Entrepreneurial Skills through Engagement Activities with a Disabled Community

Abstract

Universities are no longer ivory towers where a research is done for research sake alone.
University researchers are often accused of being disconnected from the practical concerns of
everyday life and sometimes overspecialised or even worthless. However, this negative
perception of universities has changed. Today, universities are engaging with the communities
and industries through various programmes for a win-win situation for the benefit of all
stakeholders. The transfer of practical knowledge from universities helps improve the socioeconomic, socio-cultural and socio-political developments of the community. When such
knowledge and skill are shared with the disabled or the unfortunate population, the potential
positive impact is even more fulfilling. This paper reports on the success of a community
engagement activity with a disabled community in reviving an abandoned cat fish rearing
project. It describes the three challenging but exciting phases of this engagement process until
the cat fish rearing project is fully revived and sustainable with support from Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM). While instilling the population with the needed entrepreneurial skill to ensure
sustainability of the project, USM social work students gain invaluable experience of engaging
the community through clear phases of the process without sacrificing the general values and
cultures of the community. Instead, the students engaged these values to win the confidence
and trust of the community