PUTRAJAYA: The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Saturday (Nov 30) said the name of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) will remain.
His Royal Highness said that the UPM Board of Trustees and himself as Chancellor were not consulted in advance regarding any proposed change of the university's name.
"Therefore, I do not agree with the proposal," said the Sultan at the second part of Session One of the 48th UPM Convocation Ceremony at UPM today.
Sultan Sharafuddin in his speech stressed that the UPM’s name should be maintained because he had launched the Putra brand which means "Agriculture for the People".
He said the name UPM is also in honour of the name of the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-haj.
"Therefore, here I would like to remind those who do not understand history to read and examine historical facts before making any statements, especially involving UPM," he said.
On Thursday, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said a proposal to change UPM's name back to its original name, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, would be submitted to the Cabinet for discussion.
Meanwhile, Sultan Sharafuddin in his speech also recommended that UPM collaborate with other industry players in the agricultural sector to find ways to re-popularise the agricultural sector in the country, especially among the younger generation.
He said that the negative views of society that label agriculture as a field with no future or a low-class field need to be changed and the community needs to be convinced that agriculture has potential and a bright future.
"This effort needs to be implemented because agriculture remains a sector that needs to be maintained and is an important sector," His Royal Highness said. - Bernama
