IIUM Quality Day 2013

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Salam Sejahtera dan Salam 1Malaysia

Last Thursday, 7^th of March, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL) proved yet again why they are the Gold Standard for Law Studies in Malaysia. At the Lexis-Nexis Rule of Law Debate 2013, Sister Arinah and Brother Syed Saddiq beat teams from Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines to be crowned the Champions. Of course, by now, we have come to expect no less from our debaters in AIKOL. So much so, that we become disappointed whenever we come second, EVEN IN THE WORLD. Our debaters are the standard bearers for our University. We know this because even others say so. I believe this win, and many that came before it, and many more to come InsyaAllah, are manifestation of a quality culture that runs through the Kulliyyah. Through our University. From Management, Academics to the Students. It is apt we begin today’s proceedings by congratulating our colleagues in AIKOL and our debaters for their quality culture and the outstanding achievements. Syabas!

YBhg Dato’ Sri Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin, Rector of IIUM,

Deputy Rectors, Executive Directors, Directors, Deans and members of IIUM community.

2.   It is an honour and pleasure to be with all of you today to celebrate the outstanding achievement of our colleagues over the past year. And this year, our Quality Day has the added significance of coinciding with our 30th anniversary. I would like to believe that the 30 years means our quality standards have gone through 30 iterations of improvement. Our definition of quality today, the hurdle to be recognised as an outcome of high quality, must be better than what the definition and the hurdle was last year. That must be the true meaning of progress. It is not just adding years to our life as a University, but more importantly, it is about adding incremental value to our outcome. Every day, every year. Be it our research, our publications or our students. It is a culture. It must be our culture to “raise up to more than we can be”. Like what Josh Groban sings in “You raise me up”.

3.   Quality must be seen in relative terms. It cannot be static or absolute. Quality today must be better than that of yesterday. Similarly, our quality must be benchmarked against our peers. Not those who are below us. But those who are better than us. If we are ranked in the top 450 universities in the world, our quality benchmark should be against our peers in the top 400 band, not those in the top 500. We are proud, and rightly so, that we are in the top 450 after only 30 years. But that is history. The ranking is a recognition of what we did. It is in no way a guarantee for what is to come. Our strategies and actions in the past will not guarantee our performance in the future. Education, or more accurately, excellence in education, is a highly competitive race. Our peers are training harder and running faster. While our current pace has taken us to 450 in 30 years, continuing at the same pace is guaranteed to throw us further back, not move forward. We need to work smarter just to keep pace with others and keep our place. Climbing the rank requires much more than that. Quality and excellence must be seen and felt in our every single action. In every single action. Every single day. All of us. Collectively, we must be able to visualise what a world class outcome will look like for our area of work, and strive towards it. And let us not be lulled into believing that our relatively young age as a university is a disadvantage. To the contrary, it is an advantage! We do not carry the baggage of history that others carry. The raison d’etre of our University’s creation is still very much relevant today. We were not established in an agricultural era to produce technically savvy farmers. Neither were we established during colonial times to produce only a couple of thousands   of graduates. IIUM was established at a time when global collaboration and globalised economy were common terminologies. We can learn from the mistakes made by our elder peers and avoid it. These are our advantages. We can take a leaf from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which is only 21 years-old. Yet, it is consistently ranked among the top three Universities in Asia. Its MBA is ranked as the 8^th best in the world!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

4.   In setting our University’s long-term agenda, we had the courage to be bold enough to say that our aim is to be the Premier Global Islamic University. That is a very high hurdle we have set for ourselves. That means our quality standards must be comparable, if not better than, the universities in the top 10. We are seen as the torchbearer among Islamic educational institutions worldwide. To be worthy of this reputation, and to be worthy of our vision, ‘flight to quality’ must be our clarion call. Failure in the ‘flight to quality’ will mean failure to achieve our vision. More importantly, we can’t call ourselves a Premier Global Islamic University if we do not take the ‘flight to quality’ seriously. Without quality outcome, our vision will be just that- a vision. We must make ourselves worthy of the vision. Worthy of the Ummah’s hopes and aspiration. And I believe we can. Those receiving the recognition today have a ‘we can’ mindset. InsyaAllah, we will. We shall.

5.   We are blessed with the Quran and the traditions of our beloved Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to guide us in all aspects of our daily life. Quality and excellence are no exceptions. Today, much of the discussion in business schools about work culture and quality culture revolves around examples from the West, Japan and Korea. No doubt these cultures have contributed tremendously since the Second World-War to position their organisations and nations as among the most productive and advanced in the world. How about Islam? There was a golden era of Islam, when world history was being written in Arabic. An era that inspired significant expansion of knowledge in subjects as varied as architecture, commerce, medicine, military and philosophy. What inspired our advancements then? The answer, as has been widely recognised, is the Quran and Sunnah. That golden era was underpinned by Islam’s emphasis on ‘seeking knowledge’, ‘working’ and ‘striving for excellence’. IIUM’s motto of ‘comprehensive excellence’ owes it roots to this basic tenet of working ‘in the best possible manner’. Quality and excellence are inherent in Islam. As an Islamic university, therefore, it must also be in our DNA to produce excellent, quality outcome. As a way of life. As a given.

6.  Quality is not an end in itself. It’s a means towards an end, the outcome. The outcome in academics, research, and students. How will we know if our efforts are of high quality? When world renowned experts want to be associated with IIUM. When funding agencies prioritise our requests, because they have confidence in us. When our research are cited by the likes of those in Harvard and Oxford. When our students are highly sought-after by choice employers and quickly employed upon graduation. Our goal is not to benchmark against the best in this country; we must strive to be benchmarked by the best in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

7.   Malaysia is now entering the last leg of the race towards Vision 2020. In the past few years, we have witnessed various transformation programs taking shape across the country to take us to our vision. Education, as a critical sector for the economy, has also benefited from the Government’s transformation initiatives. Malaysia’s ambitions to be a regional education hub is starting to bear fruits. International Institute of Education ranks Malaysia 11^th globally for having most international students. The current population of close to 100,000 students is expected to double by 2020. Perdana University’s collaboration with Johns Hopkins and the establishment of Herriot-Watt University branch campus, among others, are stamps of approval for the growing acceptance of Malaysia in the global education map. What role will our University assume in this emerging picture? I believe this is an excellent opportunity for IIUM to show its mettle. The Government’s initiatives have given IIUM an elevated platform to showcase to the world, through our actions, that educational excellence is inherent in Islam. That both worldly knowledge and revealed knowledge are complementary in producing holistic future generations, ready to take on the globalised economy. That IIUM is a role model for this comprehensive excellence. Only then, on the world stage, we would have truly become the Premier Global Islamic University.

8.   On that note, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all winners today for your excellence and exemplary work. Although we celebrate our Quality Day once a year, our ‘flight to quality’ must be a daily routine. On this day, let us renew our resolve to uphold continued quality improvement and work excellence as IIUM culture, InsyaAllah.

Wabillahitaufiq wal hidayah, wassalamu’alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.