Three Limkokwing students have successfully completed the challenging feat of conquering Mount Fuji in Japan, with the expedition leader managing to shoot a documentary of the journey titled ‘Reaching for the Clouds’ as part of his Master thesis.
Master in Digital Film and Television student Raja Mohamad Amin Raja Azhar, 25, led a team of eight people, including his Limkokwing course mates, Saidatul Nurlin Ahmad Hismanuri, 25 and Tay Sheik Er, 24.
“I led this expedition on my own, as the documentary director and producer. The expedition was supposed to start on September 4 but was delayed due to Typhoon Jebi that hit Osaka around that time period.
“The weather only cleared up a few days later, but even then we had to take some time to prepare, both mentally and physically, just in case the weather turned rough again during our expedition.
“We eventually began the hike on September 15, reaching the summit on September 16 - Malaysia Day. It was a proud moment to fly the Malaysian flag, followed by the University flag atop Mount Fuji on Malaysia Day,” said Raja Mohamad Amin.
The group received sponsorship of RM100,000 from Raja Sakti Company and Limkokwing University for the six-day expedition.
Raja Mohamad Amin said the hike was extra challenging for them as they had to carry heavy recording equipment and stop every 10 minutes for live footage to include in the documentary.
“It was really windy throughout the climb, more than usual as Typhoon Jebi only occurred a few days before. All of us also had to endure the extreme cold temperatures between 15 to minus 5 degrees, slowing us down significantly,” said Raja Mohamad Amin.
Award-winning success
On 27 December 2017, Raja Mohamad, Saidatul and Tay from Malaysia, joined by their colleague Aftab Alam from Pakistan, entered the history books when they produced a documentary at the summit of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.
More recently, Raja Mohamad, Saidatul and fellow Limkokwing University student Edwin Tan competed against teams from 29 universities and eight countries, emerging victorious with a poignant short film capturing the bitter-sweet moments in the lives of children with autism and the uniqueness of a village in China.
The trio made a clean sweep in five important categories at the Guiyang International Students Ocean Short Film Competition 2018 held in China.
The five categories include Best Director; Best Cinematography; Most Popular by Students; the Grand Jury Prize; and Best Charity Award.