Professor Emeritus Dato' Dr. Hajah Asmah Hj. Omar Abstract

Professor Emeritus Dato' Dr. Hajah Asmah Hj. Omar who obtained a Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1969, in General Linguistics, held the academic Chair of Malay  Linguistics at the University of Malaya from 1976 until she retired in 2000.  From then on, she went to set up the Institute of Malay Civilisation at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjung Malim, Perak, and was the first holder of the prestigious Za’ba Chair of Malay Civilisation.  She also holds a D. Litt. from the University of Malaya (1998) , and an Honorary D.Litt. from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2006).  She was conferred the Emeritus Professor status by the University of Malaya in 2000.

While at the University of Malaya she was responsible in the establishment of the University’s Language Centre in 1972, which was later upgraded to the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics.  In the process of changing over the language medium of the University of Malaya from English to Malay in the 1970’s,  she was given the task of planning and overseeing the  implementation of the policy,  in her capacity as  Academic Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, and then as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Establishment).

She has been a member of the Language Council of Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia (MABBIM) from the time of its inception in December 1972 until today.  This Council is the supreme body in Malay-Indonesian language standardisation, specifically that of the spelling system,  as well as in the formulation of rules in the coining and transferring of scientific terminology from the international corpus to Malay.

She has done extensive fieldwork on indigenous languages of Malaysia and “diasporic Malay”.  Her works on these and those on language policy and planning, child language development, sociolinguistics, Malay grammar and history of the Malay language development have been appeared in the form of journal articles, chapters in books, books and encyclopedias produced by local and international publishers.

Plenary Speakers

Professor Dato' Md. Salleh Yaapar Abstract

Professor Dato' Md. Salleh Yaapar ialah profesor Kesusasteraan Bandingan di Pusat Pengajian Ilmu Kemanusiaan merangkap Pengarah, Penerbit USM, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Beliau ialah mantan Penyandang Kursi Eropah bagi Pengajian Melayu, di Universiti Leiden, Belanda (2003-2006). Sebelumnya, beliau ialah Timbalan Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan), Timbalan Naib Canselor (Hal Ehwal Pelajar), dan Dekan, Pusat Pengajian Ilmu Kemanusiaan, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Beliau memperoleh ijazah Sarjana Muda Sastera dari Universiti Malaya, Sarjana Sastera dari University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Sarjana Sastera dan Doktor Falsafah (pangkat Cemerlang) dari Temple University, Philadelphia, Amerika Syarikat.

Bidang kepakaran beliau ialah Kesusasteraan Bandingan, Teori Sastera, dan Kesusasteraan Dunia Melayu. Beliau telah menerbitkan hasil penyelidikannya di dalam pelbagai jurnal antarabangsa seperti Indonesia and the Malay World, Asian Journal of Social Science, The Muslim World, IIAS Newsletter, dan Muslim Education Quarterlydan jurnal di Asia Tenggara seperti Ulumul Qur’an, Horison, Tenggara, dan Pangsura. Buku-buku dan monografnya termasuklah Pilgrimage to the Orient, Mysticism and Poetry: A Hermeneutical Reading of the Poems of Amir Hamzah, Cultural Encounter and Religious Engagement in Nurturing World Peace: Lessons from Selected Literary Works and Authors, dan Kesusasteraan Bandingan dan Kesusasteraan Asia Tenggara Abad ke-21.

Prof. Dato' Md. Salleh ialah Naib Pengerusi, Lembaga Pengelola, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Malaysia dan ahli Board of Recommendation, Netherlands-Malaysia Association, the Hague. Beliau juga ahli sidang penasihat antarabangsa bagi Dimension: Journal of Indonesian and Malaysian Studies (Jerman), E-Utama: Journal of Malay Culture, Language, Literature and Education (Singapura), Sari: Jurnal Alam dan Tamadun Melayu (Malaysia), dan Jurnal Pengajian Melayu (Malaysia). Beliau juga ahli lembaga pengarang bagi Malay Literature (Malaysia), Heritage Asia (Malaysia) dan Kemanusiaan: Asian Journal of Humanities (Malaysia).

Professor Dr Abd Rahim Md Nor Abstract

Professor Dr Abd Rahim Md Nor is the Chairman of School of Social, Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He obtained his doctorate from University of Sheffield, M.A. from University of Keele, and Certificate in Databases from University of Cambridge, all in the United Kingdom, after completing his first degree at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He specialises in Economic Geography, Environmental Management, Public Transport and Research Methods. He has published more than 100 academic papers in the form of refereed journal articles, chapters in book, books and proceedings, writing in topics such as urban transport issues, corridor development, and social and environmental impacts. Amongst his well-received books are Statistical Methods in Research (Prentice Hall), Computerised Methods in Analysing Data (Oxford-Fajar), and Transport for the Under-Served in Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Publishers). He is currently on the board of editors of Asian Social Science Journal and E-Bangi Journal. Beyond research and teaching, he is also a consultant to many projects commissioned by, among others, Putrajaya Development Corporation, Department of the Environment, Petronas, Highway Planning Division of  the Ministry of Works, Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister Department, and various state governments. Currently he is leading research on corridor development in Iskandar Malaysia in south Johor and  on track-based public transport in Greater Kuala Lumpur.