A collaboration that continues Ms Cooke’s legacy to education

The Sunway Education Group and BBGS Alumni Berhad, marked an important milestone in giving to society, with the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) recently.

Sunway Education Group which is under the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, an entity founded on the premise of giving to society through education, has pledged RM500,000 worth of scholarships to kick start the scholarships for tertiary studies offered by the Elena Cooke Education Fund (ECE Fund).

Ms Moey Yoke Lai, Founding Director, BBGS Alumni Berhad sealing the MoC with Elizabeth Lee

The ECE Fund was set up with a similar aim of promoting and enhancing educational opportunities to underprivileged Malaysian students, especially those from orphanages and homes. The ECE Fund provides for studies beyond Form 5 at a local college or university.

The signing of the MoC will result in the Sunway Education Group – Elena Cooke Education Fund scholarships being offered to needy students for studies in Sunway College and Sunway University from 2013 onwards. The pledge will enable 10 scholarships to be disbursed.

BBGS Alumni Berhad, a company limited by guarantee, was established to administer the Elena Cooke Education Fund (ECE Fund). It is run by former students of the Bukit Bintang Girls’ School, which was started by dedicated British pioneers and which grew into a premier school in Kuala Lumpur.

Ms Elena Maud Cooke was the longest-serving headmistress who helmed the school from 1958-1977. The school was closed down in 2000 and the building demolished a year later. It was renamed Sekolah Sri Bintang Utara and relocated to Cheras.

Ms Cooke, who passed away in May 2012, was a visionary educator who emphasized character building and development. As a young girl, Elena Cooke had dreamt of becoming a medical doctor and establishing an orphanage that would provide her charges with a first-class education, but her medical studies were interrupted by the war. As a principal of BBGS she had opened her home to needy students which made a great impact on their lives.

This inaugural pledge was a result of the efforts of Elizabeth Lee, the Senior Executive Director of the Sunway Education Group and an alumna of BBGS. Ms Lee said “This signing is indeed a milestone and through it we will strive to champion the values of generosity, integrity and care that embodied Ms Cooke’s life as an outstanding educator”.