Staying ahead with IT

THE country needs to revamp the information and communication technology (ICT) industry if it wants to stay relevant and become an information technology (IT) hub.

Multimedia University (MMU) president Prof Dr Zaharin Yusoff says the best way forward is for Malaysia to move away from being an IT-consumer nation and become an IT-producing nation.

It will then put Malaysia on par with other developed nations such as the United States (US), Japan and France as the country will be exporting its own software and applications.

“By then, we will stand the chance of having our own equivalent of Microsoft and Oracle, ” he says.

A view of the MMU campus in Malacca.

However, the MMU president admits that it may take some time for Malaysia to become a leading IT-producing nation until investments are available to develop IT products. Insufficient human capital in ICT, he shares, is also another factor which hampers the development of the industry.

Prof Zaharin adds that the launch of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in the 1990s created a hype and interest among students who suddenly were keen on pursuing higher education in ICT.

However, he laments that more IT graduates are working in other sectors compared to those who are servicing the ICT industry.

Prof Zaharin says that universities should focus on research and development projects

“The cause of this problem could be traced to the supply-demand mismatch in the human capital needs of the ICT industry and the skills of the crop of IT graduates rolled out by the universities and colleges.

“There was a misconception among the tertiary institutions then regarding the type of graduates actually needed by the industry,” he adds.

On hindsight, Prof Zaharin says more courses on computing or computer science should be offered instead of IT programmes which are product specific.

“This is to prevent the graduates from becoming ‘helpless’ when the products and tools used in the said programmes become obsolete,” he says.

He reveals that MMU, together with a few public universities, have decided to put an end to this problem by re-tuning the curriculum of their IT programmes.

R&D roadmap

Nevertheless, Prof Zaharin stresses that the effort of restructuring the curriculum of the IT courses is still not sufficient to propel the country into becoming an IT-producing nation.

“Universities should focus on research and development (R&D) and develop a R&D technology roadmap to give the ICT industry a boost,” he says.

Being the premier institution in IT studies, MMU is spearheading the initiative to work out a R&D technology roadmap with the support from government agencies and industry players.

“The roadmap will identify the direction that the ICT industry is moving into, besides laying the groundwork for R&D on ICT products and applications which will be produced by the industry, ” says Prof Zaharin.

He explains that the strength of a university lies in its R&D effort and his vision is to inculcate the R&D culture at the varsity.

For a start, he says MMU’s academic staff have a reduced teaching load so that they have more time to carry out research.

“Lectures will be made more real and interesting when the academic staff bring students’ attention to elements of their R&D work.

He adds that the students are not left behind as they are also actively involved in the R&D projects, gaining hands-on experience that will prepare them to serve in the ICT industry.

To complete the spectrum of R&D exposure to students, Prof Zaharin says the university is gearing towards commercialising its R&D projects.

“Through commercialism of such projects in IT, students can observe how technopreneurs and the ICT industry work,” he says.

Riding on the strength of the R&D culture, the university has centres of excellence which will be offering niche programmes such as knowledge management technology, a course which encompasses artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

“Currently, there are special interest groups in every faculty and MMU is well-known for its specialisation in robotics,” says Prof Zaharin.

Other niche programmes in the pipeline include health informatics focusing on wellness, and laws which touch on the legal aspects that arise when technology crosses borders.

“The university is also planning to offer Sports Science with special focus on badminton,” says the MMU president.

Upcoming programme

With 4,500 international students coming from 79 countries, MMU is a melting pot of cultures that is very much alive and vibrant.

“The students bring an international flavour to the university and they love to perform,” says Prof Zaharin.

The university, he adds is planning to venture out its technology and business domain by offering a course in Experiential Performance Arts..

Prof Zaharin explains that it is a programme which marries creativity with IT.

“The course is something like Sports Science analysis in which technology is utilised to enhance the performance of the athletes or artistes,” he shares adding that this course will be handled by both the Faculty of IT and Faculty of Creative Multimedia.

On other future plans by MMU, Prof Zaharin says the university hopes to expand its global footprint by exporting its programmes overseas.

“It is not just internationalisation within the campus but also beyond,” he adds.

Currently, MMU exports its programmes to countries such as Iran, Kenya and Sudan.

MMU was ranked as a tier five university which is equivalent to “excellent status” in the Setara rating released by the Higher Education Ministry recently.

“We believe that it is our strength in R&D which had given us the extra edge in being ranked as one of the top institutions of higher learning in the country,” says Prof Zaharin.

Multimedia University is a contributor to the Star Education Fund.

(http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=education&file=/2010/9/5/education/6839277)

Changing media changes the world

IT WAS a two-day event of debates, intellectual discourse and sharing of ideas as academicians and industry players came together at the International Conference on Media and Communication (Mention 2011) held at the Equatorial Hotel, Bangi recently.

Mention 2011, organised by the School of Media and Communication Studies under the social sciences and humanities faculty at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), is a biannual conference providing a platform for academics to discuss current issues related to the media and communication. Here is where they also seek alternatives, while creating avenues towards an integrated solution.

In this day and age, the field of media and communication is undoubtedly very progressive and dynamic in tandem with technological advancement.

Social media sites such as Facebook have been credited for playing key roles in the uprisings in Nepal and Eqypt. However, Prof Ang’s findings says that ‘social media is not as popular as the media might suggest’. Journalists may also use social media for their advantage, but ‘that is not necessarily a good thing’, according to Yong. — File photo

According to Mention 2011, the advent of new media with practical and ideological changes of traditional media has impacted social change and subsequently transformed the world communication unification landscape.

This was exactly what Singapore Internet Research Centre director Prof Ang Peng Hwa addressed in his keynote speech. He cited case studies in Nepal and Egypt on the recent downfall of long-standing governments due to technology.

What was interesting to me was the question he raised and attempted to find answers to:

1. What is the role of social media in social and political change?

2. If social media is so important, why should governments not simply cut it in times of crisis?

3. What happens if you cut communications?

Anyone interested and who followed the changes in the media and political landscape, would probably come to the simple conclusion that the technological impact was big. But according to Prof Ang’s findings, social media is “not as popular as the media might suggest”.

He further found out that by cutting communications, “you lose the opportunity to warn the population and you may aggravate the crisis”.

The conclusions for both countries were somewhat similar. For Nepal, cutting off mobile phone services made citizens angry and undermined the king’s political support, whereas for Egypt, it was the absence of social media that triggered greater public disquiet and eventually protests.

The cuts in media meant that the government could not warn the public not to protest. Nevertheless the public were angry enough to take risks in the absence of news and information.

In another interesting discussion by Prof Dr Samsuddin Abdul Rahim, the topics of communication and social change are revisited.

Prof Samsuddin questions whether we are doing things the “old” way or rather just doing it differently with news technology.

He argues that the emergence of the Internet and its extensive global networks have given traditional, interpersonal face-to-face horizontal communication a sizable boost.

The masses who found it difficult to make themselves heard can now depend on the Internet as a method of expressing their views and initiating change in society.

Intellectual discourse

It was definitely a morning of intellectual speeches, discussions and questions under different sub-themes, including audience analysis, intercultural integration and social change, and cross border communication.

A total of 120 papers were presented by professors and students alike, on the above sub-themes that were equally divided into 20 sessions with local and international participants. The parallel sessions ran in its allocated rooms, with a few interesting presentations happening at the same time in different venues.

It was the first time this writer actually observed topics such as From ‘I love you’ to “SarangHaeYo’: The media are now Korean by Assoc Prof Fuziah Kartini Hassan Basri; Breasts, bags, clothes and shoes: Constructing motherhood and images of breastfeeding vs. formula feeding women by Emma Mohamad, and a catchy title like Wayangcine: Rethinking vernacularism presented by Badrul Redzuan Abu Hassan. Talk about diversity in communication!

Everybody got a break from the serious seminars and let loose that night with the dinner held at the Grand Ballroom where academicians and scholars danced and sang to popular traditional songs.

The dinner was attended by Tun Abdul Razak Institute for Broadcasting and Information (IPPTAR) director Datuk Adilah Shek Omar as guest of honour and also the main sponsor for the conference.

As the delegates enjoyed the dinner, Combo RTM took to the stage withSway as the opening number by Azhar Sharif. The versatile singer sang a medley of English, Malay, Arabic and even Hindi songs that had the audience singing along.

Final-year communication student Nik Husna Nik Ali also entertained the audience with her rendition of Aryati and Kasih.

These performances were interlaced with lucky draws with much hilarious results as there was a mad scramble to unearth the hidden numbers.

Lecturers and students alike then enjoyed the rest of the night with songs and dances.

On the second day of the conference, participants looked either exhausted or refreshed as the parallel sessions continued as early as 9am with the plenary session. Distinguished speakers for the second day were Bernama editor-in-chief Datuk Yong Soo Heong, Assoc Prof Dr Latiffah Pawanteh and Assoc Prof Dr Faridah Ibrahim, both from UKM.

Yong, a seasoned journalist and editor spoke on challenges and issues faced by today’s mainstream journalists. He spoke on the Internet and its wide usage for citizen journalism.

He also cited examples of how journalists use Facebook for their advantage and that is not necessarily a good thing.

As a closing remark, he reiterated that the traditional media editors should embrace the new technology but also be wary of news accuracy.

Timely topics

Dr Latiffah on the other hand talked about Enclaves and Marketplace Interactions: Cultural adaption in a globalised world. She touched on sojourners and why migrations on massive scales have happened, and offered the explanation that they are due to push and pull factors such as domestic and foreign conditions, political environment, cultural proximity and also technological advancements.

The last plenary speaker, Dr Faridah presented a talk on War, conflicts and the media: Perception of media gatekeepers versus the audience.

This topic was timely as we had just lost Bernama TV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, who was killed while on a humanitarian mission to Somalia.

Dr Faridah used this example as part of her presentation and shared that there had been talks to train local journalists to enter and cover warzones in 2003 — unfortunately, there was no follow-up and nothing came out of it.

Although war news is currently supplied by international news agencies, she said, they may have a negative slant.

“Ideally, we should send our own reporters for these assignments,” said Dr Faridah, adding that that was the consensus of news editors she spoke to.

Through the Mention initiative, current issues such as this and the role of communication media in proliferating cultures means we should take a moment to pause and reflect.

The advent of new media and communication technologies have brought about a profound transformation in the way people communicate and share knowledge and information. These new technologies offer vast new opportunities for public participation and engagement and have the potential to expand media use even further.

The best place to start this epistemological journey is by looking at the paradox of this transformation. And what better place if not in the midst of academics, scholars, media practitioners and students, who would be in time media people themselves.

No doubt the feedback and discussion that followed during coffee breaks were more interesting and in depth. Thoughts and ideas were shared on how the topics could be improved or expanded for further analysis and dialogue.

Against a backdrop of rapidly accelerating globalisation, communication further pushes the envelope of this transformation.

It is with this regard that Mention 2011 provided a critical space for all to exchange knowledge and share experiences on the progress and paradox of transformation in media and communication to bring about awareness as well as positive changes and development with a spirit of common goals but with different approaches. And share they did!

(http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2011/10/30/education/9742589&sec=education)

I-Bhd gets strong support for i-City project

I-BHD has roped in the support of Intel, Universiti Industri Selangor (UniSel), the Tourism Ministry as well as the Selangor state government for the proposed i-City, a RM1.5bil information and communication technology (ICT)-based commercial development in Shah Alam.

The Selangor state government is backing this development because I-Bhd is supporting its aim to take the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) concept to the next level, from merely focusing on the business community to creating a digital community.

Also, it is the first project of its kind by the private sector and on such a massive scale.

There was a flurry of activities last month that saw I-Bhd signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Intel on Sept 7 for the development of digital service infrastructure at i-City.

Datuk Prof Dr Adnan Alias

This was followed by an official visit by Selangor state executive councillor Datuk Ch’ng Toh Eng, who is also chairman of the state Multimedia, Environment & Village Development Portfolio, to the project’s site in Section 7 on Sept 25.

Ch’ng, who initiated the digital city idea, was satisfied with the progress. Earthworks at the project’s 72-acre freehold site in front of the Sungai Rasau toll plaza of the Federal Highway 1 are nearing completion while piling on the Phase 1 shop offices has started.

The next day, I-Bhd signed another MoU with UniSel at its Shah Alam city campus (located near i-City) to forge a smart partnership under the i-City incubation programme.

More MoUs would be signed in the coming months with other consortium members to undertake the development of the digital infrastructure of i-City.

It is understood that I-Bhd, a public listed company on the Bursa Malaysia main board, has allocated RM5mil on a promotional campaign.

The City Walk is the project’s much-touted showpiece. I-Bhd will spend about RM40mil on ICT infrastructure to support a unique 1,000-ft-long pedestrian street mall where visitors would be surrounded by light, colour, movement and sound. A three-court design provides ample space for events and promotions throughout the year.

The company has 80 retail units lining City Walk for rental only. The City Walk is flanked on one side by 44 units of landed shop offices and on the other by 72 units of strata shop offices, all with a contemporary design. Sales have been encouraging.

The success of the shop offices, City Walk and two office towers (where light shows and images would be projected on the buildings’ glass walls) under the 20-acre Phase 1 (scheduled for completion at end of 2007) is crucial. This helps I-Bhd to gain investors’ confidence for the rest of the development that will also have a retail mall, serviced residences, hotel, intelligent school, corporate offices and innovation centre.

The company’s maverick chairman Datuk Lim Kim Hong, realising the importance of shoring up confidence, has worked tirelessly to push for the project’s acceptance.

Lim, who made his millions selling mattresses in the 1980s, wants to bury the ghost of its Sumur City project that failed to take off on the same site following the 1997/98 regional economic crisis.

Since then, I-Bhd has shifted its focus from being a traditional manufacturer of air-conditioners and home appliances to become the leading local provider of digital convergence products. It brought digitalisation to homes and is now expanding its vision to provide smart systems integration to townships.

An artist’s impression of part of the i-City. The RM1.5bil development will take between eight and 10 years to complete

I-City marks I-Bhd’s first foray into an ICT-enabled property development.

“I-City is a world-class project, and from the state government's perspective, there will be many ground-breaking ideas and policies for the state to consider as the project progresses.

“In view of this, the state has established the i-City Selangor Steering Committee so that such issues can be resolved quickly,” said Ch’ng, who has been appointed chairman of this steering committee with the Selangor State Investment Corporation as secretariat.

Ch’ng said the steering committee had held many meetings over the past year and he was happy that the project was moving along smoothly.

Datuk Ch'ng Toh Eng (centre) being briefed by Datuk Lim Kim Hong (far right) and Eu Hong Chew (far left) at the i-City project site in Shah Alam

“I am confident that the end result would be a comprehensive digital community that is the first in the region. It will also be the first private sector financed initiative in the region and a new public-private sector development role model in Malaysia,” he added.

UniSel vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Adnan Alias said i-City offered a “win-win” opportunity for I-Bhd and Unisel. The collaboration with I-Bhd, he said, would see the setting up of Unisel’s first information technology incubator.

“It will be an extension of our industry collaboration. There will be a lot of things needed to make the i-City’s digital city vision a success. One is the software and content development like showing videos on buildings and the total city management system,” he told StarBiz.

Dr Adnan said Unisel would be providing the premises, facilities and expertise for the i-City incubators, as it would take I-Bhd some time to have its own premises for the incubators in i-City. (I-Bhd plans to have 40 incubatees in its i-City incubation programme to start next year and be ready by 2009.)

“Our lecturers can provide consultancy for the project. It will present us with a good opportunity to jointly develop technopreneurs,” he said.

Intel director for South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Philip Cronin, said there was an “explosion” of technological innovations and i-City would help to make businesses more competitive in the global market and have lower costs in the long term.

I-Bhd chief executive officer Eu Hong Chew said i-City would take eight to 10 years to complete and would be funded partly from sales and internal funds.

I-Bhd’s Lim Kim Hong has one wish before he retires: to make i-City a success, as he believes it would benefit Selangor and the country as a whole.

“I am not only putting a lot of my own money, but I am staking my reputation on this development,” he said.

(http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/10/9/business/15589052&sec=business)

Sarawak wants skilled Indian workers

KUCHING: Sarawak wants to bring in skilled workers from India for the Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score).

State Industrial Development Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan,  who has just returned from accompanying Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on a visit to India, said the country had a large pool of skilled manpower, especially in the  technical and information technology fields.

He said the state wanted to woo skilled Indian workers with certificates and diplomas here since the Score project would require a lot of manpower.

"Locals will still be given  priority for  jobs. But if there is a shortage of skilled workers, India, with  1.3 billion people, is  a good source for  skilled manpower," he said  at  Kuching International Airport here yesterday.

He said he and Taib  visited three universities in India.

"We signed  a memorandum of understanding  between Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Integral University  for  staff and student exchanges.

"This will help us  recruit graduates from the university to participate in  Score's development," said Awang Tengah, who is also public utilities minister and  second minister of resource management and environment.

Under the agreement, the state government will allocate RM50,000 to initiate   seminars, training sessions and workshops between the two universities,  while Unimas will provide two graduate scholarships for undergraduates who want  to study here.

( http://www.nst.com.my/local/general/sarawak-wants-skilled-indian-workers-1.1515 )

University's computer sever hacke

JOHOR BARU: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)'s computer network in Skudai was disrupted recently after one of its servers was hacked by an unknown source.

The disruption continued for nine hours.

  Prof Dr Safaai Deris from UTM's Centre of Information and Communication Technology (CICT) said the hacker began penetrating the CICT server on Jan 14.


The hacker did this by using an Internet Protocol (IP) address registered with a United States-based organisation.


  "Analyses on the server's log showed the hacker had uploaded malware in a hidden file immediately after invading the server.


  "The Distributed Denial-of-Service was activated from the server the following day.


"This disabled all main switches in UTM's main computer networks," said Safaai.


 It is learnt the disruption, which ran  from 7am  to 4pm, was detected by an CICT team.


  Members of the team realised something was wrong when attempts to access the university's network failed.


A UTM team took seven hours to revive the system and have it up and running again.


  A source said the disruption led to minimal affects.


This was because  most students did not have any lectures during the period of disruption.


The students were  instead taking their semester examinations at this time.


 Safaai said the university had already put in place more sophisticated preventive measures to prevent hackers from targeting UTM servers in future.


This included doing a comprehensive safety audit on the system.


Servers which were weak security- wise were also isolated.


The university is also studying how to use more effective monitoring applications.


  A police report was lodged about the hacking incident.


Safaai said that a forensic analysis team from the Malaysian Communications And Multimedia Commission would be looking  into the matter to help.

(http://www.nst.com.my/streets/johor/university-s-computer-sever-hacked-1.36499)

Women in Banking

Over the years and leading up to today’s society, corporate professional women have made inspiring progress with a number of them holding high ranking positions and becoming drivers and role models in the corporate world.  This growing presence and the importance of women in the banking industry will be highlighted in this two-day conference organised by the Institute of Bankers Malaysia from 3-4 April 2012.
This is the first-ever Women in Banking conference in Malaysia and will bring together top professional women leaders to recognise their achievements and ideas on how women can excel in the banking industry and be at par with the male gender.  The conference also addresses the barriers and challenges faced by career women where their advancement is complex and tougher especially in rising to positions that are highly male-dominated.
This conference will also provide valuable networking opportunity and deal directly with the specific challenges that women face in their climb up the corporate ladder in banking institutions.  It also seeks to create opportunities and an environment in which professional women can share their experiences, develop contacts and identify role models to help further their careers.

(http://www.ibbm.org.my/v2/index.php/women-in-banking/)

3 directors from the FRESH PALMS HOLDINGS (S) SDN BHD convicted under the Companies Act 1965

Wong Gan Meng, Loo Tap Keong and Wong Yiak Leong, the 3 directors of Fresh Palms Holdings (S) Sdn Bhd (782095-K) were convicted by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today, 8 February 2012 for several non-compliance offences under the Companies Act 1965.
All three accused persons pleaded guilty to two charges each, under section 165(4) of the Companies Act 1965, for failing to lodge annual returns within one month after the Annual General Meeting (AGM). They further pleaded guilty to two charges each, for failure to hold the company’s AGM, an offence under section 143(1) of the Companies Act 1965. Finally, the three directors also pleaded guilty to two charges each for failing to table a profit and loss account for the company, an offence under section 169(1) of the Companies Act 1965.
The three directors were each sentenced to a total fine of RM7,300. The Honorable Court had ordered the directors to pay the fine in two installments, RM2,000 each director, on the same day and the remaining RM5,300 each director, on or before 8 March 2012. In convicting them, Judge Tuan Zulhazmi Bin Abdullah stated that the responsibilities of directors are very important and that one must know all the rules and regulations laid out in the Companies Act 1965, before being elected as a director and that one should not use the defense of no knowledge.
The first installment had been paid by all three directors at the Court Registry.
In his mitigation plea, defense counsel Mr. Gurmukh Singh appealed to court to impose a minimum sentence on all three directors, as they were unemployed and had dependants to support. Puan Nirmala Devi Ramadass prosecuted on behalf of Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia.

The Prosecution pressed for Court to impose a deterrent sentence against the directors as the offence related to good governance and conduct of director in managing a company incorporated under the Companies Act.
SSM views the breaches committed as in the above case seriously. The practice of failing to lodge statutory documents deprives the public from having access to information relating to the companies concerned and it also creates a doubt in the public mind as to its existence.
Punitive action taken by SSM is to remind company directors and their officers, the need to strictly adhere to the requirements of the Companies Act 1965.

(http://www.ssm.com.my/en/press-release/3-directors-fresh-palms-holdings-s-sdn-bhd-convicted-under-companies-act-1965)