WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Mohd Harun Abdullah was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Agricultural Sciences by Kindai University, Japan yesterday.

The award was conferred by the President of Kindai University, Professor Hitoshi Shiozaki in a ceremony held at the university.

“I dedicate this award to all UMS staff who have always supported me in the effort to develop the university into an institution with global ranking.

“I believe UMS is able to go further, with hard work and commitment, its staff including students who are always working hard to build the image of the university to be better,” he said in a statement after the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Datuk Harun while speaking after the conferment ceremony said, the cooperation agreement with Kindai University was very meaningful for UMS, which proved to produce many useful output to both the university, especially in the field of aquaculture.

Recently, a R&D centre was established in UMS in the field of aquaculture, and Kindai University was seen to be unique as was proven over a decade of the successful cooperation between these two universities.

“The field of aquaculture that has been the focus of interest and important for this cooperation has a bright future because researches in this area always contribute to global food security.

“Sustainability in aquaculture is facing various challenges that require innovative thinking and global knowledge in driving the growth of a new generation of aquaculture.

“In this context, I believe that cooperation between the two universities is a valuable investment and provide maximum returns,” he concluded. – (fl)

Their trip to the Land of Hornbills was participated by five students of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and spent almost a week with 40 of the secondary school students.

Among the programmes conducted were group activity, introduction of UMS and UNIMAS; helping students to bring out their best despite their differences and diversity.

The closing ceremony was officiated by SMKMJ Senior Assistant for Student Affairs, Ustaz Ahmad Hazmullah Mohd Azmi.

The tour also included a visit to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) Sarawak, led by the Coordinator of Rakan Muda Secretariat UMS, Norhana Nordin.

Their visit was warmly welcomed by the Director of KBS Sarawak, Haji Abdul Haris Ishak and was briefed on the Rakan Muda Development Programme and activities implemented by the ministry.

Also present was the Assistant Director of Rakan Muda Development KBS Sarawak, Hafizah Dahlan.

Rakan Muda Secretariat thanked the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs, Associate Professor Dr. Ismail Ali and the Student Affairs Department UMS for their undivided support and cooperation in ensuring the success of the programme.

The tour also brought participants to UNIMAS, Sarawak Cultural Village and several interesting places around Kuching. – (fl)

 
Source: Rakan Muda Secretariat, UMS

He said the friendly game was quite unique with its contingents coming from Borneo island itself, and this opportunity should be used to foster friendship through the sports contested.

“We have contingents from Sarawak, Brunei, Federal Territory of Labuan, and Kalimantan, Indonesia that will converge here to participate in this game.

“My hope is that every athlete does not only compete to collect medals, but use this opportunity to interact and share experiences with athletes from other countries,” he urged.

He was speaking at the handing over of UMS flag to the contingent.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ismail also urged that sports and recreational activities be continued on other days at the respective departments  and not only confined to having them in tournaments, so as to practice the culture of healthy lifestyle.

At the forthcoming 4^th Friendly Games, UMS contingent is sending 180 athletes to participate in 13 sports disciplines contested. – MA (fl)

Photo: Suzeanywati Gasinin

MONDAY, 18 APRIL – Three Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students recently joined the Student Volunteer Mission under the ASEAN Student Volunteer Foundation (YSS), at Campasak, Laos.

Amin Daud, Agricultural Science programme student,  Lim Way Yang (Health Sciences) and Nor Azirah Abdullah (International Relations) were in Laos for two weeks to take part in the mission, which was organised by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.

Besides representatives  from UMS, the programme was also participated by 45 other volunteers from various higher learning institutions comprising public and private universities, Community Colleges, Teacher Training Institutes (IPG) and Polytechnics.

The volunteers performed voluntary work through the ‘Community Engagement’ programme involving three villages namely Phonethong, Ban Donetalath and Ban Soukhouma, in the two-week mission.

Various activities were held during the programme, among them were ‘Walk with Love’, a contribution of 100 sandals to schools involved, building of huts for motorcycle parking, making compost, building of pedestrian walkway and painting of school walls. – (fl)

 Source: Nurlina Arappe