By Muammar Hadi and Athira ABD Latiff
GOMBAK, 21 December 2022: The Director of the Holistic Student Division of the Ministry of Higher Education, Mr. Hirman Bin Awang, urged representatives from 18 public universities to elect residential college representatives in future.
œWe want to see this conference again next year, but next year we will have members who are elected, not appointed, he said at the 2022 National Level Residential College Conference on 18 December 2022 held in the Banquet Hall of the IIUM.
He emphasised on the need to remove the stigma of appointed leaders because people will not listen to them and that leaders who are elected are good because they carry more weight.
In interviews with IIUMToday, representatives from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Muhammad Adam Bin Nordin, University Malaya (UM), Muhammad Nadjwan Bin Mohd Mayan, IIUM Student Union (Pagoh), Muhammad Irfan Bin Hamzah and Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Kavitha A/P Sitaraman shared their views on this.
œI agree with Mr. Hirmans statement because when the representative puts a lot of effort in campaigning and presenting their manifestos to students, they are more likely to perform their duties well, said Adam from UTHM.
The representative from IIUMSU (Pagoh), Irfan also agreed with Mr. Hirmans statement because when someone is elected, they have the right to represent the voices of the stakeholders.
Nadjwan from UM also echoed the view emphasising that an elected college representative must be a reflection of other students in order to establish a conference body.
In line with this view, the representative of UMP, Kavitha, said that an election allows for continuous efforts and enhances voices of students.
Adam, Nadjwan, and Kavitha said that their university are prepared to have an election before the following years national student residential college representative council (MPKK) conference, while Irfan said they might need more time.
The final day of the conference was attended by the Director of the Holistic Student Division, Department of Higher Education, Mr. Hirman Bin Awang, Director of Centre for Islamization (CENTRIS), IIUM, Dato’ Hamidon bin Abdul Hamid, Deputy Director of Student Affairs and Development Division (STADD) IIUM, Br. Anizam bin Hj. Ali, Residential and Service Department (RSD) Management Officer IIUM, Madam Noor Zamzarina Bt. Mohd. Noor, Director of Office of Communication and Advocacy (OCAP) IIUM, Dr. Harmi Taazim bin Muhammad, and Director of Sejahtera Clinic IIUM, Dr. Siti Masitah binti Jamaludin. ***