THURSDAY, 8 FEBRUARY – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Zunyi Medical University (ZMU), China, have now entered the second phase of the research collaboration since the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the two institutions on the establishment of The International Joint Laboratory for Ethnomedicine in 2016.

The second phase will see a significant expansion of research funding provided by the Government of China under the One Belt, One Road Initiative.

A courtesy visit to UMS by a delegation from ZMU, led by the President, Professor Dr. Jingshan Shi, was held to discuss the progress of The International Joint Laboratory for Ethnomedicine yesterday.

During the visit, UMS Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin, mentioned in his welcome address, that Sabah’s rich biodiversity and its array of ethnicities provide great opportunities for enhancing ethnomedical research.

Ethnomedicinal studies are fundamental for the discovery of new modern drugs through traditional knowledge.

Therefore, the coexistence of traditional medicine and biomedicine plays an important role in improving human health in today’s world.

The Vice-Chancellor believes that the ethnomedical research collaboration with ZMU, together with UMS’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation and Biotechnology Research Centre will lead to high impact scientific and commercial outcomes.

FRIDAY, 29 DECEMBER - A total of 20 UMS students attended the Leadership Workshop held recently at Beringgis Beach Resort and Spa, Papar.

The workshop which was organized by the American Corner, UMS Library in collaboration with the US Embassy of Kuala Lumpur, designed to empower students to increase and develop leadership skills in their lives.

This workshop is also a platform to develop a spirit of self-esteem for students to appreciate the nation and university. Additionally, this workshop discusses the noble values ​​of a leader in helping the nation's development.

The workshop is divided into 4 sessions namely Leadership style and characteristics, Gender and Leadership, Team and Leadership and Public Speaking.

The two-day workshop were facilitated by invitation speakers consist of, Senior Lecturer of UiTM Sabah Branch, Dr. Asri Salleh and assisted by two facilitators namely Rose Graves from English Language Fellow, UiTM Sabah Branch and Chief Assistant Director, State Security Management Section, National Security Council, State of Sabah, Syukri Hj. Sanali,

THURSDAY, 28 DECEMBER - Researchers and students of languages and linguistics at UMS closed 2017 in fine form with a talk given by Dr. Andrew M. Carruthers held recently.

Dr. Carruthers is currently the Max Weber Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

His talk, titled 'The Meaning of "Moreness" for Bugis Migrants', was the first in a line-up of seminars planned under the newly set up Brown Bag Seminar Series for Languages and Linguistics at Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language (PPIB).

Dr. Carruthers delivered a highly informative and engaging talk to audience comprising postgraduate and undergraduate students, academic staff from PPIB and FKSW, as well as the local public.

The talk "examined how Bugis desires for moreness (kelebihan) reflect and shape the semiotic nature of mobility, providing an account of the meaning and value of moreness as it figures in the lives of Bugis people who travel from locations of lessness to realms of achievable mores.

It also analyzed how Bugis communities evaluate and sensuously experience signs of moreness as they travel to new domains home to "new" intensities of "old" qualities".

Dr. Carruthers is a linguistic and sociocultural anthropologist specializing in Malay speaking maritime Southeast Asia. He studies the relation between language, mobilities, and infrastructures as a source of insight into the ways people experience, evaluate, and navigate shifting and potentially hazardous terrains in their everyday lives.

His long-term ethnographic research has centred on the Bugis — a traditionally mobile, seafaring people who consider the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi to be their ancestral home, but have long migrated throughout the sprawling Indonesian archipelago and beyond in search of "moreness".

He has conducted ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork in Indonesia's South Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, and Riau Islands Provinces, and in the East Malaysian state of Sabah. Dr. Carruthers holds a B.A. from Cornell University in Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Yale University in Anthropology.

The Brown Bag Seminar Series is the latest initiative by PPIB’s Research and Innovation office. The seminar features local and international speakers sharing and highlighting their research in the fields of languages and linguistics - two very rich sources of research data on Sabah.

Those interested to give a talk or suggest a speaker are welcome to contact Dr. Mohd. Sohaimi Esa, Deputy Dean for Research & Innovation (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Dr. Jane Wong (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to give further details.

KHAMIS, 14 DISEMBER -  Lebih 70 kanak-kanak berusia antara 4 hingga 6 tahun dari Pusat Minda Lestari (PML) Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) dan beberapa sekolah di sekitar Kota Kinabalu turut menjayakan program myTREEvolution anjuran Bahagian Hubungan Industri, Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (BHI-KPT) menerusi CEO@Faculty Programme 2.0 di Kompleks Perhutanan, Fakulti Sains dan Sumber Alam (FSSA) kelmarin.

Pengarah Pusat Pengurusan EcoCampus UMS, Prof. Madya Dr. How Siew Eng, yang mewakili Naib Canselor UMS, Prof. Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin ketika ditemui pada majlis tersebut berkata, penglibatan UMS dalam program seumpama ini selaras dengan hasrat universiti bagi mewujudkan kesedaran alam sekitar, pengetahuan, kemahiran dan nilai-nilai EcoCampus dalam kalangan generasi baru di rantau ini.

“Program ini bukan sahaja membolehkan golongan cilik ini mendekati alam sekitar, tetapi juga membimbing mereka secara holistik untuk memberikan pendekatan yang lebih tepat mengenai program penghijauan bumi.

“Ini selaras dengan aspirasi kerajaan bagi meningkatkan kesedaran awam mengenai kehijauan bumi dan menyediakan wadah terbaik untuk perkongsian pengetahuan dan kerjasama antara universiti awam dan agensi-agensi kerajaan dan swasta,” katanya.

Tambah beliau, pada masa ini, kebanyakan penyertaan aktiviti penanaman pokok berakhir sebagai 2T sahaja, iaitu tanam dan tinggal, yang semestinya memberikan natijah yang palsu mengenai usaha Pelan Pemulihan dan Restorasi kawasan hutan dan hijau seperti yang digariskan dalam misi Jabatan Perhutanan.

Pada program tersebut, 100 pokok daripada spesies kapur paji, urat mata daun beludu dan seraya tembaga telah disumbangkan dan ditanam sebagai simbolik asas terhadap program myTREEvolution.

Kejayaan program tanam pokok ini merupakan usaha libat sama UMS bersama Jabatan Perhutanan Sabah (JPS), Agri-Biotech Marketing Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia Airport Berhad (Kota Kinabalu) dan Life Water Industries Sdn. Bhd. melalui myTREEvolution. Aktiviti ini turut digerakkan oleh 36 sukarelawan yang terdiri daripada pelajar FSSA UMS, 10 staf MAB-KK dan staf Pusat Kecemerlangan EcoCampus, FSSA dan wakil CEO@Faculty Programme 2.0.