New Accomodation Policy

Board of Students Affairs (BOSA) has endorsed a new accommodation policy whereby students’ accommodation is based on the number of rooms available due to the increasing number of students. However, this new policy will only be effective should the condition is met, where; the rooms are not enough. For now, the University can still accommodate all students.

On 15th of October 2009, two of SRC Exco Members attended a discussion on revising the new accommodation policy. Issues on students’ welfare were discussed and it came to an agreement of the establishment of Live-Off Campus Unit (LOC Unit).

This unit was established to:

- To identify suitable area for LOC students

- To advertise the ‘House for Rental programme’ to owner/agent through newspaper

- To invite those identified owner/agent to participate the programme

- To inform students on their status of application for LOC

- To appoint Principal and Fellow to take care of the students welfare and discipline

The LOC Unit will be responsible for the welfare and security of the LOC students. The Unit will also act as mediator between students and landlord.

Besides LOC Unit, SRC also asked for shuttle bus for LOC students. Public transportation also needs to be given consideration. The parking spaces will also become a problem as the number of vehicles will be increased. We also suggested to the University to provide students’ lounge at the centre as a transit centre for LOC students.

Apart from that, a new merit/demerit system will be introduced to the students. Points will be given based on: academic, co-cu activities, and disciplinary record. Higher achiever will be given more marks and this will also apply to active students (in co-cu activities). However, the demerit will apply to those who have a disciplinary record.

SRC Family Day

Assalamualaikum everyone. Sorry for the long delay. We haven't been able to update this blog for a while. Straight to the updates then.

SRC Sports and Culture Secretariat organised Family Day programme to strengthen the bond between SRC and the IIUM community. Thank you to everyone that have made the programme a success. Ok, let the pictures do the talking.

MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT OF IIUM, TAN SRI SIDEK HASSAN

Date : 11 September 2009 (Friday)

Venue : Kompleks Kerajaan Persekutuan, Putrajaya

Time : 3.00 p.m – 5.30 p.m

The SRC Exco members both from Gombak and Kuantan Campus together with Presidents of Clubs and Societies have met IIUM President on 11 September 2009 for a meeting which basically aims to discuss problems and issues together with ways or steps in improving IIUM as a prestigious higher learning institute.

In the meeting after giving muqaddimah on the brief picture on IIUM’s achievement, some issues were raised for Tan Sri’s attention and further action.

1. Issue on the problem of unemployment especially amongst the nursing students

IIUM has made a good move in introducing Nursing course which is now offered in Kuantan Campus. However, regretfully the students there are not eligible to be sponsored by Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam on the basis that it is not a critical course.

Furthermore, the worst situation is that IIUM Nursing graduates are having difficulty in placing themselves in the job market and the graduates from this course most of them are rather jobless or do not work in the nursing area.

Since IIUM is going to have its on hospital, it is hoped that our nursing students will be given priority in getting the job there.

Tan Sri viewed this as a serious matter and the society concerned was later asked to submit details written report on this to him.

2. The quality of human resource in the university

The problem of unemployment is also faced by ICT graduates and one of the detected factors is due to the lack exposure on practical part.

It appears that the lecturers are running away form the university securing a better place in other universities or institutes. This had caused problems to the students since not all the lectures have experience and attachment to the industry which is very important especially to ICT students whom their studies depend much on the development of the technology.

In responding to this, Deputy Rector of Student Affairs, Prof Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod commented that steps have been taken so far by hiring academic fellows who have vast experience in the industry such as from MIMOS.

3. Integration of courses – Double degree scheme

We request for the double degree scheme to be widened so as to open a bigger opportunity for the students. Currently, besides of double degree programme offered in AIKOL for LLBS (Syariah), students from Economics can also do double degree in IRK. However, for those who do not have the strength in understanding Arabic language does not have the opportunity to take up the double degree scheme.

Deputy Rector of Student Affairs commented that the effort to this is continuously done currently. Any suggestion of intention for doing double degree programme, should also be voiced up to the dean of respected Kulliyyah.

4. Certification Programme

It is raised that, the certification programme from outside companies is not available for international student especially for ICT students. Opportunity should be opened to the international students too for them to gain the benefit from this kind of programme.

5. Budget for students’ activities

The issue on budget for students’ activities was also highlighted. We request for increment in the budget as the current allocation is not sufficient. For instance, RM 20 000 given to SRC to be divided to Gombak and Kuantan campus is definitely not sufficient for the organization to run their programmes and activities.

As an answer to this, there may be some space for special allocation of budget from the Students Trust Fund if the programme proposed is a ‘special’ programme which really needs to be organized. However, we all be reminded that due to the economic recession, the amount of budget is reviewed very carefully especially for the coming tenureship.

6. Well coordinated students programme

From the issue of insufficient budget, it is proposed that a one day standardized period for AGM for all societies can be set to avoid redundancy of programmes amongst the societies.

7. Election in KBS

It is proposed that election should be done in choosing the leaders in Kulliyah Based Societies as what has been practiced in AIKOL. This is for the all the students to vote for the one who is going to be their leader. Therefore, a broader platform is prepared for the students to know and select their leader and the opportunity is not just confined to those who attend the AGM of the societies.

8. SRC General Election

We request for seats for Institute of Education (INSTED) since right now there are onlt two representatives from IRKHS and INSTEAD in SRC. This definitely cannot accommodate the large number of students from IRK, HS, BAR and INSTED. We viewed that INSTED deserves to own representative to voice out their demands and problems.

9. Kuantan Campus

SRC representative from Kuantan Campus raised the concern that Kuantan Campus is not well known to the public. This may be due to lack of publicity and focus to Kuantan Campus.

10. JPA scholarship for Kuantan Campus

Students in Kuantan who received JPA scholarship questioned the reason Kuantan is placed in Cluster B which means the amount given is lesser than from the one classified in Cluster A such as in Gombak.

As a matter of fact, the cost of living there more or less is the same as in Kuala Lumpur. Therefore, the classification of Kuantan to be included in Cluster should be reviewed.

The president responded that this matter will be brought to JPA and details of the matter such as the memorandum done on this matter to be submitted to him.

11. Insufficient lecturers in INSTED

The lecturers in INSTEAD currently is not sufficient to accommodate the number of the students there. For example, for counseling department there are only two lecturers who are from counseling background.

The matters raised may not be resolved yet by just having the meeting. Therefore, this requests insyaAllah will then be submitted in written form for the University’s attention and action.

The President welcomed the openness for the betterment of the university. He advised us to engage with the ministries, public and private sectors, civil servants and also the industry we are concerned of. We should listen to them and get them listen our demands, requests and suggestions.

THE ACCOMMODATION: UPDATES

The Board of Student Affairs meeting has endorsed a revised accommodation policy where the University will only offer accommodation based on the number of rooms available. The endorsement of the policy is due to the increasing number of students. Due to that, on 1st of October 2009, SRC Executive Member has met Madam Sakinah Jusoh, Head of Mahallah Administration and Coordination Department to seek clarification regarding the new policy.

According to Madam, based on the statistic, for Semester 2 and 3 this year (2009/2010) the University can still accommodate all students since the accommodation units are still enough for the students. But, it may happen for session 2010/2011 there will be some students that will have to stay outside campus. The students that will be given priority to stay in campus are as follow:

1. First year and final year students
2. International Students
3. Students who received financial assistance from IIUM related fund
4. Student with special need (handicap, health problem)
5. Holding post in students' organization
6. Active participation in programmes organised by the University

In the meeting also, SRC has asked Madam Sakinah about students who do not fall into the above category. Is there any chance for them to stay in campus? According to Madam, if there are rooms available, students who do not fall into the above categories will have the opportunity to stay in campus (Insya-Allah). But the criteria of the appointment is yet to be decided. Roughly, the implementations of the poly are as above. There are still many things to be considered. We SRC Executive Members will try our best to fight for students' welfare.

THE MARTYR

Al-Fatihah to Bro Obaida Al-Qudsy (died last 13/09/09) during his 'last' visit to Palestine his homeland.

May you rest in peace. Aameen

APOLOGY

Assalamualaikum everyone.

We are very sorry for not being able to update this blog for a while. Everyone is busy! SRC was and still occupied with administrative and ad-hoc work everyday. Insyallah we will make up for the programs and events that some of us might have missed.

Till then.

p/s: Hope its not to late to wish Eid Mubarak. Wonder if we have the chance to meet the next Ramadhan. We missed you already O Ramadhan.

Interview with Deputy Rector (Students' Affairs), Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod



Check out our first release of SRC.TV

Special thanks to Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod and Bro Faisal

EMERGENCY or CURFEW

> What does a national health emergency mean?

The Government has declared the Influenza A (H1N1) virus situation a health emergency because of persistent community-level transmission of the virus where there are between 200 and 400 new confirmed cases daily.

During this situation, individuals with influenza-like illnesses such as flu, fever and cough must wear a mask and practice self-quarantine by staying home and avoiding contact with family members until the symptoms subside.

> How long would the emergency last?

The emergency will last until local transmissions can be reduced to below 200 confirmed cases per day and when no related deaths have occurred for a period of time.

> What is a national curfew?

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Government will only

consider declaring a national curfew if A (H1N1)-related deaths exceed 0.4% of the number of confirmed cases multiplied by 20.

This is to take into consideration that for every one case reported, there could be 20 which are not.

> What will happen during a curfew?

A temporary closure of public places such as shops, schools, universities, libraries, shopping complexes and public events during a specified period of the day will be ordered during a curfew.

> Who has the authority to declare a national curfew?

The National Security Council chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will declare a national curfew based on input and recommendations from the Health Ministry.

* Source: The Star

Guidelines on Closure Being Drafted

Guidelines on closure being drafted in wake of H1N1 outbreak, says Liow

SERDANG: New guidelines are being drawn up for the closure of schools and universities in the wake of the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry’s technical committee was drawing up the guidelines.

“Now that the situation has changed to the mitigation stage, new guidelines are needed to ensure that schools and universities follow the same guidelines on school closures,” he told reporters yesterday after visiting the Serdang Hospital service centre for patients with flu-like symptoms.

He was asked to comment on the closure of schools.

He also told suppliers of the rapid test kits and face masks not to raise their prices unnecessarily or they would have to answer to the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry.

Liow ruled out a need to call for a state of emergency with the current A (H1N1) situation, saying that social distancing programmes and measures sufficed for now.

He added that the public could now check at private clinics and hospitals for suspected Influenza A (H1N1).

In Putrajaya, health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said the absence of soap at public toilets in certain airports and rest areas along highways was not helping efforts to promote better hygiene in the wake of the flu outbreak.

“But the public would not be able to observe them if there was no soap to even wash their hands,” he told reporters yesterday after launching the fourth edition of the Clinical Practice Guidelines: Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

He added that those managing public toilets needed to cooperate with the ministry’s efforts to curb the spread of the flu, especially because of the large numbers of people using the rest areas and airports.

The number of new A (H1N1) cases in a single day hit the highest number yesterday with 270 cases reported, bringing the total number to 2,253. All the new cases were locally transmitted.

Six more A (H1N1)-related deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of fatalities to 38.

He said of the six deaths reported yesterday, four involved high-risk patients who suffered from hypertension, diabetes and asthma.

*Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/12/nation/4502199&sec=nation

With Regard to H1N1

All Staff and Students
IIUM

Assalamu alaikum wrt wbt

INFLUENZA A (H1N1) - CURRENT STATUS

1. Please be informed that there has been no confirm case of Influenza A (H1N1) amongst the campus population (Kuantan, Gombak, CFS – PJ and Nilai) as at the moment. However, there have been an increase number of visits to the in-campus clinics by staff and students due to an “Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI)” and common cold/flu (upper respiratory tract infection) in the past weeks. The Health Centre will keep on monitoring this situation and appropriate action will be taken accordingly.

2. Those presented with symptoms of common cold/flu (upper respiratory tract infection) will be given appropriate treatment and medical leave will be issued.

3. Students and staff affected by this ILI are advised to do the followings:
a. Wearing a mask.
b. Practice good cough habit such as covering your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
c. To practice good personal hygiene such frequent and proper hand washing; and to get enough sleep and rest.
d. Social distancing (self isolate) from others who are not sick and avoidance of public gathering/activities and crowded places.
e. Do not share towel or personal items.
f. Self monitoring of possible complications such as shortness of breath and persistent high fever despite medication; especially for those who are suffering from other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and bronchial asthma.
g. Report to the nearest health facility if complication arises.

4. Lecturers and teachers are also advised to monitor the students in their respective classes by the following:
a. Students who have fever are to seek medical treatment immediately.
b. Students who have symptoms of cough and cold and would still like to attend the class are to wear mask and seated away from others (at least 1 meter apart).
c. Abnormal class absenteeism should be look into seriously.

Thank you and Wassalam.
DR DINON MOHD
Chief Medical Officer

SRC in 100 days with Najib

on 11th of July 2009, SRC 08/09 attended the 100 days with Najib Program at KLCC Convention Centre. Obviously, the pictures show the great people that we met there., including IIUM President, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek bin Hj Hassan and his wife. The hall is filled with politician and ministers. Its not everyday that we have the opportunity to me those great people. We tried to approach our Prime Minister, but unfortunately, we cannot get through the crowd that is surrounding him.

Until then, for this post. =)

Article from Mr. President>> TV Islam

Congratulation to Mr. President of Students' Representative Council 2008/2009 Muhammad Sofiyussalam Mohamad Johari for the Article in mahasiswakini and Utusan Malaysia Online. The article is about the planning of the government to establish TV Islam in Malaysia.

For more information about the article click below:
mahasiswakini.com/archives/3672
www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2009&dt=0624&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Forum&pg=fo_03.htm

TGC 09' REVIEW

Alhamdulillah, on 6th of June 2009 ago, Sports & Culture Secretariat of SRC 2009/2010 had successfully organized the Traditional Games Carnival 2009 (TGC’09) at Saidina Hamzah Male Sports Complex. Congratulations to Br. Mohamad Kamarul Helmi bin Mohamad Nawawi, Chairperson of Sports & Culture Secretariat for your successfulness in organizing the first programme under your secretariat for this tenure.

This programme was run by 58 committee members from different kulliyyahs. The Programme Manager was Br. Mahmud Husni Abdul Hadi, third year student of Material Engineering. Thank you and congratulations to him and his committees for their good and excellent job.

TGC ’09 was joined by Cultural Based Societies and Kulliyyah Based Societies such as BEDSA, HISTFORIUM, Dikir Club, Ang Klung Club, Gamelan Club, Cak Lempong Club, ENGINIUS, LAWSOC, KAED, and also one team from SRC itself which represented by Br. Fahmi, Br. Mukhlis, Br. Hairulza’im, Br. Firwan, Br. Kamarul himself, Sr. Mashitah, Sr. Ummu, Sr. Noraini, Sr. Zatil Arifah and Sr. Amiratul Awatif.

This pioneer project by Sports & Culture Secretariat was organized so as to combine all Cultural Based Societies under one programme so that they have a time to know each other and learned from each other because sometimes they have to perform together in one event or show. However, to make it grander, we also invited one team each from every kulliyyah in this Gombak Campus. They gave a very good cooperation and participation even though this programme was held during short semester where most students are doing practical and there are also some students who are not taking short semester.

The main objectives of this Traditional Games Carnival 2009 are to introduce Malaysian traditional games to international students as well as to remind Malaysian students to their heritage. Unfortunately, the objectives of this programme were not fully achieved because we have received small participation from international students. Hopefully, for our next programme, we will be focusing more on the publicity and promotion part especially to promote our programme to international students.

During the event, although they have made the preparation the day before, all of the committees arrived as early as 6.45 o’clock to double check the final preparation to make sure all of the technical aspects are ready for the programme to be run smoothly. Participants started to arrive at 7.30 a.m. and after they had registered, buns and mineral waters were given for breakfast.

To make it more traditional, committees have prepared small clothes with the names of Malay warriors for them to wear instead of using names of their societies. Every team have their own names such as Tok Janggut, Hang Nadim, Tun Perak, Hang Tuah, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir, Hang Lekiu, Hang Nadim, Hang Jebat and etcetera.

In general, this programme started at 9 a.m. with the first game which was marble game for male participants and batu seremban game for female participants. Each team had sent one representative to compete in this game. All participants enjoyed their first game. The interesting part in the marble game was, an international student named Tarik from ENGINIUS won that game. It seems that he had more talent in this game compared to Malaysian students =)

Afterwards, after finishing marble game and batu seremban game, each team sent five male representatives to play susun tin game. This game was very interesting because we need to discuss and plan our strategy to make sure we can rebuild again the tin pyramid while the other team which is our enemy will try to ‘kill’ us with the hand made ball. Lots of energies required to run and to avoid from being hit by the ball and in the same time, the players had to rebuild the pyramid tin again to win the game.

While male participants enjoying the susun tin game, female participants competed in galah panjang game. They looked very excited while playing this game because their voices can be heard from long distance. This showed that the female participants enjoyed their game.

After male and female participants finished both susun tin and galah panjang games, they continued to play sepak raga and tutup botol game. Most of the male teams got full marks in sepak raga game because the rule said that if the team can ‘timbang bola’ more than 20 times, they got full marks. Although tutup botol game normally played by male, it is not a weird thing if this game was played by female. The truth is that, during that game, most of the female participants played this game well and got high marks.

After that, male participants proceed to galah panjang game. Galah panjang game was one of the most popular traditional games in Malaysia and it can be said that there are no Malaysian people grow without playing this game. Normally, this game was played by male, but the interesting part of all traditional games was anyone can play the games regardless of their gender.

‘Cari cucu’ game was played by female participants. In this game, representative from each group needs to find her team-mates with her eye closed where her team-mates cannot make any sounds. What make this game more interesting is that, her team-mates were combined with other groups and this gave the representative quite a challenge to find her team-mates.

While female participants were enjoying the ‘Cari Cucu’ game, male participants played the ‘Teng-teng’ game.

The last game for male participants was ‘Konda-kondi’ game. This game was also a popular game where the other group act as enemy need to catch the timber thrown by the players.

Female participants finished this traditional games carnival by competed in ‘Jan jan jala’ and ‘Congkak’ games. Congkak game was very synonymy with them as it was very popular among female Malaysian.

Closing and prize giving ceremony

Mdm. Norliza binti Che Hassan

Assistant Director

Cultural and Arts Unit

Student Development Division

Alhamdulillah, we received good respond from her and she also congratulate the Sports & Culture Secretariat and also the organizing committees for being able to organize this interesting and inspiring programme. Moreover, in her speech before she launched the closing ceremony of Traditional Games Carnival 2009, she suggested to the committees to make this programme annually and for the next time, try to include traditional games from other countries. We would like to extend our gratitude to Mdm. Norliza for spending her time to be with us in this event although she had to attend other event at CAC on the same day.

Below are the winners in this TGC ’09:

Champion : HANG KASTURI = 412

First runner up : TUN PERAK = 273

Second runner up : HANG NADIM = 247

Fourth place : TOK JANGGUT = 182

Fifth place : HANG JEBAT = 174

Sixth place : HANG LEKIU = 161

Seventh place :HANG TUAH = 129

Eighth place :HANG LEKIR = 114

Ninth place :TUN FATIMAH = 117

Tenth place :RENTAP =98

After the closing ceremony, most participants took pictures as a memorial to this memorable event. After distributing hampers and souvenirs among themselves, they dispersed at about 2 o’clock.

Congratulations to all the winners, hopefully, all of you will join this programme again next time. Unfortunately, SRC team just got the fourth place. It’s ok guys, we will try harder next time.. hehe..

Hopefully this carnival will be an initiator for this programme to be held annually with the addition of the traditional games from other countries to make it more interesting and wonderful as said by Mdm. Norliza, insyaAllah.