By HARIATI AZIZAN

PETALING JAYA: The South City Lifelong Learning Centre opened its doors less than six months ago but it has already made a mark in the community. 

Its manager Edward Cheah said the courses and workshops were very popular with the Serdang folk, adding that the centre had several learners from Kuala Lumpur as well. 

¡°We are happy to say that we are achieving our aim in providing better access to lifelong-learning skills to Malaysians, especially the Serdang residents,¡± he said. 

Since its launch on Sept 1, the lifelong-learning centre has conducted diverse courses from Basic Information Technology skills and Conversational English to yoga and modern dance. 

Some 580 learners had registered with the centre, Cheah said, adding that they hoped to attract more people this year.  

¡°We have attracted people of all races and backgrounds to take up courses here although the community in the area is predominantly Chinese,¡± he said.  

He said the centre had received numerous enquiries on future courses to be held, especially those concerning creative art and lifestyle.  

¡°That fits our philosophy, which is to provide courses that the community is interested in. Some of the most highly sought-after courses are social ballroom dance, hairdressing, make-up and modern dance,¡± Cheah said. 

¡°We are trying to meet these requests but if there are any other courses or workshops that people are interested in, they can contact us.¡±  

The centre is part of the second stage of MCA's Lifelong-Learning Campaign started by MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting in October 2004. It is the first learning centre under the programme to be established in a shopping centre. 

The idea was to make learning more accessible to the public, thus ensuring the campaign's sustainability, Cheah said. 

For details, call 03-8943 8186 or e-mail sclll.info@gmail.com.

 
 
Source: The Star 18-02-2008