KYOTO, 27 September 2017 – The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature (honoris causa) by Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS) here in Japan recently.

With the conferment, Asma became the first KUFS honorary degree recipient outside Japan.

In her acceptance speech, Asma thanked KUFS for bestowing her with the degree, in recognition for her contribution to the arts, even though she was trained in the sciences.

She was grateful for being able to provide a balanced emphasis between the arts and the sciences, and between the aspects of knowledge and values.

“Universities need to have a greater sense of unity and togetherness in facing the uncertainties in the future. Such uncertainties would certainly come in the form of disruptive challenges, whereby current norms and values such as equality and morality would face the pressures from all quarters,” she said.

Asma cited examples of KUFS being a council member of the Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network (APUCEN) and the USM-KUFS Cultural Centre, set up at USM in 2016. 

“Such efforts would pave the way towards establishing a better understanding and implementation of collaborations, which could result in being united and connected through social, cultural and language interactions,” she said.

Asma added that, a sense of unity would facilitate the process of establishing a common purpose and to seek solutions for the greater good. As there would be greater interdependence and interconnectedness in the future, societies around the world would need to relook and redefine the way they live, work, connect and interact.

“There would be a demand on the universities to be more flexible and adaptive to continue being relevant in society, as the disruptions would change how society perceives education, its benefits and how it is delivered in the future.

“Universities would need to be more agile and work more closely together in fulfilling the demands and needs for education, and placing equal importance on global peace and connectivity,” she said further.

She ended her speech by saying that the education system therefore needs a relook, require a redesign to nurture and mould future generations to be balanced, both in their acquisition of knowledge and in the emphasis on values.

“Graduates of the future need to embrace both elements (knowledge and values) in themselves as they become the future workforce of the nations. When both elements can be embraced, then humanity would be able to create a more sustainable change in society.”

Asma received the award from KUFS Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors, Dr. Yoshikazu Morita, who earlier gave the welcome address.

KUFS President, Dr. Takeshi Matsuda delivered an oration on the award of the honorary degree to Asma, saying that it was bestowed to her in honour of her remarkable and unique contributions to global peace, to mutual understanding between Malaysia and Japan through academic and cultural exchange initiatives, and to the promotion of inter-university community engagement activities as President APUCEN have provided timely and strategic leadership towards the fulfillment of the educational community’s academic social responsibility in raising awareness of our need to learn to live together in peace and harmony.

Also present were the Chancellor’s wife, Mrs. Toyoko Morita; KUFS Vice-President for International Affairs, Professor Toshiki Kumagai; KUFS board members, key faculty and senior staff members.

USM entourage comprised of Asma’s husband, Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Zakaria; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community Network), Professor Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed; USM Director of Community Network, Tuan Syed Yusoff Syed Kechik; Executive Director of APUCEN, Professor Dato' Dr. Aileen Tan Shau Hwai, and several key officers.

Text: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin & Tan Ewe Hoe