Six prominent alumni of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) were invited by their Alma mater to reminisce about their students days on May 18, the 39th anniversary of the institution

New Sunday Times, Koh Aik Khoon

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Gripped by'beauty contestsyndrome'By KOH AIK KHOONkoh@ukm.mySIX prominentalumniofUniversitiKebangsaanMalaysia(UKM)wereinvitedbytheiralmamatertoreminisceabouttheirstudentdaysonMay18,the39thanniversaryoftheinstitution.Oneofthemtalkedaboutthe"threetigers".HepointedoutthatthecommonalityamongthetopthreeuniversitiesinMalaysiais thattheyallhavetiger(s)ontheircrests.UniversityofMalaya(UM),beingtheoldest,hasthree.UniversitiSainsMalaysia(USM),thesecondoldest,hastwoandUKM,thethirdoldest,hasone.In anyrankingofuniversities,beit TheTimesHigherEducationSupplement-QuacquarelliSymondsWorldUniversityRankings(THES-QS),THES-QS(Asia)orKajianPenarafanInstitusiPengajianTinggiAwam(Setara),thesethreetertiaryinstitutionsareusuallyatthetop.ThelatestisthefirstTHES-QSonAsianuniversities.UM isin the39thplacing,UKMin 51standUSMin 69th.UniversitiTeknologiMalaysia(UTM)andUniversitiPutraMalaysia(UPM)arein the82ndand90thplacingsrespectively.they allareamongthetop100universitiesinAsia.UKMisratherpleasedwiththeresult,ondigitaldisplayattheentrancetotheBangicampus.ThetopthreelearninginstitutionsinMalaysiaarein constanthealthyrivalry,eachwantingtomoveaheadoftheothersin termsofworldorregionalranking.Universitieselsewherearealsogrippedbythisso-called"beautycontestsyndrome".Everyonewantstobethebestandlooksthebest.Beingatthetopoftheacademictotempoleconfersbenefitsnotonlytotheuniversity,it alsobringsprideandjoytothousandsofalumni.Whenyouareatthetop,youhavemorebargainingpowerwhenitcomestoheftierresearchgrantsandoperatingbudgetswhicharethelifelineforanyuniversity.Youdon'twanttobeimpoverished.HermanMelvillehassaidthat"toproduceamightybook,youmustchooseamightytheme.Nogreatandenduringvolumecaneverbewrittenonthefleas".Similarlytoproduceamightyuniversity,youmusthaveamightyteam.Topandproductivescholarsgivea tertiaryinstitutionitsmuchsought-afterintellectualmight.Theymakeitvisibleandvisibilityispartandparcelof"peerreview"whichis acriterionin anyranking.UM,UKMandUSMhavebeenin existenceformorethan39yearsanduniversitiesdoneedtimetoreacha levelofintellectualmaturityandsophistication.UKM isatthethresholdoffourdecadesandastheysay"lifebeginsat40".UKM'snextmissionisVision2018inwhichitaspirestobeamongthetop50universities- notinAsia- butin theworld.Thewriter is theDeputyDirectorofUKMAlumniRelationsOffice.

Gripped by 'Beauty contest syndrome'

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