TUESDAY, 17 APRIL – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) through the Malaysia Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Sabah branch office under the Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) collaborates with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) as the CTI Focal Point in managing the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reef, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF).

Recently, CTI Sabah and UMS are pleased to host the 5^th CTI-CFF Climate Change Adaptation Working Group Regional Exchange (CCA REX) and Grant Writing Workshop.

The objective of this programme is to recall and review the priority outline in the REAP-CCA, both at the country and regional level, and also to discuss and assess the status of implementation in order to identify what needs to be done to achieve the REAP objectives.

Besides that, the program try to develop and finalise the draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the establishment of the Regional COE on CCA, develop the course outline for Executive Course on CCA designed for local governments based on the LEAP Guide and also to enhance the skills of the participants in terms of proposal-writing to increase chances of winning grants to support the national CCA programmes and activities.

Deputy Secretary General MOSTI, Associate Profesor Dr. Ramzah Dambul said the programme was a good platform for CTI-CCA to discuss new opportunities in science, technology and innovation to contribute towards each of our country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDCs).

“The approaches we recommend should also enable us to provide science-based input for policy making," he said when officiating the programme.

Meanwhile, in his welcome remarks, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Prof. Dr. Shahril Yusof affirmed his full support and encouragement for university scientists to strengthen research collaboration not only within and among local universities and government agencies in Malaysia, but also within the Coral Triangle region in achieving the five CTI goals.

He also offered the programme participants a boat tour of the beautiful Kota Kinabalu city aboard UMS’ catamarans.

The programme was attended by a total of 39 participants and observers from the CTI-CFF six countries (CT6), which are Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

Also present at the programme opening ceremony was the Chair of Technical Working Group Climate Change Adaptation (TWG CCA), MOSTI Dr. K. Nagulendran, and the Director of BMRI Profesor Dr. Rossita Shapawi.

THURSDAY, 8 FEBRUARY – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Zunyi Medical University (ZMU), China, have now entered the second phase of the research collaboration since the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the two institutions on the establishment of The International Joint Laboratory for Ethnomedicine in 2016.

The second phase will see a significant expansion of research funding provided by the Government of China under the One Belt, One Road Initiative.

A courtesy visit to UMS by a delegation from ZMU, led by the President, Professor Dr. Jingshan Shi, was held to discuss the progress of The International Joint Laboratory for Ethnomedicine yesterday.

During the visit, UMS Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin, mentioned in his welcome address, that Sabah’s rich biodiversity and its array of ethnicities provide great opportunities for enhancing ethnomedical research.

Ethnomedicinal studies are fundamental for the discovery of new modern drugs through traditional knowledge.

Therefore, the coexistence of traditional medicine and biomedicine plays an important role in improving human health in today’s world.

The Vice-Chancellor believes that the ethnomedical research collaboration with ZMU, together with UMS’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation and Biotechnology Research Centre will lead to high impact scientific and commercial outcomes.

FRIDAY, 29 DECEMBER - A total of 20 UMS students attended the Leadership Workshop held recently at Beringgis Beach Resort and Spa, Papar.

The workshop which was organized by the American Corner, UMS Library in collaboration with the US Embassy of Kuala Lumpur, designed to empower students to increase and develop leadership skills in their lives.

This workshop is also a platform to develop a spirit of self-esteem for students to appreciate the nation and university. Additionally, this workshop discusses the noble values ​​of a leader in helping the nation's development.

The workshop is divided into 4 sessions namely Leadership style and characteristics, Gender and Leadership, Team and Leadership and Public Speaking.

The two-day workshop were facilitated by invitation speakers consist of, Senior Lecturer of UiTM Sabah Branch, Dr. Asri Salleh and assisted by two facilitators namely Rose Graves from English Language Fellow, UiTM Sabah Branch and Chief Assistant Director, State Security Management Section, National Security Council, State of Sabah, Syukri Hj. Sanali,

THURSDAY, 28 DECEMBER - Researchers and students of languages and linguistics at UMS closed 2017 in fine form with a talk given by Dr. Andrew M. Carruthers held recently.

Dr. Carruthers is currently the Max Weber Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

His talk, titled 'The Meaning of "Moreness" for Bugis Migrants', was the first in a line-up of seminars planned under the newly set up Brown Bag Seminar Series for Languages and Linguistics at Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language (PPIB).

Dr. Carruthers delivered a highly informative and engaging talk to audience comprising postgraduate and undergraduate students, academic staff from PPIB and FKSW, as well as the local public.

The talk "examined how Bugis desires for moreness (kelebihan) reflect and shape the semiotic nature of mobility, providing an account of the meaning and value of moreness as it figures in the lives of Bugis people who travel from locations of lessness to realms of achievable mores.

It also analyzed how Bugis communities evaluate and sensuously experience signs of moreness as they travel to new domains home to "new" intensities of "old" qualities".

Dr. Carruthers is a linguistic and sociocultural anthropologist specializing in Malay speaking maritime Southeast Asia. He studies the relation between language, mobilities, and infrastructures as a source of insight into the ways people experience, evaluate, and navigate shifting and potentially hazardous terrains in their everyday lives.

His long-term ethnographic research has centred on the Bugis — a traditionally mobile, seafaring people who consider the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi to be their ancestral home, but have long migrated throughout the sprawling Indonesian archipelago and beyond in search of "moreness".

He has conducted ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork in Indonesia's South Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, and Riau Islands Provinces, and in the East Malaysian state of Sabah. Dr. Carruthers holds a B.A. from Cornell University in Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Yale University in Anthropology.

The Brown Bag Seminar Series is the latest initiative by PPIB’s Research and Innovation office. The seminar features local and international speakers sharing and highlighting their research in the fields of languages and linguistics - two very rich sources of research data on Sabah.

Those interested to give a talk or suggest a speaker are welcome to contact Dr. Mohd. Sohaimi Esa, Deputy Dean for Research & Innovation (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Dr. Jane Wong (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to give further details.