SINTOK: Juggling a tight schedule between their duties towards their families, studies and societies, finally paid off for three public figures who received their Master’s degree during the second session of Universiti Utara Malaysia’s (UUM) 30th convocation ceremony today.
National Cooperative Movement of Malaysia Bhd (Angkasa) president Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah, Kangar Member of Parliament Ir Shaharuddin Ismail and former Senator Datuk Muhammad Olian Abdullah can now smile with pride after toiling the midnight oil for two years to complete their Masters in Public Management course.
The trio shared the same aspirations in furthering their studies and conducted research based on their expertise, which is to give back to their respective societies through their findings.
Abdul Fattah hoped his thesis entitled ‘Competency in School Cooperatives Management’ could be used as a reference or policy by not only Angkasa but other relevant agencies and ministries in order to further boost the competency of school cooperatives, in turn contributing to the country’s economic growth.
He added, his thesis was also in line with Angkasa’s target for at least 50 school cooperatives’ turnover would hit over RM1 million by 2020.
“This is the third university where I enrolled for a Master’s course but I only managed to complete my course this time around, thanks to UUM and my supervisor’s flexibility in the consultation sessions and research matters.
“Despite having to burn midnight oil and utilise any free period for my research, it was definitely worth the while as I could share my knowledge and experience for the benefit of others," he said when met.
As for Shahruddin, his thesis which focused on electrical consumption among Perlis folks has helped him to better understand the subject and he is planning to spread the awareness to people in Perlis especially in his parliamentary area.
According to Shahruddin, among the content of his thesis was how to save the electrical consumption by up to 40 per cent and the advantages which would be enjoyed by the consumers from this.
Meanwhile, Olian, who used to represent the Orang Asli community in Dewan Negara, always believed in education as a weapon to change society.
He chose his project topic on the impact of the Orang Asli's participation in commercial rubber and oil palm replanting project in order to help clarify the allegation by some quarters that the government project is a failure.
"After conducting research on the topics since 2015, I discovered that the allegations were not true and baseless and wish to shed some light to those who are in doubt," he said.
The Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) board or directors member reached the conclusion based on research carried out where the livelihood of the Orang Asli community in some parts of the country has significantly improved, in terms of their houses, earnings, lifestyle and vehicle possessions, after they took part in the project.
The trio were among 642 graduates who received their Master and Degree scrolls from the university pro-chancellor Tan Sri Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah during the ceremony today.
