By Fachri Mirza Muhammad
GOMBAK, 12 April 2019: The Department of Communication was honoured to have had IIUM Rector, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, visiting the Department and its entities under the department, on Wednesday (10 April), to meet with the students.
Accompanied by the Head of the Department of Communication, Dr. Zeti Azreen Ahmad, and other lecturers of the department, Prof. Dzulkifli Abdul Razak visited IIUMtv and IIUMfm studios, IIUMToday newsroom, students’ rooms and activities facilities, as well as COSA corner.
The rector had earlier responded to an invitation by the Student Representative Council (SRC) for an interview session on IIUMtv. He then proceeded to visit entities under the Department of Communication.
His interview session at IIUMtv was on the topic “Habits of a Great Scholar and Leader” where he gave his views on leadership and education, and his vision of IIUM under his leadership.
Asked for his advice during the interview on how he managed tasks at the university, he responded, “We really must enjoy what we are doing, the moment we enjoy what we are doing, everything becomes leisure. No longer stressful.”
He added, “We must therefore know what we want and we must know what makes us happy. It is part of the journey we are going through. We must learn what to do and what you want. In other words, we must know our priorities.”
The visit continued with an interview on IIUM.fm by its DJ, followed by giving his observation on the practical environment at IIUMfm. The rector said he was pleased to witness the spirit among communication students and complimented them for having a proper place to conduct training to enhance their broadcasting and communication skills to meet the needs of media industry.
This was followed by a visit to IIUMToday newsroom to be briefed on the activities of student journalists at the portal and their role in reporting and creating awareness in campus, and using the platform to sharpen their journalism skills. In his response, the rector gave his view on the need to maintain consistency in spelling, either to use British or American spelling, to which he was told and happy to note that IIUMToday had already set an in-house rule to use British spelling.
The rector expressed the hope that IIUMToday could collaborate with a local newspaper such as the New Straits Times Press where students could gain greater exposure in real journalism outside campus. He also suggested for IIUMToday to come out with printed copy as well.
He said, “If we can have printed version like this (he was referring to a publication published by the Department in collaboration with the New Straits Times a few years ago), it seems tangible as we can hold or carry it anywhere, unlike the online version.”
Tan Sri Dzulkifli also asked if any student would be prepared to become a columnist with the local newspaper and his statement had struck the students’ attention. Despite the fact that there was no immediate ‘yes” or “no” response, student journalists were obviously inspired to engage further with media works.
Before departing, the rector took time to have tea and meal with the students and lecturers at COSA corner which is run by Communication Student Association (COSA). ***