RABU, 14 DISEMBER - Seramai 300 mahasiswa Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) melakukan aktiviti sukarelawan di bangunan Pusat Penataran Ilmu dan Bahasa (PPIB) UMS pada Ahad.

Kesemua mereka terdiri daripada pelajar lelaki dan wanita yang mengikuti kursus-kursus di PPIB.

Aktiviti sukarelawan itu yang turut disertai oleh Dekan, Prof. Madya Dr Jualang @ Azlan Abdullah Gansau beserta kakitangan PPIB dirasmikan Naib Canselor UMS, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mohd Harun Abdullah.

Dalam ucapannya Datuk Harun berkata, aktiviti seumpama itu amat bertepatan dalam usaha memupuk semangat kesukarelawan dan rasa kesepunyaan yang tinggi dalam kalangan mahasiswa.

"Saya percaya melalui program ini, pelajar UMS akan memperoleh pelbagai manfaat hasil daripada penglibatan mereka.

"Penglibatan kakitangan PPIB juga turut dapat menghidupkan budaya sukarelawan dan menjadi contoh kepada warga UMS yang lain," katanya.

Datuk Harun berkata, budaya seumpama itu sudah lama mekar di negara maju seperti Jepun dan Korea sambil mengongsikan satu pengalaman ketika melawat sebuah hospital universiti di Taiwan.

"Ketika masuk di hospital ini, ia umpama sebuah hotel dengan bunyi alunan piano yang begitu merdu dan mendamaikan jiwa.

"Saya bertanya kepada petugas yang menyambut kami tetang wanita yang sedang bermain piano dan mereka memaklumkan wanita itu bermain secara sukarela tanpa sebarang bayaran ," katanya yang menyifatkan budaya itu sangat terpuji dan perlu diteladani mahasiswa UMS

Pada program itu, siswa-siswi telah membantu mengecat bilik-bilik kuliah dan seterusnya bersama-sama membersihkan kawasan persekitaran bangunan PPIB.

TUESDAY, 13 DECEMBER – The ‘Grand Recital’ organised by the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) made a come back recently after a long absence.

Organised as the curtain call for all the recitals held, the Grand Recital featured acts and performances by lecturers, tutors and students of Year Two and Three from the Music, Creative Arts, and Visual Arts Programmes.

Dean of FKSW, Prof. Dr. Ismail Ibrahim expressed that the Grand Recital is a programme to uncover the talents of students in various fields.

“The recital is a holistic programme, I hope it would continue to be organised to increase our knowledge,” he urged.

The opening act of the Grand Recital saw a sketch by lecturers, Associate Professor Dr. Low Kok On, Dr. Puad Bebit, Hajijah Lamiri and Salmie Jemon.

Among other dances featured were Joget Pahang, and Zapin Sebat that won the UMS Zapin Fiesta 2016, and captured the third spot at the UMS Labuan International Folk Dance and Music Festival.

Other recital included a performance entitled “Prebet Kabimbangan” that captured the Champions title at the Sabah Theatre Festival 2016 and the Malaysian Theatre Festival 2016, among many other awards.

Other performances included from lecturer, Sharip Zainal Sangkif Shek and his group Rhythm of Borneo who were champions at the 2010 World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA), a solo presentation by staff of FKSW, Felix Agus (Akademi Fantasia 3, 1^st Runner-up), with special appearance by lecturers, Associate Professor Dr. Baharudin Arus and M Fazmi Hisham. – FL

Source: Junior Kimwah, FKSW

JUMAAT, 9 DISEMBER -  Fakulti Kemanusiaan, Seni dan Warisan (FKSW) menganjurkan Minggu Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan yang berakhir hari ini di fakulti tersebut.

Acara itu yang dianjurkan pelajar tahun dua Program Hubungan Industri (HA12) diadakan seiring dengan  tema global Hari Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan, Pertubuhan Buruh Antarabangsa 2016, "Bebas Tekanan di Tempat Kerja".

Pensyarah kursus Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Industri, Salmie Jemon berkata, program itu bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kesedaran dalam kalangan pelajar dan kakitangan mengenai bahaya dan risiko serta mekanisme untuk mengurangkan atau menghapuskan masalah-masalah di tempat kerja.

"Program ini juga bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kebolehpasaran graduan, di mana ia berfungsi sebagai platform pembelajaran berdasarkan pengalaman luar kampus dalam industri," katanya.

Menurutnya, satu pameran poster akademik turut diadakan oleh 13 kumpulan pelajar yang memaparkan hasil kerja lapangan mereka.

"Program ini juga mengajar pelajar-pelajar tentang penampilan diri, berfikir secara kreatif dan inovatif dalam menyelesaikan masalah, dinamik dalam menghadapi cabaran kerja serta bersedia untuk menghadapi persaingan dalam pasaran kerja," ujar Salmie.

Pelbagai acara telah menjadi pengisian sepanjang program yang berlangsung sejak Rabu itu.

Antaranya ialah aktiviti ceramah daripada pakar dalam bidang Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan, demonstrasi memadam kebakaran dan operasi menyelamat oleh Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat, serta demonstrasi bantuan kecemasan oleh Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (JPAM) UMS.

Turut diadakan pemeriksaan kesihatan percuma dari Pusat Rawatan Warga UMS dan Kempen Derma Darah oleh Tabung Darah Hospital Queen Elizabeth, Kota Kinabalu.

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