By Syakir Nizam
GOMBAK, 26 July 2019 – IIUM President, Datuk Dr. Mohd. Abu Bakar has suggested to replace the Keris statue at the entrance of IIUM campus with a new symbol Qalam.
He made this suggestion in his speech at IIUM Takrim Day 2019 held at IIUM Cultural Centre ( ICC) on Wednesday (24 July).
Later the President told IIUMToday that he came out with this idea because this university represents the centre of intellectual discussion and insight.
“As you know the university symbolises a centre of intellectual discussion and learning. As such we can have either Qalam or Pen or Kitab, perhaps. I am thinking of suggesting this to our Rector to consider something better than the Keris.“
He added that the statue can be in any form either qalam or pen or it can be inspired from IIUM logo which represents the open book as a source of Hidayah.
The president said he would leave it to the university authority to decide on what is the best for the new symbol as long as it was in line with IIUM identity as a centre of knowledge.
He expressed the hope that this new symbol could be realised before the next convocation.
“I was talking to the Rector that it would be nice to have this project funded by the public, from our own pocket, and not from the university’s budget. It is a bottom up approach to reflect that everyone can contribute. In fact, I have committed my contribution to this university to make it happened,” he said.
On another note, Datuk Dr. Mohd. Abu Bakar said that as the new president of IIUM, his mission is to connect and build relationship with all important sectors in the university, with the stakeholders at either national or international level.
Takrim Day 2019 was the first official IIUM event for Datuk Dr. Mohd. Daud Bakar as the 8th president replacing Dr. Maszlee Malik.***