At 0930 hr on the 17th April 2009, the Vice Chancellor of UKM, YBhg. Prof. Dato' Dr. Sharifah Hapsah bt Syed Hasan Shahabuddin delivered her VC Address to the citizens of UKM. I attended the auspicious address and the foolowings are my humble remarks and comments.
1. The address was an excellent one in lights of the national transformations which the YAB PM is about to embark nationwide to bring all Malaysians together as One Nation. Her address which was inspired by the great idea of YAM PM, addressed the very core business of UKM moulded the national context.
2. The three pillars, education, research and service are our core business as a lecturer. We give lectures almost every week to impart some knowledge to the younger generations. We supervise their project dissertations and theses. We conduct some research projects and publish the results generated to inform the minds of the public and scientific community. We serve the community at large. I have been doing these since January 1979 without much regrets.
3. Built on the successes of UKM in 2008 and before, the VC wishes to sustain and push the momentum to a greater height so that the potential of UKM is elevated further and realised by the year 2018. Why 2018? This is very commendable.
4. I'm moved by her inner desire to put back the place of Bahasa Melayu as a lingua franca of UKM. She emotionally stated that Bahasa Melayu has been the heritage of UKM which has been entrusted to all of us. We have been successful in educating young Malaysian in Bahasa Melayu since 1970 and why did we change to a foreign language , called English?
5. She talked about the role of the 8 research niches identified by UKM to spearhead the changes in research culture. Though I have my critic on the identification of the 8 niches, I agreed that the 8 niches could be "homes" to every academics in UKM. These 8 niches are able to promote UKM as a Research University in a few years.
6. The challenges posed by the VC are tremendous and many and they come in many forms and relevant to different strata of the citizens. I'm so worried about the delivery system, as did the previous government under Pak Lah. It took several Ministers and government agencies to derail some of the projects and the government delivery system went almost kaput. Like-wise it will take 20% sceptics and agents of no-change to derail her Vision for UKM.
7. I like her analogy of UKM knowledge environment to a big virtual bird. May she fly and glide like a raptor to the year 2018 without much glitches and sabotage. The big bird might need a battery though to assist her in case there is no air current!
8. I also like her analogy to a golfer. In this case I'm touched by her recommendation to use better tools because I'm still using a 3-wood browining to drive my golf ball. Last night I watched Bagger Vance caddying Mr. Randolf Junnuh playing against Mr. Bobby Jones and Mr. Walter Hagen. Though it was a draw after four gruelling days, there were many lessons which Bagger Vance imparted to all of us.
Lastly, I wish to congratulate YBhg Dato' VC for her excellent address and wish all the stake-holders at UKM to help her achieve her vision. Thanks
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