What is USM trying to do?
Who needs gold medals when you can be a serious global contender for a grand prize in gobbledygook….
Apparently, the Science University of Malaysia is planning to spend RM450 million to build a “science and arts innovation space”. USM had reportedly bought the 12.4ha plot of land in Bukit Jambul for RM59 million from IJM in March. (So much spare cash, huh? Or is it borrowed money? Or ultimately the rakyat’s money?) Looks as if USM is venturing into Big Business.
Today, in theSun, there was a four-page cover wrap-around ad (how much did that cost?) which featured this sains@usm thingy. It was full of gobbledygook and jargon.
Take this example from the V-C’s foreword:
The world of sains@usm will represent an innovative space that promotes highly integrated search and research with dedicated incubators and collaboratories as platforms to nurture transdisciplinarity as the way forward.
Huh? Could someone translate that please…
Under “Sustainability and Space”:
Sustainability, which is epitomised through the use of energy efficient design, not only embeds features that have long been successful in tropical micro-climate such as large overhangs and well-ventilated spaces but also inspires new and creative ideas.
Help! Can you imagine four pages of similar gobbledygook?
If you cut away all that gobbledygook, this is what they are planning:
- a convention and exhibition centre
- apartments
- a boutique hotel “catering to the digital traveller” (as opposed to the discerning space traveller?)
- “leisure and wellness facilities” (for a massage after long, boring meetings?)
- retail spaces
- galleries for Fine Arts and Sciences with a mini-theatre for performing arts
- a day-care centre
- “community-linked facilities and activities”
- an international school
- federal labs and facilities
- USM’s Graduate Business School
- GLC-linked research centres
- MNC-linked research and training facilities (who’s paying for this? USM or the MNCs?)
Sounds a lot like property development work for a few lucky companies. If you own a bit of green space, cover it with concrete and call it sustainable development.
I don’t know about you but to me, if you want to do some research, you don’t really need lots of buildings, do you? But then, what do I know…
“sains@usm is designed to be a premier integrated community for the incubation and nurturing of start-up companies produced from the research community of USM”
I suppose times have changed and you have to start “synergising creativity and nurturing enterprise”! I guess they intend to go in a big way into biotech, nanotechnology (the next “in” thing) and clinical trials.
I just have this mental image of rows of incubators with ventilators furiously pumping life-giving oxygen… err, I mean start-up capital… into these tiny tot companies, as proud CEOs-to-be peer through the viewing gallery window, rubbing their hands in anticipation of new life filled with abundant profits.
This is from yesterday’s Star:
USM builds R&D park
GEORGE TOWN: Universiti Sains Malaysia will spend RM450mil on its science and arts park in Bukit Jambul here, which is expected to be ready in 2014.
Vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said the park would have apartments, a hotel, an international school, incubator laboratories, galleries, a mini theatre and research centres.
The centre, dubbed SAINS@USM which stands for Science and Arts Innovation Space, would serve as a research centre, tourist attraction and public park, he said.
“It will represent an innovative space that promotes integrated research with dedicated incubators and laboratories.
Royal launch: Dr Dzulkifli (left) explaining the model plan for SAINS@USM to Tuanku Sirajuddin and Tuanku Fauziah at the university on Sunday.
“SAINS@USM will not only represent the ideal space for academia and businesses to thrive, it will also reach out to communities near and far in a truly comprehensive and holistic manner,” he said at the launch of SAINS@USM at Dewan Budaya, USM here yesterday.
It was launched by the university’s chancellor Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail.
Also present were his consort Tuanku Fauziah Tengku Abdul Rashid, Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas and his wife Toh Puan Majimor Shariff.
An MoU was also signed between the university, Khazanah Nasional Bhd and six corporations to collaborate on SAINS@USM.
At the function, a representative from the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), Norhalim Yunus, presented a RM24.35mil mock cheque for the funding of eight research projects at SAINS@USM.
And this is from the Business Times Online:
USM research park pulls in RM20m investments
By Marina Emmanuel
marinae@nstp.com.myUNIVERSITI Sains Malaysia (USM) has attracted RM20 million in capital investments from local companies which will operate at its new research park at Bukit Jambul on Penang Island.
USM is set to ink memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with several companies tomorrow, which will include the government’s investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Malaysian Biotechnology Corp Sdn Bhd (BiotechCorp) and Biotropics Malaysian Bhd.
The sains@usm Bukit Jambul park will boast, among others, incubator laboratories, government-linked company research centres and those operated by multinational corporations, USM research and innovation division director Professor Zainul Fadziruddin Zainuddin said.
“The MOU with Biotropics (a company which is developing natural products) is for the setting up of a laboratory for standardisation of natural products for clinical trials, while BiotechCorp will be using the park to disperse nanotechnology to other universities in the country,” he told Business Times.
Zainul added that USM has also secured RM23 million worth of research commercialisation grants from the Malaysian Development Technology Corp, which will be used in part for start-up operations and pilot plants at the new park.
In March this year, USM had purchased a 12.4ha plot at Bukit Jambul for RM59 million from IJM Properties Sdn Bhd.
Zainul, who is set to head the development of the park, said that USM will set up a company to manage the research park, which will also boast a boutique hotel, convention and exhibition centre, performing arts centre and arts colony, along with retail space and apartments.
“We want to create an environment for local and international academia and businesses to interact and synergise,” he said, adding that among the economic potentials of the park would be to foster innovation, technology transfer, commercialisation of technology, while serving as a springboard for new intellectual property creations.
Zainul said while USM will seek public funding for some of the projects at the park, which will be carried out in three phases, other projects will be done via joint ventures.
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No need translation for all that gobblygook la.
You have file it as “Accountability”
and rightly so cos it is also about unaccountable accounts!
They still thinks we are dumb.
Aiyohyoh Mr Anil Sirree,
I am but a simple Anak Kampnog lah, but I cannot help but put your 2 ’stories together (A tale of two turf clubs AND What is USM trying to do?) and just sit back and say, Aiyohma, the tow story same same lor!
USM seems to want to do what Abad Naluri, Equine Capital and Berjaya can do. Perhaps VC Prof Dzulkifli and the powers that be in USM are trying to tell the above mentioned corporations - “Anything you can do, we can do better!!!”.
However, I feel that USM has “lost the plot” as some people will say. The Uni is set up to be a bastion of learning and knowledge for young Malaysians NOT doing business - as their proposals seem to point to. You want to promote more research, then let us have the money put to research to push USM to the forefront of all Malaysian Universities. Leave the development ideas that you expound to the corporations. Remember the monies and real estate in your hands are from the Government (please read that as the Rakyat) and other funders. Man if I had given money to USM for the Uni to promote Education, I will be doing an eternal “twist” in my grave to see the money going into establishing University Sains Malaysia Bhd.
This is the highest grade of malapropism meant to confound royal dignitaries and awe low-IQ BM speaking UMNO politicians who were present at the launch.
Or call it high sounding trash.
As a person passionate about science and technology, I wish all universities improve their libraries, including opening up their collections to the public. For those of us who are not affiliated the academia, we find it very difficult to get our hands on any of the professional journal articles.
What’s worst, they don’t even let outsiders to enter their library! (Yours truly tried to enter the main library at UM and was denied entry.)
the state government can reject the development plans cant they?
Dear Anil
Any idea whose land is involved and how USM will finance development? Where is the seed-capital coming from, how much and will they be getting into debt.
Like their counterparts in KL, when academics go into business, they will usually be taken for a mega ride by their shark commercial fiends/developers and be left holding all the liabilities such as guarantees. Not to mention being ripped off and returns and profits.
So, the LGE State Govt should do a review of this proposal and cold-storage it if not viable or would expose USM to all sorts of commercial risks they would be ignorant about.
Re incubators, it might be worth USM knowing that LKY’s daughter who leads their bio-tech incubator program in S’pore has advised a complete review of Govt spending since cost-benefit has been pathetically low!
I wish they would forget the park, and just channel the money into competitive double-blind peer reviewed research grants with industry linkage with GLCs/MNCs on a case-to-case basis… and/or venture capital for technology related startups.
Dear readers,
As a former USM student myself and like a few of you out there, I try to look at this from the positive point of view as well. Frankly speaking, I do not gain anything from this mega money project. Nor do I live happily ever after knowing that this project is running smooth and well.
However, I see the point USM is trying to make. In order to become the best, we have to sacrifice a lot of things. In the education business, it means money. Please correct me if I’m wrong, coz I heard that by 2015 or 2020, IPTAs will no longer receive as much funds from the government as they are receiving now. I’m not sure if its a fact but if it is true, it means that one day IPTAs will run as a business as well rather than being purely an educational institution.
Since Malaysians are demanding local varsities to become world class, we can’t just simply blast them if they plan big. Let us not contradict ourselves. We are not talking about USM becoming an expensive varsity to attend. It will never be as expensive as most private varsities and colleges. We are looking at USM stepping up to the next level. And if SAINS@USM can help the cause, I’m all out for it.
Dedicated incubators. If only the same level of dedication is shown towards stopping the brain drain and encouraging Malaysian professors working at top universities abroad with equal, if not better, opportunities to return home, we wouldn’t have to sit here and be subjected to this kind of serious verbal diarrhoea.
i dont care if USM expanded to the north pole.. just dont touch rakyat’s money. why cant they get corporate sponsorship for research or other means…
They should also be open and accountable in all their dealings. from what i can discern from all the stupid jargon, it’s going to be anything but transparent.
Bulls***, more bulls*** thats what they are throwing at us. And those guys is selling them at the price of gold. Sad thing is we ended up paying for it with our hardearned money. Believe me soon U of M is going to do the same… dedicated incubators and collaboratories as platforms to nurture transdisciplinarity as a way forward to transient ourselves to the loo so that we can s*** in peace…..Comeon give me a break.
dear mr Mohd Amir Bin Mat Omar you said,
“However, I see the point USM is trying to make. In order to become the best, we have to sacrifice a lot of things. In the education business, it means money….. Please correct me if I’m wrong”
well sir let me correct you because you are very very wrong, have you heard of the term “gigo” it is normally used in the IT industry, it means garbage in = garbage out. what that is supposed to mean is it is not the equiptment or the buildings or the facilities that make intelligent human beings, it is the human capital, if the umno led govt. keeps putting morons with titles with “madya professorri” who by the way would not stand up to be even teachers in primary schools in the western standards, to head these mega projects, and the students who will definatly be bumiputras with a few bones thrown to the other races, what you are seeing is another mega project with fantastic equiptment and capabilities by to be run by mediocare idiots with no international standings, (perhaps even those with) plagarised thesis’, what it is, is a waste of money if it is not opened to the best students in the land, but sadly, in malaysia with the “ketuanan melayu” model it will lead nowhere, it would (possibly) be another bunch of unemployable morons with fierce titles, but like the malays say “isi kosong”. this is akin to having a mercedes FI CAR, BUT WITH A DRIVER WHOSE ONLY EXPERIENCE IS RIDING OR DRIVING A BULLOCK CART. IT looks to me the “change your lifestyle” advise by the pm and moron dpm only applies to the rakyat and not those in power as this shows it is another get rich quick scheme for the umno elitte. all these mega projects are being financed with money (perhaps) from our petrol subsidies. so mr amir, for once in your … life be honest to yourself and see the trees for the forest, so wake up and not follow blindly the path of destruction the umnoputras are leading our country to.
I am a former USM student and I presently live just 5 minutes away from this SAINS@USM thingamajig. I pass the site everyday but don’t know what it is. I tried to read & understand what those 4 pages were about (so at least I will appear intelligent when someone asks me what’s going on at USM) but had to stop at page 1. The bull-$*** was overwhelming. I almost passed out.
I am a Penang boy studying at NUS. At my university, they have this area called the NUS Business Incubator which provides physical equipment and facilities and proffesional resources at lower-than-market-prices to university students who wish to start-up a new business. You can find out more from their website at :
http://www.nus.edu.sg/nvs/incubator/index.htm
If what USM is proposing is somewhat similar in concept as the NUS Business Incubator, I would contend that this is a very good idea, since this can help boost Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in good old Penang and will definitely help alleviate the dismal unemployment figures among our nation’s graduates.
However, I must question the need to have the many entertainment facilities in the incubator as listed in the article above. I’m pretty sure those will end up being white elephants because, owners of start-ups have the tightest budgets in the business community, and by that reasoning, are the least likely to indulge in these entertainment facilities. Scrap those and instead build more business-friendly infrastrcture in the area and you’ll have my full support for the project.
malaysia has excellent looking universities comparable to zaha hadid creations.
let’s achieve ‘most beautiful universities’ in the world rankings!
why care about education quality? almost no one can fail SPM now
Will spending so much money make USM one of the World top 20 Uni? I think this is what tax payers like to know.
Those abstract jargon on research only confuses the public!Why can’t we bench mark and find ways to be the best in the world and spend our money wisely!
Yes, some of the items (hotels???) are completely unnecessary.
Yes, maybe it cost too much (RM450 Million can get you a lot..a lot of quality books to fill a shiny new modern library…)
But sometimes I feel like it doesn’t matter what the purpose is or how it is done, as long as it’s from Barisan (or something related to it), it’s bad…
What about Pakatan Rakyat? Your virtuous alternative can only make promises, but can’t deliver, especially here in Selangor.
Nevertheless,another great piece of investigative journalism
Almost no one can fail SPM now. How true. One really wonders what those strings of A’s actually stand for. Independent thinking? Nope. Relevant application of knowledge? Nope. Good communication skills? Nope.
Parental pride? Yes. An over-inflated ego? Yes. Money churning tuition centres mushrooming all over? Yes.
There was a time when having extra tuition meant that either you simply could not be bothered to pay attention in class or you were pretty thick.
They are cooking the cooked brinjal, again and again. Can we have a little taste of it?????????? NOOOOOOOO WAYYYYYYYY.
Dear all,
In USM, you still find
a) yourself being attacked in mosquito-infested campus areas;
b) poorly paid pink-collar workers who live on RM400-500 monthly. They are hired based on contracts and prone to dismissal; they are the ones cleaning up the mess by university-attending people and being responsible to make the Green Uni green;
c) a total redundant bunch of admin staff who go for tea-breaks between 9 to 10am (don’t know about the afternoon part, didn’t care to wait);
d) your pillow being confiscated (without notice) after 2 years staying in hostel and being told that you can actually be fined for using HAK MILIK KERAJAAN (government-owned) pillow. And as they hinted, I should be thankful since they decided to shut 1 eye;
e) poor subscription and maintenance of journals.
My point is that there are plenty of aspects overlooked before we can go overly jargon-happy and ambitious… yet stuck in the vicious circle.
It’s property development project for the selected few at the first sight. I si wish USM Prof Zul can prove me wrong.
My opinion is that USM can spend more, 20 million is nothing - spend 100 million instead, if you really want to set up top notch research facilities and improve research and teaching standards. Generally speaking, there is no economical yet effective and efficient scientific research in this modern world. The CM can go on to fly economy class but when it comes to research, money, tonnes of money needs to be spent.
However, the key question is how and where USM spend the research funding? Build many modern or post modern buildings, buy expensive “Made in Germany” equipment, and then invite some Prof-cum-Nobel Laurete-cum-xxx EXPERTS to give a speech to improve “MODAL INSAN”?
Crap.
If you can’t make wireless internet (purposely drop the word “high speed”) available in every corner of that small USM campus, if you think University Library costs too much to maintain and improve (Student doesnt use the library anyway), and if keep on inviting great great guest lecturer, but hire those of your own based on which political party they support…
It’s all crap.
The only thing DAP state government (DAP doesn’t like the work Pakatan Rakyat government) can and will do positive to USM, is probably, leave it alone.
Leaving USM alone will be tough. The “Education” ministry is all over USM.
What we need is for Malaysian Us to act like universities, not just as a place for cronies to have an office, fancy titles and access to yearly budgets. It seems in Malaysia, Us have valuable land banks. This is especially true for UM and USM as they are located in KL and Penang.
Remember the similar UM project not too far back? Haven’t you seen people on the admin board whom you would not hire as a gardener? And what they need to do in return for all these perks is to keep the students dumb and if possible pro-BN.
What a pile of crap coming from our so-called ivory towers.
And all the while, our education standard rots.
Holy s***, umnodu, what’s got into you and what the hell are you talking about this BN and Pakatan Rakyat deal and what the heck has it got to do with our comments on the stupid s**t that USM is getting into.
As it stood, negative comments were made with regard to the proposal for senseless wanton waste of money on another white elephant project which the people in the supposed Ivory Towers in Minden area have no excuse to be involved in. And hear you are coming our with your defense of the BN (who in the name of heaven ever mentioned THAT name) and your jaundiced prod at Pakatan Rakyat. Hey, let’s keep politics out and call a spade a spade.
The whole scheme - and I WILL call this scam a scheme, is to spend mega bucks on typical short sighted plans that will make a couple of schemers millionaires and leave the Rakyat to pick up the bits and pieces later.
Pray justify the need for another Convention centre when the State is already planning one now.
A day care centre ? An International school? A Boutique Hotel,
A (just be simple and call a spade a spade) Massage parlor ?
Looks like the guys heading the USM have lost the plot. They have had their brains crossed with the mid of Jelutong beach and are obviously thinking that the University should go into business, compete with other international schools, kindergartens and even go into the massage and spa business. Pretty good idea that one - Hey we can now get a Phd in Massage techniques and spa operations!!
The University should look at how top universities concentrate on providing the best opportunities for the furthering of education for our young. Use the millions they now talk about to provide more opportunities and scholarships for deserving students.
umnodu, if you have nothing to contribute in this issue, just shut up and leave politics out of this matter. Incidentally, if you feel that you have enough ammunition to hit out at the Pakatan, I can assure you that there is more s*** than you can ever think of in the BN. Grow Up.
Well some more umnoputras getting rich…….I have even lost all enthusiasm to comment as abuses, wastage is a way of life with BN gunddu’s. What will we raise and how many times……just lost it!!
without reading further than where the money comes,
came from us
suck from us
FOR
The selected cronies.
rajraman.I have a dream - can u ask haris ibrahim whats my dream please.
Sains@USM. All the beautifully worded statements is just a cover up in case HIgher Education Minister got the real gist. Apparently he did not. No wonder in 2007, Higher Education ministry is in the top 5 spending ministry. All 5 ministries are headed by UMNO, not surprisingly.
Sains@USM. They forgot to include Labs. Loads of Labs ( and real equipments la) if they want it to be called Sains@USM. If not, just call it anything else. MIT can spend millions on real lab and equipments, so do real universities.
Btw, incubator projects are already available in
1. UPM
2. UniKL
3. TPM
And surely more. Any report on success?
Simple explanation….those IPTAs like USM are so bloated with cash$$$$$$ that they do not how to spend the money……A suggestion…why just renovate the toilets as well, I mean all the toilets and replace those toilets with the cool ones from Japan that can wash your nice bum and blow them dry for you…? No need any paper…clean and environment friendly…?
C’mn improve the library and labs…what a way to spend the money…No wonder we are all getting poorer by the day….hey, it’s the RAKYAT’s MONEY, OK!!!! What out!!!!
My dear Anil, sorry to say this, but you are too old to understand all this. Please don’t apply any laid-back mentality when discussing technology development, especially when we are putting ourselves with rest of the world. So most of the critics here (if they qualify to be called that way), these people is one of the reason why Malaysia is still lagging when we talk about R&D and university rankings. They simply bash blatantly, knowing themselves they are inferior in the relevant fields.
This is the way to go if we want to lift our research capabilities, please drop away 3rd world mentality, that big money shouldn’t be spent, that we could always start small, perhaps in a shack?
Just imagine, if the VC of USM do take all this criticisms as the wish of the Rakyat and obey the Rakyat, we will still be at square 1 for the next 20 years. I bet he won’t do such stupid thing, I have high respect on this guy.
Guys, PORR & Monorail no more, you still want to lose this R&D haven? What are we left? A scenic, tranquil fishing village, perhaps?
What’s the point of building first class infrastructure (going by BN’s record, usually built by foreigners using rakyat’s money) when there is a MASSIVE brain drain going on right at our doorstep? Keep the brains in first, before talking about BIG GRAND projects lah.
Sure, keep on building infrastructure and educational facilities …but what did this produce? Brilliant scientists and engineers? Which MEGASTRUCTURE in Malaysia can we boast is truly Malaysian-constructed? SO SAD
Albert, getting your priorities right and balancing it out is what it’s really all about. Technology advances everyday but do we have the ability to sustain our efforts? Why don’t you talk to people who really are in the know, like recruiters working in the factories in Bayan Lepas? Ask them about the quality of the interns from USM and you’ll get a pretty grim assessment.
The development of a nation cannot be measured solely by the number of buildings and state of the art facilities you can put up. The problem is this is used to mask all our other shortcomings. It might sound condescending but have you seen an uneducated person trying to use the latest mobile device? He can afford it without a doubt, but to what end?
As educated people, don’t you think we should try to do something about this? Common sense is not so common, as you will find out later in life.