Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg (second left) and Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian (left) being given a tour of the new Borneo Atrium at Swinburne Sarawak’s upgraded campus. - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
KUCHING: Sarawak aims to provide world-class education facilities to pursue new knowledge and novel technologies, says Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg.
The Premier said it was important for Sarawakians to gain the latest knowledge and contribute to the state's economic transformation.
"The desire of the state government is to provide world-class facilities for students. This will be their motivation to study hard, explore new knowledge and upgrade themselves to face the new era," he said.
Abang Johari said this when opening the upgraded Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus here on Wednesday (June 26).
He said Sarawak is now embarking on digital transformation and added that a hydrogen economy is part of efforts to mitigate climate change.
"Climate change is a serious problem which we cannot take for granted. Sarawakians have to explore solutions and one of them is producing hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels," he said.
As such, Abang Johari said Sarawak is transforming its economy to one based on hydrogen in line with the United Nations' sustainable development goals.
"I believe Swinburne Sarawak can also contribute to this agenda," he added.
Swinburne Sarawak board of directors chairman Datuk Amar Jaul Samion said the RM50mil campus upgrade, which commenced in 2019, served to support the university's growing student population with improved teaching and learning facilities.
He said the university currently had about 3,500 students, and added that this includes international students from 50 countries.
"As we continue to grow, we are expecting our student population to reach 5,000 students in the next few years," he said.
The new facilities include the Borneo Atrium as the heart of the campus, a two-storey food hall, student hub and student village.
"The latter two reflect our upgrading initiative’s focus on enhancing our students’ campus experience, where we have created a dedicated space for their leisure and sports interests.
"We also upgraded our existing on-campus student accommodation with improved rooms and added amenities," Jaul said.
