KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah has been recognised in the Forbes Asia Heroes of Philantrophy list for a fifth time.
According to a statement issued by Sunway, Cheah, who is also the founder and trustee of the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, was recognised for his lifelong commitment to nation-building through quality education and philantrophy.
“I have always believed that each and every one of us must have a higher purpose in life. For me, this higher calling is a commitment to giving back to society in a meaningful and impactful manner for the benefit and wellbeing of our future generations.
“I strongly believe that it is the obligation of those who have done well financially to promote educational excellence in the country, because Quality education lay the groundwork for a nation to shape the destiny of its people and society,” Cheah said.
To date, the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation has awarded more than RM967mil in scholarships and grants to tens of thousands of students, many from underprivileged households, and is on track to surpass RM1bil by 2026.
In November 2025, Cheah pledged RM500mil over five years to establish one of Malaysia’s largest education endowments to drive academic excellence, world-class research and innovation at Sunway University in perpetuity.
This mission-driven and structured approach to philanthropy is modelled after some of the oldest and most renowned universities in the world, such as Harvard University and the University of Cambridge.
It is an approach that has also been adopted in Cheah’s gifts to public schools nationwide, including more than RM57 million to support the construction, development and expansion of 10 public schools across Malaysia.
In addition, the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation endowed RM5 million to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to establish the Tan Sri Sir Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Chair at the Faculty of Medicine.
