By

Nurul Haziqah Abdul Halim
Photos By Ikwan Hashim
Video by Ruhaizad Abd. Majid
BANGI, 3 Feb 2014 – A Professor at the Law Faculty Datin Noor Aziah Hj Mohd Awal, has been appointed the new Deputy Vice Chancellor (Students and Alumni Affairs) (TNC HEPA) of The National University of Malaysia (UKM).

She took over from Prof Dato’ Ir Dr Othman A. Karim whose tenure  as the TNC HEPA concluded on the 31^st of January 2014.

Vice Chancellor, Prof Datuk Noor Azlan Ghazali handed over her duties at the Meeting Room of the Chancellery Building here today, as Prof Dato’ Othman was unable to attend the ceremony due to the fact that he was on leave abroad at the time. Prof Datuk Noor Azlan thanked Prof Dato’ Ir Dr Othman for his services during his time as TNC HEPA, and wished him well in his future endeavours.

Prof Datuk Noor Azlan welcomed Prof Datin Noor Aziah to the Chancellery and to her new post saying that dealing with students is an important part of any university believing that Prof Datin Noor Aziah is capable in handling the challenges she would face.

He said students are important in the context of making UKM better, because when they graduate, they carry the name and flag of UKM. “We are a Research University, which makes our responsibilities even bigger. Being an RU changes the structure of the management and the students.

“Whatever decision and action they take will reflect upon us – whether good or bad. So let us all give support and a helping hand to our new TNC HEPA in her new post, to ensure our students and our university’s name shine,” Prof Noor Azlan said.

Prof Datin Noor Aziah has been a Principal of the Dato Onn Residential College (KDO) for the last eight years and credits her time there as one of the reasons she will be better equipped to handle her new duties, Prof Noor Azlan said.

Prof Noor Aziah in her response said she had some experience working with and handling students on a daily basis as principal of KDO.

Helping and guiding the students to manage their activities, while building character, soft-skills and polishing talent were some of the responsibilities she undertook. “The only difference is that I will be handling the entire student body of UKM instead of just the 600 at KDO,” she said.

She thanked both the Vice Chancellor for his confidence in her and her predecessor, Prof Othman for sharing his knowledge and experience as TNC HEPA with her throughout his tenure.

Prof Noor Aziah also credited En Ghazali Mahyudin, a former lecturer of the Faculty of Social Sciences in UKM for bringing her to UKM. She had been a second year Law student at the University of Essex when En Ghazali visited the campus back in 1984.

“He told me that the Law Faculty in UKM had just been opened and told me to contact him should I be interested in becoming a lecturer when I finished my studies.

“It was a different time back then, a time when UKM was in need of lecturers and I got the job on the same day I came for the interview,” Prof Noor Aziah said.

She also thanked her the Dean of the Law Faculty, Prof Dato’ Dr Aishah Bidin, the Director of the Islam Hadhari Centre, Prof Dato’ Dr Mohd Yusof Hj Othman and her fellow Principals of Residential Colleges who have shared her ups and downs and challenges in being a Principal of a RC.

She also thanked SUKMANITA UKM and the Academic Staff Association (PKAUKM) for giving her the platform to be an active member of UKM in both associations.

“My only goal when I started in UKM all those years ago was to be a lecturer, to shape, to mould and to polish young minds so that they can become successful and will bring pride to the UKM name. It never crossed my mind that I would one day hold such a high post as a TNC,” Prof Noor Aziah said.

Continuing the love of Pantun (Malay poem) by the previous Vice Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, Prof Noor Aziah, ended her speech with a pantun she wrote for the occasion:

Dari Nilai sampai ke Bangi,
Sampai ke Bangi terus ke Universiti,
Hajat besar ingin berbakti,
Di UKM tempat menabur bakti

Fakulti Undang-undang tempat mula kerja,
Dari tutor hingga Professor,
Banyak pahit manis yang dirasa,
Jatuh bangun, berdiri, bergelongsor

Timbalan Dekan pernah disandang,
Penyelaras Matrikulasi juga saya pegang
Pelajar digilap menjadi bintang,
Mereka berjaya hatiku kembang

Pergi ke hutan mencari rotan,
Rotan dianyam sambil makan,
Adat bekerja bertukar jawatan,
Rezeki kita Allah tentukan.”