The ‘freshies’ taking their students’ oath in front of Unimas academic staff and Fadillah (third left) at Dewan Delima, led by Muadzam Shahril Marjuki from the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology. — Photo by Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING: Seventy-Seven freshies took their ‘students’ oath’ at Unimas for the February session of 2013-2014 in front of its academic staff led by Vice Chancellor professor Dato Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi.
The ceremony was witnessed by the Minister of Works Datuk Fadillah Yusuf, who was the guest of honour and mentor for the university.
In his speech to the new undergraduates, Fadillah assured the new intake that they had chosen the right university to further their studies as it is one of the best higher institutions of learning in the country.
“I want you to take the opportunity and use the facilities here and develop yourself to become the country’s future human capital,” he said before a student representative led his peers to take the students’ pledge at Dewan Delima, DeTAR Putra Unimas, yesterday.
“Don’t be complacent but you must strive to be successful so that you will have a better career when you begin employment in the field that you excel,” he added.
Fadillah said Malaysia was once an agricultural country but had been transformed into a developing industrial nation as it matured in human capital.
“To sustain our domestic growth and economy in the future, we must have expertise in various fields and only by having so, we will have the competitive edge over our rivals in South-east Asian countries,” he stressed.
By setting up a university with universal syllabus that has attracted foreign students, it is indication that Unimas has quality to offer in terms of academic and research, he added.
Fadillah wanted local students to learn from their foreign counterparts and vice versa because they all can gain and sharpen their knowledge together.
“In secondary school days, we have a different perception towards what we study but once you enter a university we have to get to another level. Only with the right knowledge can we get good results to become illustrious students,” he elaborated.
He urged the ‘freshies’ to be good in various fields and not to focus on just one area of academic work but to excel in science and technology which the country’s human resources are still lacking in now.
Fadillah said that during their tenure of study at the university, the students should foster close rapport with foreign students and build a network with them.
“Not everybody who comes out from university will have a career in their field of choice but what they learn might fit in to pursue a business and this is where networking in the international circle comes handy,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Unimas Vice Chancellor Prof Dato Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi reminded the newcomers that the university needs to be a model and symbol of solidarity for other Malaysians and as an entity with high values, the university is always proud of its own excellence tradition and not to be influenced by negative influence from outsiders.
Kadim said that as undergraduates, they should be able to carry and portray themselves with high values and tradition.
He said the students were given the responsibility to carry themselves well and be accountable as mature individuals to be the potential leaders of tomorrow.
“We do not want to produce scientists, engineers and technocrats who are robotic in nature but instead, you must realise that the university has a role as an agent of change and we want you to be the spokesperson for our community,” he said.