FRIDAY, 9 DECEMBER  - An Occupational Safety and Health Week was held at the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) from 7 to 9 December 2016, in line with the Occupational Safety and Health global theme, “Workplace Stress: a Collective Challenge”.

The event was organised by Second Year students of Industrial Relations Programme (HA12), FKSW.

Industrial Safety and Health Course lecturer, Salmie Jemon said the aim of organising this event was to promote awareness among students and staff on the hazards, risks and dangers, and mechanisms to minimise or eliminate these problems in the workplace.

“This programme also aims to increase the employability of our graduates, where it serves as a learning platform based on off-campus experience in the industry,” Salmie said.

An academic poster exhibition was also held by a total of 13 student groups where findings from their field work were featured.

“This programme also teaches our students on personal grooming, to think creatively and be innovative in solving problems, be dynamic in facing work challenge and be ready to tackle the fierce labour market in the fourth industrial revolution,” she added.

Among the activities held were talks by guests speakers who are experts in the field of Occupational Safety and Health, a demonstration by Bomba on fire-fighting and rescue operation, CPR demonstration by Malaysia Civil Defence Department (JPAM) UMS, free health screenings from Health Centre UMS, and a Blood Donation Drive by the Blood Bank of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu. – FL

Kota Kinabalu – The most comprehensive checklist of the largest reef-building corals in Sabah, the staghorn corals (Acropora spp.), was recently published by a team of researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in the November issue of the international journal Zootaxa (Magnolia Press).

The researchers reported 83 species of staghorn corals occuring in the waters of Sabah through review of published accounts within the last three decades by various research groups, and records of voucher specimens deposited in the Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI) and Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) of UMS, and the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Australia.

The richness of staghorn coral fauna reported for Sabah parallels that of Indonesia and is comparable to the diversity reported in other neighbouring countries. It accounts for 70 per cent of the 120 staghorn species identified globally.

Former Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute and Principal Investigator of the project, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vijay Kumar, said:

"The number of staghorn coral species we tallied for Sabah is nothing short of impressive as its coastline is relatively much shorter in contrast to other coastal nations in Southeast Asia. Our findings further highlight the staggering diversity of Sabah's biological resources in the marine environment, apart from the terrestrial realm."

Twelve staghorn coral species in the checklist constitute first records for Sabah including a rare species, Acropora suharsonoi, which was collected during marine bioprospecting project undertaken recently by BRI.

"The highest number of staghorn coral species was recorded in Darvel Bay, followed by the Bangi group of islands, and the waters off Semporna. The corals of Darvel Bay are the best studied in Sabah and much of the current knowledge regarding its biodiversity is attributed to a 1998 scientific expedition led by researchers from Denmark and BMRI" said Rolando Robert who is the first author of the paper.

A third of the staghorn corals of Sabah are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Banggi group of islands was recently gazetted as the largest Marine Protected Area in Malaysia in the middle of this year, a decision influenced greatly by information imparted by various scientific studies on coral reefs at the site.

"The publication from UMS agrees with the decision taken by the Government in this regard, " said Dr Abdul Fatah bin Amir, Director of the Sabah Biodiversity Centre.

Dr Fatah added that the information disclosed in the checklist would promote deeper taxonomic resolution at which future studies concerning staghorn corals are conducted. Baseline information and continuous monitoring efforts are necessary to gauge for changes in the staghorn coral biodiversity of Sabah in light of intensified climate change and coral reef degradation occurring around the world.

The journal article was also co-authored by Dexter J. H. Lee, Kenneth F. Rodrigues, Muhammad Ali S. Hussein and Zarinah Waheed.

Source: Daily Express Sabah

TUESDAY, 6 DECEMBER – A Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Poster Exhibition Competition was held at the Foyer of Social Science Block, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW), yesterday.

A total of 13 groups comprising Final Year students undertaking the  Social Impact Assessment subject participated in the competition that discussed issues of current global concerns by applying the SIA factor.

Among the objectives of this competition was for the SIA students to share their knowledge with the public besides with peer students and lecturers on the importance of SIA in the 21^st century.

“SIA is an important planning and report in ensuring all results and decisions relating to development takes into account the social impact on community and individual to protect human rights.

“This indirectly add to the marketability of our students once they graduate,” said Dr. Gaim James Lunkapis, a lecturer of SIA.

The multi-discipline event was widely supported by students and judges from other programmes such as Geography, Communication and, Anthropology and Sociology.

Group 11 comprising Ennie Yap, Erwina Binti Nuar, Shandra Paulus, Jessica Salapan and Betty Pius was adjudged the winner of the competition followed by Group 8 who took the second spot and Group 10 at number three. - FL

Source: Saravanan Sundara Sakaran, HA18 Geography, FKSW

FRIDAY, 11 NOVEMBER - Professor Dato’ Dr. Yusserie Zainuddin gave a talk on ‘Strategic Management in Accounting Practices Towards Performance Excellence’  to about 120 accounting students from UMS and UiTM, during his second visit to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

The talk was held on 18^th October 2016 at UMS Library Auditorium.  Professor Dato’ Dr Yusserie Zainuddin is the Adjunct Professor for Accounting Programme, Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FPEP). 

The talk was organised by UMS Accounting Centre as part of the 2-day programme with the UMS Adjunct Professor.  A meeting between Professor. Dato’ Dr. Yuserrie Zainuddin and the faculty’s academicians was conducted on 19^th October 2016.

Associate Professor Dr. Raman Noordin, Dean for Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FPEP) and Mr. Jainurin Justine@Abdul Aziz, Director of Accounting Centre were in attendance together with accounting lecturers from UMS and UiTM, Sabah Campus.

Source: FPEP