Director ARI HICoE: December 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Do You Know Your BMI?

Body Mass Index(BMI) can be used to determine whether an individual is overweight. Body Mass Index is calculated using the BMI formula to find the height to weight ratio of an individual. BMI is then compared to 'weight status' categories. Please visit http://www.whathealth.com/bmi/calculator.html to use the calculator. BMI Calculator is easy-to-use & versatile - a combination of imperial and metric measurements can be input or selected. Everyone should take care of his or her weight and be healthy.
Instructions:
1. Input or select your height value in the calculator above. If you input your height select the appropriate measurement button (inches or cm's)
2. Input or select your weight value. If you input your weight select the appropriate measurement button (pounds or kilos)
3. Press Calculate. Your BMI will now be displayed.
4. Compare your BMI with the BMI weight status table below.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

GREEN TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNTING...

I was having a chat with Prof Dr Azni today and we were discussing on the possibility of a collaborative research. Prof Azni's current research interest in the area of "Green Technology" and she was proposing that I should explore "Green Technology Accounting". I found this excerpt about Green Technology and wonder how ARI can participate in this type of research. I think there's a need to explore the accounting and economics aspect of green technology.....

NEWS
The key challenge faced by the Malaysian government in going green has been the absence of an institution tasked solely to drive green technology, Encik Mohd Rosli bin Haji Abdullah told FutureGov.

Senior Under Secretary Haji Abdullah is heading the Green Technology Division, which was set up two months ago following the launch of the country’s National Green Technology Policy.

The first of the five strategic thrusts under the National Green Technology Policy is to establish the National Green Technology Council. The council, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, will have ten to 12 members from various ministries to discuss green technology issues.

“Green technology efforts have always been fragmented with different ministries and agencies running their own projects. Environmental initiatives often involve several parties across the government, so we need to first strengthen the institution. The council will take a consolidated approach, providing a national strategic focus and plan,” added Haji Abdullah.

According to the Prime Minister Najib Razak, the government will lead by example by adopting green technology in government facilities.

The Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water – which the Green Technology Division falls under – will be the key coordinator and facilitator for the green technology roadmap. It has already taken a lead in going green. Its building is the first to be rated a ‘Low Energy Office’ in Malaysia and reported energy savings of more than 50 per cent compared to new office buildings.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Budgeting During Tight Economic Environment

During tight economic environment, it is best to focus on how well we can tap on our human capital development. Since money is tight, it is difficult to expand on physical infrastructure. But certainly we can think of increasing productivity, capapability and efficiency of our human resources. Due to the current economic downturn, our university has asked all responsibility centres to re-calculate their budget for the 10th Malaysia Plan which will commence in 2010. A two-day budget workshop which started today had asked all deans and campus director to be prudent and reasonable in their budget request....

Welcome

The creation of this blog is an effort to provide latest update and information about ARI. As a director to ARI, I want to share my personal vision and perhaps invite those who visit this blog to give ideas and constructive comments on how to continuously improve ARI from time to time. ARI is a centre of excellence under the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. Personally, I believe that it can go very far. Plans are underway for ARI to participate at international platforms.

As a Higher Institutions' Centre of Excellence (HICoE), ARI is to drive a niche research in Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC). Essentially there are two main research thrusts within IFC: (i) Islamic Accounting & Muamalat and (ii) Financial Criminology. The focus on IFC is in tandem with the government's aspiration of making Malaysia, the global hub is Islamic Finance. In view of this vision, fundamental research in financial criminology is important so that new policies or system can be developed to mitigate and prevent financial crime within the Islamic Finance industry and other economic sectors.

ARI's research in Islamic Financial Criminology is divided into three phases. In Phase One, IFC research projects will focus on both local and regional issues. As such, ARI will forge a lot smart research collaborations with other research centres, professional bodies, government agencies, regulatory & enforcement agencies, universities and the private sectors. The Phase One projects aim to identify specific IFC issues that necessitate the development of new poducts, models, framework or policies. ARI will collaborate with agencies such as JAKIM, IKIM, IBFIM, INCEIF, ISRA, PDRM, RMC, FIU, BNM, MACC, IIM, UIA, USIM, USM etc. In term of deliverables, at least fifty publications will be produced by Phase One initiatives.

Premised on specific issues identified in Phase One projects, Phase Two focuses on working on specific IFC products, models, framework and/or policies related to IFC. ARI invites international partners who are experts in their own fields to participate in Phase Two research projects. Several international players from Australia, USA, UK, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore have indicated their interest to participate.

In Phase Three, IFC products, models, policies are further enhanced. The main aim of Phase Three is to isolate elements of technology transfer and the development of systems into IFC products, models, framework or policies. Upon completion of Phase Three, IFC products will be launched and ARI hopes to become a leading research centre globally focusing on its niche "Islamic Financial Criminology".

Director ARI HICoE