A Flame of Hope Burns for Community Scholars

The Sunway University College (Sunway) Tun Omar Ong Yoke Lin community scholarships are a lifeline for the needy. These scholarships for study at Sunway are reserved specially for those who come from charitable Homes or the financially disadvantaged community. There are 38 community scholars, past and present, and Sunway keeps in close contact with all of them through various activities. During a lunch get-together recently, there were a few who shared their thoughts on being community scholars.

Matthew Sheu is from Rumah KIDS in Klang and is currently pursuing a Diploma in Information Engineering. He shared “I feel most privileged to be supported by Sunway through this scholarship”. Matthew has one sister and is very close to his mum who works at Nanyang Press, whom he sees twice a week. Matthew plans to be a Network Engineer.

Nanthini A/P Ramras who hails from Bahau, Negri Sembilan is pursuing the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT), lives with mum and four siblings. Nanthini shared, “I feel very thankful and very happy to be receiving this scholarship. I now have a specific goal in life”. Nanthini would like to pursue the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualification after CAT.

Azerena Nediba A/P Zainal Abidin is grateful to be studying a Diploma in Hotel Management and does not have to burden her family. Azerena is ethnically orang asli and is very close to her community. She returns very often to her village to encourage the younger ones in her community to study. She feels there is talent there but not many know what to do to develop that talent. Azerena said, “I really want to make the most of my opportunity so that I may be able to motivate my community later”. One of Azerena’s ambitions is to open a restaurant someday and she would love to specialize in pastry.

Out of the 38 community scholars, nine have graduated with degrees and diplomas in various fields. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah the founder and chairman of the Sunway Group set up the Sunway Education Trust in 1997 with the purpose mainly of providing assistance to students in the form of scholarships. The community scholarships are one of the scholarships funded by the Trust and 10 of these scholarships are presented yearly. RM42 million in various scholarships has been disbursed so far by the Trust since 1997.