21 May 2011

Universiti Al Azhar Universiti Islam kedua selepas Universiti Al Zaitun

Universiti pertama Islam ialah Universiti Al Zaitun di di Tunis.  Universiti Al Azhar adalah Universiti Islam yang kedua dan terletak di Kahirah



Al-Azhar University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Al-Azhar" redirects here. For other uses, see Al-Azhar (disambiguation).
Al-Azhar University
جامعة الأزهر
Game'at Al-ʾAzhar al-Šarīf

Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo Egypt
Established 970~972 AD
Type Public
Religious affiliation Islamic (Sunni)
President Dr. Abdullah al-Husseini
Location Egypt Cairo, Egypt
30°02′45″N 31°15′45″ECoordinates: 30°02′45″N 31°15′45″E
Campus Urban
Website azhar.edu.eg/En/index.htm
Al-Azhar University logo.svg
Al-Azhar University (pronounced "AZ-har", Arabic: جامعة الأزهر الشريف‎; Game'at Al-ʾAzhar al-Šarīf, "the Noble Azhar University") is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world.[1] It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt after Cairo University. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.[2]
It is associated with Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo. The university's mission includes the propagation of Islamic religion and culture. To this end, its Islamic scholars (ulamas) render edicts (fatwas) on disputes submitted to them from all over the Sunni Islamic world regarding proper conduct for Muslim individuals and societies. Al-Azhar also trains Egyptian government appointed preachers in proselytization (da'wa).
Its library is considered second in importance in Egypt only to the Egyptian National Library and Archives.[citation needed] In May 2005, Al-Azhar in partnership with a Dubai information technology enterprise, ITEP launched the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Project to Preserve Al Azhar Scripts and Publish Them Online (the "Al-Azhar Online Project") with the mission of eventually providing online access to the library's entire rare manuscripts collection (comprising about seven million pages).[3][4]
Al-Azhar is considered by one author the world's second oldest surviving degree granting university.[5] However, this claim on precedence appears to confound the distinct nature of madrasas and medieval universities which followed very different historical trajectories until the former were expanded to the latter in modern times,[6][7] and fails to take into account that the Islamic Ijazah certificate deviated in concept and procedure from the medieval doctorate out of which modern university degrees evolved.[8][9][10]

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[edit] History

Al-Azhar University concerns itself with the religious syllabus, which pays special attention to the Quranic sciences and traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on the one hand, while on the other hand the university teaches all the modern fields of science. In 1961, according to Al-Azhar university's legislatory law No. 103, new colleges of applied sciences, such as the faculties of Medicine and Engineering, were introduced to Al-Azhar university. These newly introduced faculties are not duplicates of their counterparts in other universities because they combine the empirical sciences with the religious sciences. Alongside the Egyptian students who are studying at Al-Azhar university, there are also many other students from various Islamic and European countries. These foreign Muslim students have exactly the same rights as the Egyptian students.[citation needed]
The madrasa was founded by the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt, descended from Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad. Fatimah was called Az-Zahra (the brilliant), and the university was named in her honor.[citation needed]
Studies began at Al-Azhar in the month of Ramadan, 975 AD. According to Syed Farid Alatas, the Jami'ah had faculties in Islamic law and jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, Islamic philosophy, and logic.[11][12] In the 12th century, following the overthrow of the Shia Fatimid dynasty, Sultan Saladin (the founder of the staunchly Sunni Ayyubid Dynasty ) converted Al-Azhar to a Shafi'ite Sunni center of learning.[1][13] Abd-el-latif delivered lectures on Islamic medicine at Al-Azhar, while the jewish philosopher Maimonides delivered lectures on medicine and astronomy there during the time of Saladin.[14]
In 1961, Al-Azhar was established as a university under the government of Egypt's second President Gamal Abdel Nasser when a wide range of secular faculties were added for the first time, such as business, economics,science,pharmacy,medicine, engineering and agriculture. Before that date, the Encyclopaedia of Islam classifies the Al-Azhar variously as madrasa, center of higher learning and, since the 19th century, religious university, but not as a university in the full sense, referring to the modern transition process as "from madrasa to university".[2][15] An Islamic women's faculty was also added in the same year, six years after Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah had been the first woman to speak at the university.[citation needed].

[edit] Magazine publishing

Since 1929, Al-Azhar has published a magazine (now monthly) whose stated mission is to publicise religious rules, subjects related to Islamic literature, and basic jurisprudence (Fiqh), including sections on history, biographies, translated texts, and news concerning the Muslim world.

[edit] Political views

Sheikh Tantawy noted that among the priorities of Muslims are "to master all knowledge of the world and the hereafter, not least the technology of modern weapons to strengthen and defend the community and faith". He added that "mastery over modern weaponry is important to prepare for any eventuality or prejudices of the others, although Islam is a religion of peace.".[16]
Sheikh Tantawy also reasserted that his is the best faith to follow (a tenet common to proponents of many religions) and that Muslims have the duty of active da'wa. He has made declarations about Muslims interacting with non-Muslims who are not a threat to Muslims. There are non-Muslims living apart from Muslims and who are not enemies of Islam ("Muslims are allowed to undertake exchanges of interests with these non-Muslims so long as these ties do not tarnish the image of the faith"), and there are "the non-Muslims who live in the same country as the Muslims in cooperation and on friendly terms, and are not enemies of the faith" ("in this case, their rights and responsibilities are the same as the Muslims so long as they do not become enemies of Islam"). However, Shi'a fiqh (according to a fatwa by Al-Azhar, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam)[17] is accepted as a fifth school of Islamic thought.

[edit] On freedom of speech

In October 2007, Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, then the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, drew allegations of stifling freedom of speech when he asked the Egyptian government to toughen its rules and punishments against journalists. During a Friday sermon in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and a number of ministers, Tantawy is alleged to have stated that journalism which contributes to the spread of false rumours rather than true news deserves to be boycotted, and that it is tantamount to sinning for readers to purchase such newspapers. Tantawy, a supporter of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, also called for a punishment of eighty lashes to "those who spread rumors" in an indictment of speculation by journalists over Mubarak's ill health and possible death.[18][19] This is not the first time that he has criticized the Egyptian press regarding its news coverage nor is it the first time he in return has been accused by the press of opposing freedom of speech. During a religious celebration in the same month, Tantawy released comments alluding to "the arrogant and the pretenders who accuse others with the ugliest vice and unsubstantiated charges". In response, Egypt's press union issued a statement suggesting that Tantawy appeared to be involved in inciting and escalating a campaign against journalists and freedom of the press.[20]

[edit] Notable persons associated with the university

Al-Azhar University has had a huge impact on the religious, cultural and political arena in Egypt, the Arab World, and the wider Muslim world

[edit] 19th – early 20th centuries

[edit] 1910s–1950s

[edit] 1950–present

 This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources cited within this article showing they are notable and an alumnus/resident or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (March 2011)

[edit] Faculties


[edit] See also

Egypt portal
Islam portal
University portal
Outside Egypt
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20 May 2011

Universiti Harvard dinamakan ikut nama John Harvard yang pertama membantu Universiti tersebut semasa ia mula2 ditubuhkan sebagai sebuah Kolej

Nama Universiti Harvard adalah sempena nama John Harvard yang pertama sekali membantu Universiti tersebut semasa ia mula2 ditubuhkan sebagai sebuah Kolej

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Harvard

John Harvard Statue at Harvard University.
Born November 26, 1607
Southwark, England
Died September 14, 1638 (aged 30)
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Occupation pastor
John Harvard (November 26, 1607 – September 14, 1638) was an English pastor and first benefactor of the college that was named Harvard College in his honor.[1] He directed that half his money, along with his library, be given to the recently created school. His gift assured its continued operation.[2] The Harvard Bridge is named after him, as is the John Harvard Library in Southwark, London.

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[edit] Biography

Harvard was born and raised in Southwark, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite the City of London. He was the fourth of nine children, the son of Robert Harvard (1562–1625), a butcher and tavern owner, and his wife, Katherine Rogers (1584–1635), a native of Stratford-upon-Avon whose father, Thomas Rogers (1540–1611), is sometimes thought to have been an associate of John Shakespeare, the father of William Shakespeare (1564–1616). He was baptised at the parish church (now Southwark Cathedral) in 1607.[3] John Harvard was educated at St Saviour's Grammar School in Southwark, where his father Robert was a governor.
In 1625, his father, a stepsister, and two brothers died of the plague. Of his immediate family, only his mother and one brother, Thomas, remained. She remarried to John Elletson (1580–1626) who died within months of their marriage, and then to Richard Yearwood (1580–1632) in 1627. Harvard entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, then a Puritan stronghold, in December 1627 and received his B.A. in 1632.[4] Katherine died in 1635 and Thomas in the spring of 1637. John married Ann Sadler (1614–55), of Ringmer, Sussex, in April, 1636, daughter of the Rev. John Sadler and sister of Harvard's contemporary, John Sadler, the lawyer and orientalist.
In May 1637 he emigrated with his wife to New England and settled in Charlestown, where many of his classmates had arrived before him. Charlestown made him the minister of the Church, but within the following year he contracted tuberculosis and died on September 14, 1638. He is buried at the Phipps Street Burying Ground in Charlestown.
Childless, Harvard bequeathed £779 17s 2d[3] (half of his estate) and his library of around 400 volumes to the New College at nearby Cambridge, which had been founded on September 8, 1636, and to his friend, the first schoolmaster of this college, Nathaniel Eaton. Eaton's Records indicate that the building of the new college began immediately in 1638 with the assistance of the carpenter Thomas Meakins and/or his son, Thomas Meakins, Jr. of Charlestown. It was completely constructed of wood, with a stone foundation and cellar, had its own apple orchard, and was apparently equipped with live-in accommodations for some 30 students, as there were at least that many attendant within the first year.
The school renamed itself "Harvard College" on March 13, 1639. Harvard was first referred to as a university rather than a college by the new Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.
No records or illustrations remain of the earliest college, which burnt to the ground in 1764 along with all but one of Harvard's original 400 volume donation.[5][6]

[edit] Statue

A statue of John Harvard, sculpted by Daniel Chester French, sits in Harvard Yard at Harvard University. Despite its name, the statue does not depict the true likeness of John Harvard, as the sculptor had no accurate image to work from.[7] The statue, known by Harvard tour guides as the statue of three lies, claims that it depicts John Harvard, Founder, 1638, but in reality Harvard was a contributor, not the founder; the institution was founded in 1636; and the statue is actually a likeness of someone else.[7] French used a student as a model.[8][9]
The statue is located centrally in Harvard Yard, next to University Hall. The Harvard University Band plays in front of the statue after home game victories. Tour guides often tell visitors it is good luck to rub John Harvard's left foot. There is, however, among Harvard undergraduate students a longstanding tradition of urinating on the statue at night.[10]
The statue is depicted on a 1986 United States Postal Service 56 cent postage stamp, as part of the Great Americans series. It also appears in 2010 film The Social Network.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "John Harvard Facts, Information.". The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-17. "English minister in America and first major benefactor of Harvard College. He bequeathed £780 (half his estate) and his library of 320 volumes to the new established college at Cambridge, Mass., which was named in his honor."
  2. ^ "John Harvard (British minister)". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-07-17. "he directed that half his money, along with his collection of classical and theological literature, be given to a [certain] school recently created...Harvard's gift assured its continued operation"
  3. ^ a b Rowston, Guy (2006). Southwark Cathedral — The authorised Guide.
  4. ^ Harvard, John in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
  5. ^ "Tale of John Harvard's surviving book". Harvard University. Retrieved 2009-03-23.[dead link]
  6. ^ Marbled Paper. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1990. ISBN 0812281888.
  7. ^ a b Landmarks at Harvard Access date March 2, 2008
  8. ^ John Harvard Statue Access date March 2, 2008
  9. ^ Harvard's Statue of 3 Lies Access date March 2, 2008
  10. ^ http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/12/18/the-truth-about-john-harvard-p/
  11. ^ Scott catalog # 2191.
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10 May 2011

1Melayu, 1Bumi

Ayuh! Gerakkan segera 1Melayu, 1Bumi

 
Oleh Zaini Hassan

ORANG Cina telah bersatu. Keputusan Pilihan Raya Negeri Sarawak telah membuktikannya. Malah, sebenarnya orang Cina telah pun bersatu sejak dulu lagi.
Perkembangan politik muaasir (kontemporari), selepas era-Mahathirisme dan semasa era-Abdullahisme telah membuktikan ikatan orang Cina lebih utuh dan berpadu. Hubungan kekitaan, kekeluargaan serta brotherhood dan ukhwah orang Cina lebih erat, tanpa boleh ditandingi oleh mana-mana kaum di atas muka bumi Malaysia ini.

Walaupun antara mereka berlainan haluan politik, tapi apabila sampai masa menentukan arah untung nasib kaum Cina – mereka akan bersatu atas pangkahan undi yang sama.

Dalam ekonomi, mereka membantu antara satu sama lain. Dari sekecil-kecil ekonomis kepadalah yang sebesar-besarnya, mereka akan tolong-menolong antara satu sama lain.

Budaya telah berjaya menyatupadukan orang Cina. Dalam masyarakat Cina tiada istilah bidaah yang boleh memesongkan mereka daripada soal budaya dan adat resam bangsa. Bahasa Cina diangkat tinggi, malah ada yang kata orang Cina yang tidak boleh membaca Cina pun akan turut membantu membeli akhbar Cina. Maka itu, akhbar Sin Chew Jit Poh – suara keramat orang Cina, menjadi antara akhbar yang paling tinggi edaran dan keuntungannya di Malaysia.

Sekolah Cina terus dijadikan sebagai cagaran politik utama – yang tidak boleh dikompromi sama sekali.
Pendek kata, orang Cina sebenarnya amat beruntung sekali berada di bumi Malaysia ini. Mereka telah menguasai segala-galanya. Sepuluh teratas orang mereka adalah bilionaire Malaysia. Sebahagian besar kedai yang ada di atas muka bumi Malaysia ini milik mereka. Hampir semua pelajar yang belajar di universiti swasta dan IPTS ternama dan mahal-mahal di negara ini rata-ratanya orang mereka.

Saya telah nyatakan perkara itu dalam Cuit bertajuk Apa lagi orang Cina mahu? tahun lepas. Tulisan itu dipetik sepenuhnya oleh akhbar Straits Times Singapura dan surat pembaca yang saya terima dari republik itu menyokong penuh tulisan itu.

Apa yang saya katakan ini adalah hakikat atau fakta.
Hanya kuasa mutlak politik yang belum dikuasai sepenuh oleh orang Cina, yang lain semua sudah. Kini DAP membawa slogan yang cukup hebat di kalangan masyarakat mereka iaitu Undi untuk Ubah, Enough is Enough (Cukuplah) dan Selamatkan Malaysia.

Slogan itu sebenarnya bukan ditujukan kepada orang lain, tapi khususnya kepada orang Cina. Terpapar megah di dada baju penyokong dan calon DAP dalam pilihan raya Sarawak supaya diubah kepimpinan Melayu Malaysia ini.

Terus terang saya katakan, saya amat menyanjungi orang Cina. Mereka mempunyai matlamat dan masa depan yang cukup jelas. Walaupun tindakan itu berbau politik atau bukan, soalnya mereka cukup bersatu. Politik digunakan sebaik-baik mungkin untuk menyatupadukan kaum itu.

Kita jangan salahkan DAP. Apa yang DAP lakukan itu amat betul untuk masa depan kaumnya. Jika Pas dipergunakan oleh DAP untuk memecahkan bangsanya sendiri, itulah operatif licik DAP.

DAP telah berjaya menjadi parti Cina yang telah menyatupadukan orang Cina. MCA gagal dan SUPP pun gagal. Itu hakikat atas kertas. Malah seorang sahabat saya berbangsa Cina, pengarang sebuah akhbar ternama bersetuju bahawa orang Cina kini ke arah menyokong pembangkang. Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 akan digunakan sepenuhnya untuk menyatukan kuasa mereka.

Sebaliknya apa yang orang Melayu buat? Tiada apa-apa. Mereka ialah satu bangsa yang cukup selesa, komplesen, alpa dan tidak peduli. Malah pemikiran mereka cukup bercelaru.

Apa yang harus UMNO lakukan? UMNO harus berfikiran seperti DAPkah?

Pandangan saya, apa yang UMNO harus lakukan sekarang, di masa yang amat terdesak sekarang, ialah melancarkan gelombang perpaduan bangsa – 1Melayu, 1Bumi.

Lancarkan segera 1Melayu, 1Bumi dalam lingkungan UMNO dan parti-parti Melayu yang lain.
Jika Pas degil dan tidak mahu ikut serta, gabungkan dengan puluhan NGO-NGO Melayu yang kini tumbuh bagaikan cendawan di atas bumi Malaysia ini. Perlu diingat NGO-NGO itu wujud kerana mereka dahagakan wadah perjuangan untung nasib bangsa semakin ditinggalkan. UMNO harus tarik pertubuhan sukarela ini ke hadapan dan menjadi juara semula dalam soal ini.

Persetankan Pas yang ternyata telah menggadaikan perjuangan bangsa Melayu untuk kepentingan politik totok mereka. Hairan sungguh, para penyokong Pas akan menjadi lebih kuah daripada sudu semasa berkempen, dan mereka tidak pernah sedar bahawa secara senyap-senyap DAP cukup strategik mempermainkan mereka.

Saya kira, sekiranya lima kerusi Pas di Sarawak itu ditandingkan di kawasan Cina sudah pasti mereka akan menang dan ada wakil dalam dewan undangan negeri. Tapi DAP telah mempermainkan mereka. Pas diletakkan di kawasan kaum bumiputera, bagi membolehkan kaum bumiputera terus berpecah. Pas seperti biasa, tidak sedar semua itu.

Dalam usaha meniupkan gelombang 1Melayu, 1Bumi, tidak salah 1Malaysia diteruskan kerana ia adalah dasar jangka panjang negara. Parti komponen Cina dalam BN pun tidak akan marah jika UMNO melancarkan gagasan 1Melayu, 1Bumi kerana bagi mereka orang Cina telah pun bersatu.

Tidak salah bagi orang Melayu melancarkan seruan 1Melayu, 1Bumi kerana orang Melayu sendiri belum bersatu.

Dalam tulisan-tulisan saya sebelum ini, saya ada mengatakan orang Melayu berpecah kepada enam golongan. Melayu UMNO, Melayu Pas, Melayu PKR, Melayu DAP, Melayu Liberal dan Melayu Atas Pagar.
Orang Melayu cukup berpecah. Orang Cina tidak akan marah sekiranya orang Melayu bersatu kembali. Mungkin DAPlah yang tidak selesa kerana matlamat mereka untuk memecah-belahkan lagi orang Melayu akan gagal.

Bagi DAP, selagi konsep Malaysia Malaysian mereka tidak berlaku, selagi itu mereka akan berusaha keras untuk menjayakannya.

UMNO harus meniupkan gagasan 1Melayu, 1Bumi ini segera. Orang Melayu harus disatukan segera bagi memastikan mereka menguasai semula politik yang semakin terhakis daripada tangan mereka.
Walaupun Melayu berpecah, namun ada lagi suara-suara segelintir yang amat sayangkan bangsa. Seorang sahabat umpamanya, menghantar SMS semasa tulisan ini ditulis berbunyi: “Tolong tulis...BN jangan lagi bagi kawasan majoriti Melayu kepada wakil MCA, Gerakan dalam PRU akan datang... cukup sudah pengorbanan UMNO yang dibalas dengan tuba. MCA dan Gerakan WAJIB akur kerana kalau mereka kalah dengan DAP, wakil mereka tak perlu dilantik dalam kerajaan...”

Itu ialah suara marah. Orang Melayu marah. Tapi kita harus rasional. Susun semula barisan dan gelombang satukan orang Melayu.

Saya bercakap bagi pihak bangsa saya. Gagasan inilah yang turut dimainkan oleh sahabat saya, saudara Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, seorang mualaf Cina yang cukup kental jiwa ultra-Melayunya. Orang Cina amat tidak menggemari beliau di atas semangat assabiyah Melayu beliau itu.

Namun bagi Ridhuan, dan orang Melayu yang lain, mereka amat khuatir dengan perkembangan mutakhir yang berlaku di negara ini sekarang.

Namun, penghargaan harus diberi kepada kaum bumiputera Sarawak yang telah melaksanakan tanggungjawab mereka dengan begitu betul sekali.

Saya angkat topi kepada kaum bumiputera Sarawak yang dilihat lebih matang daripada orang Melayu di Semenanjung. Sekiranya mereka tidak bersatu dalam pilihan raya 16 April lalu, maka Sarawak sudah tentu akan jatuh ke tangan orang lain.

Orang bumiputera Sarawak telah memberi satu petunjuk yang amat berharga supaya diikuti oleh kaum Melayu di Semenanjung.

Namun, orang Melayu Semenanjung berpecah enam. Mereka masih lagi berpecah enam.
Oleh itu menjadi kewajipan UMNO; atas nama pejuang-pejuangnya yang terdahulu; dan sebagai parti induk orang Melayu; lancarkan segera slogan 1Melayu, 1Bumi bagi menggerakkan semula gelombang kebangsaan bangsa itu.

Melayu harus dan wajib disatukan kembali sebagaimana kita mahu satukan orang Malaysia di bawah semangat 1Malaysia. Tiada makna adanya 1Malaysia, jika orang Melayu sendiri pun berpecah.
Kini terletak dalam tangan UMNO untuk menentukan hidup atau mati bangsa ini.

Orang Cina sudah ada 1Cina dalam erti kata tersendiri. Orang Melayu pun perlu ada 1Melayu, 1Bumi. Ayuh gerakkan!
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7 May 2011

Al Qaeda plotted 9/11 anniversary rail attack - U.S.

Al Qaeda plotted 9/11 anniversary rail attack - U.S.

By James Vicini and Mark Hosenball | Reuters – Fri, May 6, 2011
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda considered attacking the U.S. rail sector on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. government officials said on Thursday in describing intelligence from Osama bin Laden's hide-out in Pakistan.

They said some evidence was found indicating the al Qaeda leader or his associates had engaged in discussions or planning for a possible attack on a train inside the United States on Sept. 11, 2011.

"We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting," spokesman Matthew Chandler said of an intelligence message the Department of Homeland Security sent on Thursday.

The department and other U.S. agencies have been reviewing the treasure trove of information from bin Laden's compound in Pakistan seized by the United States during the raid this week that killed the al Qaeda leader.

An initial review of the information by U.S. intelligence analysts indicates that bin Laden, while in Abbottabad, played a direct role for years in plotting terror attacks, and was not just an inspirational figure to al Qaeda, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

"He wasn't just a figurehead," the Times quoted a U.S. official as saying. "He continued to plot and plan, to come up with ideas about targets, and to communicate those ideas to other senior Qaeda leaders."
The information on plotting against the U.S. rail sector indicated one possible tactic for attacking a train was trying to tip it somehow off its tracks, one official said.

The official said it appeared from the information that this was an idea that bin Laden or his associates considered, but there was no indication now from the intelligence that further plans were drawn up for the scheme or that steps were taken to carry it out.

Another official said al Qaeda in February last year contemplated the rail attack to occur on the 10th anniversary of the hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, but the group was not tied to that exact date.

Since the raid, the Department of Homeland Security has taken a number of steps in reviewing measures at all potential terrorist targets, including transportation systems across the country. It added more officers at airports and at the borders.

Chandler said the alleged al Qaeda plot was based on "initial reporting, which is often misleading or inaccurate and subject to change."

He added, "We remain at a heightened state of vigilance," but said there were no plans to raise the national threat level.

Officials have long been concerned that al Qaeda might try to carry out attacks on the U.S. rail system.
In 2008, U.S. authorities warned of a possible al Qaeda threat to transit systems in and around New York City over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Last year, an Afghan immigrant pleaded guilty in New York to plotting a suicide bombing campaign on Manhattan's subway system in what U.S. authorities described as one of the most serious threats since the Sept. 11 attacks.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Vicki Allen)
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6 May 2011

Medical Course Freeze, No new progammes for 5 years to ensure quality Training

Medical Course Freeze, No new programmes for 5 years to ensure quality Training

“Based on the current crop of medical graduates from existing institutions of higher learning, the country can reach its target of one medical officer to 400 people (1:400) by 2020."
KUALA LUMPUR: A freeze of five years on new medical courses has been imposed on institutions of higher learning in the country.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the freeze, effective May 1, will end on April 30, 2016.

He said, in a statement yesterday, the cabinet decided on the moratorium based on several factors, including the marked increase in the number of medical graduates, the competency of housemen, teaching staff and teaching hospitals.
“Based on the current crop of medical graduates from existing institutions of higher learning, the country can reach its target of one medical officer to 400 people (1:400) by 2020.

“This can be achieved in stages without having to add new medical courses,” Khalid said. At the moment, Malaysia’s doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:1,000.

Khaled said it was more important to establish a form of control to ensure that graduates could undergo quality medical training to become competent doctors.
“Apart from that, a moratorium on new intake was also suggested to institutions that have not met accreditation standards and criteria. The current accreditation, he said, could be withdrawn until improvements had been carried out.

The freeze, however, would not affect the number of medical officers needed in the country, he said.

“The number of graduates from the 33 existing institutions as well as foreign graduates who return to Malaysia will be enough to meet the country’s needs by the year 2020,” Khaled said.
As of Jan 31, there were 11 public and 22 private institutions of higher learning that offered medical degrees with a total of 47 cour ses.

Only 17 of these institutions had been given accreditation, including eight public institut i o n s.

In early March, Khaled had said the ministry was considering a moratorium on the offer of medical programmes at public and private institutions of higher learning due to a shortage of academic manpower and teaching hospitals.

He has also said the ministry would not approve medical programmes or the setting up of medical faculties at public institutions of higher learning without the approval of the Malaysian Medical Council.

Up to Feb 28, the ministry had approved the registration of 25 universities, 22 university colleges and five branch campuses of foreign universities.

Former Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican concurred that there were enough medical schools and it would not make sense to build more.
He said the focus now should be given on training housemen.

“I would be happier if they (housemen) can be trained in a more structured manner.”

17 accredited medical training and teaching institutions

1. Universiti Malaya
2. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
3. Universiti Sains Malaysia
4. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
5. Universiti Putra Malaysia
6. Penang Medical College
7. Universiti Perubatan Antarabangsa
8. Universiti Islam Antarabangsa
9. Mangalore University/ Manipal Academy of Higher Education
10. Royal College of Medicine Perak (MBBS-Malaya Programme)
11. Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology
12. Universiti Teknologi Mara
13. Universiti Malaysia Sabah
14. Alliance College of Medical Sciences
15. Monash University Sunway Campus
16. UCSI University
17. Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences
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