Sunway Education Group Hosts Asia Leadership Conference 2016

The Sunway Education Group hosted 30 graduate students (also known as Trekkers) from the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, MIT Sloan of Management and the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy from 1 January to 13 January 2016 for the Singapore – Malaysia segment of the Asia Leadership Trek (ALT).

The Trek which covers five (5) destinations across Asia in 27 days – China, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Bangladesh, is exploring the theme ‘Thriving Asia: When is Asia Set to Become the World’s Powerhouse?’. In conjunction with their stopover in Kuala Lumpur, the Asia Leadership Conference 2016 with the same theme was held at Sunway University.

Samuel Kim, President, Center for Asia Leadership; Teo Ee Sing, Executive Director, Sunway College; Dr Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director, Sunway Education Group; Tan Sri Dato' (Dr) Ramon V. Navaratnam, Pro Chancellor; Puan Sri Datin Seri (Dr) Susan Cheah, Member of the Board of Directors, Sunway Education Group; Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Chairman, Supermax Corporation Bhd; Dr Lee Weng Keng, CEO Education and Healthcare Division, Sunway Group; Professor Graeme Wilkinson, Vice-Chancellor, Sunway University and Professor Tan Sri Dr Ghauth Jasmon, Member of the Board of Directors, Sunway University

More than 800 participants comprising young leaders and students between the age of 16 and 23 were present at the conference. The Asia Leadership Conference is aimed to provide participants an extraordinary opportunity to learn from the Harvard-trained workshop facilitators and local esteemed leaders.

Samuel Kim, President of the Center for Asia Leadership remarked on the purpose of the delegates’ participation at the Conference. He expressed that the delegates had the desire to become a person who is highly in need, valued and respected in today’s world. And said, “We are really in need of great leaders who are capable and ethical and who could add a lot of value who will see the world a better and exciting place for all of us. This is more so in Asia given how important this region is becoming in the global marketplace and politics today.”

Asia Leadership Trek Conference 2016 at Sunway University

He shared that the Asia Leadership Trek started out with the aim to connect talents and to channel world’s best practices in Asia in ways to help individuals and organisations in Asia expand with a common desire to make the world a better place believing that there is a unique opportunity and responsibility to make the world a better place.

Dr Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director of the Sunway Education Group welcomed the Conference delegates and advised them to not brood on the past in the new year but to embrace the present and look forward to a hopeful tomorrow.

Asia Leadership Trek Conference 2016 at Sunway University

Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz delivered the keynote address which was followed by a TED Talk and a forum discussion in the morning session.

“Leadership is in you, it’s the qualities that you have. Leadership is in every team that you belong to. If you rise above the pack, you are better than the rest, you are a leader,” said Tan Sri Rafidah. She informed the delegates that they can become better than the rest by having more confidence, more abilities, capabilities, discipline, possess a sense of responsibility and most importantly they need to be a team player. She said the Conference is to help further mould the leader in them.

In the afternoon Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tunku Muhriz had a special session with a ‘Dialogue on Leadership in Asia – Insights and Inspirations’session.

Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz with Tan Sri Dato' (Dr) Ramon V. Navaratnam and Samuel Kim

The conference included various workshops facilitated by the ALT Trekkers and a session on career mentoring and professional development.

The Conference was hosted by the Sunway Education Group in collaboration with the Asia Leadership Trek and the Centre for Asia Leadership Initiatives, supported by the Harvard University Asia Centre and the Harvard Kennedy School ASH Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

The hosting of the Asia Leadership Trek for the third year is the result of a strengthened partnership between Harvard University and Sunway through the establishment of two Jeffrey Cheah Professorships at Harvard, the Jeffrey Cheah Fellowship and the Jeffrey Cheah Travel Grants, and the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia (JCI) in association with Sunway University.

After successfully playing host to the Asia Leadership Trek for two years, the University has recently partnered with the Harvard University Asia Centre to bring in the Asia Leadership Institute (ALI) to Sunway. With ALI based here, the Sunway Education Group hopes to see a greater transfer of knowledge with the in-flow of graduates from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University, who will bring with them cutting-edge knowledge and best world practices.

As the largest education social enterprise in Malaysia, the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation is committed to providing sustainable quality education through global collaborations as well as developing an infrastructure that supports and facilitates the international exchange of faculty, students, knowledge, skills and technology.