By Khairul Anuar Muhamad Noh
Photo by Marina Ismail

SERDANG - Graduates should be bold enough to take the risk and come out of their comfort zone to challenge their own self to be a better person.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Tuanku Chancellor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said that graduates should prove their intellectual ability by being able to guide the society to prepare them for future challenges.

“Get out of the ordinary frame of mind and mould new thinking that can challenge the norm to assist the country to be a developed and sovereign state.

“I wish to remind our graduates that a university serves as a platform to transform the mind,  for you to think out of the box , understand the direction and those virtuous and noble aspirations,” His Royal Highness said at UPM’s 39th Convocation at the Main Hall of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Art and Culture Centre which is being held from October 31 to November 3, 2015.

The ceremony saw the graduation of 7,056 graduates, of whom 469 are PhD holders, 1,860 Master’s degree, 4,299 Bachelor and 428 Diploma, with the number of PhD holders the highest to have been produced by a public university in Malaysia.

Sultan Sharafuddin, who is also the Sultan of Selangor, said in line with UPM’s slogan “Agriculture. Innovation. Life”, UPM had set up a National Food Security Centre to overcome the problems relating to food supply in Malaysia.

“Towards this end, UPM has held various new programmes in the field of agriculture engineering, economic agriculture, production and processing that can assist the nation in providing the needs for food and farming,” he said.

Sultan Sharafuddin also called on universities to attract world’s renowned experts to work with them.

“Graduates should understand and tackle the problems faced by the community head-on instead of doing so via the cyber world and borderless technology,” he added.

Sultan Sharafuddin also expressed his hope for UPM to continue to be at the forefront of agriculture niche by giving direct impacts to the society and the country.

At the convocation, Sultan Sharafuddin bestowed the Honorary Doctor of Science degree to Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Zakri Abdul Hamid, Honorary Doctor of Plantation Management to Tan Siok Choo and Honorary Doctor of Engineering to Tan Sri Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim.

Professor Dr. Karen Ann Crouse @ Ani Abdullah, meanwhile, was conferred the Professor Emeritus award.

The convocation ceremony which spreads over eight sessions for four days is also graced by three UPM Pro-Chancellors, that is Tan Sri Dato’ Setia Dr. Nayan Ariffin on the second session (October 31), fifth session (November 2), seventh (November 3); Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Lim Ah Lek at the third session (November 1), sixth (November 2) and eighth session (November 3) while Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd Bakke Salleh on the fourth session on November 1.

The Tuanku Chancellor also bestowed University medals, that is the Chancellor’s Gold Medal award, Royal Education Gold Medal award (Bumiputra), Alumni Gold Medal and Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Rashdan Baba Gold Medal to Ermelia Rohayu Ramlan who specialized in Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences and the Royal Education Gold Medal (non-Bumiputera) and Yayasan Pak Rashid Gold Medal to Ng Geok Lim who majored in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

Other University medals the Tuanku Chancellor presented were the Putra Agribio medal to Daniel

Mohan Jacob (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), Doctor of Philosophy Gold Medal to Tumirah Khadirin (PhD of Nano Science), Institut Teknologi Maju’s Master In Thesis Gold Medal to  Nur Atiqah Mohamad Aziz (Master of Green Engineering), Institut Teknologi’s MTDC Annual Book Award (Innovation/Commercialization/Business) to Phuah Kit Teng (PhD of AgriBusiness) and Syed Kechik award to Yap Ee Lyn (Bachelor of Science (Hons) Microbiology), Faculty of Biomolecular and Biotechnology Sciences.

Meanwhile, graduates who majored in four new programmes – 37 in Bachelor of Science (Hons) Molecule and Cell Biology received their scrolls on October 31 while  48 others in Bachelor of Science (Hons) Biotechnology,  177 in Bachelor of Education (Primary School Education with Honours) and 42 others in Bachelor of Science Parks and Recreation will be receiving theirs during the fourth session on November 1.

 

Date of Input: | Updated: | hairul_nizam