I-Care Run

This year, AUSMAT Sunway organised its first ever charity run in commemoration of its 30 years of excellence in Sunway College. More than 600 AUSMAT students participated as runners as well as served as volunteers in various areas such as first aid, photography, route marshal, registration and bazaar style booth sales. All profits raised from this event will be donated to Yayasan Generasi Gemilang, a foundation which aims to improve the lives of under-served children and families by increasing access to quality education. The funds will be channelled to its current Community Centre located in Taman Prima Selayang, to cater for children who wants a more conducive learning environment to study.

Sirius Scholar Student Wins Inaugural Sunway College AUSMAT Pitch Competition 2016

Sheryl Liow Chia Chyi from Sirius Scholar Study Skills Sdn Bhd emerged champion with her speech titled “Loss of Biodiversity” in the inaugural Sunway College Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) Pitch Competition 2016, winning herself a bursary of RM16,000 to pursue the AUSMAT programme at Sunway College.

Coming in 1st Runner-up was Tan Qian Ing of Rightbridge Academy, who won a RM12,000 bursary to pursue the AUSMAT programme. She spoke on “LGBT Community – The Gender Rainbow”.

ausmat pitch 2016 – Winners of the inaugural Sunway College AUSMAT Pitch Competition. (Standing, L-R): Oliver Kee Swee Keat, Cheng Mien Wee, Jemima Fairose, Sheryl Liow Chia Chyi, Tan Qian Ing, A. Alagarani and Vanitha S. (Seated, L-R): Amandan Goon Suet Min, Loh Wye Wye and Yumn Leena Ghrici.

Divyah from AUSMAT Wins Harvard Prize Book Award

We would like to congratulate Divya a/p Thiagu for winning the prestigious Harvard Prize Book Award! Divya is one of the four winners selected from fifteen shortlisted candidates. Congratulations are also extended to Bryan Tan Hou Quan, Lai Jia Wye, Clarissa Chia Ming Li and Esther Cheok Mei Yuin who were the finalists of this prestigious award.

Congratulations to Joel Chan Kheng Hong from AUSMAT

Congratulations to our AUSMAT student, Joel Chan Kheng Hong who won the Grand Prize Award at the Monash Business Investment Competition 2016. Joel is one of the four winners selected from 42 pre-university participants from around the Klang Valley.

An Expedition to Remember

It was not the usual Saturday for a group of 40 AUSMAT students as they had a learning experience beyond the classroom. These students had the opportunity to participate in an excursion to visit a wildlife sanctuary. Through the initiative of their lecturer Ms. Sangeetha Muniandy, the main purpose of this outing was to understand Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and how it affects the environment.

AUSMAT students with their lecturers at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

AUSMAT Welcomes Emeritus Professor Patrick Garnett

Prof Patrick Garnett & Dr Pam Garnett with AUSMAT Student Council & AUSMAT Management Team

School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) Board Chairman Emeritus Professor Patrick Garnett and Dr Pam Garnett paid a visit to the Sunway College campus on September 1, 2016. Professor Garnett was treated to a special luncheon followed by a delightful afternoon with AUSMAT academic staff and AUSMAT Student Council during which they had a wonderful time discussing the opportunities and challenges in the ever-changing landscape of tertiary education. Professor Garnett deeply appreciated the three-decade strong partnership between Sunway College and SCSA and Sunway’s commitment to upholding the high quality of the programme consistent with that of Western Australian schools.

Prof Patrick & Dr Pam impressed with Australian Themed Landscape in AUSMAT office.

Australia Week - “Join Us for an Ausmazing Experience”

Together with the 3300 strong student population in the various Australian programmes on Sunway campus, the Victoria University (VU) tertiary programmes, Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT), and Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY) collaborated in organizing the inaugural Australia Week, which took place from 1st to 5th September 2016 on Sunway campus, to celebrate Australian culture and values beyond the classroom.

AUSMAT Rising Star

Shireen Chin Mei Yee is no ordinary student. Juggling between her study and exams, the 18 year old student of Sunway College’s Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) programme, is a performer of the guzheng, a traditional Chinese instrument. The former student of Kuen Cheng High School was inspired by her mother to take up the guzheng. She started playing the instrument five years ago, and has since fallen in love with it.

“Many people do not know of the guzheng, which makes me love it more, as I can play however I want to. I'm normally an expressive person and the special characteristic of the guzheng gives me many opportunities to express my feelings.” Shireen is a member of the Yi Xiang Ler Chinese Orchestra, which creates various opportunities for her to perform. She enjoys performing for it is when she can share her music with others, “the best part of performing is being able to see my audiences’ reaction.”

Shireen performing during an AUSMAT event

Being proficient with musical instruments does not come easily as a lot of practice is required. For Shireen, she spends an hour or two a day practising when there are no exams. She normally concentrates on her studies and only practices on the guzheng when she is at home.

According to Shireen, she normally performs at dinners, at the shopping mall during Chinese New Year and charity events such as the Child Aid Asia 2015 in the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac). She recently performed in the AUSMAT Talent Time and Sunway Education Group Teachers Appreciation Day, achieving her dream of performing on stage in front of her lecturers and friends.

A recipient of the Jeffrey Cheah Entrance Scholarship, Shireen enrolled into the AUSMAT programme last year. When asked how she decided Sunway College was the right one for her, she said accessible transportation and excellent facilities were main factors. She finds most interesting her lecturers, “They are passionate and humorous at the same time. I like how we get to meet different people in every class.”

AUSMAT Students Pay Tribute to Teachers

“Teachers are amazing as they are able to give us a sense of hope and ignite our imagination. For many years, I have observed how teachers teach. I have witnessed the best and the worst. Truly, the AUSMAT lecturers are some of the best. Their dedication, diligence as well as the impact they have on each and every one of us are both exemplary and exceptional. Great teachers can never tell where their influence stops. AUSMAT lecturers are exactly that. And I strongly believe that the high achievers' posters we see on the classroom walls are a testament to the unwavering commitment of an amazing team of 34 lecturers who are sitting right in front of us today”, said William Khoo Swee Keong, President of AUSMAT Student Council at the Teacher’s Appreciation Day which was organised by students of the Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) programme at Sunway College as tribute to their lecturers.

Shireen Chin Mei Yee on the Gu Zheng

Sunway College AUSMAT Students Raise Funds for Charity

The Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) programme at Sunway College once again managed to raise funds for several charity organisations through its annual I Care Day event. Through the sales of food, handicraft, beauty services such as nail painting and henna tattoo, and games on campus, students managed to raise a total of RM15,000.

At a small ceremony, representatives from two charity organisations were on hand to receive the contributions. Rozana Hassan and Wivien Tan of the Children’s Wish Society of Malaysia and Dr Chia Chee Ming of Elshaddai Refugee Learning Centre received a mock cheque for RM3,000 each. RM5,000 will be channelled to Yayasan Chow Kit while RM3,000 will go towards setting up a mini library at Taman Permata in Dengkil, Selangor while the balance of the collection has been set aside for AUSMAT students and lecturers who plan to visit a centre catering to children with autism and other learning disabilities.

AUSMAT students at their stalls

Sunway College’s AUSMAT students top the charts of BEWA and WACE

Three Australian Matriculation Programme (AUSMAT) students from Sunway College have proven to possess strong business acumen as Khoo Yu Wen, Lee Chia Ying, Leong Wei-Xiang and Yap Yi Shin obtained distinction in the 2014 Business Educators of Western Australia (BEWA) Accounting competition. Yap came second highest in the world ranking, placing her at the forefront of the competition.

BEWA Accounting competition is an examination based competition designed to help students revise their accounting subject of the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) examinations, the set of final examinations for AUSMAT students whereby its qualification is equivalent to Australian Year 12, pre-university level. The results of the competition highlight areas in the subject that require students’ extra focus and attention.

The BEWA Accounting Competition winners with Cheng Mien Wee, Executive Director of Sunway International School and Director of Pre-University Studies and Prof Graeme Wilkinson, Vice-Chancellor of Sunway University.
From left: Leong Wei-Xiang, Yap Yi Shin, Cheng Mien Wee, Prof Graeme Wilkinson, Khoo Yu Wen and Lee Chia Ying

Three Teo Siblings at Sunway

“We chose Sunway for our children as we heard good things about the quality of education that is provided here and the lecturers too“, said Teo Woon Kong, proud and happy father of three who studied AUSMAT at Sunway College. Teo and his wife, Wong Siew Fun both agreed that the AUSMAT programme at Sunway taught their children to think critically. They grew confident when their eldest daughter Teo Shu Wen got good results in her examinations and from her feedback that her lecturers were very concerned and helpful when it came to the students.

Shu Wen, the eldest of the Teo siblings is currently a Senior Tax Consultant in Singapore. After the AUSMAT programme, she continued with the Bachelor of Business and Commerce majoring in Accounting and Banking & Finance at Monash University Malaysia. She cites that that life lessons learned during her time at Sunway has contributed to her current work life. “Individual and group class assignments taught me to think critically and out of the box. They also taught me to be independent, and that I think contributes tremendously in preparing students such as myself for the outside world,” she added. “I am so fortunate to have full support from my parents and worthy guidance whenever I need them. Without my parents, I wouldn’t be who and where I am today,” said Shu Wen who never gives up all challenges given to her. While in Malaysia, she continuously supported and participated in the 30 Hour Famine organised by World Vision Malaysia.

From left – Shu Mei, Mrs Teo, Mr Teo, Shu Wen and Jun Ming

High Achieving AUSMATians at Sunway College

At the recent Sunway College Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) Achievement & Appreciation Awards, students celebrated their remarkable achievements in last year’s WACE examinations.

Top student Ho Hui Ping achieved an ATAR score of 99.85 took to the stage to receive the Special Course Award for English as Additional Language & Dialect (EALD), two Special Certificates of Distinction, one for Chemistry and another for EALD. The Special Course Award for EALD is awarded to Ho for obtaining the highest mark in EALD worldwide while the Certificate of Distinction is awarded to students who are in the top 0.5 per cent of candidates in a WACE subject in the 2014 WACE exam worldwide. Ho will be pursuing further studies in Actuarial Science at Curtin University, Perth, Australia starting February 2015.

Recipients of the Achievement Award for WACE Top 1% (from left) Vanitha Satchithanadan, Director, Australian Matriculation Programme; Chin Shu Wei, Lee Yong Jieh, Ho Hui Ping and Dr Elizabeth Lee

Santhi Receives Award for Excellence in Teaching

“Standing here, receiving this award has given me the assurance that I have made the right choices in life and I am on the right track. The most important people in my life who have shown me my purpose in life, who have been my best teachers, my gurus, who have inspired me, molded me, defined and refined me. They are none other my dignified students. It is because of them that I stand on this stage to receive this prestigious award. My sincere and heartfelt salutations to all the students who have come into my life and walked this journey with me. This award belongs to them and May God continue to walk with them” said Santhi Suppiah in her acceptance speech.

Santhi from the Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) programme, Sunway College received the Award for Excellence in Teaching at the recent Teaching Appreciation Day. A Senior Lecturer who has been with Sunway College for 17 years, she teaches mainly in AUSMAT and on a special teaching assignments in other programmes such as the Foundation in Arts (FIA), Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY) of Sunway College and the Psychology Department of Sunway University.

Sunway College’s AUSMAT Students are potential Wolves of Wall Street

Simulating New York’s Wall Street, the Business Investment Challenge 2014 at Monash University saw 40 pre-university students from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Indonesia competed in investment skills. The champion team of Lee Kwok Vui and Chong Min Yu from Sunway College Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT) proved to have the talents to be potential ‘wolves of Wall Street’.

Besides the team challenge, Chong also won the individual category with the highest earnings of RM5.7 million in the competition. “One has to be mentally prepared in order to win this competition. The competition is not complicated, rather I perceive the competition as a game, which helps me to stay calm and analyse the stock market better,” said Chong.

Winners of the Business Investment Challenge 2014 –Lee Kwok Vui (left) and Chong Min Yu

Sunway’s AUSMAT student now a nuclear physicist

Lee Boon Quan, a Sunway Australian Matriculation Programme (AUSMAT) alumnus is currently attached to the Department of Nuclear Physics in the Australian National University (ANU).

His research topic involves nuclear physics, atomic physics and medical physics. According to Boon Quan, the research that he is working on may lead to the development of a new kind of molecular radiotherapy that is based on the interaction of Auger electrons with tumours. “Ideally, the Auger ‘electron-based’ therapies only damage the tumours but not the neighbouring healthy cells,” he said. “This is because Auger electrons travel very short distance in the order of nanometre due to their low energy, so they damage only the small volume in the immediate vicinity of the radioactive isotopes.”

Lee Boon Quan standing in front of the Department of Nuclear Physics in the Australian National University (ANU).

High achievement in Sunway AUSMAT students

40 students from the Sunway Australian Matriculation Programme (AUSMAT) were awarded with Special Certificates of Achievement recently. Three students, Koay Fang Xuan, Tan Yun Ru and Joseph Daniel Luke emerged top 1% in the world while 37 students emerged top 5% in the world amongst all AUSMAT providers.

Karen Toh Hui Qi, President of the AUSMAT Student Council was the recipient of the Special Certificates of Achievement for top 5% in the world. Karen Toh, also a winner of the Harvard Prize Book award in 2012 addressed her course mates and the new batch of AUSMAT students, “Each and every one of you here, have a little something that is unique in you, you are the architect of your success. Play to your strengths, never forget integrity in your doings, go on and make a life for yourself. AUSMAT is a beginning, and a wonderful beginning.”

The recipients of the Special Certificates of Achievement with (seated from left to right) Vanitha, Deputy Director of AUSMAT; Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director of Sunway Education Group; Dr Khatijah Khalid, Registrar; Ruma Lopes, Programme Director of AUSMAT.

Sunway’s AUSMAT students explore career paths

Sunway College’s Australian Matriculation Programme (AUSMAT) recently hosted a Career Exploration Week where its students from the AUSMAT pre-university programme visited various universities and organisations to get a bigger picture and a better idea of courses and career paths. The students visited International Medical University (IMU), Melaka Manipal College, Monash University and organisations such as MEASAT Satellite Systems (Cyberjaya), Sunway Medical Centre, Deloitte Malaysia and Westport.

Dr Shah Yasin presenting his speech during the career forum.

Electrifying performances to celebrate AUSMAT teachers

Three weeks of brainstorming, hard work and commitment from the Australian Matriculation Programme (AUSMAT) Student Council turned out to be a worthy investment as the annual Teacher’s Day Celebration turned out to be a huge success. The Student Council together with seven teachers were on board throughout the process of integrating two events; a Teacher’s Day celebration and the annual Talent Time Competition to make the AUSMAT’s Teacher’s Day celebration in keeping with Sunway’s 25 Silver Jubilee celebrations.

Natalia Oh singing during the Talent Competition.