Datuk Lee addressing the gathering.
Miri – 6 February 2013 – Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) held its annual Curtin Appreciation Dinner for about a hundred representatives of local secondary schools, parent-teacher associations and student recruitment agents, as well as selected government departments and community associations, here on 4 February 2013.
The event was hosted by the university’s marketing and corporate communications departments and graced by Assistant Minister of Communications and Assistant Minister of Sports Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who is the chair of the university’s management board. Also present were its pro vice-chancellor and chief executive of Curtin Sarawak, Professor Ian Kerr; his deputy Professor Yudi Samyudia; Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Ching, Marketing Manager Liew Mei Yin and other management staff of the university.
In his welcoming speech, Professor Kerr thanked everyone for their continued support of Curtin Sarawak. He said that as the largest international branch campus of Curtin University and the seventh largest in the world in terms of student enrolments, and to maintain its reputation as one of Malaysia’s leading higher learning institutions, Curtin Sarawak depends a great deal on the support of community stakeholders to help ensure its long-term expansion, profitability and sustainability.
Marketing Manager Liew Mei Yin presenting prize to best-dressed female guest.
“Let us work closely together not only to promote Curtin Sarawak, but also Miri as an education hub, and ultimately help progress the capacity-building, knowledge acquisition and skills development of Malaysia,” he said.
According to Professor Kerr, Curtin Sarawak’s goal is to have up to 5,000 students from the current 3,500 in the next three years. He also said Curtin Sarawak is committed to Curtin’s aim to be an international leader shaping the future through its graduates and research and to be positioned among the top 20 universities in Asia by 2020.
Meanwhile, Datuk Lee remarked that Curtin Sarawak is now a leading tertiary education provider in the region, offering students from all over the world the internationally-acclaimed Curtin degree at a most affordable cost.
Its infrastructural growth; growing student numbers; achievements in academia, including the recognition and accreditation of its courses and the many awards won by its academics, research, teaching and learning; and the partnerships it has developed with government and industry, have also been impressive, he added.
Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Yudi Samyudia (far left) and Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Ching (3rd right) with guests.
