Top executives of Centre for Modern Management visit Curtin Sarawak

Miri – 24 February 2010 – Top executives of the Centre for Modern Management (CMM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yayasan Sarawak that works in collaboration with the Chief Minister’s Department to transform the State Civil Service in addition to providing training for the public and private sectors, paid a familiarisation visit to the campus of Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) here recently.

They were its Chairman, Datu Abdul Ghafur Sharif, who is also the Deputy State Secretary (Human Resources); Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sabariah Putit; Business Development Manager Fang Tze Chiang and Assistant Business Development Manager Yusop Lotot.

Their visit followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between CMM and Curtin Sarawak on 22 January 2010 for collaboration in developing and promoting consultancy and training programmes.

On hand to receive them were Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Dr. John Evans, Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Joan Gribble, Corporate Communications Manager Nicholas Leong, and the deans of Curtin Sarawak’s School of Foundation & Continuing Studies, School of Business and School of Engineering & Science.

According to Dr. Evans, the strategic partnership between Curtin Sarawak and CMM will greatly benefit Sarawak in terms of human resource and organisational development as the two institutions pool their resources and expertise to meet the needs of both the public and private sectors in the state.

“We have had ongoing discussions about the potential synergy and benefits of working together to develop Sarawak’s human capital, particularly with the implementation of SCORE (Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy), for some time and are pleased that it is finally taking place,” said Dr. Evans.

He added that the visit allowed the CMM executives a first-hand look at Curtin Sarawak’s modern teaching and learning facilities besides meet its senior academics to discuss details of the collaboration, which will include conducting Curtin’s Master of Project Management and Master of Policy Sciences courses for state government officers at CMM.

The courses are to commence with their first intakes this May, and a second phase of collaboration scheduled for later in the year will likely see certified professional training and development programmes being included.

“Curtin Sarawak and CMM are studying the training needs of the various state government departments and will develop courses to meet their needs. Though the focus is currently on fulfilling the needs of the government sector, the plan is to eventually extend the courses to working adults in the private sector as well,” said Dr. Evans.

Dr. Evans related that Curtin has in fact a longstanding relationship with CMM dating back to 1998 when it collaborated with CMM to conduct Curtin’s Master of Policy Sciences degree course for 22 state government officers who all graduated with enhanced knowledge and skills in policy analysis and management in the public sector.

He added that with the forthcoming courses from CMM and Curtin Sarawak, many talented state government officers will be given the opportunity to increase their skill and knowledge base and advance their careers through postgraduate study.

Curtin Sarawak was established in 1999 as the first offshore campus of Western Australia’s Curtin University of Technology at the invitation of the State Government, which recognised the need for a tertiary institution of international calibre to match Miri’s tremendous growth and transformation into a city. In a matter of just 10 years, Curtin Sarawak has established itself as a world-class international university in its own right, attracting students from some 40 countries around the world to its modern campus in Senadin, about 20 kilometres from Miri City.

(L-R) Nicholas Leong, Fang Tze Chiang, Dr. Joan Gribble, Datu Abdul Ghafur Sharif, Dr. John Evans,

Dr. Sabariah Putit, Yusop Lotot.

Professor Dr. John Evans, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Curtin Sarawak.