By Karen Bong and Cornelius Kadir Edison
KUCHING, March 31: The Sarawak government together with Swinburne University of Technology Melbourne through share capital raising is investing RM50 million to upgrade the university’s Sarawak campus to create a world-class facility for the benefit of students and the community in which it operates.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said he was very impressed with the upgraded teaching facilities and common areas and looked forward to visiting again to see the completed accommodation, student hub, student dining space and the Borneo Atrium space over the next 18 months.
“I cannot stress enough the importance of education for Sarawak’s development agenda. The current Governor of Sarawak Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, when he was the Chief Minister, had the foresight to develop homegrown talents in order for Sarawak to meet our industrialisation ambitions.
“Several missions were sent abroad to identify a highly reputable and technologically focused international university that we could work with to meet the needs of Sarawak. Swinburne, with its tiered higher education system, stood out as a potential partner.
“At the same time Swinburne, which had a long and distinguished history of producing graduates who meet the needs of business and industry and have the skills and knowledge that employers need, was also looking to expand its international presence.
“Tun Pehin Sri wasted no time in inviting Swinburne to set up a campus in Sarawak in partnership with the State government,” he said during his speech at Swinburne Sarawak’s 20th anniversary event here today.
While the birth of Swinburne Sarawak is attributed to Taib, Abang Johari who is also the Pro Chancellor of Swinburne Sarawak pointed out that its elevation from an institute to university status was influenced by the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem when he was the chairman of its Board of Directors.
Often described as being passionate about education, the late Adenan lobbied his cause on turning Swinburne Sarawak into a university directly with Kuala Lumpur (now Putrajaya) and the office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
“Today, two decades after it first opened its doors, it is satisfying to see that Swinburne Sarawak continues to grow rapidly, graduating the highly competent and qualified workforce for the State. Along the way, it also accomplished a number of firsts, as we have heard from the earlier speeches,” Abang Johari added.
According to Swinburne Sarawak, of the total sum allocated, RM10 million had been utilised for works undertaken from 2019 to March 2021 to further modernise teaching and communal spaces on campus to support student-centred learning.
The current RM40 million reconstruction and extension of the university’s existing building and supporting facilities started in early December 2020 and will take 18 months to complete.
This phase will involve a new student hub, food hall, student village, and the Borneo Atrium that includes an extension to the library.
The atrium, to be the heart of the campus, will be a unique area for students, staff and community engagement activities, concerts, and bazaars. It will also be the central entrance to the library, with escalators leading up to the mezzanine floor, opening up to the new 24-hour informal learning space featuring facilities such as study pods, collaborative spaces, and charging stations.
This new learning space will have an added capacity and will be able to accommodate over 350 people.
The student hub will house a large flexible leisure space, a soundproofed music studio, and multimedia room, as well as a sports centre for futsal, volleyball and basketball games.
A purpose-built, two-storey dining area and food hall with air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned areas will accommodate 600 people. The hall will not only feature food and beverage stalls and convenience shops, but also multi-faith rooms and musollah prayer rooms to serve the multicultural student and staff community.
The existing student hostels will be revamped into a student village, surrounded with lush landscaping, recreational space, barbecue facilities, outdoor decking, and a streetscape plaza.
Under the same roof, the student village will house refurbished on-campus student accommodation, laundry facilities, and a student lounge with a communal kitchen and dining facilities to seat 80 people.
The student lounge will serve as the focal point for the registration of on-campus residence reservations, collecting mail, and seeking medical consultation at the clinic centre.
Part of the student accommodation is expected to be ready by mid-2021 while the rest of the student village will be ready by June 2022.
Swinburne Sarawak in a statement emphasised that the upgrading project is aligned with the University’s 2025 vision of ‘people and technology working together to build a better world’, and consistent with Swinburne Sarawak’s direction to becoming a leading private university in Malaysia by 2025.
The project, it added, is also in line with the Sarawak government’s vision to develop a digital economy and ensure that Swinburne Sarawak continues to provide quality Australian education. — DayakDaily
