1,890 graduate at 16th Unimas convocation

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WELL DONE: The seven academic award recipients pose with Salahuddin (sixth left), Khairuddin (fifth left) and Unimas board of directors chairman Datu Dr Hatta Solhi (seventh left) after the ceremony. – Photo by Rais Sanusi.

KOTA SAMARAHAN: The 16th Convocation of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) sees a total of 1,890 graduates receiving their scrolls at the ceremony held at four different sessions at DeTar Putra hall of the campus here.

Out of the numbers, 16 of them are graduates of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), 178 obtained their Master’s degree and 1,695   Bachelor degree.

Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is conferred the Honorary Doctorate in Development Studies.

The two-day ceremony ends today.

IN ANTICIPATION: Graduates waiting for their turn to receive their certificate from Salahuddin. – Photo by Rais Sanusi.

The first session held yesterday morning was graced by Head of State Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Muhammad Salahuddin.

Addressing the graduates and parents at the first session, Unimas vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Ab Hamid said the university had recorded a total of  13,967 students since its establishment two decades ago.

He said the latest enrolment registering 4,142 new students was the largest batch so far.

Unimas is also home to nearly 200 international students from over 20 countries, he added.

“2012 is a fruitful year for Unimas.  Apart from the historical achievement on the new enrolment; our ranking among the Asian universities has been improved from 191-200 in 2011 to 161-170 in 2012.”

Khairuddin said the university welcomed the amendment on University and University College Act 1971 to give more room for students of institutions of higher learning to be involved in politics.

He opined that the amendment was timely and in line with the transformation effort of the government on human capital development for a better future.

“However, the freedom given should be used rationally and ethically.

CONGRATULATIONS: Salahuddin (right) presents a certificate to a graduate. – Photo by Tan Song Wei.

“Students need to be responsible for every action,” he said, adding that a related code of conduct of Unimas had been reviewed to complement the amendment.

The code of conduct would enable Unimas to play a greater role in guiding and educating its students to have integrity and good values when involved in politics.

Meanwhile, seven graduates had been selected to receive the Academic Award 2012.

Norsyafikah Asyilla Nordin of Faculty of Resource Science and Technology and Fong Pui Kwan of Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development were the recipients of ‘Pendidikan DiRaja’ Award.

Fong Sook Fun of Faculty Economics and Business was named the recipient of Chancellor Award while Sultana Parvin Habeebur Rahman of Faculty of Resource Science and Technology was the recipient of Pro-Chancellor Award.

Among the three recipients of the Senate Special Award, two  were from the Faculty Engineering namely Nicholas Lim Woon Leong and Thong Chia Chia.

The other recipient was Ho Soo Ying from the Faculty of Resource Science and Technology.