By Eka Tharudin
GOMBAK, 17 October 2017 – Involvement in uniform body such as IIUM ROTU is not a reason to be left behind in academic performance as proven by cadet officers who received their academic awards yesterday (16 October).
A total of 12 Second Lieutenants and 38 Cadet Officers who managed to obtain 3.0 pointer and above for semester 2, 2016/2017 were awarded with plaques and certificates at the opening ceremony of IIUM ROTU Air Force Local Training at IIUM Parade Square.
The academic award was an initiative by the Adjutant of IIUM ROTU Air Force, Lieutenant Mohd ‘Aizat Abdul Razzaq bin Mohamed RMAF to encourage the newly recruited cadet officers to excel in their academic performance.
He believed that the awarded young officers and cadet officers deserved such recognition as they had proved to many that their involvement in uniform bodies is not an excuse to slack in their studies.
Later, the ceremony resumed with the promotion of ranks for a total of 11 Cadet Officers.
Mohamad Zuhairi bin Zamri, a third year student from Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Law (AIKOL) was named as the Senior Under Officer (SUO) for this tenure. He was also one of the academic award recipients.
In the light of his outstanding performance in academic and co-curriculum aspects, Zuhairi commented that students should be wise in allocating their time and in sorting out their priorities in life. He believed that success come from early planning and avoiding procrastination.
The presence of Brig Gen. Dato’ Dr. Hj. Ismail bin Manuri RMAF at the opening ceremony was highly anticipated as it had never been done by the other seven universities with ROTU Air Force Units before.
He reprimanded cadet officers to stay disciplined and focused in their training as it is a chance for them to get a hold of knowledge that is not commonly known and available to the civilians.
“Strive for knowledge. Learn to be better than others and turn your problems into challenges. The experience that you gain will turn you into someone better and set you apart from others,” he said to motivate the cadets.
The opening ceremony for 2017/2018 Local Training session was attended by Assistant Chief Staff, Brigadier General Dato Dr. Hj Ismail bin Manuri RMAF, escorted by the Director of PSTU, Colonel Muhammad Shafiq bin Jahudi RMAF and Deputy Director of Kulliyyah Engineering, Mej (H) Shahrizad Sa-idul Haj RMAFVR.***