THURSDAY, 18 APRIL - The students and staffs of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science (FMHS) Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) joined hands to participate in the annual beach cleaning entitled “Jom Ke Pantai Kita Bah” at the Outdoor Development Centre (ODEC) UMS, yesterday.

The event was organized by Eco Campus and FMHS in conjunction with the celebration of 25^th anniversary of UMS establishment.

Despite a brief drizzle during the event, the strong team managed to brave through the rain and ensure the cleanliness of ODEC, which stretched about 1.4km in length.

The programme was officiated by Dr. Yeap Boon Tat, Deputy Dean of Students’ Affairs and Alumni FMHS UMS.

In his officiation speech, Dr Yeap emphasized the importance of global awareness towards environment and the initiatives that each of individual can undertake to limit the usage of plastic in daily living.

“Everyday, we are consuming plastics, indirectly. We eat fishes and seafood that were exposed to plastics and heavy metal wastes – for example mercury.

“We should be tried to reduce the usage of plastics which are difficult to degenerate. That is why; the Eco campus FMHS UMS is now taking the first effort to ban the usage of plastic bags and straws in the faculty effective April 2019.

“This showed how serious FMHS is taking its stand towards environment awareness and safety,” Dr Yeap mentioned.

Associate Professor Dr Piakong Mohd Tuah, a senior lecturer at Faculty of Science and Natural Resources of UMS who also participated in the event, described in detail about the disastrous effects of plastics to the sea creatures and pollution.

“Plastics which were thrown into the sea were thought to be natural foods by the whales and dugongs.

“They consumed it and inadvertently caused death. Marine plastic pollution had impacted at least 270 species worldwide, comprising about 87% of sea turtle species and 44% of sea bird species.

“ This is a very saddening fact and there are some species of turtle that already extinct in the world,” Assoc. Prof Dr Piakong mentioned in his statement.

About 20 medical and nursing students together with lecturers and supporting staffs of FMHS were present in the memorable event.

They cleaned the stretch of beach and collected garbage weighing 90kg in total. They were carefully disposed by the Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu (DBKK).

WEDNESDAY, 17 APRIL - Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation (IBTP) Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) organised a seminar on Borneo Geographic Expedition 2019 : Kangkawat Research Station, Imbak Canyon Conservation Area (ICCA), yesterday.

The objective of the seminar was to share information and to document the findings obtained during the expedition held on September 28 until October 9^th last year in collaboration with Yayasan Sabah Group.

Among the area studied included flora and fauna diversity, forest ecology, water quality, hydrology, geology and components of social science and eco-tourism.

Kangkawat, which part of the ICCA is a forest dominated by dipterocarp forests and is rich in plant diversity and known as a gene bank.

In his speech, Chairman of UMS Board of Directors, Datuk K.Y Mustafa said UMS and Yayasan Sabah, through its Conservation and Environmental Management Division had carried out many collaborative research and educational activities for the past two decades.

“Thus, it is high time to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between these two organisations, just to strengthen the collaborations in research and education and in other areas beneficial to both parties,” he said.

KY Mustafa added UMS will give full support on collaborations with state agencies and our stakeholders.

“UMS has many excellent researchers in various fields, not only in tropical biology but also in social sciences, engineering, medical sciences, arts and heritage and so forth. We are happy to work together with state agencies or any relevant industries to support their goals,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Director of Yayasan Sabah, Datuk Haji Jamalul Kiram Haji Mohd Zakaria said, ICCA is one of the five conservation areas managed by Yayasan Sabah Group, in addition to Danum Valley, Maliau Basin, Silam Coast and Taliwas River. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology potential of ICCA is vast and needed to be explored.  

“ICCA is also an important component of the biodiversity corridor, especially the mammal wildlife, connecting the Maliau Basin to the south of the Danum valley to the east. It serves as a water catchment area for longest river system in Sabah, the Kinabatangan River,” he said.

Jamalul also added Yayasan Sabah Group collaborated with Petronas to develop ICCA as a learning centre for local communities in biodiversity conservation as well as gene bank conservation, and exploration of pharmaceutical and biological potentials.

The Imbak Canyon Studies Centre (ICSC) which was recently officiated by the Chief Minister of Sabah cum Chairman of the Yayasan Sabah Board of Trustees, Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Mohd Shafie Haji Apdal on March 26, will be a centre for tropical rainforest research, education and capacity building.

“I encourage students and researchers from local and international universities to utilise this facility to its fullest and carry out research on biodiversity, ecology, physical sciences, nature tourism and other fields that are needed to manage the conservation area effectively. The vast forest of Imbak Canyon could offer researchers a wide research topic from fundamental to applied researches,” he added.

The Borneo Geographic Expedition 2018 is an example of collaborative activity which could support the management plan of ICCA and the data obtained from the two weeks expedition could provide a scientific basis for conservation and management decision by Yayasan Sabah.

There were 49 presentations in the seminar, where 26 were oral presentations whereas the other 23 were poster presentations.

TUESDAY, 9 APRIL 2019 – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) through the Faculty Computing and Informatics (FKI) in collaboration with Microsoft is hosting a Train the Trainers programme from 8 – 9 April 2019. 

The Dean of FKI, Associate Prof. Ag. Asri Ag. Ibrahim said participating faculty members will be exposed to new emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Cybersecurity using the Microsoft latest platform and module content.

“Upon completion of the programme, the faculty members would be able to conduct knowledge transfers to UMS final year students in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Cybersecurity by using the same platform.

“The knowledge transfer to students is expected to run from May to September 2019 via either bootcamp, workshops or syllabus embedment,” he said to the media after the event.

According to Prof. Ag. Asri, students who completing the modules will have the opportunity for job placements through various job placement activities scheduled at the end of the year.

He said some 15 faculty members from UMS with estimated 400 undergraduates are expected to benefit from this programme.

"This programme has a full support from both Ministry of Education (MOE) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

“Technology changes the rules of business, and it is imperative that UMS future-proof our graduates by building a strong digital innovation ecosystem.

“Given the tremendous potential of Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies, it is the absolutely the right moment for UMS to equip their graduates. 

“The program is an important aspect of that effort and UMS is delighted with this latest collaboration,” he added.

Also present at the event were the Director of Industry Relations Division, Ministry of Education, Prof. Dr. Arham Abdullah; UMS Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin; UMS Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International), Prof. Dr. Rasid Mail; Senior Manager MDEC, Rohidah Maskuri; Sales Director of Microsoft Malaysia, Khatijah Samah and the FKI Information Technology Deputy Chief Officer, Effendy Hadis.    

UMS through the FKI welcomes such collaboration with any organization to enhance and upskills undergraduate especially in the area of digital initiatives to meet the requirements of talents in the country. For any inquiries please e-mail us through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

TUESDAY, 9^th APRIL - Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) highlights its commitment in promoting and establishing Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) by awarding the selected e-learning champions of UMS with the appropriate tools to facilitate TEL towards UMS Smart Eco-Campus.

The Vice Chancellor, Profesor Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin said, the current generation of educators and learners must adapt to emerging trends in technology in order to remain ahead of the learning curve.

“The Malaysian Education Blueprint for Higher Education (2015-2025) highlights the need for globalized online learning among one of the key strategic shifts which need to be adopted in order to transform Malaysian Higher Education into a model that is truly global, relevant and contemporary.

“To this effect, UMS has adopted this philosophy as part of our strategic plan, wherein Key Result Area (KRA) 1 emphasizes the need for inclusive and quality education while KRA 8 stresses on enhancing holistic student experience,” he said during his address at the ceremony held to present special hardware and software to lecturers who are involved in supporting the TEL initiative at UMS.

Besides, he said a truly holistic learning experience can be achieved by empowering both lectures and students with appropriate interactive learning technologies. This is in line with UMS effort to fully operate as Smart Eco-Campus.

“This will facilitate greater communication between lectures and students and prepare them for the technology enabled world which constitutes the basis for Industrial Revolution 4.0.

UMS has allocated a special grant to provide you with the hardware and software which will enable you to develop your learning content for development through the UMS Learning Management System SMART2UMS and the UMS OER Repository,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Director of Centre for E-Learning, Professor Dr. Fong Soon Fook said it is important to understand and addressing the current learning needs for the digital natives as it is one of the key priorities of UMS. 

“Advancements in digital technology have enabled lecturers to develop online content which can then be delivered via the internet using online learning platforms thus enabling students to access lecturers when they are off campus. In addition to this, students can now deliver their assignment and project reports to their respective lecturers via the learning management system.

“TEL is the way forward which will drive UMS into the next decade, in which advancements in the delivery of knowledge will be leveraged to meet the learning needs of students. In fact, the strategy is already generating a significant amount of positive feedback as evidenced by the surveys of students conducted on campus which highlighted the advantages of TEL such as ease of accessibility and improved communication with the lecturers and among their peers,” he added.

The Vice Chancellor distributed specialized tools to lecturers to develop learning content, which included high resolution web-cameras for recording lectures, wireless audio recording devices, electronic tablets for delivering and annotating lecture notes in a classroom setting and software for recording and editing lectures.

Also presence in the ceremony are the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and International), Professor Dr. Rasid Mail; the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Associate Professor Ts Dr. Ramzah Dambul; and Registrar, Madam Vina Zahriani Yusof.