A group of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students has produced bag tags for Umrah pilgrims to help them prevent mixing up their luggage.
The bag tag was produced by five students from the Faculty of Art, Sustainability, and Creative Industry (FSKIK) using elastic bands, velcro tape, embroidery floss, sequins, beads, and buttons to fulfil the requirements of the Professional Teacher Insan (KPG3013) course involving the Santun Masyarakat Project.
One of the students, Muhammad Syahmi Syahbuldin, 23, said the idea for the bag tag came after their course coordinator Dr Harleny Abd Arif, shared her previous Umrah experience during a lecture session.
Muhammad Syahmi, who hails from Sri Aman, Sarawak, said the idea was further developed when they met with representatives of the Tanjung Malim branch of Haj and Umrah travel agency Tiram Travel (Tiram Travel) Sdn Bhd last May.
“They (Tiram Travel) told us some of the problems that Tiram Travel pilgrims often face, one of which is the difficulty in identifying each other’s bags, and from there our idea to produce the bag tag, which was named ‘Reminder Art Craft’ emerged,” he told Bernama.
Muhammad Syahmi said that after assessing the materials to be used, they settled on using elastic bands as the primary component of the product and produced 50 bag tags in a week.
It took around 30 minutes to make one bag tag, according to the fifth-semester Bachelor of Education (Arts) student, and each member of the group had their own role in the production of the product, including cutting the elastic rubber into different parts and making the design.
Another student, Al Suhaimi Alsim, 23, said that once they finished making the bag tags, they distributed 35 of them to the Umrah pilgrims handled by Tiram Travel last month.
In the meantime, Harleny, who is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Art and Design at FSKIK UPSI, said that the most essential element in the production of the bag tag was to ensure that it was beneficial to both the students and the community in general.
She said that each Umrah pilgrim has been provided with a bag tag of the same colour to make it easier for them to identify their luggage.
Harleny also said that she would be happy to hear from anyone who has suggestions for how the bag tag could be improved for the benefit of the community.
According to her, as a lecturer, she just acted as a facilitator, providing her students with guidance and motivation in order for them to complete their assignment to the best of their abilities.
“If any party wants to commercialise it, insya-Allah, we can discuss it, and we welcome anything that is beneficial for the community,” she said.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
