By: Nazrul Rapail
Student of Bachelor of Arts (Malay Language and Linguistics)
SERDANG, MARCH 21- Datuk Dr. Haji. Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif, 59, has successfully earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy after receiving his PhD at the 45th Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Convocation Ceremony today.
The State Assemblyman (ADUN) of Membakut, Sabah, expressed his gratitude and attributed his achievement to the blessing from Allah SWT and the help of several lecturers from the Faculty of Modern Languages ​​and Communication (FBMK), who had given tremendous encouragement throughout his PhD studies.
“Acquire knowledge as much as possible, be grateful for what you have obtained and recognise that the knowledge you have represents only a drop in the vast ocean of knowledge that Allah S.W.T presents. Therefore, teach and practise the knowledge learned so that it can be beneficial to all,” he said.
He added that he had faced many constraints throughout his studies, especially in terms of time management, as his venture into politics since 2004.
Datuk Dr. Hajj. Mohd Arifin was once an assistant to the former Chief Minister of Sabah, Tan Sri Musa Aman. He currently holds the position as a Member of the Cabinet of Ministers on Special Duties in charge of education and Islamic affairs in Sabah.
He also had taken the opportunity to present several aspirations from the Chief Minister of Sabah, YAB Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji bin Noor, such as coordinating various programmes and initiatives related to education, as the Y.A.B Chief Minister of Sabah places the human capital agenda as an important agenda in ensuring Sabah's continuous success.
"Among the most important human capital is knowledge and education where various initiatives have been put into place to help students, particularly through the one-off assistance funding programme for aspiring Sabah students to continue studies at a higher level," he said.
He also expressed his view on the issue where some parties questioned UPM’s quality as it had produced many PhD graduates.
“For me, they need to come to UPM first, and this is not a matter that needs to be denied as it was just stated by UPM Vice-Chancellor, the Honorable Professor Dato' Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman, in his speech that 95 per cent of graduates from UPM are marketable, and the number clearly shows that UPM is a highly reputable university,” he said.
