By Vincent D’Silva

JOHOR BARU: Raffles University has officially launched and opened its new campus at Medini in Iskandar Puteri.

International Trade and Industry deputy minister Liew Chin Tong who launched the campus said universities cannot just be about students gaining a degree with the hope that the degrees would lend them good stable jobs for the rest of their lives.

Liew who is also the member of parliament for Iskandar Puteri said  universities have to be at the forefront of solving the world’s problems.

“The aspiration of Raffles University to be the university of the future is admirable,” he said.

He stressed that in each of the global challenge, there are opportunities for us to press the reset buttons to better rebuild.

Liew (second from left) and Pritchard (left) with other officials cutting the ribbon signifying the opening of the university campus Pix by Vincent D’Silva

He explained that the old orders that were disrupted and upended were never perfect, adding that, “there are rooms for so much improvement and to remake.”

But to do so, he said, “we need knowledge to comprehend what went wrong and a collective zeal to find new societal solutions.”

He said universities and students need to be ambitious to ask questions and not to blindly follow old ideas.

“Students should learn to research from day one as well as learning by doing through the universities’ deep connections with governments, businesses, industries and communities,” he added.

Liew hoped the university will grow in prominence and that their students will be leaders of the future to solve the world’s problems.

In his address, university president Gregory Pritchard said after 10 years, Raffles University now has five faculties – Al & Robotics, Art & Design, Built Environment & Regenerative Design, Business and Social Sciences.

Pritchard shared about the direction of Raffles University in its move towards being a University of the Future through innovation and technology.

He explained that the university can now deliver 20 undergraduate programmes, three postgraduate programmes namely an MBA, a Master of Design and a PhD.

According to Pritchard, Raffles University was ranked by Ed Ranks as Malaysia’s top creative school and its programme director Alex Tan Wei Kian was ranked as Malaysia’s top creative lecturer.

He said Raffles University has also branched out into online and executive programmes, short courses and vocational training.

“University of the Future” is the theme of the launch today and it is with this goal, at this new campus, that we are looking forward to preparing students for their future,” said Pritchard.

He also said they have set up the Raffles University Centre of Professional Development to offer professional courses and training to customers outside of their student base.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) exchange ceremony with University Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) was held later.

The MOU areas of collaboration include sharing and exchange of senior academic and specialist staff in the areas of their expertise, development of academic and professional programmes and joint  research for mutual publication effort.

The university continues to strive for excellence in delivering high-quality education and providing an enriching learning experience for its students.

Meanwhile, to assure the quality of the education at Raffles University, the institution always fulfil the requirement of the authorities to achieve accreditation and recognition of the programmes.

Raffles University strives for excellence in delivering high-quality education and learning experience.