By: Siti Nur' Ain Feisal 

Editor : Nik Hafzaini Nik Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR – The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Director of Alumni Relations Centre UPM (ARCUPM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arba'ie Sujud, were invited to be guests for Selamat Pagi Malaysia slot on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) to promote UPM 50 Years Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1971-2021).

The 30-minute talk has opened opportunities for UPM and ARCUPM to talk about the ongoing celebrations. According to the original plan, the celebration will end in December 2021, but is extended to December 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic that is still sweeping the country.

This extension provides opportunity for ARCUPM as the secretariat for the UPM 50 Years Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1971-2021) to carry on with the events and agendas that were planned earlier. Among the events that will be held is the Sireh Pulang to Gagang @ Homecoming XI Charity Dinner 2021 in conjunction with UPM 50 Years Golden Jubilee Celebrations.

During on-air with RTM, Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman, Vice Chancellor of UPM briefly shared an early history of UPM establishment as a university up to this day which has created many successes.

"In its early days, UPM was just a School of Agriculture established in 1931 and later upgraded as College of Agriculture. In 1971, it was once again upgraded to a university known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. In 1997, its name was changed to Universiti Putra Malaysia. UPM 50 years celebration is based on it as a university. UPM main focus is in agricultural research that explores new knowledge to benefit the community in Malaysia. In fact, in most recognitions that we have achieved, it is an injection of enthusiasm for all UPM staff especially among the researchers to continue to conduct research focused on agriculture that can lead to a new evolution in high-tech agriculture that can lead to economic development in Malaysia," he said.

Meanwhile, the Director of ARCUPM, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arba'ie Sujud, UPM 50 years celebrations was a long journey to celebrate and bring back alumni to alma mater.

"In this celebration, we have developed main programmes as well as programmes at departmental level. In total, we have 23 main programmes that focus on agriculture as well as contribution from other department for us to share with external entities to inform that UPM is an institution to assist the community and make UPM a knowledge centre and benefits the community. 

Among the programmes that were organised was the Vice Chancellor's Narrative which in turn led to five strategics to elevate UPM as a tower of knowledge in sharing benefits especially in agriculture.

Another program that we have successfully executed is UPM Alumni Golden Fit. It is a virtual fitness activity that we adapt to today's pandemic situation. Through this programme, we have successfully gathered 6,203 alumni and received recognition from The Malaysia Book of Records and this is a great success achieved.

Significantly, we were able to raise funding for scholarships from alumni and this is where the opportunities from the 50 years celebration are used to bring back alumni to alma mater.

This is also one of the ways for alumni with the university management through this celebration will be echoing 'Kami Bangga Menjadi Alumni UPM’ he said.

Throughout UPM journey, UPM staff would like to thank the media for their contribution and dedication in sharing UPM programmes and achievements through their respective channels to the community. Without the support and cooperation of the media, it is difficult to reach the community.

Date of Input: 08/11/2021 | Updated: 01/12/2021 | alif.isnain