GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said universities can lend their best minds to gear Malaysia towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution era or IR 4.0.
He said while the traditional sense of a university is to break new ground in fields of study, they have to remain relevant to the society at large by having academics pour their knowledge to the larger populace.
“The cooperation between academicians and those working outside the academia must be stepped up to cater to the real-life demands in the country as we ride the wave of modernisation and IR 4.0.
“Universities must make use of creative and innovative spaces in the digital world to discover new fields of study and reduce our dependency on resources outside the country,” he said in a recorded video played at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) “commemorative” convocation ceremony today.
Mahathir was conferred USM’s inaugural Chancellor’s Special Sustainability Award by chancellor Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Tuanku Syed Putra, who is also the Raja of Perlis.
He is expected to receive the award in person at a special ceremony at Istana Arau later, USM officials said.
Mahathir thanked USM for the award, saying it was a big honour coming from a prestigious university, and a “meaningful” one as he had previously received an honorary science doctorate from USM.
He also advised students to come out of their comfort zones to face challenges, to be independent and think out of the box to be globally relevant.
Earlier, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin also presented honorary degrees to squash superstar Nicol Ann David, who received a sports science doctorate, and USM’s first female registrar, Siti Mazenah Saad, who received a public administration doctorate.
The chancellor also presented a science doctorate to Shuji Nakamura, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin will also chair the university’s two-day 57th convocation from tomorrow. A total of 6,338 graduands will receive their scrolls.
Of the number, 508 will receive their doctorates, 1,564 master’s degrees, 4,266 bachelor’s degrees, and 45 nursing diplomas.
2019-09-23 07:00:14Z
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/09/23/universities-can-lend-best-minds-for-ir-4-0-era-says-dr-m/
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