RM1bil pledged for education by Jeffrey Cheah Foundation

PETALING JAYA: The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation will award RM1bil worth of scholarships to deserving students on a staggered basis.

Making the pledge, Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah said the foundation will continue to provide assistance in the years to come.

“This is in line with the Government’s aim to strive for excellence in the field of education. I aspire to inspire, before I expire,” he quipped during a tea session with the media.

Cheah added that through various collaborations, the foundation hoped to tell the world that Malaysia was the best by bringing in the best.

“By working together, we can learn from each other. I hope one day we can win the Nobel Prize even if I do not live to see the day. I created this foundation so that it can continue to serve as a vehicle to strive towards education excellence.”

Citing the latest collaboration with Brasenose College-University of Oxford, Cheah said it will help to elevate teaching and research in the country.

Under the deal, two professors of the University of Oxford will be attached with Sunway University.

Good venture: Principal of Brasenose College John Bowers (left) sharing a light moment with Jeffrey in Petaling Jaya.

As Jeffrey Cheah Professorial Fellows, they will visit at least once a year for a week to give lectures and seminars in their areas of expertise.

Prof William James, a Pro-Vice Chancellor (Finance and Planning) at Oxford and Fellow in Medicine at Brasenose, is one of the two appointed.

James is also a virologist and principal investigator at the Stem Cell Research Institute of Oxford.

The other, Prof Mark Wilson, is with the Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at Oxford.

The Jeffrey Cheah Scholars-in-Residence Programme will be instituted immediately to allow for two academics or postgraduate students from Sunway University to reside in Brasenose for four weeks each year for research and study.

The initiatives are in perpetuity. The agreement paves the way for Sunway University to excel in teaching and will boost research in the areas of medicine and advanced sciences.

Brasenose is among the oldest and most distinguished of the Oxford colleges. It was founded in 1509 and received a Royal Charter from King Henry VIII.

Sunway Education Group, which is governed by the Foundation, is the largest social enterprise for education in Malaysia.