Crowning moment: (From left) Mariani, Norliza, Adibah, Prof Azlinda, Mohammad Yusof, Mohamed Khaled, Prof Dr Adeeba, Mohd Zabri, Ahmad Fauzi, Shamsul Bahri and Tan at the award ceremony.
THE responsibilities of academics are increasingly multidimensional.
Ensuring effective teaching and learning is only one part of the job as their role also extends to publishing papers in high-impact journals and giving back to society through impactful research, among others.
For their outstanding work, six of the country’s academics were recently honoured with the prestigious National Academic Award (AAN).
The award is the highest recognition bestowed by the Higher Education Ministry (MoHE) specifically for academics in recognition of their excellence and contribution to promoting the name of higher education institutions (HEIs) at the national and international levels.
Receiving the top honour of the National Academic Figure Award is esteemed infectious diseases expert Prof Datuk Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman from Universiti Malaya (UM), who took home a cash prize of RM200,000, along with a trophy and a certificate, at the 15th edition of the AAN presentation ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 31.
With over 30 years of experience, Prof Dr Adeeba’s contributions are wide-ranging (see infographic).
Two other academics who were feted in their respective categories are Assoc Prof Dr Tan Jun Jie from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Prof Dr Shamsul Bahri Abdul Razak from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).
Tan received the Journal Paper Publication Award for the Science category while Prof Shamsul Bahri the Book Publication Award.
Three academics from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) – Dr Mariani Abdul Hamid, Assoc Prof Dr Adibah Abdul Latif and Dr Norliza Mohd Isa – were also on the list of awardees.
Click To EnlargeMariani won the Innovation and Product Commercialisation Award, while both Adibah and Norliza the Teaching Award – for the Applied Literature and Applied Social Science category, and the Applied Science category, respectively.
These five winners were each awarded a cash prize of RM50,000, along with a trophy and a certificate.
With the latest addition of the six winners, the number of academics who have received the AAN has reached 103 since its inception in 2007.
Speaking to the media at the event, Prof Dr Adeeba expressed her hope that the AAN would serve as an inspiration to all other academics.
She encouraged them to continue carrying out the duty and responsibility entrusted to them, as urged by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the text of his speech, which was read out by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
In a video broadcast during the event, Prof Dr Adeeba said she has continued pursuing her research projects at UM, even though she has taken on the roles of Monash University Malaysia chief executive officer and Monash University Australia pro vice-chancellor and president (Malaysia).
“Research is my flesh and blood,” she said.
Role models of society
Congratulating the award recipients, Anwar, in his prepared speech, said the AAN ceremony must be seen as significant in continuing the tradition started by the Malaysian government to celebrate the scholarship of local academics.
“Society needs scholarship icons and role models who are skilled, and have integrity and authority.
“No matter what field we are involved in, the presence of respected icons and figures will inspire enthusiasm and determination among various parties,” he said.
While academics should inspire students to reach their best potential, he said being an intellectual leader of society comes with another important responsibility, which is to instil excellent values in the nation’s children.
Calling on academics to help nurture good values in society, he said Malaysia MADANI will only become a reality and achieve its goals when the community collectively understands and cultivates the six core values that support this aspiration: keMampanan (sustainability), KesejAhteraan (prosperity), Daya cipta (innovation), hormAt (respect), keyakiNan (trust) and Ihsan (compassion).
“We must return to being a nation anchored in excellent values; values that define us as a nation with a progressive, modern and intelligent mindset, but constrained by politeness and adherence to religion and good norms,” he said.
Pointing to the current era which is filled with challenges and chaos, he stressed that academics should strengthen their sense of responsibility for nation-building and national aspirations.
“We must work together to find the best and most effective means to generate knowledge and understanding capable of celebrating the efforts and creativity of locals towards sustainable social and cultural progress,” he said, adding that academics need continuous improvement in their knowledge and understanding in order to be able to resolve interconnected problems in various fields and sectors.
He also asserted that the unity government under his leadership will continue to give encouragement and support to all HEIs, specifically in the effort to explore and create new fields of study, including economics, well-being and sustainability.
“Developing a global higher education ecosystem should be a continuous effort. We want to position Malaysia as a country that elevates and respects knowledge,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled, who spoke to reporters after the event, said the MoHE welcomes the Prime Minister’s recommendations to academics.
“The recommendations are an encouragement to us in the ministry to double our efforts, besides increasing our awareness of the responsibility and the great role that we play as a ministry that manages the intellectuals in our country,” he said.
“We will carry out our responsibility with full commitment and dedication to ensure that Malaysia continues to progress and prioritise knowledge and academics,” he added.
The MoHE, in a media statement, said the AAN is an annual event of the ministry and serves as the pinnacle programme for the 2023 National Academic Month Celebration.
“It is also one of the government’s initiatives to stimulate the development of the nation’s scholarship and intellectuality,” it said.
Among those present at the event were Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mohammad Yusof Apdal; Higher Education director-general Prof Dr Azlinda Azman; deputy secretary-general (Management and Development) Datuk Dr Mohd Zabri Yusoff; the 15th AAN selection committee acting chairman Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, who is also UTM vice-chancellor; and academics from public and private HEIs, polytechnics and community colleges.
The AAN is open to both public and private HEIs. All winners were selected based on the applications or nominations submitted by their universities, as well as the candidates’ achievements. Each category had a selection process that was stringent and transparent.
– Higher Education director-general Prof Dr Azlinda Azman
All academics, especially professors, are encouraged to transfer their knowledge for the needs of society, be it the industry, the ministry in terms of policies and practices, and the community, particularly in terms of their research output or products.
– Higher Education deputy director-general Prof Datuk Dr Norzaini Azman
We encourage academics to give back to society through the Service Learning Malaysia-University for Society (Sulam) in HEIs. This programme involves students and lecturers with the community. At the same time, It allows students to obtain better exposure and experiential learning.
– Higher Education Division of Academic Excellence director Assoc Prof Dr Azidah Abu Ziden
