Dr. Halim offers insights on UTM’s tagline—’Innovating Sustainable Solutions’—and its application in various aspects of life, both personally and professionally.

I started running at Azman Hashim Stadium about three weeks ago. Before I got married five years ago, my weight was around 50 kilograms. Now, after five years of marriage, my weight has increased to 68 kilograms. Oh my God! I’ve gained almost 20 kilograms. People often say that I’ve put on weight because my wife takes very good care of me. Some friends even joke that she cooks delicious food for me every day—which, I must admit, is true!

Before the pandemic, when I was still single, I was quite an active runner. At that time, I lived in a condominium with gym facilities, and it felt almost compulsory for me to run or use the gym equipment after work. I felt that my day wasn’t complete unless I exercised. I had planned to resume running earlier, especially since my cholesterol levels were not significant. However, due to after-work responsibilities with my daughters—and helping my wife manage our twins, who required our attention— I had to put that plan on hold.

Now that my kids are attending kindergarten, I’ve started exercising again in the evenings after work. I’m grateful to have been blessed with twin daughters, but it has made regular physical activity more challenging. I began with brisk walking, and it was tough at first because I hadn’t done any real physical exercise since getting married. I almost gave up when I didn’t see any weight change in the beginning. Most of the time, I run at the stadium, sometimes at the Padang Kawad, and on weekends, I take my family to Tasik UTM. I know it’s nearly impossible to return to my pre-marriage weight, but I’ve set a more realistic weight target to achieve. While running, I often ask myself, “What will I do to sustain this progress?”

Currently, my wife prepares and packs my meals: boiled eggs for breakfast, grilled fish or chicken with salad (no rice) for lunch, and fruits for dinner. But can I consistently maintain this healthy diet while watching others enjoy all kinds of delicious food? When I reflect on it, I realise that achieving success is already hard—but sustaining it is even harder. Recently, I read a news article about a Malaysian men’s doubles badminton team that held the world’s top ranking for only eight weeks before being overtaken by a South Korean pair.

That made me think of AirAsia, which has maintained its position as the world’s best low-cost airline for many consecutive years. AirAsia has achieved this by offering affordable fares, operating an extensive network, focusing on operational efficiency, and consistently innovating to enhance the customer experience in an ever-changing aviation industry. The key word here is “innovation.” Unlike creativity, innovation is the process of improving or changing something that already exists to make it better, more effective, or more valuable. It involves new ideas, products, services, or methods that lead to positive change. The world is changing rapidly, and we must be ready to adapt.

During my university days, internet access was minimal. I still remember having to write my name in a logbook at the computer centre (now UTMDigital) just to get internet access. What truly brought my coursemates and me closer together were the physical meetups: discussing things in the library, studying in dorm rooms, and doing everything together.

I’m confident that, insya-Allah, UTM will one day achieve its goal of being among the top 100 universities in the world. We don’t chase rankings; we let the rankings chase us. Rankings are simply indicators that our ecosystem is moving in the right direction. I believe our top management will continue strategising to maintain this position through innovation. This is crucial to ensure that the university remains relevant in producing quality human capital that meets the evolving needs of the industry.

Now, back to my evening runs. What will I do once I reach my target weight—which, to be honest, I still don’t know when that will be? In terms of innovation, I hope to keep exercising daily. To avoid getting bored running in the same place, I’ll vary my routes: at the park near my house, the gym at the stadium, or around the campus (for that, I plan to wear black sunglasses… haha). I may also allow myself a cheat day once a week so that I can enjoy my favourite foods. On weekends, I bring my family to Hutan Bandar to experience a different atmosphere, and maybe I’ll invite some of my male students to join me for a run. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll even participate in a running event one day.

Innovation is subjective—it can pertain to actions, products, services, or anything else. So how do we sustain the success that is so difficult to achieve?

The answer lies in innovation, just as UTM’s tagline suggests: “Innovating Sustainable Solutions.”

By Associate Professor Dr. Abdul Halim Abdullah, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Technology, UTM