By: Pechai A/P Sivakumaran, Selena John Kennedy and Mohd Dasuki Sahak

Guest of honor at the opening ceremony of ‘Anjung Ilmu’

Serdang, 18th Dec - Perpustakaan Sultan Abdul Samad (PSAS), UPM held the opening ceremony of ‘Anjung Ilmu’ on the 13^th of December 2021 at 10.00 am. The opening ceremony was officiated by the Chairman, Lembaga Pengurusan Universiti (LPU), YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail. Also present, UPM Vice-Chancellor, YBhg. Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman, UPM Chief Librarian, Encik Muzaffar Shah Kassim, UPM Senior Officers, Staff and Students.

The opening ceremony was held to embark the completion of ‘Anjung Ilmu’ and to introduce it to the UPM community. The ceremony began with the arrival of YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. This was followed by a quick tour around ‘Anjung Ilmu’ which was accompanied by the University Management Committee.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Chairman, Lembaga Pengurusan Universiti (LPU), YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail.

The ceremony continued by the singing of the National Anthem ‘Negaraku’, UPM Anthem ‘Putra Gemilang’, ‘Doa’ recital, and welcoming speech by UPM Chief Librarian, Encik Muzaffar Shah Kassim. In his speech, Encik Muzaffar Shah Kassim highlighted that the ‘Anjung Ilmu’ is a collaborative project between PSAS, UPM, and the Centre for Management of Waqf, Zakat, and Endowment (WAZAN). He also added that the initial fund amounting RM 200,000.00 was contributed by WAZAN and the remaining fund of RM 470,000.00 was allocated from the PSAS trust fund account gathered through the organisation of paid courses, consultation services, space rental, ‘JomPrint’ printing services, and so on.

He also informed the audience that the ‘Anjung Ilmu’ floor space is about 1,677 square meters with ‘Learning Common’ interior design concept, relaxed and modern learning environment preferred by the current generation.

Whereas YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail in his launching speech mentioned that he was amazed with the transformations that had happened throughout the years compared to 50 years ago when PSAS was first established. Towards the end of his speech, he added that he would like to donate RM 5000.00 to the library as an initiative to encourage other UPM alumni to do their parts as well. Finally, the climax of the opening ceremony was the signing of the inaugural plaque that marks the official opening of ‘Anjung Ilmu’, followed by a multimedia presentation showing before and after the transformations of ‘Anjung Ilmu’.

Signing of the inaugural plaque by the Chairman Lembaga Pengurusan Universiti (LPU), YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail.

During the break, the audience were graced with two Malay traditional dance and three singing performances by the students from Chancellor College, UPM.

The ceremony later was continued by the ‘Bual Bicara: Menelusuri 50 Tahun UPM’ session. The panellist comprises of YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail himself and UPM Vice-Chancellor, YBhg. Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman. Meanwhile, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Abdul Mua’ti @Zamri Ahmad, Dean of the Faculty of Modern Languages ​​and Communications (FBMK), UPM as the moderator.

During the session, YAM Tengku Syarif Laksamana Perlis Dato' Seri DiRaja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail shared his experiences as students of UPM years ago. He also stated that students and academic staff relationships should be encouraged more to produce quality graduates in the working environment for the future. A university places a huge role in shaping a student’s life as “Universities can mould students towards a direction to become the agent of change for the community”.

On the other hand, Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman shared his views on the changes of learning behaviour of students from the previous generations when UPM was still known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. Overall, the discussion has concluded that the only thing that matters is the number of quality graduates that the university produces as witnesses of the agent of change other than solely focusing on the QS ranking of the university.

UPM Vice-Chancellor, YBhg. Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman during the ‘Bual Bicara’ session.

The ceremony ended with presenting of the photobooks and souvenirs by UPM Chief Librarian, Encik Muzaffar Shah Kassim as a token of appreciation to the invited panelists and moderator. It is hoped that students and staff would benefit from the recent transformations of ‘Anjung Ilmu’.

Date of Input: 11/01/2022 | Updated: 11/01/2022 | khairul_zul