beyond Magazine

beyond.

Issue 01 | June 2021

HOW THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM CHANGE THE MINDSET OF UTM STUDENT Dive into the entrepreneurship program held for UTM students and how it changes their mind

CONTENTS 3

SDG Sustainable Development Goals

7

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR Sulaiman Plantations

9

BUSINESS ACUMEN

11

STRIKE A BALANCE Work-Study-Life

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG)

WHAT IS SDG? Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonize three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. These elements are interconnected and all are crucial for the well-being of individuals and societies. Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans, and programs, and will be led by countries. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be a compass for aligning countries’ plans with their global commitments.

A revitalized global partnership at the global level is needed to support national efforts. This is recognized in the 2030 Agenda. At the global level, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets of the new agenda will be monitored and reviewed using a set of global indicators. The global indicator framework for Sustainable Development Goals was developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) and agreed upon at the 48th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission held in March 2017.

Governments will also develop their own national indicators to assist in monitoring progress made on the goals and targets.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, annual investment requirements across all sectors have been estimated at around $5-7 trillion. Current investment levels are far from the scale needed. With global financial assets estimated at over $200 trillion, financing is available, but most of these resources are not being channeled towards sustainable development at the scale and speed necessary to achieve the SDGs and objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

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We have learned that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are related to the people, prosperity, peace, partnership, and the planet. While in higher education, SDGs were known as the research, education, operation and governance, and external leadership. We also found out that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world, have their own targets and indicators to mark those goals as success.

Next, we found that the leadership point in SDGs is important

A talk on “Innovation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” presented by Prof. IR. Dr. Mohd Fadhil Bin

Md

Din,

the

director

of

UTM

Campus

for the young leaders to empower themselves as they will

Sustainability (UTMCS) was conducted by UTM

decide how the future world works. Besides, social

Centre

entrepreneurship was also tackled in this part, where we should

Entrepreneurship

focus more on the social return of investment (SROI). Not to

Development Goals (SDGs) are about the people,

forget, empowerment after recruitment is also important

prosperity, peace, partnership, and the planet. Many

together with the last point which is the special interest.

people misjudge that SDGs are only about the

for

Student

Innovation

(UTM

XCITE).

planet and serving the environment.

Moreover, we learned that the shifted agenda enterprise - the social enterprise in SDG is important to boost the Malaysian economy that covers all income level groups. All in all, we are very grateful that we are able to broaden our knowledge regarding SDGs and the importance of it.

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&

Technology Sustainable

How does it change the mindset of students?

The knowledge of SDGs changes the mindset of students as more students are practicing lifelong learning activities. The SDG goal number four, which is quality education, broadens the view of students about education

01

Developing a new skill (eg. sewing,

not only in universities but it is a lifelong

cooking, programming, public

learning process. Lifelong learning is a form of

speaking, etc)

self-initiated education that is focused on personal development. While there is no standardized definition of lifelong learning, it has generally been taken to refer to the learning that occurs outside of a formal

Self-taught study (eg. learning a

02

new language, researching a topic

educational institute, such as a school,

of interest, subscribing to a

university, or corporate training. Here are some

podcast, etc)

of the types of lifelong learning initiatives that students engaged in:

03

Learning a new sport or activity (eg. Joining martial arts, learning to ski, learning to exercise, etc)

04

Learning to use new technology (smart devices, new software applications, etc)

05

Acquiring new knowledge (taking a self-interest course via online education or classroom-based course)

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Incorporating lifelong learning in students' lives can offer many

Besides, the knowledge of SDGs changes the mindset of students as

long-term benefits, including renewed self-motivation. Figuring

it fosters innovation. This is in accordance with SDG goal number nine,

out what inspires you puts you back in the driver’s seat and is a

which is industry, innovation, and infrastructure. Innovation in

reminder that you can really do things in life that you want to do.

education encourages students and teachers to research, explore, and

Next, lifelong learning allows improvement in other personal and

use all the tools to uncover something new. Innovation involves a

professional skills. While we’re busy learning a new skill or

different way of looking at problems and solving them. It also improves

acquiring new knowledge, we’re also building other valuable skills

education because it compels students to use a higher level of thinking

that can help us in our personal and professional lives.

to solve complex problems. Innovation does not just mean the use of

Skill development can include interpersonal skills, creativity,

technology or new inventions, though these can contribute to

problem-solving, critical thinking, leadership, reflection,

innovation. Innovation involves a new way of thinking, thereby helping

adaptability, and much more. These skills are important for

students develop their creativity and problem-solving skills.

increasing the chance of students’ employment in the future.

Moreover, becoming more knowledgeable or skilled in something can increase our self-confidence in both our personal and professional lives. In our personal lives, this confidence can stem from the satisfaction of devoting time and effort to learning and improving, giving us a sense of accomplishment. In our professional lives, this self-confidence can be the feeling of trust we have in our knowledge and the ability to apply what we’ve learned.

For example, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), representing Malaysia, has won the 1st runner-up in the ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest (ROBOCON) 2017 which was held in Tokyo, Japan from 26-27 August 2017. A multi-disciplinary UTM team consisting of thirty-five undergraduate students from four different faculties joined the ABU ROBOCON, an annual robotic competition, aims to be a platform for developing autonomous robots to help humans (residential and industrial) in their daily life. Malaysia beat several strong teams during the tournament. In the group stage, Malaysia beat Korean and Iranian teams. In the quarterfinal, the Malaysia team beat the Japan team represented by the University of Tokyo. In the semifinal, Malaysia beat Thailand. This proves that students from UTM are capable of designing innovative robots to win such competitions.

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ru

u o y UTM XCITE invited Mr. Syed Salleh Syed Sulaiman,

e

n e

n

g

r t e n pr e

The services provided by this company are planting locally

the CEO of Sulaiman Plantation Sdn. Bhd. to deliver a

produced fruits and vegetables, then delivering them to the

talk on the topic of ‘Young entrepreneur: Challenges

customers. The company has been certified as Good

& Opportunities’ on 29 April 2021, from 2 pm to 4 pm

Agriculture Farmers (MyGAP) by the Department of

at UTM XCITE Facebook live platform. He is also a

Agriculture, Malaysia to show that their products are caring

UTM alumni batch 2015. This talk is mainly sharing

for customers’ bodies and the community.

the experience of how Mr. Syed Salleh improved his family business with the knowledge he learned from UTM and finally grew the company to a higher level.

SULAIMAN PLANTATION There are four main focuses in Sulaiman Plantation, which Sulaiman Plantation is located at Kuala Ketil,

are fresh to table, locally produced, MyGAP certified and

Kedah. This company has a total of 15 acres of land to

COCOJACK. Fresh to the table and locally produced means

plant different types of fruits and vegetables

simple, natural, planted with the minimum usage of

including coconut, jackfruit, polybag chili, polybag

pesticides and good farming practices that do not cause any

ginger, and conventional chili.

harm to the environment. MyGAP certification can be analyzed as having good respect to maintain good relationships with the farmers.

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COCOJACK is a combination of both coconut and jackfruit that are believed to be the main resources to produce superfoods in the world. Superfoods are foods that are rich in nutrients to give benefits to the human body. Other than that, Sulaiman Plantation is also available in Shopee. They sell different types of insecticides and fertilizers. Different products are produced in order to earn more income for the company.

COCOJACK recipes will be coming soon as other products for Sulaiman Plantation.

benefits Some of the benefits obtained from the talk are understanding on how Mr. Syed Salleh accepted his responsibility to take over his family business after finishing his degree study in Bachelor of Management in UTM during the year of 2015. At the same time, he showed his passion towards entrepreneurship programmes by attending various seminars and activities related to entrepreneurship to learn a lot of knowledge that helps in managing his business. For example, he joined the Social Enterprise Program in UMK and he was the Exco of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Besides, he also likes to join volunteer activities and was sent to Sudan for the Humanitarian Aid Mission in 2014 to represent UTM. After graduating from UTM, he went back to his hometown to manage Sulaiman Plantation. He wanted to improve the business, he found different solutions to solve the financial problem and finally found an opportunity offered by the SME Corporation Malaysia called Tunas Usahawan Bumiputera (TUB) that gave funds with a total of RM15000 for every selected young entrepreneur. He was willing to give it a try and was one of the 500 selected applicants that received the funds.

With this fund, the company was able to continue and grew to a bigger company.

Other than that, he also learned technical skills from different resources, which are mainly from his father, UTM, some experts (experienced farmers that have between 10 to 15 years of experience in agriculture) and from different programmes organized by the government. This shows us we must have the skill of problem solving by finding different solutions to solve the problems we faced. Furthermore, from the talk, those who need any support to help his or her business can refer to the specific departments mentioned by the speaker.

Lastly, although he succeeded in his business, he was concerned about the problem happening in the community, which is the unemployment problem among youth. Therefore, his main workforce in the company is the local citizens from his village. This had successfully solved the problem of community and the workforce of the company to achieve a win-win situation for both of them.

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How does it change the mindset of students?

After attending the talk, the mindset of students had changed by inspiring the students who have the family business to consider in taking over the business and implementing the knowledge they have learnt to help the business to transform or expand to greater companies. This is because one of the platforms, UTM, has tried their best in providing different entrepreneurship seminars and activities to ensure the students have the entrepreneurship knowledge that may help in their future.

The young entrepreneurs can approach different departments that offer help to the business owners to solve different problems they faced in doing their businesses. The speaker also encouraged the young entrepreneur to respect the business partners or staff, and help in solving certain community problems, for example, unemployment.

One of the successful example is Mr. Ir. Ammar Bin Mohd Rashid, he is the alumnus from School of Civil Engineering and the managing director or CEO of AMR Environment Sdn Bhd for 15 years. This company offers environmental services mainly in Waste-to-Energy plants, environmental monitoring, etc. He is frequently invited by many universities to share career, environment, entrepreneurship and leadership topics. He is a TEDx speaker and UTM student icon. He always tried to deliver a positive and motivational impact that develops the leaders to build a strong nation.

He is registered with professional bodies namely DOE, DOSH, IEM, BEM, ENSEARCH, MIHA and AECCOM. AMR Group has received a few recognitions such as accreditation for laboratory and also Excellence Award from UTM under his leadership. Other achievements are partnership agreement with international companies in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He always ensures that his companies are actively involved with CSR programs in giving back to the society.

BUSINESS ACUMEN WHAT IS BUSINESS ACUMEN? Business acumen (“business savvy” and “business sense” are often used as synonyms) is keenness and quickness in understanding and dealing with a business situation (risks and opportunities) in a manner that is likely to lead to a good outcome. Additionally, business acumen has emerged as a vehicle for improving financial performance and leadership development. Consequently, several different types of strategies have been developed around improving business acumen in terms of future trend assessment.

Business acumen can be defined by the ASK model, which stands for Ability (A), Skills (S), and Knowledge (K). Firstly, the ability (A) is to deal with ambiguity and the ability to link with cause and effect. It is important because it is quite impossible to know everything related to a situation, so each individual must decide when the information available is sufficient to make a decision. Secondly, the skills (S) in terms of selfawareness are important as they can reflect how an individual decision can impact an organization and others.

Skills in terms of stakeholder awareness are about how an individual action and decision impact the stakeholders, what are the stakeholder’s interests and their needs. Thirdly, knowledge (K) in terms of financial literacy is very important to understand how an organization uses its resources to achieve its desired outcome. From a commercial context perspective, this is often measured in terms of profit or revenue. Contextual knowledge is the ability to relate what happens outside an individual’s immediate environment to the situation in the workplace. Organizational knowledge is about the organization in which the individual works, the relevant procedure for the organization, and the culture within the organization.

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benefits From the talk, we can

Apart from the ASK model mentioned

be beneficial by

earlier, we are exposed to other business

broadening their

strategy models - the environmental

knowledge on the

analysis model, advancing adoption

aspect of business

model, and competitive strategy model.

acumen that rarely

We also understand whole product

can be learned

modeling in order to be a good business

through the class.

acumen. Roger’s model is emphasized from the talk. The model consists of 5 elements - relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability.

how does it change the mindset of students?

By the exposure of

By understanding relative advantage,

entrepreneurship, the students are

we can identify the degree of a product

inspired to start up a business, the

that its innovation is perceived as better

best example is ourself that had

than the idea it supersedes. Next, we

startup small business through the

able to know a product’s degree to

online platform recently.Although the

which an innovation is perceived as

mindset of startup a business had

being consistent with the existing

transplanted to us, there is still need

trends by knowing on compatibility. By

a lot of preparation for it. The biggest

understanding complexity, we

The knowledge gained on the talk

circumstance is modal for the startup

understand that the latest products

regarding business acumen changes

of the business. However, that is not a

must be easier to use.

the mindset of students as more

problem as the school authorities had

students are inspired to carry out

provided funds for business startups

By understanding trialability, we are

their first business either individually

for whose are eligible. For those who

assured that the products must be well

or by a team. At two decades of

are not eligible or missed the support,

tested before being introduced to the

institution learning of a student that

the school authorities still aid in

market. By understanding observability,

enforced by the government,

business startups by providing

the products must be observed as no

students are rarely exposed to the

dropshipping services for those

one can feel your sophisticated

business world, more likely to learn

students.

technology. Overall, what can we get

languages, mathematics, and science in the world. Exam-orientated education systems cause Malaysian students are focus only on the examined subject, leaving less time allocated for their hobbies and other interesting things. Since the mindset had been grown in their heart for decades, most of the students do not have the idea of startup a business, most of them aim to score flying color in their grades and hoped that aided them in order to get a high paid salary job.

from this talk session is regarding The school authorities had made

business acumen which involves several

collaboration with numerous companies

different types of strategies and models

from foods factory, clothing factory, and

on how to achieve a strong business

much more companies. Through the

acumen.

dropshipping services, the students still can startup their first business without modal. By having the initiative of changing student’s mindsets, with those effective supports, the effort will not be wasted and turns into realization. We sincerely hoped that the efforts should be maintained in order to inspire the next batch of UTM students. One of the UTM alumnus with a background in Computer Science - Mr. Arif Tukiman had successfully startup his own business with the influence of the entrepreneurship program.

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STRIKE A BALANCE Work-Study-Life

UTMXCITE hosted a webinar series talk through their official Facebook

Different phases can be concluded from I Net Spatial Sdn Bhd,

page titled “Strike a Balance!” presented by Mr. Sr. Gs. Mohd Radhie

which are the initial stage (2017 to 2018), expansion (2019 to 2020)

Mohd Salleh, the CEO of I Net Spatial Sdn. Bhd. In the beginning of the

and sustain (2021 to present). In the initial stage, only Research &

talk, the moderator Dr. Mohammad Fadhli Rashid, a senior lecturer at

Development were being done to understand the scenario. The

the Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying (FABU) UTM explained a

company also provides training in the field of Internet of Things

bit about the speaker's background before the speaker actually started

(IoT), and networking. During the expansion phase, execution,

on the discussion topic. The talk is basically about how Mr Radhie

collaboration and conference were focused. During the sustain

managed to balance his study, work and life in order to achieve what he

phase, a subsidiary company called I-map solutions was

has today.

established. Focus on sales and marketing, more domain and

I NET SPATIAL SDN BHD I Net Spatial Sdn Bhd is a start-up company that provides effective

shareholders currently.

The speaker informed that their company’s partners are UTM, UTHM, UPM, KYPJ and other higher institutes in Malaysia. Based

consultancy services in GIS, IT, Networking. Cartographic, Remote

on the speaker's personal view, there are mainly 4 types of

Sensing, Real Estate, Environment and Hydrological fields. The CEO of

challenges and this includes time management, cash flow,

I Net Spatial Sdn Bhd is Mr Sr. Gs. Mohd Radhie Mohd Salleh is an

strapped budget, and human resources. Any entrepreneur must

alumnus from UTM. Mr. Mohd Radhie studied for Bachelor of Science

be good in managing your time on study, family and deadlines.

(Geoinformatics) from 2010 to 2014 in UTM, continued Master of

The solution to this challenge is to create a goal list. Secondly,

Philosophy (Geoinformatics) from 2015 to 2017 in UTM, and is currently

business cash flow must include the salary and wage payments to

pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (Geoinformatics) from 2017 in UTM.

employees. The solution to this is to decrease spending and use

He has a Google Scholar account for postgraduate students

an effective business model. Thirdly, a strapped budget lowers the

publishing their papers. He published some papers based on

ability of the company to do marketing. Thus, setting the priority

geospatial modelling and analysis, remote sensing, natural disaster,

is the solution.

and GIS-IoT based. His company is currently exploring GIS-IoT-based applications.

Fourth, skilled employees are hard to find. The solution is to keep staff motivated and employ backup in case someone quits.

After sharing the challenges and solutions, the speaker introduces the Work-Study-Life balance to the attendees, especially the student. There are 4 elements in this topic which are to schedule wisely, prioritize your tasks, socialize, and keep contact with your supervisor. In order to schedule wisely, make use of calendars,

On the other hand, I Net Spatial Sdn Bhd was registered under SSM

planners, and phone apps to keep track of your life. Next,

in January 2017 and was fully owned by bumiputera that provides

prioritize and plan out the activities according to deadlines.

consultancy and supply. It consists of three main departments, which

Furthermore, keep socializing such as playing sports to take care

are GIS, IT, surveying and mapping departments with a total of 50

of your physical and mental health. Last but not least, keep

employees including 18 internship students. Service domains are GIS

communicating with your supervisor at least once a week to keep

or Remote sensing such as data collection & analysis, IT department

track of your work project and study life.

for mobile app development, surveying, internet infra services, training, R&D for industrial problem solving and engagement with local Malaysian universities. Some GIS applications in IR4.0 are Artificial intelligence and augmented reality implementation.

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BENEFITS Many benefits that were mentioned in

Fourth, Mr Radhie did mention that

the talk especially when the speaker

nowadays skilled employees are hard to

highlighted his challenge and solution

find. In order to make up for a shortage in

through his journey as the CEO of a startup

skilled workers, employers need to have a

company. First thing first, Mr Radhie

workforce plan such as offering training to

highlighted that there were 4 major types

the existing employees and always keep

of challenges he faced throughout his time

them motivated in the long run. Besides,

as an entrepreneur, family man and a

Mr Radhie also shared the Work-Study-Life

student. This includes time management,

balance model during his talk. A schedule

cash flow, strapped budget and human

or a goal list is the best solution for this

resources. He mentioned that any

type of challenge.

entrepreneur must be good in managing your time between study, family and deadlines.

A schedule or a goal list is the best solution for this type of challenge. A goal list will provide you a clear focus on what you believe to be important in life. This perspective helps in decision making that may affect your direction in your career and life. Secondly, Mr Radhie mentioned the importance of business cash flow that includes the salary and wage payment to employees.

The solution to this was to monitor your business cash flow as close as it can be.

We need to cut out any inefficiencies that might hamper the cash flow. Thirdly, a cash-strapped budget business. Cost cutting is the only necessary strategy for this issue. The solution to this, is as an entrepreneur we need to set the priority on what the most important expenses should obviously be paid first.

A goal list will provide you a clear focus on what you believe to be important in life. This perspective helps in decision making that may affect your direction in your career and life. Secondly, Mr Radhie mentioned the importance of business cash flow that includes the salary and wage payment to employees. The solution to this was to monitor your business cash flow as close as it can be. We need to cut out any inefficiencies that might hamper the cash flow. Thirdly, a cash-strapped budget business. Cost cutting is the only necessary strategy for this issue.

The solution to this, is as an entrepreneur we need to set the priority on what the most important expenses should obviously be paid first. Fourth, Mr Radhie did mention that nowadays skilled employees are hard to find. In order to make up for a shortage in skilled workers, employers need to have a workforce plan such as offering training to the existing employees and always keep them motivated in the long run. Besides, Mr Radhie also shared the Work-Study-Life balance model during his talk.

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HOW DOES IT CHANGE THE MINDSET OF STUDENTS?

This talk has change the mindset of the

These people are there to support you

students on the importance to strive a

and encourage you, helping you realize

balance in study, work and life as a

that your hard work, as well as dedication,

student. Education is the key to success

is totally worth it. When you have an

and there is no end to learning. This is

amazing support system, it allows you to

especially evident nowadays when

let go of the things that are weighing you

everyone is trying to enhance their higher

down, thereby preventing pent-up stress

education attainment in order to make

and frustration work-study-life can bring.

progress career-wise.

However, many people find it a bit

Lastly, always engaging with your

tricky to balance study, work and life, due

supervisor/team leader/employer. This is

to a number of individual factors. If you

quite important because they may not

want to balance work-study-life perfectly,

understand how much demanding your

the first thing you should do is to keep

study is and may not realize how tricky it

your schedule wisely organized. There are

is for you to balance your work schedule

many tools that can help you do that,

and learning time. By engaging with your

such as calendar, phone reminders, filing

supervisor/team members and by

systems, and the list goes on.

explaining to everyone your situation, it may help them get an understanding of

Next, to help us to properly manage our time as a student between study-worklife, the next step after scheduling wisely is to prioritize your tasks where you select what should be done first or immediately and why it should be done. Constantly keep an eye out on the deadlines of each task when prioritizing your work. Some work needs to be started well in advance of a deadline to complete it.

your difficult schedule.

This could earn you more flexible options. From what i observe so far, many UTM graduates were able to achieve their success in study-work-life while still studying in UTM. This is a very great exposures to all other students, as to motivate them that they can also achieve this successful moment in their life.

Having a hard time doesn't mean you are going to fail, it's just a lesson learned that

Some other types of tasks require input from others hence build in enough time on your schedule and a buffer for possible delays. Not to forget, to keep socializing. If we feel in need of emotional support, please reach out to your friends, family members, classmates, team members, mentor or partner.

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there are something bigger awaits you in the future.

AIN NURIZZATI

LECTURER

ANIS NADIRAH

HAIRUDIN BIN

ANG KE WEI

SUBJECT

ABDUL MAJID

SCSD3761-03 SEMINAR

LIM LIP HONG

KEUSAHAWANAN (TECHNOPRENEURSHIP SEMINAR)

SANTOKH SINGH

CREDITS