Skills Malaysia: Competing in Worldskills Competition by Chef Farouk Othman

Chef Farouk Othman, Senior Lecturer, Taylor’s Culinary Institute, participant of world prestigious culinary competition – Bpcuse D’or and currently appointed as the Chief Expert of Cooking Trade for Worldskills Malaysia, along with Department of Skills Development (Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran) of Malaysia, have conducted a sharing session on Competing in Worldskills Competition. Chef Farouk had coached and brought numerous Malaysians to compete in the Asean Skills & Worldskills Competition and managed to win numerous achievements, a feat not easily achievable.

The sharing session was organized by Department of Skills Development of Malaysia, a series where Malaysian experts from different trade shares about the technical description, test project and marking scheme for future coaches and students from different culinary school who which to compete in the future Worldskills. Participants managed to interact with Chef Farouk sharing some tips and secrets on the success stories of Taylorian who competed in it during the many past victories. We are looking forward for the next Malaysian to compete in Worldskills Shanghai 2022 and to Kibarkan Jalur Gemilang!

A Day As A Clinical Psychologist

There is a constant misconception that a Clinical Psychologist is often surrounded by ‘crazy people’ or they are only talking to ‘mad’ people. To better understand the day-to-day workings of a Clinical Psychologist, the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences (SLAS) organized a webinar titled ‘A Day As A Clinical Psychologist’ for the public. This webinar aimed to educate and build awareness regarding the working life and day-to-day activities of a Clinical Psychologist.

The webinar began with our student moderator, Mr. Goh Ian Shen from the Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) programme in Taylor’s University, in which he introduced the panel of imminent and experienced professional speakers. The panel speakers consisted of Dr. Lim Hooi Shan, Programme Director and Senior Lecturer from Taylor’s University; Dr. Salami Mutiu Olagoke, Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris; Ms. Evelyn Soong Yoke Fen, Director and Clinical Psychologist from MPS Psychological Services, and Ms. Sam Jeng Mun, Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist from Taylor’s University.

The panel speakers introduced all the typical works of a Clinical Psychologist such as psychological assessment, psychoeducation, psychotherapy, writing case notes, conducting research, and peer supervision. The participants were exposed to the various roles play by each panel speaker, such as being an academician, starting a psychological centre, practicing as a Clinical Psychologist in private centres, non-governmental organisations, and government and private hospitals. The webinar received great responses from the public. The audience participated actively and raised many questions to the panel speakers during the sharing session.

One of the questions was related to the effect of clinical practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The panel speakers shared that online consultation and telehealth were among the options to reach out to the public who needs mental health support. The panel speakers also stressed the importance of mental health conditions and how Clinical Psychologists can assist in providing mental health support to the affected individual during these unprecedented times. SLAS would like to sincerely thank the external speakers, Dr. Salami Mutiu Olagoke and Ms. Evelyn Soong Yoke Fen for spending their valuable time; sharing wonderful insights regarding their experiences and practices. The audience of about 100 people surely obtained a better understanding of the day-to-day works of a Clinical Psychologist after this webinar.

Webinar on Food and Cultures

Dr. Elise Mognard, Programme Director for Postgraduate in Food Studies at Taylor’s University, has been invited to contribute to the webinar "Food and Culture" organised by SEAMEO-RECFON. Prof. Muchtaruddin Mansyuran, Director of SEAMEO-RECFON, introduced the webinar, part of the yearlong celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the organisation, “Forging Initiatives on Food and Nutrition Education amidst Challenging Situations”. Founded in 1964, SEAMEO TROPMED Regional Centre for Community Nutrition was transformed into the Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition in 2011.

It is one among the 24 SEAMEO Centers located throughout SEA region. In collaboration with the Nutrition Department under Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, the center has introduced the concepts of and methods in anthropology into the curriculum of master program in nutrition since the late 1990s through the course titled "Introduction of Nutritional Anthropology". Thus, this webinar aimed to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion on the interactions between food cultures and transformations of societies to enlighten todays modern diets from the perspectives of history and sociology.

From a socio-historical perspective, Mr. Fazly Rahman from Padjadjaran University, Indonesia, has presented how the Dutch colonisation and dietary recommendations since the Independence have shaped the food values in Indonesia. Dr. Elise Mognard shared her interdisciplinary experience between nutrition & epidemiology on one hand and sociology and anthropology of food on the other hand. Her presentation was grounded on the Asian Food Barometer and Socio-Cultural and Economic Research in Protein Transition in SE Asia: Focus on Malaysia and Indonesia (SCRiPT) based on which researchers from SEAMEO-RECFON and Taylor’s University, Chair and IRP-CNRS “Food Cultures and Health” are building a fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue.

A rich 45-minute session of questions and answers, moderated by Dr. Judhia Februhartanty from SEAMEO-RECFON, concluded the 2-hour webinar. The webinar involved 160 participants from the Asian region including Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and the Philippines. To date, the recording available on YouTube counts 725 views.