The three-days official visit to Makassar

I, Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang (UTM Vice-Chancellor) and Mr. Azham Ramli (UTM Deputy Senior Registrar) visited Makassar to attend Dies Natalis the 54th Universitas Hasanuddin (UNHAS). We also visited the Universitas Negeri Makassar (UNM). In the three days of this official visit, the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) between the UTM with UNHAS and UNM were also signed.

Actually, a collaboration between UTM and Makassar has been started a long time ago. This cooperation has already begun when the UTM is called the National Institute of Technology in the early 1970s, where several lecturers from Indonesia taught at UTM. One of them was Ir. Aminuddin Ressang, who was a chemistry lecturer at UTM. He is the brother of Prof. Dr. Ir. Arifuddin Ressang, former dean of the Faculty of Engineering, UNHAS. One of the children of Ir. Aminuddin, Assoc. Prof. Aziruddin Ressang is currently also a lecturer at UTM.

Currently, about 350 students from Indonesia are studying at UTM which 43 of them come from Makassar. Most of them are MSc and Ph.D. students. We, in Johor Bahru, are also very fortunate to be under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar who is a descendant of the Bugis.

Eid ul-Fitr prayer in Johor Bahru

I and my family performed Eid ul-Fitr prayers at the Indonesian Consulate General in Johor Bahru. This year, the prayer is held at the new Consulate office in Jalan Taat, Johor Bahru. After Eid ul-Fitr prayer, we were entertained by the Consul General, Mr. Jonas L. Tobing and his wife. During the banquet feast, the Consul General has shared information with us about the current situation regarding the Indonesian community in Johor Bahru and also the relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia as a neighboring countries.

Indonesia dan Malaysia: Maju bersama

4943482133_2c24662282_nHubungan Indonesia dan Malaysia yang memanas akhir-akhir ini dapat menimbulkan kerugian dari kedua-dua belah pihak. Boleh dikatakan, “emosi” lebih menonjol dibandingkan dengan “akal sehat”. Padahal, Indonesia dan Malaysia dapat menjadi maju dan berkembang bersama-sama jika kedua belah pihak dapat memanfaatkan hubungan ini dengan baik. Di bawah ini beberapa perbandingan antara Indonesia dan Malaysia yang di lihat dari berbagai aspek, yang dikutip dari http://www.scimagojr.com/ dan http://www.wolframalpha.com/. Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia Ke 53!