Sunway students attend their very first Model United Nations Conference

Students from Sunway International School (SIS) and the Canadian International Matriculation Program (CIMP) recently attended their very first Model United Nations (MUN) Conference in Singapore. A total of ten students attended as delegates, four from SIS and six from CIMP. The students were accompanied by Heath Kondro, Communications Technology lecturer with CIMP and Brendan Narancsik, Dramatic Arts and History teacher with SIS.

The three-day conference, the first hosted by United World College, South East Asia-East Campus saw the participation of two hundred and forty delegates from eight schools around the region. For the first two days of the conference, delegates were grouped into their different committees which addressed a wide array of issues related to Disarmament, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Human Rights, Politics, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Security Council. On the third and last day of the conference, all delegates were grouped according to the country they represented for the simulated General Assembly. This provided an opportunity for them to work together with other delegates from different committees.

Sunway delegates with Heath Kondro (back row, first from left) and Brendan Narancsik (back row, first from right)

Sunway A-Level students are Top in the World

At the recent Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards (OCLA) ceremony, nine Sunway A-Level students were awarded certificates for their excellent performance in the June 2013 Cambridge examination series.

Students from Sunway College who received the Top in the World Award for CIE AS level were; Daphne Ngan Hwee Ern for Accounting, Ang Eer Yin, Ho Shi Ying, Kuan Wei Jee, Loh Khang Yee and Tan Tee Toon for Mathematics while Leong Wei Cheng and Dawn Soon Lyn Hui from Sunway College Johor Bahru each received the Top in Malaysia Award for General Paper.

Students with their lecturers together with Carol Wong, Director of A-Level Programme and Teo Ee Sing, Executive Director, Sunway College

SUNWAY TES SELECTED AS CAE

Sunway TES has been selected as the Centre for Accountancy Excellence (CAE) by the Government via PEMANDU under EPP 17, which is aimed at transforming Malaysia as the leading Accountancy hub in the Asia Pacific region by 2020. This is part of the government’s ongoing Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects. Sunway TES with strategic partners will now champion accountancy programmes at the professional level at national stage.

The ceremony was officiated by Datuk Prof. Dr. Roziah Omar, Deputy Director General (IPTS), Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education, on behalf of YB Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh, Minister of Education II. This makes Sunway TES, the only CAE thus far within the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

Launch of the Sunway TES Centre of Accountancy Excellence – (From left) Lee Weng Keng, Tengku Nurul Azian Tengku Shahriman, Teo Ee Sing and Datuk Prof Dr Roziah Omar.

Second cohort of students and alumni members joined the Sunway Mentoring Programme

Within a year of its launch, the Sunway Mentoring Programme has become the ‘talk of the town’. First launched in April this year, a second cohort of undergraduate students eagerly joined the mentoring programme in October 2013 at Sunway University. The programme launched by Ms Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director of Sunway Education Group, is a one-on-one partnership between members of Sunway Alumni and LEAP Platinum students. Selected students, from bachelor’s programmes are chosen in recognition of their strong academic credentials from the various departments of Accounting, Banking and Finance, Marketing, Management, IT and Psychology. The goal of this programme is to groom students, through coaching sessions in real life situations on core competencies in the workplace. By taking students out of their structured daily classroom setting, the aim is to expose them to the constant changing pace of real life situations and to empower them with the skills and knowledge for professional and personal growth.

The Sunway Alumni mentors are selected professionals from their respective fields who bring with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise. The mentees, top students of Sunway University are equipped with strong academic credentials and classroom knowledge in their areas of study. The pairing of these two parties is hoped to create a win-win partnership that is essential to the success of the programme.

MPOC reach out to Sunway College students on the state of the palm oil industry

250 Pre-University students were recently part of a seminar titled “A gift from nature, a gift for life” seminar that was conducted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), held to create awareness amongst students to understand the oil palm industry which is an integral part of the Malaysian economic growth. Faudzy Asrafudeen, Director of Marketing and Market Development, MPOC delivered the keynote address on the history of the palm oil industry and how it has developed to what it is today. He, together with other speakers from the industry enlightened the students on the scope and environmental impact surrounding the palm oil industry.

Elizabeth Lee presenting Faudzy Asrafudeen with a token of appreciation.

The seminar featured two segments; an environmental talk and a nutritional talk. The environmental talk included a short seminar on environmental concerns and practices by the palm oil industry including conservation related issues. Students were encouraged to participate in an open forum with environmentalist experts and discuss environmental issued concerning palm oil which mattered most to them. They also learnt about the environmental position of other oil seed crop producing countries such as Canada and Europe and how they are facing environmental challenges in those regions. Through the seminar they also learnt real world issues surrounding environmental policies in the palm oil industry in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States and how they affect the global outlook for the commodity.

Jyunichi Washizaki presenting a talk during the “A gift from nature, a gift for life”seminar held at Sunway College recently.

The nutritional talk focused on the technical usage and application of palm oil and its advantages in comparison with other oils in comparison to its nutrition, taste and practical usage. Different cooking techniques like frying and baking were also demonstrated.

Raymond De Gracious presenting his talk to the Sunway College students.

Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director of Sunway Education Group said, “I hope that after hearing from the speakers from this industry, you will be interested and inspired to volunteer, contribute and even consider a career pathway in the palm oil industry. For those who do not already know, MPOC have been working closely with the Sabah Wildlife Society to ensure the survival of the natural habitats. I am sure we have some budding or young environmentalist here who will want to volunteer for such good causes.”

Among the speakers present were Mohd Muslimin Bin Hashim, Manager of the Science & Environment Division, MPOC; Jyunichi Washizaki, Technical Programme Officer at Wild Asia; Raymond De Gracious, Head the new Employee Engagement and Employee Branding Unit under the Human Resource Department of Sime Darby Plantation and Dr Diana Ramirez, Veterinarian from the Sabah Wildlife Department.

Chong Hwa student receives full scholarship after winning VU Business Challenge

Sunway College’s Australian University Programme (AUP) which offers the VU Bachelor of Business degree held the inaugural ‘VU Business Challenge’ event recently.

Sim Yi Qi from Chong Hwa Independent High School, KL emerged champion while Wong Jun Ren also from Chong Hwa Independent High School, KL emerged first runner-up. Second runner-up, Ng Eu Ee is from Hin Hua High School, Klang. Yi Qi walked away with a full scholarship, amounting to RM 69,400 to pursue the three-year VU Bachelor of Business degree programme at Sunway College and the VU Business Challenge 2013 trophy. Runners-up, Wong Jun Ren and Ng Eu Ee were both awarded scholarships amounting to RM 24,000 and RM 15,000 respectively and a trophy to also pursue the VU Bachelor of Business degree programme at Sunway College.

Sim Yi Qi holding the winning trophy and mock cheque with Teo Ee Sing, Executive Director of Sunway College.

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).