By Norashikin Azizan
GOMBAK, 17 October 2019: Strong will, resilience and ability to adapt are three paramount attributes in producing futurist and realist students, said Muhammad Zaim Nur Zaini from the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL).
Muhammad Zaim was one of the panelists in a two-hour dialogue session on the topic “Realist and Futurist Students: What It Takes?” with the President of IIUM, Datuk Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar, held at the Main Hall of IIUM Cultural Centre (ICC), yesterday.
The panelist, who is also the Vice President of Mahallah Representative Council (MRC) of Mahallah Faruq, admitted that students have limitations in power, authority and financial resources to be a futurist.
The event was held to address the concerns of IIUM students regarding the role of the university in preparing the students for future undertakings, at the same time being realistic with the demands and opportunity of the job market.
The ability to adapt in various situations is also an important element to become a futurist and realist student as suggested by the President of IIUM.
This point has been reiterated by Mohamed Azmudeen Barrat Husain from Kulliyyah of Information, Communication and Technology (KICT). As a person who himself is living as a futurist, he drew an analogy by using the evolution of technology and artificial intelligence in the digital world.
“One should be able to adapt to changes in a split second in order to stay relevant in the ever-changing world,” Mohamed Azmudeen Barrat said. He was also the Chairperson of Student Representative Council (SRC)’s Entrepreneurship Secretariat.
Idayu Mumtaz Iskandar, a representative from Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS), on the other hand, raised the importance of knowing and acknowledging the reality.
“Industrial Revolution 4.0 should be one of the main concerns for the students as it is the reality and it is happening,” she said.
She later suggested that the world was in dire need of problem solvers, considering the flooding of social problems.
Towards the end of the forum, Muhammad Zaim posed that the students failed to truly utilise the opportunity provided by the university, making the vision and mission to become futurist and realist collectively an impossible task.
He mentioned that the university needs to keep the facilities in check especially for the disabled as it will affect the IIUM community in the long run.
Also present at the dialogue session were IIUM Deputy Rector, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkifli Hasan and Madam Hafsah Yusoff from Student Affairs and Development Division (STADD).***