UNITAR-Malaysia

http://www.unitar.edu.my/main.html

Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) is the region's first MSC-Status virtual university where education is delivered through the pervasive use of e-learning technology like the Internet, web-based or CD-based courseware and facilitator-based tutorials or academic meetings.

UNITAR started its operation on 18 December 1997 when it received the invitation letter to set up a university from the Minister of Education, the Honorable Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak. The Minister launched the university on 21 December 1998 at Kelana Jaya Study Centre. Subsequently, it received its establishment letter in February 1999 from the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education approved the registration of UNITAR on 28 January 2000. UNITAR received the MSC Status on 10 September 2001, the certificate of which was presented by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamed on 22 June 2002.

The Chancellor of UNITAR is the Right Honorable Tun Hajjah Rahah Tan Sri Haji Mohd Noah, wife of the late Tun Haji Abdul Razak, Malaysia's second Prime Minister. Its current Chairman is the Honorable Datuk Hassan Harun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, KUB Malaysia Berhad. Its current President/Chief Executive Officer is the Honorable Datuk Dr. Syed Othman Alhabshi. UNITAR received its first 162 students in September 1998, and student population has subsequently climbed to about 8,000 by August 2002. UNITAR organized its inaugural convocation on 18 August 2001 with 28 students receiving their scrolls.

UNITAR is wholly owned by KUB Malaysia Berhad, a bumiputera public-listed company on the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE).

UNITAR to date offers 18 academic programmes in the field of Business Administration, Information Technology, Humanities and Social Science. The programmes have been approved by both the Private Education Department (JPS) and National Accreditation Council (LAN). UNITAR has registered more than 8000 students at 8 study centres in Malaysia, and 1 in Cambodia. UNITAR programmes are going to be offered in Thailand, Indonesia and the Middle East as part of its global expansion. UNITAR has also received LAN Accreditation for 9 of its 18 programs. UNITAR students are also eligible to apply for PTPTN Education Loan.

 

Boyoboy an' I allus thought the Churmans vas fond of titles!

 

Two hundred years ago we had 308 or more royal families. The story goes that almost everyone with a "von" in their name descended from royalty, minor or otherwise.

On this side of the Atlantic they tend to lose the "von" which simply means "of" or "from", more of a title than a surname as royalty typically do not have surnames.

 

I just don't know anymore...Dr Alhabshi exhorts everybody to become "pioneering UNITARians."

 

Seriously, folks, it looks quite good--the international political situation would be the only possible cavil. If you had a need for a degree from a clearly Muslim-oriented general university, this might be the best option out there.

 

I don't understand, Uncle

What would Islam/being Muslim "oriented" has to do with anything in this context? Does one have to Think about Touro being of Jewish background? Or, the Catholic University of America, etc.?

Please, explain.

KKA

 

Thanks for the link. I paid a brief visit and had some difficulty finding the information I wanted. As I am a veteran of the South African university web sites this does not immediately concern me. Often the information is in there it just requires proper extraction. I have snipped out the above quotation and am hoping you can interpret for those of us who are nonconversant in the appropriate vernacular. In particular, what is the KUB Malaysia Berhad and what does "bumiputera" mean?
Thanks,
Jack

 

It's fairly simple, I would think. If one were a Muslim concerned to have his/her studies in a Muslim context, or if one had a particular interest for whatever reason in studying at a Muslim university, this looks like a good option. Many persons, myself included, find a religious affiliation an enhancement of a university. What's wrong with that?

The webpage is replete with Muslim phrases and emphases. I should think that the sponsors of this university would be glad somebody noticed--else why use the religious verbiage?

Now, to the politically correct, always alert for the slightest slight to Islam and always ready to bring up "the Jews" (vide Touro), I suppose that the mere fact of a non-Muslim alluding (neutrally) to the Muslim character of this university will be an occasion for paranoia. Such persons--diversitarians, to follow the pattern of Dr Alhabshi's oddly ecumenical pun--blindfold themselves with what Seyyed Hossein Nasr somewhere calls the "veil of multiplicity."

Too bad.

 

Response

To Jack:

I am not familiar with Malay, and, thus, I cannot translate the passage. However, it sounds very much like a "British" type of structure for a company. Perhaps there are DBAs on here who might address that better.

To Uncle:

Quoting Uncle: "The webpage is replete with Muslim phrases and emphases."

Muslim phrases? Such as what? Emphases? Got it pinpointed? I re-read the whole webpage and the only thing that I found remotely to connect to what you are saying is the names of the people who lead the institution or whom it is named after. And, that, in your opinion, gave it a Muslim "orientation"--which I still have yet to find. (I don't know if your assertion is wrong or right, you haven't proved it either way).

By the way, I don't disagree with you regarding the potential "plus" of a religious connection between a school and a faith. But, again, in this instance, it has yet to be shown that there is a real link, other than the fact of context.

Quoting Uncle: "Now, to the politically correct, always alert for the slightest slight to Islam and always ready to bring up "the Jews" (vide Touro), I suppose that the mere fact of a non-Muslim alluding (neutrally) to the Muslim character of this university will be an occasion for paranoia. Such persons--diversitarians, to follow the pattern of Dr Alhabshi's oddly ecumenical pun--blindfold themselves with what Seyyed Hossein Nasr somewhere calls the 'veil of multiplicity.'"

Oh, really. Come again, Uncle! In my post I made mention of Touro and the Catholic University of America (as very good examples of institutions of higher learning, whose roots are religious, and whose academic foci is beyond reproach), hence, I have to question your characterization.

What paranoia?

As to your comment, regarding "bringing up 'the Jews'" in the context of a discussion of something "Muslim" (a point, precisely, being challenged) is a form of glossing-over of issues that is unacceptable from someone as a worthy interlocutor as you.

I maintain that you are being the "sensitive" one here.

Shabbat Shalom, Salam, et Pax!

KKA

 

More on the company

To Jack:

Thanks for your questions. It motivated me to check. It seems the University is a for-profit institution part of the KUB Malaysia conglomerate, a very big business concern. See below:

http://www.kub.com/main.cfm

"KUB Malaysia Berhad (KUB) is a leading home-grown conglomerate with ventures and investments in several key growth sectors.

KUB now focuses on four synergistic core areas: Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Education & Training (E&T), Food & Beverage (F&B) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)."

Their "core sector" of businesses deals with: Communication technologies, education, food processing and petroleum. See link below:

http://www.kub.com/sector_core.cfm

By the way, the company seems to be as much "Muslim" as IBM is Christian. Do you read that, Uncle?

KKA

 

I couldn't resist sharing this:

KUB corporate identity:

http://www.kub.com/mission.cfm

Our Vision:

To be a leading knowledge corporation catering for the Information Age.

Our Mission:

Provide world-class products and services using information and
communications technology pervasively.


We are committed to:

Be a learning organization

Exercise good corporate citizenship

Practice sound corporate governance

Undertake research and development

Capitalize on existing and emerging technologies

Ensure adequate and timely allocation of resources

We strive to:

Achieve world class performance through systematic and continuos human resource development
Provide the best opportunities for our people to be creative and innovative
...thus exceeding our stakeholders' expectations

Our Core Values:

I n t e g r i t y
H a r d - w o r k
S h a r e h o l d e r s ' V a l u e
A c c e p t a n c e B y C u s t o m e r s
N u r t u r i n g


Passion for Proficiency and Efficiency

 

It looks like there is some residency involved with this thing. It seems to be a good opportunity for Malaysians though, and I applaud them for creating it.

They write:

Tutorial Meetings

Tutorial meetings are divided into two modes: online and face-to-face meetings, Facilities meet students at pre-defined places for face to face meeting. First year students meet their instructors for 2 hours a week for each subject. Second year students and beyond meets for a total of 4 times in a semester for each subject. Face-to-face meetings allow students to meet and discuss issues. For the convenience of working students, the face-to face meetings are also conducted during weekends and after office hours where each session consists of 2 hours.

Online tutorial allows instructors to conduct tutorial in almost real-time mode. This mode of teaching and learning allows the students to discuss with instructors and fellow students conveniently from their homes or where they are as long as they have computers and access to the Internet. The tutorial allows the lecturer to give presentation with visual and audio capabilities. Students and lecturer can communicate through the use of a chat facility.

Study Center

The study center is the place for students and instructors to meet for their tutorials and extra-curricular activities. Like a campus, this also houses the basic facilities like classrooms, workstation, administrative offices, network operation center, server farms, IT shop, cyber café, library and basic sports facilities.

UNITAR has 7 study centers within Malaysia, two of which have been developed by UNITAR, and the rest in association with other private educational institutions. Not all study centers have similar facilities like the main campus at Kelana Jaya. However, each study center has basic e-learning facilities such as computer labs and classrooms.

Study centers are located in major towns so that students can reduce their traveling and accommodation expenses. Ideally, a study center can operate as a community center. UNITAR study centers can be found in Kuala Lumpur, Kelana Jaya, Kota Bharu, Trolak, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Pekan and Johor Bahru. More study centers will be constructed in the next five years depending on market demands.

 

The president's message and the lead-in page for the humanities section use standard Muslim phrases and blessings. So yes, I do have it pinpointed. Hence, the difference between a secular university and a Muslim-oriented one seems clear in this interest, bearing in mind that most Muslims do not make as rigid a sacred-secular distinction as many Christians and Jews tend to do.

Apparently even mentioning that Islam has anything to do with a Malaysian university (big surprise, that, eh?), even in the context of applauding what that university is doing, sets PC alarms off.
Apparently noticing that the first example adduced by way of rebuke was Jewish (after all, there is such a shortage of other religious affiliations to mention), when PC orthodoxy is conspicuously soft on anti-Semitism, makes me touchy.

That's me, the hot-blooded fiery Balkan type. Able to read. Guilty as charged.

I promise never to say anything nice about a Muslim university again. Wouldn't want to offend.

 

I was just looking through their website, and one thing that I noticed was the absence of Muslim phrases, emphases and verbiage. The school seems very secular to me.

I don't understand that.

I think that Seyyed Hossein Nasr would consider this university to be another example of Western instrumental thinking, and far from the idealized sort of neo-Platonic-style spiritual "science" that he favors so eloquently. There's no hint of an ascent to the divine in this curricula, just computers, business adminstration and hopes to get a better job.

 

Uncle,

With love and humility, I say this: I am offended.

You stated:

"The president's message and the lead-in page for the humanities section use standard Muslim phrases and blessings. So yes, I do have it pinpointed. Hence, the difference between a secular university and a Muslim-oriented one seems clear in this interest, bearing in mind that most Muslims do not make as rigid a sacred-secular distinction as many Christians and Jews tend to do."

But, that claim is very "problematic".

The president's speech said:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

"Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and Good Day.

"I am very delighted to welcome you to UNITAR, the first MSC-Status virtual university in Malaysia.

"UNITAR is a unique university to study at. All that you need are a set of right attitude to learn on your own and readiness or openness to discover the powerful Internet and computer technology.

"People say that e-learning is the education of the future. But, I bet you have never encountered that intensity so far in other places of educational importance. In UNITAR, e-learning is the life blood of all its academic programs. E-learning takes a hybrid or blended form in UNITAR.You still meet the lecturers but a bulk of your time is devoted to learning via our web courseware or online course delivery system (VOISS).

"At UNITAR, you strive to learn and get your scroll as similar to other universities. However, your effort here is more ‘cool’ because you acquire the IT skill fast—as fast as on your first day of university education.Furthermore, you can improve your proficiency in the global, business language because English is the medium of instruction at UNITAR.

"Let us grow together as pioneering UNITARians!

"Datuk Dr. Syed Othman Alhabshi
"President and Chief Executive Officer"

The only reference from which you draw a claim of non-secular orientation of the University is the greeting statement, which is only a greeting (not unlike "Shalom", by the way, which seems not to ring bells in other quarters!). By the way, the greeting is a religious/social/cultural formula, meaning: "God's Peace, Mercy and Blessings (and Good Day) to you".

Oh Gosh!

Now, Uncle, is that what drew you to claim it is a religiously oriented university?

By that very standard you use, our nation, this Great United States of America is, therefore, a theocracy because we use the words in "God We Trust" on our currency, and because our Congress and the rest of government is off on Christmas Day!

This is the standard you have used! You are glossing-over again, whether you were or weren't positive towards a "Muslim" university is irrelevant here.

I submit you did not read for meaning, rather you read meaning based on a priori stance.

Have a good day!

KKA

 

I don't remember the part where my Funny Uncle recommended eviscerating and dismembering Muslims.

So be offended.

 

Thanks, Dennis, for permission to be offended.

 

Glad I could make you happy.
Some folks enjoy being offended.
Better Malaysia than malaise.

 

LOL

In deed!

 

Re: UNITAR ...

Thanks KKA for the wonderfull link....it means more possibilities all over the world!