Professor Yunus urges young Malaysians to solve society's problems with their own creativity
Friday July 15 marked the launch of the Nobel Laureate in Residence program at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM or National University of Malaysia) in Bangi, Selangor.
2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus accepted to become Laureate-in-Residence at UKM, and delivered the inaugural lecture to an audience of 2000+ faculty and students on Friday on the theme of social business as a way to solve society's most pressing problems.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Dato Dr. Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin introduced Professor Yunus and the background to the program. The program was officially inaugurated by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia.
The Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia initiated the Nobel Laureate Program in 2001, inspired by a vision of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed to generate a Malaysian Nobel Prize winner by 2020. The government has developed strategic plans to make this vision a reality and has allocated special resources to develop the necessary infrastructure and human capital for this purpose. The UKM's Nobel Laureate in Residence program is part of that overall strategy.
In his speech, Professor Yunus described that developing microcredit and social business in Bangladesh taught him about the potential of all people to change their own lives for the better. He called on the new generation to work put their talent and energies to solve the problems of society with their own innovation and creativity and with the resources and technology available to them today.The Nobel Laureate in Residence invited Professor Yunus to stay at UKM for one month to one year, with a full time teaching position, full accommodation and access to all facilities. UKM is a university based in Bangi, Selangor with more than 25,000 students which is also known for introducing the PermataPintar initiative, a nationwide program to identify and nurture gifted children through specialized teaching programs.
Professor Yunus is in Malaysia for three days before going to Japan for the Asian Forum for Social Business to be held in Fukuoka.
