WEDNESDAY, 2 AUGUST - Three International Relations students made it to the qualifying round at the national level for the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Youth Debate on Human Rights Debate 2017.

The students, namely, Jordan A/L Irutheeyanathan, Nurul Askikin Mohd Nohan and Umi Nur Zahidah Mohd Kaslan, were invited by AICHR Malaysia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to attend the selection process at Putrajaya last July 22.

Their participation in this national selection was sponsored by Suhakam Kota Kinabalu Office through the help of Comm. Datuk Godfrey Gregory Joitol.
Among the three, Jordan was successful in being chosen as part of the 4-person Malaysian Team to this debate competition to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on September 3 to 6.

Another student, Umi Nur was also named as reserved member in any case that the four members are not able to join the regional event.

This is the first time that UMS is participating in an AICHR program.
The AICHR Youth Debate on Human Rights was organised since 2014 to increase awareness on human rights issues among ASEAN youths. This year, the theme is on "The 50th Anniversary of ASEAN: Forging Ahead Together Towards a Sustainable Community."
Author: Ayesah Uy Abubakar

WEDNESDAY, 26 JULY – Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) today had an appreciation luncheon  for two of its staff, Dr Rosnah Ishak and Ailina Jampadin who would be leaving the faculty by end of July.

Dr. Rosnah Ishak, a Senior Lecturer who was the Postgraduate Programme Coordinator for FKSW would be leaving UMS to join another public university closer to her hometown in the Peninsular Malaysia.

Prior to her appointment in UMS, she was a teacher with SMK Merotai in Tawau, Sabah for three years.

Assistant Registrar of FKSW, Ailina Jampadin, who has been with FKSW since March 2013 is assigned to the Centre for Postgraduate Studies (PPPS), UMS starting 1 August 2017.

The move is part of a rotation system for its management and support staff practiced in UMS.

In his speech, Dean of FKSW, Professor Dr. Ismail Ibrahim thanked both staff for their dedication and commitment in serving UMS particularly at the faculty the past years.

“We should always strive to work diligently without reservation wherever work brings us to and to give our best,” he said.

Also present at the gathering were the Deputy Dean of Academic and Internationalisation, Dr. Marsitah Mohd Radzi; Deputy Dean of Student Affairs and Alumni, Dr. Mohamad Puad Bebit; and Heads of Programmes. – FL

Photo: Ak Ab Hashim Bin Pg Ab Ghani, FKSW

TUESDAY, 25 JULY – Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) snatched two awards at the recent UMS Excellence Award held at Dewan Resital, UMS.

The awards were for Best Income Generator, and Best Website (Academic Category).

For the Best Income Generator award, they received RM5,000 plus a certificate, and RM1,500 plus a certificate for the Best Website (Academic Category) award.

A lecturer from FKSW, Associate Professor Dr. Ismail Ali who is also the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs and Alumni won the Best Academic Books Award for the Social Science and Humanities Category for his book entitled, “Sejarah dan Pembudayaan Perahu Tradisi di Sabah”.

The UMS Excellence Award also included other awards such as Leadership Award, Long Service Award, Innovation Award, Eco-Campus Creativity Award and Organisational Management Award.

The event was officiated by the Vice-Chancellor of UMS, Professor Dr D Kamarudin D Mudin and was also attended by the Registrar cum Chairman of the event, No’man Datuk Haji Ahmad, Principal Officers and former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mohd. Harun Abdullah. - FL

MONDAY, 5 JUNE - My name is Lukas Tretau, I am 25 years old and I come from Hamburg in Northern Germany (my friends sometimes call me ‘Hamburger’ when they are hungry).

I just finished my mobility exchange programme between University of Hamburg and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Being here in this beautiful state of Sabah for two semesters, I gained lots of friends and experiences.

After a long but enjoyable flight I was relaxed and landed in Kota Kinabalu. Then the officer at KKIA informed me that my luggage unfortunately didn’t leave Hong Kong International Airport and that it might come two or three days later. Biarkan sahaja, I am in the tropics why would I need clothes!

Not long after that news I met my supervisors and contact persons from the international office of UMS who were very welcoming and supportive in finding a shelter for this orang putih and helped me in applying for a student visa.

It did not take long until I found friends who took me around Kota Kinabalu to show me the world and extend my horizon (excuse the drama here).           
We went to experience the chilly weather in Kundasang and the ice cream from Desa Cattle – it was amazing, felt like home with all the cows and the cool wind.

Another trip and another group of friends took me to Pantai Rang Bulan in Kota Belud. A beautiful and empty beach welcomed us there to do a boat tour through the reefs and enjoy life.  Luckily this bunch of people also liked to main-main so it was easy to convince them doing some rides on the Banana Boat, another great day in paradise.  I was very lucky to meet so many open-minded and open-hearted people just after my arrival, still being a total stranger. 

Nowhere else have I experienced such a welcoming atmosphere.

Whether we just went out for lepak-lepak (seriously, I still do not understand how Malaysian people can stay up that long at night and wake up again early in the morning) or Karaoke (that was a surprise and not a nice one, I am a really bad singer!), to visit the Sabah Tea Garden or Kudat; everyone was determined to include and integrate me to make me feel home. Now I can say that Sabah and KK especially feels like my second home.  

Yes, my friends even helped me look pretty – am I not cantik?!

During my time in Sabah I experienced a lot.  Local Muslim wedding, numerous sport events, local traditional cultural events in Membakut and also festivities like Japanese Cultural Night within UMS called ‘Bon Odori’.  Unfortunately I did not get to experience Kaamatan and Hari Raya. Sabah’s culture is super diverse: it does not matter where you are from.  You are here and you are welcomed! Many countries in Europe can learn from that.

Many years ago when I was still young - obviously I am very old now - I was very active in athletics, especially short distance sprinting. Therefore I took the chance of competing at the Sabah Open competition in Likas stadium in early September. I took part in the 100m sprint event and what all I could say I finished last! Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the other’s fault but honestly I assumed that the sad truth is, I was just out of shape and slow.  

In October, UMS gave us the chance of participating in the ‘International Students Sports Carnival’ organised by HELP University held in Kuala Lumpur.  We represented UMS in Futsal, Badminton and 4x100m relay.  We managed to get a silver medal for the sprint with smiling faces and a huge amount of fun. Our glorious team consisted of European, African, Chinese, Polynesian and Malaysian athletes, it was a blast!

Next to this kind of sports that I did for a long time, I started to play Frisbee, the game that is often mistaken and understood as a game for dogs where you throw a plate and it needs to catch it. Actually it is for human. The players are great and I enjoyed every time we gather and ‘go tossing’.  A small committee managed to organise a tournament in UMS.   It was my first Frisbee tournament and super tiring because I am white, old and fat but it was so much fun with an amazing atmosphere and sweating smiling faces.

I did not only do sports here, but also have been studying (sometimes). As a ‘Geography International’ student from Germany I enrolled in the HG20 programme, Nature Parks & Recreation.   Awesome choice! A great class, very sporting lecturers and super enjoyable field trips to places throughout Sabah!

After I studied one semester in UMS in the forestry faculty, I started my internship at Sabah Parks. Working in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, I had to go to the islands sometimes because I did a small research study on the crowding there.  Asking tourists of their opinions about the islands, and after that went sunbathing and swimming during lunch time, such a hard life, kan?  Still I missed climbing Mount Kinabalu and also didn’t make it to Pulau Tiga.  So I guess I will have to come back, Sabah be ready!

I could go on for a long time because I had a great time and did a lot of things but I will save the rest for another time.  Also, I played a (very small) role in one movie that is about to be released.  I even got made-up for it, comelnya! That was really exciting and I was very nervous because I was in front of the camera and although I usually talked people to death, that was something very new.

Before going back to my old life I felt like I wanted to do something worth remembering and so I managed to organise a sports event called triathlon (1^st UMS Mini-Sprint Triathlon) with the great support of a number of friends from UMS.  This event consists of swimming, cycling and running in one go.  It is very popular in Germany and very enjoyable (but exhausting) and so I wanted to share my passion and introduce it here.  It was marvellous and a success because hey: no one died!

I must say good bye and jumpa lagi for now but I will be back and if you feel like wanting to visit Hamburg, boleh bah kalau kau!