USM 40th Convocation

Alhamdulillah, the first and second session of USM 40th Convocation was successfully held yesterday (12th Aug 2009). Being in the first session, I had the chance to receive the scroll from HRH Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, the Chancellor of USM.

Being in USM, even just for a year, has taught me on how to be more independent, proactive. Insya Allah, I shall not forget the memories there.

Menjelang Majlis Konvokesyen USM ke-40

The USM 40th Convocation will be held on 12 - 16 August 2009, and I will be one of the graduands to receive the MSc scroll on the first session. But I am not as excited as during my undergraduate convocation at IIUM. The feeling is different. It's obvious.. I've just spent one year at USM.

Last time, someone said to me that the undergraduate convocation is a must, once in a lifetime. Unlike for Masters and PhD, people do not really care about convocation. It's maybe true. My wife and mom are those who really want to see me receiving the scroll for the second time. Well, fulfilling others' wish is quite a good reason to attend the ceremony. Right?

By the way, Alhamdulillah, I'm glad that I've reached up to this point, but of course the sky is always the limit. And very soon after this convocation, I'll be temporarily back to IIUM..Insya Allah.

H1N1 at USM Engineering Campus

I was just informed by one of the lecturers here that the H1N1 virus is now at USM Engineering campus, Nibong Tebal. Few students have been suspected of the virus attack. It's not surprised since few days before that, the ILP (Institut Latihan Perindustrian), which is one of the closest neighbour to USM was also closed due to the virus attack.

So it's now the USM turn to be shut down for 1 week (29/07 - 05/08). The news has been spread so fast. But I heard that it's only for undergraduate students. For postgraduate students and staff, the business is still running as usual.

Seemingly, nothing can stop the virus now, except all people give their full co-operation (I doubt that..too difficult). Only Allah can stop it, but efforts are still needed to fight this scary pandemic virus attack. For whatever reasons, surely this is a test from Him. Let's get back to Him.

USM granted Apex University

Have you ever heard about Apex University? Personally, I just heard when my supervisor mentioned about it last week. Then I started looking here and there to have some ideas on what Apex university is. Many people have predicted that UM will be the one - Apex University, which has the potential to be world-class university. And today, what a big surprise, USM has been announced as the Apex University.

Congratulation to USM for the great achievement, and of course I'm proud being one of the USM students. It also indicates that I've chosen the right university (among local universities) to pursue my study.

And as an alumni, as well as a staff of IIUM, I wish that IIUM will do better, and improve the performance, so that we can compete with other great universities in the future, insya Allah. For the sake of improvement, nothing's wrong to imitate the good things practiced by others.

---------------------------

The Star: USM granted Apex University

PUTRAJAYA: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted apex status and hundreds of millions of ringgit in additional funding to transform it into Malaysia's first world-class university.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that both quantitative and qualitative criteria were used to select USM under the accelerated programme for excellence (apex).

"The selection committee evaluated each university's state of readiness, transformation plan and preparedness for change.

"After a thorough evaluation, the committee decided that only one university truly met all the criteria, namely USM,'' said Khaled Wednesday in a press conference at his ministry. The Cabinet agreed to the decision at its meeting on Aug 27.

The university given apex status is one that has the greatest potential among Malaysian universities to be world-class, and as such, would be given additional assistance to compete with top-ranked global institutions, added Khaled.

With apex status, USM will be expected to move up the World University Rankings with a target of top 200 in five years' time and top 100, if not top 50, by 2020, he said.

Read more at The Star.

Bernama: USM Is Malaysia's Apex University

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was Tuesday chosen for the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (Apex), beating three other universities, including the country's oldest, the University of Malaya (UM).

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said USM was selected based on the university's transformation plan and its preparedness to make changes to its proposal paper.

"The selection for the Apex programme is not only based on past achievements and excellence, but more on the planning for the future and whether the university is able to achieve a world-class status within the stipulated period of five years," he said when announcing USM's selection for the programme.

During the five-year period, USM must be able to put itself among the world's Top 100 universities and among the Top 50 by 2020, he said.

He was confident that USM would be able to achieve a world-class standard.

"Let's see how USM fares and then we will decide whether to choose another for the programme," he added.

Mohamed Khaled said USM's selection for the programme did not mean that other universities were sidelined.

On the other hand, this should spur them to further improve their position, he said when asked why UM was not selected.

Nine public universities nationwide had submitted their application for the programme but only four -- USM, UM, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- were shortlisted.

USM's winning proposal paper is titled "Transforming Higher Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow".

The Apex university programme is proposed in the National Higher Education Strategic Plan where universities will be divided into three groups namely Apex University, Elite University and Competitive University.

An Apex university is a university of excellence used as a yardstick in higher education worldwide.

Under the programme, the Apex university was promised autonomy in finance, service scheme, management, student intake, study fees and determining the top leadership.

----------------------------

Wassalam.

Life as a student

Lama benar rasanya tak menulis di sini. Kalau dulu masa di UIA, banyak masa untuk semua ni. Tapi sekarang tak lagi di USM ni. Kehidupanku agak sibuk, dan mungkin boleh juga dikatakan agak kelam kabut di sini. Sememangnya cabaran untuk buat masters setahun ni agak tinggi. Walaupun hanya 3 courses yang perlu diambil semester ni, tp workload dan syllibusnya nya boleh tahan. Setiap course mewakili 4 credit hours. Selain dari exam, kami juga dikehendaki menyiapkan mini design, assignment & presentation. Dalam masa yg sama, research pun kena ada progress. Apatah lagi sebagai first batch, tentunya banyak pihak mahu menggunakan kami sebagai 'bahan eksperimen'.. isk3.

Ada pro & kontranya jd first batch ni. Dari segi syllibus & exam, mungkin kami lebih senang berbanding batch yg akan datang sebab kalau tengok trend soalan kita, samada peringkat sekolah hinggalah ke universiti, the toughness of questions is directly proportional to the time. Maknanya makin lama makin susah kot. Harapnya mcm tu lah. Tapi sejauh manakah kesenangan & kesusahan soalan tu tak boleh didefinisikan buat masa ni sebab kami tiada sebarang rujukan. Semuanya bermula dengan kami.

Apapun, masa setahun ni memang menuntut ketekunan, kesabaran & pengorbanan. Insya Allah, akan ku kuatkan semangat & gagahkan tulang empat kerat ni untuk harungi semua tu. Cabaran yg akan datang pastinya lebih hebat. No problems, no fun!

Another New Chapter

I haven't had the chance to jot down something since I left UIAM 0n last 27th June, while taking a short break before I start a new life as a student again in USM, Engineering Campus, which I consider as another new chapter of my life.

I registered at USM on 30th June 2008, but the semester had only started on last Monday. There were originally 15 students accepted for this mixed-m0de of M.Sc in Chemical Engineering, but only 7 turned up on the registration day. Five of them are ex-students of USM, while only me from UIAM and another one from UiTM. For the moment, I am still in the mode of 'menyesuaikan diri dalam persekitaran yang baru' (familiarizing myself in a new environment). The 7 of us are the pioneer batch for this mixed-mode program at the School of Chemical Engineering here, and we’re supposed to finish everything by June next year.

Since last Monday, I've been traveling all the way from Taiping to Nibong Tebal, which took me about an hour, and cost me around RM20 per day for the petrol. At last, Alhamdulillah, I managed to rent a house in Parit Buntar. Nibong Tebal and Parit Buntar are 2 different places in 2 different states (Penang & Perak), but it takes me less than 10 minutes to reach USM.

Overall, everything looks ok here, but of course there're huge gaps & differences between USM and UIAM...the environment, the students, cafeteria, and so forth. So far, I'm happy with the lecturers, who are very friendly and helpful. The courses required for us are also critical in providing us with a clear direction towards our research goals. May Allah make it easy for us, amin..

Wassalam.

Hari-hari terakhir di UIAM

Alhamdulillah, hampir segala urusan berkenaan study leave sudah pun selesai. Cuma agreement dengan UIAM je belum. Harapnya officer yang menguruskannya dapat mempercepatkan sedikit. Kalau tak, terpaksalah mereka pos dokumen yang berkenaan ke Taiping nanti. Tu pun satu kerja lagi nak kena pos dokumen tu ke MSD balik..huh.

Urusan dengan KPT semua dah settle. Pergi ke Putrajaya cuma sekali je, untuk ambik offer letter, borang agreement & medical check-up, serta beberapa dokumen lain. Lepas dah lengkapkan semua tu, malas nak ke sana lagi, so courier je, cepat & senang. Lagipun minyak mahal lar sekarang.. Hmm..buat medical check-up di Klinik UIAM je, sekaligus untuk USM sekali, di samping untuk KPT. Setahun yang lepas masa nak report duty sbg assistant lecturer, semua ok.. darah, urine, x-ray & penglihatan, cuma berat badan amatlah ringan pada masa tu. Tapi kali ni, ujian penglihatan saya bolehlah dikira gagal, tu yg doktor cakap lah. Memang agak kurang nampak pun masa nurse suruh saya baca huruf-huruf tu. Sekali nampak mcm 'C', sekali macam 'G', sekali lg macam 'O' pulak..ish3. Jadi doktor mintak saya gi check mata di klinik mata (optometrist). Hoho..dengan kata lain, kena pakai spec ke? Oh, tidak! Kalau tak pakai spec, nanti saya akan mengalami sindrom sakit kepala, kata doktor. Sekarang masih lg berkira-kira samada nak gi check atau tak. Kalau gi, dah tentu memang kena pakai spec. Tapi sampai bila nak lari? Nampaknya nikmat penglihatan yg Allah bagi ni dah semakin ditarik.. ingatkan mataku ini akan terus terang-benderang sampai ke hari tua..hehe. Panjangnya cerita pasal mata. Berat badan pulak ada peningkatan kalau banding dengan sebelum ni. Biasalah, hati bahagia, selera makan pun bertambahlah:-)

Walaupun dalam kekalutan nak meninggalkan UIAM ni, saya telah diminta oleh EIT Coordinator untuk melawat beberapa orang pelajar yg sedang menjalani industrial training. Mereka ini bertebaran di seluruh pelosok negara. Tapi saya dengan senang hatinya telah request untuk pergi ke Kelantan. Ada 5 orang pelajar yang buat praktikal di sana (3 di HUSM, 2 di MPKB). Sebenarnya ni ambik peluang nak balik kampung sekali..hehe. Bila dah dapat official letter drp EIT Unit, rupanya saya kena gi melawat seorang lagi pelajar di Banting (Sime Darby Research Center). Wah, jauh tu Banting. Dahlah sepanjang hidup ni tak pernak jejak kaki ke sana. Apapun, alhamdulillah semalam saya dah pun menyelesaikan tugasan saya di Banting tu dengan ditemani oleh Br. Raziff (Engineer kat Dept. of Biotech). Oklah jugak, dapat pengalaman baru. Sepanjang perjalanan tu, ada melalui beberapa pusat & institusi yg selama ni hanya dengar nama je, tapi tak tahu di mana lokasinya. Antaranya adalah Malaysia Nuclear Agency (dulunya MINT). Oo..kat situ rupanya. Walaupun ambik masa dua jam untuk sampai di lokasi tu, semuanya berjalan lacar tanpa sebarang 'kesesatan' di jalanan (berpandukan map yg student tu dah fax).

Dan esok (Sabtu), sesudah subuh saya akan bertolak ke Kelantan untuk tujuan lawatan tersebut. Walaupun minyak mahal, tapi apa boleh buat, ini memang tugasan, di samping membantu department yg semakin hari semakin kurang staffnya..isk3. Tapi takpe, boleh claim mileage serta elaun-elaun lain nanti. Kadar untuk claim mileage ni patutnya dinaikkan lagi lah bila harga petrol dah naik ni (demand sikit..)

Semalam bila buka laman web Mufti Perlis, ada nampak satu poster pemberitahuan tentang Wacana Perdana sempena 100 hari Pemerintahan Pakatan Rakyat diadakan pd malam esok di Kompleks Balai Islam, Lundang, Kota Bharu. Yang menarik perhatian saya adalah antara senarai ahli panel yg dijemput, iaitu Mufti Perlis sendiri, Dr. Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin dan juga Prof. Dr. Abd Aziz Bari dari Kulliyah of Law, UIAM. Ini yg membuatkan saya terpanggil untuk menghadirinya. Insya Allah, kalau ada kekuatan & kesempatan.

Ok, cukup untuk setakat ni. Kita berjumpa lagi di ruangan yg lain, Insya Allah. Doakan keselamatan saya sekeluarga.

Wassalam.