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University of Malaya
The University of Malaya (Abbreviation: UM; ) is the oldest university in Malaysia. The university motto, Ilmu Punca Kemajuan (), reflects the philosophy of the University in its constant endeavour to seek knowledge in all fields to produce successful graduates and a successful nation. It was widely recognised as one of the top universities in Malaysia but university rankings in recent years have seen the decline of UM's glory [1].
HistoryBeginningsIn September 1904, Tan Jiak Kim led a group of representatives of the Chinese and other non-European communities, and petitioned the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir John Anderson, to establish a medical school in Singapore. Tan, who was the first president of the Straits Chinese British Association, managed to raise $87,077, of which the largest amount of $12,000 came from himself. On 3 July 1905, the medical school was founded, and was known as the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School. The medical library was first housed in the students' reading room within the school, converted from the vacant old female lunatic asylum in Sepoy Lines. In 1912, the medical school received an endowment of $120,000 from the King Edward VII Memorial Fund, started by Dr Lim Boon Keng. Subsequently on 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to the King Edward VII Medical School. In 1921, it was again changed to the King Edward VII College of Medicine to reflect its academic status.
In 1929, Raffles College was established to promote arts and social sciences at tertiary level for Singapore students. Establishment of the universityTwo decades later, Raffles College was merged with the King Edward VII College of Medicine to form the University of Malaya on 8 October 1949. The two highly respected institutions were merged to perform together an even greater service by providing for the higher education needs of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore and to help lay the foundations of a new nation by producing a generation of skilled and educated men and women. The growth of UM was very rapid during the first decade of its establishment and resulted in the setting up of two autonomous Divisions in 1959, one located in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. Growth and consolidationIn 1960, the governments of the Federation of Malaysia and Singapore indicated their desire to change the status of the Divisions into that of a national university. Legislation was passed in 1961 establishing the former Kuala Lumpur division as the University of Malaya while the Singapore division was renamed the University of Singapore, the predecessor of today's National University of Singapore, on January 1 1962. On June 16 1962, the university celebrated the installation of its first Chancellor, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister. The first Vice-Chancellor was former Dean, Sir Alexander Oppenheim, the world renowned mathematician who formulated the Oppenheim conjecture in 1929. When Oppenheim left in 1965 with no successor in sight, Rayson Huang who later went on to become the first Asian Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong [2], was asked to take over as the Acting Vice Chancellor. He served in that capacity for 12 months but declined reappointment in order to return to academic pursuits [3]. Chin Fung Kee, a well known authority in geotechnical engineering [4], replaced Huang as Acting Vice-Chancellor until the university succeeded in filling the position in 1967 by the appointment of James H.E. Griffiths. A distinguished physicist and a fellow of Magdalen College, Griffiths was also the former head of Clarendon Laboratory of Oxford University and one of the discoverers of ferromagnetic resonance. MalaysianizationIn 1968, economist Ungku Abdul Aziz succeeded Griffiths as Vice-Chancellor, making him the second Malaysian after Chin to be elevated to the highest executive office in UM and the first Malaysian to be appointed as full Vice-Chancellor. This development was a precursor to the introduction of ethnic quotas into public universities with the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1971. On May 1 2006, the first woman Vice-Chancellor when former Dean of the Faculty of Law and later assistant governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Rafiah Salim, was appointed to the position [5]. Current developmentsIn 2007, some controversy was generated when the THES - QS World University Rankings published by the Times Higher Education Supplement dropped UM from their list of Top 200 world universities [6]. The rankings first came into scrutiny when the former Vice-Chancellor, Hashim Yaacob, highlighted that UM was ranked 89th in the THES - QS World University Rankings [7]. The progressive drop in the rankings in the subsequent years (169th in 2005, 192nd in 2006 and 246th in 2007) became an object of public questioning and controversy about the perceived declining standards of Malaysian universities and the apparent lackadaisical attitude of UM in addressing long standing issues [8]. This prompted the Ministry of Higher Education to establish its own competitive ranking system between Malaysian public universities known as the Rating System for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions or SETARA following an Academic Reputation Survey conducted the year before [9]. The results of the first SETARA exercise were published in 2008 and University of Malaya came out as the top university in the country. It was the only university which achieved a rating of 5 (out of maximum 6). None of the local universities was able to achieve the top rating of 6 (internationally excellent). Organization and administrationUM is incorporated by an Act of Parliament with the passage of the University of Malaya Act 1961 which established the former Kuala Lumpur division of the University of Malaya incorporated by the University of Malaya Ordinance 1949 as an independent public university. Additional legislation such as the Degrees and Diplomas Act 1962 [10] granted retrospective recognition and equivalency of degrees and diploma granted by predecessor institutions. Principal officersThe principal officers of UM are the Chancellor, three Pro-Chancellors, the Vice-Chancellor and four Deputy Vice-Chancellors, the Registrar, the Bursar, the Chief Librarian and the Director of the University of Malaya Medical Centre. The Chancellor and Pro-Chancellors are honorary positions with the Chancellor acting as the titular head of the university presiding over the Convocation. The current Chancellor is HRH Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak. The Vice-Chancellor is the chief executive and academic officer of UM and is assisted by four Deputy Vice-Chancellors responsible for Student Affairs and Alumni, Academic and International Relations, Research and Innovation, and Development respectively. List of principal officersThe following table is a list of the principal officers of the University of Malaya and her predecessors. Note that the office of the President of Raffles College was renamed Principal of Raffles College from 1938 [11] [12] [13].
University authoritiesThe highest administrative body of UM is the Board of Directors comprising of one Chairperson, the Vice-Chancellor, two representatives from the Government of Malaysia, a community member, and three other professionals, one of whom is from the private sector. Office bearers, apart from the Vice-Chancellor, are appointed to a three year term by the Minister of Higher Education and the Board is currently headed by founding director of the MARA Institute of Technology (now Universiti Teknologi MARA), Arshad Ayub [14] [15]. The Senate is the highest academic body of UM comprising of the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Deans and Directors of the academies, faculties, institutes, and centres as well as a selected number of professors. It has the control and general direction of instruction, research and examination, and the award of degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic distinctions in UM within its jurisdiction. CampusesUM currently has 2 campuses, both located in Kuala Lumpur MainThe Main Campus is located in the suburb of Lembah Pantai, southwest of Kuala Lumpur. The campus encompasses an area of 750 acres (3.0 km²) and is the original campus of the Kuala Lumpur division of the original University of Malaya. Most of the main administrative buildings and faculties are located in this campus. The 80 hectare Rimba Ilmu Botanical Gardens are also located within the campus. CityThe City Campus is located in the Bukit Persekutuan area of Kuala Lumpur approximately 15 minutes away from the Main Campus. The University of Malaya Centre for Continuing Education, Institute of Principalship Studies, International Institute of Public Policy and Management, Graduate School of Business and the City Campus library are located in the campus. Varsity AnthemUniversity Malaya Kami bertekad di hati Di sini kami sedia berbakti Varsiti kesayanganku Residential CollegesThe following campus residential halls offer lodgings and related services which may include facilities such as game courts, reading rooms, grocery shops, cyber cafes and computer labs.[16]
Notable alumniKing Edward VII College of Medicine/Raffles College era (pre 1949)
University of Malaya era (1949 - present)
Notable faculty members
See also
Rimba Ilmu building, University of Malaya ReferencesExternal links
de:Universität Malaya id:Universitas Malaya ms:Universiti Malaya nl:Universiti Malaya ja:????? vi:??i h?c Malaya zh:????? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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