FRIDAY, 13 JANUARY - American Rock Cello band, Break of Reality was in the UMS Library Auditorium, yesterday for Meet and Greet program.

It is a program that allows audience to interact with the band, autographs and selfies. Audience also has the opportunity to watch a performance from the band.

Meet and Greet program is hosted by American Corner, UMS Library in collaboration with US Embassy, Public Affairs Section.

Break of Reality (New York) formed in 2003 at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.  During school breaks, the band would travel to New York City, where it performed its original music alongside covers of popular rock songs in subway stations and parks.

Break of Reality also has highly successful social media channels with 100,000 Facebook fans and 5 million views on YouTube of their cover of ‘Game of Thrones.’ 

They also toured with the American Music Abroad 2014-2015 Season. Performance highlights from last few seasons include a month long music education bus tour around the U.S., a sold-out tour of Alaska, direct support for the well-known rock band Cake at Worldfest in California, and featured showcases at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. 

Break of Reality has also written and performed original music featured in national television programs, including Dateline NBC and America’s Investigative Reports on PBS (which went on to win an Emmy). 

Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Forbes Magazine have featured Break of Reality in recent articles regarding internet radio, a medium that produces over 20 million streams a year for the band.

WEDNESDAY, 11 JANUARY - An E-print Intensifying Workshop in collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) was held from 9 – 11 January 2017 at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). 

The main objective of this workshop was to improve UMS institutional Repository (IR) services to meet the needs of users and to improve the university’s performance in Webometrics ranking.

The activity organised by UMS Webometrics Team involved eight participants from the Department of Information and Communication Technology (JTMK) and UMS Library.

A sharing session on the best practices in systems and information management was held including a hands-on training on maintaining and operating of the systems.

This collaboration was the result of an earlier discussion held during a working visit to Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

This activity was led by Haji Shaiful Yazam and Muizzudin Kaspol of Tun Abdul Samad Library, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

TUESDAY, 13 DECEMBER – The ‘Grand Recital’ organised by the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) made a come back recently after a long absence.

Organised as the curtain call for all the recitals held, the Grand Recital featured acts and performances by lecturers, tutors and students of Year Two and Three from the Music, Creative Arts, and Visual Arts Programmes.

Dean of FKSW, Prof. Dr. Ismail Ibrahim expressed that the Grand Recital is a programme to uncover the talents of students in various fields.

“The recital is a holistic programme, I hope it would continue to be organised to increase our knowledge,” he urged.

The opening act of the Grand Recital saw a sketch by lecturers, Associate Professor Dr. Low Kok On, Dr. Puad Bebit, Hajijah Lamiri and Salmie Jemon.

Among other dances featured were Joget Pahang, and Zapin Sebat that won the UMS Zapin Fiesta 2016, and captured the third spot at the UMS Labuan International Folk Dance and Music Festival.

Other recital included a performance entitled “Prebet Kabimbangan” that captured the Champions title at the Sabah Theatre Festival 2016 and the Malaysian Theatre Festival 2016, among many other awards.

Other performances included from lecturer, Sharip Zainal Sangkif Shek and his group Rhythm of Borneo who were champions at the 2010 World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA), a solo presentation by staff of FKSW, Felix Agus (Akademi Fantasia 3, 1^st Runner-up), with special appearance by lecturers, Associate Professor Dr. Baharudin Arus and M Fazmi Hisham. – FL

Source: Junior Kimwah, FKSW

FRIDAY, 9 DECEMBER  - An Occupational Safety and Health Week was held at the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) from 7 to 9 December 2016, in line with the Occupational Safety and Health global theme, “Workplace Stress: a Collective Challenge”.

The event was organised by Second Year students of Industrial Relations Programme (HA12), FKSW.

Industrial Safety and Health Course lecturer, Salmie Jemon said the aim of organising this event was to promote awareness among students and staff on the hazards, risks and dangers, and mechanisms to minimise or eliminate these problems in the workplace.

“This programme also aims to increase the employability of our graduates, where it serves as a learning platform based on off-campus experience in the industry,” Salmie said.

An academic poster exhibition was also held by a total of 13 student groups where findings from their field work were featured.

“This programme also teaches our students on personal grooming, to think creatively and be innovative in solving problems, be dynamic in facing work challenge and be ready to tackle the fierce labour market in the fourth industrial revolution,” she added.

Among the activities held were talks by guests speakers who are experts in the field of Occupational Safety and Health, a demonstration by Bomba on fire-fighting and rescue operation, CPR demonstration by Malaysia Civil Defence Department (JPAM) UMS, free health screenings from Health Centre UMS, and a Blood Donation Drive by the Blood Bank of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu. – FL