Graduation Ceremony Celebrates Efforts of Top Students and Those Who Are Financially Disadvantaged

The Sunway University College Graduation Ceremony 2009, held at Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa recently, saw recipients being conferred their degrees and granted their diplomas by its Chancellor, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, AO.

Computing degree graduates holding their two scrolls from Lancaster University (red) and Sunway University College (blue)

This year, there were 381 graduates and diplomates from which 86 were Business, Computing and Psychology graduates of the joint honours degree programmes developed by Sunway University College and validated by Lancaster University since 2006. Among the 86 were 33 graduates who earned a first class honours degree. Professor Paul Wellings, Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University, was present to confer the Lancaster University scrolls to the proud graduates.

Professor Wellings said “I am delighted to be here in Malaysia to celebrate the results of the Lancaster/Sunway partnership. I am particularly pleased that 80% of the cohort have received a higher second or first class degree. These results are a real tribute to the quality of the students and the hard work that they have put in and give the students a real advantage in realizing their future ambitions”.

Community Scholars Graduating : (Left to right) Jagadesan, Azerena, Reenuka A/P Appalanaidu, Theresa Jerome, and Khalid bin Zainal Abidin. Absent, Emmanuel Yong

The ceremony also witnessed six community scholars receiving their scrolls under the Tun Omar Ong Yoke Lin Community Scholarship, a scholarship programme for the financially disadvantaged. This scholarship is funded by the Sunway Education Trust which was recently converted to the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation. One of the community scholars is Azerena Nediba A/P Zainal Abidin, who is of orang asli parentage. She received a Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management. Another community scholar who performed well is Jagadesan A/L Chandra Mohan who graduated with a First Class B.Sc (Hons) Information Technology and is the first in his family to graduate with a degree.

Jagadesan (centre) with (left to right) Lee Siok Ping , Director of Students Services, Lee Chee Loi, Executive Director of Malaysian Care, Rev. Esther Alfred, Malaysian Care and Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director, Sunway University College

 

Jagadesan who hopes to help others like him said “I’m grateful to the lecturers who have been very helpful to me as well as Malaysian Care and Sunway University College. Without them, I would not have been able to achieve this”.

Gaining Competitive Advantage with Good Operations Management

Wine & Food Pairing Workshop @ SHTLM

School of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management (SHTLM) of Sunway University College proudly organises "Wine & Food Pairing Workshop" and it's happening on 21st Nov 2009..

Book early for some rebates!

For further details of the workshop please contact Janny at 016-2366682, Zin at 016-3202417

or email at natale_dell_annata@hotmail.com

See you there!

Two Times in a Row!

Gan (left) with his drawing and Susan Phua, a GMD lecturer

Gan Soon Bing won again in the Tanjong Heritage 2009 art competition. Last year he won first prize in the watercolour category for his pointillism rendition of a Chinese temple. This year he wins the second prize for his uniquely angled pencil drawing of fishermen in Port Dickson in the charcoal/pencil category. Gan completed his diploma in Graphic and Multimedia Design this year and is now working with an advertising agency. Not bad Gan!

Invitation For Brown Bag Lunch Talk

Brown Bag Lunch Talk

“Educated in Deep Doctorateland:

A personal narrative of the theory and practice of a research doctorate”

By Dr Stephen Hall

Date: 22nd October 2009

Venue: Auditorium 4

Time: 1pm – 2pm

Abstract

The work involved in gaining a doctorate is substantive yet full of personal learning, very real challenges and delights. This talk will be a personalized narrative of Dr Stephen Hall’s post graduate study, drawing on both theory and the “nuts and bolts” of gaining a Doctorate. Stephen’s research is ‘a qualitative study of the opening phases of cross cultural in service teacher training interaction in rural Malaysia,’ yet colleagues from other disciplines may benefit from the presentation of the research process. The talk will describe ‘tricks of the trade’ for obtaining a Doctorate, while working and staying sane in a busy educational environment.

Profile

Dr Stephen Hall is the Director of the Language and Compulsory Studies Centre, Sunway University College, Malaysia. He was a Project Manager for four years, working with the Malaysian Ministry of Education on rural English language teacher training. His doctorate from University of Leicester focuses on in-service teacher training and cross cultural issues. Previously, he was a corporate trainer and managed Language and Communication, Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore. Earlier, he was a teacher educator ASEAN wide, while based in Singapore and has taught at tertiary, secondary and primary levels. He has published English for Tourism textbooks, and edited texts on lesson planning and English for Specific Purposes. He is s frequent conference presenter as well as a writer on task-based learning, spoken grammar and teacher education.

Due to the overwhelming response, the deadline for the RSVP has been extended for another day. Interested parties, please RSVP latest by: 21st October 2009 (3pm) to lindyg@sunway.edu.my  

*Light lunch will be served*

*This talk is open to the public, students, staff and community of Sunway University College*

Sunway University College Scholarships & Awards Presentation Ceremony 2009

We are proud to announce our second ceremony for this year's Scholarships & Awards Presentation on 24th October 2009, Saturday at 10 am. At this ceremony to be held in the Multi Purpose Hall, 4th Floor (North Building), we will be awarding close to RM2 million in scholarships through the Sunway Education Trust Fund to 285 recipients. Earlier this year in May, Sunway awarded a total of RM3.1 million in scholarships to 785 students under the Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah Continuing Scholarship and the Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah Entrance Scholarship.

The Sunway Education Trust Fund will soon be converted to the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation to further solidify our Founder and Chancellor's beliefs in transforming education. The Foundation seeks to receive and administer funds for educational, scientific, medical and charitable purposes including scholarships based on merit and to those in need of financial assistance.

Floral Arrangement Workshop

Manchester Business School, UK Delivers Module for JPA

Manchester Business School (MBS), UK was selected to deliver the Business Module of the 18th JPA-BMCC Management Development Programme for 12 senior managers from various Malaysian Government Ministries and agencies. Three participants were from Government Linked Companies (GLCs) and two from INTAN. Manchester Business School Worldwide, Malaysia Centre at Sunway University College, a partner of MBS UK assisted to make this module a success.

The business module was led by Professors Dr. Mohamed Djeddour, Head of the European Centre for Management Education, MBS and Dr Rui Manuel Vinhas Da Silva, Professor of Marketing Communication and Branding, MBS. The theme was “A Sense of Urgency in Enhancing Service Quality Delivery” and the module was held at the Selesa Beach Resort in Port Dickson, recently.

Dr Djeddour shared his expertise and experience on various aspects of Strategic Management, Cost Advantage & Differentiation Strategies and Balance Scorecard. Dr Da Silva focused on the marketing approach, specifically Understanding Service Markets, Products and Customers, Service Design & Standards and Communication in Service Industries. These concepts were later applied in the group discussions and the presentation of case studies across a range of sectors including airlines, retail and insurance. Case studies on the Balanced Scorecard in the public sector were also discussed.

Head of the MBSW, Malaysia Dr Marie-Aimee Tourres said “The module received excellent feedback from the participants”.

Participants Hajah Nor Aini Haji Ab. Talib and Norlin Jaafar shared “We have been able to share the experience and expertise from our respective fields even though we are all from different backgrounds and we also had the opportunity to put forward new ideas for continuous improvement in our respective working environments. Today’s `State of the art` process may become tomorrow’s out-of-date obstacle and as such, continuous improvement helps us to anticipate and meet the customer’s current and future requirements”.

Three participants made a visit to the UK and were attached with the Manchester Business School for a short period as part of the programme.

Professor Dr Rui Manuel Vinhas Da Silva (seated, extreme left) with the participants

First Engineering PhD as a Connection with Sunway

In 2001, Mark Ng Kok Yew was in the Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY), a pre-university programme at Sunway College before it became Sunway University College. He then went to do an engineering degree at the Monash University, Sunway campus.

In just eight years, he made news, when he became the first graduate from Monash University campus in Bandar Sunway to be conferred a PhD in engineering and the first PhD graduate who completed full tertiary studies at Monash University, Sunway campus. He was conferred his degree and title in September 2009.

Mark is currently an engineering lecturer at Monash University Sunway Campus and is part of the Robotics, Automation and Manufacturing (RAM) Research Group. He is actively conducting his research in the area of Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI). He recently presented his research findings at international conferences, such as the 2007 International Conference on Control Applications (IEEE) in Singapore and the 2008 International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) in Seoul, Korea.

“I would very much like to see my theoretical work evolve and be implemented onto practical applications, with hope that it could improve the stability, safety and also the reliability of the systems,” he explained.

A MUFY lecturer at Sunway University College, Helen James, who taught him English, has this to say about Dr. Ng.

“Mark was a pleasure to teach. He was a teacher's dream student – someone with an inquiring mind, hard-working and very, respectful. With such an attitude towards his studies and people in general, it really is no surprise that he has reached such heights.”

Advising younger people, Dr. Ng said: “It’s not easy to make a choice sometimes, but I guess I made a right decision when I chose the MUFY programme because it provided me with the foundation that I needed for my undergraduate degree at Monash University. The curriculum was very well organized and I did not face any major difficulties in my studies, transiting from my foundation year at Sunway to Monash.”

Ninth Impressive Performance by MUFY Sunway University College

MUFY Top Scorer Chew Weng Chuen (right) with Lee Weng Keng, CEO, Education & Healthcare Division, the Sunway Group

Chew Weng Chuen, a student of the Monash University Foundation Year, pre-university programme at Sunway University College did Sunway University College proud by achieving the highest overall score in the June 2009 exams. His score was ranked the highest among all the providers of MUFY in the world, namely Taylors College Melbourne in Australia, Jakarta International College in Indonesia, Vientiane College in Laos, ANC Sri Lanka, Sunway University College and Sunway College, J.B.

For his outstanding performance, Weng Chuen received the Monash Excellence Award at the recent MUFY Graduation Night and this makes him the ninth winner from MUFY Sunway out of the ten times that the award has been presented. Weng Chuen has been awarded a full scholarship to read engineering at Monash University, Sunway campus.

In the same exams, MUFY at Sunway clinched twenty Monash Subject Awards. The Monash Subject Awards are presented to the students who score the highest mark among all the providers of MUFY in each of the subjects offered.

Nine students qualified for Monash University entrance scholarships to pursue undergraduate studies at the Australian university.

Recently, the Chancellor of Monash University, Australia, Dr Alan Finkel paid a visit to Sunway University College. During the visit he spoke to a packed auditorium of MUFY students, on how the university plans to move forward.

Dr Alan Finkel speaking to Sunway University College MUFY students

Kudos to Qu Hsueh Ming for His Outstanding World-Class Performance!

The Sun-U A-Level Programme is proud to announce the emergence from its ranks of yet another world beater!

First, in June 2006, there was Qu Hsueh Ming the pre-university graduate par excellence with a perfect 5A showing in the renowned Cambridge A-Level Examination.

Then, in September 2006, there was Hsueh Ming the Oxford-bound soon-to-be scholar of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), with impressive oratorical skills to boot, ready to mingle with Britain's best.

Today, there is Qu Hsueh Ming, B.A. (Oxon) in PPE, First Class. And deservedly honoured by the famed Oxford University as the crème de la crème of its Philosophy adherents.

Kudos to Hsueh Ming for his outstanding world-class performance! Kudos also to the dedicated team of A-Level educators who set him on his journey there!

14 Students Given USD118,000 per annum in Scholarships, Transferred to the Land of the Free

The WMU Presidential Scholars (except student in front row, third from left) with WMU staffs Cathleen Fuller (6th from right), Dr Craig Kaml (5th from right) and Mr Kirk Sundling (2nd from left)

12 students of the Sunway University College American Degree Transfer Program (ADTP) have each been awarded Presidential Scholarships worth USD8,000 per annum from Western Michigan University (WMU). Among them is the past President of the ADTP student committee Foo Kok Seong, who has chosen to study engineering. Foo played a large role in organizing the ADTP Twilight Carnival 2009 which raised funds for the Vivekananda Home in Rembau. WMU has been a twinning partner of the Sunway ADTP since 1987.

Apart from WMU, two other US universities awarded scholarships to Sunway ADTP students. Anjuli Rabindranath was a recipient of a scholarship from Illinois Institute of Technology to study chemical engineering. The scholarship is valued at US$12,000 per annum. Alvin Tan is studying business administration on a Community College Leadership Award valued at US10,000 per annum, from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. This scholarship is awarded to students who have demonstrated leadership ability through co-curricular activities.

Some other students are to be congratulated too for transferring to good US universities which are well-known for the programs they offer. Ahmad Safianu Saleh from Nigeria is pursuing aviation at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, a top aviation university in the US. Sean Shao Chi Yap, (who had deferred his studies from an earlier intake) is pursuing film production at Chapman University in Orange County, California. Lau Jann-Lim, who was Vice-President of the ADTP Student Committee transferred to New York University located in the “Big Apple” which is New York City. Lau is thrilled that New York University is 5 minutes away from Wall Street and he is majoring in Finance.