By Maryam Spahic
BANGI, 28 September 2014: Family members, friends, colleagues and the press gathered at Hotel Bangi-Putrajaya today to witness a momentous and surprised occasion, the book launch by Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Syed Arabi Idid and to simultaneously celebrate his 70th birthday.
The books which were a compilation of his seminar papers and academic writings over the past years were entitled “Scholarship in Transformation” written in English and “Transformasi Pemikiran Komunikasi” written in Malay.
The event was jointly organised by School of Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Department of Communication, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia.
According to Syed Arabi’s wife, Datin Sri Norma Samad, the mastermind of the surprised birthday celebration for Syed Arabi was Associate Professor Dr. Chang Peng Kee of UKM.
Friends and family members of Syed Arabi paid tribute to him through overwhelming speeches and poems, heart-touching video clips as well as delightful performances by his colleagues and lovely young granddaughter.
“At the Department of Communication, IIUM, we feel blessed to have Prof. Dato’ Sri Syed Arabi as a member in our department. We’re actually known because of him.” Head of Communication Department, Dr. Zeti Azreen Ahmad told the gathering of close friends and colleagues who have been the Professor’s associates for the past years.
“He brought our department to fame again when he was appointed as the university’s fourth rector in 2006 with his support and initiatives. Our Department has grown much more and now we have online radio IIUM.fm, online newspaper IIUMToday and we have developed good networking with media organisations in Malaysia too,” she added.
All guests received complimentary copies of both books. The event was closed with lunch as well as photography and book-signing sessions by Syed Arabi himself.
IIUMToday congratulates Prof. Syed Arabi Idid on the successful book launch and wish him a very happy birthday.
Photo by Shazni Ong