Tan Sri Rafidah speaks on staying ahead in the 21st century at UCSI

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, the Chairperson of AirAsia X Bhd recently shared her insights on how Malaysia could enhance its competitive edge in the challenging years ahead. With her trademark wit and candour, she delivered her keynote speech at the Eminent Persons Lectures Series. The Series is a prelude to the Academic Conference that will be organised by UCSI and the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) this March.

Held at UCSI’s KL campus, her talk was titled, ‘Staying Ahead in the Competitive World: How Malaysia should align itself with the 21st Century’.

Commending the country’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiators for settling a deal that would allow Malaysia to tap into new markets, she also advised industries and companies to be prepared to compete amongst themselves to further develop the country. 

During the talk, the former international trade and industry minister also stressed the importance of the English language, saying that conversing in the lingua franca does not make one less nationalistic.

“We should look at equipping the young as assets of the country. When they have full command of English, that can take them anywhere in the world; it doesn’t make them less nationalistic. 

“I am speaking English to you [this] does not mean I am less nationalistic…nationalistic means you love your country more, you will do whatever it takes to make it grow and develop,” she said. 

The event was well attended by corporate leaders, professors, academic staff and managers from higher education institutions, SMEs, trade associations, professional bodies and ministries.

According to UCSI’s Vice-Chancellor and President Senior Prof Dato’ Dr Khalid who was also present at the event, UCSI is thrusting forward to identify means to enhance the University’s engagement with the industry, with the new Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint as a guideline. This move will subsequently synergise the students with the future, marking the University’s 30^th anniversary. 

“With the plunge in oil prices, increase in the US Federal Reserve interest rates and the slowing down of China’s economic growth, there are clear financial headwinds. But UCSI is maintaining its edge by redoubling our efforts in widening our global network, connecting with industry partners and going full force in research,” he said.

He also shared that as a result of its foresight, UCSI will soon unveil two new academic blocks that will expand the University’s operational space by around one million square feet. This will simultaneously improve the learning capacity and enhance the studying experience of UCSI’s growing student population.

The Eminent Persons Lectures Series consists of three lectures that lead up to UCSI’s upcoming Strengthening Industry-Academia Partnership (SIAP) Conference that will take place in March this year. The Series was kicked off by Dato’ Dr Hafsah Hashim, Chief Executive Officer of SME Corporation Malaysia, on 22 January 2016. 

The next lecture will be delivered by the Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Emeritus Prof Tan Sri Dr Zakri Hamid on 11 March. It will be titled, ‘Research and Science for a Sustainable Future Malaysia – Have we missed the bus, the boat, the train or the plane?’ 

The SIAP Conference will be held on 22 March 2016 and is opened to the public.