By Thiviyah Manicam
Photo by Noor Azreen Awang
SERDANG, 19 Dec – University students should be the agent of change and not bandwagon riders, said a lecturer from the Department of Government and Civilisation Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Prof. Dr. Jayum A. Jawan.
According to him, most of the students of higher learning institutions chose to jump on the bandwagon without thinking about the impact of their actions on themselves and others.
“This phenomenon should be avoided, and we should be the ones to lead the change,” he said in a forum entitled ‘Impacts of Industrial Revolution on Humanity 4.0’ that took place here.
Apart from him, the two other forum panels were the Chairman of Board of Directors, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Prof. Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak and the former Dean of Faculty of Human Ecology, UPM, Prof. Dr. Zaid Ahmad. Prof. Dr. Abdul Mua’ti @ Zamri Ahmad from the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication acted as the moderator for the forum.
Prof. Tan Sri Dzulkifli believes that although technology is a dominant element of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, basic necessities need to be considered first before the modernisation agenda towards becoming a developed country is applied in a country such as Malaysia.
“All environmental changes such as climate change which is the impact of the Industrial Revolution 1.0 should be taken seriously. We have to determine what we need without mindlessly following the change towards the Industrial Revolution 4.0.”
“What is important is that basic necessities should be weighed first,” he said and gave an example of flood-prone areas in Kelantan that are in serious need of flood barriers compared to the construction of sophisticated buildings just for the sake of keeping up with the Industrial Revolution 4.0.
Prof. Dr. Zaid added that not everything could be replaced with technology, especially educators.
“Teachers cannot be replaced by robots because teachers do not only impart knowledge, but they also help to form humans that are balanced emotionally, spiritually and physically. Thus, replacing them with robots as recommended by the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is not a sensible move,” he said.
He added that if teachers were replaced by robots, this might jeopardise human morals. - UPM
