Thank You Datuk...

Selepas tujuh tahun dan tujuh bulan di Tronoh, akhirnya pada 31 Oktober, 2012 Datuk Dr Zainal menamatkan kerjayanya di institusi ini. Datuk memulakan kerjaya pada 1 Mac 2005 kira-kira sebulan sebelum aku mendaftar sebagai pekerja di ITPSB. Dua hari lepas adalah hari yang menyedihkan bagi semua warga institusi, melebihi misteri persoalan bagaimana keadaannya pengganti kepada Datuk nanti?

Satu makan malam penghargaan kepada Datuk dan isterinya, Datin Rosemi diadakan dan telah dihadiri oleh lebih daripada separuh warga UTP. Meriah dengan aktivti tetapi keseluruhannya penuh dengan emosi. Prof Fadzil dalam ucapannya menggambarkan keseluruhan penghargaan atas segala pengorbanan Datuk kepada UTP. Aku juga beremosi tapi memandangkan Zaihan di sebelah kanan, Nuzah di sebelah kiri, staf2 lain di hadapan, maka ku tahan juga air mata dari jatuh berderai….

Antara kata-katanya seperti berikut: -

“……..Tonight, as the UTP community gathers to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to Datuk Dr Zainal, we are also honouring and celebrating an individual who is leaving behind a huge impact on the university with a legacy to be cherished and remembered in our hearts and minds. We are here to commemorate the successes that this university has enjoyed under his leadership over the past seven years and seven months. 

If you recall Datuk, when you first arrived at UTP and chaired your first Management Committee meeting – you had asked us a question. In particular, your question to us was - where are we now? That simple, but thought-provoking yet a correct question had sparked a lot of imagination within us – and we started to imagine things that were at one time, almost unimaginable. Thus, one cannot speak about the achievements that the university has experienced thus far without mentioning the  Transformation Plan, which is the brainchild of Datuk.

That's how I get into the transformation study team. I had few good moments with Datuk when we struggled in preparing presentation especially...EAC, AAC, TP, etc.. Good moments that I will cherish forever..

Datuk had realized the challenges that were staring at our faces at a very early stage, and being a true leader, Datuk showed his proactiveness by taking a bold step to embark upon a journey – a journey that have since then, transformed our lives almost entirely, and had changed the way we think and act. These changes have impacted all aspects of the university, from academic delivery, research output, student development, operational excellence as well as linkages with our stakeholders….”

Datuk’s traits that I could not agree more: -

“….Perhaps the most notable and appreciated quality of Datuk Dr Zainal is his genuine warmth and concern over his people. I believe this springs from Datuk’s sincere interest to develop his people, both the employees and the students. Datuk is always ready to listen to our suggestions and even problems, and is ever willing to engage with staff as well as students. This has actually made our life easier as the management is able to make informed decisions based on the feedback solicited.

Another particular trait of Datuk Dr Zainal that is extremely important for us to remember and emulate is his motivational skills. I am always, and still am amazed by Datuk’s ability to motivate everyone around him, especially the students. As a lecturer myself, I find it an excruciating task to motivate them, but for Datuk – it seems like a breeze. 

When you are with the students, you are at ease – you can sing, you can dance and you can even play music with them – and not many of us can do the same. You have been generous with your time spent for this purpose, and you have touched the lives of countless students, and even the staff and alumni. In fact, I was made to understand that just last night, you spent more than three hours with the students – giving them advise and sharing them your personal experiences in life…”

Something for Datin too...

“…Behind every great man there stands a woman. On behalf of the university community, I would also like to express our gratitude to YBhg Datin Rosemi Hamdan for her strong and gracious support of our university. It is clear that Datin’s unwavering support and sacrifices have been vital to Datuk’s success and we deeply appreciate her selflessness in sharing her husband with us for the past seven years. So Datin, you can now have him back full time…”

Prof Fadzil could not bear his emotion when uttering these words…

“…No words can express our deepest gratitude to you but..

Thank you for your wisdom

Thank you for your guidance

Thank you for your advice

Thank you for always listening

Thank you for understanding

Thank you for the sacrifices made

Thank you for leaving us a treasured legacy

Thank you for your leadership

Thank you for everything

And most of all, thank you for your willingness to be away from your family to be with us for the past seven years….”

Not to miss some of the quotes from prominent figures: -

“A nation or race is only civilized if it knows how to appreciate its leaders” – the late Tun Azizan

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the mind of others, and the stories they share about you” – famous author, Shannon Alder

“Leadership is not magnetic personality - that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people" - that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations” – management guru, Peter Drucker

P/s - To YBhg Datuk and family, thank you for everything, I hope you will cherish all the good moments in UTP as we do. Happy retirement Datuk.

Kazakhstan 2012

After years lapse from overseas stint, I was asked to assist the institution’s participation in the A2 Education Fairs in Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan from 20 – 24^th Sept. On day 1, the Fairs started at 1pm to 8pm venued at the Rixos Presidential Hotel in Astana Central. More than 1,000 students mostly high school leavers turned up for the event. We had engaged a local translator to assist us in communication and interaction with potential students, as majority of Kazakhs/Russian could not speak or understand English language. We had a fruitful discussion with an English Language Centre from Malaysia, the English Language Company (ELC), on how we can ride on their existing recruitment agency for recruiting potential Kazakhs. Students will be having one year of English Language course in KL, tailored towards our Engineering programme before they continue with UTP’s programme.

Further discussion with local university (Al-Farabi National University) on the utilization of Bolashak programme of which with the collaboration, we should be able to utilize the Bolashak via adjunct lecture series, research officers, research grants, post-doc, and other non-degree research/short courses. Bolashak programme is a scholarship which is awarded to high-performing students from Kazakhstan to study overseas all-expenses paid, provided that they return to Kazakhstan to work for at least five years after graduation.

  

We had also a nice dinner hosted by His Excellency Dato' Ahmad Rashidi Azizi, Malaysian Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan at the end of day 1.

  

The A2 Education Fairs in Almaty is even better. We welcomed almost 2000 parents and potential students throughout the 2-day exhibition. Below some more pics that could tell 1001 stories..

Kazakhstan is like 5000 miles away from home but the warm and friendly people of Kazakhs make our visit so welcomed. It was a nice trip altogether..

P/s - lama x haplod lagu neh...

Mascot Man & MADID

Aku dan Amin ke Mydin Meru semalam. Tempat baru warga Ipoh untuk ber’shopping’ dan menambahkan seri pada Ipoh yang ekonominya semakin menunjukkan tanda2 positif di bawah pemerintahan si ‘metalik’ – mengambil ayat kononnya sinikal, yang agak bodoh bagi aku, oleh Ngeh Koo Ham. Banyak barang2 kemudahan di situ dan harganya memang murah. Turun escalator di tingkat bawah, ada promosi Astro, agak meriah dengan cabutan bertuah dan mascot man. Hari minggu dan cuti umum memang beginilah aktiviti yang disukai warga Ipoh bersama keluarga masing-masing. 

Aku teringat sekitar tahun 1992, MPOC (Malaysian Palm Oil Council) mengadakan satu promosi minyak sawit di The Store, Ipoh. Entah macam mana punya arrangement, aku dapat salah satu watak jadi mascot man untuk promosi MPOC tu. Panasnya costume tu ya amat tapi disebabkan elaun RM40 ¼ hari punya kerja.. beress!! RM40 zaman-zaman tu kira kaya woo!! Siap dapat ambik barang-barang promosi lagi, susu, sabun mandi, segala bagai... Kalau Tan Sri Yusof tahu aku pernah jadi antara mascot man untuk MPOC, mahu digelakkannya aku masa meeting AAC baru-baru ni. Tan Sri Yusof adalah CEO MPOC dan merupakan ahli Academic Advisory Council kami. Beliau merupakan seorang ‘fighter’ untuk Malaysian Palm Oil industry especially when dealing with market discrimination (shielding US domestic biodiesel industry from foreign competition) by the US. Dia juga ada blog sendiri... so cool!!

Esok Amin akan ke tempat baru untuk menyambung pengajiannya. Kali ini dia akan ke Madrasah Idrisiah yang bersebelahan dengan Masjid Ubudiah di Kuala Kangsar. Mulanya kami tak berapa pasti dengan sekolah ini tetapi setelah membuat sedikit homework, fahamlah kami yang sekolah tersebut merupakan antara sekolah ugama terulung di negeri ini. Ianya diasaskan semenjak 1922 oleh almarhum Sultan Idris I Mursyidul `Adzam Shah dan Tuan Guru Sheikh Haji Nawawi bin Haji Tahir. Madrasah ini telah mengalumnikan ramai tokoh antaranya mufti Perak sendiri, Dato’ Seri Harussani. 

Aerial view MADID

P/s - semoga Amin berjaya..

 

AAC, SMART & Lynas

This year 10^th Academic Advisory Council was held on 3 July 2012 at the ‘Kayangan’ meeting room, level 86 in PETT Twin Tower. As usual it was another heck of a job starting from preparing logistic matters; drafting the presentation materials, coordinating and collecting appropriate data and finally preparing the Minutes of meeting. Nevertheless, the meeting with Tun was something that I looking forward to each and every year. If my calculation is right, this is my fourth time having a meeting with the AAC members.

The Council amongst others discussed matters related to direction, strategy and proper planning for a ‘global university’ status. It’s an avenue for exchanging ideas between academicians and industry leaders, I must say. All members turned up for the meeting except for Prof Dieter Jahn (CEO BASF).


After the meeting, we were taken to MMC-Gamuda’s SMART tunnel control room for a visit. Datuk Zaidee himself briefed us on the history, operation and processes of the smart tunnel. SMART is an acronym of storm-water management and road tunnel, is the first and ‘smartest’ flood management and at the same time efficient road tunnel in the world. It started off with Tun Mahathir bold decision and aspiration to have smart roadways that will connect KL to Putrajaya in not more than 20 minutes driving. After sometimes, I do understand why Datuk Zaidee delivers the briefing with proud.

Prior to the trip to the SMART control room, I had a small chat with Datuk Zaidee.  We talked about Lynas and how rare earth, if it is developed and industrialized in Malaysia, could reduce at least 10% of total China domination of world’s rare earth. That 10% is huge in terms of dollars and cents. I guess that’s why some people ‘politically’ do not want the industry to take off citing environmental and safety as an issue.

As usual there are few good phrases of words from the meeting that I wish to highlight: -

a) Any long term investments especially in research and development, will always have a significant impact to the people and nation although it does not contribute to an immediate Return on Investment (ROI).

b) Aspiration has got to be realistic but at the same time should also be ambitious. The dilemma in balancing both aspects is of paramount important in order to have a clearer direction in achieving desired vision.

c) Students who are globally aware are those who are encouraged to develop their own critical thinking, have a broad basis in liberal art as well as being very competent in particular areas.

d) While we continue to learn from others, we must always take matters with 'a grain of salt' i.e. to accept the fact of other’s success but always maintain a degree of skepticism about its whole truth.

e) It is expected that in five-year time, a successful institution is the one that is better able to address the so-called 3Ps (people, planet & prosperity).

P/s – Convo event will be another hectic activities right after this... 

OMRA 2012 (Finale)

Panjang sungguh posting ini. Sebagai finalenya, berikut adalah beberapa penghayatan dan pengertian bagi ibadah umrah bagi diriku yang boleh dikongsi bersama dengan pembaca: -

Sesiapa yang menunaikan haji dan umrah adalah tetamu Allah dan hadir kerana jemputanNya. Selama ini telah banyak kali bonus yang diterima, duit yang telah cukup tapi sekiranya tidak dijemput, maka tiadalah kesempatan untuk kita ke sana. Sebagai hambaNya kita perlu banyak berdoa, berharap dan sentiasa bersedia kerana sekiranya kita telah dijemput, segala-galanya di dunia ini akan kita tinggalkan untuk menerima jemputan itu. Namun tidaklah layak kita berpergian sejauh Baitul Haram dengan segala dosa dan kekejian yang masih berdaki di hati dan fizikal kita. Jadi, perbanyakkanlah  berdoa dan bertaubat. Keikhlasan hati adalah antara penyebab kepada segala urusan kita dipermudahkan Allah SWT di Tanah Suci Mekah.

Ilmu pengetahuan (be it fikh, tasawuf atau tauhid) amat-amat perlu bagi mendapatkan penghayatan dalam melakukan ibadah. Seseorang tidak akan terkesan dengan segala perbuatan umrah dan haji apatah lagi menghayatinya tanpa ilmu pengetahuan bagi sebab-sebab perlakuan umrah dan haji tersebut. Contohnya berlari-lari anak di antara Safa & Marwah, Intipati doa tawaf setiap pusingan hatta beribtidda bagi orang laki-laki. “Dan hendaklah kamu membawa bekal dengan secukupnya, kerana sebaik-baik bekal itu ialah Takwa (memelihara diri), dan bertakwallah kepadaKu wahai orang-orang yang berakal (yang dapat memikir dan memahaminya).” petikan daripada Surah al-Baqarah ayat 197.

PENYERAHAN DIRI

Hidup ini adalah penyerahan diri secara total kepada qada’ dan qadar Allah SWT iaitu sebagai hamba kepada penciptanya. Segala ibadah hanya kepada Allah, segala permintaan hanya kepadaNya. Begitulah konsep penyerahan diri secara ikhlas yang sepatutnya dilakukan terhadap Allah SWT tanpa meninggalkan doa dan harapan. Berserahdirilah kepada ketentuan-ketentuanNya, hukum-hukumNya, dan takdirNya. Setiap jiwa di Tanah Haram akan merasai ujian dan setiap ujian itu harus ditangani dengan konsep penyerahan diri ini. Setiap ujian adalah kifarah. Justeru kepayahan, kesakitan, tekanan yang wujud semasa, sebelum atau selepas menunaikan haji dan umrah adalah ujian Allah SWT untuk hamba-hambaNya. Sebagaimana yang terdapat dalam sebuah hadis sahih daripada Abu Hurairah dan Abu Said Al-Khudri bahawa Rasulullah SAW telah bersabda “Tidaklah seorang mukmin dilanda kecemasan, kelelahan dan kesedihan, melainkan Allah SWT akan menghapuskan segala kesalahannya.”

Ibadah umrah dan haji mampu menjadi agen perubahan kepada keperibadian makhluk Allah. Itulah yang dapat aku rasakan sehingga posting ini ditulis. Esok-esok aku berserah lagi kepadaNya tetapi doaku untuk sentiasa diberikan petunjuk ke jalan yang benar tidak akan lagi lekang dari bibir. Kalaulah aku tahu ibadah umrah ini mampu mengubah keperibadianku sebegini rupa, sepatutnya dari dulu lagi aku patut ke sana. Apabila kita mampu membuat diri terasa berdosa ianya adalah hasilan dari sifat terpuji yang telah kita miliki. Ianya jelas merupakan agen perubahan terbesar yang terhasil daripada ibadah umrah tersebut.

Berdoa dan bertaubatlah dengan sebenar-benarnya kerana segala permintaan InsyaAllah akan dikurniakan oleh Allah. Begitulah juga halnya walaupun kita tidak lagi berada di Tanah Haram. Berdoalah kita sentiasa kerana Allah SWT pasti menunaikannya dengan caraNya yang tersendiri.

Mengunjungi Rasulullah SAW seolah-olah seperti kita bersemuka dengan Baginda. Namun hati yang keras dengan segala macam dosa tidak akan dapat melihat Baginda seperti yang sepatutnya. Jadi banyakkanlah mendengar kisah2 Baginda, banyakkanlah memahami jerih payah SAW meninggikan syiar Islam sehingga kita ini diberikan harta yang paling berharga – iaitu dilahirkan menjadi seorang Muslim. Begitu juga dengan pengorbanan dan perjuangan sahabat-sahabat serta teman perjuangan Rasulullah SAW patutnya dihayati dengan penuh keinsafan dan kesyahduan.

P/s – sebagai panduan untuk diri ini (juga anda perhaps)..

26th Dec Workshop

Dec 26th, when almost everyone is with their loved one finishing the last few days of 2011, I on the other handy got to be with the participants of UTP Filing System Workshop here in Cameron Highland. Don't get me wrong thou, I do like these kind of workshop-ping. It's just that this week supposedly to be rrthe only week that I could take leave before the start of new year (and before I lost all my right to complete my leave for 2011).

Lets not talk so much on the sobbing part. I was invited to this workshop in replacing En SAN. I do feel honor when he asked me to reps him but at the same time I just could not imagine the expectation that will arise from the audience. Eventually and thankfully, the session went smoothly. Below is the excerpt from my opening speech for the workshop: -

The UTP Filing System, as I have been informed, is an initiative and effort to establish a proper file management which will include not only filing procedures but also developing a proper storing, retrieval and archiving system. Theoretically, if your office is in a mess and you don’t know where to start when it comes to filing away all the files and documents, you have got a real problem on your hands. If this is the situation, it won’t be an easy task to sort the mess out. It is for this reason that I believe it is necessary that you need some kind of office filing or shelving system that keeps your office organized.

Documents need to be filed away in a proper order so that when a particular document is needed it can be found in no time. Offices are required to store files and documents so they cannot just be thrown away. These may include records of the daily transactions that the university has made throughout the years, all the accounts and reports, important minutes of meeting as well as the shareholders details. If these important documents are kept in a haphazard way, the univer-sity will not be able to find them when they are required. These documents may also be needed as proof, in case the univer-sity is involved in Research Univer-sity audit for instant or perhaps some kind of a law suit.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Seperti yang kita sedia maklum, UTP telah menerima penarafan Tier 5 di bawah Sistem Penarafan Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia (SETARA 2009). Penarafan ini secara langsung telah mengiktiraf proses pembelajaran dan pengajaran di UTP sebagai berstatus cemerlang. Pada 2012 ini, satu lagi proses audit SETARA yang melibatkan bukan hanya satu tapi dua audit iaitu SETARA dan D-SETARA akan dijalankan. Sejajar dengan hasrat dan objektif UTP untuk meningkatkan mutu dan aktiviti penyelidikan dan inovasi, pihak universiti juga telah meletakkan sasaran tahun 2013 untuk mendapatkan status Universiti Penyelidikan.

Bagi ketiga-tiga proses audit di atas, SETARA, D-SETARA dan Universiti Penyelidikan - memerlukan satu mekanisma atau system pengurusan file yang berkesan. Tujuan utama pengurusan file yang berkesan adalah untuk mempromosikan budaya perkongsian maklumat dan dalam pada masa yang sama memudahkan urusan kerja sedia ada seperti mudahcara pengaksesan data, penyimpanan rekod, analisis data, trend dan sebagainya.

UTP’s achievements especially in the area of teaching and learning for the past couple of years back have been tremendously increasing. As support staff, we need to ‘run’ as fast as the other counterpart i.e. the academic. Otherwise, we will be left behind and will not be able to ‘taste’ the victory when the times come. In realizing this, ITMS, under the good hand of previous and current Senior Managers, En Naziri and En Sabri respectively has come out with the SharePoint initiative, i.e. the electronic based total solutions of UTP filing and record management. SharePoint is a web-based intranet that can help improve one’s effectiveness by allowing us to set up centralised data to be used, edited and shared. Most importantly, this initiative ensures that records are able to be retrieved as and when needed. Therefore, filing management, both paper and electronic, as well as physical record, are of paramount important.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The next few years are expected to be challenging ones for us in realizing our aspiration to become Research Univer-sity by 2013 and beyond. Therefore, I would like to urge every single one of us to play the dual role of not only an implementer but at the same time a leader in our very own way. We need to have the drive and motivation and most importantly the perseverance in doing the job tasked to us.

Saya sesungguhnya berasa envy dengan segala usaha dan dedikasi yang tuan-tuan dan puan-puan tunjukkan kerana saya telah dimaklumkan bahawa initiatif UTP Filing System ini telah bermula semenjak Mac 2011 lagi. Inilah dia contoh drive dan perseverance yang saya maksudkan tadi. Congratulations to the Staff Internal Training and Development Group (SITDG), Puan Anne and gang, Information Resource Centre, led by En Naziri, Cik Syarifah and their team members, En Sabri, Cik Maniza and ITMS staff for the effortless work especially in the SharePoint initiatives and last but not least, all the participants of this workshop. I hope all of you will go back and implement the filing system in your respective department, fully in assisting the univer-sity to achieve its aspirations.

To the organizing committee, my deepest congratulations on the work done and I hope the two-and-half-day workshop will be fruitful and succeed. Thank you for inviting me to this workshop.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dengan lafaz Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, saya bagi mewakili En SAN, merasmikan pembukaan workshop on UTP Filing System.

P/s - performance wise? Bolehla...ape celup tokkk!!

Honorary Doctorate

It has been sometimes since I last updated this blog. Poor her, dia terabai sekian lama. I was busy, busy, busy and busy. No other good excuses than busy-ness. I and the rest of the team were technically involved with the conferment of honorary doctorate to the President of Turkmenistan, held in the glorious Dewan Filharmonik. The event took roughly about 45 mins but the preparation is like for ages. Nevertheless, everything went smoothly as planned and I thanked God for that. With all the ‘havoc’, and ‘less-coordination’ efforts, we finally passed thru the 8th Dec heyday.

Here bit about the recipient..

PRESIDENT BERDI

His Excellency Mr Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, is a graduate of the Turkmen State Medical Institute (TSMI), where he later became Associate Professor of Preventive Dentistry. His Excellency also obtained his Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science in Medical Sciences. In 1997, His Excellency was appointed Minister of Health and Medical Industry, and four years later, advanced to become Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet Ministers of Turkmenistan. In December 2006, following the demise of the late President Saparmyrat Niyazov, His Excellency was made Acting President of Turkmenistan. In February 2007, His Excellency was elected as the President of Turkmenistan through a popular vote.

Turkmenistan has significant long-term energy potential. It is home to the world’s fourth-largest reserves of natural gas and a substantial endowment of oil. Under His Excellency’s premiership, her petroleum industry has remained vibrant and prosperous — a fact borne out by the active participation of numerous foreign oil and gas corporations including *PETRONAS. *PETRONAS participation in Turkmenistan’s petroleum industry represents its most significant investment outside Malaysia and in the Central Asian region. With support of the Turkmenistan Government, *PETRONAS recently commenced the nation’s first offshore production as part of an integrated oil and gas development plan. Other milestones include the nation’s first fabrication yard in Kiyanly for the fabrication of offshore platforms.

This vitality and investor confidence is no accident; instead owing itself largely to His Excellency’s policies. His Excellency has gone to great lengths to promote national science as the primary driver of Turkmenistan’s future progress. He has sought to increase the number of qualified scientists and specialists, and strengthened collaboration between science and industry at both the national and international levels — measures that have helped ensure the adoption of best practices and innovations, including those applicable to the petroleum industry. To support and sustain the widespread application of science and technology, His Excellency has embarked on large-scale reforms in Education and strengthened international co-operation in this area. His Excellency’s economic reforms have also helped strengthen Turkmenistan’s investment climate, which have not only increased inward investment into the petroleum industry to fund projects that monetise and realise Turkmenistan’s resource potential, but also — and just as importantly — indirectly facilitated transfers of petroleum engineering technology from abroad.

Beyond technology and engineering, Turkmenistan’s petroleum industry has benefited from His Excellency’s foreign policy measures. His Excellency promotes good neighbourliness, openness, mutual respect and goodwill in the international arena and has sought to establish Turkmenistan as a force for stability within Central Asia. All of this has helped create a conducive environment for deeper cross-border energy market integration at both the regional and trans-continental levels. By extending the geographical reach of Turkmenistan’s energy potential, this deeper energy market integration stands to create a self-sustaining, virtuous circle — augmenting the value of her petroleum resources, attracting greater inward investment, spurring further exploration activities and with the attendant discoveries, extending her petroleum resource-base even further; securing thereby the prosperity of current and future generations of the Turkmen people.

His Excellency’s efforts in promoting the advanced application of technology and engineering in Turkmenistan’s petroleum industry is a prime example of harnessing the power of science for the benefit of humanity. Thus, The Institution’s Board and Senate have honoured His Excellency with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Petroleum Engineering & Technology, honoris causa.

(Excerpt from citation read by Datuk VC’s speech during the conferment)

P/s – Zamani, Zaihan, the CRPAs and ITMS, led by Khalid have done a very good job throughout. Two thumbs up for them. Boss did great on stage too :-)

 

Transformation 'Soft Part'

The Institute has embarked on its Transformation Plan initiative back in 2009 with objective to identify and recommend appropriate action plans to accelerate the university’s R&D capacity and capability in order to become a world class research university. The near to-date target or immediate milestone was to achieve a Research University status by 2013. I was heavily involved with this Plan.

Two years down the road, we have finalized the plan, I would say in details, consists of not only immediate action plans to achieve the RU status but also a long-term strategies to ensure sustainability. Putting too much pressure with workload during the implementation phase of the Transformation, be it academia or administrator, needs motivation and morale boost. A set of new environment whereby transformation is not regarded as a threat but rather as a stimulating opportunity should be emphasized and put in place. I guess that’s why we have abundant of strategies, plentiful of initiatives and many-many action plans in ensuring a new environment to the staff. We want the staff to ask themselves what they can contribute to the institution rather than the otherwise.

That was then. I was with the rest of my colleagues today for a sharing session with the Transformation Team. They have a very focus presentation which I believe should come from a full time job effort. My expectations were never low until Khalid raises a very pertinent question whether all the above so called soft part is taken into consideration in ensuring sustainability of the Transformation. Then only I know that most of the soft part was not well covered.

Somebody needs to do something. Otherwise, the Transformation will not last long. It will only create short term gain but in the long term it might goes down the drain. I’m quite concern…

P/s – Good presentation on the slides thou…

Man With Integrity

(Bernama 02 Ogos, 2011) - Datuk Dr Rosti Saruwono mengambil keputusan meletakkan jawatan selaku Naib Canselor Uni-versiti Selangor (Unisel) dengan notis 24 jam berkuatkuasa esok. Beliau mengesahkan peletakan jawatannya menerusi khidmat pesanan ringkas sebagai membalas SMS yang dihantar oleh Bernama bagi mendapatkan pengesahan berita tindakannya itu.

"Ada keputusan yang saya tak sanggup laksanakan iaitu untuk melucutkan jawatan tiga pegawai Unisel tanpa proses sewajarnya," katanya ketika menjelaskan antara punca beliau meletakkan jawatan.

Berasal dari Klang, Selangor Rosti pernah berkhidmat sebagai Timbalan Presiden Bahagian Pendidikan Petronas dan rektor pertama Uni-versiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) sebelum dilantik sebagai Naib Canselor Unisel pada 2 Mac, 2009. Beliau menggantikan Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Razali Agus yang mengosongkan jawatan itu pada Julai 2008. Semasa baru dilantik, Rosti berkata beliau tidak akan menjadi "Pak Turut" kepada mana-mana pihak dan ingin memastikan institusi pengajian tinggi swasta milik kerajaan negeri itu tidak dijadikan medan berpolitik. Menurut sumber, Rosti telah diarahkan oleh kepimpinan Unisel untuk melucutkan jawatan tiga pegawai -- Pendaftar Rokmaa Mat, Dekan Fakulti Perniagaan Prof Dr Khalifah Othman dan Pengarah Pemasaran dan Komunikasi Korporat Halid Hasbullah.

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Kudos to Datuk Dr Rosti. Being a righteous man with full of integrity I could not agree more with his decision to quit the post with immediate effect. After all, things must be too hard for him to handle when what matter most is politics. It was sad to hear an integrity and good governance (as in the case of the Unisel management) were buried down under just to ensure political sustainability of some. I might be wrong to pre-judge the situation; there might be something amiss, but professionally you don’t act on hearsay i.e. action taken until proven guilty.

Patutla 2 - 3 hari ni cuaca panas sangat.

When I joined the institution, Datuk Rosti was no longer the Rector. He instead was made the Vice President of Education since 2005 before being appointed the Unisel's Vice-Chancellor on March 2, 2009. I never had any chance to serve him until in 2009 when he chaired the Transformation’s Steering Committee. That was also not very long due to his official retirement from PETRONAS. Nevertheless, I had once accompanied him to South Africa for a mini convocation in Cape Town. I would view him as an easy going person, chilled and easy to communicate with but at the same time very committed and meticulous in whatever he does. He love to read and always stressed that life-long education is the factor for the strength of the nation (and the company) of which I found very interesting to a man of his credible.

All I could say is Unisel might have lost a man with the utmost credibility. Innalillah..

Happy 2nd retirement Datuk, we UTPian are so proud of you!

P/s – rupanya panas lagi di Unisel..

Re-coup

The institution on last Wed & Thursday organized a workshop with aims to prepare a 5-year plan/strategy to re-coup expenses i.e. to ensure break-even position in a specified time. The 1 ½ day workshop, which is related to the last AAC meeting on financial sustainability, was held in Telok Dalam Resort in Pangkor Island.

In the effort to position itself as a leading institution to serve the petroleum industry in this region, the management has strived for Research University status started off with the Transformation Plan back in 2009. Since last year, we have engaged in the execution of the Transformation Plan and everyone seems to be motivated in achieving the RU status. Simultaneously, the management has also been asked to reduce or recoup its expenses as the current increase in revenue was not parallel as compared to the increase in the cost. Eventually, we were asked to secure a breakeven point in a specified period (of which most of the participants view this situation as a slow but surely departing process with the parent company)

As usual, the workshop schedule was very hectic that on the first day we ended up at about 11PM. Nevertheless, we surreptitiously took our time to play beach volleyball and flying some kites (under the good initiative by En Md Akhir).

I do not wish to describe the output from the workshop cos’ for me it’s a decision that need to be made by the management. All I can say that every situations require in-depth study and analysis (kinda chicken and egg situation) before we can bring down the strategies to became an initiative/action plan.

See follows some nice pic taken from iP4..

 

P/s- Selamat menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubarak. Semoga dengan kedatangan Ramadhan yang mulia akan membawa seribu rahmat kepada kita semua. Oh ya..selamat hari lahir Fadil Ariff :-)