25 Years’ Passion in Educating Minds The Story of DISTED, Penang’s Premier College Editorial Publication Jayaeswari Sangaralingam (Editor-in-Chief) Tan Kok Teong Team Lucy Chin Soon Sim Norhiza Mohd Noor Fairunizan Akhbar Malik Production Prisca Ting Mee Lan Zaki Zakaria Publisher DISTED College 340 Macalister Road, 10350 Penang, Malaysia Tel: +604-229 6579 E-mail: [email protected] Website: disted.edu.my Copyright 2012, DISTED College All rights reserved. 2 Contents 2Publication Team 4Foreword by DISTED President 7A Passion Ignited 9The DISTED Founders 14Reflections of a Founder 16On the Move to Permanent Campuses 28Kaleidoscope of Course Offerings 51Shining Stars of DISTED 65Money Matters in Assisting Students 75The Extra Mile Initiatives 87The President’s Musing: The Way Forward 92The Founders and the Present Board of Directors 3 Foreword by “Dr. Koo, please write a foreword love, dedication and spirited devotion for the DISTED 25th Anniversary to duties of all those people, past and Dr Koo Wee Kor Publication” so commanded Jaya, our present, which make DISTED possible. President and CEO lovely and bubbly editor-in-chief. You DISTED College This is our first publication and I hope must also write a piece on all you want this inaugural edition will be the about DISTED, be interviewed and progenitor of many more to come. videoed”, and with a hint of, be an ox, a horse and a monkey, all at the same DISTED is open to all students, at all time; the animal thing is all my own. levels and of all kinds of abilities. We “Here is some Panadol” she said. “Yes provide an opportunity for young sir” I said. people, ask them to do their best and be their best; some, not asked, It is with such spirit that DISTED excelled all the same, thanks to them embarked on this celebration of for elevating DISTED. Others elected 25 years, which involved piling up to take up the challenge and in activities and events, involving all one way or another managed to constituents, that will culminate in this make themselves competent, while 25th Anniversary publication as well as others made do, bumbling through the Commemorative and Recognition nevertheless. All in they recognized Dinner at the end of the year. My the importance of spending time in an sincere pleasure and thanks to the institution, learning and playing, finding 4 their way into the future. Whatever history and memories, a combination they become, we will be proud to be of the old and new that blends well part of their journey in life and would with our ethos of heritage outside and continue to nurture that bond that is modern inside. I would like to express so precious, and yet can so easily be my sincere pleasure and thanks to all forgotten if no action is taken. of them. My special thanks goes to Ms. Jayaeswari and her team of huskies, The Success of DISTED owes largely working hard but hardly noticed, to to the community that gives its chase articles and deadlines and unrelenting support despite the made such a wonderful publication many ups and downs that we have possible. experienced. The students and their parents’ confidence and trust in DISTED Finally, our sincere thanks go to all have given much encouragement the staff and students who have and consolation in moments of trials participated one way or another and tribulations. The staff, with all to make the 25th year celebration their flaws and idiosyncrasies, have a success. Many of them have put always risen above all else to give in tremendous effort to write, video their best to the students. The Board shoot, edit and done many other of Governors, with their penchant things that have left their marks in this for proper governance and financial commemorative publication. sustainability, has given the College a Viva DISTED! wide berth to carry out its work. We want once again especially to thank the Wawasan Education Foundation, the Yeap Chor Ee Charitable Trust and other well-wishers who have given from their funds for teaching and education enhancement provided scholarship grants for our students. There are many interesting stories in this 25 Anniversary publication. Many people have contributed to the many pages within, and many have given personal accounts of the College 5 6 DISTED College, Penang’s very Australian continent were Adelaide own first private tertiary institution, was College of TAFE, Murdoch University founded by a group of 3 distinguished and the Warrnambool Institute of and committed Malaysian Advanced Education (now part of educationists comprising Tan Sri Deakin University). Emeritus Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan, During the incipient stage, DISTED Dr Hulman Sinaga and Dato’ Dr Services served mainly as an Sharom Ahmat. instrument for offering off-campus It all began in early 1985 when they courses. However, the interest of SPM put together their enthusiasm and and STPM school leavers brought on experience to ignite a passion for an ardent demand for on-campus establishing a private educational learning. institution. Responding to the increasing demand The time seemed right as there was a for full-time study, an application was popular and growing trend towards made to the Ministry of Education overseas education in the country. to start DISTED College, which was granted on 16 July 1987. A Passion The location too appeared fertile as all the private institutions offering In January 1988, DISTED admitted its Ignited split-location degree programmes first cohort of full-time on-campus and matriculation courses were in the students to its bungalow building on Klang Valley. Hargreaves Road with Dr Gajaraj Dhanarajan as its CEO until May 1989 They formed a company called DISTED when he accepted an invitation to Services Sdn Bhd in August 1985, where join the Open University of Hong Kong. DISTED is the acronym for ‘Distance Education’, and the search began for In an interview with the DISTED suitable overseas partners with whom Yearbook 1989 editorial board, Dr Raj, linkages could be made for advanced as he is more popularly known, shed education. light on the emergence of the college. By 1987, contracts were signed with “The original intention of DISTED was to 4 major institutions from 2 countries. provide an alternate route to higher Representing the North American education for adults who could not region was the British Columbia Open get into universities, colleges or other University of Canada and from the places of higher education. The 7 opportunity for such people actually A prominent member of the college’s pioneered the offering of the South was even more limited than for Form Board of Governors said to me: Look Australian Matriculation and the British 5 or Form 6 school leavers who were Dr Raj, don’t bother. Begin to plan A-Level in Penang. going on to higher education. forward to satisfy the needs of younger It also offered one of the first twinning people. Potentially, they’re the leaders “That was in fact the principal reason programmes in Malaysia, working of this country.” for even calling the place DISTED, with the Warrnambool Institute of which is the acronym for ‘Distance So DISTED changed its direction. Within Advanced Education (now Deakin Education’,” he revealed. 6 months we were able to turn our University Warrnambool Campus) to course from an adult-oriented college provide the opportunity for Malaysian Nevertheless, it was a circumstances- to that of a younger person’s. students to gain an Australian alter-cases experience for DISTED in undergraduate business degree. This moving forward. How did DISTED go about forming eventually developed into the Deakin collaborations with overseas institutions “We failed in that original objective 3+0 Bachelor of Commerce which has at that time? because in 1986 we worked on the become one of the most successful assumption that there were lots of “DISTED had the advantage of programmes conducted by the distance education providers outside knowing a few persons who were College. Malaysia in the UK, Australia and reasonably well-known in the Founding Mission Statement Canada. They were making available education arena, who in some of DISTED courses for adults at low prices such as ways had made some mark outside AUD20 for a semester unit course. Malaysia. We also attended forums on Aim educational issues and we put forward To be a premier post-secondary We were planning something similar for this idea individually and collectively. private educational institution in the Malaysia. However, some 13 months state of Penang. later by July 1987 the Australians “People began to show an interest in were offering courses at AUD450 to what we were planning. We talked Mission AUD460 per semester. It meant costing to a number of institutions and finally • To provide students from the various somebody RM1,000 (at 1987 exchange chose 4 which we considered to have socio-economic backgrounds rate) for 1 whole semester unit and for the potential to offer help to Malaysian with equal opportunity to avail that person to graduate would require students who are not very proficient in themselves of the educational RM30,000. English,” Dr Raj shared. offerings of the institution. So things went beyond our ability to From that change of direction, DISTED • To meet the educational and control and there was no way we began its noble mission of bringing industrial training needs of the could have brought this down to make higher education for full-time study at nation in general, and that it easily available to working adults. an affordable price to young people of northern Malaysia and the in northern Malaysia. The college surrounding region in particular. 8 VIDEO Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan Gajaraj Dhanarajan He holds BSc and MSc degrees from the University of Madras, a Diploma of Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Gajaraj The DISTED Imperial College and an MSc from the Dhanarajan is a former vice-chancellor Imperial College of the University of of Wawasan Open University, former Founders London and a PhD in Biology from the president of the Commonwealth of University of Aston in Birmingham.