Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Universiti Sains Malaysia

The state of Penang, and its capital city of George Town, is located in the northern part of Malaysia. This is a strategically designated area for development, called the Northern Corridor of Malaysia. Given the challenges of going global and the prevailing state of recession, the dynamism of the region will depend on the interplay of the interrelated aspects-of-beings: the physical, the social and the economic. The goal is to create a region that is not only socio-economically vibrant, but also one that is sustainable and inclusive, in tandem with the national aspiration. This would require a new thinking in all the three aspects-of-beings so as to transform the region into an attractive cluster of growth which is globally well integrated. The presentation briefly describes one such transformation in the educational sector based on the experiences of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).