Associate Professor Jeya Devi Coomarasamy, Associate Dean for the School of Nursing under the Faculty of Medical Sciences, delivering her speech during the ceremony.

Associate Professor Jeya Devi Coomarasamy presenting the cheque worth RM6000 to Ms Mary Frances Ratnam of Hospis Malaysia while Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lachman Tarachand looks on.

Kuala Lumpur, 14 February, 2011 - Students at UCSI University’s School of Nursing presented Hospis Malaysia for the fifth year running, with a cheque worth RM6000, in efforts to give back to the community. The donation was handed over to Hospis Malaysia’s Chief Operating Officer, Ms Mary Frances Ratnam during a special Valentine’s Day celebration organised by the students to mark their aspirations of giving, sharing and caring.

The school raised the funds through their annual campaign; “Pink October” that aims to raise health and breast cancer awareness. Held throughout the month of October, activities during “Pink October 2010” included offering low-cost health screenings with special packages for women which includes pelvic scans, breast examinations and pap smears as well as bones scan, diabetes and cholesterol check-ups for all students and staff.

Associate Professor Jeya Devi Coomarasamy, Associate Dean for the School of Nursing under the Faculty of Medical Sciences, said that it just seemed right to ‘marry’ World Cancer Day with Valentine’s Day as the two are related in the aspect of loving and giving.

“Our mission is to teach the nursing students to be caring and compassionate. Not all can be taught in the classroom,” she added. 

Opening the ceremony with a candlelit choir, the students performed Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World,” truly portraying their sincerity towards the event.

“As students studying to be nurses, our main goal is to give ‘light’ to our patients” said Year 3, Diploma student, Clare Freda Dan, when queried on the significance of the ceremony and the Pink October campaign.

In her speech, Ms Mary Frances Ratnam, thanked the students and staff of UCSI University for the generous and consistent contributions. Being the largest Hospice in Malaysia with more than 1600 patients in 2010, the centre hopes to develop and improve its service and coverage. She also expressed the Centre’s desire to conduct regular training workshops, develop and sustain fundraising, encourage in-kind donations, and initiate a volunteer recruitment drive in the coming months.

“Many may think our work begins and ends with providing professional palliative care to patients who are suffering from life-limiting illnesses. However, our purpose is to address the unmet needs of the patients by going beyond the physical into the mental, emotional and spiritual care these patients also require,” she added.

Also attending the event was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lachman Tarachand, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Associate Prof. Dr. B.O. Ogunbanjo from the School of Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences at UCSI University.

The donation drive for Hospis Malaysia was one of several outreach programmes conducted by the School of Nursing. The School had also raised RM8000 to benefit a home for HIV-infected children during its 2008 Red Ribbon Charity Walk and provided health and dental counseling to an Orang Asli village in Cameron Highlands early last year. The School also conducts regular free health screenings to residents at the Taman Midah B community centre in Cheras. 

To date, the School has raised nearly RM12, 200 for Hospis Malaysia.