After five decades of pioneering the field of communications and media, the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies (FCMS), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) is set to celebrate its golden jubilee this year. Affectionally known as MassComm, FCMS is optimistic to remain on top with its market driven curricular, research and development as well as industry network in this fast-paced world of information sharing, digital media and the looming Industrial Revolution 5.0. Parallel to the University’s objective in building resilience among its academic members and students alike, FCMS has been a respected and resourceful centre for strategic communications and humanities studies.
In conjunction with its 50th celebration, FCMS will be hosting a media marathon to commemorate the golden jubilee through ‘50 Years, 50 Hours of Mediathon’. This unique event is a collaborative effort between students, alumni, industry players and media partners. The programme is to celebrate FCMS’ establishment after 50 years for being the first and most prolific school of communication and media in Malaysia. Aside from media marathon, interesting activities has been arranged for the next six months which include, DNA MassComm, MasterClass, Alumni of the Week, CSR programme and an online marathon, among others prior to the highlights of its gala dinner.
To date, the world has benefitted from 20,000 FCMS graduates spanning over five decades of educational, vocational, and technological revolution. Through leaps and bounds, FCMS has been visible in championing best practices in the industry and the peering Universities, offering hours of consultations, hosting media initiatives and academic conferences. At community level, FCMS has been quick in responding proactively with corporate social responsibility efforts to those in needs. With strong alumni network and relationship with Captains of the Industry, FCMS have been able to keep abreast with changes affecting the industries’ ecosystem to ensure its students’ employability.
Present at the soft launch for the golden jubilee celebration, YBhg. Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Ibrahim Abu Shah stated that MassComm has produced wholesome graduates who would later be exemplary members of the society with outstanding contribution globally. This was due to an industry-based curricular laced with teaching and learning techniques from its teaching members. Also present was the Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Associate Prof. Dr. Massila Hamzah where she pointed that after half a century, FCMS has been going through from strength to strength, surpassing many hurdles and overcoming challenges along the way into relevance, with a renewed sense of purpose.
For FCMS, the testament of excellence for any education institution is to create graduates who are balanced, empathetic and dynamic prior to serving the community and ultimately, the country. With ever changing industry’s landscapes, comes with it greater challenges to solve and learn. Thus, fair, and intuitive writing, immersive content creation and quality work should be assets best put forward for any MassComm graduates as they step foot into the industry.
Certain types of bacteria are unable to survive and thrive outside host organisms. This makes their isolation and identification technically challenging. Recently, a researcher from Tokyo University of Science successfully isolated a new bacterial strain of the candidate bacterial group, Candidatus phylum Dependentiae, from a pond in the Noda campus of the university. This study marks the first time such a novel strain has been isolated from a Japanese environment.
The development of the field of metagenomics—the study of genetic material from environmental samples—has revolutionized how we observe and discover new species. Many bacteria cannot be independently cultivated in the lab. Sometimes this is because the medium they are grown in is not suitable, sometimes it is because these bacteria thrive only
in multispecies communities (such as many bacteria in our gut!) and sometimes this is because they can only grow in relation to another larger organism. A group of bacteria belonging to the final category are Candidatus phylum Dependentiae. Not much is known about this group because thus far, only three strains belonging to it have been isolated. But in a recent study, published in Microbiology Resource Announcements, Professor Masaharu Takemura from Tokyo University of Science (TUS) has succeeded in isolating the fourth such strain—Noda2021.
“Initially we sampled Risoukai Park in the Noda Campus of TUS with the aim of isolating a giant virus by screening it using a common laboratory host ‘Vermamoeba vermiformis.’ However, in the process of doing so we accidentally discovered this rare bacterium that also infects Vermamoeba,” says Dr. Takemura.
To isolate the new strain, Dr. Takemura first cultured a sample obtained from the pond in Risoukai Park and then added it to a culture of Vermamoeba. After growing the Vermamoeba for a few days, he extracted Noda2021 from this and then performed an analysis of its genetic material.
“We found that the Noda2021 strain consists of 1,222,284 base pairs with approximately 38.3% guanine and cytosine (GC) content and 1,287 genes. We then performed a 16S rRNA molecular phylogenetic analysis of the strain and found that it is relatively close to one of the other Candidatus phylum Dependentiae strains isolated so far, ‘Vermiphilus pyriformis,’” explains Dr. Takemura. He also examined the infected Vermamoeba cells under an electron microscope and found that Noda2021 sometimes exhibited a connected cellular structure within its host cells.
“This discovery is evidence that the pond in the Noda campus is microbiologically diverse and ecologically exciting,” says Dr. Takemura. This is also the first time such a strain has been isolated in Japan.
The isolation of this new strain of Candidatus phylum Dependentiae is sure to further our understanding of this curious bacterial group. According to Dr. Takemura, “This bacterium is located in the border region between giant viruses and microbacteria, so we expect it to provide some useful and unique information on the origin and ecological position of both these groups.”
Indeed, Tokyo University of Science’s Noda campus seems to have plenty of hidden treasures for budding microbiologists. We for one, cannot wait for the next discovery— accidental or otherwise!
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Reference
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.01123-21
About The Tokyo University of Science
Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan’s development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.
With a mission of “Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society”, TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today’s most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.
Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/
About Professor Masaharu Takemura from Tokyo University of Science
Dr. Masaharu Takemura is a Professor at the Tokyo University of Science. His research interests include giant virus biology, evolutionary cell biology, and the origin of the eukaryotic nucleus. Dr. Takemura also has a deep interest in biology education. He completed his Ph.D. from Nagoya University in 1998. He has published over 100 papers in internationally renowned journals thus far.
A cliché that never seems to get old for Mother’s Day cards is lauding women for their superhuman strength. Typically, the card has a caricature of a lady in a cape, with bold and vivid lettering splayed across: “Mom, you are my favourite superwoman!”
Despite their heroic qualities, the reality of having a full-time career has sometimes made it unthinkable for many mothers to take on another identity: college student.
Single mothers especially, who face considerably more hurdles, are finding themselves overlooked in the traditional university environment. According to a report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), only 28 percent of single mother students in the United States attain a degree within six years of enrolling. Another 55 percent drop out before earning a college credential.
“The combination of raising a family on their own, going to class, completing coursework, and holding a job can place serious constraints on single mothers’ time that can force them to make hard choices about their pursuit of higher education”, says the 2018 report.
Photo: Andre Hunter/Unsplash
Cloak of invisibility
University is typically catered to those who fit three categories: young, single, and carefree. Topics like childcare facilities, family accommodation, or flexible timetabling can be footnotes during orientation.
As a result, students with caregiving responsibilities like single mothers become “invisible” because of the way in which universities normally operate, says Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau, Professor in Education, Work and Inequalities and Education Research Lead from Anglia Ruskin University in the UK.
“Being a single mother in education doesn’t necessarily mean you should struggle, but I think you are trying to fit in a culture which is geared towards those who are child-free,” adds Professor Moreau.
This sentiment resonates with former teen mother Nicole Lyn Lewis, who tells QS-GEN it was isolating when she attended university with her 3-month-old daughter in tow.“Many people think about their college experience, they think about how many days and nights they spent in the library on campus, studying with friends or pulling an all-nighter,” she says.
“I probably went to the library on campus about three or four times in my whole college experience, because there were no family-friendly spaces or areas where I could go.” Lewis is now the founder and Chief Executive of non-profit organisation, Generation Hope, which provides emotional and financial support for young parents pursuing higher education.
She notes many institutions lack facilities for young mothers, such as lactation rooms.“I used to pop in the bathroom, which is the worst thing.”
Lewis also recalls feeling lost on her first day. “I was locked into an orientation group with transfer students because as a freshman who was living off-campus with a child, they didn’t know where to put me. They didn’t know what to do with me.”
In a report by Professor Moreau and Charlotte Kerner, where student parents were interviewed about their university experience, it was highlighted that having an on-site nursery was highly valued. However, there was a lack of such provision in some universities, and even if campuses did have nurseries, they were oversubscribed or had long waiting lists.
“Even where students are given priority access, a place is not always guaranteed. By the time they receive confirmation of a place or of their timetable, places may already have been allocated to staff or to members of the local community,” says the report, Supporting Student Parents in Higher Education: A policy analysis.
Lewis highlights the mindset of the community can also be unwelcoming towards mothers studying in university.
“I would tell some professors that I had a baby and sometimes the reactions were punitive rather than supportive … I might find that I’m being graded more harshly or there is less desire to work with me when I have a child-care emergency,” she says.
“Just the way that you’re treated, often can be really isolating and challenging and can be enough to make you feel like this isn’t the space. Like, I don’t belong here … People don’t want me here. And I think that can contribute to making you feel like college isn’t a place for you.”
Photo: Sarah Chai/Unsplash
Caregiving burdens amplified
When the pandemic struck and lockdowns took place across the globe, student mothers were hit with an “aggravated psychological impact with their competing and challenging intersecting roles”, according to Kobi Ajayi’s “Meeting the Mental Health Needs of College Student-Mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States”, published in medicine and healthcare journal, Women.
The mother is doing housework every day, working remotely, [and] she’s now taking care of her children at home,” points out Ajayi, a graduate research assistant at Texas A&M University, during an interview with QS-GEN.
With childcare centres closed, caregiving responsibilities, which are usually unpaid, rested more on mothers. According to a 2021 report by McKinsey & Company, mothers are more than three times as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of the housework and caregiving during the pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, this has caused one in three mothers to consider leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers because of COVID-19, the report found. Single mothers especially, who tend to have a weaker support system and lower socioeconomic background, suffer from all these compounding factors.
While the pandemic has provided opportunities such as the flexibility of learning, the repercussions underneath the surface amplify for these students. Therefore, childcare is so vital for single mothers to do well in college, with or without the pandemic, stresses Ajayi. “If you give a mother childcare, she can do almost everything she wants to do,” she says.
“If there’s consistent, quality, affordable childcare, you can be sure that she’s going to bring her A-game.”
Photo: Naomi Shih/Pexels
Looking forward
One of the first steps universities should take in bettering their system to support single mother students is data collection, says Lewis, the author of Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families.
“The vast majority of higher ed institutions do not track the parenting status of their students. So that means they are really flying blind in terms of what [single mothers’] needs are,” she says. Other key information should be collected as well, such as whether the individual is a first-generation college student or comes from a low-income background, Lewis adds.
“There’s a whole story that you’re missing at your school when you’re not finding out who on this campus is caregiving. How do we make sure that they’re actually completing [school] and achieving their goals?”
Professor Moreau adds universities should also continuously review their institutional policies to see if they are inclusive towards single mother students, rather than negatively affecting them. “We need to listen to the students and [see] what they need, and not to assume that [just] because they’re parents that they’re in the functional, two-parent, middle-class family. Families come in all sorts of forms,” she says.
“We need to stop thinking of individuals as fundamentally care-free and to appreciate that we have lives outside of studies and outside of work.”
University policies that take into consideration students’ caregiving responsibilities can create a more accommodating and welcoming atmosphere for single mothers who are deciding to go to college.
For example, a diverse workforce for student services in which a specialist trained in prenatal health is available could be the very support that single mothers are looking for in a university setting, Ajayi says.
While it is beneficial to have experts available on campus to provide counselling or provide insight on community resources, Lewis says this is not necessarily essential. Single mothers, more importantly, need “cheerleaders” who show up for them throughout their academic journey, she says.
“We need people who believe in these students and believe in them passionately,” urges Lewis. Examples of such people could include a mentor helping a single mother student to network and get a paid internship, a professor making sure information and resources are readily available, or an administrator who wants to change certain policies on campus.
“We are all gatekeepers of some sort of resources in some way,” she says. Finally, by including single mother students in institutional policies, universities could be progressing on their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, says Lewis.
In the US, 31 percent of Black women and 23 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native women in college are single mothers, followed by 17 percent of women from more than one racial background, and 16 percent of Hispanic students, according to the IWPR report.
Ensuring that single mothers are successful in their postsecondary careers “has implications for improving racial and ethnic equity in higher education outcomes”, the report shows. “I’m hoping that more universities will really embrace this work as a way to put those racial equity statements into practice,” adds Lewis.
Key to survival
Even though single mother students are more likely to face more challenges than their peers, it is also just as important to understand mothers do not lack ambition. Ajayi points out several studies have shown student mothers are actually more motivated and tend to have higher GPAs than their non-student mother counterparts.
“This is because they have that thing going on with them: they have their family, they want their children to be proud of them. There is some personal gratification, that sense of fulfilment that you’re not only doing it for yourself.” Lewis agrees, adding, “I don’t think I’ve ever met a parenting college student who doesn’t talk about their children being their motivating factor in completing college.”
Speaking from her own personal experience, Lewis says as a student mother, her university degree was her “key to survival”.
“It was my key to making sure that my daughter had an opportunity to do the things that she needed to do and wanted to do in life,” she says, emphasising that mothers simply want to “provide a better life” for their children. Despite the stereotypes that young parents lack ambition and are not committed to their education, “everything that I see is completely the opposite of that”, says Lewis.
Ensuring single mothers attend and graduate college has a follow-on impact the broader community.
According to another IWPR report in 2019, Investing in Single Mothers’ Higher Education, helping single mothers persist in college and graduate “would benefit their families, their communities, and society as a whole”.
Various economic benefits are also linked to a single mothers’ post-secondary success, including higher tax contributions, and saving billions in public benefit. However, the investment in single mother students’ education also goes deeper than just dollars and cents.
“Until we’re really investing in the education of mothers, we are not realising our full potential as a country, as a world, and as a society,” explains Lewis.
“This work is about making sure that all of us can benefit from the brilliance and the potential that mothers have which has just been limited so much over time.” Kobi further highlights the intergenerational gains of educating single mothers.
“The mother going to school is not only for the mother. It’s for her child, for her children’s children … in the long term it’s for the society,” she says.
“We need women in places where they make key decisions… for women to be in those places, they need education.”
Caulerpa lentillifera or locally known in Malaysia as ‘laktut’ or ‘latok’ is a type of seaweed that lives in the Indo-Pacific waters.
The unique taste of laktut and its high nutritional value makes it a potential to be commercialized.
Realising this, a group of marine technology researchers from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Perlis Branch, Malaysia in collaboration with the Kedah State Fisheries Department have implemented a laktut cultivation project using an in-land culture-based tank system with the fishing community of Kampung Kubang Badak, Langkawi, Malaysia.
The project which started in June 2020 has successfully mentored a total of six residents from the local community. They have been given exposure to ways to preserve and maintain breeding of the algae. Indirectly, the project becomes a new source of income for the fishing community especially families whose income were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, through the guidance of the researchers, the local community has successfully obtained a cultivation site development grant through the National Food Security Policy programme worth RM50,000.00 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries Malaysia.
Rector of UiTM Perlis Branch, Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Shukor Sanim bin Mohd Fauzi, during a recent visit to the project site said he was proud of the success of the project, especially with the commitment from researchers and the local community. He also hoped that this project will be sustained, especially in driving Malaysia towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) namely, SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger and SDG 14: Life Under Water.
Every day the world generates a vast amount of data in a variety of languages. Semantic networks, such as word co-occurrence networks (WCNs) can help overcome language barriers and analyze these data. Studies have shown that WCNs can accurately capture syntactical features of language by analyzing consecutive words in sentences, but thus far, no one has explored the relationships between distant words. Recently, researchers used an enhanced WCN to investigate just that.
There are nearly 7,000 different languages in the world and several quintillion bytes of data is generated in nearly all of them every day. This poses a serious problem for data analysis. Scholars have proposed complex network theory as a solution to this issue. One of the main types of semantic networks is the word co-occurrence network (WCN).
In a WCN, words form the vertices of the network (morphemes) and the edges between these vertices connect words on the basis of a string of words called an ‘n-gram.’ Here, n refers to the number of consecutive words in a sentence that are analysed at a time. Previous research has been limited to WCNs with a maximum n of two and have found that these WCNs can capture the characteristic features of multiple languages fairly well. But what is the relationship between distant words in sentences? Or, phrased differently, what happens when you increase the number of n beyond two?
To answer this question, a research team led by Prof. Tohru Ikeguchi from Tokyo University of Science, investigated the syntactic dependency relations in languages by using WCNs with increasing n. “We transformed well-known documents in eight languages into WCNs with n greater than or equal to two and found important features of each language in the WCNs,” says Professor Ikeguchi.
The team also consisted of Mr. Kihei Magishi and Prof. Tomoko Matsumoto of Tokyo University of Science and Prof. Yutaka Shimada of Saitama University. This study has been published in Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications, IEICE on April 1, 2022.
For their study, the research team transformed well-known works in eight different languages into WCNs. These works included a wide range of text data—the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the United Nations proceedings, the Paris agreement, and novels by different authors. These documents were chosen because they have been accurately translated into multiple languages, thereby allowing their faithful analysis. They then analysed the WCNs for a variety of n, up to n = 16.
“We found that the important features of each language appear in the networks with more than three co-occurrences, i.e., with n greater than or equal to three. We also saw that some of the network indices used to evaluate the structural features of the networks depend on the text data,” explains Prof. Ikeguchi.
The network indices that are dependent on the text data include the number of words and vertices, the density of the network, the triangle clustering coefficient and the square clustering coefficient. However, the research team also observed that some indices remained independent of the text data, such as the triangle clustering coefficient and the average shortest-path length, thereby enabling the description of the similarities and differences between languages.
Speaking of the long-term applications of the study, Prof. Ikeguchi says, “We are working towards the foundation of a new field of linguistics, mathematical linguistics. By deriving meta-grammar rules from mathematical commonalities and universality that appear in the grammatical functions of various languages, we will be able to establish a foundation for this field.”
The clarification of meta-grammar rules that do not depend on language will help realise the quantitative classification of language and help establish the factors that cause languages to diverge. The findings of this study constitute a major first step and make significant contributions to the understanding of the similarities and differences between languages.
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Reference
Title of original paper: Investigation of the structural features of word co-occurrence networks with increasing numbers of connected words
Journal: Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications, IEICE
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1587/nolta.13.343
About The Tokyo University of Science
Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan’s development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.
With a mission of “Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society”, TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today’s most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.
Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/
About Professor Tohru Ikeguchi from Tokyo University of Science
Tohru Ikeguchi received M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Tokyo University of Science, Japan. After working for nearly a decade as Full Professor at Saitama University, Japan, he worked at Tokyo University of Science as Full Professor at the Department of Management Science from 2014 to 2016. Since 2016, he has been a Full Professor at the Department of Information and Computer Technology in Tokyo University of Science. His research interests include nonlinear time series analysis, computational neuroscience, application of chaotic dynamics to solving combinatorial optimization problems, and complex network theory. He has published over 230 papers and proceedings.
Funding information
This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP18K12701, JP20H00596, JP21H03514 and JP21H03508.
Ambassador of Bhutan visited Thammasat University to discuss ways to further enhance the bilateral cooperation between Thammasat and institutions in Bhutan.
On 18 March 2022, H.E. Mr. Kinzang Dorji, the Ambassador of Bhutan to Thailand, and Second Secretary Mr. Kinley Dorji were warmly welcomed to Thammasat University by Rector Gasinee, along with the Vice Rector for Administration (Tha Prachan) and International Affairs, the Dean and Director of the Bachelor’s degree program from Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies, and staff from the International Affairs Office.
After the Rector congratulated the Ambassador on his recent assumption of duty, both sides discussed the possibility of enhancing academic collaboration, particularly cooperating on a dual degree program under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through cultural and rural lifestyle study tours.
The Bhutanese Ambassador cordially invited Thammasat to visit universities in Bhutan, while the Rector offered to provide a series of lectures when visiting the universities.
Thammasat also requested assistance from the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Thailand to widely publicize the Thammasat International Student Recruitment program for Bhutanese students to study at Thammasat University.
School of Film and Television’s Master of Fine Arts Project “Dance In The End“ has been selected for screening in the 7th Jacksonville Dance Film Festival 2022 to be held in Florida, US. It has also been selected as an Honourable Mention in the Tokyo International Monthly Film Festival.
Jacksonville Dance Film Festival is an extension of Jacksonville Dance Theatre, which “aims to connect diverse audiences, cultures, and creative communities through the universal language of film and movement.”
Tokyo International Monthly Film Festival is a monthly film festival in which a film wins the award of the current month, and the 12 monthly winners compete for the annual award of “Best Movie of the Year”.
On March 8, 2022, Thammasat University takes pride in co-hosting the International Women’s Day event with the Embassy of Israel in Thailand to hold a keynote speech under the theme “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow: Global Gender Equality Challenge” – calling for climate action for women, by women.
On this occasion, Ms. Orna Sagiv, Israel’s ambassador to Thailand, Miss Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, Miss Universe Thailand 2021, and Ms. Nitcharee Pen-eakchanasak, a Thammasat University alumna, all spoke at the event, highlighting the importance of advocating women’s rights.
The event was graced and officially opened by Her Excellency Ms. Orna Sagiv, Israel’s ambassador to Thailand. She pointed out that, in the world we are living in, it takes a lot of effort to prove that a woman has equal capabilities as a man. This is the myth that prevents us from breaking gender barriers.
Apart from that, she also gave her testimony of her journey to success to prove that “Women Can Do It.” At the tender age of 18, she said, she embarked on a journey of becoming a soldier resulting in her present rise in the social ladder as a woman.
As fate would have it, Ambassador Sagiv became one of the few women in the diplomatic mission where she distinguished herself and demystified the myth that women can’t hold positions ‘meant’ for men.
Miss Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, Miss Universe Thailand 2021, spoke at the same event and encouraged women to achieve their goals with their heads high while ignoring societal stereotypes about women. She also highlighted that beauty is not the only definition of what it means to be a woman; confidence and belief in oneself can make a successful woman. The smiling beauty who is representing Thailand did indeed inspire young girls.
Finally, Thammasat University alumna Ms. Nitcharee Pen-eakchanasak shared her successful testimony of how disability is never an inability. She showcased her ability to live a normal life by swimming, competing in marathons, and winning medals.
In her own words, Ms. Pen-eakchanasak said she never cries when she talks about her tragedy of losing both legs in a train accident. She agreed to have her legs amputated because she believed the pain would go away. Despite the misfortune, she has become a highly successful motivational speaker and the founder of a non-profit organization.
The Rector of Thammasat University, Assoc. Prof. Gasinee Witoonchart, successfully concluded the event. She elaborated on how equality is the most fundamental human right and how it relates to SDG 5, which is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
“Every individual is born with it, no matter your race, nationality, appearance, religion, and, of course, gender. We have to RECOGNIZE and RESPECT this human right of equality for all.”
Secondly, she discussed how women had been treated unfairly and unequally throughout history. However, the world has progressed from the old mindset, and we now live in a world of DIVERSITY, in which gender is no longer viewed as a dichotomy, or as only male and female.
In her speech, she also emphasized how the world has to recognize and respect more than a dozen of sexual orientations, including LGBTTQQIAAP and possibly others. Gender is fluid. The rector concluded that diversity is the foundation of global prosperity today and in the future – “We can only move forward in peace if we embrace diversity. And diversity undoubtedly includes gender and sexuality differences. In summary, I would like to leave you with two R: RECOGNIZE and RESPECT,”
The seminar ended with a question-and-answer session, during which the speakers demonstrated their commitment to gender equity through their responses. Nonetheless, it is up to us as a society to continue to push this matter forward – so that our society can be truly equal for all people of all genders.
On 4th March 2022, UiTM once again expanded its international collaboration by signing an MoU with Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU), Turkey.
The signing ceremony aims to express the intention of both UiTM and HKU to cooperate in promoting the enrichment of the institutions’ teaching and learning, research and discovery, as well as engagement missions. Specifically, both parties agreed to also encourage the activities of short and long-term faculty exchange, undergraduate and graduate student exchange, visiting student programmes, administrative support programmes, collaborative research and discovery, learning, teaching and other engagement programmes.
Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Ilham Adenan, The Rector of UiTM Pahang Branch said in his speech that this event is not the first collaboration between UiTM and Turkey. As a matter of fact, UiTM has collaborated with Kastamonu University in 2019 and Hayrat Foundation in 2020. He expressed his gratitude as this collaboration will bring UiTM and HKU to another level of sharing expertise, knowledge and technological perspectives.
Representing UiTM, Prof Ts. Dr. Mohd Ilham Adenan has signed the MoU, witnessed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazirah Binti Ramli (Deputy Rector of Academic Affairs), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wan Nazri Wan Abdul Rahman (Deputy Rector of Research and Industrial Linkages) and Dr. Mohd Kamal Azman Bin Jusoh (Deputy Rector of Student Affairs). Meanwhile, from Hasan Kalyoncu University, the MoU was signed by Prof. Türkay Dereli (Rector of HKU), witnessed by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Lütfi Yola (Vice Rector of HKU), Prof. Dr. Hanifi Çanakçı (Dean for Faculty of Engineering), Prof. Dr. Fatih Hasoğlu (Head of Department for Computer Science), Prof. Dr. Celal Koraşlı (Head of Department for Electric and Electrical Engineering), Prof. Dr. Atilla Elçi (Head of Department for Software Engineering), Mr. Cengiz Helvacıkara (Coordinator-KALİTTO), Mr. Ekrem Tekin (Director-Gaziantep Teknokent), Mr. İhsan Kuyumcu (Coordinator of International Relations), Mr. Simge Gökberk (Erasmus Coordinator), and Mr. Gizem Arık (International Relations Office Specialist).
It is hoped that this initiative will accelerate research activities and globalization in UiTM and Hasan Kalyoncu University. Furthermore, this collaboration could further help in achieving the No. 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which focuses on strengthening and revitalizing the global partnership.
The University of Lampung (Unila) Research and Community Service Center (LPPM) provided the community with assistance in the recovery of natural resources (SDA) and the environment in Kunjir, Rajabasa district, South Lampung Regency, in collaboration with the national disaster management agency (BNPB), Thursday, October 14, 2021.
Kunjir was severely impacted by the Sunda Strait tsunami in 2018. The tourism industry along the Kunjir coastal areas was completely paralysed for the tourist destination was severely damaged by the tsunami, and the tourism industry was also severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The team of Unila lecturers conducted community service activities through village re-development programmes and environmental restoration in Kunjir to revitalise the village’s social lives, economic situation, tourism, and other fields.
The series of activities benefited members of the community as they gain more knowledge and skills which in turns affect the affluence of the tourism industry in the local village.
Dr. Amril Ma’ruf Siregar, the chief executive of the center for disaster, environment, and natural resources of LLPM Unila, said that the type two self-management activities constitute an assistance programme for communities in tsunami-affected areas.
Unila, as one of BNPB’s partners, is involved in the pentahelix concept, which brings together universities and stakeholders in the Sunda Strait, including in South Lampung Regency, to help with post-tsunami recovery.
The activity will have been taking for six moths from May to November 2021. One of the main activities took the forms of planting some 200 tsunami-resistant tree seedlings across five planting points along the coastline in Kunjir, Rajabasa district, South Lampung regency, Restoration of coral reef ecosystems was another community service put in place at three locations, in which 150 concrete blocks with a total of 750 coral reef seedlings were placed.
The activity involved the youth tourism awareness community group under the auspices of the local government of Kunjir, Rajabasa district, South Lampung Regency.
LPPM made community service possible in collaboration with the regional disaster management agency (BPBD) of Lampung Province, BPBD of South Lampung Regency, and the tourism office of South Lampung Regency, as well as the regional development planning agency (Bappeda) of South Lampung, the Rajabasa sub-district head, and the head of Kunjir village, The activity is expected to spur environmental and natural resource restorations in other parts of South Lampung Regency, Lampung Province.
Amri said that stakeholders, both public and private, were expected to contribute to the restoration of natural resources and the environment, particularly along the coastal areas. Dra. Andi Efiana, the director of socio-cconomic and natural resources recovery and improvement, accompanied by vice rector for planning, cooperation, and ICT, Prof. Suharso, and the head of LPPM Unila, Dr. Lusmeilia Afriani, provided symbolic assistance in addition to tree planting.
The event was also attended by Tono Sumarsono, the head of the sub-directorate for natural resource recovery and productivity improvement, a group of the BNPB SDA directorate PPSE team, the BPBD executive of South Lampung, Lampung Province BPBD representatives, Drs. Mitra Utama, the head of the environment agency of South Lampung, representatives of the regional development planning agency (Bappeda) of South Lampung, representatives of the marine service of South Lampung, the head of the Kunjir village, custom elders, community elders, and the tourism activists of bina remaja tourism awareness organisation of Kunjir village. [PR Team]
