Penang Undergraduate Community Service (PUCS); Also more commonly known as Xia Xiang Tuan (XXT) which in Mandarin means “the group which goes to the village”.

The stated aim of the group is to :
1. Improve local people's awareness and level of education.
2. Improve the level of awareness of the undergraduates to contribute to society.
3. Enhance the learning ability of the undergraduate and the village residents.

Membership of PUCS on the Main Campus is small at around 50 student volunteers drawn from many disciplines. One major obstacle to recruiting new volunteers is the lack of a culture of volunteerism amongst the large majority of students. Often students would only participant in activities which earn them merit points to be eligible for hostel accommodation on campus. But having a large number of volunteers also presents logistic problems. For instance, PUCS limits the number of volunteers to 14 or 15 for each village in order not to burden the local hosts who have to provide the volunteers with lodgings and meals for a whole week. Volunteers who do not get to go to the villages are assigned to lead other projects. Since PUCS has for more than 10 years existed and persisted even without official recognition the volunteers must truly believe in their cause. The spirit of volunteerism cannot be counted by the percentage of students or staff who volunteer each year. There must be sustained participation over a long period of time with no expectations for reward or incentives. Of course, showing appreciation for their dedication and service helps to motivate the team. PUCS organises an annual appreciation night for their seniors.
In the rural service programme, PUCS volunteers undertake several major activities based on an assessment of the local needs. One key activity is to engage primary and secondary school children with the support of the teachers and Parent Teacher Associations. Tuitions, sharing sessions and programmes to motivate the kids to aspire for higher education are hallmarks of the movement. Each Xia Xiang group has differring philosophies about funding with some spending thousands of Ringgit (usually from the PTA) while others seek to carry out activities with minimal funds in order not to burden the hosts. USM’s PUCS raises funds through bazaar sales and have even resolved not to depend on university funds so that they have to continue be self-funding. Occassionally, volunteers even pay for their own bus tickets to go to the villages. Volunteers take active part in the lives of their hosts, often playing mediation roles to bridge the generation and communication gap between parents and their teenage children. Teaching the villages about recycling and carrying out tree-planting are other activities.
PUCS carries out various other activities to engage the campus community including “Say No to Plastic Bags” campaign through an friendly approach called SMSmi. They have organised day trips to a landfill and a factory producing organic detergents and soaps and spearheaded an environmental conference.
PUCS is entirely student-driven and student-led. Learning to understand and replicate the ideals and operations of PUCS/Xia Xiang could contribute immensely to the agenda for civic engagement by universities. For the student volunteers, their learning extends to organisation skills, leadership and instilling ethical and moral values through application rather than impersonal lectures or textbooks.

The learning is mostly informal and experiential driven by the passion of student volunteers who expect nothing in return except satisfaction of contributing to an ideal they believe in. This was started even before community service and civic engagement became a buzzword for higher education.