PENANG, August 2015 – A nation may not be considered as being fully developed if the progress and development are not equally distributed among its citizens of different levels of society especially in the context of social space.

This was stated by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal in officiating the International Conference On Development And Socio-Spatial Inequalities (ICDSSI), organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) through the School of Humanities, with the cooperation of Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia (YaPEIM) and Lembaga Kemajuan Wilayah Pulau Pinang (PERDA), here, recently.

Ahmad Shukri said, among the inequalities existed today are in the areas of socio-political status, opportunities for education, training and employment, and access to resources.

“It is a heavy responsibility that needs to be shared together, to provide an understanding to the public regarding the aspiration of becoming a developed nation from the aspects of economy, politics and social, in a holistic and inclusive manner,” said Ahmad Shukri.

He urged for continuous effort in exploring more partnerships at the international and global levels, whether with the foreign universities, institutions or agencies that are able to realise such noble aims, so as to provide the experts with the opportunities for discussions and cooperation, and help to make these practices more impactful to the nation as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of YaPEIM, Dato’ Abibullah Haji Samsudin said, this inaugural collaboration with USM and PERDA is hoped to be able to highlight important issues in planning the strategy and solution to allow for appropriate measures to be taken.

“The time has come for the scholars and the experts to discuss together to look for initiatives to unite the ideas, understand the issues, causal factors, and the reasons for the occurrence of domestic social inequality through conferences such as this, involving experts in geography and those who are directly involved in such areas to bring changes to the community and later to be highlighted to the world,” said Abibullah in his speech when officiating the event with nearly 150 ICDSSI participants.

He hopes that ICDSSI could establish a repository for the publication of various academic references pertaining to the best practices in dealing with socio-spatial inequality. 

The International Conference On Development And Socio-Spatial Inequalities (ICDSSI) was held from 19-20 August 2015 to explore current issues and scenario which include poverty, social inequality, rising costs of living, and the stress of living in towns among others, which could provide platforms for potential brainstorming sessions among the educators.

Also present were the wife of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs), Datin Dr. Aishah Knight Abdul Shatar; Dean of the School of Humanities (PPIK), Associate Professor Dr. Hajar Abdul Rahim; Director of Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Distinguished Professor Datuk Dr. Shamsul Amri Baharuddin; Assistant Manager (Entrepreneur Development) II PERDA Encik Firdaus Fadli Noordin; Director of Centre for Innovation, Planning and Development (CIPD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Professor Ibrahim Ngah; Chairperson of ICDSSI 2015, Associate Professor Madya Dr. Narimah Samat and the participants of the seminar.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Text: Siti Naquiah Abdillah /Photo: Zamani Abdul Rahim