Case STudy 9: Leading by Example - Emeritus Dato' Prof. Ir. Dr. Zainai Bin Mohamed

Abstract

“The Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK)”, sounded like a glamorous and important title, which will definitely come with a fancy and huge office on the top floor of a big stunning building with a wide window overlooking a beautiful scenery of a well-established university campus… This would be ideal if the university has been fully developed and in operation for at least a decade. Instead, it was totally the opposite, just a small desk and a chair tucked at a corner of a medium-sized office, with not a single cupboard or bookshelves in sight. The room is a part of a rental space in an old bungalow located at the Kota Bharu Teacher’s College in Pengkalan Chepa. Not only that, with less than 10 staff to work with, Prof. Zainai has tremendously a heavy task in working with almost nothing and hardly any facilities to make this work. “Zainai, you need to pull this through…. A lot of people are counting on you! It is not just a job but it is a responsibility and hope of the nation, especially to my home state, Kelantan. You can do it, youvhave to do it, no matter what it takes!”, constantly reminding himself of the tasks ahead and he is adamant that failure is not an option…..