Senior Career & Alumni Officer Zairustina Putit (left) with Curtin alumni.
Miri – 6 May 2014 – Over 100 Curtin alumni and invited guests attended the annual alumni dinner of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) recently. The event, hosted by the Curtin Sarawak Alumni Association at the Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club, was held in conjunction with Curtin Sarawak’s graduation ceremony and fifteenth anniversary celebration held on the same day.
Among the guests were acting chancellor of Curtin University, Sue Wilson; former Sarawak deputy chief minister and chair of Curtin Sarawak’s campus council, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam; vice-chancellor of Curtin University, Professor Deborah Terry; pro vice-chancellor and chief executive of Curtin Sarawak, Professor Jim Mienczakowski; and state Ministry of Industrial Development permanent secretary Datu Liaw Soon Eng.
Also present were senior management staff, deans and managers of the university, as well as staff of its University Life Department and committee members of the Curtin Sarawak Alumni Association.
In her welcoming speech, the president of Curtin Sarawak Alumni Association, Megawati Mustapha, thanked the alumni for their support and expressed hopes that more Curtin alumni in Sarawak would become active members of the association and help carry out its activities.
Meanwhile, Professor Terry said there is great value in the cultivation of an active and thriving alumni network and events such as the alumni dinner reflected her desire to personally engage with Curtin’s international alumni community.
Touching on Curtin University’s association with Sarawak, she said Curtin Sarawak has come a long way since 1998 when Curtin and the Sarawak State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of academic cooperation.
This led to the establishment of Curtin Sarawak later that year, and the commencement of classes with just 220 students in March of the following year. On April 19 2002, Curtin Sarawak produced its first graduates – a group of 239 with Commerce degrees and foundation qualifications. Today the campus has some 3,500 students from over 40 countries studying in a truly international and cross-cultural environment.
“Curtin Sarawak can stand proud for having produced more than 3,500 graduates since the inaugural graduating class of 2002 and, more importantly, for establishing a reputation for the high quality of its graduates,” she remarked.
She added that she was honoured to be part of the day’s graduation ceremony and welcomed the 511 students who graduated to the Curtin alumni community, impressing on them that they were joining a network of nearly 190,000 Curtin graduates spanning more than 150 countries around the world.
She also noted that in 2012, 77 percent of the graduates from Curtin Sarawak managed to secure full-time employment within six months of completing their studies, which is testimony to the high demand for Curtin graduates in this region.
She added that many of the Sarawak alumni are now employed in Miri’s oil and gas industry, or in leading manufacturing corporations in West Malaysia and overseas, while a good number from its business programmes are pursuing lucrative careers in the business, banking, communications and multimedia sectors.
Echoing Professor Terry’s sentiments, Datuk Patinggi Dr Chan said an alumni association is an important extension of a university, and the Curtin alumni are valued stakeholders of the university, who by their continued participation in the University’s activities, help the rest of the students in the Curtin community fulfill their educational mission, as well as help the university build a stronger and more meaningful presence in the community.
He expressed hopes that the Curtin Sarawak Alumni Association would do its utmost to be an integral part of that network, and even take a leading role among Curtin alumni chapters in the region.
Alumni affairs at Curtin Sarawak are managed by Curtin Career & Alumni Services unit under its University Life Department. The unit is committed to keeping the alumni network at Curtin Sarawak healthy and strong. It also works towards enhancing the reputation of Curtin graduates by fostering lifelong partnerships between former students and friends of the university. In addition, it facilitates a variety of activities and opens up a world of opportunities to Curtin graduates.
For more information on Curtin Sarawak, visit its website at www.curtin.edu.my, its Facebook page at facebook.com/CurtinUniversitySarawakMalaysia, Twitter profile at twitter.com/curtinsarawak, YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/CurtinUniSarawak, or Instagram at instagram.com/curtinsarawak.
Vice Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry presenting a lucky draw prize.
Group photo of VIPs and invited guests.
