MONDAY, 30 NOVEMBER – UMS Press once again puts Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) name in the National Book Award (ABN) 2015 when it won 3 awards at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur, recently.
UMS Press was chosen to receive one of the Premier awards, Best Press Award (Government Agency).
Two other awards won were for Best General Book Category () through a book entitled, “The History of Financial Management and Development of Accounting Practice in North Borneo 1881-1963” written by Professor Dr. Rasid Mail, Associate Professor Dr. Raman Nordin and Md. Saffie Abdul Rahim.
Another award for Best General Books Category (Heritage Category) entitled, “Kimanis; Old State, Sacred Land” edited by Baszley Bee Ag. Basrah, Eko Prayitno Joko and Zainuddin Baco.
The selection was made by a panel of Professional ABN Appraisers 2015 chaired by Professor Datuk Wira Dr. Abdul Latif Abu Bakar, who is also the Head 1 of GAPENA.
The criteria for the award included quality and number of publications.
The Premier Award was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and award for the other categories were presented by the Minister of Education, Dato’ Seri Mahadzir Khalid. UMS Press Director, Associate Professor Dr. Asmady Idris represented UMS in receiving the awards.
Vice-Chancellor of UMS, Professor Datuk Dr. Mohd Harun Abdullah said he was very excited and proud of the outstanding achievements of UMS Press achieved this year.
“Last year, two awards were won, and it increased to three this year. This proves that UMS can produce high quality materials for reference and reading by the public,” he said this through his Facebook page, the message of which was uploaded during the event.
“3 trophies won at the National Book Awards 2015 have added to the collection of achievements in the field of publishing and writing,” he said.
ABN 2015 was organised by the National Book Development Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) established in accordance with the the government’s aspiration to develop the reading culture by all Malaysians to be well-informed and knowledgeable.
ABN is open to all employees, publishers and book industry players to be given the right recognition and incentives.
Over 30 categories were contested this year.
The ABN ceremony was also held in conjunction with the Malaysia Book Expo which was held from 25-29 November 2015 at PWTC, organised by the National Book Foundation in collaboration with Kuala Lumpur Universiti, GAPENA, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the National Library. – CD (fl)
Source: Anicius Justin Adeh, Publications Officer, UMS Press
