Our State government had welcomed the setting up of Pehin Sri Adenan Satem Research Chair that will continue the legacy of our beloved former chief minister, Allahyarham Tok Nan who is well-known for his enormous love for Sarawak, its people, culture, traditions and environment.
I have mentioned this during my welcoming speech in today’s opening ceremony of 2nd International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (ICOSSH) 2021 and having Tok Nan’s chair at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Bintulu Sarawak Campus’ will bring benefits for our generations to come.
The research chair is our tribute to the late Tok Nan’s struggles as a Sarawakian because during his lifetime, he had brought so much progress to the Sarawakian communities in the name of unity, regardless of race and religion.
The time is right to set up the research chair which will have good ‘database’ on our local communities can help to expand studies on Bornean ethnicities. We hope the RM2.542 million funds provided by our State government for the first three years can be used in research, especially for the development of the Sarawakian communities. Our gratitude also goes to Yang Berhormat Datuk Amar Hajah Jamilah Anu for her contribution of RM30,000 towards this initiative which will bring good to researchers all over.
The research findings can also guide our State government in formulating its policies and as such, can make significant reforms in Sarawak and turn legendary names like Tok Nan into an icon in Sarawak ethnic research. Through the collaboration with UPM, we are confident that the expertise available can help the ministry and the Sarawak government collect hidden treasures yet to be discovered or highlighted.
Thus, the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was entered between Sarawak government and UPM and symbolically exchanged during the ICOSSH2021 conference which was themed “The Enculturation of Borneo Ethnic: Perspectives of the Social Sciences and Humanities” which was organised by UPM Bintulu Sarawak Campus and supported by Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak (MTAC).
I hope the co-operation between UPM Bintulu Sarawak Campus and my ministry will continue to advance after this. Among the ways to do this is to encourage our staff to further their education in ethnic studies at Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Philosophy levels.
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