Press Conference on WOU's 10th Convocation Ceremony Tuesday, 26 November 2019 @ 10.00am (The Hall, Homestead)

Statementlby Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Chairman of Wawasan Education Foundation and Chairman of Board of Governors, Wawasan Open University

> Professor Dr Lily Chan, Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor of WOU > Members of the Exco, Senate, and Heads of Department Members of the Press, Staff of the university, Ladies and Gentlemen

Salam sejahtera and a very warm welcome to today's press conference on WOU's 10th convocation ceremony that will take place at the main campus on the 7th and 8th of December, 2019. I wish to thank our friends from the media for your kind presence and support. Terima kasih, Xie Xie, Nandri.

(2) This year, the ceremony will be graced for the very first time by our newlyinstalled Chancellor, Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja'afar, and our new ProChancellor Dato' Dr Lim Thuang Seng. The convocation will comprise seven sessions held over two days.

(3) The Chancellor will preside over the first session; the Pro-Chancellor the second session; and shall preside over the fourth session as Chairman of the Board of Governors. The other sessions will be presided by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Lily Chan, who also recently came on board in April.

(4) This year's convocation will roll out another 740 graduates, and they come from the four Schools - the School of Business and Administration (SBA) with the highest number of graduates, the School of Science and Technology (SST), the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), and the School of Education, Languages and Communications (SELC).

Page 1 of 5 (5) As you know, the University is committed to providing learning opportunities to adult learners from all walks of life, irrespective of their socio-economic or professional background, so as to empower them for personal growth and career advancement.

(6) WOU was established in 2006 with the purpose of delivering quality undergraduate and postgraduate programmes via open distance learning (ODL) to enable learners to study and work. The University expanded to offer full-time, on-campus learning (OCL) programmes in September 2013 for high school leavers.

(7) WOU currently offers more than 50 programmes in various disciplines. Among its top-selling programmes are the Commonwealth Executive MBA (CeMBA) along with the degree programmes in the fields of Management, Accounting, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Electronics, Management with Psychology, Mechatronics, and Psychology.

(8) In relation to the 1 0th convocation ceremony, WOU will produce a total of 740 graduates, which is the highest number to date since the first in 2010. Out of the 740, 163 are from the various postgraduate programmes while the remaining 577 are from the undergraduate programmes. The age range of the graduates are 22 to 76 years, and they comprise 58.78% females and 4122% males. The graduates come from WOU's five regional centres located in , Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Bahru and Kuching.

(9) In line with WOU's mission of reaching out to the community at large, the graduates are represented by diverse occupations, such as engineers, auditors, accountants, finance managers, lecturers, teachers, HR executives, sales and marketing executives, secretaries, production supervisors, clerks, technicians and IT professionals.

(10) Following the 10th convocation, the University would have produced a total of 4,495 graduates; it is good to see our alumni community growing in strength from year to year.

Page 2 of 5 (1 1 ) I want to take a moment now to share a few highlights of the convocation. For your information, WOU will be conferring a degree on a student who passed away last year, just a month after completing his studies. The deceased student will be honoured at the seventh session on the evening of December 8th . WOU will observe a minute of silence in tribute to the graduate, Teenish Rajoo. Teenish had just started a new job as an IT Engineer in Petaling Jaya. He sadly died at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) from pneumonia on July 15th, 2018, after having turned 27-years-old just two days earlier on July 13th.

(12) Teenish was planning to celebrate his birthday with his elder brother, Vinod, and a few friends by taking a trip to Melaka. Things turned tragic, according to Vinod, when Teenish developed breathing difficulties and decided to go to a clinic on July 12th to obtain a medical certificate. The clinic promptly referred him to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he was immediately admitted. Teenish did not want to cause undue panic to his parents, who still lived in Kuala Kangsar, and therefore asked Vinod not to inform them about his hospital admission. His illness took a turn for the worse and he passed away in the hospital with his brother by his side.

(1 3) Vinod and a cousin brother, Ravindaran Thamboo, are expected to attend the convocation ceremony on behalf of Teenish.

(14) The convocation this year will also witness the graduation of two (2) special needs (OKU) students from the University's open distance learning (ODL) programmes. Belinda Chee Jin Wei, 38, of Johor who is married to a Sarawakian and working as a tuition teacher in Kuching, will receive her Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) during the first session. Chee suffers from a nerve problem since birth, which affects her right hand and limb. She has learnt to write and perform tasks with her left hand. Chee previously worked

as an engineer for 10 years after receiving her engineering degree from Monash University, Australia, before deciding to switch to teaching in 2015.

Page 3 of 5 (1 5) The other OKU graduate Tee Wei Ming, from Subang Jaya, Selangor, will be conferred his Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (BBLC) degree.

(16) WOU's lifelong learning philosophy is exemplified by four of our remarkable graduates this year, a true testament that we never stop learning. Our oldest graduate at this convocation is Madam Kamilia Tan Abdullah, 76, of Johor Bahru from the Commonwealth Executive MBA programme. There will be also three other graduates, all born in the 1940s. They are Madam Mangayarkarasy Velayutham, 71, of Skudai, Johor, and Madam Wong Seow Chee, 72, of Kuala Lumpur from the Master of Education (MEd) programme specialising in Teaching English as a Second Subject (TESL) and Mr. Koh Choi Hing, 73, of Johor Bahru from the Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Sales and Marketing programme. Incidentally, Madam Wong is currently pursuing her Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme after having enrolled at WOU in the July 2019 intake. She will be attending the first session of the convocation on December 7th morning.

(17) Next, I am happy to announce our top graduating students this year. The recipient of the Tun Dr Memorial Prize is Mr Chay Foo Soon, 41, from Segamat, Johor, who is the top student from the ODL postgraduate programmes. He operates a home tuition, which he started in 2017, and currently teaches some 30 primary and secondary school students. He will receive his Master of Education (MEd) degree, with a specialisation in Education Management.

(1 8) Chay is also the quintessential lifelong learner. He was part of the inaugural batch of WOU's Commonwealth Executive MBA (CeMBA) graduates at the first convocation ceremony in 2010. He proceeded to study and obtain his Graduate Diploma in Sales & Marketing (2013 convocation) and Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Sales & Marketing (2016 convocation), all from WOO. The MEd will be his fourth degree. Dr Koh expressed hope that he will eventually go further and obtain a PhD from WOU.

Page 4 of 5 (18) I am pleased to highlight that the winner of the Chancellor's Gold Medal for being the top graduating student from the ODI- undergraduate programmes is Mr Tan Jin Yong, 23, of Bukit Mertajam. He is from the Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Banking & Finance (BBBF) programme. He has been working as a Team Leader in one the outlets of Urban Republic Sdn Bhd in Bukit Mertajam since 2016. He looks forward to using his banking and finance degree to enter the banking and finance sector.

(19) Finally, I wish to announce the recipient of the Tun Dr Memorial Gold Prize. The top student from the full-time, on-campus learning programmes is Michelle Tan Cheng Hooi Hooi, 22, from . Michelle Tan is from the Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Management (BBMG) programme and she started work as an administrative executive at Yucon Engineering in Bayan Lepas, on October 1st.

(20) Since opening its doors to student enrolment in 2007, this university has seen over 24,000 students enrolling in various programmes and courses through the years.

(21) WOU, in its effort to be the preferred open distance learning institution of higher [earning in the country, will continue to leverage on technology and strengthen its collaboration with industry to produce the required talents for the job market in the country.

(22) Lastly, I wish to once again thank all of you for your time and attention. Thank you.

(23) Now, I would like to open the floor to questions from the members of the media.

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