KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has launched the sale of vehicle registration numbers using the prefix UMS 1 to 9999.

Its Vice Chancellor, Professor Datuk ChM Ts Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin, said the use of the UMS prefix as the vehicle registration number was one of the government’s initiatives to strengthen the university’s income-generating activities.

He said the sale can also directly increase the research and development (R&D) funds of UMS.

“The prefix number UMS 1 up to UMS 9999 with the offer price of ‘affordable’ and ‘definitely owned’ will definitely attract the public to get it.

“It can be used as a collection of pride and identity, especially among UMS residents and alumni,” he said during the launching of the UMS Vehicle Registration Number Sales and the UMS Publication Fee Payment System recently.

Taufiq said UMS has always strived to increase its excellence, visibility and contribution to all its stakeholders, and always strives to improve and enhance its position on the world stage.

“Quality publications will not only be a reference for researchers and the community around the world, but also an important criterion in various types of world rankings such as Times Higher Education (THE), QS Ranking, MyRA, SETARA and several others.

“To further boost our efforts in increasing the number of impact publications, UMS has introduced its Publication Fee Financing System since 2020, although it was done manually at that time,” he said.

In 2021 UMS created history when the university achieved the number of Scopus indexed publications of 1,178 by breaking the record of the number of publications ever obtained since its inception.

Taufiq added that UMS had recently received praise in the MyRA audit for the increase in the number of citations in the publication which was very encouraging.

“Insya-Allah (God willing), we hope that such a positive increase will position UMS as a five-star MyRA university for 2021,” he said.

KOTA KINABALU: Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FBEA), Universiti Malaysia Sabah has successfully conducted more than 18 online activities for 88 international mobility students from Indonesia and China within the past three months.

All of the 18 activities are conducted under the programmes of Taking a Different Path: Tragedy in History, Getting to know your Sabah, Crisscrossing Malaysia: Through Folk Games and Cultures, and Tour of Foodie.

The online activities conducted by FBEA UMS focused on cultural talk, traditional games, and tourism hotspots. The activities are unique opportunity for the online mobility students from Indonesia and China to gain invaluable experience, to learn simple culture and knowledge, especially post pandemic and open for travel.

The activities are continuously being held from time to time, to better prepare the mobility students from Indonesia and China for them to feel to ‘return’ to Sabah after the pandemic and travel restriction is lifted at this endemic time.

The programmes and activities were conducted with the collaboration of local students, to ensure there is an exchange of ideas and concepts with international mobility students. The programmes were intended to provide a platform for sharing of ideas and experiences between international students and local students.

The idea of ‘returning to Sabah’ was started with Andy Lee Chen Hiung, mobility coordinator to ensure the mobility students to have an insight of the places to visit in Sabah, and to enjoy it better when they are returning to visit in person, especially post pandemic and travel has been allowed.

Associate Prof. Dr. Mohd. Rahimie Abdul Karim, FBEA newly appointed Dean, stated that the faculty is always committed to ensure all online mobility activities will always be invaluable and meaningful to the students, for them to visit Sabah in future especially now travel has been allowed and hoping to receive more international mobility students.

Prof. Datuk Dr. Hj. Kasim Hj. Md Mansur, former Dean of FBEA UMS, welcomed the idea to further promote exchange programme and continuous collaboration in many aspects. Prof. Datuk Dr. Hj. Kasim congratulated mobility students at the faculty and hoping to receive more mobility students in future.

Datu Razali Datu Eranza, coordinator for the programme hoping to receive physical return of the international mobility students, for them to experience the best attractions in Sabah. Previous experiences including tour to Kundasang and Ranau, Sandakan and Labuan.

Some of the popular programmes enjoyed the most by international mobility students from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and South Korea before the pandemic, including A Walk to Remember (attending wedding ceremonies), Journey to the West (Cowboy Town Tuaran, Crododile Farm), Journey to the Pearl of Borneo (Labuan trip), Journey to the Heart of Borneo (Ranau-Kundasang trip).

KOTA KINABALU: The Pahang government is urging more of its people to pursue tertiary education so that they can contribute to the state's development.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said while there was no shortage of human resources in the state, he wished that more anak Pahang would return after completing their tertiary education.

"Pahang has a large population and there are resources. However, we cannot even find anak Pahang to be appointed district police chief.

"It is not about kenegerian or looking down on those who come from other states, but Pahang
is experiencing a shortage of local-born talent to hold important positions.

"Hopefully, there will be more academicians. It will be better if more are enrolled in universities, as when they study, they will have knowledge to give back to Pahang," he said when presenting the Bantuan Prihatin Pahang cash aid at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here.

Present was UMS Vice-Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin.

Through the Pahang government's Program Jaminan Kerjaya, there are 2,000 high-paying jobs
for Pahang graduates in information technology, engineering, finance, business and other related fields.

In April, the Pahang government, through Yayasan Pahang, announced the RM30 million 2022 Bantuan Prihatin Pahang initiative to benefit almost 300,000 recipients.

The one-off RM200 cash assistance to about 250 UMS students from Pahang is part of the RM9 million allocation under the Bantuan Prihatin Pahang to be given to 43,000 students nationwide.

"It is my hope that the donation would help students meet their needs.

"Although RM200 is not a big amount, the state government is always concerned about the welfare of Pahang students and will provide assistance."

He said UMS was the first stop for himself and Pahang officials, including exco members and the state secretary, to meet students.

Wan Rosdy said the visit was also to build rapport with students, who had to study far from their hometowns and families.

"It is just a normal programme, but for some, including Datuk Dr Taufiq, it is special, as this is also the first time a Pahang menteri besar has come to meet him.

"Students can also meet and get to know government leaders," he said, adding that the delegation would also visit universities in other states.

Wan Rosdy said students should keep abreast of current issues while excelling in their studies.

"It is one of the virtues for students to learn as much as possible but they also have to know about current developments in the state and country.

"They have to know about politics and the economy. This is part of the criteria as university students," he said, adding that youngsters now were given the privilege of voting.

He also highlighted the state's capability to be self-sufficient, including its stable finances.

He said the state raked in between RM760 million and RM890 million in annual revenue from 2019 to 2021.

This year, the state is aiming for RM1 billion in revenue.

As for other collaborations between Pahang and Sabah, Wan Rosdy said they were keen to work on experience and expertise exchanges.

"We know there are things that we came across but are not being implemented in Sabah. That's why we would like to invite UMS to discuss potential collaborations with us.

"However, it is still at the early stage, there is no concept yet. But we are confident of our strengths that can be accepted and adopted."

Possible collaborations, he said, included tourism and education opportunities for both states.

Wan Rosdy said each state was blessed differently in terms of its natural attractions and food.

He said Sabah had Gunung Kinabalu and delicious food, while Pahang had Gunung Tahan, Cameron Highlands and several islands.

"This, we can share together (in terms of promotion and other exchanges).

"Yayasan Sabah has also sent its students to Peninsular Malaysia. This will be the same for Pahang."

UMS's Majlis Mahasiswa Anak-Anak Pahang leader, Noratiqah Sukri, 24, said on behalf of Pahang students, she wanted to extend her gratitude and appreciation to the state government for the visit and cash assistance.

When asked about the cost of living in Sabah, compared with Pahang, she said it was still bearable.

"UMS is one of the universities in which the cost of living is not so high.

"Even in Sabah, (the cost of living) is still acceptable," said the post-graduate student in historical literature.

KOTA KINABALU: A mother held back tears upon hearing her late daughter's name being called at the 23rd Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) convocation ceremony here this morning.

Cheng Lak Mooi, 65, received the scroll on behalf of her daughter Ng Yi Ming, 35, from the Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.

Ng, a recipient of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) high-level degree in psychology, died from heart related problems last year. 

"Before receiving a PhD in psychology at UMS, my daughter received a Bachelor's Degree Honours in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the same varsity. 

"Besides that, she is also the recipient of a Master of Science in Child Developmental Psychology from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)," she said. 

Cheng said the family is proud of Ng's high achievement despite her poor health condition. 

She said her daughter had undergone valve replacement surgery in September 2014 and after the operation, Ng often suffered from heart palpitations. 

"She breathed her last on Feb 21 last year after over 20 years of suffering from 'mitral valve prolapse'," she added. 

"She had made her presentation on Jan 21 last year before being given three months to correct the thesis. 

"She did it despite having to face poor health", she said.