THURSDAY, 3 MARCH – The National Higher Education Carnival (KPTN) ‘Jom Masuk IPT’ Sabah Zone, an annual event of the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia since 2005 is back on 5 until 6 March.

The carnival will be held at the 1Borneo Hyper mall Shopping Complex, Kota Kinabalu starting from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.

The main objective of this programme is to be an informative One-Stop Centre  to the public who wish to get more information on higher education opportunities, accreditation, and funding of study.

It is also to educate and create awareness among applicants and the public on online application into higher education.

The carnival also intended to enlighten the general public especially school students on the school-based curriculum scoring method coordinated by the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the application for admission into university.

It is also a platform for promoting new information about new programmes offered by universities and other learning institutions for the forthcoming academic session 2016/2017.

Deputy Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching will also be present, and will share about the direction of the Malaysian higher education, Higher Education Development Plan (Higher Education) PPPM (PT), and others at the Higher Education Malaysia Ministry “Soaring Upwards” series held in conjunction with the carnival.

The public, especially school students and parents are invited and to make full use of this two-day programme. – (fl)

THURSDAY, 3 MARCH – A Sabah Traditional Musical Instruments Skills Workshop will be held at the Dewan Resital, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) from 16 until 18 March in an effort to elevate the art of Traditional Music  of Sabah.

The workshop is jointly organised by the Community of Bamboo and the Music Programme of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) UMS in collaboration with the Education Office of Tuaran, which to date has about 100 registered participants.

These participants included school teachers, students of the Kent Teachers Training College, independent participants and students from the Music Programme of FKSW, UMS.

According to the Chairman of the Workshop cum Founder of Bamboo Community, Kuhim @ Ebin Ugat, this Sabah Traditional Musical Instruments Skills Workshop is the first of its kind and an effort to elevate the traditional musical instruments of Sabah and to introduce it to the public, especially the younger generation.

Kuhim, who is also active in the skills of Sabah Traditional Musical Instruments and has been in this field for more than 15 years, is also the anchor-man in the study of traditional music based on bamboo in UMS along with Lawrence Fauzi Kating.

Meanwhile, Head of Music Programme, FKSW, Roslee Haji Wahid hoped that this programme would benefit the students undertaking Music course at UMS.

“We hope that more locals especially the younger generation would be more interested to learn about the techniques of making and playing these traditional musical instruments of Sabah so that Sabah’s cultural heritage would be our pride and will continue to be preserved in years to come.

“We also would like to invite the public to witness an ensemble of bamboo musical instruments to be staged on 18 March at 2.00 pm at the Dewan Resital,” he was quoted as saying.

The fee  for this three-day workshop is at RM280.00. – (fl)

THURSDAY, 3 MARCH – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Cooperative (KO-UMS) held a lucky draw 1  Malaysia Book Voucher at the Anjung Siswa Building, recently.

The opening ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs and Alumni UMS, Associate Professor Dr. Ismail Ali and attended by about 50 students.

At the ceremony, a student from the Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Fatheen Ellina Abder Nasser won the grand prize of a Demak Scooter worth RM5,000.

Other prizes included 30 hampers, four ASUS laptops and seven mobile phones were up for grabs.

According to Dr. Ismail, the book voucher was a windfall from the government through the Ministry of Higher Education to students of UMS.

“This is a golden opportunity for all students and for them to shop at KO-UMS.  Students must be wise in choosing the right books required for their current study and learning process,” he said.

Also present at the event were Chairman of the Board of KO-UMS, Hj Rizal Othman, Board members of KO-UMS, Cooperative Managers and UMS officials. – (fl)

Source: Norhana Nordin
Photo: KO-UMS

WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Kinki Universiti, Japan signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the establishment of a UMS-Kinki Aquaculture Development Centre located at the Borneo Marine Research Institute (IPMB), UMS.

The MoA was signed at the IPMB Hatchery, UMS witnessed by the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education, Datuk Nik Ali Mat Yunus.

According to Datuk Nik Ali, the establishment of this centre will strengthen the research and development (R&D) between the two universities that had a longstanding relationship in the field of aquaculture and very important towards the improvement of domestic economic activity at regional and international level as it was related to food sources and high quality protein.

“To ensure the sustainability of industrial development, aquaculture scientists and industry players should work together to produce strategic direction not only in R&D but also every the field of marketing and supply chain management,” he said.

He added that the strategic collaboration in R&D between UMS and Kinki in aquaculture and its related industry would provide a strong foundation for the development of the aquaculture industry in the future.

The importance of the aquaculture industry is related to the retention of food sources as reported in the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO UN), which recorded a total of 183 million tonnes produced in 2015 compared to 133 million tonnes in 2000.

World Bank also reported that come 2030, 62% of seafood or fish eaten would be met through farming to meet with the demands.

After the MoA was signed, the centre would conduct research to produce fish seedlings, improve the quality of Napoleon Wrasse fish, grouper, catfish and eel farming.

Datuk Nik Ali also visited the hatchery that stocks fish as brood stock for fish seeds production.

He also witnessed UMS researchers in demonstrating the process of inducing and fish seedling.

Also present at the ceremony were Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Mohd. Harun Abdullah; President of Kinki University, Professor Dr. Hitoshi Shiozaki; Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation UMS, Professor Dr. Shahril Yusof; UMS Registrar, No’man Datuk Hj Ahmad; Kinki University Registrar, Hiroyasu Tsuji and IPMB Director, Professor Dr. Rossita Shapawi. - (fl)