UTAR celebrates 26th Convocation

 Graduands marching their way to Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik 

UTAR PhD graduates

UTAR welcomed a total of 2,914 new graduates into the family of UTAR alumni at the UTAR’s 26th Convocation ceremony held from 9 to 11 March 2018 at the Dewan Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik of Kampar Campus. It was a three-day celebration of the graduands’ perseverance, determination and their dedication to the ideals of UTAR. 

Graduands and their parents at the UTAR 26th Convocation

A total of 2,914 (Session 1 – 736; Session 2 – 714; Session 3 – 638; Session 4 – 826) graduands from 88 programmes comprising 66 Bachelor (Hons) degree, 16 Master’s degree and six PhD programmes, received their convocation scrolls in four sessions held over the three-day period. Of the 2,914 graduands, 10 received their PhDs, 71 received their Master’s degree and 54 received their Hons Degree with Distinction, while the rest received their Bachelor Hons with Merit and Bachelor Hons degree.

UTAR Registrar Yim Lin Heng leading the Chancellor’s procession

Tan Sri Ting declaring the opening of Session One and Two of the Convocation 

The Session One and Two of the Convocation were declared open by the UTAR Council Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Ting Chew Peh; Session Three and Four were declared open by UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik. Also present at the ceremony were UTAR Chancellor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and other UTAR Council and Board of Trustees members.

Guests of Honour, clockwise from top left: Datin Paduka Tan, Ng, Ir Tan and Tan Sri Sak

The Guests of Honour for the four sessions of the Convocation were Chairperson of United Malacca Berhad Datin Paduka Tan Siok Choo for Session One, President and Managing Director of Infineon Technologies (Kulim) Sdn Bhd Ng Kok Tiong for Session Two, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UTAR Education Foundation Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Sak Cheng Lum for Session Three, and President of The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia and Secretary General of Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) Ir Dr Tan Yean Chin for Session Four. The scroll presenters for Session One were Minister of International Trade and Industry II of Malaysia and UTAR Council Member Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan; Session Two were UTAR Council Members Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Chor Chee Heung and Datuk Lim Si Cheng; Session Three were UTAR Council Members Datuk Lee Leck Cheng and Datuk (Dr.) Oh Chong Peng; and Session Four were Tan Sri Sak and UTAR Council Member Hew Fen Yee.  

Dato’ Seri Ong presenting the scroll to Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) graduate Yang Chuan Choong 

 Tan Sri Chor presenting the scroll to Banking and Finance graduate Soong Yoke Chuan

Datuk Lim Si Cheng presenting the scroll to Bachelor of Communication (Hons) Journalism graduate Muhammad Ali bin Abd Karim  

Datuk Lee presenting the scroll to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery graduate K. Rupini 

Datuk Oh presenting the scroll to Early Childhood Studies graduate Vivien Lee See Yuin

 Tan Sri Sak presenting the scroll to Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Petrochemical Engineering graduate Rajvinder Singh 

 Hew presenting the scroll to Business Administration graduate Khoo Hong Yeah 

Prof Chuah advising the graduands on the importance of soft skills

Prof Chuah in his speech advised the graduates, “It is important in the workplace to be adaptable to change, flexible and creative, both in a sense of organisational structure and technology. Through the UTAR Soft Skills Development Certificate programme, we are equipping our students with interpersonal skills that are crucial for the modern workplace, and for the future integration of workplace artificial intelligence which will most likely be controlled by human emotional responses. As such, the University has consistently placed great emphasis on the soft skills aspect of learning. You are now about to enter a highly competitive new world without borders, a VUCA world where the challenges you will need to face are volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The new challenges posed stem from the much talked about Fourth Industrial Revolution which, like the three before it, has evolved from advancements in new technologies – advancements that have the power to recompose entire economies and societies, and ultimately the way we live. In fact, we have already seen this with the emergence of 3D printing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, drones and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

He added, “Career paths are becoming more flexible and you need to change expectations of what a career will look like in the future. Employees of the future will need a broad range of skills and experience that can help them creatively adapt to technologically rich environments so that they can move between careers. Graduates of the future should become job creators rather than job seekers. The world needs new ideas, innovative solutions and visionary leaders who can make things happen. You need to pursue both economic and social values to create not only wealth but a wealth of opportunities for others. As graduates venturing into future career opportunities, you must develop an attitude of inquiry, adaptability, flexibility and the ability to critically observe, analyse and draw logical conclusions including the conscience to know right from wrong. Most importantly, in the age of machines, you must not lose your humanity and you must have good values, ethics and integrity to work for the betterment of mankind and the society.” 

Datin Paduka Tan in her speech motivated the graduates, “Failure, success and the need to keep trying is the issue that I would like to talk about today. In a speech at Bard College, Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, said the fight for equal rights for Black Americans isn’t ‘a tale of good things happening by chance, but neither is it a tale of sudden, transforming revolution.’ Instead, it’s a story about activists, political leaders and ordinary citizens painfully pushing giant stones up a slope, year after year, and not giving up when those stones slid back ways.” She also quoted Hilary Clinton’s commencement address in her alma mater Wellesley and said, “Whatever your dreams are today, dream even bigger. Wherever you have set your sights, raise them even higher. And above all, keep going. Don’t do it because I asked you to. Do it for yourselves. Do it for truth and reason.”

Ng in his speech inspired the graduates by sharing his life journey, “I realised that there is no such thing as the “perfect job” or the “perfect company”. Every job has its pros and its cons, the only difference is you. You make the difference in a job; more specifically your attitude makes the difference. How you choose to approach a job determines whether it is perfect, or impossible. Needless to say, a positive attitude helps, but more importantly, a proactive attitude will take you to the next level. In today’s highly competitive world, being self-driven will give you the added advantage, the differentiator that will set you apart from the rest.” He added, “There is a great divide between complacency and pro-activeness, and I constantly remind myself, till today, to never be complacent. Having the right attitude is a choice you make – so choose to be proactive, to be self-driven, and to be bold. After all, the only person responsible for your success or failure is you. So, get into that driver’s seat, accelerate the engine and start making things happen for yourself today.”

Tan Sri Sak in his speech enthused, “In the World Economic Forum report, it is stated that future jobs will require 10 key skills that employers will want in the future and these skills are all people based; not machines. The ten key skills identified are complex problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, co-ordinating with others, emotional intelligence, judgement and decision-making, service orientation, negotiation and cognitive flexibility. These are all human qualities that machines will find hard to emulate and therefore, graduates like you should sharpen your skills in these areas to ensure that you are employable now and in the future. As you walk out after this ceremony, you will be making decisions on the next step of your life. You will enter into the reality filled with choices and endless opportunities which lies ahead of you. Regardless of what path you may choose, the country needs your input and contributions. Turn your knowledge into action, make use of your talents, and seize the opportunities ahead. Dare to dream!  But remember there is no instant success without efforts. You may struggle and make mistakes but the experience learnt is more important as you become wiser and better. You need to excel in the things that you do so that you remain relevant in the industry and the work that you do. It’s okay to be mediocre in the work that you do but to be outstanding and be ahead of the rest, you must aim to excel and show your best self.”

Last but not least, Ir Tan in his speech, elucidated, “Many employers look for staff who are positive, mainly because their positive attitude can influence those around them and affect the atmosphere and mood of the work environment. Generally, positive staff are welcome at work because they are deemed to have better confidence and are willing to take on challenges and responsibilities with fewer complaints.  Being positive is also an attribute of a good leader and many inventors and world leaders are positive people who never give up believing in their visions. These are some of the attributes most employers will consider in the evaluation of your advancements in your career and your climb up the corporate ladder. These attributes are by no means exhaustive but to me are a good guide to judge the character and personality of any candidate for employment and also promotion, and of course, in addition to the right qualifications and good work performance.” 

 Kee advising the juniors to continue pursue education

Master of Business Administration (Corporate Governance) graduate Kee Cia Hee in her graduation speech said, “Studying MBA has enabled me to acquire new skills, which very much benefitted me for my promotion. I was recently promoted and the skills that I acquired included leadership, interpersonal communication and project management has helped me to develop as a complete person. One of the best experiences in UTAR would be being able to collaborate with international people for the assignments and through that, I learnt other soft skills, understood different cultures and created meaningful friendships. My advice to the juniors would be to continue pursuing education.” 

Lim thanking his parents, friends and UTAR management for being part of his journey to graduation

Another graduate of Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) Psychology Lim Lee Kern said, “I would like to thank my parents, family members, friends and all the helpful lecturers who have taught me in my journey of four years in UTAR. I realised it was indeed the best choice of mine to be part of UTAR which has provided holistic educations and today I am proud to stand as UTAR alumni.” 

Amalia sharing valuable tips with other fellow graduates

Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Early Childhood Studies graduate Amalia Maisarah binti Zulkifli enthused, “I have been working for a few months now and honestly it is not easy. Take a look at all the graduands here, when we leave, there will be so many competitors out there and it’s not easy to survive in the competitive workplace. Therefore, at this moment I would like to share two valuable tips to follow at the workplace. Firstly, take initiative and don’t ever wait for your supervisor to tell you what to do. Secondly, take charge and take part as well as don’t be shy to share your ideas and always be a team player to succeed in your career.”  

Ting congratulating all the fellow graduates

Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Ting Xin Then in her graduation speech said “I would like to congratulate all the graduands who are graduating today. We came to UTAR with high expectations and graduating today tells me of only one thing, that our expectations have been met. Some of us might even think that we have taken the wrong course, but I want you to know that everything happens for a reason. I believe we wouldn’t be who we are today without the knowledge and soft skills we gained from UTAR. I hope whichever paths you are about to take next, you keep calm and make a plan.” 

 Fourth from left: Prof Chuah, Tan Sri Ting, Datin Paduka Tan, Tun Ling and Dato’ Seri Ong with some graduates of Session One 

Third from right: Hew, Datuk Lee, Tan Sri Chor, Prof Chuah, Ng, Tan Sri Ting; Datuk Lim and Tan Sri Sak (far left) with some graduates of Session Two 

Third from left: Tan Sri Sak, Prof Chuah, Ir Tan and Hew (far right) with some graduates of Session Four

With the addition of 2,914 graduates from this 26th Convocation, the number of the University’s alumni now stands at 53,420 since its inaugural convocation in 2005. 

Second from left: Advertising graduates Lim Jun Kit, Choo Hong Yuan and Raymond Goh Chee Wei with their friends 

Finance graduate Sereen Priscilla Jude Thaddeus with her family members 

Graduates in jubilant mood

Mace bearers, clockwise from top left: Construction Management student Lee Zer Sen, Entrepreneurship student Marvin Goh Wen Yi, Finance student Yap Wah Seng and Chinese Studies student Yin Shiqiang 

Chinese orchestra performance 

Marketing alumna Foo Ching Lin, Evelyn singing Di San Ge Xing Yuan

From left: Public Relations student Veronica Pang Syn Ni and Psychology student Xaviera Yih singing The Shining Light

From left: Finance student Tay Jor Jun and Chemistry student Lim Vi Xuen singing Sejahtera Malaysia and You Raise Me Up

 From left: Tay, Marketing student Neoh Bok Xiang and Lim singing The Shining Light

 From left: Yih and Chemistry student Tan Ie Huang singing Peng You

From left: Lim, Tan and Tay singing The Shining Light

 From left: Pang and Yih singing Sejahtera Malaysia 

From left: Pang and Public Relations student Esther Koh Khai Qi singing How Far I’ll Go

From left: Microbiology alumna Yang Shun Kai and Foo singing Gan En De Xin

From left: Lim, Tan and Biotechnology student Teo Jeng Yee singing The Shining Light