolded. “This is to allow them to experience being in total darkness during a fire rescue operation,” said Choong.