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Comment by CERI 7 minutes ago

[iCONADA Research Team ] Beyond Seaweed Farming: Can Sabah Build a Blue Bioeconomy? 

By looking beyond raw seaweed production, Sabah could turn its coastal resources into a new engine for local industry, innovation and community development.

Seaweed is emerging as an important resource in the global blue economy. Once regarded mainly as a traditional coastal crop, it is now attracting attention for its potential applications in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, animal feed, agricultural bio-stimulants and biodegradable materials.

For Sabah, where seaweed farming has long supported coastal communities, particularly in the east coast districts, this presents an opportunity to rethink the industry's future.

ASEAN's growing seaweed industry

According to FAO production statistics for 2024, Indonesia produced approximately 9.92 million tonnes of seaweed, ranking second globally, while the Philippines produced about 1.46 million tonnes. Malaysia recorded approximately 220,300 tonnes, placing it among the world's leading seaweed-producing countries.

These figures challenge claims that Malaysia has fallen outside the global top 20. The country remains a significant producer, with Sabah accounting for the bulk of its seaweed cultivation.

However, production volume alone does not determine industrial competitiveness.

Indonesia's seaweed output reportedly reached 11.65 million tonnes in 2025. Its government is also pursuing a more integrated development strategy for 2026–2030, covering cultivation, seed quality, processing, investment and exports.

The Philippines, meanwhile, recorded a preliminary production figure of approximately 1.38 million tonnes in 2025, a decline of 5.5 per cent from the previous year. Its experience highlights the challenges of maintaining productivity and quality despite having an established seaweed industry.

The regional competition is therefore shifting from simply producing more seaweed to building stronger industrial value chains.

Sabah's untapped potential

Sabah remains Malaysia's principal seaweed-producing state. Semporna is a major cultivation centre, alongside areas such as Kunak, Lahad Datu and Tawau.

Its advantages include suitable tropical waters, established farming communities and generations of local cultivation experience.

Yet the industry continues to face challenges involving seed quality, inconsistent yields, post-harvest handling, processing capacity and market access. Much of the production remains concentrated in raw materials, leaving farmers exposed to international price fluctuations.

The real issue is not whether Sabah has sufficient natural resources. It is whether the state can turn those resources into a stable, competitive and higher-value industry.

Comment by CERI 10 minutes ago

From carrageenan to the marine bioeconomy

Seaweed's commercial potential extends well beyond carrageenan, a hydrocolloid widely used in food processing, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Different species offer different applications. Gracilaria, for instance, is used to produce agar, while certain red seaweeds are being studied as livestock feed additives to reduce methane emissions. Seaweed extracts also have potential applications in agricultural bio-stimulants and biodegradable materials.

Research on Asparagopsis taxiformis has shown substantial reductions in cattle methane emissions under specific experimental feeding conditions. However, further work is needed to establish its effectiveness, safety and commercial viability in different farming systems.

Seaweed's carbon sequestration potential also deserves attention, although carbon absorbed during growth should not automatically be counted as permanent carbon removal. Long-term storage must be demonstrated and independently verified.

For Sabah, the more immediate priority should be developing food, feed, agricultural and cosmetic applications before moving into more technologically demanding sectors such as biomaterials and carbon markets.

Building an integrated industry

Four priorities deserve attention.

First, Sabah should strengthen research into improved seaweed varieties, seed quality and cultivation methods that can withstand rising sea temperatures and changing marine conditions.

Second, local processing and quality certification must be developed. Encouraging investment in extraction, food ingredients and other downstream activities would allow more economic value to remain within Sabah.

Third, technical and vocational education should be linked to the industry. Farmers, women, young people and small businesses need training in cultivation, quality control, processing, digital marketing and entrepreneurship.

Fourth, seaweed farms could become part of a wider coastal monitoring network, helping researchers and local authorities observe changes in water quality and marine ecosystems.

 The 'Village + Industry + Education' approach

Seaweed offers an excellent opportunity to connect local communities, businesses and educational institutions.

Under a Village + Industry + Education approach, coastal communities provide local knowledge and production experience; businesses develop processing and market opportunities; while schools, universities and research institutions contribute scientific knowledge, technical skills and innovation.

This should not reduce schools to suppliers of labour. Instead, education should become an active partner in local economic development, enabling young people to understand marine resources, develop entrepreneurial skills and create new products and services.

Such an approach could be particularly valuable in Semporna, Kunak and Tawau, where seaweed cultivation can serve as a practical platform for community-based learning and enterprise development.

 Beyond the race for production rankings

Malaysia does not need to make a return to third place in global production its only ambition.

The greater opportunity is to build a Sabah-based marine bioeconomy in which scientific research supports local businesses, education strengthens community capabilities, and industrial development creates sustainable livelihoods.

The future of Sabah's seaweed industry will not be determined simply by how much seaweed it can harvest, but by how much knowledge, technology, employment and economic value it can generate from it.

Sabah needs more than seaweed farms. It needs a complete seaweed value chain that grows with its coastal communities.

Comment by CERI on September 12, 2026 at 6:00pm

[iCONADA Research Team ] Optimising Supply, Reshaping the Playing Field: China’s Higher Education Undergoing Systemic Transformation

China’s higher education sector is undergoing a profound structural and institutional transformation.

In recent years, the authorities have introduced a series of top-level policy measures aimed at promoting the differentiated development of universities, greater institutional specialisation, dynamic adjustment of academic programmes and more targeted allocation of resources.

This is more than a matter of fine-tuning academic disciplines. It represents a systematic restructuring of the supply side of higher education.

At its core, the reform seeks to break away from the longstanding problem of “a thousand universities looking alike”, encouraging institutions to move from extensive expansion towards more focused, demand-driven and substantive development.

1. Classification and specialisation: From “bigger is better” to precise positioning

For years, China’s higher education system has been affected by an institutional tendency to pursue size and comprehensiveness.

Some local undergraduate institutions have sought university status, while institutions traditionally focused on the humanities and social sciences have rushed to add science and engineering programmes, hoping to compete on conventional measures of institutional prestige.

This tendency towards homogenisation has not only led to inefficient use of educational resources, but has also contributed to structural mismatches between the supply of graduates and labour-market demand.

The current push for classified development and institutional specialisation is intended to address precisely this problem.

Official policy documents call for universities to clarify their positioning as research-oriented, application-oriented or skills-oriented institutions, while distinguishing between comprehensive and specialised development.

Comment by CERI on September 12, 2026 at 5:18pm

Under this framework, China is moving towards a more diversified system of evaluation.

Leading universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University are expected to focus more heavily on basic research and breakthroughs in strategically important technologies. Local universities and vocational institutions, meanwhile, are being encouraged to deepen their engagement with regional economies and strengthen links with industry.

Shanghai’s “12-grid” classification and evaluation framework, for example, seeks to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to assessing universities. It creates greater room for smaller institutions with distinctive strengths to develop along their own lines.

The message is clear: universities are increasingly expected to excel in their own lanes rather than compete on a single, uniform track.

2. Dynamic adjustment: Stronger intervention by national strategy and market demand

Among the various reform measures, the dynamic adjustment of academic programmes is arguably the most consequential.

At its heart is the creation of a more demand-driven mechanism for introducing, restructuring and withdrawing programmes.

The scale and frequency of programme adjustments in recent years have been unprecedented. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Chinese universities collectively withdrew or suspended around 12,200 undergraduate programmes.

At the provincial level, the scale of intervention has also been substantial.

In Heilongjiang, for example, the proportion of university programmes undergoing addition, withdrawal or adjustment reached 29.3%, while the proportion of programmes supporting key industries rose to 74%.

Zhejiang has pushed for adjustments involving 31.4% of university programmes across the province, with a strong emphasis on supporting its advanced manufacturing clusters.

In Shaanxi, an “encouraged development list” has been used to guide universities towards areas aligned with key industries, contributing to an increase of nearly 19% in programmes supporting those industries.

The direction is unmistakable.

On one hand, programmes facing weak employment prospects or persistent mismatches with market demand — including some traditional humanities, public administration and management disciplines — are coming under pressure for restructuring or withdrawal.

Comment by CERI on September 12, 2026 at 5:03pm

On the other hand, emerging strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, the low-altitude economy and embodied intelligence are receiving strong policy encouragement.

The objective is to address structural imbalances between the supply of graduates and the changing needs of the economy.

3. Differentiated resource allocation: The financial lever

No major institutional reform can succeed without changes to the way public funding and resources are allocated.

In the past, university resources in China were to a considerable extent linked to institutional status, administrative hierarchy and student numbers, creating elements of what could be described as an “egalitarian” allocation model.

Today, differentiated resource allocation is becoming a powerful policy lever for driving institutional transformation.

Central and local governments are moving towards performance-based funding, targeted investment and differentiated support. Resources are increasingly being tied to institutional positioning, evaluation outcomes and strategic priorities.

In practical terms, the results of classified evaluation can influence decisions concerning student intake, government funding, programme approval and research infrastructure.

Zhejiang, for instance, has increased per-student funding coefficients for disciplines and programmes aligned with its advanced manufacturing clusters. In effect, public finance is being used as a lever to encourage universities to align themselves more closely with strategic economic priorities.

Universities that perform poorly or are slow to adjust their programmes could face increasing financial pressure, while institutions that transform more decisively may receive stronger policy and financial support.

4. Conclusion: Challenges and prospects during the transition

This government-led drive for greater efficiency and structural optimisation is, in many respects, an attempt to ensure that China’s higher education system can respond to the demands of high-quality economic development and changing demographic conditions.

Yet the transformation also presents significant challenges.

How should universities retrain or redeploy academic staff in disciplines undergoing rapid restructuring?

How can policymakers prevent a new wave of overcrowding when universities rush into fashionable fields such as artificial intelligence and robotics?

And, perhaps most importantly, how can universities preserve their academic and humanistic foundations while responding to increasingly strong demands for strategic and economic alignment?

The transformation of higher education will therefore be a long-term test of policy discipline and institutional governance.

China is laying out a new playing field built around classification, specialisation, dynamic adjustment and differentiated resource allocation.

Ultimately, the success of this reform will depend on whether universities can genuinely absorb the opportunities created by these policies and transform themselves from within — not merely by changing programme titles or institutional labels, but by reshaping their governance, academic strengths and social functions.

The ultimate goal is to build a higher education system capable of providing the talent and intellectual capacity required for China’s modernisation.

But the deeper change may lie elsewhere: universities are increasingly being asked not simply how large they can become, but what distinctive value they can create — for their students, their industries and the communities they serve.

Comment by CERI on July 26, 2026 at 6:53pm

[Golongan Pengyelidikan iCONADA] Drama Korea We Are All Trying Here: Selain Kejayaan, Apa Lagi?

Dalam drama Korea We Are All Trying Here (2026), kegagalan tidak lagi dipersembahkan sebagai satu peristiwa, tetapi sebagai identiti yang perlahan-lahan terbentuk dalam masyarakat yang memuja kejayaan. Melalui watak Hwang Dong-man, drama ini mengajak penonton meneliti bagaimana rasa malu, iri hati dan hilang keyakinan lahir daripada budaya perbandingan yang berterusan.

Ahli falsafah Korea-Jerman Byung-Chul Han menyifatkan masyarakat hari ini sebagai achievement society—masyarakat yang tidak lagi dikawal oleh paksaan, tetapi oleh dorongan untuk sentiasa mencapai lebih. Apabila setiap orang diyakinkan bahawa mereka "boleh berjaya", kegagalan akhirnya dianggap sebagai kelemahan peribadi, bukan akibat struktur sosial.

Pandangan ini seiring dengan teori ahli sosiologi Perancis Pierre Bourdieu, yang menjelaskan bahawa manusia bukan sekadar bersaing demi pendapatan, tetapi juga demi modal simbolik seperti pendidikan, kerjaya, reputasi dan pengiktirafan. Dalam era media sosial, kejayaan orang lain menjadi ukuran nilai diri sendiri, menjadikan perbandingan sebagai pengalaman harian.

Sementara itu, Zygmunt Bauman melihat masyarakat moden sebagai dunia yang sentiasa berubah dan menuntut individu terus "mengemas kini" diri. Kerjaya, kemahiran, penampilan malah emosi perlu sentiasa diperbaiki agar tidak dianggap ketinggalan.

Melalui ketiga-tiga kerangka ini, We Are All Trying Here memperlihatkan bahawa masalah sebenar bukanlah kegagalan seseorang, tetapi sebuah masyarakat yang mengukur maruah manusia hanya melalui pencapaian. Persoalan yang ditinggalkan drama ini bukan bagaimana mengatasi rasa rendah diri, tetapi sama ada kita masih mampu mengiktiraf nilai seseorang walaupun dia tidak memenuhi definisi kejayaan yang ditetapkan masyarakat.

Comment by CERI on July 22, 2026 at 10:31pm

[CHEER Magazine] When NTU Students Stop Dreaming: A Smooth Journey, Yet Unable to Make Their Own Decisions

According to an internal survey conducted by National Taiwan University (NTU), 40 years ago, 80% of students chose to go overseas to pursue degrees. Today, that figure has dropped to only 20%. What has changed NTU students? Why have these outstanding individuals, who stand at the top of the academic pyramid, become increasingly conservative and lost the courage to take risks and explore?

NTU President Chen Wen-Chang said in an exclusive interview with CommonWealth Learning that he has observed a growing sense of uncertainty among NTU students about their futures.

"When you ask current NTU students what they want to do after graduation, most of them will not immediately answer, 'I want to work at a world-class company,' nor will they say, 'I want to study at Harvard or MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).' Their answers are often: 'I'll try applying for graduate school first,' or 'I'll look for a job first and see how it goes.'"

This is a sharp contrast to their mindset during high school. Chen said:

"If you asked them when they were in high school, they would definitely answer without hesitation: 'I want to get into NTU!' But after they actually enter NTU and you ask them the same question again, they struggle to give an answer."

Chen observed that these top-performing students, after gaining admission to NTU, often lose their drive to pursue greater challenges and lack the courage to step outside their comfort zones.

This raises an important question: Why do students who have consistently excelled throughout their lives lose a clear sense of direction after entering one of the best universities? Have they become "a generation that is successful on the outside but feels lost internally"?

Education commentator Hsu Sheng-Hsiu, who is also an NTU Electrical Engineering alumnus, highlighted a similar phenomenon in an article published on The News Lens. He pointed out that the tendency of students from top universities to become more conservative is closely related to the "good student syndrome."

These elite students have grown up accustomed to following rules, meeting the expectations of their parents and society, and working hard to enter the best schools. However, after achieving this goal, many lack the ability to independently explore their own interests and directions.

Because their previous model of success was based on "following a prescribed path step by step," they suddenly lose a clear roadmap after entering NTU. They no longer know how to set more ambitious goals or determine what they truly want to pursue in the future.

Comment by CERI on July 1, 2026 at 12:27pm

[Golongan Penyelidikan iCONADA] Apabila Bahasa Dialek Menjadi Kekuatan: Fenomena Dear You dan Arah Baharu Kreatif Filem Malaysia

Kejayaan filem Dear You (給阿嬤的情書) di Malaysia membawa satu mesej penting kepada industri kreatif: masa depan filem tidak semestinya bergantung kepada bajet besar, teknologi canggih atau barisan pelakon terkenal. Kadangkala, kekuatan terbesar datang daripada sesuatu yang dekat dengan kehidupan — bahasa, memori keluarga dan emosi manusia.

Filem kecil berbahasa Teochew (Chaozhou) ini berjaya menarik perhatian penonton Malaysia melalui kisah hubungan nenek dan cucu yang sederhana tetapi menyentuh hati. Versi asal dialeknya turut mendapat sambutan hangat, membuktikan bahawa bahasa daerah bukan penghalang pasaran, sebaliknya boleh menjadi aset budaya yang membina hubungan emosi.

Fenomena ini selari dengan kajian 爱墾網 (iconada.tv) mengenai “Model Produksi Drama dan Filem Malaysia Era 2035 serta Strategi Emosi”. Kajian tersebut menegaskan bahawa industri kandungan Malaysia boleh bergerak ke arah model “aset ringan” — memanfaatkan dialek tempatan, warisan budaya tidak ketara dan cerita kehidupan sebenar, berbanding bersaing semata-mata melalui kos produksi yang tinggi.

Kejayaan Dear You memperlihatkan bagaimana strategi emosi berfungsi. Penonton bukan hanya menonton sebuah cerita tentang keluarga Chaozhou, tetapi turut melihat pantulan pengalaman sendiri: kasih sayang terhadap orang tua, kenangan zaman kanak-kanak dan hubungan dengan akar budaya.

Bagi Malaysia yang mempunyai masyarakat berbilang bahasa dan budaya, fenomena ini sangat bermakna. Dialek seperti Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka dan Kantonis bukan sekadar alat komunikasi, tetapi menyimpan sejarah komuniti serta memori generasi. Apabila elemen ini diterjemahkan dalam karya kreatif, ia mampu melampaui batas etnik dan bahasa.

Dear You membuktikan bahawa cerita yang sangat lokal juga boleh mempunyai daya tarikan universal. Inilah arah yang pernah diramalkan oleh 爱墾網: masa depan kandungan kreatif Malaysia mungkin terletak pada kemampuan mengubah identiti tempatan menjadi pengalaman emosi bersama.

Dalam era persaingan kandungan global, kekuatan sebenar bukan sekadar menghasilkan karya yang lebih mahal, tetapi menghasilkan karya yang lebih bermakna. Kadangkala, satu bahasa lama dan satu kisah keluarga kecil mampu mencipta gema yang jauh lebih besar.

Comment by CERI on June 25, 2026 at 7:06pm

Transformation or Boundary Crossing? When “McKinsey’s Left Brain” Meets “LUNAR’s Right Brain”: The Paradigm Shift of Creative Education in Higher Education Institutions

In 2015, global consulting giant McKinsey & Company acquired the leading industrial design firm LUNAR. This integration between business strategy and creativity was not merely a corporate expansion, but a symbol of a major transformation in the creative industry: creativity was no longer regarded as a final decorative element, but became a strategic force in creating business value.

Previously, design was often viewed as a “finishing touch” applied after product development and business strategies had been completed. However, the combination of McKinsey and LUNAR demonstrated that design thinking, user experience and creative innovation had become essential elements in high-level decision-making. Creativity has evolved from simply producing attractive objects into a powerful tool for solving complex social and business challenges.

This transformation presents significant challenges for creative education in universities. The traditional separation between business and design disciplines must be reconsidered. Today’s world requires talents who can integrate aesthetics, culture, technology and market thinking. Therefore, higher education institutions need to promote interdisciplinary learning, such as the integration of “design + business”.

Furthermore, creative education should move beyond technical skill training towards solving real-world problems. Students should not only learn “how to create designs”, but also “how to use creativity to generate meaningful impact”. Understanding data, user research and commercial value is equally important, enabling creative ideas to be transformed into valuable strategies.

However, this transformation also brings risks. If creative education becomes overly controlled by KPIs, profitability and market efficiency, creativity may lose its critical thinking, humanistic values and courage to challenge existing norms. Universities should not become factories that merely produce industrial workers; they should remain spaces that protect independent thinking and innovation beyond short-term commercial interests.

In conclusion, the future of creative education requires a balance between business rationality and artistic sensitivity. Creativity must possess economic value, but at the same time, it must preserve its soul, social awareness and humanistic spirit.

Comment by CERI on June 24, 2026 at 5:44pm

Ricardo Unto：'Ninavau' earns double honours at KL film critics

Kota Kinabalu: Sabahan filmmaker Bebbra Mailin received the Best Director award at the 11th Kuala Lumpur Film Critics Awards (AMPFKL11) on Saturday for her feature film 「Ninavau」.

The film also earned the Best Screenplay award for Bebbra and co-writer Muzammer Rahman.

Presented annually by the Kuala Lumpur Film Critics Circle (MPFKL), the awards recognise outstanding Malaysian films based on artistic, aesthetic and cinematic merit.

「Ninavau」, Bebbra』s first feature film as director, tells the story of a Kadazan woman who returns to Sabah for her younger sister』s wedding while concealing her conversion to Islam from her family.

The story centres on family relationships, personal choices, and acceptance as the title character navigates expectations within a household closely connected to the local church.

Bebbra, who was born and raised in Kota Kinabalu, previously said her experiences growing up in a Catholic family and later moving to the peninsula inspired the film』s exploration of identity, faith and belonging.

She described 「Ninavau」, which means 「light」 in Kadazan, as a story that examines family, love, sacrifice and the choices that shape people』s lives.

The film stars Sabahan actors Jovenea Jim, Tati Eliana Tonny and Edward Sinsong, with cinematography by Indonesian filmmaker Bayu Prihantoro Filemon and music recorded in Japan under the direction of Andrew Boong.

Bebbra has previously earned recognition for works including 「Eye Love」, 「Langad di Odu」, 「Rapuh」 and the short film version of 「Ninavau」, which won Best Short Film at the Malaysia International Film Fest (Miffest) in 2019.

Produced by Kristal Azmir Sdn Bhd and Le Mediator Studio Sdn Bhd, 「Ninavau」 opened Miffest 2025 as the first Sabah-made film to receive the honour before its nationwide release in December last year. （Sat, Jun 20, 2026 Sabah Daily Express）

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