MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

IKM welcoming 2021. I believe that 2021 will be a busy and fruitful, as well as rewarding year for IKM. In the meantime, do take good care of yourself and your family. Keep safe and be well.

As we enter 2021, I believe that this year will be better for us.

The first test will be our Malam Kimia 2020 which will be held in Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 22nd January 2021. This is our annual social event that we recognize excellence in chemistry in Malaysia. We are expecting about 250 guests at this function.

Then we have our IKM 54th Annual General Meeting (54AGM) which will take place at One World Hotel, Petaling Jaya on 27th March 2021.

I believe that, by the middle of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic will be brought under control and we have to adapt to a new normal. That is, to wear a mask every time when we are out, keeping social distancing whenever with friends, colleagues and guests, maintaining personal hygiene including washing your hands often with soap or hand sanitizer. Also avoid crowded places and keep travelling to a minimum unless necessary. Stay safe and be well.

As for IKM in 2021, our activities and programmes will be back to normal. Our professional courses at IKM Professional Centre will start at the end of February and continue until November.

K3M 2021 will be held on 15th July 2021 in all schools taking in the quiz. In 2020, we have a record number of more 39,000 students taking part in K3M 2020 and this year, we hope to do even better.

The IKM Licentiate Examination and Refresher Course will also proceed as planned with the Refresher Course starting in July.

This year, we will have a new Symposium on Best Practices and Innovations in Laboratory Management (BPI Lab) which will be held from 20 – 21st October at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in conjunction with LabAsia 2021.

Our two international conferences, International Congress on Pure & Applied Chemistry (ICPAC KK) and the 20th Malaysian International Chemistry Congress (20MICC) will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah at the end of October 2021.

Last but not least, Malam Kimia 2021 will be held on 3rd December 2021.

In addition to all of the above, I am also pleased to inform you that the IKM Law Hieng Ding Foundation has been registered with the Registrar of Companies on 22nd October 2020. The Foundation just held its First Board of Directors Meeting on 31st December 2020. There will a report on the Foundation in the March 2021 issue of Berita IKM.

Please do not forget our two major international IUPAC events. One is IUPAC 2025 which is the IUPAC 53rd General Assembly (53GA) and 50th World Chemistry Congress (50WCC) which will be hosted by IKM in Kuala Lumpur in 2025.

The other is MACRO 2026 which is the 50th IUPAC World Polymer Congress 2026 which will be hosted by IKM in Kuching, Sarawak in 2026.

We have started some initial work on these two global chemistry events.