KOTA KINABALU, 7 July 2013 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) today sets up the Sabah Alumni Secretariat to strengthen its position outside Penang, and to help the existing USM Alumni Association and the USM Alumni Association of Sabah to serve the community better.

"We hope to see more USM alumni in various sectors such as industry, media, education, especially higher education and social work come together to serve the community and the public, and not limiting their services to the university only," said the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman.

He was speaking to reporters after attending a USM alumni get together here attended by about 50 former students of the university. Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor mingled around with the alumni, answering questions and explaining USM’s current development, especially its position on the world stage.

 

When asked about the intake of about 200 less fortunate students, especially the poor and those from rural areas, Omar said, this is one way the university provides them with the opportunity to pursue higher education which otherwise may be difficult for them to compete with those with better financial capabilities, due to their poor family background.

"The alumni can also help these students by identifying and informing us about them, of whom we might otherwise have overlooked," the Vice-Chancellor added.

Last month, USM has also launched the Johor USM Alumni Secretariat whose role is to mobilise former USM students and get them engaged in various social and volunteer activities for the community.

In Sabah alone, USM has about 2,000 alumni, 400 of them are in Kota Kinabalu while in Johor there are 5,000 USM alumni. Overall the total number of USM alumni in Malaysia as well as overseas is 120,000.