Bapa UiTM : Tan Sri Arshad Ayub

“Segala usaha ini adalah sejajar dengan matlamat penubuhan UiTM iaitu menyediakan lebih banyak tempat kepada pelajar khususnya pelajar miskin, anak yatim dan pelajar luar bandar untuk melanjutkan pengajian mereka."

Tan Sri Arshad Ayub

Persembahan teater Muzikal Destini Anak Bangsa, Anugerah Bintang Pahlawan Pribumi Perkasa, Penerima Anugerah Merdeka 2013 dan bergaris panjang lagi segala penghargaan dan ungkap jasa terhadap seorang insan yang banyak menabur bakti demi anak bangsanya. Digelarkan Bapa UiTM sebagai penghargaan atas segala khidmat menzahirkan hasrat menyediakan institusi pendidikan terutama untuk anak-anak miskin dari desa. 

Turapan bakti yang bukan mudah dilepaskan dari ingatan. Begitulah khidmat seorang warga demi kelangsungan sebuah kemerdekaan dan bertapak bertatih anak-anak dari perut pertiwi menceduk ilmu mempertajam minda dalam alur pendidikan.

Sempena Hari Kebangsaan ke-57 marilah kita merenung tokoh penuh bakti ini Tan Sri Arshad Ayub


Teater Muzikal Tan Sri Arshad Ayub

Arshad Ayub dianugerahkan Bintang Pahlawan Pribumi Perkasa di Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, Kampung Baru baru-baru ini. Anugerah itu disampaikan oleh Presiden Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa, Ibrahim Ali.

TAN Sri Arshad Ayub sudah berusia 84 tahun. Ketika beliau menjadi Pengarah pertama ITM beliau baru berusia 34 tahun. Sudah 50 tahun berlalu, Arshad masih diperakui sebagai Pengarah (atau dalam istilah sekarang Naib Canselor) tersohor institusi pelajaran Bumiputera itu.

Arshad menjawat jawatan Pengarah ITM dari tahun 1967 hingga 1975.

Beliau dikenali sebagai pengarah yang cukup garang. Tangannya dikatakan amat ringan untuk menampar para pelajarnya yang melakukan kesalahan. Namun begitu, beliau amat dihormati dan disanjungi oleh bekas-bekas pelajarnya sehingga ke hari ini.

Bapa atau cikgu yang menangan anak-anak atau anak-anak muridnyalah yang paling diingati dan disayangi. Kerana tangan itulah mereka kini berjaya dan menjadi kebanggaan institusi ulung bangsa Melayu tersebut.

Ahad lalu, Arshad dianugerahkan oleh Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) dengan Anugerah Bintang Pahlawan Pribumi Perkasa serta diangkat sebagai Bapa Modal Insan Pribumi Negara.

Presiden Perkasa, Datuk Ibrahim Ali berkata, tanpa Arshad tidak mungkin UiTM dan graduan yang dilahirkan gedung ilmu itu boleh berada pada kedudukan sekarang sehingga ramai antara mereka muncul sebagai tokoh Melayu berjaya.

''Beliau adalah arkitek modal insan Melayu dan kerana jasa besar beliau membangunkan UiTM, hari ini kita dapat melihat ramai profesional-profesional Melayu yang juga produk UiTM muncul sebagai tokoh-tokoh hebat.

''Malah saya sendiri berjaya kerana jasa dan pertolongan Arshad. Beliau saya anggap seperti bapa kandung sendiri dan kerana didikan tokoh inilah, jati diri Melayu saya cukup kental sehingga ke hari ini," katanya sambil tersebak-sebak menahan perasaan silu ketika membacakan ucapan penghormatan di majlis itu.

Sehubungan itu, Ibrahim mencadangkan kepada UiTM supaya mementaskan Teater Muzikal Tan Sri Arshad Ayub untuk memaparkan peranan dan perjuangan Arshad membangunkan ITM.

''Ia sebagai perangsang kepada pelajar-pelajar sekarang mengenali arkitek pembangunan ITM termasuk peranan bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Abdul Razak dan para pemimpin UMNO yang lain," katanya yang memberi cadangan itu kepada Naib Canselor UiTM, Datuk Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar untuk mementaskan teater berkenaan.

Arshad semasa ucapannya berkata, ITM dan UiTM sekarang tidak akan berjaya sebagai sebuah institusi pengajian tinggi Melayu dan Bumiputera terbesar dengan 200,000 pelajar pada masa ini, tanpa sokongan UMNO.

''Perkhidmatan saya selama 10 tahun selaku Pengarah tidak akan berjaya tanpa sokongan UMNO. Namun kini saya merasa kesal dan sedih apabila melihat orang Melayu berpecah-belah akibat perbezaan ideologi politik sehingga menyebabkan kaum majoriti itu menjadi lemah.

''Saya terharu dengan penghormatan tertinggi diberi Perkasa. Saya membangunkan ITM tidak lain kecuali untuk melihat bangsa saya mampu berjaya walaupun datang dari latar belakang miskin. Saya juga orang miskin tetapi akhirnya berjaya, sebab itu UiTM ini umpama baju saya.

''Namun hari ini, selepas ramai orang Melayu berjaya, kita pula berpecah-belah.

''Sedangkan saya yakin jika seluruh graduan serta tokoh-tokoh hebat yang dilahirkan UiTM bersatu dan penyokong hanya satu parti, Melayu akan kuat dan parti itu nescaya akan sentiasa menang," katanya.

Benar kata Arshad, bekas lulusan ITM/UiTM kini dalam lingkungan 475,000. Jika mereka bersatu, maka ia akan menjadi satu kuasa yang cukup kuat.

Namun, Melayu kini sudah berpecah-belah...

utusan online

Kisah pejuang anak bangsa
Oleh Ridzuan Abdul Rahman


Beliau adalah individu yang memainkan peranan membangunkan Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) demi memajukan anak-anak Bumiputera dalam bidang pendidikan.

Malah, sejarah hidupnya agak menarik kerana beliau sendiri terpaksa menempuh pelbagai halangan termasuk kemiskinan sebelum mengukir kejayaan.

Justeru, bagi menghargai jasa dan sumbangan beliau yang tidak ternilai harganya, UiTM akan menganjurkan Teater Muzikal ‘Destini Anak Bangsa’ yang akan berlangsung empat hari mulai 25 hingga 28 Januari ini pada jam 8.30 malam di Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor (DATC), UiTM Shah Alam.

Menariknya, pementasan teater arahan Pensyarah Kanan Fakulti Filem, Teater dan Animasi UiTM, Mazlan Tahir ini digerakkan tenaga kerja daripada UiTM sendiri membabitkan Fakulti Muzik, Fakulti Filem, Teater & Animasi serta Fakulti Komunikasi dan Pengajian Media.

Naib Canselor UiTM, Prof Datuk Seri Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar berkata, pementasan teater ini adalah satu bentuk penghargaan terhadap sumbangan, perjuangan dan pe–ngorbanan Arshad dalam membangunkan UiTM yang sebelum ini dikenali sebagai Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM).

“Sejarah perjuangan Arshad dalam membangunkan institusi ini yang tidak diketahui ramai akan dipaparkan di dalamnya. Turut dipaparkan ialah perjalanan hidup beliau bermula daripada zaman remaja hi–ngga berjaya menjadikan UiTM sebagai satu institusi pengajian yang dihormati sehingga kini.

“Tak lupa juga dimu–atkan ialah sejarah pembangunan UiTM sehingga membangun hingga mampu menjadi wadah buat masyarakat Bumiputra di negara ini,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, pihak–nya mendapat maklum balas positif daripada masyarakat mengenai pementasan yang bakal diadakan. Bagaimanapun mengharapkan supaya lebih banyak penaja tampil menghulurkan sumbangan bagi menjayakannya.

Arshad ialah pengarah pertama ITM dari 1967 hingga 1975. Beliau yang kini berusia 84 tahun dilantik sebagai Pro-Canselor UiTM.

Sementara itu, Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Publisiti teater berkenaan, Datin Noraini Ahmad Shariff berkata, beberapa pelakon terkenal seperti Tony Eusoff, Intan Ladyana, Esma Daniel dan Azizah Mahzan akan membawakan watak utama dalam teater muzikal selama hampir dua jam.

“Tony akan melakonkan watak Arshad ketika dewasa. Intan pula akan membawakan watak Puan Sri Zaleha Mohd Arshad manakala Esma tampil dengan watak Datuk Sahul Hamid Abu Bakar selaku naib canselor UiTM dan Azizah dengan watak Kalsom iaitu ibu Arshad.

“Mereka akan bergabung dengan 70 pensyarah dan pelajar Fakulti Filem, Teater dan Animasi serta Fakulti Muzik UiTM. Antara kandungan kisah hidup Arshad yang dimuatkan dalam teater itu ialah kehidupannya sebagai pelajar miskin di Muar.

“Cerita sedih detik ibu beliau meninggal dunia sebelum beliau menerima gaji daripada pekerjaan pertamanya serta perkenalannya dengan Zaleha juga akan dimuatkan.

“Semoga pementasan ini memberi motivasi dan kesedaran kepada golo–ngan muda supaya mengutamakan ilmu dan pendidikan serta diharapkan pelajar dapat mencontohi ketabahan dan kesungguhan Arshad,” katanya.

Teater muzikal ini me–ngisahkan mengenai jati diri, semangat dan legasi Melayu seorang pejuang anak bangsa yang sangat bercita-cita tinggi. Perjalanan dan cabaran hidup Tan Sri Arshad Ayub yang dijadikan sumber rujukan naskhah sebagai pemangkin kisah perjuangan ini.

Biografi Sejarah penubuhan dan Aspirasi UiTM serta kesinambungannya dengan Biografi Tokoh Tan Sri Arshad Ayub turut dijadikan sumber serta garapan idea bagi naskhah sebagai meneruskan kisah perjalanan hidup dan perjuangan ini.

MyMetro

Penerima Anugerah Merdeka 2013 lahirkan rasa bangga

Arshad Ayub

KUALA LUMPUR 6 Feb. - Penerima Anugerah Merdeka 2013, Tan Sri Arshad Ayub gembira usahanya meningkatkan taraf akademik orang Melayu menerusi Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) mendapat pengiktirafan daripada pelbagai pihak.

Bekas Pro Canselor UiTM itu berkata, perjalanan universiti tersebut sejajar dengan kemajuan yang dicapai oleh mereka sekali gus membuktikan orang Melayu mampu cemerlang dalam bidang akademik.

"Saya hanya manusia biasa, kita tidak dapat menilai sumbangan kita. Namun anugerah ini petanda yang elok terhadap sumbangan saya kepada kaum Melayu.

"Sungguhpun saya tidak menjadi guru, tetapi dalam memperkembangkan Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM), saya telah menyemai benih masa depan yang membuktikan sekiranya orang Melayu mempunyai minat, segalanya boleh menjadi kenyataan," katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia selepas majlis Penyampaian Anugerah Merdeka 2013 oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak di sini semalam.

Pada majlis itu selain Arshad, Raja Tan Sri Muhammad Alias Raja Muhammad Ali; Tan Sri Dr. Yahya Awang; Dr. Lim Boo Liat dan Prof. Emeritus Datuk Dr. Lam Sai Kit turut menerima anugerah tersebut.

Arshad, 85, dan Raja Muhammad Alias, 81, menerima Anugerah Merdeka 2013 bagi kategori Pendidikan dan Kemasyarakatan manakala Yahya, 63, bagi Kategori Kesihatan, Sains dan Teknologi.

Boo Liat, 87, dan Sai Kit, 75, merupakan dua lagi penerima bersama anugerah masing-masing bagi kategori Persekitaran dan Pencapaian Ilmiah Terunggul.

Sementara itu, Raja Tan Sri Muhammad Alias menganggap anugerah yang diterimanya sebagai pengiktirafan terhadap usaha Felda melonjakkan kehidupan masyarakat luar bandar.

"Terima kasih kepada bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Abdul Razak kerana mempercayai saya menerajui Felda. Kepercayaan itu membantu saya menempuh segala cabaran," katanya.

Hasil komitmen beliau, Felda diiktiraf sebagai agensi utama dalam usaha negara membanteras kemiskinan luar bandar dan kejayaannya dicontohi di beberapa negara seperti Myanmar, Kemboja dan Afrika.

Yahya pula mengucapkan jutaan terima kasih kepada kesemua pasukan perubatannya kerana terus membawa peningkatan terhadap bidang pembedahan jantung negara.

"Dahulu saya ingat, infrastruktur berhubung pembedahan jantung amat terhad. Pesakit terpaksa beratur untuk mendapatkan rawatan, ada yang berada ke luar negara, ramai yang tidak bernasib baik. Sekarang berbeza, semua tempat ada pusat rawatan sendiri," katanya.

utusan online

Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Arshad Ayub

For outstanding contribution in shaping Malaysia’s education landscape through the development of professional education, education reforms and innovation that have resulted in education becoming more accessible to Malaysians.

Profile

Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Arshad Ayub was born in Muar, Johor on 15 November, 1928. The oldest child in a modest rubber tapper family, Tan Sri Arshad was raised in an environment of hardship and poverty. He suffered from typhoid, and following the death of his parents, was tasked with the responsibility of raising his four younger siblings. As a poverty-stricken and deprived child living in the decade before the Second World War, the future seemed bleak. Yet through sheer determination, diligence and discipline he overcame great odds to rise above the trials and tribulations of his early life. In fact, it was those difficult early years which were so formative to his subsequent calling as an educator and civil servant. His experience of poverty made him all the more determined to help disadvantaged children overcome their adverse circumstances through education. As he says, “I was exposed to poverty so I understand what poverty is.”

Not one to be easily discouraged, Tan Sri Arshad took on every educational opportunity afforded him to advance and improve his position in life. In 1954 he graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture from the College of Agriculture in Serdang, Selangor. He was awarded the Colonial and Development scholarship in 1953 to study at the University College of Wales Aberystwyth in the United Kingdom, graduating with an Honours degree in Economics and Statistics in 1958. In 1964, Tan Sri Arshad obtained a Diploma in Business Administration from the Management Development Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland (now IMD).

Tan Sri Arshad’s involvement in education began in 1965 as the Principal of the MARA College of Business and Professional Studies. In 1967 Maktab MARA was transformed into Institute Technology MARA (ITM) of which Tan Sri Arshad became the First Director serving with courage and determination from 1965 to 1975. He laid the foundation for the Institut Teknologi MARA (now UiTM) and led one of the most successful education initiatives in the country.

Tasked by the late Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein, with the challenge of remedying the under representation of Bumiputra in the professions, Tan Sri Arshad relinquished well-trodden paths and blazed new trails. He assembled a multiracial team of educationists with the right mix of courage and passion to do things not done before. He told his staff that everyone can be educated. He believed that among the young there are many “late bloomers” who are largely ignored by the prevailing education system.

Tan Sri Arshad played a critical role in UiTM’s formative years by nurturing it with concepts and programmes then unknown and unexplored in the higher education sector in Malaysia. He believed that entry points into tertiary courses should be flexible but exit points must be well regulated. Planning for years ahead, he was the first in the country to introduce courses in applied science, mass communications, business management, architecture, public administration (Plantation Estate Management) and hotel catering at the tertiary level. Such courses were unheard of in the 1960’s.

Long before other institutions embraced the innovation of twinning programmes, where Malaysian students were able to get a quality education abroad at a fraction of the cost, Tan Sri Arshad teamed up with Ohio and Kentucky universities in the United States to pioneer “twinning programmes” that today are the rage at many centers of tertiary education in the country.

Tan Sri Arshad also made UiTM the first Malaysian institution to embrace external UK programmes in law and professional accounting such as LLB, ICSA and ACCA. In the 1960s, UiTM was the first institution in Malaysia to offer the prestigious Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) programme. Likewise, under Tan Sri Arshad, UiTM was the first institution in the country to offer full-time education for the well-respected LLB (London) external degree. He stuck to English as medium of instruction and changed the students’ diet, bread for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, and introduced students to individual counseling and guidance.

ITM was Tan Sri Arshad’s gauntlet. He put his heart and soul into its beginnings, nurturing it with concepts and programmes then unheard of in the higher education sector. The fact that the students were in some ways “late bloomers” like him, spurred him on. For the thousands of school leavers who were not qualified for a place in University Malaya (the only one then) the visionary Arshad gave them an alternative to get an education. As he says, “Life is never perfect but you must make the best use of what is given.” There is no doubt that he was directly responsible for the conversion of ITM from a time and place where students took external British examinations, to an institution offering a long list of professional courses, and secure an ITM diploma and later, a degree.

When Tan Sri Arshad opened UiTM’s doors in 1965, the student population was only 219 with just 11 lecturers. When he left in 1975, there were 6,856 students and 904 lecturers serving 60 programmes in 13 different schools and branch campuses in Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Arau (Perlis) and (Dungun) Terengganu. Today UiTM is the nation’s largest institution of higher learning in terms of size and population.

Concluding Remarks

Tan Sri Arshad is widely regarded as a far-sighted educator who has had a tremendous impact on business and education in Malaysia for nearly half a century. He fervently believes that a second chance is everyone’s right especially if there are no initial environmental disadvantages. It is no exaggeration to say that he gave hope to many young Malaysians who had little or no hope for an academic future. From an early age he knew what it was like to be poverty-stricken, and that to gain a footing in the “land of opportunities” one had to go to school. Without education, no form of liberation – mental or physical – can take place. He learned the attributes of determination, resourcefulness and hard work early in life.

Aberystwyth Recognition - Arshad and Zaleha with their children in Aberystwyth in celebration of his honorary award. From left: Azmir, Azmi, Azlin, Arshad, Zaleha, Soraya (daughter-in-law) and Azman, 1995.

Following his time at ITM Tan Sri Arshad steadily climbed the ladder of the civil service to reach the rank of Secretary General of three Ministries by the time he retired in 1983. These were the then Ministry of Primary Industries, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Land and Regional Development. In addition, Tan Sri Arshad was appointed as member of the Harun Salary Commission for statutory bodies and was also entrusted with responsibilities as Deputy Governor of Bank Negara, Malaysia’s central bank. He also served as the Deputy Director General of the Economic Planning Unit.

On the go - Arshad believed strongly in living a full student’s life and was keen in all activities, sports, cultural activities and literary development programmes. Badminton was one of his favourite games and he excelled in it.

Today, Tan Sri Arshad continues to sit on the board of a number of public agencies and private corporations, besides serving on the board of numerous non-profit and voluntary organisations. As a former civil servant par excellence and Chairman of the Board of Directors of University of Malaya as well as Pro-Chancellor of the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), he is also Chancellor of INTI International University College and KPJUC University College Of Nursing & Health Sciences, Governor of Kolej Tuanku Jaafar, Vice Chairman of Lembaga Bersekutu Pemegang Amanah Pengajian Tinggi Islam Malaysia and member of the Board of Bistari Johore Berhad. Tan Sri Arshad has a deep interest in the role of academia in producing a new generation of national leaders as well as in contributing to human capital development and the nation-building process.

ITM offered Tan Sri Arshad many defining moments. His 10 years with ITM allowed him to achieve the basic educational goals as enshrined in the New Economic Policy (NEP). Life after ITM sees him continue to contribute to a growing educational sector and industry. His unerring commitment and dedication in shaping Malaysia’s education landscape through education reforms and innovation truly personifies the Spirit of Merdeka and its pursuit of excellence.

merdeka award

Tan Sri Datuk Arshad Ayub is the first director of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

Tan Sri Datuk Arshad Ayub (born 1928, age 85) is the first director of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). He was picked by Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein to helm UiTM in 1965. Throughout his career, he had served as Deputy Bank Negara Governor and Secretary-General to three ministries. In 2008, his biography, A Second Chance: Life and Mission of Arshad Ayub, written by sociologist and former Universiti Malaya lecturer Dr Rokiah Talib and sponsored by the UEM Group, was launched.

2. Born in Parit Korma Laut, Muar, Johor to a rubber tapper, Arshad started his education at a Malay school in Parit Keruma, followed by the government English preparatory school and English school. His education was interrupted by the outbreak of the World War II. He managed to stay in school for six months before dropping out to seek ways of helping his family survive, after his father died of dysentery. Arshad was only able to get odd jobs, including peddling a three-wheeled trishaw, selling coconuts, carrying and selling firewood, and later working as a laborer with the Forestry Department. After the war, he resumed school.

3. Arshad's most painful memories of growing up concerned his mother who had to sell her only piece of land during the Japanese occupation to buy food for the family. "That day, we had a feast at the mamak restaurant in Muar for the first time in our lives," he said. His regret to this day was that his mother died before he could give her his salary of RM130 as a temporary teacher. Arshad was determined to replace the loss of his mother’s land. Upon returning from England, he bought a piece of land near Muar for RM2,000. This was the money he had saved out of his scholarship during his student stay in Wales. He managed to save 100 pounds every year, despite sending home RM70 to his siblings at the end of the month. The purchase of the land in Muar was the beginning of Arshad's foray into land investment in several states, some of which brought him handsome profits.

4. In 1965, Arshad was appointed the first director of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) by Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, a post he held for 10 years from 1967. He had been called a tyrant, running the place like his own home and the students like his children. He thought nothing of grabbing them by the collar and giving them a tight slap when he caught them smoking or sleeping in the library. He would hound those with long hair and march them to the barber. He would make surprise checks in the dorms to weed out the slackers. He made students eat bread for lunch instead of rice so that they could hurry back in time for their afternoon lectures without feeling lethargic. He expected kampung students to speak English well.

5. In 2008, when Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim proposed the establishment of a 10% non-bumiputera and foreign student quota at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Arshad objected, pointing out the objectives of the New Economic Policy had yet to be met.


1928, November 15: Arshad Ayub was born in Parit Korma Laut, Muar, Johor. He had to work as a laborer to provide for his 4 siblings after his parents died.
1965 (age 37): Arshad was picked by Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak to helm Institut Teknologi MARA.
2008 (age 80): Arshad's biography, A Second Chance: Life and Mission of Arshad Ayub, written by sociologist and former Universiti Malaya lecturer Dr Rokiah Talib and sponsored by UEM Group, was launched.

malaysiafactbook


Tan Sri Arshad Ayub sumbang RM50,000 kepada PAUiTM
May 1, 2014

Tan Sri Arshad Ayub (lima dari kiri) menyerahkan sumbangan kepada Presiden Persatuan Alumni UiTM Malaysia, Datuk Zaini Hassan (empat dari kiri) di majlis Penghargaan dan Sumbangan Yayasan Arshad Ayub di Shah Alam semalam.

Shah Alam, 29 Mac — Pro Canselor Universiti Teknologi MARA, Tan Sri Arshad Ayub pada Rabu menyampaikan sumbangan berjumlah RM50,000 kepada Persatuan Alumni UiTM Malaysia. (PAUiTM).

Sumbangan daripada Yayasan Arshad Ayub itu sempena ulang tahun kelahiran isteri beliau, Puan Seri Zaleha Mohd Arshad.

Juga pada majlis yang berlangsung di Hotel UiTM itu, beberapa buah sekolah, universiti, masjid, surau dan rakan peribadi turut menerima sumbangan.

alumniuitm

Arshad — A legacy remembered

REFELCTING ON THE LAW
By SHAD SALEEM FARUQI

Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, a giant in the educational reform of the nation, remains an icon who charted a historic odyssey.

TODAY is the 84th birthday of Tan Sri Arshad Ayub (pic) who is one of the foremost educational innovators this country has known. He was the first Director of Institut Teknologi MARA (now UiTM) and led it with courage and vision for one decade from 1965 to 1975.

Arshad was personally entrusted by the late Tun Abdul Razak with the challenge of remedying the under-representation of bumiputras in the professions. To match the magnitude of the task, Arshad abjured well trodden paths and blazed new trails.

He assembled a multiracial team of educational renegades with the right mix of courage and passion to do things not done before. He told his staff that everyone is educable. He believed that among the young there are many late bloomers who the educational system tends to discard. He was going to give them a second chance. He believed that entry points into tertiary courses should be flexible but exit points must be well regulated.

How a student ends the race is more important than how he began it. On training students who did not have the best of results, Arshad felt that a committed teacher should not only seek to polish gold, he must also endeavour to mould ordinary clay into works of art.

This was, of course, quite different from other centres of learning which prided in admitting only the best applicants. In contrast, Arshad devised many specially tailored, remedial, pre-university programmes to upgrade students who would not otherwise qualify for professional courses. He established multi-tiered programmes from certificate level to advanced diplomas. Students who successfully navigated one level became eligible for upward mobility into the next tier.

To address public and professional concerns about educational standards, Arshad internationalised. He hired expatriate lecturers and external examiners. He made ITM the first Malaysian institution to embrace UK external programmes like LLB (London), ICSA and ACCA. Decades before other institutions, Arshad pioneered “twinning programmes” with Ohio and Kentucky universities in the USA.

On the domestic front, Arshad commenced scores of courses in engineering, applied science, mass communication, business, management, architecture and hotel and tourism.

His critics were often sceptical about the relevance of some of the courses but Arshad was adamant. He was planning for the decades ahead.

He set up branch campuses in the remotest parts of the country from Jengka in Pahang to Machang in Kelantan. Instead of rural students coming to the city, the city was going to go to the rural hinterland to provide a catalyst for growth.

For working adults Arshad pioneered an Extension Education Programme. He initiated executive development and entrepreneuring courses that are commonplace today but were rare in the early seventies.

He empahsised the importance of languages, specially English and set up the country’s largest language centre to train ITM students in foreign languages. Under his leadership, ITM was in perpetual, creative ferment and always a decade or two ahead of the times.

Arshad’s forays into unchartered territories did not often go down well with the bureaucracy that expected unquestioned compliance with policies, goals, targets and criteria established by the Government. Despite the resistance, Arshad did not buckle.

He was a man who marched to his own tune; he was fixated to some polestars of his passionate conviction. He took personal risks, did a bit of rule bending, capitalised on opportunities and acted with creative non-conformity.

Arshad’s relationship with his staff was informal. He knew thousands of employees by name. Thity-six years after he left ITM he can still identify them correctly! He used to walk the campus on foot, eat lunch with the students in their dining hall; visit faculties unannounced and single out anyone, no matter how junior, who he felt could accomplish a needed task. His talent pool was never confined to elite officers.

He built a strong multi-racial team to strategise the best ways of achieving ITM’s goals. His leadership was tough enough to demand high standards of everyone yet tender enough to endear him to their hearts.

While running an institution devoted to bumiputra education, his transcendence was remarkable. Many of his Heads of Schools were non-Malays. The academic staff was more than 50% non-Malay. He used ITM buses to ferry Christian students from East Malaysia to churches in Klang. Forty years before the 1Malaysia policy, Arshad epitomised it in his actions.

He addressed his young wards frankly and frequently. He inspired them to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. He told them that he believed in their talent; that it was his job of unlocking their potential. The students heard his call and thousands of bumiputra corporate and professional leaders today owe their career success to the inspiration infused by Arshad.

In time, Arshad was the deserving recipient of many sterling domestic and foreign accolades. But above all of them is the enduring legacy that the institute he cradled from 1965-75 has grown into the nation’s largest university. Thirty-seven years after he left, UiTM still is, and will remain for a long time to come, an extended shadow of Arshad Ayub’s towering personality.

The nation, in turn, will always remember him for one of its most successful experiments in social engineering through education.

 Shad Faruqi is Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM.

the star

UiTM terus bantu perkasa ekonomi Bumiputera
1 Ogos 2014


KUALA LUMPUR - Selepas hampir 15 tahun memperoleh status unversiti, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) dilihat terus relevan sebagai institusi pendidikan yang bertanggungjawab membantu Bumiputera mengimbangkan kedudukan ekonomi mereka.

Pada 26 Ogos 1999, Perdana Menteri pada waktu itu Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah mengumumkan pertukaran nama Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) kepada UiTM dengan aspirasi untuk melihatnya menjadi sebuah pusat pengajian tinggi bertaraf dunia yang terbaik.

Pro-Canselor UiTM Tan Sri Arshad Ayub berkata beliau melihat UiTM sebagai institusi yang penting buat Bumiputera di negara ini dan tanpanya sukar untuk golongan itu menguasai 30 peratus kek ekonomi negara seperti dihasratkan kerajaan.

"Kursus-kursus yang ditawarkan di UiTM boleh dikatakan berhaluan bekerja sendiri atau keusahawanan dan sektor swasta. Namun, sehingga kini Bumiputera masih belum mencapai tahap yang dikehendaki khususnya untuk yang di atas kumpulan berpendapatan sederhana, kita masih belum ramai lagi," katanya kepada Bernama di sini.

Menurutnya sejak dahulu lagi, UiTM menyediakan kemudahan pendidikan dan prasarana terbaik bagi melahirkan modal insan Bumiputera untuk negara.

Buktinya, UiTM menjadi universiti pertama di dunia yang mendapat pengiktirafan ISO 9001:2000 pada 5 Ogos 2004 yang meliputi pengurusan korporat, perkhidmatan sokongan, pengajaran dan pembelajaran.

Atshad, yang juga Pengarah pertama ITM pada 1966, bagaimanapun mengingatkan kakitangan pengurusan dan akademik UiTM untuk memperkuat jaringannya dengan sektor swasta bagi melahirkan lebih ramai modal insan Bumiputera dalam sektor itu.

Menurutnya masih tidak ramai Bumiputera memegang jawatan di peringkat eksekutif, profesional dan sub-profesional dalam sektor swasta walaupun UiTM sebagai sebuah institusi pendidikan telah menyediakan peluang itu.

"Dalam pengalaman saya di beberapa syarikat, saya perhatikan tidak ramai Bumiputera berada di peringkat yang tinggi sungguhpun di peringkat pengarah kita ramai," katanya.

Sehubungan itu, beliau berharap pelajar-pelajar UiTM dapat menggunakan institusi itu sepenuhnya bagi menimba ilmu dan mengasah bakat mereka dalam semua bidang dan kepakaran sekaligus muncul graduan terbilang di dalam negara dan peringkat global.

Sejak penubuhannya, UiTM berjaya melahirkan lebih setengah juta graduan Bumiputera Melayu, Sabah dan Sarawak.

Oleh itu, Arshad menggesa alumni UiTM menyumbang kembali kepada institusi itu bukan sahaja dalam bentuk kewangan, malah menjadikan pelajar sebagai 'anak angkat' untuk berkongsi ilmu dan pengalaman industri bersama junior mereka.

"Dengan lebih 500,000 alumni...jika setiap satunya beri RM2,000 atau sekurang-kurangnya RM1,000 kita akan dapat kumpul RM500 juta atau RM1 bilion dalam masa satu tahun," katanya.

sinar harian

Biografi

Tan Sri Arshad Ayub
Tarikh Lahir : 15hb. November 1928
Tempat Lahir : Parit Karma Laut, Muar. Johor

 Latar Belakang Pengajian

i) Di peringkat awalnya beliau telah gagal di dalam pengajian di Universiti Malaya di Singapura. Beliau telahpun memulakan khidmat sebagai Penolong Pegawai Kemajuan Kampung pada tahun 1951 dengan Dewan RIDA.

Beliau telahpun mendapatkan peluang kedua melanjutkan pengajian di Kolej Pertanian Serdang (kini dikenali sebagai Universiti Putra Malaysia) di dalam bidang pertanian dan mendapat diploma di dalam bidang pertanian pada tahun 1954.

ii) Beliau kemudianya melanjutkan pegajiannya ke Kolej Universiti Aberystwyth, Wales di dalam jurusan Ekonomi dan Statistik.

iii) Beliau kemudianya telah mengikuti Program Pasca Siswazah Pengajian Perniagaan di Institut Pembangunan Pengurusan (IMEDE) Lausanne, Switerzland.

iv) Pada bulan Oktober 1967 beliau mula berkhidmat di Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) dan dilantik sebagai pengarahnya yang pertama.
Beliau telah banyak berjasa untuk memperkasakan ITM sebagai Institusi yang diamanahkan untuk mewujudkan para profesional di kalangan anak-anak Melayu di Malaysia.

v) ITM telahpun membuka pintu kepada pelajar-pelajar yang ditolak kemasukkan mereka ke universiti-universiti tempatan. ITM telah berjaya melahirkan ramai tokoh-tokoh korporat dan pengusaha industri yang berteraskan teknologi dan perindustrian.
Pada tahun 1966 ITM telahpun berjaya menawarkan kursus Pengurusan Perniagaannya yang sendiri.

vi) Beliau telahpun mendapat kepercayaan yang penuh dari Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussien, Timbalan Perdana Malaysia ketika itu untuk menjadikan ITM sebagai salah satu Institusi untuk merealisasikan Dasar Ekonomi Baru yang telah dikenalkan pada tahun 1970.

Perkhidmatan Kerajaan

i) Menjadi Timbalan Gabenor Bank Negara dari tahun 1975 sehingga 1977.


ii) Menjadi Timbalan Ketua Pengarah unit Perancangan Ekonomi Jabatan Perdana Menteri dari tahun 1971 sehingga 1978.


iii) Pernah menjadi Ketua Setiausaha kepada tiga (3) kementerian iaitu:

a) Kementerian Perusahaan Utama tahun (1978)

b) Kementerian Pertanian (dari tahun 1979-1981)

c) Kementerian Tanah dan Pembangunan Wilayah ( dari tahun 1981-1983)

Jawatan-jawatan terkini yang dipegang

i) Anggota senat Universiti Malaya.


ii) Pro Conselor Universiti Teknologi MARA.


iii) Anggota Senat Kolej Universiti Zainal Abidin (KUSZA).


iv) Menjadi Lembaga Pengarah kepada beberapa buah syarikat dan agensi- agensi iaitu:

a) Sindora Berhad

b) Malayan Flour Mills Berhad

c) LBI Capital Berhad

d) Tomypak Holding Berhad

e) Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad

f) KPJ Healthcare Berhad

g) BATA SDN. BHD.

h) Pelaburan Johor BHD.

i) Bistari Johor Berhad

j) Amanah Raya Investment Bank LTD.

k) Top Glore Corporation Berhad

l) PFM Capital Holdings SDN. BHD.

v) Menjadi ahli Suruhanjaya Penyelarasan Gaji Harun untuk badan-badan berkanun kerajaan.

vi) Presiden kepada Persatuan Pengeluar-Pengeluar Produk Getah dan Pengerusi Dewan Promosi Pengesport Getah Malaysia.

vii) Pengerusi Lembaga Pengurusan Universiti Malaya.

viii) Pro-Cancelor Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

Anugerah-anugerah Lain Diterima

i) Anugerah Mutiara Budi dari Kementerian Kewangan di atas sumbanganya kepada kerajaan.


ii) Anugerah berprestij ACCA di atas sumbanganya kepada Kemajuan Professionalisma Perakaunan di Malaysia.