Apa Dah Jadi? Maka kenalah perkukuhkan kedudukan pemberi anugerah darjah kebesaran raja-raja dan universiti serta kualiti Dato' dan Dr. (PhD)

Gelaran Datuk ekspres
Oleh ARSHAD KHAN
pengarang@utusan.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR 22 Sept. – Jabatan Peguam Negara diminta memutuskan sama ada ‘pembelian’ gelaran seperti Datuk dari luar negara atau ijazah doktor falsafah (PhD) ‘secara ekspres’ merupakan perbuatan jenayah atau sebaliknya. Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim berkata, kegiatan membeli gelaran sosial semakin serius dan jika tidak ditangani, akan melahirkan satu generasi ‘ilmuwan palsu’. Menurutnya, agensi kerajaan yang berkenaan perlu menilai dan merumuskan juga kaedah untuk menghalang perbuatan membeli gelaran sosial yang semakin menjadi-jadi. Beliau memberitahu, pihak-pihak yang menggunakan gelaran palsu berkenaan harus disiasat dengan segera kerana mereka boleh ditafsir melakukan satu bentuk penipuan kepada masyarakat. Tambahnya, perbuatan membeli gelaran sosial di negara ini sudah di tahap yang agak keterlaluan dan menjadikan budaya menipu di tahap paling tinggi serta memudaratkan masyarakat. “Ada pemimpin muda memiliki ijazah PhD belian dan tidak diiktiraf, ini sangat serius, saya cadangkan mereka disiasat, perbuatan ini disifatkan menipu,” katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini, baru-baru ini. Malah, Rais berkata, sesetengah ahli masyarakat yang berstatus pemimpin juga dikesan membeli ‘PhD ekspres’.
Katanya, selain PhD, gelaran sosial lain seperti Datuk dan Datuk Seri boleh dibeli dari luar dengan mudah. “Cuma Tan Sri yang belum ‘dikilangkan’ lagi,” katanya. Kata beliau, budaya membeli gelaran sosial sudah berlarutan hampir satu dekad dan pembelian dari luar adalah lanjutan daripada sikap menjual gelaran yang sama di dalam negara. “Semasa di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dahulu saya pernah tegur beberapa negeri, apabila dikaitkan dengan kuasa-kuasa luar Malaysia, ini adalah lanjutan kepada amalan terdahulu,” katanya. Jelasnya, ada individu yang boleh menjadi Datuk secara tiba-tiba atau umpama dalam sekelip mata.
“Dahulu gelaran istana diberikan kepada yang berjasa kepada raja dan negara, sekarang nilai-nilai itu sudah berubah menjadi nilai buruk, gelaran-gelaran penting menjadi bahan dagangan,” katanya. Kata beliau, seorang yang membawa gelaran Dr. dalam namanya melalui Phd sepatutnya seorang yang berilmu dan membuat pencapaian tinggi. “Kecuali undang-undang berkaitan menyamar dapat digunakan, maka perkara ini (pembelian gelaran sosial) memerlukan satu pendekatan drastik untuk ditangani,” katanya.

LMS and Implementation for Quality Education!

Surprise visit by Dean Sidek to Biology Department on 20 August 2009
Biology Department needs better and organise facilities for better research and teaching
Above and below-Facilities in the most productive laboratory in Biology Department and recognised research activities in the region still using old and traditional facilities

Whole Biology Department (inside & outside) need to be upgraded

Dean Sidek happy to support changes towards quality education and research ......

Students are supporting their lecturers continuously no matter what ........

...... in classroom @ discussion......

....... and lectures, faculty and CADe continuously upgrading the systems for better teaching......

How Far We Response to Government Policy on Quality Education in Our University?

Good filing and documentation supporting quality education?
Good and effective lecture and related facilities or tools attract good students?



Varsity courses to be put under microscope
2009/09/23 NSTOnline
PUTRAJAYA: All higher education institutions, both private and public, must take part in the Rating System for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (Setara) to further improve the quality of education. Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin said currently it was not compulsory for private universities to be evaluated through Setara, but by May next year, it would be made compulsory."We are now meeting with all the chief executive officers of the private universities to let them know that their courses would be analysed under the Setara programme."The courses would undergo a quantitative survey where data collected would be analysed based on six areas -- academic staff, student selectivity, research, academic programmes, resources and management. Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin says the Setara system will improve quality of education. He said this would help bring Malaysia closer to achieving its target of becoming an international education hub. The minister said there were 65 higher learning institutions nationwide."We don't want people to see the programme (Setara) as a ranking system, instead it should be looked at as a guideline towards providing quality education. On the increasing number of foreign students choosing to study in Malaysia, Khaled said the government welcomed them but local universities should be more vigilant and choose only the best students to avoid complaints of unruly foreign students in the country. "Universities should make sure these students are the cream of the crop and have a record of good behaviour before being allowed to study here. "He added that the Malaysian government only sent good students abroad and there were hardly any, or no complaints, about Malaysian students misbehaving abroad.

plagiarism

Tuesday September 15, 2009

UPM lecturers hauled up over plagiarism

By KAREN CHAPMAN

PETALING JAYA: A stern warning will be given to two Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) lecturers for plagiarising materials from the Internet to produce a guide book.

UPM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah said this warning would also be included in their service records, which would affect their promotion.

“The management decided to take this action following advice from the legal department that the two be given very stern warnings,” he said when contacted.

Prof Dr Nik Mustapha said the university viewed the case seriously and did not condone it.

“No one will be suspended but they have to return any royalty received,” he said.

He said the guide books would be removed from the (university’s) shelves immediately.

He was commenting on a news report that two UPM lecturers had plagiarised materials to produce a guide book on writing effective resumes for management students.

Prof Dr Nik Mustapha said the legal department had made suggestions to the management on the disciplinary action to be taken after personally meeting the authors.

“The junior author, who recently completed her PhD, said that since the source was from the Internet, she thought the information was in the public domain and as such did not cite the article,” he said.

Prof Dr Nik Mustapha said the senior author admitted to the legal team that the manuscript looked all right to him, not realising that it was taken from another work.

“Since this is a guide book, we decided that the punishment was reasonable,” he said.

Prof Dr Nik Mustapha said that the two authors have apologised for their ignorance, adding that the plagiarism did not affect UPM undergraduates as the work was not a textbook.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin when contacted said the ministry viewed the matter seriously. “We will leave it to the university to conduct an investigation and take action,” he said.

Era internet membuka peluang untuk berkongsi maklumat. Malangnya ada orang yang mengambil kesempatan untuk menciplak untuk kepentingan sendiri. Mahasiswa perlu dilatih sejak di universiti agar tidak memplagiat dan belajar menghargai keaslian karya sendiri. Maklumat daripada internet hanyalah sebagai panduan. Kreativiti sendiri adalah lebih penting dalam menghasilkan karya yang berkualiti dan boleh dibanggakan

Mahasiswa perlu beraktiviti

Aktiviti mahasiswa di universiti perlu menggambarkan aspirasi generasi mereka sebenar. Kenapa sejak sepuluh tahun dahulu masyarakat membincangkan tentang kewibawaan mahasiswa. Masyarakat selalu membandingkan kualiti mahasiswa zaman 70-an dan 80-an dengan kualiti mahasiswa zaman sekarang. Apakah status ekonomi dan cara hidup masyarakat serta teknologi ICT sekarang membuatkan kewibawaan mereka diragui. Atau apakah sistem pendidikan sekarang sejak sekolah dan pendekatan P&Pnya membuatkan persoalan kewibawaan mahasiswa kini diragui. Atau di universiti mereka diajar seperti di sekolah dan tidak menyediakan mereka untuk alam pekerjaan atau menjadi pemimpin atau ketua dalam sesuatu organisasi yang sebenar. Kalau semua kita prihatin dengan kualiti mahasiswa maka sesuatu tindakan perlu di buat. Dengan teknologi ICT semasa, mahasiswa seharusnya mendapat maklumat yang diperlukan dari seluruh dunia dengan cepat dan keraguan tentang kualiti mereka tidak sepatutnya ada. Oleh kerana kemudahan mendapatkan maklumat yang mudah dan cepat atau dihujung jari sahaja tidak seperti mahasiswa zaman dahulu, maka pendekatan pembelajaran perlu diubah. Mahasiswa perlu lebih didedahkan dengan kedua-dua maklumat terkini secara global dan amalan ilmu yang didapati terus kepada masyarakat atau profesionalism yang diikuti. Dengan kata lain aktiviti kerja lapangan, latihan industri dan projek berdasarkan penyelesaian masalah setempat perlu dijalankan. Kalau dahulu banyak peruntukan untuk mendapatkan maklumat tetapi sekarang perbelanjaan itu sudah menjadi murah dan ada yang percuma. Maka peruntukan yang lebih pula perlu diberikan kepada aktiviti pendedahan mahasiswa kepada kerja luar dan amal bakti ilmu yang diperolehi. If in case there is a curriculum review, this idea must be considered so that at the end of the course or programme the students must be able to practice their knowledge, skills and intellectuality effectively in their career.

Graduan Berkualiti Pemimpin Masa Hadapan

Aktiviti kurikulum perlu diaplikasikan di luar bilik kuliah agar mahasiswa berani, mengikut peredaran masyarakat semasa dan mampu beradaptasi apabila bergraduat.

Bagaimana hendak menjayakan hasrat di atas?

Perancangan yang teliti dan perlaksanaan yang mantap amatlah perlu. Memang benar aktiviti kokurilum dan pendekatan pembelajaran perlu dilihat semula dan diperkemaskan. Kajian mantap kesan keghairahan aktiviti pembangunan mahasiswa dan kaedah pendekatan yang dilakukan sejak 2002/2003 perlu dikaji dengan teliti. Kesan pemikiran mahasiswa sejak slogan reformasi 1998 perlu dianalisis. Sekarang diperkenalkan pula konsep Satu Malaysia. Kaum mana yang akan mendapat manafaat dan apa kesan kepada perpaduan negara, keseimbangan ekonomi dan politik negara masa hadapan? Untuk menjayakan perkara ini pemimpin yang betul dan kumpulan pemikir dan sokongan yang tepat perlu dicari dan diberikan tugas yang sepatutnya. Elakkan perlaksanaan yang tidak jelas, tidak bersepadu, untuk kumpulan tertentu dan ikut rasa, pengaruh dan sekadar bersifat semasa, jangka pendek dan adhoc. Kita harus belajar berfikir untuk menjalankan aktiviti jangka panjang, berterusan, berwawasan dan dipantau keberkesanaannya secara berkala demi untuk Satu Malaysia yang sebenarnya, rakyat didahulukan dan pencapaian diutamakan. Bayangkan dalam keghairahan melatih dan membentuk mahasiswa berkualiti masa hadapan, hanya 5% mahasiswa yang dilatih dan sekadar seperti wayang atau tayangan filem kepada seluruh lebih 20,000 masyarakat kampus, dengan perbelanjaan yang besar dan publisiti yang hebat. Akhirnya kualiti graduan yang dihasilkan masih menjadi tanda tanya oleh pihak luar atau pelangan universiti. Sampai masanya sekarang perlaksanaan yang agresif perlu dijalankan dengan lebih objektif dan efektif. Kurangkan pengenalan segala tiori dan kaedah yang tidak praktikal, hanya di atas kertas untuk rujukan fail, membuang banyak masa orang penting yakni pensyarah dan pelajar untuk kepentingan dokumentasi bagi pihak tertentu menjadi juara anugerah. Yang penting ialah perlaksanaan dan kualiti hasilnya. Biarlah petaruh utama, mahasiswa dan pensyarah bersendirian memastikan pengeluaran graduan yang berkualiti tanpa masa mereka tebuang dengan melayani kerja -kerja pegawai sokongan. Sebenarnya pegawai sokongan perlu melayani pensyarah dan mahasiswa. Sampai masanya juga pihak universiti dan profesional memberikan kepercayaan sepenuhnya kepada pihak pegawai sokongan menjalankan tugas membantu dan memudahcarakan kerja-kerja pensyarah dan keperluan mahasiswa dan bukan mengarahkan pensyarah membantu kerja mereka disamping kerja hakiki pensyarah.

Port Dickson Destinasi Ekopelancungan

Better systems needed to avoid this kind of accident

Crocodile in Linggi River attract tourists

Japanese Hawk at Tanjung Tuan (refer to Raptors Watch)


Beach Cleaning Activity at Port Dickson

Environmental Education Programme

Port Dickson sudah terkenal sebagai destinasi penting pelancong.

Port Dickson ada pantainya yang bersih, sesuai untuk mandi manda dan rekreasi.

Port Dickson juga destinasi pencinta burung helang dari seluruh dunia terutama dari Jepun yang singgah di Tanjung Tuan setiap tahun.

Port Dickson dekat dengan Sungai Linggi yang mempunyai tarikan ekopelancongan.

Port Dickson mempunyai kemudahan lebuhraya dan hotel yang memberikan kemudahan kepada pelancong.

Semua pihak terutamanya perancang pembangunan perlu menghormati keistimewaan Port Dickson ini.

Recognised University

International Research Collaboration

Foreign lecturer giving lecture to local students in ecotoxicology

(First course introduced in Malaysia by Prof Ahmad Ismail, UPM)

How to make our university recognised and comparable to other world class universities?
Now three out of four research universities in Malaysia are looking for better recognisation. To achieve those vission all must participate; students, staffs, management and leaders of the university. All must clear and understand about the vission and mission of the university and move forwards with it. Students and lecturers must understand the objectives of the programme that they are involved and work hard towards achieving the objectives. No more spoon feeding and wait for what lecturer want to give. Each courses, there will be an objectives and content, presentations and assessment. Students must aware of all these and fulfill the synopsis of the course. High quality students will produce high quality graduates and competitive globally. High quality graduates will show the true quality of the university and teaching practiced. University must provide all faclities physically, morally and financial allocation to run the courses introduced to meet all sorts of expectation such as high quality of knowledge, all skills listed in the learning outcomes and programme outcomes. In order to achieve these all levels of staff must be together and understand the objectives of the university. Everyone must know their duties. University must train all of them as they needed. If we need to compete globally, we need to expose them at global level. We already have MoU with many top universities in the world such as The Tokyo University. Why not we visit them to observe they daily practice and spirit, so that we can practice when we come back to our university. Even some professors also need to be exposed to the world class university. We have brain gain program, why don't we do it and not just on papers.

Milky Stork Release Programme-for comment and what's next before they are extinct

Three out of five birds released at Kuala Gula. The birds in school compound and still need guardian from Perhilitan's staff (Picture by Zana Biology UPM 09). More systematic release programme needed involving short and long tearm research and very costly.

Source : The Star, Malaysia, 06 Jul '06 By : Tan Cheng Li

Last colony of Milky Storks

The Matang Forest Reserve in Perak is reputed to be one of the world’s best examples of sustainably managed mangrove forest.
That claim, however, may be dubious as a species it hosts, the milky stork, is on the verge of extinction. Once abundant along the peninsula West Coast, the waterbird is now confined to Matang and recent observations hint at a population that may be as low as four birds.
Yes, milky storks are facing imminent extinction in the wild in Malaysia.
How did we allow them to reach such a dire state? It appears that conservation measures taken so far have been too little, too late.
Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) cannot curb human activities there since Matang is not a wildlife sanctuary but a timber production forest reserve. Proposals for a wildlife reserve and a Ramsar Site (wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention) have for years, been ignored.

The Forestry Department did set aside no-logging zones but this was of little help as tree-cutting and human activities persist in adjacent sites. Deprived of the tall trees needed for nesting, the storks fail to multiply. To worsen things, eagles, monkeys and monitor lizards prey on their chicks and eggs.
No juvenile stork has been seen for over 20 years in Matang. The conservation status of the species is so alarming that Perhilitan wants it declared as “endangered” instead of just “vulnerable.”

Safe refuge
The last chance left for the species is re-introduction of captive-bred birds. Zoo Negara has successfully bred them since 1987 and now has over 90 birds. If these birds are freed in Matang and start breeding, there is hope yet for the species to repopulate the wild.
But this can work only in a secure habitat. Otherwise, the captive-bred birds will suffer the same fate as their wild cousins, whose population had plunged by 90% in the last 20 years due to shrinking mangroves and human disturbance.
Hence, Perhilitan has repeated its call to the Forestry Department to enlarge the “protected forest” cover in Matang by an extra 644ha – which is not a lot considering that Matang sprawls over 40,466ha. The Forestry Department had previously protected 1,883ha at Pulau Kelumpang and 103ha at Pulau Terong, two islands where the storks feed and roost.
“For effective conservation of the milky stork, larger areas of undisturbed mangroves are necessary to buffer the lakes found on the two islands,” says David Li, waterbird conservation officer at Wetlands International.
“Even if the birds go extinct, we can reintroduce captive-bred birds. But this is a wasted effort if the habitat is not secure,” adds Li, who had led an 18-month study on conservation of milky storks jointly conducted with Perhilitan and the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).
The study repeated proposals for a wildlife reserve and Ramsar Site, as these will give Perhilitan a say in managing the area.
Li asserts that conserving the site will benefit migratory birds which winter in Matang. As the mangrove cover declines, so has fisheries production and the population of these birds – by as much as 75% to 95% in the past 10 to 17 years. Gulls and terns are the worst affected.
Perhilitan held a workshop in March to discuss the study findings, bringing together experts in bird breeding and conservation. However, little has been done since to implement the recommendations or pass them on to the relevant ministry.
Its biodiversity conservation director Siti Hawa Yatim says Perak Perhilitan has held informal talks with state foresters. A meeting might be called in future.
She says a re-introduction programme will start in Matang early next year. Initially, 10 captive-bred birds will be kept in an aviary at the Perhilitan centre in Kuala Gula to be habituated to the new environment prior to release. Perhilitan will also build tall perches for the birds to build nests and will consider culling predators.
Siti Hawa says the re-introduction programme could not start any earlier as it must follow IUCN (World Conservation Union) protocol. “Before releasing captive-bred birds, we must first study and address the threats such as from predators, water quality of the mudflats (as this will affect food supply) and food sources.”

Although Zoo Negara can spare a few birds from its healthy flock of milky storks, Perhilitan is not taking any chances to avoid a recurrence of two past unplanned releases.
In 2003, 15 milky storks given to Taiping Zoo two years earlier took off and were never seen again, all because of failure to keep their feathers periodically clipped, which prevents long distance flight.
In another project in Kuala Selangor Nature Park by MNS, only four of the 10 birds received in 1998 survived. When funding ran out in 2003, the damaged aviary was not repaired and the birds, left to escape. Seven storks were later seen in nearby Jeram and Bagan Sungai Buloh but since 2004, sightings have only been of four birds. With nearby coastal mangroves cleared for prawn aquaculture, these birds face a survival battle. There is no close watch to see how these storks are faring in the wild – a fact that has angered some bird lovers.
At the March workshop, bird conservationists urged for more facilities for captive breeding. Zoo Negara had previously donated milky storks to Penang Bird Park, Kuala Lumpur Bird Park and Malacca Zoo. One chick was hatched in the KL Bird Park last year. MNS wants to restart its project but it failed to secure funding from car giant Honda, losing out to a rhino conservation project proposed by World Wide Fund for Nature.
That is the sad story of milky storks and birds in general. “They often lose out to the bigger animals like tigers, elephants and orang utans,” laments Siti Hawa. Perhilitan itself failed to get funding for milky stork projects in the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001 to 2005). It finally did in the Ninth Plan (2006 to 2010) and that made next year’s re-introduction plan possible.
Now we can only hope that the project is not delayed. Otherwise milky storks will be the sixth bird species to be extinct in the wild in Peninsular Malaysia, joining the green peafowl, white-winged duck, white rump vulture, long-billed vulture and gold-crested myna.

COPYRIGHT © STAR PUBLICATIONS (MALAYSIA) BERHAD.ARTICLE REPRODUCED HERE FOR THE PURPOSE OF NATURE CONSERVATION AND EDUCATION
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The issue was promoted in 2006 when the milky stork was really in bad condition. The numbers are low, the habitats are threatened, public awareness is low, enforcement and monitoring are limited, research is limited, special allocation for milky stork was not clear and in general we can say less effort to pr0tect and conserve this milky stork. Hopefully in 2009, 2010 onwards more money will be allocated and milky stork will be protected and coserveed systematically. Government through Department of Wildlife and National Park (PERHILITAN), Forest Department, State Governments, Corporate Sectors. Private Companies, NGOs should come forwards to tackle this issue, Milky Stork Conservation.