UNIVERSITY OF MIYAZAKI SUSTAINABLE PROGRAM@REDAC, SAYING FAREWELL BUT NOT GOODBYE

NIBONG TEBAL, 22 September 2023 – The University of Miyazaki, Japan Sustainable Program@River Engineering & Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC) bids farewell, but definitely not a final goodbye to the participants from both institutions.

The main objective of the two-week program is to strengthen the network between University of Miyazaki and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) through the various sessions, as part of their collaboration through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in April 2023.

The Director of REDAC, Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd Arif Zainol hoped that the program would not be the last collaboration between both universities, and that University of Miyazaki is always welcomed for any future plans or opportunities, particularly with REDAC.

“It was so delightful to see the enthusiasm in every one of you, despite the fact of being far from home and had to bear with the new environment that we have offered you in USM for the past two weeks,” said Remy during the closing ceremony today.

“We are planning to have a visit to the University of Miyazaki in 2024 as part of the commitment to the knowledge transfer activity from the experts there,” he added.

A lecturer from the University of Miyazaki, Associate Professor Dr. Noriko Kawasaki (49) said, although Malaysia and Japan are different in terms of the development and system of education, she is glad that the students involved have managed to cope with all the programs prepared by the organizer.

“USM had accommodated us well with the good humanity-hospitality aspect, which really means a lot,” she said.

“Not only that, we are also amazed with the effort made by REDAC in terms of its sustainability practices although it looks hard to be copied and achieved,” Noriko added.

Nonoka Hirose (20), an Electric and Electronic student said, she definitely enjoyed being part of the program, especially with the kindness offered by the facilitators from REDAC, teachers from the School of Languages, Literacies & Translation and also lecturers from the School of Civil Engineering.

For Hiroki Handa (20), he conveys his gratitude to everyone who had assisted them all throughout the program and totally adored Malaysia.

“I learnt a lot and Malaysia is a wonderful country, especially its culture,” he said.

Junaidah Abdullah, Research Officer at REDAC who is also the Project Director said, the responsibility to deliver would be impossible to achieve without the commitment from everyone such as the lecturers, teachers, officers, technical staff and administration team.

“A special thank you to the Director of REDAC for choosing me as the leader of the program, and also to the Adjunct Professor of REDAC, Professor Roslan Zainal Abidin for providing this opportunity on this collaboration between USM and the University of Miyazaki,” she added.

“Not forgetting, thank you also to the students for giving their greatest effort by actively participating in each session of the program, and I hope that these two weeks have provided you with a lot of meaningful experiences,” said Junaidah.

The University of Miyazaki, Japan Sustainable Program @ (REDAC) is a two-week program where a total of eight students and one lecturer were involved in activities such as English Class, Engineering Class, Malay Language Class, Sports, Innovation Explorace @ Valuing Water and Study tours (Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies/CEMACS and USM Tuanku Fauziah Museum and Gallery).

Text: Siti Faizah Abd Halim/Photo: Muhammad Taufik Abdul Rahman

Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Bin Basharudin